Inglorious Bastards: Legacy [Harry Potter AU Fanfic | Next Generation]

Prologue

THEO WAS AFRAID OF THE DARK. The day when he got his own room and insisted on sleeping there, he started to regret it, especially when his parents would turn off the light and close the door. He never asked them for a nightlight or to leave at least the door ajar so he would have the certainty that his parents would be there if he needed them. Gryffindor pride as his father would tease his mother whenever she won't admit that she got scared of the horror movie they saw at the cinema, maybe he got that as well. Even when he didn't ask, they started leaving a small ball of light in his room once the lights were turned off, and leave the door ajar. His mother would always stay a bit longer in his room – unlike with his older brothers and sister who claimed they were too old to be coddled by their parents -- and he enjoyed that time.

But when it was time to go to sleep, once his mother kissed him goodnight, closed the lights and leaving the ball of dim light by his bedside, and left his room with the door ajar, fear would creep on Theo, because it wasn't the dark that he was afraid of. It was what he hears once he was alone in the darkness. And as he grew up, the whispering voices just kept getting louder and louder.

A loud scream woke everyone in the Black-Nott household. Snuffles the three-headed-dog and as well as Alcander started barging and growling, and circled around the hill to look for the suspected threat, but no matter how many times they circled the house and the forest at its surroundings, they saw nothing. Inside the house on the other hand, Carina Black and Theodore Nott raced to their youngest son's room, passing the rooms of their other children who woke up at the terrifying scream. When they burst through their son's door, it was empty, and yet they could still hear his cries and screams.

"THEO!" Carina skidded on the floor and checked under the bed. With her wand, she cast the Lumos Charm to give a bit of light, and there, she saw her seven-year-old son curled to a ball with his hands covering his ears as he cried.

Theodore opened the lights in the room and went to his wife's side to see his son, he helped her get their youngest out from under the bed and then lets him bury his face to his mother's chest. From the door of Theo's room, his three older siblings – Romulus, Sofia, and Viktor – all stood there with a concerned look on their faces, and all fully awake.

Theo continued to cry in his mother's arm, while Carina tried to figure out what caused him to be in such a state. She tried to ask him what it was but he kept shaking his head and covering his ears. His actions alarmed Carina and Theodore, and especially their older children.

"Mum, what's going on?" Romulus asked.

"Is Theo alright?" Sofia added. She was near to tears as she watched their younger brother.

Aside from Theo's cries, they could hear Snuffles' and Alcander's roars and howls, and seeing that that could cause a problem, Theodore told his wife that he would just get their pets to calm down and would be back as soon as he could. But as he left the room, he also ushered their children back to their room, all telling them that they would tell them as soon as they figure out what was going on.