He had not known that children could scream that loud until he was woken by his daughter. His wife moved next to him, still half asleep. "I'll go to her", he murmured. She closed her eyes again and nodded. He gently kissed her on the forehead, then climbed out of the bed. Although the stone floor was cold as ice, he stayed barefoot as he hurried to his daughter's room. He took a torch from the wall, then opened the door.
"Daddy!" She was sitting upright in her bed, still panting.
"What is it?" He sat down next to her and gently stroked her tangled pitch-black hair.
"I dreamed that…you were afraid of something, and a terrible thing came and it helped you and it killed you but you were still alive and then it did something else to Mama and me. I was all cold and then we were together again but something was wrong. And then…" Her voice broke. Tears began to fill her huge blue eyes. He embraced her and made soothing noises while she cried silently in his arms.
"Shhh. It was just a nightmare. Don't be afraid."
Then she tore away from his embrace. Tears ran down her face. Her expression was both scared and angry, angrier than any five-year-old ought to be. "You don't understand, Daddy. I killed you and I was happy."
He forced himself to a smile while cursing her maid. Who had told her stories that led to that kind of dreams? "Serana. I would never do anything to harm you or your mother. I love you. I will never leave you."
"You won't do bad things to me?"
"Never."
"You won't leave me alone in the dark?"
"Never."
"You won't let me kill you?"
Harkon hesitated. "It depends on the circumstances…on the situation you are in and the reasons you want to kill me. But I would like to live so no, I won't let you kill me."
Suddenly she seemed concerned. "Are you mad at me?"
"Why should I? Everyone has nightmares and doubts or is angry at parents." He stood up. "Are you alright? Do you think you can sleep again?"
"Yes. Thank you, Daddy." She drew the blanket tightly around her. "I love you."
Well, this is one of the nicer stories my brain can produce. I don't know where this idea came from. But I like it. There had to be a time, long before they became vampires, when everything was still okay. At least between Harkon and Serana.
If you haven't seen Sanguine Molag's tribute to the Volkihar vampires on youtube, do it. The music he chose – In the Dark by The Birthday Massacre – is the perfect Serana song in my humble opinion.
I'm working at a second story with Valerica - Serana interaction, but don't expect anything soon.