The Little One with Green Eyes

25: Closure

TW: Mentions of past child abuse

-October 31 1991-
Little One notices things. He knows that all of Papa's friends assume he's stupid, just like Cousin Dudley and his gang, but Little One can't be stupid. He wouldn't notice things if he were stupid, would he? And Little One notices a lot of things.

He noticed that Mr. Snape---he likes lilies---lied to him when he said he was taking him to Papa. He didn't notice it at first, he was distracted by seeing his Uncle Padfoot and Uncle Moony from the strange dreams. It wasn't until Little One heard his Papa's name come out of the strange bearded man's mouth, that he noticed something was wrong. (And it was wrong, very very wrong) He hadn't seen Papa in several days and he missed him. He wanted to see his Papa but the strange people he was staying with wouldn't let him. It made him sad and scared. He noticed how upset Uncle Padfoot was whenever Little One wasn't there, and it made him feel strange. He felt sad because Uncle Padfoot was upset, but guilty because Little One didn't want to be there anymore. He wanted to go home to his Papa and his Auntie Cissy and his snake-momma.

He noticed the strange bearded man said something that made Uncle Padfoot upset and then suddenly Little One got to see Papa. Little One could see how angry Papa was, but the second they met eyes, Papa looked so worried that Little One squirmed in the strange bearded man's hold, wanting to run over to Papa and give him a hug and tell him that everything was okay.

The strange bearded man said something that made Papa angry, but Little One wasn't listening. He was listening to his Papa, who had suddenly addressed him. "Are you harmed, dear one?" he asked.

"'M oh'kay," Little One had answered, smiling at his Papa. "Missed you, Papa." Little One watched as his Papa looked back at the strange bearded man and they talked for a while until Little One was set on the ground.

Little One let out a silent giggle and ran over to his Papa, his arms outstretched towards him. Papa lifted him up into his arms and hugged him tightly, and for the first time in days, Little One felt safe. "There, there, precious. I'm here now." he said and kissed his temple.

And as the feeling of safety and security washed over him, Little One allowed himself to snuggle closer to his Papa's comforting weight and fell asleep.

When Little One woke up, he didn't want to leave his Papa ever again. He was so afraid while he was gone, and he didn't like it. Not one bit. Little One noticed that Auntie Cissy watched him nervously a lot now, but whenever she tried to get close to him, he would just snuggle closer to his Papa.

He liked Auntie Cissy, but he wanted to be with Papa.

He tried not to, but Little One couldn't help but worry about Mr. Snape. He said that it was a secret, that Little One couldn't tell Papa that Mr. Snape was the one who took him, but Mr. Snape said that Papa was the one who told him to watch Little One, so didn't Papa already know? But then, Mr. Snape had lied to him before.

Nevertheless, Little One didn't like Mr. Snape anymore. Whenever he saw the man, Little One would get as close to Papa as he could, his fingers grabbing at the long robes tightly. Mr. Snape had taken Little One from Papa before, so who's to say he won't do it again?

Little One noticed how everyone looked at him with weariness. They eyed him as he curled up in Papa's arms. They whispered to each other whenever Little One feigned sleep in his Papa's lap. (Little One was very good at pretending to sleep) Little One didn't know why they looked at him with such concerned eyes, or why they got sad whenever he passed by. He wanted to give them flowers to make them feel better, but that would mean getting out of Papa's arms and getting close to them. And Little One couldn't do that. What if he got too close, and Mr. Snape came and took him away again? No, it wasn't safe. He hoped that they didn't mind not getting flowers for a little while.