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.
Severus had his hands figuratively tied.
Severus was just about to begin brewing some Wolfsbane potion that Dumbledore had asked (read: demanded in a polite fashion) him to make when his Dark Mark pulsed with pain. Severus cursed even louder and quickly donned his Death Eater garb and apparated away.
He landed in the apparition zone and quickly took the side door that led to the Greeting Hall. When he entered, the Dark Lord stood before several masked Death Eaters, already in formation. The Dark Lord was addressing them, and Severus took the cue to stand back and wait for instructions.
It wasn’t until after the Dark Lord dismissed the group of Death Eaters, that he addressed Severus.
“Severus.” he said in a welcoming voice.
“My Lord.” Severus bowed. “How can I be of service to you?”
“Narcissa is in France for the next two weeks,” the Dark Lord said, gesturing for Severus to walk with him. “As you are the only other one of my followers that I trust to be level-headed and good with children, I ask a favor of you.”
Severus felt dread lace through his veins. Was he…?
“My Lord?” Severus asked when they came to a stop outside of the ground level library. The Dark Lord pushed the door open to reveal an adorable sight. Little One was sitting in the coils of a sleeping Nagini, diligently reading children's books.
“I ask that you watch over Little One while I am away.” the Dark Lord said, looking over Severus with narrowed eyes. “Can you do this?”
Little One looked up at the sound of his name, and a wide smile crossed the Inferius’s face when he saw Severus. Severus steeled himself and nodded. “Yes My Lord.”
The Dark Lord nodded curtly. “Good.” he said. He then quickly walked over to where Little One sat, hissed something to him in Parseltongue, and walked away.
Severus reluctantly made his way into the library. He settled down on the floor, a few good paces away from the slumbering snak. He forced a friendly smile onto his face and tried to act calm. “Hello Little One,” he said. “What are you reading?”
Little One beamed at him, and Severus tucked the sudden Lily he received into his lapel before Little One all but shoved the book he was reading into his face. Severus chuckled and he looked at the cover.
“Ah,” he said with a fond smile. “The Tales of Beedle the Bard. A fantastic book.”
Little One nodded happily and tapped the book and pointed at Severus. It took him a moment to realize what he was asking. “You want me to read it to you?” he asked in surprise. Little One nodded and Severus smiled. “Very well.”
As Severus lost himself to the mindless task of reading children's stories to Little One, he plotted in the very back of his head. Now would’ve been the perfect opportunity to take Little One. If only the Dark Lord wasn’t holding Severus responsible for the child, he could stun the snake and apparate to Grimmauld with Little One in tow.
But the Dark Lord personally assigned this task to Severus. If Severus took Little One now, the Dark Lord would instantly know that Severus had done it. No, it was too risky to take him now. Severus would have to wait for another opening.
And so Severus performed his duty, watching over Little One while the Dark Lord was away. It was an easy task, as the toddler did not fuss. Severus supposed that with the new knowledge of his past, it was understandable that the child would not want to draw attention to himself. It made Severus grit his teeth at the very thought.
After a few hours, Severus had read the entire book to the child, and he was getting sleepy. Severus watched as the child’s eyes drooped, and Severus took initiative and transfigured a small bed out of some scrap paper. Severus would’ve taken him to his bedroom, but no one was allowed in that wing save for the Dark Lord, Little One and Nagini---and Severus was not keen on testing the wards today.
Severus then sat comfortably in an armchair to read while Little One slept peacefully on the bed. He alternated between reading his book and glancing at the sleeping Inferius. An hour after Little One had popped off to sleep, the library door opened and the Dark Lord entered.
He gave one fond look at the sleeping Inferius before he motioned for Severus to follow him. Severus sat his book down and silently followed the Dark Lord out of the room. Severus followed the Dark Lord to his private study.
“Thank you, Severus,” the Dark Lord said as he sat down behind his massive desk. “I appreciate your help. The raid was quite sudden, intel on the Order had just come in and the matter was too time sensitive for me to call Narcissa here in time.”
“It was my honor, My Lord,” Severus said. The Dark Lord hummed absently.
“How was he?” he asked. “No problems?”
“None, My Lord,” Severus said. “He fell asleep only an hour or so ago.”
The Dark Lord nodded. “I still have quite a bit of paperwork left to do, and it is getting quite late.” he said. “Why don’t you go home? Little One can stay in the library for half an hour or so while I finish.”
Severus nodded. “Thank you, My Lord.”
The Dark Lord merely nodded before he gestured at the door. Severus took his leave, shutting the door to the Dark Lord’s study completely. He was just on his way to the apparition one, when something tugged on his robed. Severus looked down to see a sleepy Little One holding on to his robes curiously.
Suddenly, Severus knew.
“Do…” he paused, licked his lips and resigned himself to what he was about to do. “Do you want me to take you to the Dark Lord?”
Little One nodded slowly, and Severus could see the haze from sleep had not fully worn off yet. The toddler was not fully awake.
“I… I can take you to him…” Severus said, leaning down to lift the toddler into his arms. Little One fit into his arms perfectly, and he rested his head on Severus’s shoulder passively. Severus silently disillusioned himself and walked briskly to the apparition zone.
This was it.
He was about to kidnap the Dark Lord’s son.
“This will be slightly unpleasant,” Severus whispered softly, Little One lifted his head to look at Severus questioningly. “But it will only be a moment. The Dark Lord asked me to take you somewhere safe for a few days, then you will see him. Do you understand?”
Little One bit his lip and his eyes narrowed for a second before he decided that trusting Severus was the right way to go. He nodded and Severus felt a small amount of relief course through him. He would come willingly, which made his job that much easier.
“All right, hang on tight.”
Severus gave one last look to the apparition zone inside the Dark Lord’s castle and sighed. Merlin save us all.
He apparated away.
He landed in Grimmauld Place and startled several people in the kitchen.
“Severus what are you---” Molly cut herself off when she saw what was in Severus’s arms. Her eyes widened before she pursed her lips. “I’ll call everyone immediately.”
Severus nodded curtly before he gently set Little One on the ground. The only other two people in the room were Arthur Weasely and Nymphadora Tonks. They watched wide-eyed as Severus knelt down to eye-level with the Inferius.
“Welcome Little One,” he said gently. “I’m going to introduce you to some new friends. They’re going to be watching you until the Dark Lord can take care of you again, is that okay?”
Little One’s eyes brightened at the prospect of new friends, and Severus could only feel mildly guilty about using Little One’s naivety and friendliness against him.
“Is that him?” a gruff voice called. Severus looked up to see the rest of the Order looking at Little One with apprehension. Severus nodded.
“Little One, these are your new friends I was telling you about,” Severus said, his dark eyes glaring at everyone. Everyone quickly understood what was going on, as they smiled and waved at Little One. Little One smiled bashfully at them, and instantly Molly was hooked.
“Well aren’t you just a dear!” she cried. “Hello, darling. I’m Molly Weasely. Nice to meet you.”
Little One grinned and quickly dug into his ever present bag. The Order tensed as they expected something dangerous to be pulled out, but Severus shook his head subtly. Little One pulled his hand out and handed Molly a small Peony.
Molly took it and looked at Severus with a questioning look. “Little One hands out flowers as a greeting,” Severus explained. “It’s specific to each person he meets.”
Tonks cooed at that and quickly reached down to ruffle Little One’s hair. “Hi there, cutie!” she cried. “I’m Tonks! And you are adorable!” Tonks squealed when she was given a giant sunflower and changed her hair to match the color. Little One’s eyes widened and he giggled silently at the sight.
Moody stepped forward then, his magical eye appraising the child wearily. Little One, to his credit, took it with a smile. He waved shyly at the peg-leg before he handed him a stalk of Lilac. Moody took it as if he didn’t know what to do with it.
“You were right about one thing, Snape,” he said, turning to face Severus. “He was made correctly. Doesn’t even look dead. ‘Cept for those stitches.”
Little One continued down the line of Order members, and Severus could see as the rest of the Order eyed the stitches that ran up his neck curiously. Severus quickly gestured at the other Order members, hoping to finish the introductions as swiftly as possible.
Just as Severus was getting ready to introduce Little One to the menace mutt, a small gasp escaped Little One’s lips. Little One had stopped directly in front of Black. The people in the room started, looking at the inferius in shock.
“Severus? What’s he doing? Does he always do that?” Kinglsey asked, his grip on the Orchid he received tightening ever so slightly. Little One stood in place, not moving away from his position in front of the mongrel.
“No, Little One rarely makes any noise…” Severus looked down at the frozen inferius with concern. “Little One? Are you okay---”
“Padfoot?” Little One breathed out, titling his head so his shaggy hair moved out of the way of his emerald eyes.
Everyone in the room was frozen, and Sirius let out a punched out gasp. Remus gripped Sirius’ arm tight. No one in the room dared so much as to breathe as the exchange continued. This was the first time anyone had gotten a good look at the Inferius’s face, and now they were finally seeing the whole thing.
His face was pale with shaggy black hair, and his facial structure was startling familiar to someone lost many years ago. But even more startling was the emerald eyes that they’d seen so many times on a red-headed girl.
Remus moved to stand closer to Sirius, his eyes widened as he breathed in deeply. His eyes flashed gold and his mouth dropped. “It… It can’t be…”
Little One looked at him. “Moony?” he asked.
Sirius all but collapsed to the ground, a trembling hand sticking out. “H-Harry?” he choked out, his eyes wide. Severus sucked in a startled breath and the rest of the Order members looked at the toddler in disbelief. “Harry… Harry is that y-you?”
Little One giggled and hugged Black’s trembling form. “Uncle Paddy! Uncle Moony! You found me!”
Severus swayed and his hand instantly reached out to grip the wall for support. Little One was…
“Harry Potter?”