[HP] The pros and cons of home arrest #10

Chapter #10: More than grass.

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“Are you finished with your dinner?” Asked Harry to the blonde prisoner and she nodded calmly. “Good, I guess we better start planning the garden thing, don’t you think?” Asked the dark-haired wizard with a smile on his face.

Daphne Greengrass couldn’t help but softly smile at Harry Potter…It’s been a week since she told him she wanted to do this and she was surprised at how enthusiastic he was to help her which was a relief for her, she was a little worried for a second he could reject her idea.

Daphne was so willing to do this that she was willing to sacrifice sleep hours just to work on this, in different circumstances Harry would’ve denied her the option to cut sleeping hours but considering that they’re going to do hard work, then, he didn’t see a problem allowing her to do that, he hated sleeping early anyway, the Horcrux hunt changed him, during those days he was unable to sleep well and even during these days he was unable to sleep for more than five hours.

He still remembers those days when he and his best friends were hunting Horcruxes, they had to take turns to sleep while one of them kept an eye in case an enemy could find them, and now that his job consisted of guarding Daphne, he had less motivation to sleep, many would think this is an easy job but he has to be in constant alert in case some outsider decides it's a good idea to help Daphne escape.

“Okay, check this out then,” Harry suddenly placed a map in front of Daphne, and the whole property was depicted on the map with all the secrets. “It took me a while but I managed to find it while you were in the punishment room…Don’t tell anyone I was doing something other than guarding you,” Harry said before winking at her nervously.

She couldn’t help but smile softly at him, she was starting to like this side of his, she was so used to seeing him acting so serious that this was such a fresh new concept for her, still, she didn’t want to tell him that, the last thing she wanted was for him to think something weird about her.

There was no way Daphne Greengrass could fall for Harry Potter, she’s a cold and ruthless person who does anything she can to achieve what she wants, and in this case, she wants a beautiful garden where she can relax and think, so, if she needs to treat Harry like a normal human being once in a while then she was going to do it, but she was only doing it because she had to not because she wanted to.

Or at least that’s what she was trying to believe but all the recent interactions may be saying something different, Daphne still believes she couldn’t feel anything towards the hero of the world, not that he would ever feel the same about her though, or at least that’s what she thinks.

“So…Let’s be honest Daphne, what’s the thing you want the most in the garden?” Asked Harry with a calm expression.

The blonde stared at him with a confused expression, she raised her brow as she didn’t understand quite well why he was asking her that question, she obviously wanted a beautiful garden.

“A garden…I want a beautiful garden,” she said not caring too much about the details.

“Yes, I know that, but that’s not what I mean,” Harry sighed. “You see, when a person wants a garden there’s a lot of things we need to take into consideration before we get to work,” Harry started and he got the complete attention of the blonde.

“Is it really that complicated?” The blonde was shocked by his words, she thought this would be easy.

Don’t misunderstand her, she was willing to do anything to get her dream garden, however, she thought that she only needed to perform a few spells and then she was going to get what she wanted, and for that, she needed Harry's help because only him had a wand on this house.

“A garden can be a lot of things and there can be a lot of good attractions…Do you want the grass the be the highlight of the garden? Maybe flowers of different colors? A mix of both? Would you like a pond? If the answer to the latter question is yes then we need something to take care of mosquitoes and other annoying insects because even though we have magic, those things can still infect us,” Harry suddenly started to speak.

The blonde was suddenly hit with reality, he was right, and now that she thought things better she realized that she didn’t want a simply boring garden where the grass is the most relevant thing, because even though her last name is Greengrass, that’s a very plain and common plant to have in a garden, she wanted more, she was feeling quite ambitions.

“Well, I’d like this to be an interesting and beautiful place where I can relax, read, and even spend time with my parents and friends when the time comes,” the blonde said with a calm expression.

“I see…I guess we’re going to need a mix of flower seeds, don’t worry I have the right person to get them, you might remember Neville Longbottom, right?” Harry asked with a raised brow.

He knew she hated Gryffindors so she might not like the person who’s going to help them with this big project but he had to be honest as they're going to need Neville for this project.

“Wait a minute…Aren’t we going to use magic to do everything?” Asked the blonde with a shocked tone.

“We could but you see…Magic is a beautiful thing and a form of energy that can affect the environment, it makes almost any wish come true but in this case, it's best if we don't rely too much on it, well, we could use it for carrying heavy stuff, digging and all that stuff, that's a good way to use it, however…When it comes to the grass, the flowers, that must be done by pure handwork,” Harry said with a smirk on his face.

“What? In the muggle way? Why?” The blonde was too confused by his words.

“You know? I think it would be good for you to build your garden using that method because it’s going to feel more natural and there’s going to be more connection between you and your garden,” Harry clarified and she nodded.

The woman was seriously considering his words, what he said wasn’t practical but it made sense to her.

“While magic certainly can create perfect landscapes and maybe even make rare flowers appear, it feels more artificial, or at least I felt that way when we raided some rich families' manners, many of them had gardens made with magic and I've noticed that the flowers are always the same, the grass always stays in the same length, and it seems like the wildlife doesn't feel too interested in these artificial landscapes,” Harry said in a serious tone.

And those words made the blonde make a decision, she knew she was going to regret it, but she wanted to see butterflies, dragonflies, pixies, fairies, all the beautiful things you find in many traditional gardens, she wanted that for herself and Harry was right, if a place was made too much with magic, the quantity was for sure going to scare wildlife, now it made sense for the blonde.

“Well, I guess we have no other choice, let’s do it all by hand,” Daphne said to the dark-haired wizard and he nodded at her.

He was happy to hear she accepted his ideas, as someone who did this so many times when he was living with his uncles, he knew there was no better way than seeing something you build grow, die, and help other life forms, and you only can achieve that by making sure of working on every detail and while magic can take care of everything, it’s a very boring method.

“Okay…Let’s do it then…” Harry said with a smirk on his face as he extended his hand.

Daphne was taken by surprise by the proposal and she couldn’t help but blush but in the end, she accepted the handshake which meant that they had a deal now that couldn’t be broken.

“It’s a deal then,” Harry added and she softly smiled at him.

“So…What do you suggest we do now?” Asked Daphne with a concerned tone, she was convinced there was lots of work they needed to do before they even lay a hand on the garden.

“We need a storm of ideas, just tell me anything you can think about what you want in your garden and we’ll try to find a way to make it work!” Harry declared with a confident tone.

The blonde was surprised by his enthusiasm but she nodded at him, it was time to work.