House: Ravenclaw
Class: DADA
Category: Standard
Word Count: 1098
Prompt(s): [Time] Midnight, [Emotion] Fear
Warnings/Disclaimers: Canon Speculation, Mentions of Death
Her leg shook madly. There was no denying she was afraid, sitting by herself in the little nursery. Run away, her mind echoed. It must have been screaming at her like that for the past hour now. Lily tried to shake the thought away. It didn't work. It stuck to her like glue. Glue. She smiled softly at the memories the word brought back. Arts and crafts with her sister and their mother, happily making little gifts for each other. She missed those times. Missed how things were before the world turned upside down.
A small cracking sound outside the window caught her attention. Another pang of fear rippled through her. Her leg continued to shake. She had no idea why she was feeling this way. Intuition perhaps? The thought made her feel even worse. She had never been this afraid before. The feeling gripped her heart like a vice and wormed its way into her lungs. It settled in her bones so deep they ached with it. Run away. Her foot began to tap anxiously. She tried to focus on her breathing.
In.
Her heart continued to beat wildly in her chest. Fast paced, erratic. Merlin, why was she feeling like this tonight.
Out.
It was Halloween, she reminded herself. That must have been it. Lily always grew a little afraid on Halloween.
In.
Ever since she was a child she would be frightened of the monster stories and the costumes that would come to the door. Her sister would have to comfort her.
Out.
Oh how she missed her sister. They weren't really speaking - hadn't spoken since she got into Hogwarts (except for the occasional snide remark) - but she missed her anyway.
In.
Her hands began to shake. She balled them into fists so tightly her knuckles turned white. Run away. Her eyes scrunched shut.
Out.
It was all going to be al-
Her eyes flew open. She screamed.
A loud sound had ripped through the home. It left her ears ringing and her heart beating even faster. Her fear was at an all time high. She held her breath. It sounded again, and she realized - much to her relief - it was the church bells ringing in the new day. It was midnight.
Lily ran her hands over her face. She felt ridiculous. Her body made its way towards Harry's crib. Her eyes crinkled at the corners. She sighed. He was still sound asleep, thank Merlin, and hadn't been awoken by her scream. She watched his slow, steady breathing and gradually felt herself calm down. Maybe it's subsided, she thought with relief, feeling less and less fearful the longer she watched. And yet when the door clicked open she still jumped.
"Lily?" It was James. He looked only half-awake, but he had his wand in hand, ready to defend her she was sure. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah," she responded. "Everything's alright. I was just a bit startled is all."
He looked at her for a long moment, noticing the traces of fear that still lingered on her features. A small comforting smile found its way onto his face and he pulled her into a hug.
"Let's go downstairs and make some cocoa," he suggested, "and then we can go back to bed."
It was a good idea. Lily felt instantly better, though still afraid. She hated not knowing why she was feeling that way. But the cocoa would melt away the last of it, she reckoned.
The two made their way down to the little kitchen and made a midnight cocoa. She looked at the calendar on the wall. It still said October 31st, 1981. She moved to change it, but James stopped her.
"Leave it darling," he said with a smile, taking her hands and placing a steaming cup of cocoa in them instead. "We'll do it tomorrow."
She nodded and sat at their little kitchen table and slowly her fear was forgotten. They talked and laughed like they'd used to at Hogwarts, and everything else faded. The war, the fear, everything. Lily felt at that moment like everything would be alright. It had to be.
0-0-0
Call it intuition, but somehow Petunia knew something was terribly wrong. She felt it in her very soul. The grandfather clock had struck midnight and woken her up with a fright. She hadn't been able to shake the fear since. At first she'd thought something must have happened to Dudley. Surely that's what this dread that weighed on her chest was, right? But he was sleeping soundly in his crib. She sat beside him and tried to stop her leg from shaking. What in God's name was happening to her?
Not only was she afraid, looking out the nursery window into the dark night, but she felt a peculiar sadness. A grief that gripped her chest, winding like vines across her ribs. She didn't understand it. Petunia hadn't felt this way since her mother had died. Like a part of her was missing. A thought crossed through her mind. She frowned. No, that couldn't be it. She shook away the terrible thought that something had happened to Lily.
Yes, she was bitter. No, they weren't on speaking terms. But they were family. Lily was her little sister. Jealousy aside, they'd grown up together. They had made paper boats and sailed them down the stream by their house. Had the same chocolate birthday cake because that was their favorite flavor. They'd grown apart over the years, that much was true. Petunia wouldn't admit it, but she was hurt that Lily got magic and the world that came along with it while she never would. But that was exactly why this fear couldn't be about Lily.
Lily who was strong and capable and only further aided by magic. She was fierce. Petunia had known there was a war going on in their world, something absolutely terrible. She knew Lily was hiding somewhere. But that had to mean she was safe, didn't it? A crack sounded outside the window.
In.
She practiced her breathing. Focusing on it as her mother had taught her.
Out.
A crack of thunder echoed through the midnight sky. Dudley began to sob.
In.
She picked him up, jumping him up and down to try and soothe both of their frayed nerves. Vernon could be heard still snoring down the hall in their bedroom. Rain splattered across the nursery window. Petunia peered out of it, trying to still the fear in her heart. Dudley wailed.
"Everything will be alright," Petunia whispered to him.
It has to be.