Little Harry

Nightmares

Harry sat at the table with the other littles eating their dinner, Neville was sat with Daisy as she held him in her arms and fed him a bottle. Luna and Hannah had also slipped into headspace both of them had a headspace age of around 2 or 3 years old and were munching on their food which had been cut up into little pieces for them.

"Harry dear, are you okay?" Autumn had been watching him in concern as he fought off his headspace.

Harry nodded in response. "Can I go to my room and get ready for bed now?" he asked.

"Of course you can, if you need me at any point please just come and find me, im more than happy to help." She replied as she took his plate of half eaten food and dissapeared into the kitchen.

Harry made his way back down the corridor to his bedroom and picked out a pair of pyjamas and went to the bathroom to have a shower and change.

He could hardly understand what was going on, Having grown up his whole life that thinking being a little was 'freakish' and 'embarrassing' he refused to fall into his little headspace. He was not going to be little. Tomorrow, he decided, he was going to wake up, get into his school clothes as he normally would and get Autumn to take him down to his lessons. Yes. That would work.

He stepped out the shower and looked in the mirror and properly saw himself for the first time since his change, he was the size of a toddler just like all the other littles. He hated the way he looked, fought back tears in his eyes and he clenched his fists in anger until his finger nails broke the skin, he un curled his fingers and looked at his now bloody hands and quickly ran them under the tap.

Harry was feeling a little better now after doing that as the fuzziness in his head cleared and he felt secure in his big headspace. He brushed his teeth and then made his way to bed, ahutting off the lights and staring at the ceiling. The ceiling was sort of childish, it had been enchanted to show a starty night sky with planets and shooting stars. His eyelids grew heavy as he fell into a sleep, barely noticing Daisy carrying Neville to bed a few moments later.

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Vernon came storming down the stairs as Harry had just woken from a nightmare, he had let out a scream and quickly clapped his hand over his mouth, knowing that if he woke Uncle Vernon that he would be punished.

"BOY, what have I told you about waking me up in the middle of the night, I've had ENOUGH of this nonsense. Clearly I have not been clear enough with what happens when this happens you freak." Vernon dragged Harry from his cupboard and threw him onto the floor in the living room. He pulled Harrys shirt off over his head and un buckled his belt, manhandling Harry to he was lying on his front as he struck him with his belt, leaving behind cuts and bruises from his neck to his backside.

"P-please s-stop. I p-promise it w-wont happen a-again." as the final blow came to his back he let out a chilling scream.

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Autumn woke in the middle of the night to an alarm from Neville and Harry's room alerting her to any sort of distress they were experiencing. She quickly jumped up and grabbed her dressing gown, hurrying out the carers room and to the Little's bedroom.

Her heart broke as she saw the sight before her, Harry was thrashing around in his sleep whimpering in distress seemingly in the depth of a nightmare. She hurried to Harry's bed and spoke softly to him, trying to wake him from the nightmare.

"Harry, darling, Its okay its just a dream, your safe here." She rubbed his back and gave his arm a small shake to try and get him to wake. "Oh my little one, your okay, Autumn's here, your okay." Harry's eyes snapped open and he turned over, untangling himself from his blankets and throwing himself into Autumns arms as he began sobbing into her shoulder.

"Its okay my lovely, Autumn's got you, your okay. Hush now little one." She spoke as she held him in close. "It was just a dream, it wasn't real, your safe here." She looked over his shoulder and noticed a dark patch on his sheets under his blankets. "Oh little one, did you have an accident,? Come now, lets get you cleaned up and back to bed, are you big enough to change yourself?" Harry nodded as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Nothing to be ashamed of Harry, it was just an accident, I will get clean sheets for your bed and you go get yourself into some new pyjamas now, okay?" Harry crawled to the edge of the bed, got some new clothes from his drawers and hopped down and went to the bathroom to freshen up as Autumn made his bed again.

Once Harry was back in his bed Autumn pulled up a few cushions and sat on them beside Harrys bed.

"I'll be right here as you go back to sleep, little one." She spoke in a quiet voice as she brushed a hand through his messy black hair.

Within a few minutes his breathing had evened out and he was back sound asleep so Autumn tucked his blankets round him again and silently left the room. Thankful for the fact they didn't wake Neville who seemed to be a very deep sleeper.

Back in the carers 'staff room' which was really more like a living room, Daisy was sat up nursing a cup of hot chocolate, "I thought I heard you get up Autumn, everything okay?"

"I'm worried about Harry, he had a nightmare and when I saw him he was thrashing around in his bed crying in his sleep, I woke him up and he had an accident, he went to change and came back and as i stayed and helped him fall back asleep I saw he had broken the skin on the palms of his hands. I think he is fighting off his headspace, its not the first time that's happened, but i wonder what he is going through to feel like he can't be little."

"Oh, poor little one, in time he will begin to open up to us I'm sure, until then just keep a watch over him and help him whenever you can, we'll keep reminding him its okay to be little, he will understand in time."

"I really hope so poor child. I will speak to him about it in the morning." She gave a small sigh and headed back to bed for a few more hours of sleep before the first day of school began.