Written for the Around the World Event: Turkey - (animal) Tarantula.

Word count: 548

The Scare

"LILY! LILY!"

James' strident screams echo in the air. He sounds so scared and panicked that Lily's blood runs cold, and for a moment, she's utterly certain they're under attack. She runs down the stairs wand in hand, heart pounding in her chest.

When she gets downstairs, she finds James stranding on the kitchen table, body trembling as he points to a hairy thing on the paved floor.

"Spider!" he yells with a strangled voice. "Lily, help."

Lily blinks, wand falling ather side in surprise. It takes all she has not to burst out laughing—she can in fact feel hysterical laughter bubble in her chest, itching to burst out. "Yes, I can see that," she replies, slowly stepping closer. "Why did you scream?"

James stares at her like she's lost her mind. He shakes his right hand toward the spider again, fingers shaking as it points at it. "Spider," he repeats, enunciating it slowly as though she hadn't understood him before. "Kill it, please," he begs. "Kill it with fire."

It's Lily's turn to stare, gaze oscillating between James and said spider—Lily thinks it might be a tarentula. It still sits there innocently, unmoving.

Lily raises an eyebrow at James doubtfully. "And why haven't you dealt with this yourself already?"

"... I don't have my wand," James admits sheepishly, offering her a blinding grin.

Lily snorts. "Why am I not surprised?"

James pouts. "I was surprised, alright? I didn't exactly expect to be ambushed by a, a monster in my own home." He crosses his arms defensively. "Otherwise, of course I would have taken care of it by now."

"Of course," Lily replies, smiling.

On the floor, the spider moves, causing James to jump back, only narrowly missing falling off the table. Lily bites her lips so hard to stop herself from laughing that she tastes blood. "Lily!" James shouts, alarmed.

Lily rolls her eyes violently. "Relax, I've got this," she says as she raises her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa."

The spider starts to levitate, it legs beating helplessly in the air. It makes Lily's heart pang in sympathy, and she resists the urge to coo at the creature.

"Why don't we take you outside, huh?" she mutters at it, and without a second glance toward James, she escorts the tarantula outside. Once she sets it down, it scuttles out of sight quickly, and Lily smiles.

When she comes back in, James stares at her in horror. "Why didn't you kill it? Now it might come back!"

Lily rolls her eyes at him again as she helps him down the table. "Because," she retorts. "It was just a spider, James. It was probably more scared of you than you were of it."

"I doubt that," James mumbles, glaring hatefully at the empty spot on the floor where the spider had one stood.

"Well, it wasn't hurting anyone, so it didn't deserve to die," Lily replies fiercely.

James stares at her for a long moment before his lips pull up in a soft smile, shoulders unwinding from stress. "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?" he says, and the fond look in his eyes makes her heart skip a beat.

"You're worse than me," she retorts, already a little breathless.

When James kisses her, it feels like coming home.