Crack of Thunder Flash of Lightening

Summary: Harry is afraid of the thunderstorms, has been since he was a child. Now that he lives with Sirius, he has someone he can go to for comfort.

The thunder rumbled harshly outside, and the lightning flash across the darken horizon. In the small town of Hatfield, there was a house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a wooded forest and grassy fields. In the house, there were three people, two men, and a teenager. In the teenager's room, the said teen was found in bed, as he that was where he was supposed to be at fifteen minutes till midnight.

But unlike the other two occupants of the house, the teenager wasn't asleep.

Harry drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He was trembling from head to toe.

He had never liked thunderstorms, hadn't since he was a child. In the cupboard under the stairs, the sound seemed to be louder and it rattled the cupboard, making it feel like the house was going to tumble right on top on of him. From his cupboard, he could hear Dudley's screams and Petunia's soothing voice telling it was okay and if he wanted to sleep with Mummy and Daddy.

The only comfort Harry got was a bang on the door to keep quiet. This, of course, didn't help any.

When he moved to his bedroom upstairs, the fear of thunderstorms came with him. He would hide under the blankets and duvets until the storm passed. He wouldn't sleep much on the nights when it stormed.

He never told anyone of his fear, not even Ron or Hermione. There was one time in the last year that a thunderstorm had hit during a Quidditch match, but Harry was able to drown it out with the sound of the crowd and the game that was going on. Of course, the outcome of the game wasn't what anyone in Gryffindor wanted and they didn't blame Harry for it, but rather the Dementors.

Any of the books Harry had read had said that a fear of thunder was merely a childish phase that most children go through. Well, age had only served to increase Harry's fear of thunderstorms.

One time in second year, he had yelped loudly after a particularly loud crack of thunder. Ron had asked him if he was alright and as steadily as he could, he told Ron he was fine.

He had thought after the Quidditch match in the rain, he wouldn't be terrified of thunderstorms anymore. The one that followed a week later, gave Harry his answer. It was a big fat no!

Harry had huddled under the covers, muffling any noise with his pillow. What he didn't realize was that Ron had come to the realization that Harry had a thing about thunderstorms. So it was to Harry's surprise that Ron climbed in bed beside him.

They never talked about it and Ron was up before the others. Dean, Seamus, and Neville were none the wiser.

Harry didn't mind a simple shower now and then. The fresh, clean smell of the air after a light shower was something that Harry didn't mind when he was forced outside to work when he lived with the Dursleys.

But the moment the sky turned a stormy gray and the clouds grew dark gathering in thick clusters, Harry knew what was coming. He dreaded what came.

A flash of lightning lit up the room and Harry could make out the light dancing on the walls, skeletal shapes of a few shadows before the room plunged was into darkness again.

Harry shut his eyes and braced himself for the rumble of thunder that would follow. It inevitably came a split second later.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, spreading veined and web-like claws across the darken sky and an earth-shattering roar that shook the house. The noise made Harry jump again, whimpering slightly.

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He pushed back the cover, picked up his glasses from the nightstand and raced out of the room. He headed straight for Sirius's room.

He stood frozen in the doorway of Sirius's bedroom.

Sirius was standing beside his bed. It was apparent that he had just gotten up. The only sound in the room was Sirius and Harry's breathing and the slight sound of thunder off in the distance.

"Sirius?" Harry couldn't believe how small and shaky his voice sounded. He felt stupid for coming to Sirius. That was until he was reminded that before Sirius, he never had anyone who cared for him. The last time he had woken Sirius up in the middle of the night was a few weeks ago when he got a stomach ache.

"What's wrong, Pup?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sirius was woken up by a thunderstorm. Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, he saw that it was half past midnight. He had heard from a weather forecast that there was a thunderstorm coming through their area.

He listened for sounds in the house. He thought of Harry and wondered how he was doing. He remembered that Harry was scared of loud noises when he was a baby and wondered if he was still the same way now.

He had just turned to get out of bed to go and check on Harry and had barely placed his feet on the floor when the door to his bedroom opened.

Sirius looked up and found Harry standing there. Since Harry had been living with him, the only time Harry came to Sirius in the night when he was sick. But this felt different. Harry wasn't hunched over like he was usually when he was sick.

"Sirius?" Harry whispered.

"What's wrong, Pup?" he replied.

"Can I stay with you?" Harry asked.

The voice sounded like it belonged to someone younger than thirteen, almost fourteen. But Sirius didn't dwell on it. Instead, he summoned Harry's pillow and pulled back the cover on the right side of the bed.

He patted the bed in the place beside him. "Come here, kiddo."

Harry approached the side of the bed and climbed in beside his godfather.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked.

Before Harry responded a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning causing him to jump.

"It's okay," Sirius soothed, wrapping an arm around his godson.

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured, after a while.

"You have nothing to worry about," Sirius started rubbing his back in soothing circles. "It's not your fault. Fears are fears."

"But at thirteen?" Harry asked. "I'll be fourteen next week! Am I ever going to overcome this?"

Sirius knew that Harry's fear of thunder and lightning seamed from Harry's childhood. He knew like other things with Harry had overcome, it will take time. "You will."

"I guess so," Harry murmured.

They lay in silence for a while before Harry asked, "Were you afraid of a thunderstorm?"

Sirius thought for a moment. He had been when he was little, but unfortunately, he never outgrew it. He never had the comfort of his family. All he had were shouts or reprimands to go to sleep. He suffered alone in silence.

That was until James and Remus. If the full moon occurred on a night with a thunderstorm, James stuck close to Sirius and it was nothing for one of them to climb in bed with him when a thunderstorm hit.

"I was, but I was able to face my fear." He looked down and his grey eyes met green. "And you will too. How did this start?" Sirius asked.

"Back in the cupboard under the stairs," Harry whispered. He admitted that the only person that knew about Harry's fear was Ron and he had slept with Harry a few times when a thunderstorm would hit Scotland.

"None of the others know," Harry added. Sirius knew that Harry was referring to his other dorm mates.

A loud crash of thunder met Harry jump, whimpering slightly. He didn't jump when Sirius wrapped his arms around him.

"It's okay, Kiddo," Sirius soothed. "Would telling you a story take your mind off of the weather outside?"

"Maybe," Harry whispered, still shaking slightly.

"Once upon a time, there was a man with messy black hair. His name was James," Sirius began. "One day, James comes to Kings Cross Station to catch the Hogwarts Express for the first time. It was on that train ride, he met four people, one of whom I don't need to mention."

Harry knew Sirius was referring to Peter the rat.

"He met two boys, one was named Sirius, and the other Remus. When I first met your Dad, do you know what he asked me?" Sirius asked.

"No," Harry replied.

"Is your name really Sirius?"

Harry chuckled quietly, knowing Remus was asleep in the room across the hall.

"Other than the two boys," Sirius continued with the story. "He made a beautiful young girl named Lily."

Sirius went on to tell Harry about the adventures he had with James and Sirius and how things changed slightly when finally, after five years, Lily agreed to go out with James to Hogsmeade. Thus began the relationship between James and Lily.

"Once your parents started dating, your Dad would drag your Mum with us on our adventures. Something I'm sure you know about your Mum was she was an amazingly gifted witch and an uncommonly kind woman. She had a knack for seeing things in people that they didn't see themselves."

Sirius paused for a second to think more about Lily to tell Harry.

"Her smile would light up a room, and her eyes," Sirius chuckled. "They would brighten when she got excited about something and darken when she was sad. She would smile and laugh with her eyes, which made her all the more beautiful in your Dad's eyes. He admitted to me once that her eyes were the first things he saw. These emerald gems that shined and it was enough to draw even the foolish boy to her."

Once more Sirius had to pause, but this time, he looked down at Harry.

"Her eyes were one of the features she passed down to you. I look in your eyes and it's almost as if I'm looking at Lily."

"Everyone says I look like Dad, except for the eyes, I have Mum's eyes."

"And unfortunately, your Dad's eyesight," Sirius added.

"What was the other feature I inherited from Mum?" Harry inquired.

"Her kindness and her forgiving heart. You much like both of your parents, more than you know."

Harry smiled.

"What to hear another story?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," Harry replied.

Sirius smiled, knowing the story he wanted to tell next.

"After we graduated, your Mum and Dad decided to get married. It was a happy time for them. Until a month later when they received word that your Mum's parents were killed in a car crash. It devastated Lily. Her sister didn't make things easy for her, but Lily had gone to the house before the funeral. Her mother had already boxed some things for Lily that she wanted her to have. They were planning on moving to a smaller house, downsizing. They were looking at a house when they were in the car crash."

Harry was silent, taking in what Sirius was telling him.

"Then a month or so later, we found out that James's parents, your other grandparents, were diagnosed with Dragon Pox. For someone with their advanced age, the healer didn't give James much hope for their recovery. They died within hours of each other. It seemed like they had been dealing with nothing but death since they got married. But do you know what made them happy?"

Harry shook his head.

Sirius smiled. "When they found out they were going to have you."

Harry smiled softly.

"I was there the night you were born. It took twenty hours for you to come into this world. But I wasn't going to miss your birth for the world."

"You were there?" Harry asked.

"I was. I was holding you when your Dad asked me to be your godfather. I nearly dropped you."

"You did?"

"I didn't really drop you. I did fall into the chair behind me. I think Remus got a picture of that.

Remus kept the pictures that he had taken with Lily's camera of me holding you when you were just born. They're around here somewhere. I also have copies of pictures James and Lily sent me while they were in hiding. I also visited you as often as I could."

"Sirius?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Do you think we can look at them sometime?" Harry asked.

"The pictures?" Sirius clarified.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"Sure. We'll see if we can find them tomorrow," Sirius said, deciding they would search for the old pictures tomorrow. They were trying to make the house more homely and pictures made a home more homely to Sirius.

Harry yawned, suddenly, trying to cover it with his mouth. Sirius smiled as he remembered how Harry had yawned when he was a baby. He still yawned the same.

"Come on, Pup. Let's get some sleep." Harry moved over to sleep closer to his godfather. "Get some sleep, Pup."

"Uh huh." Harry didn't have the energy to say a word. Sirius chuckled lightly.

A loud clash of thunder once again sounded outside. Harry's face scrunched up but remained asleep as he snuggled up closer to his godfather. Sirius smiled, wrapped his arm around Harry and kissed his raven hair before going to sleep himself.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next morning, Remus woke up to find the thunderstorm from the night before was gone and in its place were clear blue skies and birds singing. He smiled as he pushed back the curtains of his window to let in the sunlight. It was he was heading out of his room, he noticed something was wrong.

He went to Harry's room to check on him. When he reached the doorway, he found the room empty. Noticing the time, he wondered where Harry could have gone to. Slightly worried, he decided to go and find Sirius to ask if he knew where Harry was. If he couldn't find Sirius then he would use the mirrors to call him.

When he got to Sirius's bedroom, he pushed open the cracked door, quietly stepped into the room. He stopped at in the doorway, smiling at the scene that was before him.

Sirius and Harry were lying close together with Sirius's arms wrapped around Harry. They were sound asleep. Deciding to let them sleep, Remus quietly left the room and pulled the door to a crack as it was when he found it, and headed downstairs, deciding to let them sleep.