The Groundskeeper's House

[Arienne Devereaux]

Arienne Devereaux's house was on the edge of the forbidden forest, surrounded by a massive garden as well as the pumpkin patch that had been there for years. It was tiny, but adequate enough for her simple tastes, and it had been redone with magic to be made bigger on the inside. On fist sight, it appeared to be a hut, but once inside it was the size of a small hotel suite. She was a professor as well as the groundskeeper, but she preffered her own space. Since she taught the Art of Flying, she could have chosen to live in the castle with the others, but she was happy where she was. There was never a far walk to get to class, the broomshed, or to any of her groundskeeping duties.

Dressed in robes of sage green, Arienne walked out the front door, leaving it open to allow the breeze to circulate throughout the few rooms. Upon entering the house, one could see a small but cozy living room with a couch and loveseat in velvety brown, along with a cherry wood coffee table. On one of the sofas there was an acoustic guitar. Off the living room was a modern kitchen complete with stove, nicely stocked refridgerator, and a pine table with four chairs. There was also a small bathroom, and bedroom. She spent most of her time outside, tending to the gardens as well as the pumpkins. Arienne grew not only massive amounts of flowers but herbs and fruit as well. She had a small herb garden consisting of basil and mint. She grew tomatoes, strawberries, rasberries, and more. Arienne even had a grape arbor, and she didn't mind students eating her freshly grown fruit, thats what it was there for. If not at home or in the castle, she could most often be found outside, as she was today. Using her wand she muttered "Aguamenti" and began to water the first of her plants. Her copper waves blew in the balmy wind as she worked her way through the strawberry patch and onto the rasberry vine. She wore a wide-brimmed hat to protect her face from the sun, and she sang as she worked.

[Ian Hartford]

It was a glorious day! A perfect one to take a walk around the school grounds. Ian Hartford couldn't help but smile as the breeze bristled his hair, pulled at his robes and the sun shone off the lake. There was one thing that never failed to complete his great mood; the garden at the little hut. The smells that wafted from it was delightful. He couldn't resist strolling over.

As the hut came closer he noticed a figure of a woman watering the plants. She was hard to distinguish in her green robes against the rest of the foliage.

"Morning, Professor!" he called out cheerily bounding ever closer. He may be the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, but he wasn't a dark one himself as were some of his predecessors. He was always looking for a little light fun. It just so happened tracking dark wizards was what he called fun in his earlier days. Now at only 27, teaching was what he liked to do best. Although he snuck in a little action during holidays.

[Headmaster Cameron]

((Locked until students reach the school grounds )

[Arienne Devereaux]

((I hope you don't mind that I unlocked the topic))

Wholly absorbed in her work, she didn't notice the Dark Arts professor approaching until he was nearly beside her. The sun shone brightly, and with a small flick of her wrist, Arienne stopped the flow of of water streaming from her wand before she turned, as not to splash him.
Her face was flushed from the heat, and she returned the wand to her robe pocket before calling out. "Good Morning!" Arienne turned to the rasberry vine that wove it's way along the outer edge of the dark forest, and selected a fully ripened one. "It's simply gorgeous out today, isn't it?" she asked, popping the bright red berry into her mouth. "My rasberries are flourishing," she commented. "Would you like some?" she offered.

[Ian Hartford]

"May I?" Ian asked. He was never one to pass up such lovely looking raspberries. He plucked one off the vine and tosses the tiny sweet berry into his opened mouth.

"Goodness! These are heavenly!" he exclaimed. "You ought to make jams with these or something," he continued smiling.

There was always a down side to such nice fruit; the seeds. They had a habit of wedging themselves in the smallest of annoying spaces. His tongue was having a field day trying to clean them out from between his teeth.

[Arienne Devereaux]

"Im hopeless when it comes to that kind of thing." Arienne confessed to the Dark Arts professor. "Actually, I'm hopeless when it comes to cooking just about anything. Except pie."

Arienne popped another of the ripe red berries into her mouth and thought. When it came to cooking in general she was a lost cause. The rare times she could be found inside Hogwarts castle were at meal times. She was a disaster in the kitchen, as she not only burned everything but left a mess in her wake. Pie was the one thing she understood. It amazed even her that she couldn't understand a simple recipe, yet she could make nearly any kind of pie there was. Baking soothed her, as did gardening.

The art of flying professor wiped her brow, as the sun beat down on them rather ferociously on this hot morning. "Would you like something cool to drink?" she offered to Ian. "I've got some pumpkin juice in the fridge." She said, running a hand through her copper hair and fixing her hat.