Written for Caesar's Palace's Build-A-Bear Challenge.
Also written for Hogwarts' bingo event. Prompt: hyacinth
Word Count: 318
...
"Does this flower look phallic to you?" said Albus, poking at the flower with a curious finger.
"Oh, Merlin." Lily rolled her eyes. "Boys."
"And girls. Girls can be immature too."
Lily nodded in agreement. "We're just less excused for it."
Albus and Lily continued down the path of the garden that was lined with hyacinths. The smell of the flowers filled the air, as well as the buzz of busy bees. Gravel crunched underfoot.
"So, Malfoy's house isn't bad, eh?" Albus said.
Lily shrugged. "I guess. I still don't know why he invited me, too."
"Do you need to know? We had, like, five different cakes today."
"I'm still not comfortable here."
"Why's that?"
Lily shrugged again. "Dunno. I just don't like him."
Albus's eyes sharpened. "That's kind of rude."
"It's kind of rude for him to be a pretentious twerp all the time."
"Just because he made fun of you for-"
"Shush!" Lily turned on her brother, her face scrunched in anger. "Making fun of someone is never okay."
"I know, I know. I was just teasing."
They fell into comfortable silence again as Lily hummed a little tune. They had almost made their rounds around the garden when they heard a peculiar bird chirping from around the corner. They shared a conspiratorial glance and went to follow the noise.
"I love you," it squawked. "I love you."
Lily turned the corner around a shrub and came face to face with a bird about five feet tall. "Merlin! How is that evolutionarily possible?" she nearly screeched, jumping back in surprise.
"I love you." It cocked its head sideways.
"Scorpius probably taught it how to speak a few phrases," said Albus.
"I can tell."
The bird trotted up to Lily and laid its head at her shoulder. She tried not to scream as she said "I love you," in return.
It sure made for interesting conversation later.