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100quills teenyfic: A Lesson in Herbology
My muse is still taken with the Mimbulus mimbletonia ... please bear with me!
Title: A Lesson in Herbology
Author:![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
angela_snape
Pairing: Bill/Neville
Word Count: 327
Rating: PG
Prompt Set: 50.3
Prompt: 011: Quirks
Warning(s): Highlight to read * loosely based on actual cell biology, including use of melanin for photosynthesis *
A/N: The same universe as “Aloha, Neville”. Inspired byeeyore9990's reaction to "rough endoplasmic reticulum" in chat the other night.
Disclaimer Belongs to JKR, not me. Just for fun.
It was no secret that Neville Longbottom loved plants – almost as much as he loved Bill Weasley. Bill, on the other hand, loved puzzles, which was why he'd done so well as a curse-breaker for Gringott's.
Today, something was puzzling Bill about Neville's pet plant, the Mimbulus mimbletonia . He'd witnessed it's unusual reproductive strategy – live birth – and determined that yes, a grey plant could still perform photosynthesis, since its pigment, melanin, could actually absorb energy from gamma rays. To add to its list of quirks, today Bill was considering the vast volume of gelatinous Stinksap the plant produced.
“Hey, Nev?” Bill called out
Neville's head popped out from where he was crouching behind the cactus-like organism. “What is it, love?”
“I understand that Stinksap is produced as its defence mechanism – I mean, what self-respecting herbivore would want to be coated in stinky goo?”
“So what's your question?” Neville stood, sensing that this could involve a long explanation.
“How, exactly, is Stinksap produced? It's pretty unique among the magical organisms I've studied – between Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, we covered pretty much everything. Nothing I can think of has that combination of gooeyness and odour.”
Neville straightened a little more, stepping into professor mode. “Once I left Hogwarts, I spent some time at the Herbological Institute in London, where I had the opportunity to examine plants at the microscopic level – that's one thing we're really lacking here, if you ask me.” Neville seemed to be warming up to his subject, and Bill was beginning to regret he'd asked the question at all.
“The Mimbulus mimbletonia has an unusual amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum in its cells, particularly those involved in producing the Stinksap. This helps explain the gelatinous nature of the substance – rough endoplasmic reticulum makes proteins for secretion out of the cell.”
Bill took a step towards Neville, pulled him closer, and growled, “I love it when you get all professorish on me.”
Title: A Lesson in Herbology
Author:
angela_snapePairing: Bill/Neville
Word Count: 327
Rating: PG
Prompt Set: 50.3
Prompt: 011: Quirks
Warning(s): Highlight to read * loosely based on actual cell biology, including use of melanin for photosynthesis *
A/N: The same universe as “Aloha, Neville”. Inspired by
eeyore9990's reaction to "rough endoplasmic reticulum" in chat the other night.Disclaimer Belongs to JKR, not me. Just for fun.
It was no secret that Neville Longbottom loved plants – almost as much as he loved Bill Weasley. Bill, on the other hand, loved puzzles, which was why he'd done so well as a curse-breaker for Gringott's.
Today, something was puzzling Bill about Neville's pet plant, the Mimbulus mimbletonia . He'd witnessed it's unusual reproductive strategy – live birth – and determined that yes, a grey plant could still perform photosynthesis, since its pigment, melanin, could actually absorb energy from gamma rays. To add to its list of quirks, today Bill was considering the vast volume of gelatinous Stinksap the plant produced.
“Hey, Nev?” Bill called out
Neville's head popped out from where he was crouching behind the cactus-like organism. “What is it, love?”
“I understand that Stinksap is produced as its defence mechanism – I mean, what self-respecting herbivore would want to be coated in stinky goo?”
“So what's your question?” Neville stood, sensing that this could involve a long explanation.
“How, exactly, is Stinksap produced? It's pretty unique among the magical organisms I've studied – between Care of Magical Creatures and Potions, we covered pretty much everything. Nothing I can think of has that combination of gooeyness and odour.”
Neville straightened a little more, stepping into professor mode. “Once I left Hogwarts, I spent some time at the Herbological Institute in London, where I had the opportunity to examine plants at the microscopic level – that's one thing we're really lacking here, if you ask me.” Neville seemed to be warming up to his subject, and Bill was beginning to regret he'd asked the question at all.
“The Mimbulus mimbletonia has an unusual amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum in its cells, particularly those involved in producing the Stinksap. This helps explain the gelatinous nature of the substance – rough endoplasmic reticulum makes proteins for secretion out of the cell.”
Bill took a step towards Neville, pulled him closer, and growled, “I love it when you get all professorish on me.”
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