31. Poorly Executed Plans

                                    

                                          
First fun fact of the night: ever since I started this story, back in November, I haven't used the word "ginger" to describe Ginny because I JUST REMEMBERED IT EXISTED. I genuinely spent three months writing a story where one of the prominent characters is a ginger and I didn't remember there was a word for it.
                          
Anyway, #TrilingualProblems
                          
(Thank you for all of you who binge read this fic and dropped a vote in every single chapter, you're amazing and I love you) (Drop a vote on this one too!)
                          


                          
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"This is actually the most stupid idea you've had in your entire life."
                          
"Sod off, Thomas. Do you want to live or not?"
                          
"Well, now that I know you have a death wish I'm not so sure we'll survive this."
                          
Ari was casually leaning against one of the gigantic windows that let the light inside Greenhouse three. His body was slightly contorted so that he could strategically cover with the back of his robes the opening in the window through which he was speaking to an annoyed Ginny Weasley. The red-haired girl was crouching behind one of the worktables, carefully sliding a clay pot towards her, trying to keep it as steady as possible. Her sleeves were rolled up and a single bead of sweat was running through her face. They weren't supposed to be there and if she were to be caught stealing from Sprout, she knew she'd be in detention until her last day at Hogwarts.  
                          
The reason they were in the greenhouse while everyone else was sunbathing or studying near the lake was because, after her little encounter with Draco, Anya had decided to focus all her energy in helping Ari. She had spent the day in her bedroom, claiming she was feeling sick (Marcus had tried to visit her but she didn't let him go up to her dormitory and eventually, he left the Ravenclaw common room); in that time, she had decided to do anything that would take her mind off the fact that she could still feel Draco's wet lips trailing up her neck. She decided to read the book he had given her, after realising she wouldn't be able to concentrate in her NEWTs, and spent four hours making notes and learning about the process to become an Animagus. After making a list of everything they'd need, her stomach won the argument against her brain and so she went down for dinner. She proceeded to explain the complicated procedures behind the complex magic they wanted to execute and purposely avoided Marcus's and Draco's eyes; when she was done, she asked Luna to accompany her back to her room so that neither of the men she so desperately wanted to avoid would have a chance to catch her alone. By the next morning, she had a carefully thought out schedule that required all six of them to help with something and started dividing their tasks: Ky was in charge of recollecting the dew with a silver teaspoon, Luna had to research the spell Ari would have to perform every sunrise and sundown, Marcus, who was the person who had the best relationship with Slughorn, would have to procure the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth, Anya would be in charge of recollecting all the ingredients and brew the potion once the thirty days had gone by and finally, Ari and Ginny were in charge of getting the mandrake leaf he would have to keep in his mouth for a month. 
                          
Planning and strategy weren't Ari's or Ginny's strongest traits, but the Gryffindor was reckless and the Slytherin boy was good at never getting caught; they ended up deciding that Ginny would slip through the greenhouse's window and Ari would keep an eye out for trouble. That led to the situation they were stuck in, and with every passing second, Ari got more nervous.
                          
"Ari, I swear to Merlin, if you don't stop babbling right now I will hex you," Ginny replied, after the third time her friend had asked how much longer it would take her. 
                          
She finally managed to get the pot closer to her body and grabbed the scissors, assessing which leaf would be the most fit for the job. She tried to move in the slowest manner possible and every time she talked, she'd whisper: the grown mandrake in front of her eyes was sleeping and if it woke up and started shrieking, Ginny would probably die. And after surviving one of the most gruesome battles the wizarding world had witnessed, she was not going to die because a plant yelled at her.