(no subject)
Title: Made Them Myself
Author:
laundrylove
Rating: G
Prompt Set: 100.1
Prompt: 036. Family
Word Count: 924
Summary: Ariana wants to make Albus' birthday by herself, and she can do it, too, thank you very much. She doesn't need help.
Warnings: none :)
"I can do it," Ariana insisted, frowning when her older brother attempted to pull away the pair of socks she had been carefully knitting.
"Let me help you," Aberforth coaxed, sliding over to he sat beside her on the worn couch. Ariana shook her head violently. Why couldn't he understand that she could do it by herself?
"Present," she said stubbornly, digging her finger beneath a thread to pop it out. She was going to do this all alone, with no help from anyone. Couldn't Abe remember Daddy saying that you had to fight your own battles? Well, she wasn't really sure what that meant, but these socks were certainly a battle, so she took the meaning as such.
"Present," she repeated to herself, her tongue poking from between her lips in concentration. Abe sighed.
"I know," he said soothingly, "but Albus won't really mind if I help you a tiny bit, don't you think?" Ariana shook her head. Al's birthday was still . . . she craned her neck to see the cheerful calendar hanging on the wall opposite. It wasn't really all that useful- she always forgot that she had purposefully kept the page turned to the month before, because the moving photo of kittens was so lovely she couldn't bear to see it go.
"Two weeks away," Abe supplied, seeing his sister look towards the calendar. Ariana nodded.
"Time," she told him calmly, before violently ripping out a line of stitches, perfectly betraying her mood. Aberforth sighed before carefully and subtly flicking his wand at her work so the yarn was no longer frayed but neat and clean.
"Abe!" Ariana shrieked, looking crestfallen. "No, no, no. Cancel, cancel."
"Why did Albus ever try that stupid thing?" Aberforth muttered to himself, undoing his previous work quickly. Albus had read in one of his trusted books about a program from mentally challenged- though that was far from what Ariana was! -children, that taught them to cancel out anything bad they did by repeating the word instead of exploding. Unfortunately, Ariana had taken to using the phrase whenever her siblings did something she was not pleased with, too, like when Albus burnt the eggs at breakfast one morning. Aberforth smirked when he remembered an afternoon several days before when she had shaken her head sadly at Gellert, who had agreed to play jacks with her before losing spectacularly, and saying, "Cancel, cancel, bad Gellert."
"Red?" Ariana questioned. Abe looked at her exasperatedly.
"Ari, don't you think you should finish that line with yellow?" he said reasonably. Ariana shook her head, causing her long tangles of hair to fall softly from the ribbon Albus had tied it back with.
"Red," she said once more, holding her hand out expectantly. Inwardly rolling his eyes, Aberforth complied, giving her the circle of red yarn.
"How many colours have you got on there now?" Abe asked interestedly. Ariana looked carefully over her socks, which, if he was being honest, resembled some sort of shapeless blobs.
"Four, six, eight," she counted, completely ignoring the odd numbers. For reasons neither Albus, Aberforth, nor even Gellert could comprehend, she despised odd numbers, though Gellert only knew this because she had counted the buttons on his cloak and come up with sixty four. It was commonplace for Albus to quickly calculate what the real number was, and Aberforth attempted to do this when Ariana told him there were twelve colours.
"You mean six," he corrected gently. She nodded absently before returning to her work. Several peaceful moments passed, which Aberforth was grateful for, but knew it would not last- peace was not long when Ariana was around.
He was correct. "Oh!" she gasped irritably, undoing yet another line of her careful work. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and Aberforth moved over beside her, patting her back soothingly and attempting to slide the socks from her hands to his.
"No!" Ariana screeched loudly, tugging them back. "I can do it!" Hastily, Aberforth moved away from her; there were times she needed to be rocked and comforted, and times she needed to blow off rage. This was obviously the latter.
She went back stubbornly to Albus' birthday present. Privately, Aberforth didn't think his older brother was worth it.
--
"Happy birthday!" Ariana said gleefully, dragging the still half-asleep Albus into the kitchen.
"Happy birthday," Aberforth repeated dully, rubbing his eyes. He had thought his sister would grow out of the habit of waking them all up at dawn on occasions she deemed important.
"Th-th-thanks," Albus yawned, running a hand through his hair carelessly. "Can I go back to bed now?" Ariana shook her head.
"No, no," she said, rushing to the table, where she had laid out her present carefully the night before. "Present, Al, present." Albus looked surprised when she shoved the package into his hands.
"Open," Ariana urged; she had let Abe help her wrap the present, and was quite pleased at the lovely shade of yellow she had chosen for the paper. "Open, Al. Present."
"Okay, okay," Albus muttered, stripping the paper off of the present. His brow furrowed when he had finished.
"Oh, erm, thanks, Ari. They're nice."
"On, Al, on," she ordered, her small hands flying everywhere in excitement. Albus looked to Aberforth, who sighed.
"Yes, Albus, why don't you put on your wonderful new socks?" he said deliberately, and his brother flashed him a grin before pulling the material onto his feet and smiling warmly at his sister.
"Made them myself," Ariana informed him proudly. "Made them myself."
Author:
laundrylove
Rating: G
Prompt Set: 100.1
Prompt: 036. Family
Word Count: 924
Summary: Ariana wants to make Albus' birthday by herself, and she can do it, too, thank you very much. She doesn't need help.
Warnings: none :)
"I can do it," Ariana insisted, frowning when her older brother attempted to pull away the pair of socks she had been carefully knitting.
"Let me help you," Aberforth coaxed, sliding over to he sat beside her on the worn couch. Ariana shook her head violently. Why couldn't he understand that she could do it by herself?
"Present," she said stubbornly, digging her finger beneath a thread to pop it out. She was going to do this all alone, with no help from anyone. Couldn't Abe remember Daddy saying that you had to fight your own battles? Well, she wasn't really sure what that meant, but these socks were certainly a battle, so she took the meaning as such.
"Present," she repeated to herself, her tongue poking from between her lips in concentration. Abe sighed.
"I know," he said soothingly, "but Albus won't really mind if I help you a tiny bit, don't you think?" Ariana shook her head. Al's birthday was still . . . she craned her neck to see the cheerful calendar hanging on the wall opposite. It wasn't really all that useful- she always forgot that she had purposefully kept the page turned to the month before, because the moving photo of kittens was so lovely she couldn't bear to see it go.
"Two weeks away," Abe supplied, seeing his sister look towards the calendar. Ariana nodded.
"Time," she told him calmly, before violently ripping out a line of stitches, perfectly betraying her mood. Aberforth sighed before carefully and subtly flicking his wand at her work so the yarn was no longer frayed but neat and clean.
"Abe!" Ariana shrieked, looking crestfallen. "No, no, no. Cancel, cancel."
"Why did Albus ever try that stupid thing?" Aberforth muttered to himself, undoing his previous work quickly. Albus had read in one of his trusted books about a program from mentally challenged- though that was far from what Ariana was! -children, that taught them to cancel out anything bad they did by repeating the word instead of exploding. Unfortunately, Ariana had taken to using the phrase whenever her siblings did something she was not pleased with, too, like when Albus burnt the eggs at breakfast one morning. Aberforth smirked when he remembered an afternoon several days before when she had shaken her head sadly at Gellert, who had agreed to play jacks with her before losing spectacularly, and saying, "Cancel, cancel, bad Gellert."
"Red?" Ariana questioned. Abe looked at her exasperatedly.
"Ari, don't you think you should finish that line with yellow?" he said reasonably. Ariana shook her head, causing her long tangles of hair to fall softly from the ribbon Albus had tied it back with.
"Red," she said once more, holding her hand out expectantly. Inwardly rolling his eyes, Aberforth complied, giving her the circle of red yarn.
"How many colours have you got on there now?" Abe asked interestedly. Ariana looked carefully over her socks, which, if he was being honest, resembled some sort of shapeless blobs.
"Four, six, eight," she counted, completely ignoring the odd numbers. For reasons neither Albus, Aberforth, nor even Gellert could comprehend, she despised odd numbers, though Gellert only knew this because she had counted the buttons on his cloak and come up with sixty four. It was commonplace for Albus to quickly calculate what the real number was, and Aberforth attempted to do this when Ariana told him there were twelve colours.
"You mean six," he corrected gently. She nodded absently before returning to her work. Several peaceful moments passed, which Aberforth was grateful for, but knew it would not last- peace was not long when Ariana was around.
He was correct. "Oh!" she gasped irritably, undoing yet another line of her careful work. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and Aberforth moved over beside her, patting her back soothingly and attempting to slide the socks from her hands to his.
"No!" Ariana screeched loudly, tugging them back. "I can do it!" Hastily, Aberforth moved away from her; there were times she needed to be rocked and comforted, and times she needed to blow off rage. This was obviously the latter.
She went back stubbornly to Albus' birthday present. Privately, Aberforth didn't think his older brother was worth it.
--
"Happy birthday!" Ariana said gleefully, dragging the still half-asleep Albus into the kitchen.
"Happy birthday," Aberforth repeated dully, rubbing his eyes. He had thought his sister would grow out of the habit of waking them all up at dawn on occasions she deemed important.
"Th-th-thanks," Albus yawned, running a hand through his hair carelessly. "Can I go back to bed now?" Ariana shook her head.
"No, no," she said, rushing to the table, where she had laid out her present carefully the night before. "Present, Al, present." Albus looked surprised when she shoved the package into his hands.
"Open," Ariana urged; she had let Abe help her wrap the present, and was quite pleased at the lovely shade of yellow she had chosen for the paper. "Open, Al. Present."
"Okay, okay," Albus muttered, stripping the paper off of the present. His brow furrowed when he had finished.
"Oh, erm, thanks, Ari. They're nice."
"On, Al, on," she ordered, her small hands flying everywhere in excitement. Albus looked to Aberforth, who sighed.
"Yes, Albus, why don't you put on your wonderful new socks?" he said deliberately, and his brother flashed him a grin before pulling the material onto his feet and smiling warmly at his sister.
"Made them myself," Ariana informed him proudly. "Made them myself."