Author's Note: This one-shot is set before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and written in child Harry's POV.


Apple

Apple wood owners often have the ability to talk to other magical creatures in their native tongue.


Aunt Petunia was taking Dudley and his friends to the pool today. Uncle Vernon was at work and she planned to lock me outside the house. I was handed a list of gardening chores, to keep me occupied for the duration of the day, then shoved out the door. Petunia grabbed her handbag and a large beach towel off the counter. I stood waiting on the front lawn, list in hand and the keys to the back shed in my pocket.

Dudley eventually made his way out of the air conditioned house, scrunching his nose in arrogance and poking his tongue out at me. He waddled over to the car, to sit in the passenger's side. The air was blaring, ready to cool him down from the trip from the house to the car. Petunia locked the front door, ensuring that everything was secured, then grabbed my arm and steered me to the side.

"Make sure you complete that list and don't even think about finding a way inside. I'll know!" She tightened her grip on my arm.

I nodded my head and glanced down at the ground, hoping she would release my arm and leave me to myself.

"Everything better be done by the time I get back or you'll be severely punished. You don't want that, do you?" Petunia sneered down at me.

"No Aunt Petunia," I answered submissively.

"Good."

She finally let go of my arm, letting me fall, as I stumbled back from the momentum. Dudley saw this and chucked with mirth; his chins wobbling and eyes watered over from the hilarity. Petunia said nothing and got in the driver's side of the small blue car, reversing slowly out of the driveway. I watched as they disappeared around the corner of Privet Drive and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I enjoyed working in the garden. It was sunny outside and I loved the smell of fresh air, much better than my stuffy cupboard. It also allowed me time to daydream, as I often worked myself into a rhythm. Today's chores weren't as hefty as usual. I only had to mow the grass, pull the weeds, trim the hedges, and plant new roses in the flower bed.

I decided to start on the hardest chore first which was ridding the garden of weeds. I was rather small for my age and it took a lot of effort to pull the hard rooted ones out of the ground. Especially as I wasn't allowed gardening gloves or any other kind of protection. If Petunia wasn't watching I usually took off my shirt and used it as an impromptu hand wrap. Even though it was Dudley's and second hand, she usually told me off for dirtying my clothes unnecessarily.

Luckily today she wasn't supervising me so I could do as I wished. It was a small victory but a victory all the same. I slipped my shirt over my head and tied it securely around my hands. Kneeling down in the garden bed, I began tugging the weeds out.

The sun blazed down on my back and soon a layer of sweat glistened on my skin. It was hot today, a perfect day for the pool. I had neither shade to work under nor any water to drink. If I was quick I could sneak some from the garden hose, when the sun became absolutely too hard to bare.

Sitting down for a moment, I felt tired and dizzy. Maybe I should have that drink now. The only nutrients I've had were the scraps from breakfast this morning which weren't much after Dudley had finished. My head hurt and my stomach ached. I laid down in the dirt, too tired to crawl under a shaded tree, and closed my eyes. It was quiet and my head drifted.

"~Are you okay?~" A soft voice questioned me.

I jerked opened my eyes and peered around. There was nobody there.

"~Down here.~"

I pulled myself into a sitting position and gasped at what was laying by my feet. A little garden snake, green and scaly, looked up at me with concern.

"W-why can you t-talk?" I stuttered.

"~All snakes can talk. It's the humans who don't listen.~"

"Oh right," I must be hallucinating from the heat, "Why can I understand you then?"

"~You possess the tongue; I can feel it.~"

"Tongue?"

"~Only those who have the tongue can speak to us.~"

"Okay..." I have no idea what the imaginary snake was talking about.

"~Child, why are you lying on the ground in the heat? I thought that humans built those big rocks to keep cool in.~"

"Big rocks...oh you mean houses. Well you see, I'm not allowed inside. And, well, I don't really have anywhere else I can go."

"~Surely your kind protect their young, like we snakes guard our nests.~"

I laughed bitterly. "Ha, you expect the Dursleys to look after me? You obviously haven't met them...but you wouldn't anyway because you're a snake."

For a moment I forgot that I was talking to a reptile. It was nice to feel someone, other than myself, care about my well being.

"~These Dursleys don't sound like very nice humans. Why do you stay?~"

"Well I-I..."

Why do I stay? Surely I would be treated better at an orphanage; which they're always threatening to send me to. I might even have the chance to get adopted into a new family. One that actually fed me, clothed me, and maybe even loved me. Wouldn't anything be better than living here, where I'm barely able to survive?

"I've really got no choice in the matter."

"~I'll never understand you humans. Goodbye child.~"

The snake bade its goodbye and slithered under the hedge from where, I guessed, it had come from. I looked at the large pile of weeds by my side and sighed. I still had a lot of work to do before Petunia arrived home.