THC/The Houses Competition

House: Gryffindor

Category: Standard

Class: Potions

Prompt(s): [Emotion] Fear [Weather] Thundering

Word Count: 1266

Summary: Lily believes there is a monster outside her bedroom window, Harry shows her it's just a tree and there's nothing to be afraid of. (Next Gen)

Title: Bad Branch

Lily gasped as she suddenly bolted into a seated position on her bed. There was a loud, long, banging thunderclap that woke Lily up from a peaceful sleep, but to her, it didn't sound like a clap or a rumble or even the roar of a ferocious animal. To Lily, the thunder that echoed through the night sky was more like a sound you would hear when you are unfortunately trapped in a dark, dreary cave with a bunch of rocks tumbling endlessly down from the walls on the side. Not only could you hear it as if it was happening right beside you, but you could also feel it like an icy chill of fear deep inside. Lily could feel the thunder deep down within her chest as each blast seemed to shake the house from its foundation, and the sudden constant of lightning, along with the relentless torrents of rain pounding fast and hard on her bedroom window, didn't help matters. It only contributed to the pounding of her heart which was getting faster with every flash of lightning that followed closer behind the booming of the thunder.

Lily could feel herself freeze, silent and still as a mouse who was trying to hide from a cat, when a bolt of lightning illuminated her room and made what appeared to be a giant skeletal hand at her large bay window, its fingernails scraping against the smooth glass. Lily let out a terrified, little high-pitched scream as she dived under her blankets, clutching her pillow to herself, tucking it under her chin as yet another loud blast of thunder pealed out, making her cry out in fear. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Lily cried out from underneath her blankets as she sobbed.

She clasped her hands over her ears as another loud crack sounded through the blackened sky; Lily couldn't stop the small cry that escaped from her lips. She curled more tightly into herself as she wished the storm would go away. "Daddy!" Lily screamed even louder, confident that whatever was outside her window was going to reach in and grab her. "Daddy! Daddy!" Lily cried even harder, her breath getting painfully caught in her lungs.

Lily mouth stretched open and was about to scream again when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, lifting her from her bed and into the embrace of her dad. "Daddy!" Lily cried out in relief as she leaned into him, her shaking body letting out a series of strained, rattled coughs.

"I'm right here, Lily Boo," Harry spoke softly as he untangled his daughter from the blankets, using his sleeve to clear away her tears and snot that had fallen. "It's just a storm, sweetie. It can't hurt you," Harry reassured as he gently ran his hand up and down his daughter's back.

"No, Daddy, monster! It's a monster!" Lily cried as she pointed to the window where the harsh wind of the storm had pushed the skeletal hand up against her window before letting out a loud sob as another thunderous wave hit; the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she buried her face into her father's neck.

Harry gently hushed Lily by bringing his hand up and interlocking his fingers around the strands of her long red hair. "Monster?" Harry questioned as he looked in the direction of where Lily pointed. He couldn't help the small smile that spread across his face when he realized what the monster was. "You know, a lot of things can look very different when it's dark outside," he explained as he made his way over to the window. "and when it's raining outside on top of that, things can look downright odd," he continued as he unlatched the window and opened it up. "Look," Harry said as he gently turned his daughter's face forward so she was able to look out the window. He moved Lily onto his hip before he reached outside a little and took hold of the tree branch that was scraping against the window.

"Monster?" Lily questioned as she grabbed the hem of her pajama top and brought it up to clean the snot that had continued to pour out of her nose. She tucked herself further into her father's arm as if the tree branch would reach out and attack her, given the first chance it got.

Harry chuckled as he shook his head. "There's no monster here, just a tree branch and thunder, nothing more," he said as he brought Lily closer to the window so she could see what the monster really was. "See? It's just the tree outside your window. The wind is making it bang against the glass. You know this tree. You like to climb it during the summer, and I believe your swing is on the other side," he finished with a small smile.

"Oh ya…" Lily giggled a little as she pulled herself away from her father's side a little. "I know that branch; that's the branch that always pokes me," she said as she got a good look at it. "I don't like that branch; that's a mean branch," she added with a small pout as she stuck her bottom lip out a little, glaring at the thing and looking very cross. "Bad branch!" Lily suddenly scolded, making her dad laugh. "Very mean!"

"Really?" Harry questioned, raising the brow under his scar for a moment, as he closed the window back up, making sure to latch it shut so it wouldn't blow open from the harsh wind. "Then maybe I should go out there in the morning and take that branch off the tree so it doesn't poke you anymore," he offered as he closed Lily's curtains as well so she could no longer see the branch. "But in the meantime, let's close these so that the branch doesn't bother you for the rest of the night," he said as he walked Lily back to her bed and set her down.

"There is no monster at all here, and even if there were, I would protect you from it," Harry recurred as he tucked his daughter back into bed, fluffing up her pillow a little as he set it back at the top of the bed. He picked up her blanket that had been hurriedly tossed aside in fright on the floor when he had picked her up a few moments ago and straightened it out before tucking her back into bed. "Do you think you can go back to sleep now that you know it's just your tree outside?" Harry asked.

"Ya…but…but can you stay with me until I fall asleep just in case there is a monster out there?" Lily hesitantly asked as she widened her eyes a little, giving her dad her puppy dog look.

Harry simply smiled as he crawled in next to her, half of his body hanging off her small bed, uncomfortably. "I will stay until you fall back to sleep," he agreed as he tried to make himself as comfortable as he could with how much bed he got, which truth be told, was not all that much, and Harry silently hoped he would not break her child-sized bed.

Lily smiled as she snuggled up to her dad. "Thank you, Daddy," she said softly as she soon fell back to sleep in her father's arms while he hummed a soft tune, forcing Harry to stay there for the rest of the night, but he didn't mind, not as long as his daughter felt safe.