Hi again! I wonder if you guys ever read the beginning notes all that often. I'm guessing you do.

This one is for SunFrog31. I honestly forgot whose birthday was next, so it was a blind pick. Sorry.

Song of the Day: "The Light" by Sara Bareilles (I sense a pattern here.)


"Mumma!" she sniffed, rubbing her hands over her eyes, hugging her teddy bear closer to her chest, "Mumma!"

"Shush, Honey, shush," she cooed, sitting on the edge of the bed and picking through the blankets to find her daughter, smiling a little at her. She picked her up and set her in her lap, picking her legs up and smoothing through her crazy hair. "Thunder again, Love?"

Hermione sniffed and nodded again, whimpering as another peal of thunder ripped through the sky.

"Relax, Honey, they can't hurt you," she pecked her forehead, "I won't let them."

Hermione smiled and curled up closer to her, "I love you, Mumma."

"I love you too, Honey."

Hermione sat up in her bed with a gasp, hair flying everywhere as lightning illuminated her room. She wasn't four anymore, and she was very much alone in her room in the Burrow. Or, so she thought. She practically had a heart attack when she looked over towards the door and saw Fred standing there staring at her curiously.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a little above a whisper.

"Fine – just peachy," she said, getting out of her bed and hunting around for her wand, biting her lip.

"You screamed," he said, "You're lucky there was thunder at that exact moment, or else Harry would be in here wand ablaze." He snorted, grinning before it slowly fell as he watched her, "Granger, are you okay?"

"Fine," she said, not looking at him. When he was silent for a few moments, she looked up and saw that he was looking at her unconvincingly, arms crossed over his chest with an eyebrow arched. She sighed, running her hands over her face and winced, "No, I am not okay. I am absolutely petrified of thunder."

He snorted in surprise, "What?"

"Okay, at Hogwarts I was fine, because I had Georgia and…well, just Georgia, because I don't like Lavender or Parvati too much. And my mum made me believe that as long as somebody was in the same room as me, they wouldn't let the thunder get me," she grinned sheepishly at him, "Old habits die hard, huh?"

He opened his mouth to answer her when Ron padded by her door slowly, pausing to turn to them and stare at them uncomprehendingly.

"D'you know where the cow is? Gotsa go get choc'lit milk," he said.

Fred stared at him before laughing as silently as he could, "Come on, Ron, let's go find that cow."

"It's my choc'lit milk, Freddie," he frowned as Fred led him back to his room.

"It's all yours, Buddy."

Hermione grinned as they left, shaking her head at them.


"Was I supposed to put tin foil on the cake pans?" Georgia asked, frowning slightly, "I don't think I'm supposed to."

Hermione grinned over at her friend. The girl's short brown hair was completely ruffled and she was still in her pajamas from last night, and was this close to kicking the oven for not heating up quicker. She had completely forgotten that she'd asked Hermione to come over for help on her boyfriend's birthday cake – which was meant to be a surprise if not for the fact that he'd slept over on the couch last night, effectively ruining it.

"No," Hermione laughed, pausing in her mixing, "Non-stick spray."

"Hmm," she hummed, sighing and crumpling up the tinfoil, "Oh well, so much for that." She dug through cabinets to find the spray, muttering to herself as she did. "Shay, quit laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing," Seamus said, hiding his smile and sharing a pointed look with Hermione.

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you really are," she stood, holding the can in her hand before shoving it into Seamus's, "Here, make yourself useful."

"I have to help make my own birthday cake?" he questioned.

"Just this year," she grinned, pecking his cheek, "Thank you!"

"I didn't agree to it yet," he muttered, but grabbed the pan and sprayed it, only to get shot in the face with it.

The two girls ignored this exchange and turned to one another.

"How was the storm last night?" Georgia asked.

"Apparently I'm screaming again," Hermione sighed, "Fred came in and asked me what was wrong. He was the only one who heard it though. Oh, did you know Ron sleepwalks?"

"Yes," Seamus said irritably, fighting with the spray can.

"Something about chocolate milk – I'm still wondering about that," Hermione grinned at him, amused as he tossed the can on the ground, only to have it bounce back up and hit him.

Georgia still paid this no mind. "Hermione, you really need to find a remedy to your fear of thunder." She arched an eyebrow and smirked, "Perhaps a certain redhead prankster who deals with chocolate milk crazed sleepwalking younger brothers?"

She scoffed, jumping a little and causing some cake batter to get on her shirt, "Wha – what?"

"Yeah, what?" Seamus asked with a grin, "That sentence - "

"Fight with the can, Shay," she waved him away from poking fun at her, "Hermione, you're really running out of options. I mean, Dean and Luna are dating, Ron's dating Lavender, George and Katie are together – really, the only single guy out there is Fred, and I can guarantee you it won't be long until he's taken as well."

"Thank you for that, Georgia," she frowned, "I hate you when you first wake up."

"I love you too," she smiled.

Hermione sighed and turned back to the cake batter, "Shay, you mind if I - ?"

"Only if you let me," he popped up in front of her, grinning eagerly at the bowl as she handed him a spoon covered in the batter, making him gasp happily before shoving it in his mouth, going back to wrestling with the spray can.

"Hermione, I'm only thinking of you," Georgia told her softly, "I only what you to be happy." At her pointed grin, she smiled and shrugged, "And, alright, I want to be a maid of honor once."

Hermione laughed, "It's alright, Georgia, I understand."

The two smiled at each other before Seamus walked up to them, frowning as he plucked the spoon out of his mouth.

"We're out of non-stick spray," he said before shoving it back into his mouth and walking away.


Hermione gasped, curling in on her bed as thunder ripped through the air once more, covering her ears and wincing, "I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid." Another rumble of thunder, angry and loud, making her release her ears and grip the sheets, "Maybe just a little."

"I was about to say," Fred smiled, leaning against the doorway before stepping in and closing the door with is foot, "Want some company?"

"Sure," she smiled gratefully at him as he stepped forward into her room and sat at the edge of her bed, "Thanks."

"Purely selfish reason, actually," he said as he laid his head back on her pillow, "George snores. Loudly. I had to get away from that."

She arched an eyebrow at him, "Haven't you slept in the same room with him for forever? Aren't you used to it by now?"

"I was, actually, up until we moved into the flat and then moved out and came back here," he snorted, "I haven't slept in a month."

She laughed, making him grin and sit up again, "What about you? You getting used to not hearing Ron sleepwalk?"

"I'm actually usually a pretty heavy sleeper," she shrugged, "I didn't know he sleepwalked until last night."

He blinked at her, "Really? He practically yells in his sleep. Here, listen."

They were quiet for a few moments, the only sounds distant rumbles of thunder, plops of rain on the roof, and their breathing.

"MINE!" Ron shouted suddenly, making Fred chuckle as Hermione grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Ron, shuddup," Harry's voice carried down the hall from their room, "It's just a dream."

"THEY WANT IT HARRY. I WON'T LET THEM HAVE IT."

"Ron, shush! You'll wake up the whole house!" Harry hissed.

"THEY WANT THE JAR OF DIRT, HARRY. THEY'RE BEATING ME FOR IT."

"That's me, trying to get you to shut up, you idiot!"

Hermione was shaking, her hands over her mouth as she laughed, Fred grinning at her.

"Oi! Will both of you shut up?" Percy said, "I can't sleep between you two yelling and George snoring!"

"Percy? When'd you get here?" Ron asked in a much quieter tone, "Harry, why are you gripping my shirt?"

Harry and Percy both groaned and it was quiet once more.

"How was everybody else able to sleep through that?" Hermione questioned quietly.

"Silencing charms," Fred smirked, "Percy must've forgotten his."

She laughed, smiling at him, "So – what's up?"

"Ahh – not a whole lot, aside from sitting up here with you," he flopped back on her pillow, only to misjudge the distance this time and hit his head on the headboard, popping back up and hissing as Hermione winced and covered his hand with hers as it shot up to his head.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, hiding her smile with her free hand.

"I'm fine," he chuckled, grinning back at her, "Merlin, that hurt."

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

He glared playfully at her, "Are not."

She smiled back before diving into his chest when another round of thunder started, closing her eyes tightly and gripping his shirt, muttering out "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry" as she did.

His hand covered hers as he ran his other hand through her hair, "There's nothing to be sorry about, Angel, it's alright."

"No it's not," she whimpered, eyes still shut, "I'm twenty years old and I'm still scared of thunder."

"So? George is twenty-two and still snores. Ron is twenty and still talks and walks in his sleep. Ginny's nineteen and still has to have some sort of stuffed animal with her when she sleeps –
although if she asks, you never heard it from me. Everybody has quirks that they've kept since they were kids, Hermione."

"What about you?" she asked, opening her eyes as he laid them back against the pillow.

"Oh, well, it's not so much as when I was a kid, but since I was around fifteen or so."

"What is it?"

"Well, I've always liked girls with insanely bushy hair, brown eyes, and names that rhyme with 'Ermione Stranger."

She blinked and snorted, looking up at him as he looked at her hopefully, "Really? And, ahh, how many girls fit that quirk?"

"Just one, and she's kinda gripping my shirt even though there's no thunder."

Hermione quickly released her hold of his shirt, but he grabbed her wrist quickly and settled her hand over his heart. He smiled down at her and she found herself smiling back.

"You could've just snogged me. I'm sure everybody would've been fine with that."

"I was half afraid you'd hit me for it though," he grinned, looking as if Christmas had come early, "Had to be sure."

"Well what's stopping you now that you know?" she asked.

"Thunder," he grinned, making her blink at him as she realized it had been in mid-roar, "You didn't notice?"

"No," she blinked, surprised before he leaned and kissed her, smiling against her lips when she wrapped her arms around his neck.


"Mumma!" two little girls screamed simultaneously, the sisters gripping each other and their own stuffed animals for support. The oldest had curly brown hair, much more tamed than her sister's bright red mass of frizzy locks.

When they asked for their mum, they got their dad instead, making him flick on the light only to find that the power had gone out. He got out his wand and muttered, "Lumos Maxima," the two girls quieting as he smiled at them softly and walked to the edge of Marissa's bed, sitting down in the floor to look up at them.

"Thunder?" he questioned.

"Lightning," Dana answered instead as Marissa hid her face and whimpered.

"Where's Mumma?" Marissa asked.

"She's with Uncle Harry, trying to get the house fixed up for us to move into," Fred answered before tilting his head and smiling, "Why do you want your Mum? Aren't I good enough?" He pouted playfully at them.

"Mumma's 'fraid of thunder," Marissa told him, "You're not 'fraid of nuthin'. She knows what it's like."

"Now that's not true," he said, "I'm afraid of a lot of things."

"Nuh-uh," Dana frowned at him, letting go of her sister and leaning on her hands to peer down at him, "You're Daddy."

Marissa popped up next to her, "You ain't 'fraid of nuthin'!"

He grinned, "I am too. I'm afraid I'll lose you two or your mum. I'm afraid that something will happen to you three."

"But you aren't afraid of spiders or lightning or thunder or – or –or," Dana paused, hands on her hips, searching for more things he wasn't afraid of before ending, "Stuffs."

"That's because you three are – I've got to protect my girls, no matter what I'm scared of."

The two thought this over, Marissa sitting on her heels and hugging Mister Button Bear as she peered at her sister before she slipped down into her father's lap, smiling up at him, "You're berry brave, Daddy."

"Thank you, Mari," he grinned back, mussing up her hair to make her giggle.

Dana slipped down from her sister's bed and frowned at him, "But…"

"Dana?" Fred grinned.

"Yah?"

"It's lightning outside, and you didn't notice," he smiled as she looked over at the window and blinked slowly.

Her face then broke into a wide grin and she tackled her father, making him emit a small "oomf" before laughing, "You're magic, Daddy!"

"Magic!" Marissa crowed, hugging her father and pecking him on the cheek.

Fred grinned at his girls before glancing over at the door, smiling up at her, "'Lo."

Georgia grinned, a little boy hooked onto her hip, "Well, Hermione shouldn't have worried about the girls' first storm without her. It seems it's alright."

"Hi," Callum smiled at the girls before nestling against his mother's shoulder again, closing his eyes.

"Soooo…" Dana pulled away from her father, looking a little sheepish, "Can I spend the night with Mari?"

"I thought we'd been over that I am magic?" Fred questioned, eyebrow arched although he was smiling.

"You are, but, ahh – Mister Button Bear's afraid of the dark, and I need to protect him too."

"No he's not," Marissa frowned as Dana glared at her. "Well he's not!"

"Mari," Dana hissed before she blinked at the other figure in the doorway, "Mummy!"

"Mumma!" Marissa greeted before latching onto Fred's neck again, "Daddy's magic!"

Hermione smiled as she picked Dana up and pecked her forehead. Georgia sighed and bid them goodnight, as she was headed home to go plop Callum on Seamus's stomach in revenge for making them go while he slept.

"Why's your father magic, Love?" Hermione asked, walking into the room and sitting next to Fred with Dana in her lap now.

"He made us forget about the lightning," she said simply.

Hermione grinned, pecking Fred on the lips, "Yes, he does distract from storms."

"I'm brilliant – admit it," he smiled.

"You're brilliant," she smiled before standing up and tucking Dana into her own bed, "How do you feel about each of you getting your own rooms tomorrow?"

"Yah," Dana yawned as Fred put Marissa back in her bed.

The youngest daughter looked a little worried though, "What if the lightnin' tries to come and get us again, and you aren't here?"

"Honey, no matter what, I'm always going to protect you, your sister, and your mum," Fred told her, "If you need me I'm right here." He then smiled a little mischievously, "And besides, Mister Button Bear is magic too."

She blinked up at him, her brown eyes wide, "He is?"

"Well, he's got to be, I gave him to you," he shrugged, standing up, "He's got my storm-distracting powers locked up in that button right there." He pointed to one on the bear's paw, grinning as Marissa believed every single word. "Feel better?"

Marissa clutched Mister Button Bear tighter, "Yah."

He pecked her forehead, "Night, Love."

"G'night, Daddy. I love you."

He grinned as he walked over to Dana's bed, where she was already half-way asleep, "I love you too." He pecked Dana's forehead as Hermione nuzzled Marissa's hair with her nose, making the younger girl giggle. "Love you, Dana."

"Love you too, Da," she said, opening her eyes blearily before they shut again. Fred grinned and waited for Hermione to say goodnight to Marissa before the two walked out of the girls' room.

Hermione stopped him on the way to their bedroom, reaching up to kiss him and wind her fingers through his hair, "You're really perfect, you know that Fred Weasley?"

"Why, yes, Hermione Weasley," he kissed her on the nose with a grin, "I did. How else would I have been able to trick you into marrying me?"

She grinned and rolled her eyes.


Marissa peeked her head through her bed hangings to see the other girls were asleep. She bit her lower lip, smoothing back her unruly red curls before she crawled off the foot of her bed and sat in front of her trunk. She quickly flung the lid up and reached in to grab something before bouncing back onto her bed with a small creak.

Dana had Avery on nights like these, she knew the two were down in the Room of Requirement right now. Marissa wondered how James or Lily or Callum hadn't caught the two after all these years, but she didn't question it too much.

"I'm sixteen," Marissa mumbled to herself as she crept down the stairs to get a book, "I'm sixteen and I'm still afraid of lightning. Oh, what a world." She looked at the companion in her arms with a smile, "Oh well, at least you're always here for me, hm?"

"Are you talking to a stuffed bear?" somebody asked, making her stop on the last step of the staircase and hide Mister Button Bear behind her back with wide eyes.

"No," she said slowly, before huffing and glaring at him, crossing her arms over her chest and bringing Mister Button Bear into view once more, "What are you doing down here, Malfoy?"

"Hate thunder – what about you?" Scorpius questioned, pulling away completely from the book in his lap and looking at the Ravenclaw who looked as if she had stuck her finger in a light socket daily and enjoyed it.

She edged slowly closer to him, wondering if what before plopping on the couch unceremoniously, "Lightning."

He hummed as he watched her reach forward and pluck a book off of the coffee table, setting her feet up and hugging her stuffed bear to her as she opened the book at random. He closed his own and tilted his head curiously at her until she looked up at him with those big brown eyes.

"What?" she questioned.

He felt his mouth twitch into a smirk, "I'm just trying to figure you out."

She grinned back, "Good luck there – Mum, Dad and Dana have all given up. Flora doesn't even care."

He nodded slowly, the two going back to their respective books. What they didn't notice, however, wasn't each other – no, they kept glancing at each other when they were positive the other wouldn't notice – it was the fact that the storm got worse as they sat there and read.

Dana would have a fit.


So – this was thought up after a storm woke me up at three in the morning. I'm not scared of thunder or anything – I actually like it.

Also – if you're pale, red haired and freckled and your mom tells you to try tanning – do not do it. You will sit there outside for an hour and a half trying to get some color, only to think that it wasn't too sunny that day. You will get to a car lot only to have the sunburn show up on your legs and shoulders. It was slowly get redder and redder and you will be forced to slap aloe vera on you every fifteen minutes from the pain.

AKA – I've got a sunburn. And HATE it.

Love,

Birdie