Emotion prompt: Scared

Characters: Albus Potter, Lily Luna Potter

Summary: There's something under Lily's bed.


"Al! Al, wake up!" Albus felt a soft hand persistently shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes by a crack. The digital alarm clock on the bedside drawer showed one o'clock on its fluorescent screen. He groaned.

"Go away," he mumbled, shuffling farther from the touch. He didn't care who it was. He needed to sleep.

"Albus, please!" The voice sounded close to tears.

He opened his eyes, his vision foggy without his glasses, and turned around. A haze of red in front of him, framing something round and pinkish, told him that it was Lily.

He groped for his glasses, and pushing them up on his nose, sat up.

"What is it, Lily?" he said, failing to keep his annoyance out of his voice. His sister might be only three, but she could be really annoying at times.

The little girl looked very scared. She was clutching the black dog soft toy to her chest; her eyes were large and bright, and her lower lip was quivering.

"I can't sleep," she whispered, shuffling closer to his bed.

"Well, all you have to do is lie down and shut your eyes," said Albus, frowning. "Count sheep if you like."

"I..." Lily looked over at the open doorway, as if afraid that someone might come in. Thanks to all her fussing that James had a room all to himself, Lily too had a room of her own, facing Albus' own. "Albus, there's a monster under my bed."

Albus blinked at her. "What? No, of course there isn't. Don't be silly."

"There is, there is!" she screamed, stamping her foot. Tears filled her eyes. "I know there is, and it will eat me up and..."

"How do you know that?"

Lily stared as if the question was absurd. "I know there is. Come and see. I could hear it rustling and scraping at the bed..." The tears flowed. "Albus, will it eat me up?"

"Of course not," Albus said, softened by her tearstained, frightened face. "There isn't any monster. But if you insist," he added quickly as Lily opened her mouth to protest, "let's go and chase it out."

Lily's room was dark, with the little bedside lamp put out. Albus walked towards the small single bed, Lily stumbling behind him, clutching at his nightshirt. As they reached the bed, Albus stooped to the level of the bed. Lily had stopped a few feet away, biting her lip. He lifted the cover and looked down.

"Look, Lily, there's nothing —" he began to say, but then froze. Staring at him unblinkingly were two bright orbs of light. Seconds ticked as Albus stared at them and they at him. What in Merlin's name was that?

And then Lily heard Albus laugh.

"Oh, Lils, just look at this," he said, and at his laughing voice, she found some courage and stepped closer. Suddenly, Albus rapped the bedpost with his knuckles, and from beneath the bed, out rushed a kitten — Mum's new pet kitten, Annie. Lily blinked as the kitten sat down at the door and meowed at her.

"See, this is your monster!" Albus laughed. Lily smiled sheepishly. She felt very silly. Albus shooed the kitten away and made to get back to his bed.

"Anyway, could I sleep with you, please, Al?"

Albus turned around, a smile blooming on his face.

"Come on."


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