A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

Word Count: 440

Ginny peered under the bed. All she saw were a few dust bunnies, her missing right shoe, and the broom she'd managed to steal from Charlie. He still hadn't noticed it missing, or at least she was pretty sure he hadn't. He hadn't asked her if she'd seen it. He'd even told scary stories the other night while they were all sitting outside making s'mores. If he'd thought she had it, wouldn't he have said something?

She bit back a smile as she crawled into her bed and pulled the blankets over her head. She could hear her mum checking on everyone. She heard her arguing with Ron about going to bed. She could hear her telling Percy to put the book away, it was bed time. She heard the twins scurrying around their room hiding something. She slowly peeked out from under the blankets. Everything was normal. She let out a soft sigh of relief. Normal, she could handle normal.

"Good night, Ginny."

"Night, Mum," Ginny replied as she watched her mum put out the light and close Ginny's door. Once the room was dark, Ginny felt the fear creeping back. She curled up against the pillows, making sure to keep her hands and feet inside the small bed. She swore she heard something outside the window, swore she heard something under the bed, swore she heard the closet door creaking open.

She squeaked loudly and pulled the blankets over her head. From under the blanket, she thought she heard the window slide open. She thought she heard something slithering under her bed. She trembled for a moment, clenching the bear she'd gotten for her birthday. It was a deep coral color with a cinnamon colored nose and it smelled like syrup. She had named it Pancakes.

"Don't worry, Pancakes. The monsters won't get us. We're going to be alright," she whispered. She slowly pulled the blanket down from over her head and looked around her room. Everything seemed in its place. The closet door was closed. The window was closed. The door to her room was closed.

"See, there's nothing here," she said after a moment, holding the bear up to see that everything was indeed fine. "Maybe I shouldn't have listened to Charlie's stupid story?" she asked, laying back down. She remembered the story she'd heard Charlie telling a few days ago, about monsters that lived under the beds of bad children. Ginny had never thought of herself as bad, but maybe, just maybe she should return Charlie's broom? Having made the decision to sneak it back, Ginny nestled under her blankets, closed her eyes, fell asleep.