A/N: Written for the Psychological Disorders challenge with the disorder: phobia. Also written for the If you Dare Challenge for the Level: DARK and prompt #512: fear, and for the 5,10,20,50,70,100 Fandoms challenge, fandom 1.


A Five Year Old With His Teddy Bear

Teddy was soft. Comfortable. Easily squashed between his cheek and the crook of his arm. A little stubbled maybe; he spilt treacle on it just that morning and his mother had cleaned it off. A little scratchy on the bare skin. Still comfortable though, little plastic black nose nudging his chin and little beady eyes pressed into his cheek and six plastic claws poking his arm –

But Teddy didn't have six feet, or plastic ones for that matter.

Ron cracked his eyes open, expecting to see Teddy's brown and fuzzy face – and screamed, throwing the mostly stuffed animal away from him. Teddy did not have six feet! Teddy was not black! Teddy did not have little black hairs and yellow eyes and a round belly and pincers! Teddy was –

Teddy was a nightmare. It was the only way to explain it. Teddy's sweet and comforting presence had twisted. His five year old mind could easily recognise the scent of treacle and calming potion, but his eyes saw something else; his hands felt something else: the thing of his nightmares. Those little black hairs rising up, those six legs trapping him in a cage, pinning down pyjama cloth, those sharp little pincers cutting effortlessly through his flesh.

Cli-click! Cli-click!

He threw the bed covers over himself, pillow slipping forward to act as the shield. Teddy had been cursed; he knew it. Teddy had failed to protect him from the spiders, had become a spider, and was now crawling towards him –

Cli-click! Cli-click! Fu-fu-fu!

– laughing at him.

If he had peeked out from the covers, he might have realised that it was Fred and George doing the laughing. He might have realised that his very angry mother had appeared in the doorway and fixed Teddy, so it was the soft fuzzy bear he slept with. He might have noticed Bill trying to coax him out from the haven of blankets, but his heart was beating too loudly, drowning everything but the Cli-click of the spider advancing.