The Little One with Green Eyes

8: A Marauder's Reunion

-September 26 1991-
It'd been three weeks. It had been three whole weeks since Severus was given the impossible task of retrieving Little One and bringing him to the Order's headquarters, and Severus had stalled as long as he could. He had devised countless ways that he could avoid the Order's plans, and none of them worked. The reason as to why?

Albus bloody Dumbledore.

That barmy old coot knew Severus too well. He should've guessed that the old man would find a way to counteract Severus's Slytherin tendencies. Perhaps the reason he acted senile was so that people would underestimate him in his old age. No matter, because at the end of the day, Severus had no way of keeping Little One safe from the Order with his life and magic intact.

Because that old bastard pulled on the oath to ensure that Severus brought the child to them.

It made Severus sick, what they wanted to do to the Inferius. Hasn't Little One suffered enough? Severus shivered, his thoughts instantly heading back to that night all those weeks ago. Severus had been startled just like the rest of them when Little One spoke for the first time.

But it was the words he spoke that startled him even more.

The thought that Little One---sweet, gentle, innocent Little One---had been abused... There were no words to describe the feeling that rose up in his gut and the acidic taste of bile in the back of his throat. Severus understood then, why the Dark Lord was so protective of the child.

Severus supposed if he had a son who had been through what Little One had, he would do whatever it took to keep him safe and sheltered too.

Little One continued on as if nothing had happened after that. For a few days after the incident, as people had taken to calling it, Little One was not himself. The emptiness in his eyes did not leave for those few days. Everyone could tell that it was worrying the Dark Lord, as he watched Little One with a mixture of apprehension and concern.

The relief was almost palpable when Little One returned to normal. After three whole days of an empty husk pretending to be their precious Little One, the missed Inferius returned. He practically skipped into the common room and handed everyone five of their respective flowers, as if he were apologizing for not being there.

The Dark Lord sighed inaudibly in relief and automatically scooped up the little child and held him close. Severus could not, for the life of him, tear his eyes away from the duo. How anyone could think that the Dark Lord would hurt Little One, he could not know. Perhaps if they saw for themselves the amount of love the Dark Lord held for the child, they would understand.

It was a heartwarming scene when Little One pulled away from the embrace to tuck a red Spider Lily behind the Dark Lord's ear. The Dark Lord only smiled and pressed a kiss to Little One's temple. The Dark Lord did not remove the flower for the rest of the day, and the next morning he walked in with the Spider Lily in his lapel.

The Dark Lord wore the flower until it died.

It made Severus clench his fists in anger when he thought about how he would be taking that away from him. While a good majority of Severus's hesitance comes from self-preservation, as taking Little One away from the unstable and possessive Dark Lord will inevitably end in disaster, a small part of Severus does not want to take Little One away so that he wouldn't ruin the happiness they share.

Severus wished there was a way to stop it from happening, but alas there were none. Severus currently stood in his potions lab, cursing everything around him venomously.

He had read that there was a ritual that could rupture an Unbreakable Vow in an ancient text, however it was incredibly difficult and required a strong amount of magic to do it. Severus, while incredible at potions and decently powerful, did not have the necessary magic nor skill to complete the ritual. And asking for help would eventually lead knowledge back to the Dark Lord where his life will become forfeit.