Story requested on my tumblr multifandomhaven.
"Mummy," a breathy whisper tickled her ear. "Mummy, are you awake?"
Natalie stirred awake, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She struggled to see through the sleepy haze, squinting her eyes in the darkness to get a better view. She rolled over and turned on the lamp by her bedside. Her little red haired daughter stared up at her from the side of the bed, her chubby little fingers tangled in the sheets around her. Her brown eyes blinked up at Natalie, her father's eyes, red and watery. "Mummy."
"What is it, darling? What's wrong?"
The little girl's face screwed up, just the way her father's would to when one of his experiments had gone wrong, and it broke her heart. "I'm feeling sad. Can I sleep with you tonight?"
She nodded and picked her up, placing her in the bed. Instantly she snuggled into her mother's side, burying her face against her side. The only thing she could see above the blankets that covered them both was the fluffy mass of curly red hair that had somehow escaped from her wild braid. The little girl's arm went around her as she held her close.
"Baby, did you have another dream?" Natalie asked her softly, her fingers gently stroking the top of her daughter's head. "Was it a scary dream?"
The little girl shook her head. "No."
"What did you dream about, then?"
The little girl raised her head up and looked at Natalie, her bottom lip shaking. "I dreamed about Daddy."
Natalie's heart broke for her - she hadn't had the chance to meet her father, he died just before she found out she was with child, and yet she had dreams about him constantly. Some made her happy, she'd run through the house with glee for hours talking of all sorts of jokes and pranks she'd be able to play once she got her letter to Hogwarts. Others made her sad, as the one that night had done. She had a big heart, her little girl, and it reminded Natalie so much of her father.
"Mummy, do you think that I would have made Daddy sad?"
"No, not at all," Natalie hushed her. "Your father didn't know about you before he passed, but he would have loved you more than anything."
The little girl wiped at her eyes with her fists. "That's what Uncle George says."
"And you know that Uncle George would never lie to you, right?"
She nodded. "I know."
"Good," Natalie said as she leaned down to kiss her head. "Now, what was it that happened in your dream that made you so sad, sweetheart?"
Her daughter looked at her with those same sad eyes that woke her. "Well, sometimes when I have dreams about Daddy he just looks really sad. He tells me that he didn't want to leave, but sometimes we don't have a choice."
Natalie swallowed back her tears. "What else did he say?"
The little girl shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing else tonight. Sometimes he takes me to the joke shop, it has all kinds of things in it, Mummy - not what's in it now! He puts me up on his shoulders, he was really tall, and takes me all through it."
Natalie smiled and felt a stray tear fall down her cheek and sighed through her tears. "That sounds wonderful, baby."
"Mummy, have I made you sad?" The little girl asked quietly.
Natalie hiccuped, but shook her head all the same, pulling her daughter into her arms tightly, and said into her hair, "No, Winifred Weasley, you've made me the happiest woman in all the world."