Louis/Albus

Prompt: Storm

Storm

October 11, 2017

A raging storm blew about the grounds, forcing the students to retreat indoors to the shelter of their Common Rooms. Because of this, the Gryffindor Common Room was completely packed with students from every year level, and the noise was horrendous. Trap fifty or so teenagers in a confined space for more than a few hours, and hell was bound to break lose. It was as though they had eaten far too many sweets from Honeydukes, and nowhere was safe from the ruckus.

Louis Weasley was annoyed. Normally, he would have thrilled for such an occasion, using this time to rile up his housemates and annoy Josh and Daisy; who were currently entwined on the large armchair, snogging away obliviously. But he had recently been coming down with the flu, and the amplified chatter of the Common Room did nothing to soothe his pounding head.

With a groan, he rose from his seat in front of the fire, and traipsed up the stairs to his dormitory, rubbing his temples as he did so. The fifth year boy's dormitory was empty, so Louis shut the door and flopped unceremoniously onto his four poster bed. He buried his head underneath the pillow in an attempt to drown out the sound, and soon, he felt his body shut down and he drifted to sleep.

What seemed like only seconds after he had closed his eyes, a loud clap of thunder rumbled through the building, shaking the foundations and reverberating off the walls. Louis jumped in shock and hit his head on one of the posts, causing him to swear loudly. Screams of terror erupted from down below and Louis was grateful that he wasn't down there. As the panic subsided, Louis fell back onto his pillow and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to dull his searing headache.

The door creaked open and he lifted his head slightly to see the silhouette of his cousin, Albus, standing in the doorway. His hands were in his pockets and his green eyes were fixed to the floor.

"Al?" Louis asked, groggily. "What do you want?"

The younger boy took a few tentative steps inside his cousins' dormitory. "I just – erm – " he stuttered.

Louis smirked in spite of himself. "You're scared of the thunder, aren't you?" he taunted.

Albus shook his head furiously. "No!" he insisted. "I'm not scared!"

When Louis raised his fair eyebrows at his younger cousin, Albus folded his arms stubbornly. "I'm not scared!" he repeated. "I just... wanted to get away from all the noise." His voice trailed off softly and Louis chuckled at him.

"Whatever you say, Al." He laid his head back down and put his arms behind his neck, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"So, is it alright if I stay here for a while?" Al asked meekly.

Louis grunted a "Yes" in response and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Albus smiled and went to sit on the edge of Josh's bed, next to Louis'.

Another rumble of thunder echoed through Gryffindor Tower and Albus gave a small shriek and scurried over to his cousin's bed, leaping up onto the mattress. Louis opened one eye to see Albus perched on the end of his bed, his knees drawn up and his chin resting on top of them. He laughed and sat up.

"C'mon, Al. Don't be a baby. It's just thunder."

Albus glared at him, before another thunder clap made him shrink closer to the mattress.

Louis rolled his eyes and sighed. He patted the spot next to him and Albus slowly crawled up beside him.

"No snuggling," Louis warned him. "I'm not Victoire. You will lie on your side of the bed and I will lie on mine. Got it?"

Albus nodded and curled up onto his side. With a small smile, Louis ruffled his hair, making it stick up at odd angles. Sometimes, Louis forgot that Al was only eleven. He seemed so much more mature than James, or even himself, had been at that age. He supposed everyone was afraid of something.

"You won't tell James, will you?"

Louis smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I can't make any promises. Maybe I'll need something to persuade me to keep my mouth shut."

Albus frowned. "What do you want?"

"I don't know yet," Louis grinned wickedly. "But I'll let you know."

A/N: This was a bit difficult to write, again, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I wanted something that showed how Louis can be a brother figure, but still be annoying and stir up his cousins at the same time. Hopefully I achieved that. And little Al is a cutie :)

Ages: Louis (15), Albus (11).

Please read and review :) xx