DISCLAIMER: For the record, I do not own anything, save for Jacqueline Emerson. As stated many times before, J.K. Rowling has ownership of Harry Potter and his universe. And the poem/song used in this story (The Lullaby) belongs to my old friend from high school. Recently, I discovered the YouTube video that used to contain this song was deleted; I will do my best to ask him to upload it again or to rerecord the song in the future if you would like to hear it.
The Lullaby
His eyes twitched rapidly under his eyelids as Harry James Potter lie fast asleep on the loveseat in the Gryffindor Common Room. For the past couple of months, Harry had been having very strange, yet seemingly real, dreams. The only people he had been able to tell were Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, his two best friends; Harry was not even sure if he could tell his girlfriend, Jacqueline.
Almost five more minutes into the dream, Harry shot up from his slumber with beads of sweat running down the sides of his face. The raven-haired teen wizard panted heavily as he rubbed his temples, trying to obviously forget the dream.
"Have a bad dream, love?"
Harry's eyes averted themselves from the carpeted floor below him to the girl with the high cheekbones in front of him. Jacqueline Emerson, Harry's girlfriend for about seven months, was sitting in the squishy armchair across the loveseat. By the looks of it, Jacqueline had been reading by the fire before Harry jerked himself up from his sleeping state.
"What are you still doing up?" he yawned, glancing at his wristwatch. "It's nearly midnight and you're still down here; there's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow morning…"
"Wouldn't be the same without you fully there, ya'know," Jacqueline complained, pulling her legs in closer to her as she continued to read her book. "Why are you trying to deprive yourself of sleep?"
The Boy Who Lived did not know what to do; it was either he tell his girlfriend the truth about the dream or lie to Jacqueline by saying it was "nothing at all". Harry sat silently for a moment, contemplating his thoughts. If he told Jacqueline, she would either overreact because Harry had kept it from her for so long or she would understand. If he lied to her, she would eventually find out and go ballistic later.
"Look," she continued, "Hermione told me that you haven't been all there lately; said something about how you can't sleep soundly through the night anymore."
Groaning, Harry reminded himself not to trust Hermione when it came to secrets that were to be kept from his girlfriend. The green-eyed boy watched as Jacqueline scanned through the pages of her Muggle book; she did not seem entirely interested in her actual surroundings – including him.
"Yeah… I've been having these weird dreams lately," Harry admitted, still sitting on the couch across Jacqueline. "I figured if I don't sleep, I don't dream. And if I don't dream-."
"You can actually die faster without sleep than you can without food," Jacqueline stated smugly.
"Well, aren't you charming?" Harry teased, rolling his eyes.
"'Tis only the truth, my love," she replied, shutting her book and finally making eye contact with Harry. "Wouldn't want you dying before our first anniversary, now would we?"
"Ha, very funny. But Jackie, you don't understand," explained Harry. "These dreams feel so real… it's scary-."
"Do you want me to sing you a lullaby, my sweet?" interrupted Jacqueline with a far-off look in her eyes. "Mummy and Daddy used to put me to sleep with it when I couldn't get to bed because of my nightmares..."
Shrugging, Harry sighed as he rubbed his temples. "I don't think that's going to work, Jackie. I'm just tired of forcing myself not to sleep."
"Then what have you got to lose?" Jacqueline wondered. "I promise… nothing bad is going to happen, all right? Just listen to the sound of my voice."
"You're not going to try and seduce me, are you?"
"No," Jacqueline responded flatly, "because with me, there is no 'try'. If I wanted to seduce you, I would have done it already."
"Just shut up and sing," Harry laughed.
Jacqueline stood up from the armchair and made her way over to the couch. Carefully, she placed herself right beside Harry and wrapped her arms around him. Holding him there in her arms, she hummed softly.
"I thought you were gonna sing-."
Jacqueline hushed her boyfriend, stroking his raven hair as she forced him to lie down beside her on the couch. It was then she began:
"Sweet dreams. The story is over.
The end of what was left behind.
No need for any more morals.
Are you still awake?"
Harry wrapped his arms around Jacqueline in return as he shut his eyes to the calming tune she sang. He hated to admit it, but Jacqueline's song was already getting to him. Her singing was so bewitching and melodic that it was hard not to fall asleep.
"Night light. The feeling is over.
Where to when senses bewilder you?
Picture your heart's desire.
There is nothing hide…"
Harry could feel himself drifting to sleep slowly, but he was not about to fall asleep in the middle of the song. It was too enchanting to just stop listening in the middle of the song. At that moment, Harry slowly lifted his eyelids to check on his surroundings. Jacqueline was still wrapped in his arms and the fire was still burning in the fireplace; nothing had changed.
"Sleep 'til the break of dawn
By then they'll be long gone
At the end of another day
Go ahead and drift away.
Good night, sleep tight
Don't let the bedbugs bite."
As Jacqueline continued with the mesmerizing tune, Harry continued to hold her in his arms, letting her stroke his hair slowly. There was nothing more perfect than the moment before them. The Boy Who Lived felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier.
"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow.
Don't mind the noises of the night.
Just rest and close your eyes.
The time has just begun."
Snapping his eyes wide open, Harry tightened his hold on his girlfriend, causing her to stop running her hand through his raven hair. Even if her song worked, it would only put him to sleep. It was not exactly guaranteed to stop his bad dreams, he thought to himself.
Harry felt his girlfriend move around under his hold. He allowed her to readjust herself, watching her as she turned to face the fireplace. Once he figured she was comfortable, he wrapped his arms around her again.
"Jackie, I'm scared that-."
"Sleep well. I'll stay right beside you.
'Tick tock,' the clock will ring again.
Please know, my darling dear
I care forever more…"
Smiling to himself at the sound of her voice, Harry felt his eyelids get heavy again. But the song wasn't over and he, more than anything at the moment, wanted to be able to finish listening to her song.
He assumed if he could focus his attention on something then maybe he could fight the urge to sleep. Jacqueline's enchanting song was doing exactly what she had promised it would do, but she didn't tell him that it was such captivating melody that he'd want to hear the rest of it! Forcing his eyes to stay open, Harry brought his attention to the girl in his arms.
"Jackie, what about the nightmares-?"
"Sleep 'til the break of dawn
By then they'll be long gone
At the end of another day
Go ahead and drift away
Good night sleep tight
Don't let the bedbugs bite."
As the sound of Jacqueline's song hit his ear, Harry could feel his eyelids getting heavy again. Even with his attention divided between his girlfriend and her song, he could feel himself losing the fight against her.
But Harry had to get to the end of her song.
That… and the crippling fear that his nightmares would not cease simply because of a simple tune was eating away at his mind.
"Jackie, please-."
"I will defeat all your worries.
They'll fall into the deep abyss.
Let me show you the way
So we can both escape…"
As the song continued, it appeared to Harry that – no matter how much he fought the urge to sleep – Jacqueline was fighting even harder to make sure he got to bed peacefully. And based on the current battle alone, it looked like she was winning!
Harry opened his mouth to attempt to distract her once more; however, Jacqueline brought her hands to his and began to caress the backs of them. With his girlfriend's thumb running up and down on the backs of his hands, the Boy Who Lived found it nearly impossible to concentrate.
"Dream on, the daylight coming.
Sunshine will bring you to your feet.
For now, we'll be here together
Only you and me…"
Perhaps, the raven-haired Gryffindor told himself, his nightmares would truly cease if he just allowed himself to drift into nothingness at Jacqueline's captivating melody. Maybe there was some magic in the melody; after all, she had said her parents used it to put her to rest loads of times in the past.
As Jacqueline continued to stroke the back of his hand, Harry felt himself slipping away into slumber. He could no longer resist the urge to shut his eyes and all asleep. Loosening his hold on his girlfriend, he shifted from behind her slightly and did his best to make himself comfortable. Harry let out a deep sigh before letting his eyelids shield his emerald green eyes.
"Sleep 'til the break of dawn
By then they'll be long gone
At the end of another day
Go ahead and drift away
Good night sleep tight
Don't let the bedbugs bite."
And almost instantly, Jacqueline could feel the steady breathing of her boyfriend behind her.
The Boy Who Lived was finally fast asleep.
"Good night sleep tight
Don't let the bedbugs bite…"
-author's note-
[written]: March 28, 2016
[published]: March 28, 2016
[last updated]: March 28, 2016
[word count]: 1,592 words without a/n
[MV COMMENTS]: thank you so much for reading this fluff piece! don't forget to leave a review; i'd very much appreciate it if you did. thanks again, loves. ~ xoxo, mv.