A/N - Written for round 1 of the playoffs for the QLFC. I had to use the dialogue 'How does it rain cats and dogs? Do they ride on droplets or something?'

Rose jumped as thunder clapped and rattled the windows of the house. She glanced over at her mother who sat reading her book in front of the fire, seemingly unaffected. Then again, her mother often got lost in whatever she was reading. Sometimes Rose had to say her name three or four times before her mum would realize she was talking. So maybe she didn't even notice that it was raining. Rose didn't want to be afraid of the storm, she was seven after all, and only babies were afraid of thunder and lightning.

But usually, Daddy was here and Rose could cuddle up next to him. He would put his arm around her and talk about something that had nothing to do with the rain. And he never said anything about her being scared, even though he knew that she was. But Daddy had gone to help Granddad Arthur with something at the Burrow. Not that Rose didn't feel safe with her mother. She did, it was just different.

She looked over at Hugo who was lying on the floor and playing with the miniature dragons Uncle Charlie had gotten him for Christmas. Even Hugo wasn't afraid and he was only five. Usually he stood at the window and watched the rain roll in, begging Mum and Dad to let him go outside and play in it. Sometimes, if it was just a light rain, Mum let them, but Rose always got water down her back and came in after only a few minutes. Hugo even liked the thunder and the lightning.

Rose tried to go back to the book she was reading. Grandma Granger had given her a whole box of books the last time they had visited and said they had all been Rose's mum's. Her mum had looked through them all with a smile on her face and then her grandmother had told Rose all kinds of stories.

Rose loved to read, but the stories that her grandparents told her about her parents were better than any book. Sometimes, it was hard to imagine that her mum and dad had once been children. Well, maybe harder to imagine her mum than her dad. Her grandma had said something like that once, that mum had been born with an old soul.

Her grandparents were always saying things like that. Most of the time Rose could figure out what they meant, but sometimes they were just confusing. Once her Granddad Granger had said something about killing two birds with one stone and Hugo had cried. Of course, Hugo was kind of a baby and Rose didn't think that her granddad would actually kill any birds, especially with a stone, but she had asked just to make Hugo feel better.

The thunder boomed loudly again, followed by a bright flash of lightning. Rose squeaked in fright. Her mother looked up from her book, her brow furrowed. Rose tried to pretend she was reading, but it wasn't working very well. She saw her mum get up and go to the window and pull the curtain back to look out.

They sky was dark, almost like it was night even though it was only two in the afternoon. The rain lashed against the window in sheets and Rose shivered. She saw her mother glance over her shoulder and Rose looked back down at her book. Rose heard her mum's footsteps, but she didn't look up until her mum sat down on the couch next to her.

"Enjoying that one?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Rose replied. Her mum's mouth quirked into a half smile before she held an arm out. Rose quickly scrambled to her and her mum leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Quite a storm," her mother said quietly. Rose shrugged, but snuggled further into her mum's side. She glanced at Hugo, but he didn't seem to be paying attention. "I used to be afraid of storms you know." Rose sat up and looked at her.

"You were?" she asked incredulously. Her mum wasn't afraid of anything that Rose knew.

"Oh, yes," her mother replied with a nod. "If it was at night, I would huddle under my covers in my bed until I just couldn't stand it anymore and then I would run into Grandma and Granddad's room and sneak into their bed with them." Rose giggled. Her mother smiled at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"And if it was during the day, well, Granddad would tell me silly things to try and take my mind off of it," her mum continued.

"Like what?" Rose asked.

"Oh, jokes or stories that he'd heard from his patients," her mother explained. "Instead of saying it was raining cats and dogs, he would say it was raining goats and sheep or cows and horses. That always made me laugh." Rose looked up at her mother with a smile.

"Mummy," Hugo said from the floor. Rose saw the confused look on his face.

"Yes, Hugo," their mother replied.

"How does it rain cats and dogs?" he asked. "Do they ride on droplets or something?" Rose rolled her eyes. She glanced up at her mother who was biting her lip. Rose knew that meant she was trying not to laugh.

"No sweetheart, it's just an expression," she said. Hugo clearly still didn't understand. "When someone says it's raining cats and dogs, they just mean that it's very windy and raining very hard. There aren't actually cats and dogs coming from the sky." Hugo seemed to think about this for a minute before he nodded.

"What about the cows and horses then?" he questioned. "Or the goats and sheep?" Rose groaned. Sometimes Hugo was so dumb, even if he was only five.

"Hugo, there are no animals riding on the rain droplets," she said in exasperation. "It's just something people say like that bird and the stones thing that Granddad said that time." Hugo looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Oh," he finally said and then went back to his dragons. Rose looked up at her mother and shook her head and her mother chuckled. She gave Rose's shoulder another squeeze and Rose sighed happily and leaned back into her. Maybe storms weren't so bad after all.