The Second Curse

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Into the Woods, so please don't take my money.

Narrator: Then one night, just as the sun had set and a shadow came over her garden, she heard a noise. Grabbing her wand, she walked outside to find a man ripping up her garden.

Pansy couldn't believe her eyes. Why of all things would someone do this to her? She had put her heart and soul into her garden and treated it as if it were her child, and now to see it being subjected to thievery.

She crept forward in the shadows to get a better look at the person who was doing this to her. Ducking behind an olive tree, she watched as he gathered the vegetables he wanted and moved to leave.

"What are you doing?" Pansy asked in a sickly sweet voice.

The man made a noise that was something between a scream and a snort before dropping everything he had ripped up.

Narrowing her eyes, Pansy walked into the moonlight to cast her glare onto the man's face. Now close up, she could see that it was the baker from next door. "I asked you a question."

"Um," The baker stammered. "Well, you see. It's my wife, she's with child."

"Yeah, so?" Pansy prodded.

"Well, she had an appetite for vegetables." He replied.

Pansy scoffed. "So, you thought you'd steal mine?"

She watched the baker shift from foot to foot through her lowered lashes. "Answer me!" She snapped.

"Please understand." He stammered. "I'm poor, and can hardly afford to feed my family. My son is growing up so fast, and is eating us out of house and home. Please let me keep the vegetables..."

Rolling her eyes, Pansy held up her hand to halt his speech. "Fine." She said. Narrator: The baker happy with the witch's good-natured donation turned to leave.

"Wait." She said with a dangerous edge to her voice. "I'm not finished." Pansy let a small smirk creep its way onto her face. "You ripped up my garden without asking. So, fair is fair: you can let me have the baby that your wife will bare, and we'll call it square."

"You wish for me to give you my child?"

Pansy shrugged. "It's either that, or I cut off your right hand for stealing. I heard muggles do that in some places, but then of course if I did that, you wouldn't be able to do your job and thus your family will starve." She paused for effect. "Oh course, since I'm such a nice person, I'll let you choose your penalty."

"Fine." The baker said. "I will give you my child, but only if you promise to treat it as you would your own child."

"You are hardly in a position to make me promise anything." Pansy huffed. "But, I've always wanted a child. So I give you my word it will not be harmed."

The baker nodded. "Then you may have the child."

Pansy watched as the baker hefted up the vegetables and climbed over the wall. As soon as he was out of sight, she felt a slight roll beneath her feet and then was sent down to the ground as the earth convulsed, causing her to hear objects inside her home crash to the floor. She screamed as lightning flashed all around her while her body writhed in pain.

She clutched at her head as she heard voice after voice shift through her brains. Saying over and over:

'Plant a bean on magic soil, for with this its growth will foil.

Day by Day, prune the top. This will help its growth to stop.

But if you were to loose a bean, your punishment will be the worst you've seen.'

Laughter filled the air as Pansy scratched at her face and ears, as she tried to get rid of the voices. She screamed out in horror when she realized to late that her nails had thickened and curled into claws that were now covered with her own blood.

The lightning flashed again and she caught sight of her reflection in the small stream that flowed right through her garden. Slowly, she limped forward to get a better look.

Suddenly, the quakes and the lightning stopped and the moon shone again. Bathing her face in light and allowing her to see her reflection clearly.

Tears slowly found their way down hernow ugly, ragged face as the voices faded one by one until there was a single lone voice left and this one spoke out of her mirrored image.

"You never did follow my instructions did you, daughter?" It said.

"Mother?" Pansy asked.

"You betrayed me. You deserve to die, but instead I'm leaving you with this last curse. From now on, you will live as the old and ugly witch that you see before you now and everyone you love will be ashamed of you."

Pansy jumped back with a screech, lost her balance and tumbled into her prized rose bushes.