Lawn Care
“You have a lot of guts,” Nellie said to the guy with the knife.  “Most sane people wouldn’t go after anyone near a magic academy.”

The hard-eyed man grinned back at her.  It wasn’t a pleasant sort of smile at all.  “I’m very careful.  Study my targets.  You don’t have any family in town, nor any close friends.”

Nellie nodded.  While she didn’t take her eyes off the knife, she also wasn’t cowering.  “True enough.”

“Better yet, you’re a first year student, and in the landscape program.  They don’t teach any offensive magic there.”

Nellie nodded again.  “Very true.  My strongest spell is ‘Lawn Perfection’.  Well, if you happened to be a weed or a small insect I’d have a few quite offensive spells to use.”  She turned to one side, and made a pushing motion with one hand.  Three dandelions in the field they were standing in lept out of the ground, shriveled and died.

The guy with the knife laughed.  “That’s the best you can do?”

“Pretty much, yes.  If you were a dandelion, you’d be trembling in your roots.”

“However, I’m a grown man, and physically much stronger than you.”

“Very true.”  Nellie said.  But her smile didn’t waver.

“C’mon.  Dress off.”  He waved the knife threateningly.

Nellie shrugged, and pulled her flowing green knee-length dress up over her head, then tossed it at the guy.  Underneath, she was wearing a pale green bra and panties with subtle leaf patterns.

Once he wrestled free of the dress and tossed it aside, knife-guy had to whistle in appreciation.  He’d only watched Nellie from afar, and from her slim, pretty face had figured that the rest was worth the attempt.  Her body was trim and toned, showing the muscles of someone that worked in the fields most days.  She had curves in all the right places, and was posing to show them off.

“Like what you see?” She asked with a wide grin.

“Oh yes.”  He reached for her, then frowned in puzzlement.  She’d been standing just inside arm’s reach the entire time, and neither of them had taken a step.  Why were they two steps apart, now?

He tried to step toward her, but found he couldn’t move his feet.  He looked down, and in horror saw that his feet were gone, buried into the ground.  His legs were the green of grass-stems.

“What have you done?”

“Lawn Perfection.  Everything in the area that stays still too long becomes part of the perfect lawn.  Bugs.  Weeds.  Annoying cats and birds.  Even people.  We have to put special magic-proof signs up around it.”

He looked down at Nellie’s legs, and saw they were rooted too. “You’ve doomed the both of us!”

Green was crawling up her legs, and had nearly reached her hips.  The grass seemed to be growing longer around them both, too.

Nellie just smiled even wider.  “Not quite true.  See, the second phase of a Lawn Perfection treatment is to come by the next day, and release the transformed creatures that deserve it.  Lawn Restoration is an easy, easy spell.  And we practiced it quite a lot.”

She moaned softly as her hips turned into grass.  “Oh, I love that part.  Brace yourself.”

Knife-guy shuddered and cried as he felt his erection wither away to nothing.  “No!”  He threw the knife to the side, where it vanished into the grass.  “Please, stop this.”

“Why should I?”

“Because this is the middle of nowhere.  Nobody’s going to come along and restore anyone.”

“True.  You’re quite screwed, just like you’d planned to do to me.”

Nellie wrapped her arms around herself, humming gaily as the green continued up her body.  Her hands merged into her sides, followed by her arms.

Her assailant stared in shock.  Nellie was receding faster now, which he had finally come to realize meant they were shrinking.  The grass they’d been standing in was almost knee-high, now.  He tried to point at her, and failed.  His shoulders were frozen, converted to grass.  “But how can you cast anything?  Your arms.  My arms!”

His hands burst into seed-heads.  He could only watch as Nellie’s eyes closed in bliss, and her face bloomed and yellowed into a daffodil.

“No,” he wailed, and then felt the change sweep over his head.  The last gesture he made was his hands grasping at air, then they too burst into grass seed-heads.  His clothing merged into his body, and vanished.

All that was left in the field was a large circle of perfect lawn, with a single daffodil and three tall stalks of grass standing up.

Later, he felt himself moving, lifting away.  He bobbed and bounced, almost grateful for the motion, that something was happening even if he had no way of knowing what.  The light of the day went away, and it wasn’t until that moment he realized how pleasant the sunlight had felt on his skin.  Darkness made him sleepy, and he nodded off.

The splash of water against his roots woke him once more, then he heard Nellie’s voice encouraging him.  At first he couldn’t make out the words, then suddenly he had a face once more, and eyes.  Nellie towered over him, human again, and wearing only her bra and panties.  He smiled at the sight, she was indeed magnificent, especially as a giantess towering over him.

He knew he should be afraid, but he had no heart to beat faster.  Instead, he indulged his curiosity.  “How did you change back?”

Nellie smiled down at him, then sat to put her head near her level.  It also put her breasts closer to him, and he couldn’t help but stare at them.  His head was a tiny fraction of their size...

“I said we practiced the restoration spell over and over.  Then they had us practice blindfolded.  Then gagged.  Then tied up.  That was... some of the students didn’t care for it, but quite a few of us really got into it.  That’s how Iris and I found each other.”

“Iris?” he asked weakly.

“My girlfriend.  You’ll meet her in a bit.”

“I can’t wait.  Wait, why am I not growing back?”

“One story at a time.  See, our ‘final exam’ on the Lawn Restoration spell was to stand in a group, and the professor cast it on all of us.  He knows some tricks to make it work faster.  Anyway.  To pass the class, we had to restore ourselves after we’d turned into plants.  I was the first one finished.  Then asked if I could be changed again.”

“You’re crazy.”

Nellie hummed and nodded.  “Yup.  So is Iris.”  She turned him with a grating noise.  He looked down, and realized for the first time that he was standing in a plant-pot.  When he looked up, he was face to face with a beautiful blooming iris.  In the midst of the petals was a human face.

“Hello, Iris,” he said politely.

The flower-girl giggled.  “Hello.  Come to keep me company?”

“Are you trapped by this crazy bitch too?”

Iris laughed.  “No.  She’ll change me back whenever I ask.  See, I failed the class, which means I have to drop back a year.  I just can’t seem to get the knack of casting without arms.  But I like this too much to try all that hard.  One day, maybe...”

Nellie leaned down, and kissed Iris on the petals.  “Don’t rush on my account.  Besides, you can’t retake the class until next year.”

“Mmm.  C’mon, open the blinds and join me for a while.”

The return of sunlight made Iris hum happily.  She grew taller under Nellie’s touch, acquiring a curvy stalk and leafy green arms.  Nellie shrunk swiftly, then hopped into the pot with practiced grace.  Her roots settled into the soil, twining with Iris’.  Soon there were two flower-girls in the pot, an iris and a daffodil, leafy arms wrapped around each other, blossoms together in a long kiss.

“Hey,” called Nellie’s captive.  “What about me?”

Nellie gestured at him in a familiar way, and he cried out in terror before the world went dark once more.  He was thankful that he could still feel the light, and that he hadn’t been weeded.

Nellie and Iris cuddled for some time, whispery voices calling each other’s names, until they both called out in pleasure and went silent.  As the afterglow faded, their human features melted away, until there were just two entwined flowers in the pot, blossoms turned up and seeking what scraps of sun reflected from windows across the alley.

* * *

Nellie stayed like that until the sun set, and the pleasure of photosynthesis faded.  She carefully grew herself up, disentangled from her green and purple love, and left the pot with a wistful sigh.

She spent the evening and the night studying.  One advantage of spending so much time as a plant was that it took the place of eating and sleeping.  On a student’s budget and schedule, that had proved quite the blessing.

In the morning, Nellie restored Iris just enough that she could speak with her again.  “Looks like another sunny day, love.  Enjoy.”

“Aww, you’re off again?”

“Classes, you know.”

Iris breathed gentle laughter.  “I don’t miss those at all.”

Nellie closed the blinds, dimming but not darkening the room.  “I’ll be back to share sun with you soon enough.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”  They both giggled at the old joke.

Nellie scooped up the other plant pot.  “I’m afraid I have to take your friend here, too.”

Iris stuck out her tongue.  “He was mean.”

“You don’t know the half of it.  He had a knife.  I’m going to take him to the our instructor, to see what should be done.”

“I hope you leave him like that.”

Nellie grinned wickedly.  “I’d like that.  Maybe as a thistle...”

“He did seem prickly.”

Nellie laughed all the way to the door.

* * *

“Come in, Nellie.  My secretary has relayed a rather extraordinary story.  Ah, do sit down Instructor Ostman.”

The middle-aged man standing beside Nellie nodded.  “Of course, Headmaster Griffin.”

Nellie placed a plant-pot on the headmaster’s desk, and sat beside her teacher.

“Can you prove your allegation, Miss McClung?”

“I could partially restore him, and you’d be able to see.”

Headmaster Griffin’s bushy white eyebrows rose into his hairline at the offer, but he simply gestured at the pot.  “Go ahead.”  Instructor Ostman rose from his seat to protest, but subsided when the headmaster shook his head subtly.

Nell walked to the pot, and focussed on the plant.  Her assailant’s head appeared first, and he slowly regained human form.  Once his torso had been restored, Nellie stopped the spell.

“Remarkable,” breathed the headmaster.  “Who are you, little man?”

The tiny half-man looked from face to face and saw no respite there.  “I’m not telling you anything.”

“You don’t need to.”  Headmaster Griffin picked up a news clipping, and read it.  “Recently released rapist Kevin Riley is believed to have stuck again, etcetera. The picture is an excellent resemblance.  You’re responsible for assaulting at least three of my students.  And the disappearance of one Iris Greene.”

“Um,” said Nellie. “She’s at my place.”

“Ah.  We’ll get to that later.  How did you capture this miscreant?”

“I told Instructor Ostman, and he made me tell your secretary.  I don’t think they believed me.”

“In your own words, please.”

So Nellie described the attack, and how she’d cast Lawn Perfection while taking off her dress.

“But that’s not...” interjected Instructor Ostman, before being silenced by a sharp look from the headmaster.

“That spell takes hours to have effect.  I doubt you kept him standing there for that long.”

Nellie shook her head.  “I cast it accelerated, like Instructor Ostman did for our Lawn Restoration final.”

The headmaster glanced at the lanky man beside Nellie.  “You taught the accelerated spell?”

“Of course not!  You know that’s Master-level magic.  I cast it for their exam, and for the re-takes.  We’ve been doing it weekly, as usual.  Nellie here is one of only three in the class that can break it while affected, so far.  Though she still takes the exam every time I do it.”

“So you’d only seen the technique, and thought to use it to save yourself?  Remarkable.”

“Nobody has ever used...”  Instructor Ostman was cut off by another look from the headmaster.

“Take Mr. Riley here to security, and restore him in a holding cell.  The police will be happy to see him.”

“You can’t do this,” argued Kevin.

“Did you really think that you could assault students of the state’s premier magic academy without consequence?  Be glad I am not leaving you in her care, I doubt she would be as lenient as the mundane police.”

Kevin shuddered at the look on Nellie’s face, and shut up.  Instructor Ostman carried him from the room.

Once they were alone, Headmaster Griffin stood up and shook Nellie’s hand.  “Thank you.  His depredations have preyed on my mind for some time now.  He was clever to target students with no offensive training.”  His grin matched the one Nellie had shown to Kevin earlier.  “Then he ran into you.  You are a remarkable student, Miss McClung.”

He studied her before continuing.  “That was not the first time you cast the spell that way.  Nor was it the first time you’d decelerated a Restoration to a halt.”

“No, headmaster.  Iris and I, well she asked...”

“That is the missing student, Iris Greene, yes?”

“Yes.  She can’t do it, headmaster.  Casting without her arms, that is.  That’s why she dropped out.”

“Ah.  Continue.”

“We’d gotten, uh, friendly during the casting exercises where we were tied up to prevent gestures.”

The headmaster chuckled fondly.  “There are always a few in every class... sorry, go on.”

“She asked me to help her with it.  So I used Lawn Perfection on her most every night, and the only way to get practice in quickly was to do what Instructor Ostman did.  Before long, I could turn her into a flower in a few minutes.”

“Remarkable.  A flower, you say?  That spell is only for lawns.”

Nellie shook her head.  “That’s what the instructor said, but it was obvious that it transforms its subjects to suitable plants for their setting.  So if you guide it, other garden plants will grow.”

“You are modifying the spell on the fly?  Show me.”  The headmaster gestured to the broad windowsill on the sunny side of his office, and a pot of soil appeared there.

Nellie was already shrinking as she approached the windowsill.  She hopped up, waited until she was small enough to fit in the pot, then stepped into it.  She was in bliss as her roots grew deep into the lovely, rich soil.  Her body atrophied, greening into a thick stem. Before she was completely transformed into a flower, Headmaster Griffin called out, “That’s enough.”

Nellie turned her daffodil-face to the headmaster.  “Yes?”

“Incredible.  You have remarkable control over that spell.”

“I was always good with plants.”

“Why is a young woman with your natural talent in the landscape program?”

“I told you, I’ve always been good with plants.  Grandma was a hedge witch.”

“But you could excel at most anything we teach!”

“I... my family isn’t rich, and I’m a fourth child.  I can barely afford the classes I’m taking now.  As it is, I’ve been spending my afternoons as a plant so I don’t need to buy food.”

“Ah, so you’re used to being a plant.  I’d wondered why you didn’t change back after your demonstration.”

Nellie closed her eyes, and basked in the sun a little longer.  “I’m sorry.  It’s just, direct sun feels so nice on my leaves.”

Another pot appeared beside her.  “Show me.”

“Headmaster?”

“I have always believed that the best way to learn a spell is from the inside.  It’s a founding philosophy of this institution, and it has served us well.”  He approached the windowsill, putting his hand on the new pot.  “Show me.  Assuming you can cast while like that.”

Nettled, Nellie bobbed her flower affirmatively.  “Of course!”  She looped the spell around him, then frowned.  Another spin, then another, and finally little rootlets of the spell found their way into the cracks.  The rootlets got severed, and more grew in their place, two, then four, then a dozen for every one that was destroyed.  She felt a spell probe against her, and batted it away as if it were a pesky fly.

Soon, the headmaster shrunk down to the point where he, too, could enter his pot.  He grinned at her, and did so.  Nellie stopped the spell once he was in the same state as her, leaving his head partially human, embedded in a fluffy white chrysanthemum that matched his hair.

“Very impressive.  I went easy on you, but your focus was solid.”  He turned his flower to face the sunlight.  “Hmm.  You are right, this does feel invigorating.  For once, I don’t feel my age.  Thank you.”

The door to the headmaster’s office opened, and his secretary stepped in.  She looked around, confused.  “Headmaster?”

“Over here, Ingrid.”

Ingrid walked over to the window, and nodded at her boss.  She showed no sign of surprise at his form.  “It’s almost time for the search committee meeting.”

“Tell them to reconvene tomorrow, I may have found the candidate we need.”

“Of course, headmaster.  Shall I clear the rest of your schedule?”

“Yes.”

After the secretary had left, Nellie turned apologetic petals to the headmaster.  “I didn’t mean to be a bother.  I just wanted something done about... him.”

“Oh, believe me, this is no bother at all.”  The headmaster turned his blossom back to the window, and stood there in silent contemplation for a few minutes.  Nellie was content to wait, she never got sun like this sitting in her little room.

With a sigh, the headmaster shattered Nellie’s spell, swiftly returning to human form.  Another wave of his hand dismissed the pot he’d been in.  “Come, Nellie.  There are things we must attend to.”

Reluctantly, Nellie grew herself back to human, and stepped down off the windowsill.  “What do you need me to do?”

“First, we need to visit a few senior instructors, so you can test out of your classes.”

“Headmaster?”

“Come, come.  You’re ten steps ahead of Instructor Ostman, you can’t tell me you’re not just as far ahead in your other classes.”

“I... afternoons as a plant leave me sleepless at night.  I study a lot then.  I ran out of course texts, and I’ve been borrowing more from the library.”

“And you’ve become well practiced at your spellcraft, to boot.  Your spell modifications are Master-level, but I will need to show that you’re a competent tutor.”

“Oh.  Iris.  I’m sorry, I didn’t know you thought she was missing.  She said she’d dropped out because she couldn’t cast without arms.”

The headmaster led her out of the office, past his secretary, and down the hallway.  “I see.  And you’ve kept her as a flower this entire time?”

“Yes.  She insisted that I not turn her back until she could do it herself.  I’ve come to... uh, enjoy joining her in her flowerpot, so I didn’t...”

“Didn’t question her?  Fair enough, I suppose.  We’ll deal with her later.  Now to those tests.”

Nellie spent the rest of the afternoon and on into the evening with one instructor after another under Headmaster Griffin’s watchful gaze.  She passed the final exam for each of her courses with ease.  

The next set of exams puzzled her, she hadn’t done any formal studies in advanced magical theory.  Blocking spells proved tricky, and she spent a few minutes as a frog before breaking that spell.  The third try, she managed to block enough that only her skin changed colour.  

Headmaster Griffin skipped her past the exam on breaking through spell defences.  “She’s proven herself to me in that regard already.  Tell me, Miss McClung.  What do you know about spell locks?”

“Um, only that they’re not even taught to the seniors.  They’re dangerous, you can get yourself completely stuck with them.”

“Indeed.  Let me demonstrate.  Please, don’t try to block the spell I’m about to cast on you.  I’ll remove it shortly.”

Nellie observed the spell as it built around her, watching how it flowed into her nervous system.  She tested against it briefly, and confirmed what she’d understood of the spell - she was unable to move.  A second spell looped around it, binding it in place.

“That is an outward-facing spell lock.  Try to break the spells on you.”

Nellie struggled against them for some time, but found it impossible to get any purchase on the spells.  Even the tiniest tendril of a spell couldn’t worm its way out.  She started to panic, just a little.  Then she saw the headmaster’s next spell - it barely touched the locking spell, and it simply fell apart.  A moment later, she had the paralysis spell dismantled.

“Are you alright, Miss McClung?”

Nellie panted softly, then nodded and looked up at him.  “Yes, headmaster.  Being trapped like that is unnerving, but I’ll be fine in a moment.”

“Good.  Spell locks work both ways.  If you cast one facing inward, only you can break it.  Try it.”

Nellie first re-established the paralysis spell, then replicated Headmaster Griffin’s effort.  Too late, she realized her mistake - she’d done it exactly as he had, not inverted.

“Ah, not quite.  Do you see the risks, now?  One must be very careful with such things.”  A touch of magic from the headmaster broke the locking spell, and then it reformed inside-out.  Nellie took her time examining it, but there wasn’t much to see.  From the inside, the lock looked more like a big button to press.  A touch of magic, and the spell unravelled.  Nellie dismissed the paralysis as well.

“The paralysis was a nice touch, but unnecessary.  Once more, an inward-facing lock.”

Nellie nodded, and formed the spell as asked.  She was shocked at the spell that the headmaster formed next - something dark and heavy flung itself at the lock, and dissipated there.  She shivered, and stared at her arm to confirm that it had not, indeed, been turned into obsidian.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to scare you.  Simply to demonstrate the other uses.  Do not think that it is a complete defence - fire would still burn you, and blades still cut you.  It also takes long enough to build that any half-aware magus would be able to dismantle it before it is done.  So be watchful for such things, hm?”

Nellie unlocked the spell, and nodded.  “I understand.”

“Good.”  The headmaster turned to address the handful of senior instructors present.  “As you can see, she has shown competent at one of the most advanced techniques we teach.  Is there any dissent on the matter?”

Instructor Ostman spoke up.  “Tutoring.  You said she’s been helping Iris, but the silly girl still can’t cast a still restoration?”

Headmaster Griffin grinned.  “Ah yes.  I believe we are just about to be answered on that point.”

A young woman burst into the room, followed by the secretary.  “I’m sorry, sir, I did tell her you were busy.”

“Miss Greene, I presume?”

The newcomer nodded.  “Yes.  I was worried about Nellie, she didn’t come... oh, there you are.  Wow, I’m sorry I disturbed you.”

“Iris?” asked Nellie.  “How did you get free?”

“I just got so worried about you.  I started trying some of the visualization tricks you taught me, and... pop, before I knew it I had legs.  Took me a bit to remember how to use ‘em, then I ran straight here.  Are you OK?”

Nellie nodded, and hugged her friend.  “I’m glad you finally figured it out.  We can go to classes together again!”

The headmaster shook his head.  “I’m afraid not.”

“Aww, is she still going to have to drop back a year?”

“I think something can be worked out for Miss Greene.  Your situation, however...  You have tested out of your program, you will get your certificate shortly.”

“Oh.”

“That’s great, sweetie!  Why so down?”

“I’ll miss this place, miss you, I...”  Nellie started to sniffle.

“Why don’t the two of you go have a nice real meal together.  Nellie, come back to see me in the morning.”  The headmaster handed Nellie enough money to pay for a dozen meals at the restaurants that she and Iris were familiar with.  They thanked him for his generosity, and left.

Iris only ate a few mouthfuls of each of her dishes.  It had been over a month since she’d eaten any real food.  Nellie fussed over her, but Iris waved it off.

“I’m fine, really sweetie.  I’ve been a plant all day, and even without much sun I’m still feeling full.  It’s weird being human again.  The flavour of everything is amazing... a taste is all I really need.”

“Are you sure?  Being changed for so long can have odd effects.”

“I’m fine.  Really.”

Iris was still feeling slightly queasy, so they made their way back to Nellie’s rented room.  The single bed was too small for the both of them, despite their best efforts.

“Just put me back in the pot,” said Iris.  “I’m used to sleeping there.”

To her surprise, Nellie started shrinking with her, and joined her in the pot.  Once she was half-plant, Iris was feeling much more frisky, and they snuggled together in the deepening gloom.

Later, Nellie kissed Iris on the cheek, and wished her goodnight.

“Aren’t you going to change back?” whispered Iris.

“You’ve slept like this for months.  I want to sleep with you tonight.  And every night.”

Iris smiled lovingly at Nellie, and kissed her once again.  Nellie nudged the spell, and soon there were just two flowers in the pot, entwined.  Their blossoms rested against each other as they closed against the night’s chill.

* * *

In the morning, Nellie restored herself, then encouraged Iris to do the same.  “See?” she crowed when her lover succeeded.  “I knew you could do it!  Why did it take so long?”

Iris blushed, looking down at her feet.  It was still quite novel to have them.  “I liked being stuck.  I didn’t want to know how to change back.”

“But you made me promise not to change you back until you did it yourself!”

“I liked being yours.  Your plant, your lover...  Stuck as whatever you made me.”

Nellie kissed her lover on the cheek.  “If that is what you want, then that is what you shall have.”

Iris beamed.  “Really?  How?”

“I learned how to make spell-locks yesterday.  I can lock you in, and you’ll never free yourself.”

“Cool.  I just wish I could return the favour.  I know you like being stuck, too.”

Nellie smiled back at her friend.  “Wait and see.  But for now, we have to get to the campus.”

“Aww.”

Iris came with Nellie to the meeting with the headmaster.  She figured she could worry about her classes later, she’d already missed far too many to pass.

“Miss McClung,” Headmaster Griffin began.  “As I mentioned, I owe you a debt for stopping that miscreant.  Would you like to stay on at this academy?”

“Yes!  But how?  A scholarship?”

The headmaster laughed.  “No.  The search committee has agreed to my proposal.  Would you be willing to join the staff as an instructor?  Junior level to start, with a salary, room and board on campus.  You’ll be expected to train with the Master-level students as your duties permit, and if you have half the talent you’ve showed in the past few days, I’m sure you’ll be a senior instructor within two years.”

“You want me... to teach?  Here?”

The headmaster nodded.  “It’s difficult to find talented staff, and you’re one of the brightest to have come along in some time.  You’d assist Instructor Ostman with the landscape program at first, since you seem to have great talent there.”

“Oh.  Well, even so, it sounds wonderful.  I accept.”

“Excellent!”  He approached Nellie, and shook her hand.  “I expect great things from you, Instructor McClung.  Now, let’s show you to your rooms.  You’ll have a few days to get your things moved in and sorted out, your duties start next week.”

Nellie and Iris exchanged giddy glances as the headmaster led them through the corridors, past offices and on into the residential wing.

“Ah, here we are.  I’m afraid this isn’t a very popular suite, everyone complains it’s too hot.”

“Oh,” said Nellie.

The headmaster flung the door open.  “Because it has southern exposure, and broad windows, it gets sun all day every day.”

Nellie dashed inside, followed by Iris.  The sitting room had an enormous bay window, and the whole room was filled with sunlight.  Sitting in the bay window was an enormous plant pot, the size of a small couch.  The smell of the rich sun-warmed soil within permeated the room.

“Oh,” breathed Nellie.  “It’s perfect.”

“Excellent.”  The headmaster watched with amusement as both girls hopped into the pot, and started to change into plants, all while holding hands.  “I’ll arrange for your possessions to be sent along,” he added, but they were no longer listening to him.

He watched as the two tall plant-girls reached for each other, shook his head, and closed the door.  “Ah, to be young again.”

Much later, Iris murmured, “Sweetie...  Did you do something to this spell?  I can’t change it.  I wanted to be just a flower, now.”

Nellie smiled, brushing her petals against her lover’s.  “Spell lock.  Just a moment, I’ll release it.”

“Aww.  I wasn’t complaining, put it back.”

Nellie waited.  “Change yourself first.”

“Yes, tutor.”  Iris closed her eyes, and slowly, oh so slowly, her features melted away into that of a flower, still most of four feet tall.  Nellie felt herself start to change as well, and welcomed it.  

The two flowers stood together, entwined, blissful in the sun.  A lock-spell looped around both of them, binding them together.

They stayed that way until the headmaster freed Nellie for her first day of work.  “I see I need to teach you about timed locks.”

Nellie grinned.  “I’m looking forward to it.”

“After your first week’s classes are done, not before.”

She laughed, and rebuilt the lock around Iris.  “Take too long, and I’ll figure it out myself.”

The headmaster smiled at her.  “I look forward to your results.”

On Friday she showed him two locking spell variants.  The first was the timed lock he’d suggested.  The second was a variation that could be unlocked and relocked without dismantling it.

“Very clever, Instructor McClung.  What purpose does it serve?”

Nellie blushed.  “Iris likes to change back and forth from flower-girl to flower.  This way I don’t have to keep rebuilding the lock spell.”

“Ah.  And you didn’t consider creating a conditional spell, and locking that?”

Nellie’s eyes went wide.  “No, but...  Ooh, she’ll love that.  Thank you!”

“I’ll see you on Monday.  Be careful calibrating that time lock, this time I won’t pop by until after your classes start.”

Nellie grinned saucily at him.  “Feel free to come by anytime, and hang out in the pot.  We’ll try not to embarrass you if you do.”

“If your offer extends to the instructors, I suspect you’ll have more than a few takers.”

“Ooh!  We can have a garden party.  Iris would love that.”

“I will leave the arrangements to you, then.  Good day.”

Sunday afternoon saw almost a dozen flowers in the giant pot in their sunroom.  Many different colourful species were there, chattering away brightly.  Afterward, everyone agreed that it was the most unique garden party they’d ever attended, and they were asked if Iris was planning to host another.

Once the others had left, it was just the daffodil and the iris in the pot, leaning on each other’s stems.  They stood like that in silence for an hour, enjoying the descending sun and each other’s company.

Nellie was the first to grow herself back toward human.  “I have a new spell for you, love.”

Iris struggled to give herself a face and arms, and eventually managed it.  Nellie touched the spell, stopping it at just the right state, so Iris didn’t carry on to become human.

“What is it?” Iris asked.

“Give me a few moments, this one is tricky.”

Iris waited and waited, but nothing seemed to change.  Then she felt a lock-spell build around her, and smiled hugely at Nell.  “I’m stuck again?”

“Yes.  But within bounds.  Examine the spell on you, the inner one.”

Iris’ eyes closed, and her pretty petals wrinkled in concentration.  “There’s a sort of... slidy bit that’s not locked.”

“Push on that.”

Iris gasped as she felt her curves melt away.  Moments later, she was a simple flower once more.  Nellie watched, waiting.  Then when Iris didn’t do anything further, she nudged the spell herself, and Iris grew back into a flower-girl.

“How far can I change?” asked Iris, breathlessly.

“This is the limit.  This, a flower, or any spot in between.  That is all you can be until someone releases the lock.”

“Ohhh,” shuddered Iris.  “This is the most wonderful gift ever.  Don’t ever unlock me.”

“That’s hardly fair, love.  I want to be your flower-pet one day, too.  Once classes are over for the term, I’ll have two weeks free.”

“You’d lock yourself for me?”  Iris asked wonderingly.

“Yes love.  No timer, yours for as long as you want me.”

“I love you so much,” Iris said, wrapping her leaves around Nellie.

Nellie brought her flower to Iris’ for a deep kiss.  “I love you too.”

They made love slowly, until the glow of sunlight faded.  As they twined together, Nellie reduced them to plants once again.  An iris and a daffodil closed their petals against the night.