*Earlier that summer*
"Finally back from that rubbish school of yours? Hope you had a nice vacation, because I'm expecting to have the yard weedless, the flowers planted and a new gazebo built, by the time you leave."
Harry grimaced at all the work he had to do. 4th year wasn't a picnic, and now it seemed he was doomed to work for another three months. Out of the pan, and into the fire Harry thought miserably. At least at Hogwarts, he actually enjoyed the work; he had no such compunction to his work at the Drusley's.
Pulling into the driveway of number 4 privet drive, he exited the car and unloaded his trunk. While he was tugging the large wooden box across the driveway, Uncle Vernon had already given him his first task.
"As soon as you lift that bloody trunk up to your room, you will immediately come back down and start weeding out the garden."
Harry was cursing Uncle Vernon under his breath the whole way up the stairs. "Why doesn't Dudley weed out the garden? That fat balloon is the one that actually needs the exercise."
Depositing his trunk inside his room, Harry started walking toward the garden. His mouth dropped open seeing what a state of disarray the garden was in. Knee high crab crass stretched out as far as the eye could see. Even places that were covered by slabs of cement had a thick weedy moss growing between the cracks. The section that used to be fenced off specifically for the flowers, was filled with yellow colored rye weeds.
Aunt Petunia stuck her head outside the sliding screen door. "Such a shame, isn't it?" she said, obviously meaning the garden. "I've been so busy this year, I've forgotten to tend the garden."
Forget my foot! Harry thought furiously They ignored the garden on purpose, just so I could do their dirty work for them.
"I trust you know which ones are weeds. You do know don't you?"
Harry looked around at the whole yard. "Umm, all of them?"
Aunt Petunia's lips curved up into a smile. "Good, you better get cracking then, you have a lot more to do after you finish with the garden."
Harry couldn't start to work; he didn't have the proper equipment. "Aunt Petunia, where are the gardening gloves? I can't start weeding without them."
"Gloves?" She said, pretending for a moment that she didn't know what he was talking about. "Oh, gloves! Pish, posh, when I was little, I had to do all my chores by hand. Toughened me up quite a bit, and it wouldn't hurt if you did it to."
"But, Aunt Petunia." Harry begged. "My hands are going to be all scratched and bleeding without 'em'."
"Nonsense, a little blood never hurt anyone."
Harry continued to beg for gloves, but Aunt Petunia kept shooting him down. "I swear, I give you a safe house to live in all these years, and you won't do a little yard work." Aunt Petunia shook her head disapprovingly. "You must take it from your mom, she was always the lazy one. always resulting to magic to do her work. No work ethic, no work ethic at all."
He tuned her out and went to work. Anything was better than listening to her drone on about how evil wizards and witches were. Yard work, even work where he ended up bleeding, was preferable than to listen to Aunt Petunia talk.
Two hours later, and he had barely managed to clear a square foot of the yard. At first, he was progressing rather fast, his hands still fresh and able to uproot weeds at a whim. But, over time the constant motions had damaged his skin, making it crack and bleed.
He felt a wave of relief wash over him, thinking he was finished for the day when Aunt Petunia called him inside. His heart sunk when he was only granted a temporary bathroom reprieve and was ordered to work in the front yard.
The front yard, although not in the best condition, was in much better condition than the back yard. Although most of the weeds came out easily enough, there was one that stubbornly wouldn't come out.
Crouching on his two legs, he grabbed the stubborn weed with both hands and pulled. The weed broke free from the ground, and Harry fell backward, his glasses flying off his head in the process.
Harry threw his hand's forward, blindly looking for his glasses. "Damn it!" he cursed. As sharp as he was spotting the snitch, he was blind as bat without his glasses.
He was having no such luck finding his glasses, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a person's silhouette bending over, their out stretched hand holding an object to him.
Harry reached out to what he assumed was his glasses, grabbed it and put it on. The face, a girl, in front of him came into focus.
"Hello, Harry."
"Pansy!" Was all Harry could say. Even though his jaw dropped, no words came out. He was speechless, to say the least.
Pansy seemed to have an amused smile on her face. "You might want to close your mouth, you know. Before you drool all over the lawn."
Harry mouth immediately snapped shut, finally getting over the initial shock of seeing Pansy. "Where's Malfoy?" he said suspiciously. During Harry years at Hogwarts, whenever he saw Pansy, he saw Malfoy. "What plot have you two hatched this time?"
Pansy's bemused smile disappeared. "What makes you think I'm with Draco?" She said, sounding irritated at his paranoid behavior. "And why do I have to be hatching a plot?"
"I don't know" Harry said shrugging his shoulder. "Why else would you be here? Other than to make my summer even worse than it already is."
Pansy, choosing not to remark on how self-centered he was being: bent down and offered to help. "Do you mind?" She went over to a weed and tried to pull it out. "I was watching you for a bit, and saw you were having some trouble."
"Actually," Harry went over and pulled out the weed Pansy was working on. "I'm fine, I don't need any help."
She stared at him for a moment. "Fine then." She said. Pansy dusted her hands on her jeans, then stood and left, not bothering to say goodbye.
As she walked away, he couldn't help but hope that she was only visiting, but at the same time he felt bad. She was being perfectly nice, maybe Pansy Parkinson deserved better than the cold shoulder he gave to her.
Harry shook his head at the thought. "Nope"
~~~~~~~
Did people dislike her that much? She wasn't mean spirited like everyone thought she was. It was just that Draco. and the rest of Slytherin house for that matter, seemed to like her more when she is making fun of Neville, or anyone else who wasn't in Slytherin. But, since they were in the muggle world, why couldn't she get along with him? They weren't Gryffindor or Slytherin here; they were just Harry and Pansy.
She kicked herself for even speaking to him. She tried to test the waters to see if the 'new her' would work. It didn't. Harry didn't buy it. And if he didn't buy it, neither would any of his prejudiced friends would either. That was the end of her trial and error period.
"Finally back from that rubbish school of yours? Hope you had a nice vacation, because I'm expecting to have the yard weedless, the flowers planted and a new gazebo built, by the time you leave."
Harry grimaced at all the work he had to do. 4th year wasn't a picnic, and now it seemed he was doomed to work for another three months. Out of the pan, and into the fire Harry thought miserably. At least at Hogwarts, he actually enjoyed the work; he had no such compunction to his work at the Drusley's.
Pulling into the driveway of number 4 privet drive, he exited the car and unloaded his trunk. While he was tugging the large wooden box across the driveway, Uncle Vernon had already given him his first task.
"As soon as you lift that bloody trunk up to your room, you will immediately come back down and start weeding out the garden."
Harry was cursing Uncle Vernon under his breath the whole way up the stairs. "Why doesn't Dudley weed out the garden? That fat balloon is the one that actually needs the exercise."
Depositing his trunk inside his room, Harry started walking toward the garden. His mouth dropped open seeing what a state of disarray the garden was in. Knee high crab crass stretched out as far as the eye could see. Even places that were covered by slabs of cement had a thick weedy moss growing between the cracks. The section that used to be fenced off specifically for the flowers, was filled with yellow colored rye weeds.
Aunt Petunia stuck her head outside the sliding screen door. "Such a shame, isn't it?" she said, obviously meaning the garden. "I've been so busy this year, I've forgotten to tend the garden."
Forget my foot! Harry thought furiously They ignored the garden on purpose, just so I could do their dirty work for them.
"I trust you know which ones are weeds. You do know don't you?"
Harry looked around at the whole yard. "Umm, all of them?"
Aunt Petunia's lips curved up into a smile. "Good, you better get cracking then, you have a lot more to do after you finish with the garden."
Harry couldn't start to work; he didn't have the proper equipment. "Aunt Petunia, where are the gardening gloves? I can't start weeding without them."
"Gloves?" She said, pretending for a moment that she didn't know what he was talking about. "Oh, gloves! Pish, posh, when I was little, I had to do all my chores by hand. Toughened me up quite a bit, and it wouldn't hurt if you did it to."
"But, Aunt Petunia." Harry begged. "My hands are going to be all scratched and bleeding without 'em'."
"Nonsense, a little blood never hurt anyone."
Harry continued to beg for gloves, but Aunt Petunia kept shooting him down. "I swear, I give you a safe house to live in all these years, and you won't do a little yard work." Aunt Petunia shook her head disapprovingly. "You must take it from your mom, she was always the lazy one. always resulting to magic to do her work. No work ethic, no work ethic at all."
He tuned her out and went to work. Anything was better than listening to her drone on about how evil wizards and witches were. Yard work, even work where he ended up bleeding, was preferable than to listen to Aunt Petunia talk.
Two hours later, and he had barely managed to clear a square foot of the yard. At first, he was progressing rather fast, his hands still fresh and able to uproot weeds at a whim. But, over time the constant motions had damaged his skin, making it crack and bleed.
He felt a wave of relief wash over him, thinking he was finished for the day when Aunt Petunia called him inside. His heart sunk when he was only granted a temporary bathroom reprieve and was ordered to work in the front yard.
The front yard, although not in the best condition, was in much better condition than the back yard. Although most of the weeds came out easily enough, there was one that stubbornly wouldn't come out.
Crouching on his two legs, he grabbed the stubborn weed with both hands and pulled. The weed broke free from the ground, and Harry fell backward, his glasses flying off his head in the process.
Harry threw his hand's forward, blindly looking for his glasses. "Damn it!" he cursed. As sharp as he was spotting the snitch, he was blind as bat without his glasses.
He was having no such luck finding his glasses, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a person's silhouette bending over, their out stretched hand holding an object to him.
Harry reached out to what he assumed was his glasses, grabbed it and put it on. The face, a girl, in front of him came into focus.
"Hello, Harry."
"Pansy!" Was all Harry could say. Even though his jaw dropped, no words came out. He was speechless, to say the least.
Pansy seemed to have an amused smile on her face. "You might want to close your mouth, you know. Before you drool all over the lawn."
Harry mouth immediately snapped shut, finally getting over the initial shock of seeing Pansy. "Where's Malfoy?" he said suspiciously. During Harry years at Hogwarts, whenever he saw Pansy, he saw Malfoy. "What plot have you two hatched this time?"
Pansy's bemused smile disappeared. "What makes you think I'm with Draco?" She said, sounding irritated at his paranoid behavior. "And why do I have to be hatching a plot?"
"I don't know" Harry said shrugging his shoulder. "Why else would you be here? Other than to make my summer even worse than it already is."
Pansy, choosing not to remark on how self-centered he was being: bent down and offered to help. "Do you mind?" She went over to a weed and tried to pull it out. "I was watching you for a bit, and saw you were having some trouble."
"Actually," Harry went over and pulled out the weed Pansy was working on. "I'm fine, I don't need any help."
She stared at him for a moment. "Fine then." She said. Pansy dusted her hands on her jeans, then stood and left, not bothering to say goodbye.
As she walked away, he couldn't help but hope that she was only visiting, but at the same time he felt bad. She was being perfectly nice, maybe Pansy Parkinson deserved better than the cold shoulder he gave to her.
Harry shook his head at the thought. "Nope"
~~~~~~~
Did people dislike her that much? She wasn't mean spirited like everyone thought she was. It was just that Draco. and the rest of Slytherin house for that matter, seemed to like her more when she is making fun of Neville, or anyone else who wasn't in Slytherin. But, since they were in the muggle world, why couldn't she get along with him? They weren't Gryffindor or Slytherin here; they were just Harry and Pansy.
She kicked herself for even speaking to him. She tried to test the waters to see if the 'new her' would work. It didn't. Harry didn't buy it. And if he didn't buy it, neither would any of his prejudiced friends would either. That was the end of her trial and error period.