An Important Chore Errand Solo

Aaron Jones arrived at the greenhouses fully prepared to do some cleaning. He was wearing a white cloth face mask he had owled his mother for. Cleaning at his house was a very big deal, and they always wore masks to protect them from the fumes of the chemicals. Arriving at the first year greenhouse now, he saw all the cleaning supplies in the center. Cleaning was not his favorite activity, but his mother had made sure he and his brother knew how to do it properly. It was an important chore in their household, and it explained why Aaron found he was among the cleaner boys at school. His dorm was often messy with all the boys in their bunkbeds throwing things all over the place. Even if he didn't always make his bed, his area was still a lot cleaner than some of the others.

With a sigh, Aaron took his steps into the greenhouse and decided to pick his poison. Glass cleaner, brooms, trashbags and more were laid out for his use. He had expected more people to want to take advantage of this errand, but perhaps they would be coming later. Good thing, too, because there was no way he could tackle the entire greenhouse on his own. Perhaps he should choose one task and stick to it for the whole building and then others could come and tackle other areas. Surely that was enough for the errand? A good and honest hour of work was worth the chocolate frogs being offered. In truth, he wasn't much of a collector, but he figured that if he found some rare cards, he could sell them! He was working hard to save up for a broom of his own, and he would do pretty much anything at this point.

The twelve-year-old ended up grabbing one of the brooms, deciding to focus on all the stray leaves and dead vines on the ground. There were even a few broken pots! Who would carelessly drop such fragile things and just leave them there? It seemed pretty disrespectful of the professor in charge of the area.

With no one else to talk to, he found himself super focused on the task. Broom in hand, he walked from one side of the greenhouse to the other, sweeping dirt and leaves and plant needles. Despite being super focused physically, he was mentally not all there. He was thinking about the Secret Blossom Ball. It had consumed his life over the Easter break, and he did nothing but fret over the details. With his best friends on board and a few others recruited, they had a real shot at being successful!

Aaron cast a nervous glance around the empty greenhouse, worried that even thinking about the Ball might give it away. He had broken rules back at his Muggle school before, but never here at Hogwarts. The Muggle-born wizard had never wanted to risk getting punished and possibly thrown out of school, but he'd been here almost an entire year and felt a lot more comfortable in the castle. He didn't think he'd get kicked out anymore, but he did think the punishment would be severe. Perhaps not as severe if he continued to do errands and improve the school...

Aaron turned off his thoughts and got back to work. It was tedious, brushing the broom along the ground and making sure not to miss any spots. He swept away the dirt and the leaves and the needles and the soil. He picked up the larger pieces of plant pots and then swept up the small pieces. Everything he swept went into a garbage bin by the front of the greenhouse, which had clearly been placed there for this errand. Navigating underneath of tables and sweeping near questionable plants kept the task semi-interesting, but it all seemed to blur. Before he knew it, the floor was spotless and at least forty minutes had passed. He set down the broom by the rest of the cleaning supplies with a nod.

With one last look back at the greenhouse, Aaron took his leave. His next task would be to collect his earnings and look for people to sell to.

@Boniface Murtagh MacTavish
Word Count: 703/600