Written for The Houses Competition
Head of House Hufflepuff
Category: Drabble
Prompt: [Pairing] Argus Filch/Professor Sprout
Word count: 478
Beta: Aya Diefair
MC4A - Paranormal Phantasm
Fill Number: 4
Representations: Magic; Argus Filch; Pomona Sprout
Bonus Challenges: Casper's House; Bad Beans; Second Verse (Not a Lamp); Second Verse (Delicious Lie, Rock of Ages); Second Verse (Hot Apple)
There was so much water. He was used to dealing with the puddles that the stupid ghost created with her hysterics but it was getting out of hand this year. Normally there would only be a few puddles per year and most of them stayed in the bathroom. This year, there was a new one every month that flooded out into the corridor. Add in the chicken blood he had to scrub off the wall and Argus spent all his time standing outside the haunted bathroom cleaning.
The stupid house-elves kept popping in on him (scaring the living daylights out of him as they did) and telling him they could clean it all up in a second if he wanted. But Argus didn't want, thank you very much. Just because he didn't have magic, didn't mean that he wasn't capable of cleaning up a few puddles and chicken blood. He had been hired to take care of Hogwarts, that's what he was going to do.
It was Pomona who showed him he didn't have to do it completely without aid. She patrolled the corridors on the second floor and had noticed that he was there nearly all night, every night. She didn't offer to help cleaning which he was thankful for. She merely gave him a warm smile as she passed and offered some sort of baked good, whether that be a muffin, biscuit, or pastry, that was all washed down with the thermos of tea she also brought.
The following nights he found his mop could hold more water, allowing him to clean up the liquid quicker. His cloth rag seemed to wash off the chicken blood easier, requiring less fierce scrubbing from him. The treats Pomona gave him woke him up, giving him more energy than they should have. When he asked her about all of this, she smiled and said, "We all need a little help sometimes," before handing him the thermos of tea and continuing her patrol.
When Yuletide came about, Argus knew he wanted to participate this year. He had to thank Pomona for the help she had given him while the rest of the staff ignored him as he worked to the bone erasing the evidence of the ghost's tantrums and 'the Heir's' threats. He went to the house-elves and asked for their help in creating a gift basket for the Head of Hufflepuff. In the weeks leading up to Yule, he would spend his nights in the kitchens learning how to bake from the little creatures and slowly built up the basket.
On Yule morning, Pomona woke up to find a massive basket of baked treats with a small bouquet of pink and peach roses sitting next to the small pile of presents from her House and the Hogwarts staff. She smiled, knowing the message the flowers were giving. Thank you.