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: I've had this finished for nearly two weeks but hadn't had the time to do the meta stuff on it. And I just realized that I'm posting this on National Day of Mourning, so I hope y'all are having an enjoyable day with your families. May you be safe.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Quidditch League (Post S10); Hogwarts 2.0 (Term 01); RAVEN (2023); MC4A (Fa-Y6)
Individual Challenges: Pet Food; Me Matey; Vegetable Broth; Fruit Salad; Quaffles (Y); Bludgers (Y); Purple Scholar; Feather Head; Rowboat (Y); Heroic Shadow (Y); Magical MC; No School MC; Sandbox (Y); Reader; Cinematic; Gamer; Singer; Feathers & Such; Historics; Dreamers; Nonhuman MC; Shifter MC; Ethinic & Present; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; Bucket Listing (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Two Cakes (Y); Fuzzy Socks; Bi Bi Bi; Setting Sail; Castle Time; Historical Era; Rainbow Connection; Gender Bender; Hold the Mayo
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 01-06
Subject [Task (Prompt)]: Apocalypse Studies [Task#4: Write about a time with no technology.]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Gather [Bonus (Artificer)](Creating a Magical Object); Case [Bowtruckle](Forest Green); Web (Harry/Blaise)[Extra Strength Arachnid Needles 02 (Comforting)]
Post Season QL Challenges: Bingo [C4](Blaise Zabini)
RAVEN Challenges: Colors [03](Apple); Items [111](Sketchbook); Settings [81](Island)
Other MC4A Challenges: AU [4A](Selkie); FaB [5E](Picture); Set [2C](Workstation); Ship (Heroic Shadow)[FaMic1 (Different Era)]; Chim [Bugwort]("The Anonymous Ones" – Dear Evan Hansen; Turned Left Instead AU; Race Bend); Hunt [Fa Con (Wax)]; Fire [x3](Across the World); Garden [Statuary (Table); Tropes (Gender Bend); Bait (Gender Bend)]; Harvest [A&B (Cutting; Twisting); AUs (Historical); Items (Wax); R&E (Courting); Hang [Phrase 1](n/a); Soup [R (Rare)]
Representation(s): Blaise Zabini/Harry Potter; Courtship Gift Creation; Mer AU; Royalty AU; Historical AU
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Under the Bridge; Second Verse (Nontraditional; For the Vine; Lovely Coconuts; Grease Monkey; Most Human Bean); Chorus (Endless Wonder; Wabi Sabi; Bee Haven; Machismo; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; Fire & Fold); Demo 1p (Darkest Day; Ariel's Temptation; Triton's Domain)[x3]
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terse; Thimble); FR (Satisfaction); O3 (Olivine); HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary); Once (Under the Sea; Inchworm); Mea (Athenaeum); Wings (Ichthyology)
Word Count: 759 words
(^^)
Siren's Heart
(^^)
Blaise stood in the entrance of the smaller of the castle's libraries, just taking in the stacks of books and scrolls surrounding him. Dotted around the heavy shelves were artifacts that his father had gotten on his trading trips. There was an entire legacy in this room that was at odds with the one in the rest of the castle. Over the lit fireplace was a portrait of his father. While his dark hair and violet eyes matched, Blaise knew that everything else, including the dark brown of his skin, was like his mother. Still, the feeling that he was being watched over by his father was comforting.
Especially given what had brought Blaise to the library this particular day.
He ran his hand along the edge of the shelves as he walked deeper into the room. As he went, he admired the details carved into the thick wood and the craftsmanship of the furniture. He could almost feel the spirit of the artist within every piece. This library was the one that his mother had built as a courting gift to his father. The gifts were as much a part of their traditions as anything else they did on their tiny island nation.
He walked to the back of the library, where his father had long ago set up a workstation for crafting jewelry and enchanting it. The main focus was a heavy oak desk that had many drawers which locked. It had racks and hooks above it to hold the hand tools. The cabinet to the right of the desk had various material from gems and crystals to wires made from rare metals.
To the left was a matching bookcase filled with books. Here on this single shelf were his father's references for enchanting things. No matter how many times Blaise looked over the familiar titles, it never ceased to feel as if he had just found the key to a new world. He always felt closer to his late father while in this place than he ever did fulfill the same royal duties that the other man had.
There was something that was beyond merely comforting and just right that Blaise would be using the same tools to make his own courting gift.
Settling onto the sturdy workbench, Blaise took out the materials that he had carefully gathered and placed them on the leather mat that had been secured to the desk with wax. He had obtained a rare opal the same size as the palm of his hand. The fiery play of colors across its surface leaned towards greens and golds over the standard reds and oranges. The combination which reminded him of Harini's apple-green eyes and the gilded-edged forest green scales of her long tail.
His siren was just as much a natural beauty as the stone in his hand.
Blaise set the opal aside before pulling out a coil of silver wire. He had bought the wire from a merchant visiting the nearby port. It was the purest silver he had ever seen, practically made of solid moonlight. He wanted to make the pendant worthy of his siren love and hoped that by crafting such a beautiful piece of jewelry, she would be more inclined to give up her life in the sea for him. He eyed his sketchbook that was open to the design he had made for the pendant. He could only hope that he was good enough to pull off such a feat.
Blaise started by carefully cutting precise lengths of wire. The cutters bit through the metal without any hesitancy, exactly as sharp as they had been charmed to be by his father. With a small set of pliers, he began to twist the wires together. He had the idea of surrounding the opal with a simple outline of a heart shape. It would be a representation of his love and how he would support Harini's beautiful self.
He finished the pendant just as the sky outside began to darken due to the moon moving in front of the setting sun. He smiled to himself as he shook out his aching fingers. He had created something that would never be forgotten. Now all that was left was for him to present it to the siren herself. Blaise carefully wrapped the pendant in a small silk kerchief and placed it in his coat pocket, eager to make the short walk to the seashore.
As he stepped outside, he felt a warmth in his heart.
It felt a lot like hope.