The Houses Competition
House: Hufflepuff
Class: Potions
Category: Drabble
Prompt: (object) friendship bracelet
Word Count: 888
Warnings: For extreme fluff explosion, and a slight bit out of character due to the Severus Lives and marries Hermione!AU in use.
I hope you all enjoy Severu's First Friendship Bracelet.
Severus looked at the piles upon piles of beads and string strewn about the pink and white child-sized tables and wondered how he found himself here of all places. He had told Hermione he wanted to bond with her and Ronald Weasley's children individually. This was not what he'd intended when he'd made the suggestion.
"Come on, Sev," Rose said, tugging on his hand impatiently, eyeing up a table with an assortment of different shaped beads. "This is going to be so much fun!"
He put on a smile that he hoped the young girl would take as hopeful and not anything derogative, but he wasn't sure it was very convincing.
"What is the purpose of all of this?" he pointed towards the tables laden with jewels and whatnot of every kind.
"Have you never made a friendship bracelet before?" Rose asked, her voice taking on a sad tone. It was as though the poor girl couldn't think of any child who had never been asked to make one.
"I—It's complicated."
He didn't want to make her sad by mentioning that he had only had one friend when was younger. That one friend was Lily Evans, and for that matter, he had ruined that friendship by joining the Death Eaters. He didn't want his stepdaughter to look at him the way most witches and wizards did nowadays. Like he was a horrible human being for joining the group of people who pretended to be his friends.
Rose turned thoughtful for a second. Severus could see the wheels turning in her head. He could see the numerous questions forming but was pleased when she didn't press the matter any further.
"Then I will show you how it's done," she said, taking his hand once more and dragging him towards a table full of magic-based baubles.
"Are sure that I will be able to follow along?" Severus asked, looking in apprehension at the assorted jewelry-making tools in front of them.
Rose giggled. "Of course, silly! It's very easy. Just watch what I do and do the same. Okay?"
"Okay."
Rose picked up a black piece of stretchy string that she directly wrapped around his wrist as though that was a sort of measuring tool.
"First you have to pick out the string for the bracelet," she told him, nodding towards the strings and watching expectantly.
"They all seem very pretty," he said, looking at the young girl. "But which color do you think I should use?"
"Personally, I like purple," Rose said, eyeing the string wistfully. "But it's better to make the bracelet specific to the person you're giving it to."
"Oh," Severus replied, nodding sagely as his hand drifted towards the purple string when her attention was averted by the ornaments on the table. He eyed the size of the child's wrist and cut the string to the length he gauged it to be.
"Then you have to choose the beads," Rose exclaimed happily. "This is my favorite part because you get to show how much you know about the other person."
Severus swallowed a lump in his throat. What did he know about this child besides the fact that her parents had once been his students? He watched as she strung together a couple of black-colored beads.
"I usually choose the charms the same way I choose the string," Rose supplied, catching sight of his confused look.
Severus nodded. He thought carefully as he reached for a handful of varying purple beads. The differing shades amazed him. Hermione had said that Rose enjoyed reading as much as she did so he reached out for a couple of book-shaped baubles. This was joined by a wand and a cat. Rose enjoyed magical and normal creatures too so he added a dragon and fairy bauble as well. Then a broom and a castle because of her excitement to go to Hogwarts eventually. She was only five years old and already talking about what House she wanted to be in.
"Looks like you need one more bead," Rose pointed out, looking appraisingly at the bracelet.
"I do?" Severus asked, following Rose's gaze to the perfect last bauble. It looked exactly like the Sorting Hat. He quickly scooped it up when she diverted her attention back to her own bracelet.
He strung the bracelet together and tied it perfectly. He watched as Rose tried to tie hers but got frustrated.
"May I?" he asked, reaching out to help her.
Rose nodded, handing the bracelet over and Severus smiled as he taught the young girl how to tie a knot. He then handed her the bracelet back.
"I'm sure your friend is going to like this," he told her, wondering what child had a wrist the size of a grown man.
"I'm sure Mummy's going to like your one," Rose said, grinning.
"But it's not for your mummy," he said, placing the bracelet on Rose's wrist and smiling at her shocked reaction.
She smiled and raced around the table to hug him. She quickly slipped the bracelet she'd made on his wrist and grinned up at him.
"Now we've got matching friendship bracelets," she exclaimed happily. "I can't wait to show, Mummy."
Severus would remember this day for the rest of his life, and he would always cherish his first friendship bracelet. Always.
I hope you all enjoyed Severus's First Friendship Bracelet as much as I enjoyed writing it.