It was the morning of the dreaded party, and Juniper
was still busy in her greenhouse. She had two more plants to care for before
she could go anywhere. Besides, the worst case scenario was that she was a
little late. It wasn’t as though anyone would even notice her absence.

Except Delia. Delia would notice.

Juniper shook her friend from her mind. She still
had a short time to be with her plants, here in her safe greenhouse, away from
the constant source of anxiety that was the mainstream wizarding world.

She went to the section of her greenhouse that she
reserved for non-magical plants. Other witches and wizards called them
“mundane,” but she could never quite bring herself to use that word. “Mundane”
was such an awful word. It meant boring, ordinary, unimportant. For some
magical folk, it mean inferior, dirty, lesser. But non-magical plants weren’t
any of those things! They were beautiful, useful, significant, fascinating!

She would never admit it to anyone, but her roses
and her lilies were, in her opinion, among the crown jewels of her greenhouse.
They both looked so beautiful in their respective sections of the massive
building, and they were both such multifaceted plants. Juniper didn’t like to
play favorites among her lovely plants, but she couldn’t help but admire these
two non-magical wonders.

The tallest of her lilies was almost ten feet tall.
It was blue and trumpet-shaped, but it grew near others of various other shapes
and colors. They soaked up the full sunlight from the roof, which made them
appear even more radiant. Their thick, sturdy stems were healthy shades of
green, red, and purple, and they made Juniper’s heart swell with pride. She
used normal fresh water on the lilies’ standard soil, amazed as ever that such
a beautiful plant could be so easy to care for. That was another thing she
loved about non-magical plants. They weren’t finicky, and grew well with
minimal effort.

Next, she checked on her English roses. She had a
shrub of red ones, four feet wide, that was her pride and joy. She cast
Acidious revealious to check the soil of her precious roses, and frowned when
the white mist formed the number “8.” She ground a small chunk of sulfur in a
nearby mortar and pestle she kept nearby for just this purpose, and placed the
powder in the Dragon dung she used to fertilize the plant. By raising the
acidity and adding to the nutrients the roses would have, she ensured that one
of her favorite plants would live a happy, prosperous life. She watered the
roses heavily, as she had not done so for a few days. Roses preferred a lot of
water occasionally to a little water often, and Juniper knew exactly how to
give them what they wanted.

Before she could cradle a rose gently in her gloved
hand and take a deep whiff of the fragrant blossom, there was a knock at her
greenhouse door.

There stood Delia, dressed in a robe that, to
Juniper at least, looked much fancier than “business casual.”

“Juniper, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be
getting ready for the party?”

“I was just taking care of my roses, Delia.”

Delia frowned suddenly, her brow creasing. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

Juniper could feel the tension building. Delia never
looked like that, unless something was really bothering her.

“Delia… What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing! There’s nothing wrong at all. You
know, other than the fact that you complain about your job not being
‘glamorous,’ but then keep people like the Minister of Magic waiting because
you’re taking care of some mundane flowers.”

“Non-magical, Delia, not mundane. And besides, I
don’t think someone as important as Kingsley Shacklebolt would really be
terribly bothered by me being late.”

“It’s just… why roses? Of all the things for you to
be busy with… Roses? Is that really necessary, Junie?”

“Of course! I like roses!”

“Roses are for Muggles, Junie.”

“What, would you feel better if you found me
wrestling with a Devil’s Snare?”

Delia gave an odd, nervous laugh before clearing her
throat and looking serious once more. “If you want to prove that Herbology
isn’t boring, you’re going to have to ditch those useless flowers, Junie. I’m
trying to help you!”

“Useless? What do you mean useless? What kind of a
potioneer are you? Do I have to remind you how awesome non-magical plants can
be?”

“Junie…”

“Rose oil is really valuable and used for
aromatherapy, and roses are often used for flavoring. Roses have forty magical
uses, Delia. Forty! That’s 28 more than Dragon blood has got!”

“Junie…”

“And don’t even get me started on lilies, Delia.
Lilies regulate heart rate, heal burns, remedy damage from strokes, treat
several conditions when made into a tea…”

“Junie!”

“And, if you think about it, you of all people should
know that! How much safer and easier are non-magical plants to deal with than
magical ones? As a potioneer, you really should appreciate…”

“JUNIE!”

“What!?”

“I do know, alright. I get it. I understand how
important roses and lilies or whatever are. But a lot of the people at this
party aren’t potioneers. There will be representatives from all different
disciplines, and they don’t understand the way I do. To them, well… Look. They
already think Herbology is boring. I shouldn’t have to remind you, of all
people, about the Gardening Effect. To them, you already look like just a
gardener. I really, really don’t want them thinking you’re… well, you know…”

“No. I don’t know. What?”

“Well…. Not quite a witch.”

“Oh. I get it. You think I’m a squib or something,
don’t you?”

“No, Junie, I don’t, I just…”

“I never thought you were like that, Delia.”

“I’m not! Look, I’m just trying to help you. I want
you to go to this party, and show those snooty Ministry types how amazing and
interesting Herbology is.”

“No. You want me to go there and show them the parts
of Herbology that YOU think are amazing and interesting. It’s not all Mandrakes
and Venomous Tentaculas, Delia. Roses and lilies are important, too.”

“Please… I’m sorry. Just come with me? I promise,
you’ll be okay.”

“I guess. But, Delia, you know I hate parties!”

“I know, Junie, I know. But I’ll be there the whole
time, I promise. Now go on, get changed into something nice.”

“Oh. See… that’s another thing. I… I kind of forgot
to go to Madam Malkin’s, and…”

“Hmm… well, that’s alright. Why don’t you just go as
you are? You can just say you didn’t have time to change, because you were
busy… repotting Mandrakes? You can bring your earmuffs and everything!”

“Delia, that’s ridiculous.”

“Trust me, it’ll be awesome.”

Juniper sighed. Sometimes, when Delia got an idea
into her head, there was no dissuading her. It had earned the two of them a
fair amount of detentions in their school days, and Junie knew that the two of
them had plenty of adventures ahead of them.

“Alright. You win. Let’s go.”