QLFC - Puddlemere United - Beater 2: Write about losing a pet (to death or otherwise). Additional: (action) running, (creature) Niffler
Florence is technically a canon character, but she was only mentioned once, as being spotted by Bertha Jorkins while she was kissing a boy. I have my headcanons.
Word Count: 1,026
singing from the heartache (from the pain)
Florence was all of three years old when she found a niffler roaming her family's large garden. That's not to say that she knew what a niffler was at that point. She simply thought that the little thing she had found digging in her dad's precious roses looked cute, so she stopped playing on the swings, jumped off them, and wandered over to the bushes.
So after a few seconds of considering her options, she picked the small animal up in front of her face for a moment.
"I'm going to call you Hunter," she said, and then ran off to find her dad. He had been watching her play on the swings or in the sandpit for most of the day, sometimes joining in, but he had left a while ago and told her he would be back soon.
She found him in the kitchen, where he had been distracted by her stepbrother, Timothy, who was six and doing his homework.
The thing was that Timothy already had the help of his dad — but it was her papa, which was different, but okay — so she didn't really think it was fair.
But on the other hand, that meant that with her dad and her papa in the same place, she wouldn't have to ask twice. Also, sometimes she had the attention of both of them when Timothy didn't so that kind of worked out in the end.
She called attention to herself by clearing her throat and holding the niffler up as high as she could.
"Can we keep him? His name is Hunter," Florence informed her family, doing her best pleading expression in the hope to persuade her papa. Papa was usually the one who gave in first and then convinced her dad.
"Sweetheart, that's a niffler," her dad pointed out.
Timothy looked up from his homework at that and looked at he creature in Florence's arms. His eyes widened and his mouth opened ever so slightly in wonder.
"Uh, maybe," Florence said. "I found it digging by your roses."
"My roses?!" her dad exclaimed, clearly in panic. He looked at her papa, who smiled softly, as if he wanted permission.
Which was silly. He was a grown-up. Grown-ups don't need permission from anyone to do anything.
"You go and check on your roses, I can handle this," her papa said.
"Thank you." Her dad rushed in the garden as soon as he spoke those words.
Her papa knelt down next to her and gently brushed her dark locks away with his tawny brown hand.
"Flo, love," he said. "A niffler is not a good pet. They want to be free and they collect all the shiny things they can find. Like money, but also things like your Mom's necklace. And you wouldn't like it if you couldn't find that anymore, would you?"
"No." Florence shook her head. "I wouldn't like this at all." That necklace was, after all, the only connection she had to her mother. Losing it was something she would very much like not to think about.
"That would be bad," Timothy added from his place at the table. And he at least could still visit hismom, which was something Florence had not one been able to do, ever.
It was kind of strange, to miss someone who she had never actually met, but that's what it was.
"I'll tell you what," her papa said, placing a finger under her chin and making her look up in his face. "We'll go and see if we can find another animal to get as a pet, something we can actually take care of reasonably."
"Oh, like a crup, maybe?" Timothy proposed. A crup would be cool, Florence had to agree. Timothy often had good ideas, even if not always.
"Perhaps," her papa replied. "If we can make time for that. But let's get this niffler to a place it will actually be able to enjoy. A place that is not here."
Florence nodded as she absently stroked Hunter. "Okay. So back in the garden and let him run free?"
Timothy moved from his chair. He was probably excited and didn't want to chance missing a second of setting the niffler free. This was like their own personalFree Willy, and he loved that movie more than anything.
"Let's go a bit further away from home," her papa said. "We don't want him coming back, do we?"
"Um, no?" Timothy responded.
"That's right, we don't want that." Papa nodded.
Right then, her Dad came back inside "The roses are okay. Also, we don't want what?"
"To set the niffler free close to our home!" Timothy announced.
"That indeed sounds like a good idea," her dad agreed. "Are you ready to let… Hunter was its name, yes? Are you ready to let him go?"
Florence wasn't. Not quite, at least. But she knew that the longer she waited, the harder it would be. After all, losing toys was harder when she had had them for a while, so surely it was the same with pets.
She looked up at her parents. "I'm ready," she said, as bravely as she could.
Her fathers exchanged one of those looks that somehow managed to be an entire secret conversation.
"Alright, honey. We're proud of you," her papa told her. Then he picked her up and placed her at his hip while her dad took Timothy's hand.
And the next thing she knew, they were in an open field she recognized from their camping trip last month.
"You can let go of Hunter now," her papa prompted her, after the four of them simply stood there for a minute.
"I know," Florence answered, clutching Hunter tightly to her chest. "But I really don't want to."
She heard her dad sign the way he often did when she did something he considered to be very cute.
"You can do it," Timothy encouraged her. "Think about how much more fun Hunter will have when he's free."
"You're right." Florence took a deep breath and let Hunter go. The niffler promptly ran off into the distance. "Bye bye, Hunter."