Sorry about how late this was, QLFC! I couldn't access my account for a few days, so... points that will be subtracted are understood. Again, sorry! To everyone else, enjoy!

Round: QLFC: Season 5: Round 6

Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Round Prompt: Frankenstein

Title: The Monster in the Attic

Word Count: 1377 minus AN

"One hundred and twenty-two years ago, to this exact date, a monster was born..."

Ginny Weasley paused, pen twirling between her fingers. She scratched out the writing and began again, but to no avail. Her Muggle Studies class had given her an essay due in three days, and she hadn't even completed a draft yet.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Ginny opened up the script that must have been sitting in her father's closet for a hundred years (or maybe one hundred twenty two) and blew away some of the dust layering the pages.

"Where did he find all of this?" She wondered aloud, looking at the box brimming with Frankenstein-related junk she'd pulled from the aforementioned closet. As she browsed the play, analyzing the plot a bit more, she found the last scene ripped from the book. Throwing the script down, she continued sorting through the box in hopes of finding the missing chapter. When she had thoroughly searched every inch of the cardboard, Ginny stood from her awkward crouch beside the desk and stretched, hitting her head on a part of the ceiling that seemed exceptionally low. The room spun for a second, and she stumbled to the ground. Closing her eyes for a second, she took a deep breath. It wasn't until then that she heard the small creak that seeped through the floorboards of the attic sitting above her.

Odd. I thought I was alone.

Opening the office door, Ginny stepped up the stairs and towards her brothers rooms- that is, Fred and George's- and called out, "If you're trying to scare me, and you've come home just for that, it's rather pointless!"

When the creaking stopped, she snorted. So it was them, you paranoid idiot! Why would it be- All of a sudden, the creaking started up again.

Not such a paranoid idiot, now? It seemed like her beating heart was telling her.

"H-hello?"

The sound became louder, and it seemed like whomever was in the attic was in a rush. In a split second decision, Ginny sprinted to the old wooden door and through it open, only to spot a glimpse of what she thought was the monster she was chasing.

The possibly bloodthirsty monster she was chasing...

Ginny whirled around, only a rush of wind beside her. Catching a reflection in a mirror of something that certainly looked monstrous, she turned again only to see an open window, swinging in the wind.

As it moved, the creaking sound Ginny had been hearing stayed in tune with the window. She realized that whatever noise she'd previously heard had been that fault of a pane of glass, not some monster.

But as she shut the window, locking it tightly, she failed to notice a pair of eyes following her out the door.

A day later and the monster in the attic scenario was still playing in Ginny's mind. She made a split second decision to inspect the attic, hoping not to have to be proved incorrect in her original assumption. There had to be some explanation for the creaking other than a window, right?

The attic itself didn't have such a spooky manner- it was build probably a century ago, based off of how old the wood creating its floor seemed. The walls were a delicate blue, paint peeling in areas. There was no longer any furniture, but Ginny imagined it could have once been a sitting room, considering the many windows lining it. The floor creaked beneath her feet as she scanned the corners. Suddenly, her foot hit something that jangled a bit when she moved it. Bending down, she saw a flash of silver and picked up a screw. A screw that could have easily been part of the monster...

"As the girl inspected every crevice of her attic, she found not a single trace of the horror she'd witnessed only moments before. It had no name, so she proceeded to think of it as The Monster, which was certainly a fair judgement of its appearance."

This time, Ginny's pen kept scratching along the parchment she had procured. Before long, though, the same creaking she'd heard two nights ago plagued the house again. This time she didn't hesitate to investigate.

Sprinting up the stairs two at a time to reach the attic before the monster left, she was still cautious of the noise she was making. She had to be sure it- he?- didn't leave. As she flung open the door, she fought the instinct to shut her eyes and saw it.

The monster.

Its skin seemed to be a sort of patchwork, bits taken from all sorts of people with different skin tones. The only part of it that seemed to be from one person was the head, which was seemingly held together by no small amount of stitches. Screws were holding together each of its joints, which explained the one she'd found on the floor. It wore a torn bomber jacket supported by large cargo pants with holes near the knees, letting a small bit of metal peek through. It wore no shoes, but had a pair of heavy gloves on. Now she noticed that it also had a hoodie (which she had expected in no way) under the jacket, hood pulled up to block the scarred face.

Almost without thinking, she shouted, "You're real!"

It was then that it reacted to her sudden entrance. Rushing towards her, the monster made as if to grab Ginny, yet she ran to the other side of what now seemed to be a claustrophobically small room. Searching frantically for an escape route, Ginny, looked towards the window, but to no avail. There wasn't a single ledge she could have grasped, and so she figured the monster was near indestructible, hence he could easily jump three or four stories to the ground.

While she was distracted, the monster snatched her up and ran out through the window it had escaped from all but two nights ago. When it was swept up in a free fall that lasted only a few seconds (yet felt like an eternity), it landed safely on the ground, but dropped Ginny. She scrambled to her feet, looking fearfully in the direction of her patched up friend. Her head started to spin, and she blacked out from the rush.

"Ginny?"

Ginny opened her eyes slightly, then closed them again. The light of the room was too much.

"Ginny!"

She opened her eyes again, this time waiting for them to adjust a bit. She was in her father's office, clutching a piece of paper.

Wait.

Where was the monster?

"She's okay, she's okay. Thank goodness!" Ginny recognized the voice speaking as her mother's.

"What... what happened?" She sat up, and quickly felt a strong throbbing in her head. "Ow."

"It's okay, you took a hard hit to your head, we guessed. When Ron arrived home, he found you passed out on the floor and called us immediately. How do you feel?"

Shaking her head slowly, Ginny stood. The room spun a bit, then settled as she grasped the desk next to her. "I'm a bit thirsty, actually. Where is the monster?"

"Looks like someone had a bit of a dream!" Looking to her left, Ginny saw her father.

"Hi, dad."

"Hi, Ginny."

After getting a glass of water and a few medical tests, her parents felt she was safe enough to head up to her room. Gripping the handrail as she went, Ginny wondered if the whole monster in the attic scenario really was just a dream, or if it had fled before her family arrived home, dropping her off in the office she had been in prior to the whole event.

As she lay down on the purple comforter of her twin bed, she saw, to her right, on the small wooden nightstand a small screw. The very same, in fact, that had been a part of the monster, the one she'd found on the floor. She laughed aloud, and fell asleep, floating next to the story of Frankenstein and his monster.