mr. longbottom looked at josh expectantly when he didn't move.

"right this way, mr. dun". he gestured to the separate table where tyler was now standing. the boy nodded, clearly blushing while willing his hair to stay put.

"hey." the brunette greeted him.

"hi."

mr. longbottom continued to organize the pairs.

"so... your friends are pretty weird." tyler stated, examining what looked like a giant pair of tweezers.

"what- why? w-what did they tell you?" josh stuttered.

tyler laughed, turning his head towards him.

"well, for starters... that burrito story." he placed his wand down.

"you knew that was a lie?" the older boy smiled, flashing his teeth.

"yeah, totally. i'm not stupid and i can tell you aren't either." tyler eyed him. josh just stared blankly for a minute.

"ok boys, be careful. remember not to touch its shoots, they hate when you do that." mr. longbottom placed a large plant in front of them carefully, along with a big container. "you're allowed to swear loudly if they try to attack you from behind." he chuckled.

"what do i do with these?" tyler pointed at the tweezers.

"you use it to place the leaves on the container. even though you're wearing gloves, it's not always safe." josh answered.

mr. longbottom smiled at him and nodded, walking back to get another plant.

"wow, how do you know so much about this plant?" asked tyler.

"i don't know." josh shrugged. "i guess i just like herbology."

tyler nodded, picking up his wand and staring at the enormous plant. its vines were thrashing like arms.

"it's so scary." he laughed nervously. suddenly a thread of vines reached forward and entangled tyler's wrist.

"diffindo!" josh exclaimed, pointing his wand. they fell to the floor instantly.

tyler huffed.

"thank you."

they started to work on cutting out the leaves and putting on the container. once in a while the tentacula would try to strangulate them, but they managed to keep an eye on it.

"how do you know brendon though?" josh tried to casually return to their conversation.

"i mean, we're in the same house and we've attended a few classes together." tyler replied, fighting over a big vine that tried to catch his index finger. "we never really talked until yesterday... and that peter wentz dude as well."

"you and i have been in a few classes together too." josh retorted shyly. tyler turned to stare at him.

"really? i don't remember."

"herbology, first year. and potions for the last three years." the older boy smiled weakly.

"i feel like i would have remembered you." tyler glanced at him while josh concentrated on cutting out more leaves. his heart leaped at that, but he shrugged it off.

"um, w-well, i-i'm not really... popular." he offered. "and you're like... the best seeker in the entire school, so."

tyler felt a blush rise to his cheeks. he tried to hide it, because... he never blushed when people complimented him.

"thanks." he cleared his throat. "i could-"

it happened too quickly. the stunning spell died out and the tentacula opened one of its huge mouths to spill spiky spore-like balls at them.

one of them landed straight on tyler's forehead.

"FUCK!" he cried out, covering his face. josh stunned the plant yet again to avert it from shooting more venom and went to help the brunette.

"are you okay?" he asked. tyler's forehead was very red and covered with blisters.

professor longbottom came right after, looking preoccupied.

"did it bite him?" he asked franticly.

"no, it just spilled venom on him." josh replied. tyler had his eyes closed and he could swear the skin of his forehead was about to fall out.

"oh thank god." he sighed. "mr. dun, take mr. joseph to the hospital wing. tell madam pomfrey to give him an antidote and he'll be as good as new."

josh nodded, placing his hand carefully on tyler's shoulder and guiding him out of the greenhouse.

"i'm so sorry, mr. longbottom warned us the stupefy wouldn't last long. i should've prevented that." he said while they entered the castle.

"it's not your fault, don't worry. it doesn't hurt that bad anymore." tyler replied through gritted teeth and a crooked smile.

josh felt awful. he knew that venomous tentacula spikes could hurt for days if left untreated. tyler was obviously in excruciating pain, but he wouldn't let it show.

guess he was in fact a real slytherin, after all. 

|-/

sorry it took so long :(

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