It's quiet, the only sign of life is the quiet passerby of cars out his window, of the not so quiet shuffling sounds his Uncle is making while getting ready for bed. He waits, staring up at the ceiling with no signs of falling asleep anytime soon and lets his mind wander.
The streetlights give a low hum as they slowly but surely dim by dying light bulb. Sighing, the boy rolls over and freezes. His eyes widen, his mouth falling open at the sight of a slightly thick black looking cloak thing peeking over the side of his bed.
He watches as it falls, seeming to bunch up and look like it's about to attack. Oh, Merlin, it's a Lethifold! Sitting up as fast as he can, he presses his back against the wall trying to get as far away from the creature that's likely to eat him within the next few minutes than it is to turn around and find a new victim.
"Wait! Please don't eat me. Merlin knows my life's been pretty questionable up until now, let's not make it so I end up dying by a Lethifold. The irony would not be lost on me, that's for sure." His voice is louder than he'd hoped it'd been. He takes his eyes off the creature (not his smartest move, he knows, but he's more scared of what Vernon would do) to look at the door, listening for any signs his uncle will wake up and make his way down to his room.
When it's quiet for a few minutes, no sign the man had woken up, he sighs in relief and looks back at the creature who seems to have (relaxed?) on his floor. He watches as the thing turns, what he can only assume is the head, sneaks through the cat flap in his bedroom door, the rest of its weird body following, and out of his room.
He watches, somewhat numb and in shock, as the flap moves back into place, still, like that hadn't just happened.
He can't sleep that night no matter how forcefully calm and still he is, fear and adrenaline still coursing through his veins. It feels like the longest day he's had in a while (and he's had a few), sluggishly moving through his chores and then collapsing on his bed and falling asleep the moment his head hits his pillow.
He wakes up sometime early morning the next day, somewhat well rested. The sun isn't out yet, maybe an hour to go before his aunts screeching for him to wake up (thank Merlin for small mercies).
And it's here again, just staring at him from over the edge of his bed. He wonders why Hedwig didn't warn him before remembering he's left her with Ron for the summer (better that than being cooped up for days on end). He stares, blinking rapidly.
Maybe he's just hallucinating?
"Um…"
It looks at him, wiggles about for a moment, before falling off and leaving.
Weird.
He goes about his day, pretends there isn't a Lethifold that visits him and isn't out of its bloomin' mind.
The cycle repeats for what must be a month, waking up to the creature staring at him before it leaves.
But it changes. The Lethifold breaks the pattern.
One morning, already used to the creatures strange ways, he expects it to leave when the sun starts rising.
It doesn't.
It's still here when the sun has risen, when Aunt Petunia bangs on his door, as he gets dressed.
He goes to walk out of his room, tempted to tell it to stay put so his relatives don't see it, but…
If he remembers correctly, and he's pretty sure he does (magical creatures are fascinating and if he's had to fight a thousand-year-old basilisk, where is the harm in learning about other dangerous creatures?), it basically smothers it's victims before eating them. Eating. Them.
Maybe… He thinks for a moment, debates the good from the bad that could result from this.
He's down the stairs, walking towards the kitchen, and his little rippling creature, friend, thing, is still following him.
Getting the food from the fridge, he hears a high-pitched scream and a loud shout from behind him, the sound of a chair crashing to the floor mere moments later.
"BOY!" He can already imagine the spittle that must be flying from his Uncles mouth.
He smirks, turning around, a carton of eggs in his hand. "Yes, Uncle Vernon?"
"WHAT IS THIS FREAKISHNESS?" The man shouted, his face turning a rather sickly purple.
He blinks, looks down at the rippling cloak on the floor at his feet. "The Lethifold? I don't know. He showed up a few weeks back, gave me a right scare. Turned over and there he was, looking ready to eat me. He left soon after. Kept coming back, though… Think he decided to stay today." He refrains from the urge to reach down and pet it, thinks it might be too much for his Uncle's delicate sensibilities.
"GET RID OF IT!" The man looks more scared than angry, but he can't figure out if he's scared for his life or if it's the thought of someone in the neighborhood finding out about his "freakishness".
He looks down, sees the creature slowly checking out the rest of the room. "I don't know about you Uncle, but I'd rather not tell the creature who will murder me if it wants to, what to do." He looks back up at the man, sees how close he is to fainting, and can't help but feel a bit vindictive.
It's his Aunt Petunia who speaks first, her long neck wrapped around the door frame into the kitchen to see. "What do you mean?" Her voice is faint, muffled behind the hand covering her mouth (whether from shock or fear, he doesn't particularly care).
"Lethifolds, also known as the Living Shroud, suffocate their victims before eating them, leaving no proof that it was there and no body behind."
Her face pales, Uncle Vernon scrabbling around the fallen chair to get out of the room and Dudley follows right behind him.
"Fine! Just-just keep it away from us!" Vernon shouts over his shoulder.
He hears the front door slam, the car start and Vernon drive away.
And they're gone. He doesn't know for how long, but he's free and it's a nice feeling.
"Hm." He stands there, stumped. Looking down, it's still there, floating away without a care in the world. "That was… That was a thing. So… Do you um… need me to make you anything or get you something?"
It shakes it's head, gliding over to the dining table before slinking up the side and stopping on top where there's about an inch between it and the table and it's still so weird.
He looks away, making himself something to eat, plating it, and goes to put it on the table and sit down to enjoy his breakfast for once. "Right," he pauses not really sure what to say. "Thanks, I guess." For driving my abusive relatives off for a few days at least goes unsaid.
He lightly pats it in the middle, giving it a small smile before digging into his food, planning on enjoying the quiet day he has just been gifted.
Maybe.
Maybe Hagrid was on to something when it came to befriending dangerous creatures.
He could definitely get used to having it around.
Notable Witches Wizards: Task 2 (Relationship between human and creature)
Words: 1253