QLFC:
Harpies, Chaser 2. 1733 words.
Main prompt: Use a setting you've never used before (Lavender Brown's childhood home)
Optional Prompts: word: divorce. Quote: "Adventure is not outside man; it is within." - George Elliot. Quote: Imagination is the highest kite that can fly. - Laurel Bacall
HSWW:
Assignment: Astronomy: Task 2: Write about a difference of opinion
….
Lavender's mum tucks her in, and then tucks her barbie in next to her, kissing each of them on the forehead in turns.
Lavender clutches at the pink covers and says, "Night, Mummy."
Her mum smiles at her. "Goodnight, Lavender. Have sweet dreams."
Lavender smiles back and closes her eyes.
…
Tonks is slipping through the shadows, searching for a new bed to hide under. She flits through the shadows from house to house, leaving no trace of her presence as she searches for a suitable child.
She stops in a bedroom of pure pink. In the middle of the room is a large bed with a pink canopy made of lace. In one corner stands a giant princess castle. Even the socks strewn across the floor are pink.
Tonks, who is made to live in the shadows and is, inasmuch as she is any colour, pure black, does not blend in here.
She is about to slide back into the shadows when the little girl on the bed, maybe five years old, whimpers.
Tonks slips closer.
"Please," whimpers the child. "Somebody help me!"
Tonks may be a monster, but she isn't heartless.
The child tugs at something inside of her.
She reaches out a taloned hand and lightly nudges the girl.
She twitches and then whimpers again.
Tonks sighs. She moves in closer, drawing her talons along the girl's arm lightly enough not to scratch.
The girl shudders and then comes awake — staring straight at Tonks.
The child screams.
There's a thud, and then the pounding of approaching footsteps, and Tonks slips into the shadows under the bed just before the girl's mother hits the light switch, flooding the room with bright yellow light.
"Lavender?" the mother says.
"Mummy!" wails Lavender.
Tonks curls herself into the shadows.
"What is it, sweetheart?" the mother asks, moving forward and sitting beside Lavender on the bed.
"A… A monster."
Which… technically true, but the tone is still hurtful.
Tonks is trying not to sulk when Lavender adds, "It went under the bed."
"It's okay, sweetie. I'm sure it wasn't really a monster."
"It was, Mummy! I saw it! It's there, you can see!"
The mother sighs, sliding off the bed and kneeling down.
"Let me take a look."
Tonks folds herself up tight into the shadows.
The mother lifts up the bed-skirt and light spills under the bed from some sort of torch. Tonks follows the shadows to a place behind one of the feet of the bed.
The mother gives a cursory look but then lets the bed-skirt fall.
"I don't see anything, sweetheart."
Lavender sniffles.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Lavender sniffles again, but says, "Okay." Her voice is small.
The mother runs a hand through Lavender's hair.
"Want me to read you a story so you can fall back asleep?"
"Princess Angelica?"
"Sure."
The mother makes her way to the bookshelf, and the settles herself in the bed next to Lavender.
Her voice as she reads is soft and smooth and Tonks settles into the carpet to listen to the story of a beautiful little princess who makes friends with a dragon.
When the story is over, the mother kisses the now sleeping Lavender on the forehead and slips out of the room.
Tonks unfurls herself from the shadows.
She didn't mean to terrify the child.
She only meant to soothe the nightmare away.
But she's glad she did.
Because as the child came awake, Tonks couldn't miss the sight of the dark red spirit leaving the child.
Tonks hates malevolent spirits, mostly because they give monsters a bad rap, but also in large part because they're universally assholes. They target children because children are easier to torment.
And spirits are obsessive. The pick a target and they keep coming back, battering away at the child's defenses until there is nothing left but a scared shell.
She thinks about Lavender, who likes pink and princesses and dragons. She wonders if this is a divorce from reason, but she wants to protect this child.
She decides to stay.
…
She can follow Lavender through the shadows easily, though the spirit only ever comes in the night.
Still, it is interesting to follow the child.
She is a happy child, always babbling to her mother, making up stories and describing her surroundings.
She cries easily but smiles just as easily.
She loves the story of Princess Angelica and her adventures with the dragon, but she also loves stories about princesses who rule kingdoms and princesses who become knights and princesses who run away and fall in love with people they aren't supposed to. Adventure lives well within this child — she will never need to seek it out.
But when she falls asleep, the red spirit comes.
The first time, Tonks isn't prepared for what happens.
The spirit comes and Tonks steps in the way.
"I won't let you hurt her," Tonks says.
The spirit laughs. "Oh dear," she says. "Look at the brave little shadow monster. You actually think this matters, don't you? That standing up for this child will make a difference? She'll never know. You'll never get any credit."
"It's not about the credit. It's about keeping her from torment."
"You're going to have to do better than this, then."
Tonks doesn't understand what the spirit means until the spirit dissolves into the wind, slides through her, and dives under Lavender's skin.
Tonks growls in frustration.
"Fucking spirits."
Even as she moves toward Lavender, the child starts twitching.
"Out," Tonks hisses. "Get out!"
She taps Lavender, but the child doesn't wake.
She tries dragging her talons along Lavender's arms, but that doesn't work either. Lavender is whimpering now.
Tonks swears colourfully.
"Lavender," Tonks says aloud. But that doesn't help, and she doesn't dare get louder and alert the parents. Parents just make spirits angrier.
"Oh, fuck you," she says. And then, to Lavender, "I'm sorry for this."
She digs a talon into Lavender's arm, carefully not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to sting.
With a start, the child comes awake screaming.
Tonks sighs and slips back under the bed.
…
The next night, Lavender is breathing easy and Tonks thinks she's asleep until the child says, "Monster? Are you there?"
Tonks… doesn't know what she's supposed to do in this situation.
She waits.
Lavender says quietly, "Did you make that red thing come out of me?"
Tonks slips out of the shadows, standing next to the bed.
Lavender stares at her, surprisingly somber for a five-year-old child.
"I didn't do that," Tonks says.
Lavender tips her head. "What did?"
"That was a spirit. It's been giving you the nightmares. I was trying to stop it."
"Why?"
Tonks steps forward, slowly, trying not to scare the child.
"Because. It was being mean. I don't like mean people."
Nibbling on her lip, Lavender seems to decide something.
"So you're a nice monster?"
"I try to be," Tonks says.
"Oh." Lavender looks thoughtful. "So you're like Uncle Ned. He looks scary because he's big but he's real nice."
"Sure," Tonks says. "Just like that."
"Okay." Lavender's wariness is gone. "Thank you!"
Tonks loves children. Their trust is such a fragile thing, but so easily granted.
She vows to be more prepared the next night.
…
The spirit returns, as Tonks expects.
When it sees Tonks waiting there, it laughs.
"You think you can protect this child?"
"I will be here. Watching. Every time you try to harm her, I will be here. You will never be left alone."
"You think you can stop me?"
"Maybe I can. Maybe I can't. But I can wake her up. Over and over and over again. You won't ever be able to get a grip on her."
The spirit glowers at her and goes translucent as though to slip through Tonks again.
Tonks throws herself at Lavender, spreading herself out and molding herself to the child's skin, leaving the spirit no place to enter — because the spirit has to be corporeal to enter Lavender, Tonks knows. Thinks. She's hoping this works.
The spirit batters at her, searching for an entrance point.
In the end, though, it retreats, glowering at Tonks.
Tonks smirks back. She knows from experience that her smirk is a formidable thing because her eyes are the only part of her that aren't pitch black.
"Don't think this is the end," the spirit spits before disappearing.
Tonks peels herself away from the still-sleeping child and smiles softly.
…
Three days later, Lavender's mother asks if she's had any nightmares lately.
Lavender looks back at her mother and says, "No, Mummy. The monster is keeping them away."
From the shadows, Tonks smiles.
"The monster?"
"She's black and scary. But like Uncle Ned scary. And she's got claw hands!"
Lavender's mother laughs lightly. "Your imagination is something else, sweetheart. One of these days, it's going to fill you up and you're just going to fly away."
"Don't be silly, Mummy. I can't fly!"
Her mother looks at her with a smile. "Imagination can't stretch quite that far, can it?"
Lavender just shrugs.
From the shadows, Tonks' laugh echoes.
…
13 years later
"Are you sure you need to go off to uni?" Tonks asks from her position seated on top of Lavender's dresser.
"Yes, Tonks. I'm sure."
"Well, then. I'll just have to come with you."
Lavender looks up from her suitcase.
"Tonks. People are going to notice if there's a shadow monster following me around. And I don't know if you've noticed, but people aren't really happy about monsters getting an education too."
"Your mother never noticed."
"Well, yeah. But there are a lot more people at uni."
Tonks shrugs her scaley shoulders.
"Good thing I've been working on a solution to that."
She hops down from the dresser, concentrating on her form. Slowly but surely, she morphs into the shape of a young human girl with bright bubblegum pink hair.
She holds out her hands with a flourish.
Lavender squeals and stands, throwing herself at Tonks. Tonks catches her in a hug.
"How long have you been able to do that?"
"Erm. I perfected it last week."
Lavender laughs.
"Oh my god. We're going to uni!"
Tonks thinks about stopping in a little girl's bedroom thirteen years ago.
She never thought it would lead to this.
But she doesn't regret a single moment.
…
Writing Month: 1733
Character Appreciation: 16. (house) Hufflepuff
Shannon's Showcase:2. Israel: Theme: Equality; Word: Barbie
Showtime: 15. The Convent - (plot point) Hiding from someone
Buttons: O1. Socks
Lyric Alley: 11. That a ghost should be so practical
Sophie's Shelf: 13. Dr. Georgina Orwell: Alternatively, write about someone who is 'always watching'.
Angel's Arcade:Peach: (Character) Lavender Brown; (Color) Pink; (Quote) "Please...somebody help me!"
Cooking: Marshmallows: Nymphadora Tonks
Pokemon: nothing scares me anymore
123. Scyther: Word: Adventure; Dialogue: "Oh dear, you actually think this matters, don't you?"; Scenario: The monster under your bed when you were a child was real, but instead of terrorizing you, it has decided to become your protector for life. You are now moving out for college and it insists on coming with you.; Trait: Obsessive
Geek Pride: Lord of the Rings: (AU) Fantasy
Insane House: Character - Nymphadora Tonks