A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
Farm AU.
Word count: 739
"No fair, you got to collect the eggs yesterday!" Lily yelled, chasing after her sister Petunia. The two always collected the eggs from the chicken coup after breakfast. This time, Lily was already trailing behind because she hadn't been able to find her trainers. They'd finally been located under the porch, where she'd left them when trying to crawl under to see the tabby cat's latest litter of kittens. Petunia laughed as Lily tripped over her untied shoe laces. Lily let out a little shriek as she met the ground.
"Not my fault I'm faster and you can't even tie your own shoe laces," Petunia taunted. Lily looked up from the mud puddle she'd landed in. Her face was covered in mud, hiding her freckles. Her long pigtails were tipped in mud. She glared at Petunia. Petunia was supposed to be helping Lily learn to tie her shoes. So far, Lily had only managed to tie herself to a table leg somehow.
"And it's completely my fault you're covered in mud," the red head retaliated, throwing a large ball of mud at Petunia. It handed on the front of her overalls with a loud wet 'splat'. Petunia stared her her now marred pants.
"You little!" she shouted, running back over to Lily. Lily scampered to her feet, her entire outfit covered in mud.
"Come and get me," Lily taunted as she took off running towards the family's chicken coup. The Evans farm had been in the family for generations, and Lily had memorized every inch of her home. She'd always been the curious one, while Petunia preferred a more direct approach to everything.
Lily had managed to slide under the chicken wire fence before Petunia caught up. Lily watched as Petunia unhooked the gate, not able to slide under the way her younger sister had. Lily was already inside the coup collecting the eggs. Petunia, finally having undone the gate, stepped inside the yard.
She had only gotten to the door of the coup when she heard Lily's scream. Forgetting everything, she dashed inside. Lily was standing against the back wall. Petunia saw the reason her sister had screamed. On the ground in front of Lily was a snake, a large black rat snake.
"Tuney!" Lily screamed. Petunia stared at the snake.
"Khiss, shhhhisss," she said, watching as the snake turned its attention from Lily to Petunia. It was rare for a member of the family to be able to speak to snakes, but the trait did manifest itself every fifth generation or so. Petunia had been lucky enough to inherit it.
"Hisss, his," Petunia added. The snake hissed loudly at her, sticking out its long forked tongue before turning its attention from the girls entirely and slithering out of the coup. Lily rushed to Petunia and threw her arms around her sister, smearing Petunia with more mud and what appeared to be smashed egges.
"You saved me! You and your weird snake talking language!" she exclaimed. Petunia shrugged, trying to escape from Lily's grasp.
"It was just a rat snake. They're not venomous," she said, with a shrug. "Now, did you manage to collect any eggs?"
"A few," Lily answered, picking up the basket from the ground where she had dropped it when she'd seen the snake. There were still two eggs out of the five that weren't crushed. Petunia shook her head looking at her mud and egg covered little sister.
"Mum's going to be furious if I let you inside looking like that."
"Hose?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, come on, let's get the rest of the eggs and clean up before we drip mud and eggy goop on Mum's floor. You know she's mopping today."
"It's Friday," Lily replied, helping Petunia collect the last few eggs. They ended up with nine good ones altogether.
"At least I didn't get chased by the stupid rooster," Lily commented as they left the chicken coup and headed to the garden where the hose was currently sitting.
"Only because we ate him last night," Petunia laughed, lifting the handle on the water pump. The hose sprung to life. Lily shimmied out her ruined overalls. Petunia sprayed them clean and then handed the hose to Lily, who did the same for her. Leaving their pants to dry in the sun, the sisters headed inside. Lily glad her sister could speak to snakes and Petunia glad the snake had actually listened to her.