Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: Send help. My heart has melted from the tiny Teddy here.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 14); Mc4A (Year 4)
Individual Challenges: Neurodivergent (x2); Rian-Russo Inversion (x3); Gender Bent; Ethnic & Present; Claimed; Gryffindor MC; Slytherin MC; Tiny Terror; Zed Era; Bucket Listing (Y); Magical MC (x3); Shifter MC; In a Flash
House: Slytherin
Assignment No.: Term 14 – Assignment 07
Subject (Task No.): Arts & Crafts (Task#1: include a scene of a character knitting.)
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Fantastic Beasts [80](Comfort Eating); 365 Prompts [264](bubblegum pink); Scavenger Hunt [66](Pink/Bombarda/Chocolate); Days of the Year [Mar 31](Trans Character); Aquarium Month [A-08](wanting the ground to swallow them up); Library Week [14](LGBTQ); Karaoke Week [08]("Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey); World Theatre Day [24](School of Rock ALT); Crayon Day [15](Midnight Blue); Children's Book Day [The BFG](someone mixing up their words); World Autism Day [04](someone feeling anxious); Zoo Lovers Day [05](Clinging to someone); Spring Colors [08](Aqua); Spring Flowers [05]("Failure..."); Crystals & Gemstones [05](Sympathy); Hufflepuff Characters [12](Teddy Lupin); Pinata [Easy](Hopeful); Salad Bar [Sliced Strawberries](Constantly Moving); Hogwarts Library [PJ&tLT](Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies)
Other MC4A Challenges: SpB [5D](Laughter); TrB [1E](MacGuffin); Hunt [Sp WD](Anxiety); Chim [Isopra](Gender Bent; Royal Purple)
Representation(s): Autistic & Desi Harry Potter; Fem Harry Potter; NB Teddy Lupin; Teddy Lupin has Anxiety; the Potter/Lupins; Jewish Lupins
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Nontraditional; Teat Juice; Bee Haven; Second Verse (Bedchel Test; Ladylike; Not a Lamp); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Tether); SN (Rail; Ameliorate)
Word Count: 995 words

(^^)
Don't Stop
(^^)

Teddy Lupin tried to work xyr needles with the same fluid stitches that xyr godmother and grandmother was using. Xe really did try. But xe couldn't seem to get it to work the same way, no matter how hard xe tried. Xyr bubblegum pink yarn kept tangling into a horrible knot. Xe hated it. Xe was almost to the point that xe wanted to just throw the whole mess across the room and scream until xe was hoarse.

And the fact that xyr godmother was sitting in her rocker, steadily rocking as she quickly used her own needles to twist her royal purple yarn into stitches of something far more complicated than whatever xe was going to call xyr own creation just made it all the more frustrating.

Nana had slipped out nearly ten minutes ago to deal with something in the kitchen. From the smell of things, she must have heard the ward on the oven going off, because the scent of blackberry hamantaschen cookies was now as strong as the smell from the batch of blue chocolate chip cookies they had made together earlier. In Nana's armchair, she had abandoned her ball of aqua yarn with both needles stabbed into with a half-finished body suspended between them.

As neat and tidy as the future creature to be was, seeing it did nothing to soothe the increasingly loud voice inside Teddy that was telling xem that it was pointless to keep trying. The struggle would never be worth the end reward. Xyr best effort would never match what Harini and Nana could produce with far less effort.

Xyr heart began to pound in xyr chest. The soft pink of the yarn tangled around xyr needles blurred into a meaningless blog as tears began to fill xyr eyes. Why did it even matter? Xe couldn't get the hang of knitting. It just wasn't meant to be, clearly. Maybe xe should take up something more aligned with xyr actual capabilities, like learning how to keep goats in the Scottish Highlands or reciting the alphabet backwards.

Maybe xe should try to convince Auncle Luna that eight was plenty old enough to tag along on their research trips. Xe was no longer so small that xe could be mistake for a dik-dik, after all, and that was their excuse last time they were in the country. They would surely agree that learning to track magical creatures was far more useful than knitting!

"Teddy, what's wrong?" Harini asked, setting aside her yarn project immediately to come over and crouch in front of xem. Even with all of her focus on xem, she was swaying a bit on her toes. Xe could understand the need to move that xyr godmother had. Sometimes doing the same helped calm the anxious racing of xyr own thoughts. In fact, that was why xe was trying to learn how to knit in the first place.

"I hate this," xe declared. Xyr voice was watery and xe couldn't hide how xyr pitch raised towards the end. "I am never going to be any good at it! The yarn just keeps tangling!"

"Hey, now," Harini interrupted. Her brown hands clasped xyr pale tan ones. Xe turned xyr hands to cling to Harini's like xe would if xe felt up to a hug right then. The pressure helped nudge away the tears and fears that were threatening to choke xem. Unfortunately, that also meant that xe were more aware of how close xe had been to breaking down into tears like a baby. Xe wished that the ground would open up right beneath xem and swallow xem up like it did in cartoons. Harini rubbed xyr wrists with her thumbs and made a soft shushing sound. "It's okay, cub. Failure isn't an option. Not in this."

Teddy made a face at the same time Harini closed her eyes and let out a sigh that sounded like it had come all the way from the tips of her toes. Xe giggled a bit as xe realized what must have happened. Harini had a way of mixing up words sometimes, or just stumbling over them so that they came out a jumbled mess. Auncle Luna said it was Harini's ought-ism.

"Failure isn't a possibility," Harini corrected. She worked a hand free to tug gently on a lock of xyr currently midnight blue hair. "You may not succeed at the skill, but the task wasn't to succeed. It was to try, which you did, cubling."

She slid her hand into the patchwork pocket on her apple blossoms printed dress. With a secretive smile, she pulled out a pair of the chocolate chip cookies from earlier. The blue food dye they had added to the dough had turned the resulting cookies a pale blue. Xe grinned as xe took one of the cookies and bit into it. Very few things were more comforting than stolen cookies.

A loud boom echoed through the cottage, making both of them jump, Harini straight up to standing. Before Harini could take more than a step towards the kitchen (which was the source of the explosion), Nana was bustling through the doorway with a tray of cookies, chocolates, and glasses of milk.

"What happened?" Harini asked, bewildered. Nana gave her the blank look that usually meant that one of Harini's not-nice friends from school had shown up again. Harini gave another deep sigh. "What happened?"

"I just put a bit too much force behind my Exploding Hex," Nana assured her. "On a positive note, ash is much easier to clean up than scraps of red paper. Be sure to drink all of your milk, you two, and I'll pretend that I don't see the cookies you've sneaked."

"Yes, Nana," Teddy agreed readily. Xe took a large swig of xyr glass before sliding a hamantaschen off the plate. Maybe xe would try again after they all finished their snack. It could only get better from here, right?