Pansy was sitting under the lilac tree at the bottom of the garden at the back of the Parkinson's large townhouse. She was talking to her best friend Jenny. She was always with Jenny. Jenny could do everything that Pansy could not; where Pansy was shy, Jenny was confident. She wasn't sure of her age but Pansy had the feeling that Jenny was definitely older than she was. But at the bottom of the garden, under the lilac blossoms, sat one little girl.
First Pansy would speak, very quickly, in her nervous, high pitched voice then Jenny would answer, slowly and self-assured, through Pansy's mouth. Even though Jenny lived inside Pansy's head she was not like her at all. She was confident, witty and sophisticated. Somehow she knew so much more than Pansy did. Pansy was very glad that they were best friends and often told Jenny that when they grew up, they could be princesses and rule a beautiful land together. Jenny laughed and said, "We'll see".
Pansy's parents were indulgent with Jenny, setting a place for her at the table and so on. There was a nine year gap in age between little Pansy and their next youngest child so what harm was it if she had an imaginary friend to keep her company? Even so Pansy got the impression that it was not strictly normal for two people to have a chat through one mouth. This was especially obvious when company called. Pansy hated the searching looks and sidelong glances she generated in the imperious witches and wizards who were her parent's friends. Slowly she and Jenny learned to continue their conversations in silence. This had advantage that now when she was receiving her schooling in the drawing room overlooking the garden and lilac tree she could continue talking to Jenny if her lessons proved too dull. She did not speak of Jenny to others anymore, but Jenny's calm, slow voice was there, clear as ever, her comfort and her confidant.
Everything changed when Pansy was ten and a half. She now felt impossibly tall and skinny. She bumped into things wherever she went in the house or garden and seemed to be all knees and elbows. Worst of all Jenny found it funny and began to taunt her. One day Pansy was rearranging the dressing table in her room to make it more befitting to a young lady. She had a small container of sparkly talcum powder and a set of pretty nail polishes her mother had bought for her on a trip to town and she was trying to place them in a would-be casual manner on the table. Suddenly the nail polish slipped from her hand and smashed on the tiles. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and sat down quickly to stop them. Young ladies didn't cry. The Jenny spoke: "Oh, what has that clumsy great spider-monkey gone and done now?" Pansy told her that if she didn't want to help she could keep her opinions to herself. Silence. She stared up into the looking glass of the dressing table. Her long hair was limp and her nose rather turned up at the end and oh- little bumps beginning to form on her chest. So embarrassing! Was she always this ugly? "No, you're taking a turn for the worst" Jenny's voice was infuriatingly knowing and slow. "Shut up!" said Pansy out loud and at that moment the mirror shattered, pieces flying into the four corners of the room. A shard tore across Pansy's cheek. She screamed "get away from me! I'm too old for an imaginary friend!" Shortly after this incident Pansy decided that Jenny was making her crazy so she ordered her to leave. Many explosions and silent arguments later Jenny did leave Pansy in peace. Her parents said they weren't angry about the explosions or broken antique looking glass and explained that it was only the first signs of her magic manifesting itself. Pansy listened with empty eyes. She seemed to have lost any interest she had in life in getting rid of Jenny. Or perhaps Jenny had taken some of her vitality away with her when she left. She went through the following months like a sleep walker and felt no emotion when she left her home or as she bid her parents farewell before she got on the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.