Harry hid behind Giotto, his eyes watching a group of toddlers warily. Although the children were all smiling happily, Harry doesn't feel welcomed; in fact, he felt that he doesn't belong here, which was most likely the case.
The three year old frowned and stared down at his shoes stubbornly while his cousin Dudley immediately joined his friends playing at the playground. "What's wrong, Harry?" Giotto queried, crouching down to meet Harry's eye level.
Harry shake his head and looked away from Giotto's gaze. "No... thing," the child muttered, looking sullen. Understand what Harry felt uncomfortable about, Giotto was about to reassure him when out of the blue, a soccer ball went flying in the air, coming toward Harry's direction.
"Harry!" The child instinctively ducked, and thankfully, the ball landed a few feet away and rolled away.
"What you doing?" A familiar voice stated and Dudley tread toward the two with careful steps, minding his heavy weight. "Go pick the ball, idiot," he huffed and folded his arms; Harry can only oblige. When handing the ball back to his cousin, Dudley snatched the ball, making sure to not let their hands come into contact.
Harry on the other hand was used to his cold behavior, and suppressed the pained expression from crossing his features. Forcing a smile, he turned to Giotto, "L-Let's go." Wordlessly, Giotto followed the child and afterwards, they crawled underneath the seemingly abandoned turtle statue.
As barely anyone visit this area of the playground, Harry decided to use this place and truthfully, in here, no one would bully him and Harry could finally release the breath he had been unconsciously holding in.
Crouching down, Harry picked up a stick and drew a Tic-tac-toe board and sketched an "X" in the center of the grid; this was one of the few ways the two decided to spent their time on underneath the turtle.
Giotto pointed toward the upper left box and Harry, in Giotto's place, drew a circle. And just like that, the two played this game in silence and so far, their game streak had always been Giotto being the winner.
At the moment, they're at their third game and Harry stared intensely at the board; no matter what move he make, ultimately, his guardian angel will be the sole victor. Giotto stifled the laughter threatening to escape at the sight of a concentrated Harry who was deeply immersed in this simple game.
Harry suddenly looked up and exclaimed, "Ah, it's an alien!" Giotto cocked his head to the side - already having an idea on what the child was up to - and Harry used this opportunity to lean forward, smudging one of Giotto's "O's" and replaced it with an "X."
"I won! I won!" Harry cheered, seemingly quite proud of himself despite the fact that he had to cheat to obtain victory.
"That you did. Round 4?" Giotto quirked his eyebrows.
"Yeah!"
As the children were all seated in their individual seats, the teacher unwrapped the packaging and sliced the birthday cake into several slices. And one by one, she handed out to the children and already, many of them - Dudley included - already dug in, munching on their desert.
However, Harry didn't even touch his dessert yet, and seemed quite uncomfortable. Noticing Harry's silence, Giotto bent down and spoke softly next to the child's ear, "Harry? What's wrong?"
But before Harry can respond, Dudley stomped toward them without warning and with his chubby bare fingers, he grabbed Harry's dessert, wolfing it down in four big bites. The cream was smeared all over his cheeks, and once he swallowed the food, Dudely stuck his tongue out, licking the cream away.
Dudley burped, patting his belly with triumph, and grinned at Harry before strolling away, leaving Harry staring at his back in daze.
"You don't look that disappointed, Harry," Giotto noted. Whether Harry was displaying his emotions on his face or putting on a facade, Giotto can easily decipher how Harry was feeling.
The child gazed over at Giotto and motioned his fingers, silently telling his guardian angel to come closer. And so, Giotto did and Harry whispered while cupping his hand, "There's a big bug on the cake; I don't want to eat it."
"Really?" Giotto asked, bemused at this turn of events. "Heh, I do want to see if he'll get a stomach ache later." In his opinion, if this did happen, Dudley certainly deserve it; after all, this shall to teach him a lesson to not be greedy and steal Harry's food.
Harry tittered.
Right now, it was nap time and the toddlers were all sleeping on the futons laid out courtesy of the staff, all except Harry that is. His green eyes were gazing at the ceiling, seemingly unable to fall asleep; and so, rather than shutting his eyes, the child chose to entertain himself quietly.
"You should sleep while you can, Harry," Giotto advised, but Harry stubbornly shake his head.
"Can't," the child replied and suddenly, he thought of an brilliant idea. "Read me a story, daddy," he suggested and flipped over, leaning on his belly.
"A story, huh?" Giotto tapped his chin with a finger and mentally brainstormed several ideas; and soon, he came up with a story. "Alright, let's listen to a story called The Seven Rainbows. Once upon a time, there lived 7 males, each are known for their amazing abilities. Some excelled at martial arts, some mastered countless weapons, while others has an amazing physique that was unique like no other. And so, these males continued to make a name for themselves, but one day, they all received an invitation, claiming to be a special job offer with a huge sum of money as their reward. With their interest piqued, they decided to accept the offer, and traveled to the same location on the same exact day, not knowing what was in store for them. Once they arrived, a man dressed in a black suit walked out and explained to them that their task was to maintain peace in the country-"
"Like heroes!" Harry voiced in excitement.
"Yes. And the man handed them a pacifier, and then ah! Their bodies began to shrink!"
"Wow! That's so cool!" Harry interrupted with stairs shining in his eyes figuratively. "How small are they?"
"Hmm… smaller than lil' Harry, of course," Giotto teased, and Harry pouted. He hated people calling him short; he is still growing! "Continuing on, the men were astonished at their current sizes and tried all methods to revert back to their original body. But no matter what, they are unfortunately stuck forever. And so, they can only accept their fate and did as their 'boss' instructed. Years later, they'll be known as the Seven Rainbows who will be the country's heroes. The end."
"That's sad," Harry looked dejected. "They can't go back to normal?"
Giotto shake his head, "But look at it this way: the Seven Rainbows are glad that they can help people using their special powers granted to them."
"But are they really happy?" Harry insisted, appearing to be thinking too deep into this story. A smile was then etched on Giotto's countenance, and he advised Harry to nap now.
Although a multitude of questions was running through Harry's mind, he acquiesced, but moments later, the three year old couldn't bear it no more and pleaded his guardian angel for another story desperately.
Giotto tried his hardest to maintain his composure at the sight of Harry's puppy eyes, but even a former mafia boss was weak to this technique. And so, he surrendered and narrated another story for the child.
And in the end, Harry never gotten to take a nap.
Right now, it was dismissal time and the children were waiting for their guardians/parents to pick them up. While the majority of the children were grouped together, chatting boisterously, Harry was sitting alone. However, he doesn't feel a tad bit lonely as Giotto was keeping him occupied by making light conversations here and there.
Harry would then respond animatedly, though he would often keep his volume low. Time had ticked by and now it was four in the evening with the majority of the children gone.
The emerald-eyed child stand on his tip-toes, peeking through the window, wondering when his guardians would come and pick him- no, Dudley up. Harry would just trail behind the family of three, keeping a considerable distance; after all, the Dursley family want nothing to do with Harry, not to mention letting other people know that they're related to Harry.
Turning to his cousin, Harry tapped Dudley's shoulder and his cousin swiveled around, narrowing his eyes in annoyance, "What?"
"Do you know when auntie and uncle is coming?" Harry inquired timorously.
"No," Dudley replied roughly, but he paused and suddenly, a dangerous and mischievous glint danced in his eyes. "Wait, I do know. Follow me."
Harry didn't move, watching his cousin, but the impatient Dudley dragged him by the wrist harshly, disregarding Harry's hiss of pain. The two walked out of the daycare in silence; Harry didn't get to see the smirk across Dudley's face, but Giotto did and the guardian angel warned Harry.
"Harry, I have a bad feeling: try to pull away from Dudley," Giotto suggested urgently, knowing that Dudley was probably up to no good. Even without his hyper intuition warning him, he can tell that something was about to go wrong.
Harry did as he was told, but the strong vice grip prevented him from breaking free; as Harry was physically smaller and weaker than Dudley, he couldn't muster enough strength.
Dudley dragged him to a dark and apparently dirty storehouse behind the daycare and it was a wonder how his cousin knew of this place when their teacher never guide her students around here.
His cousin shoved Harry inside, making the child lose his balance for few seconds. "W-What?" Harry stuttered, staring at his cousin in confusion.
Dudley waved a hand mockingly and proceeded to slide the doors shut.
"Wait, please-" Harry ran up to Dudley, trying to get out, but his cousin tried to pry his hands off and eventually, Dudley ruthlessly kicked the green-eyed child in the stomach; Harry landed on his back, clutching in stomach in agony.
If looks could kill, then Giotto would've bored a hole through Dudley's head; his warm orange eyes turned into icy and ominous orbs, with a strong intent to kill the child. He wasn't a former mafia boss for nothing. And if it wasn't for God sealing his powerful flames, right now, a fire would be ignited on Dudley.
Although Dudley couldn't see the guardian angel, he felt tingling goosebumps all over his skin out of the blue and he rapidly shut the doors, locking it, and fled with a tail between his legs. Meanwhile, Giotto was tending Harry, making sure his injury wasn't so severe.
"Are you alright?" His face turned sour at the sight of the purple/blue bruise conspicuously standing out.
"H-Hurt," Harry gasped. Giotto clenched his fists. 'Unforgivable...' Although Giotto was commonly known as a generous boss - too kind for someone in the underworld - there was one thing that would even make the gentlest soul turn into a beast and that was when someone dared to hurt his family. Giotto's shaking balled fists didn't went unnoticed by Harry, and the child reassured, "'M alright, d-daddy."
"Does it still hurt?" Giotto whispered.
Harry shake his heads, but his guardian angel saw how his muscles were all tense and how he gritted his teeth to hold back the cry of pain. "Don't lie to me, Harry," and it felt like Giotto's heart had broke into two.
"I'm... really okay," Harry reiterated courageously and despite the fact that his eyes were watery, he tried to hold the tears in.
"Wait here, I'll call for help," and Giotto flew out of the storehouse and landed in the daycare, whirling his head around, trying to spot Harry's teacher. He perpetually searched every nook and corner, but eventually he realized that in his panicking state, he fail to recall that the teacher was probably at the gates, greeting farewells to the parents and children.
And so, Giotto's intangible body passed through the walls fluidly and landed in front of the teacher.
"S-Sensei, Harry's locked in the storehouse; please go help him!" He pleaded urgently, but the teacher didn't hear him. Even when Giotto darted in front of her, she didn't even bat an eye.
Despite knowing that it was futile, Giotto kept pleading, hoping for a miracle. Eventually though, he unwillingly gave up and returned to Harry's side.
Harry looked up with hopeful eyes, but Giotto unfortunately had to crush his hopes by shaking his head dejectedly. Time has stretched by with the two hoping that someone would notice that Harry was missing, but in the end, no one came.
And right now, night had fallen with the crescent moon glowing in the sky; simultaneously, the temperature had dropped significantly and Harry rubbed his shoulders fervently, hugging himself tight to combat the cold air.
Witnessing this, Giotto suggested, "Harry, let's try searching at the back; maybe we can find something useful to warm you up."
Nodding hesitantly, Harry followed behind Giotto, who meticulously scanned the storehouse with perceptive eyes. Since he was intangible, Giotto had to let Harry rummage through the dozens of boxes all stacked together.
Harry flinched once his ears perked up a strange squeaking sound; he snapped his head to the side and found nothing out of the ordinary. Thinking that it must be his imagination running wild, the child turned back to the task on hand. Nonetheless, the situation filled him with dread.
But then the sound came back again; this time however, it was much more distinct and… closer.
Swiftly, he turned his head to where the sound was coming from and his heart felt bounded as a nose poked out of the gap between the boxes and in due course, the entire mouse's body was revealed, scurrying around, squeaking all the while.
Regardless of the fact that he was physically much more larger than the mouse, for some apparent reason, he felt daunted; all Harry can see was the mouse getting noticeably closer and the child yelped, knocking few items down to hopefully chase the animal away.
"Harry?" came Giotto's concerned voice, yet Harry didn't hear it; all he can see was the dark storehouse and in the back of his mind, he persuaded himself that there are more mice around, and that something dangerous was surrounding him.
Harry doesn't know how to explain the situation on hand - as he had never experienced this before - but now, the dark setting created a creepy and unsettling feeling. His heart beat rapidly as if the organ was trying to leap out of his rib cage and instantaneously, his eyes were dilated with his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Moreover, with the moonlight filtering into the storehouse, it helped highlighted Harry's shadows, in which the child cowered in fear.
"Harry? Harry?!" Giotto vainly tried to calm the child down; his words weren't reaching Harry at all.
Harry squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop his mind from picturing some supernatural creatures harming him. He cupped his hands, muffling his ears and moved into a fetus position, protecting himself from any possible danger he might be exposed to.
"Harry, you're fine. Nothing will harm you, I promise," Giotto reassured, but Harry shake his head.
"Something is coming. Something is coming" were the words ringing inside his mind incessantly.
And so throughout the whole night, Harry was plagued by these nightmares, engendering a fear that would change his life forever.
'Help me. Help me. Help!'
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