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The first time that Basil saw him, he thought he looked like an angel.
Professor Oleander had long blond hair, which he always kept tied up into a low ponytail, except for a messy fringe that fell in front of his forget-me-not blue eyes, underlined by dark circles - some students whispered that the man never slept. He had gentle features and was always clean-shaven, although the dark shadow on his otherwise pale skin suggested that his beard was not as light as his hair.
His demeanour was quiet and he always seemed kind of nervous, but he rarely ever got angry with the students.
He was always, always seen around the greenhouses behind the castle. Even during meals he rarely seemed to show up. He hadn't been at the teachers' table when Basil had been sorted into Slytherin, or he would certainly have noticed him.
Instead, their first encounter was during his very first Herbology lesson.
Professor Oleander was already there, wearing a shy smile and a dirt-smeared robe as he stood in front of a table full of empty vases.
"Alright, so... this is your first lesson so I won't give you anything too hard to do. Uh, you all have your copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, right? So-". The man interrupted himself as a short red-haired girl from Ravenclaw shook her head. "Oh, you, you don't? Err, well, can anyone... you two could share it, right? Ok... so, we'll be going around and I want you to try and recognize as many plants as you ca- hey, please don't touch the Fanged Foxglove, it won't like that". He glanced at Kevin Simmons - a dark-haired boy who shared his dormitory with Basil - looking rather panicked. The student hurried to retreat his hand, moments before the harmless-looking plant split in two and revealed a set of sharp fang-like thorns on each side, letting out a menacing hiss.
Immediately all the students moved away from it, while Professor Oleander sighed and took out a small vial, approaching the irritated plant and pouring it in its soil, causing it to calm down and compose itself once again.
"Ok, so... ugh, where was I?". The man scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight from one leg to another and looking increasingly nervous with each passing second.
Basil timidly raised his hand.
"You... you were saying we'd go around and try to recognize the plants?".
Professor Oleander looked at him with surprise for a moment, then he smiled in relief and nodded.
"Right! Right, so we'll be going around...".
The rest of the lesson went on without a hitch, with the man guiding them around the first greenhouse and then in the outside garden, even going close to the forest before warning them they should never venture there unless they were accompanied by an adult from the staff, and even then they should still be careful.
"Alright, so, that will be all for today", Professor Oleander said once they got back to the greenhouse. "For the next lesson, I want you to study the plants we saw today, especially those of you who could name less than ten".
Basil heard a couple of groans, mostly from a few other Slytherins. He hadn't done too bad but he still felt he could have done better. He never thought he would want to excel in Herbology of all subjects, but the thought of getting praised by the professor made him feel giddy. He had only seen him smile once, when Harmony Rogers was instantly able to recognize a Mimic Marigold which had disguised itself as a common daisy, and his whole face lit up for a moment. Basil wanted to see that again, he wanted the man to smile at him like that.
By the middle of his second year, Basil was the top one in his class. He'd never been particularly passionate about plants but he wanted to impress his professor. Melina Eliopoulos from his same year was quite irked about it as she usually excelled in all subjects so she started calling him a teacher's pet, but Basil didn't care. He was more than happy to spend his time learning more fascinating facts about magical plants, or even to stay behind to help out the man after his lessons sometimes.
"Ah! That's... really not necessary", Professor Oleander had tried to say the first time, blushing a little.
"I don't mind", Basil had insisted. "I like plants".
"Yeah, plants are nice", the professor had replied, smiling a little. "Better than people", he had murmured, speaking so low that Basil wasn't sure he'd been supposed to hear it.
"You don't like people?", he'd asked, clearly catching him off guard.
"A-ah, I mean...". The man laughed nervously, clutching on one arm with his other hand and looking away. "Never mind. You should go".
Basil had cursed himself for his unnecessary questions, feeling disheartened as he left the greenhouse.
What was it about plants that the man liked so much? He truly wanted to find out.
"Have you heard about Emil Kowalski?".
"No? What happened?".
"He hasn't come back to his dormitory, apparently he sneaked out during the night and hasn't been seen since".
"When was that?".
"Two days ago".
Basil tried to pay no mind to the gossip, but it was hard when it was happening right next to him.
"Isn't that scary?", Kai, a chubby black-haired boy who always tailed along behind him asked Basil. "I wonder if the professors are searching for him. They must be, right?".
"He probably got lost somewhere and still hasn't managed to find his way back. He's not particularly bright, even for a Hufflepuff", Basil replied with a shrug, shoveling more porridge in his mouth.
"For two days?", Kai insisted. "Plus, I'm sure after three years he must have memorized the routes. What if something happened to him?".
"If it did, then the professors would have told us", Basil replied. "You worry too much".
He glanced to their table. As usual, Professor Oleander was nowhere to be seen.
Basil wondered if he always ate alone. He didn't seem to like people much. Basil didn't know why that was the case. He'd never had the courage to ask again, after the first time.
"Wanna play Wizard's Chess later?", Kai asked, interrupting his musings.
"I can't, I told Professor Oleander I'd help him trim the Bashful Bushes".
"Hmpf! Why are you always hanging around him?", Kai complained. "He's creepy".
Basil glared at him.
"That's not true!", he snapped at him, raising his voice. He blushed when he noticed that a few other Slytherins had turned his head to look at him. Lowering his voice, he leaned in closer to Kai to speak again.
"He's just awkward around others. He's actually really nice. Last time, he gave me a sprig full of Everlasting Berries".
"Don't you find it weird that he never leaves his plants? I think he lives there. Plus, you ever noticed we never have lessons with him before it's dark? And those circles under his eyes... what if he's a vampire?".
"A vampire", Basil scoffed at him. "If you must know, he's got sensitive eyes".
"Sensitive vampire eyes", Kai replied, swinging his fork in the air as if to emphasize his words. "Let me tell you, there's something wrong with that man".
"You're just annoyed at him because you're always flunking his tests", Basil replied, shaking his head. "Seriously, how hard can it be?".
"It's plants. It's damn boring. I don't understand what either of you sees in it".
"Plants are nice", Basil replied, looking down at his mostly-empty plate. "You know what to expect from them. They can't disappoint you".
He felt like he was starting to understand his professor's feelings more and more with each passing year. He couldn't manage to relate to most of his peers. Even with Kai it was more like the other had attached himself to him and decided he was going to be his best friend. Not that Basil disliked him but he could be annoying sometimes.
What if Kai had been the one to disappear instead of Kowalski? Would he have missed him?
Basil wasn't sure. Maybe he would have, but...
How horrible of a person would he have been if his answer had been no?
The start of their fourth year was tense after the Kowalski incident. Some of the students weren't allowed to come back after their summer break.
No matter how much the Professors and even some Aurors searched for him, no one was able to find him again.
It was like he'd vanished without trace.
There were all sorts of rumours floating around. Some said he managed to sneak out of Hogwart's confines and Disapparate somewhere despite his young age, some said he got eaten by some creature roaming inside the Forbidden Forest, some believed he found a secret passage and got stuck inside of it, claiming they could hear him moving through the walls and faintly asking for help.
"That's absurd", Basil had told Kai when the other boy had told him about it. "The Professors have searched everywhere in the castle. Including the secret passages. If he was still in here, they would have found him".
"Then where did he go?".
"I don't know". And I don't care, he thought, but he made sure to keep that to himself.
He had other things to worry about. Such as the fact that he'd started to look at Professor Oleander with different eyes.
"Ugh! It's so annoying! 'Professor Oleander' this, 'Professor Oleander' that, it's like you're in love with him", his little sister had said once while he was back with his family, to which he'd turned red and threatened to feed her to his Carnivorous Camellia if she didn't shut up.
Ever since then, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her words.
"...It's like you're in love with him..."
Is... is that why I like him so much?, he couldn't help but wonder, blushing at the thought.
He'd never had a crush on someone before. His sister was in the first year and she already had plenty of them, her latest one being their Quidditch Captain Ricardo Torres.
How would he even know if he liked the professor in that way?
It can't be. He's much older than me and... a wizard.
Not that it was entirely unheard of but he didn't think he'd ever heard it mentioned in a positive way. His father had once mentioned something about wizards who had relations with other wizards and it had been with a disdain normally reserved for Mudbloods and Squibs.
Not that his father was always right about everything. Kai was technically a 'Mudblood' but he was pretty gifted, just not in Herbology. He was the top of the class at Charms and often beat him at Wizard's Chess too. Meanwhile, Emily Thompkins was a Pureblood witch and she was dumber than a Troll.
"Hey, Kai?", he asked him one of those afternoons, when the other boy was busy teaching him some kind of card game he'd learned from his Muggle mother.
"Yeah?".
"Have you ever... you know, is there any girl that you like?".
The other boy had looked a bit nervous, his ears turning red.
"I... well". Kai cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head and looking away. "Y-You know Martina Belli from Ravenclaw? I... I think she's pretty cute... I guess".
"Huh". One of the Chasers in Ravenclaw's Quidditch team, with curly blonde hair and green eyes. She was cute, he had to admit. "And... how do you feel when you think of her?".
"I... I don't know". For the first time in a while, Kai seemed rather uncomfortable. "I... I feel all happy and giddy when she smiles or talks to me and my tongue is tied, it's like I have butterflies in my stomach and I get all nervous. I... I want her to look at me but I also feel scared she might judge me so I'm scared of getting too close. And-". He interrupted himself, the redness spreading from his ears to his cheeks. "Why do you ask... uh? Basil? Basil, are you ok?".
"A-ah, yeah!". Basil forced himself to laugh, hoping he didn't sound too nervous.
Shit. I do have a crush.
In fifth year, their Herbology lessons were a lot more challenging.
They were actually handling some of the more dangerous plants, plants that could injure and even kill in the worst case scenario, although Professor Oleander was quick to reassure them that nothing bad would happen if they followed his instructions.
Basil had tried to distance himself during the fourth year, but that did not change his feelings. If anything, the longing towards him had become even worse.
"Hawthorne, what... what are you doing here?", the professor asked him one of those evenings, when Basil showed up at the greenhouse. He seemed quite surprised and a little worried as well. "You... you shouldn't be around this late. It's against the rules".
Since the disappearance of Kowalski, students were forbidden to be out of their Common Rooms after dinner.
"I couldn't sleep", Basil replied, taking a few steps towards him. As always, the man's clothes were covered in dirt and he was wearing thick gloves to cover his hands. There were a few leaves trapped in his blond hair, which made Basil want to pick them out, but he refrained from following his urges. "I... I thought I'd come here, because... because taking care of plants is relaxing".
The professor smiled a little at that, although he still seemed cautious.
"Yeah, it is... but you really should go back to your rooms".
"Please. I won't be at risk as long as I'm around you, right?", Basil asked him in an almost-pleading tone.
"I... I guess". the professor scratched the back of his head, looking away. "Sorry, I'm not... I won't be of much company. I'm very busy".
"That's alright. I like your company".
Basil hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. He immediately blushed as the man looked at him in shock, before looking away again while his cheeks also turned a little pink.
"I'm... uhm, okay then".
He seemed nervous. Basil hoped it wasn't because of his gaffe.
They spent a few hours together, before Professor Oleander insisted to accompany him back to the entrance of the Slytherin Dungeon.
"It was nice spending time with you", Basil shily told him.
His professor smiled and shrugged, before looking away.
"I don't... I normally don't like to be around people. But... it's not so bad with you. You're quiet, and...". He looked at him intensely, before leaning in closer.
Basil froze up as one of those gloved hands reached out towards him, but the man only took something out from his hair. A small twig. He relaxed, although a part of him was a little disappointed.
"Good night, Hawthorne".
"Good night, professor".
From then on, Basil had sneaked out a couple times to meet the object of his interest. The more time he spent with him, the more his feelings grew, just like the vines of a persistent infesting plant.
It wasn't like they exchanged many words, but Basil was content just being around him. At least, for the time being.
He knew it wouldn't be enough for long. He couldn't help but want more.
He wanted to know more about him. Wanted to know if he really spent all of his time with his plants, wanted to know if there was a way to get through the thorny walls he had put around his heart. From the few things that had slipped past his lips a few times, Basil couldn't help but think that, in truth, the man was quite lonely.
"Plants, they never leave you alone when they grow tired of you", Oleander had said once, sounding almost more as if he was talking to himself rather than to Basil. "They can't even go anywhere, they wouldn't survive without me. They need me". He had smiled then, a genuine smile. "That's why I like them".
"I think that's wonderful", Basil had said, his comment seemingly startling the man, almost as if he'd forgotten he was still there. "Wouldn't it be nice, to have someone who would need you as much as your plants do?".
"That... wouldn't be possible", Oleander had replied, looking away and hurrying to move somewhere else, watering a few pots of Wolfsbane.
Basil had stared at the man's back, his feelings burning inside him like a flame.
To be needed so deeply and completely...to have someone who entirely depends on you, who wouldn't even live without you... what a wonderful thing.
Now he knew why Oleander liked plants so much.
That was how he liked him too.
If only he could find away to keep him all for himself, uproot him and confine him in a little vase where he would never escape him... how wonderful that would be.
"Have you heard about Andrew Robinson?".
"No, what happened?".
"Apparently no one's seen him since yesterday".
"No way! You think it's another Kowalski?".
"I hope not... my parents almost didn't let me come back to school after that".
Basil couldn't help but overhear the conversation as the group of Slytherins chatted next to him at the table.
"I can't believe it's happened again", Kai noted, sounding quite worried. "Say, I heard you come back quite late the other night... I don't think you should stay out at night, what if something happens to you too?".
"Shh! Do you want everyone to hear?", Basil scolded him, before lowering his voice. "I'll be fine. I've just been visiting the greenhouses".
"What? Why would you do that?".
Basil looked down at his pudding, not sure of how to answer to that.
How could he explain to the other boy that he wanted to spend more time with Oleander? Surely he would think it was weird.
"I'm worried about the next test. I just want to make sure I'm prepared".
"No way, you always ace every Herbology test. If anything, you should give me some extra lessons".
"You're a lost cause. You could make a cactus die of thirst".
"Hey!".
Thankfully he managed to change the subject without much difficulty, but he couldn't manage to shake the thought off of his head.
Once could have been an accident, but twice?
What had Robinson been up to? And Kowalski, for that matter? Where would they be headed, that late at night?
Basil wondered if Oleander might have seen anything. After all, the man seemed to stay awake until late. From one of their conversations, he'd gathered that the man preferred to sleep early in the day and wake up in the late afternoon, just in time for his lessons. If someone else beside him had sneaked out in the middle of the night, he might have seen them.
He would have to ask him about it, next time.
"Huh? Tuesday night?". Oleander looked at him in surprise, then he frowned. "Can't... can't really remember anything, sorry. I've been... busy".
Basil could tell that he was upset. He'd become quite good at reading the man, even if he couldn't always tell what he was thinking. Maybe he was worried about Robinson, but that seemed uncharacteristic of him.
"You really shouldn't be out here this late. It's... not safe", Oleander said, looking at him in a strange way. He didn't really seem worried as much as...
Threatening.
A cold shiver ran down Basil's spine. He quickly tried to shake off that feeling.
"I'm not worried", he lied, taking a few steps closer to the man. "Not while I'm here with you".
Oleander smiled at him, but somehow it was anything but reassuring.
"The plants are not the deadliest thing in here, Hawthorne".
Basil gulped loudly. Oleander moved in closer and he retreated, until he felt his back pressed against the vine-covered wall, some of them slithering around his ankles and wrists.
His heart was beating fast, he could feel its pulse in his throat, especially when Oleander's hand closed around it.
"P-professor, please", he whispered, eyes filled with terror as he saw the man's face twist into an hideous grin.
"You're always coming back here. I kept telling myself I shouldn't... but you're like a stubborn weed, you made your way into my mind and I couldn't stop wondering... what would you look like, without your branches".
He had a pair of shears in his hand, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. They seemed to shine even in that faint light, almost as if they were ignited from the inside.
There was a smell to him... Basil always thought it came from the plants, but no, it was emanating from him.
It smelled like...
Death.
"Please", he begged, his eyes filling with tears. "Please".
"Shh... don't worry. I won't get rid of you. I want to keep you". Oleander glanced at his shears and his smirk grew wider. "Well... not all of you".
Basil looked into those bright eyes and he knew. He knew what had happened to the other students.
But he would not be able to tell anyone.
Not after Oleander was done with him.