Bedtime Story
By kePPiE
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, I'm just playing with JK's chars, because they're so much better than any I could dream up. So don't sue, please!
Summary: A father settles down to tell his children their favourite bedtime story- The Boy Who Defeated You-Know-Who.
"Alright, baby, it's time for your bedtime story. I've got a new one for you, would you like to hear it? It's a Muggle one," the slightly balding man said as he sat down on his daughter's bed, smoothing the well loved patchwork quilt with one hand.
The little girl looked at him patiently, as she sat up in bed, her fingers clutching her light blue pillow. "No, Daddy, I want 'The Boy Who Defeated You-Know-Who'," she said firmly.
"But sweetheart, I've told you that one before. That was last night's story, it was last week's story, I've told you that one every night for two years! Are you sure you don't want to hear a new one? This Muggle one, it's quite good, it's about Jack and a magical beanstalk, and he climbs the beanstalk…"
"Don't be silly Daddy," the little girl said, scrunching up her delicate nose. "Beanstalks aren't magical, and you can't climb them. I want Harry."
"Alright, alright," her father said, and resigned himself to yet another telling of The Boy Who Defeated You-Know-Who.
"Wait! I wanna hear, too!"
A little boy, six years old, rushed through the door, clutching a stuffed rabbit, which was old and mangled, with an ear falling off and a button eye missing. He looked anxious not to miss any part of his favourite story.
"Alright, son, come here," and the father hoisted the little boy onto his lap, and with his arms around his children, began the tale.
"Once upon a time, there lived a soldier. He had been fighting You-Know-Who for years and years. He was a very good, and handsome man, with messy black hair…"
"Like mine is!" interrupted the little boy.
"Your hair isn't black!"
"I know it isn't black ! But it's messy, Mum said! She said it needed cutting!"
"Your hair doesn't need cutting. It's not long! My hair's longer!"
The father cleared his throat, and immediately, both children snapped back to attention.
"And his name was…"
"James Potter!"
"He had a wife, and she was beautiful…"
"Like me and Mummy!" the little girl burst out, her eyes shining.
"Yes sweetheart, like you. She had long red hair…"
"Like ours!"
"and green eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad."
"Eww! Toads are disgusting," the little boy piped up.
"No they're not, when you kiss a toad, it turns into a handsome prince, and then you live happily ever after," the little girl told her brother smugly.
"I don't want no prince! I'm a boy!"
"Calm down, yes son you're a boy. Do you want me to continue the story?"
"YES!"
"Alright then. And her name was…"
"Lily Potter!"
"The soldier and his beautiful wife had a baby boy, and they called him…"
"HARRY!"
A pleasantly plump woman with a kind face looked through the door.
"Dear, you can't be telling that story again, can you?"
"Yes, yes, I am."
"Hurry up Daddy, go away Mummy, we want the story!" the children chorused.
The woman smiled, and returned downstairs.
"And Harry Potter looked just like his father, the soldier, with messy black hair, but he had the eyes of his mother, the beautiful wife, and they were the brightest green. Harry Potter was a very clever and wonderful little boy, and the soldier and his family were very, very happy. But the war raged on, and soon, the brave soldier and his family had to go into hiding, because You-Know-Who didn't like them."
"You-Know-Who didn't like Harry? But Harry's nice!" the little girl objected. "You-Know-Who's a silly old meanie!"
"You haven't even met Harry. He wouldn't like you, cos you're a girl."
"He so would like me! I'm going to marry Harry, Daddy, when I'm all grown up!"
"Don't be stupid, he's going to be MY best friend, and we're going to have adventures!"
"Hush, hush, kids. And they went under a spell, that would make them invisible to You-Know-Who, and the keeper of that spell was an evil man."
"No!"
"Do you know how to be invisible?"
"It's a special spell, silly, only soldiers and beautiful ladies and Harry Potters can use it."
"And on Halloween's night, the evil man told You-Know-Who how to take off the spell."
"Did the evil man die?" the little girl asked.
"No, baby, but he went to Hell."
"But Hell's where bad people go when they die. So he died," the boy retorted.
"There's a place for very evil people, that is worse than Hell, and it's worse than death. It's called Azkaban, and nobody ever wants to go to Azkaban. So you better clean your teeth and obey your mother, and make your beds, kids, because you don't want to be taken there."
"Has Azkaban got…spiders?" the little boy asked fearfully, clutching his rabbit tighter.
"Yes, it has, it's got really big ones, bigger than our house, with sharp poisonous fangs and they hate boys, because they smell," the little girl told her brother condescendingly.
"I'll be good! I promise!" the boy wailed.
"That's great, son, that's really great. Now on Halloween, You-Know-Who took off the spell that made the soldier and his family invisible. And You-Know-Who came into the soldier's house. Because the soldier was a very, very, brave man, he told his beautiful wife to run away, save herself and the little boy, and the soldier did battle with You-Know-Who. But the beautiful wife loved the soldier very, very much, and she was very upset, because she didn't want to leave him. But You-Know-Who was evil, and he did a bad spell on the soldier."
"A bad spell?" the girl asked, her eyes wide.
"Was it the…green spell?" the little boy whispered.
"Yes, it was the green spell. So the soldier died, protecting his family."
"That's so sad!" the little girl said tearfully.
"He was a brave man. I'm going to be a brave man when I'm a grown-up, and I'm going to know lots of spells, like James Potter, so I can fight evil people," the little boy informed his sister.
"And then You-Know-Who came up the stairs of the soldier's house, and into Harry Potter's bedroom. And the beautiful wife was trying to hide from You-Know-Who, behind Harry Potter's cot, and she was singing him a lullaby, because she was very, very brave and she loved Harry Potter very, very much. And You-Know-Who told the beautiful wife to move aside, so he could do a bad spell on Harry Potter, but the beautiful wife was brave and she loved Harry Potter, and she protected him. So You-Know-Who did a bad spell on the beautiful wife…"
"And she died," the little girl sniffed.
"Would you die protecting me?"
"I love you very much, son, of course I'd die for you," said the father, hugging his son tightly. "and she died. Then You-Know-Who tried to do a bad spell on Harry Potter…"
"But it didn't work, cos Harry Potter's famous!" the little boy said, excitedly.
"but it didn't work, because Harry Potter was a very special boy, and the bad spell didn't work, and You-Know-Who died."
"YIPPEE!"
"And Harry Potter lived happily ever after."
The man smiled at his two children, who had listened so attentively to the story. A small sound caught his attention, and turning to the door, he saw the rest of his children, five boys, all older than the children on the bed, sitting there in their tattered pajamas, the eldest, thirteen, still had not grown out of the story.
"Was the evil man a Slytherin?" piped up a voice from the doorway, the third oldest child, glasses perched on his nose, and a pet rat in his arms.
"Of course he was a Slytherin. All the evil people are in Slytherin," said his fifth child, and his twin brother nodded his head vigorously.
"Not all Slytherins are evil," objected the eldest.
"That's because you think Anna Greengrass is PRETTY! YOU AND ANNA, SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N…"
"SHUT UP! I DON'T LIKE ANNA!" the eldest yelled at the second brother, his face beetroot coloured.
"No children, the evil man wasn't a Slytherin," the father said sadly.
"Was he a Ravenclaw?"
"Nah, a Hufflepuff!"
"Ravenclaws are too smart to be evil!"
"Hufflepuffs are too dumb to be evil!"
"Children! Hufflepuffs are not stupid. Hufflepuff is a good House."
"Not as good as Gryffindor," said the youngest boy, conspiratorially. "Gryffindor is the House where all the Good People go."
"James and Lily Potter were in Gryffindor," the eldest boy informed them.
"So were Mummy and Daddy!"
"So was the evil man," the father whispered.
"No he wasn't! You're lying. Good people are in Gryffindor, and bad people are in Slytherin!"
"Daddy doesn't lie!"
"The evil man betrayed the soldier."
The rat in the third child's arms squeaked, and scampered out of the room.
"SCABBERS!" yelled it's owner, and he ran from the room, his too long pajamas tripping his feet as he thundered upstairs.
"You do so like Anna, Bill!"
"I don't! I just think she's pretty!"
"But Anna's a hag! She isn't pretty! So you like her!"
"Don't be stupid, Charlie! I've got a girlfriend!"
"Ooh, Bill's got a girlfriend! Bill's got a girlfriend! Bill's got a girl…"
"SHUT UP, CHARLIE!"
"Fred, lets go annoy the ghoul!"
"Nah, but Bill's more fun!"
"I heard that, Georgie Porgie!"
"MY NAME ISN'T GEORGIE PORGIE! IT'S GRED!"
"BILL'S GOT A GIRLFRIEND, BILL'S GOT A GIRLFRIEND!"
"Yeh, and I'm Forge!"
"Billy Boy's got a girlfriend!"
"Eww, what girl would want Bill? He's got girl's hair!"
"You're stupid, you don't even know your own names!"
"Yes we do! They're on our jumpers!"
"BILL'S GOT A GIRLFRIEND, BILL'S GOT A GIRLFRIEND!"
"SHUT UP CHARLIE! SHUT UP FRED! SHUT UP GEORGIE PORGIE!"
Four more boys thundered upstairs after their rat-owning brother, their voices quietening with each floor, leaving only the little boy, and the little girl on the bed.
"Can I hear it again?" the little girl asked, stifling a yawn.
"No sweetie, it's past your bedtime, you've got a big day tomorrow."
"Days aren't bigger than any other, that's silly," the little boy said sleepily.
"Son, it's past your bedtime too. Go upstairs, and I'll tuck you in."
"I don't need tucking in! I'm a big boy!"
The little girl giggled.
"You aren't big, Ron, you're skinny like Mummy's chickens!"
"AM NOT!" the little boy said angrily, and he stormed out the room.
"That wasn't very nice, sweetheart."
"But it's true!"
The father chuckled, and he pulled the covers up to his daughter's chin.
"When I go to Hogwarts, will Harry be there with me?"
"He will, he'll be in Ron's year."
"That's not fair, how's he going to fall in love with me if he isn't in my year?"
"Because you're beautiful, and clever, and he'll notice you anyway, if not, he's a silly boy."
"Harry isn't silly, Daddy. He's a smart boy."
"Boys can be very silly, sweetheart. I didn't notice your mother until seventh year."
"You're funny, Daddy. But I don't want to wait that long."
"I hope you don't have to. But just be prepared to wait, okay?"
"Okay."
"Well goodnight, then, sweetheart," the father said, kissing his daughter's forehead and brushing away stray tendrils of flaming hair.
"G'nite, Da.." the little girl murmured.
"Arthur!" called a voice from downstairs.
"Coming, Molly, just let me tuck the kids in," the father replied, and with a clap of his hands, the candlelight in the rickety chandelier faded, and he stood up, and left the room, turning to glance at his only daughter.
But Ginny Weasley was already asleep, and she dreamed of handsome soldiers, and beautiful ladies, and brave boys who saved the world from evil, messy black hair and green eyes, and Harry Potter.
Authors Note: I realise it's pretty unlikely that Arthur knew the circumstances of the Potter's deaths, considering that no one but the Potters and Voldemort were there, but it makes a better story if he did. I hope you liked it, please review!