Once Lost, Now Returned Pv closed

Jake hadn't known what to think when he'd received the letter at breakfast. At first, Jake had just been mesmerized by the owl that had come to drop it off - after all, even though Jake saw lots of owls every morning none of them ever came close enough to have anything for him. He had given the owl a gentle stroke of thanks and then removed its letter.

Upon opening it, Jake had irrationally had a hopeful thought. His mum and dad had figured out how to send magic owls...! He had instantly realized that the handwriting was not from them, and been disappointed, but also confused, because he didn't know who else in the world could be writing to him. Maybe they had the wrong Jake?

But then he began to read the letter and gasp. His sketchbook...! She had found it? He remembered the name - Santario was somebody that he had met at camp. He had read the letter three times to make sure he was getting it all right. He had to go see her and get it back!

But as he made his way up to the owlery (after having to ask a lot of times for directions) Jake began to start to worry. What if it wasn't Santario at all...? What if it was just a trick? He didn't know how she ever would have known that it was his (Jake had forgotten that his name was written inside). What if it was the bully from before, trying to find Jake again...having decided that this time he wasn't going to let him go?

But Jake had put his heart into that sketchbook, and all of the drawings inside of it. The loss of it had hit him hard. He had been so frightened by his encounter with the armored boy that it had taken him hours to realize he had left it - he had cried then, thinking it lost forever and too afraid to return to the scene of the crime. When he finally had on another day, it'd been gone.

He made his way up the stairs, and to the door...but then he paused, his fears getting the better of him. Cautiously, Jake peeked a little head around the door, trying to see into the room. First, he was stunned. The owlery was beautiful. So many owls...! That alone was almost enough to draw him out, but then sure enough he saw a familiar face and it was Santario after all. There was nobody else in sight. So that meant...that it was true? Jake shyly entered the room and made his cautious way over to her, looking up hopefully. Did she really have his book...?

"Hi," Jake said with a small wave, still not one much for talking. But his dark eyes were very hopeful.

  The footsteps had paused for a moment, maybe whoever it was didn’t want to be up here with someone else. So maybe it wasn’t Jake at all, but just then they continued, and the door pushed open and there was the face of the shy boy that she had met over summer camp. Her sapphire eyes were soft and welcoming as she smiled at him. “Thanks for coming Jake!” She would produce his sketchbook and hand it over to him. “I’m just happy your name was in it because I didn’t know what house you were sorted in to and I didn’t want to have to ask around to the prefects.” He may notice the difference in San as she seemed more open and easy to talk to. Even though they had only met once before the change was enough, even for someone like him to notice.

“Hey, Jake, if you don’t mind me asking… Why was your sketchbook just left by the lake like that? That would be like me leaving my camera bag around carelessly.” She watched him carefully after she asked the question. She knew that some people in this school bullied and Jake was small and an easy target. She was concerned that it had happened to him and if it had she wanted to help put an end to it. She didn’t know how she was going to find out who it was if he didn’t tell her… If her suspicions were even correct. For all, she knew she was wrong and maybe he had run late for class and accidentally left it behind without realizing it. She really did hope it was that, but she didn’t think so.

Jake's shy greeting was meant with a warm smile - one which put him at ease. But the shyness faded away when she pulled out a very familiar sight. "My sketchbook!" he replied brightly, his face growing into a smile. "You found it!" It really WAS the right one! There were so many drawings inside that he had been crushed to lose. It had had his name in it - THAT'S how she had known what it was! He felt a rush of gratefulness for his parents, who had taught him to always label his things, and an even bigger one for Santario. "Yeah...I have my name in everything," he explained happily. He of course had signed his name on this one - 'property of Jake Morris' in careful blue letters - but his parents had taken care of labeling everything else. Even his clothes had his name in them, down to the last sock and pair of underwear. Although, Jake was beginning to realize, that might not have mattered - none of the other kids could even fit in them.

Jake nodded as Santario explained things to him. Santario had changed, since the last time he had met her. It was odd and Jake looked up at her for a bit, taking that in. He wasn't sure how...she seemed...more grown-up maybe. She talked a little more, or a little different...or something like that. But he didn't have much time to think about it - she began to ask him a question that sent chills down his spine.

Jake's body language changed as soon as she asked why it was left. He felt a rush of panic rise up inside of his chest, and his heart began to beat faster. He thought back to the day he had left it and heard the voice of the boy who had done it in his head ('little Rabbit'). Jake's face grew red and he began to stare down at the floor.

"B-because...." Jake mumbled, beginning to squirm uncomfortably where he stood. He suddenly looked smaller - an impressive feat for the tiny boy. "I-I...I didn't mean to leave it...it was an accident." He looked back up at Santario wondering if that answer was going to satisfy her. He hoped that it would.

She watched him carefully as his body language shifted and he somehow looked smaller than he already was. She saw his face flush scarlet and his eyes shifted to his feet she had seen him do this once before when she had met him at summer camp. It was when something had been brought up that he was uncomfortable talking about. She had told him then that it was okay to talk about the bad things if he felt like he needed to get them out. He started to fumble over his words and he squirmed telltale signs that Jake was about to tell her a lie. Although normally she despised lies it would seem like what he was trying to hide was definitely not good.

She didn’t want to push for information, but she was going to because if someone was hurting him she needed to find a way to make it stop. Slowly she would reach forward and gently put a hand on Jake’s shoulder if he let her. When she spoke next her silvery voice would be soft and gentle. “Jake, do you remember a couple of months ago at summer camp? We talked about you being homesick and I told you that you didn’t have to talk about the bad things, but sometimes it would help if you did?” She would pause momentarily for some kind of acknowledgment before continuing on. “Jake I really want to help you. I’m sorry I don’t believe that you would have just left it there like that even by accident. I think something… Or someone stopped you from taking it. Please let me help you?” She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze if he had allowed her hand to be on it.

She was genuine she really did want to help him because he was such a sweet boy and he was the last boy in this entire school that deserved to be terrorized. At least she could do was bring it up to her head of the house and get the professors involved. A part of her did question how much he might be blowing this out of proportion because she felt like he did tend to overreact sometimes. At the same time, however, she owed it to him to hear his side and help in any way that she could.

Jake stared up at the taller girl, waiting to find out if she had believed what he'd told her. A voice in his head said that she HAD to. Because the feelings that those words were hiding were scary ones. Instead, she reached forward and put a gentle hand upon his shoulder. Jake's mouth dropped slightly with surprise but closed as she spoke kindly to him.

The boy nodded his head slowly - he did remember. It had been when she had told him about the nice place to draw. He had been afraid and shy because he didn't know how to talk to other kids and everybody was big and scary, and she'd told him those very things - that he didn't HAVE to talk about the bad things but they might make him feel better. He didn't know if they would or not, but as she began to mention the bad things, she would feel the boy's shoulder begin to tremble slightly beneath her hand. As she squeezed his shoulder slightly, his face began to scrunch up - a boy very clearly on the edge of tears.

"Somebody stopped me," he whispered in a hushed voice, staring up at her, his breaths quickening, his tummy in knots. His hand shook...he began to remember it all over again - the bully's voice, the terror as he'd ran, getting his face rubbed down in the grass, being called a little rabbit - being so afraid he had run away and left one of his most precious possessions behind and didn't even notice until he had been taken to the Hospital Wing. He could never say any of that out loud, but something in her voice - her gentle hand - had coaxed some of the words out of him. But his face and solemn eyes said that this was a closely-guarded story...that he couldn't say.

He trembled under her hand and it broke her heart it was obvious to her that it was someone before the words even left his lips. His voice was hushed, and she watched his breathing increase so she did the only thing that she knew she could do. As long as Jake didn’t stop her, she would pull him into a tight hug. “Shhhh, It’s going to be okay Jake. Just tell me their name I promise I will find a way to make sure they never hurt you again. I don’t care what I have to do I’ll find a way to stop this.”

Bullying was unacceptable in her eyes, it was disgusting and repulsive. Especially for someone to bully someone like Jake. He was small, sweet, and if she was going, to be honest, he was weak. There was nothing wrong with that, but it did make him an easy target. A target for reprehensible people who would take advantage of this poor boy. “If you don’t know their name just tell me what they look like. I have some popular friends and I guarantee we can find this coward.” As long he allowed her to she would hold him and try to comfort him by petting over his hair, it made her feel better when her father did it for her. So why not? 

The hug was all it took for the tears to come.

As Santario wrapped her arms around him tightly, Jake couldn't hold back anymore and he felt himself begin to cry. Though he didn't know her well, he clung to the taller girl as she shushed him. He didn't want to cry...especially not in front of somebody he didn't know so good...but it was too late.

She said that she would stop it...but what if she couldn't? What if she would get hurt too? But as she comforted him, and gently asked him questions, he found the words drawn out as if pulled on a string.

"I don't know their name," Jake whispered, hugging Santario back...leaning into her as she gently pet his hair. He shook with fear...the memory he had tried to avoid had come crashing into his heart. He felt like the boy would be standing right over him - able to hear him through the walls. He might be out there, ready to burst in the room and this time get Jake for real. Santario couldn't make those feelings go away, but she had helped to make it bearable.

"H-He was big...and he had brown hair," Jake sniffled. "He had a line on his face like this," the small boy said, tracing the mark of the Gryffindor's scar. "And...a-armor," he finished.

Jake started to cry, and she just continued to try and soothe him and allowed him to cry. He said he didn’t know the boy's name and she understood that you might not know the name of your attacker especially if this was the first time that Jake had ever been attacked. The boy leaned into her hug and she felt him shaking with fear. When Jake started to speak again she pulled back just a little bit so that she could see his face. Big, brown hair… face scar….Kyle The boy didn’t have to say armor but when he did she picture Kyle in his Quidditch armor.

She swallowed hard and pushed her personal feelings down. Maybe Jake was overreacting? Maybe he had seen Kyle after the fact. Kyle can look intimidating and maybe that just stuck in his head after his attack, but… She didn’t think Jake would lie to her either. Santario pulled him back into the hug so that he could continue to cry again if he needed to. “Don’t worry Jake I will do what I can to find out who this boy is. I don’t know how long it will take, but I promise you I will do something.” Her mind spiraled as she held Jake and whispered her promise to him. Could her best friend really do something to make this poor little boy act this way? She had never seen him act violently before, but… well, he did have mood swings. Could he really have done this? She needed time alone to think and figure this out, but at some point, she knew she would have to confront Kyle. 

Jake felt embarrassed as he cried in Santario's arms. It wasn't the first time that another kid's comforting hug had reduced Jake to tears. It had happened a lot already...too much...but he couldn't help himself. All the fear, and even shame, that he had been holding inside had swam over him and overwhelmed him. It took him a long while to stop before he went silent...still leaning on the taller girl and letting her hold him. He wasn't ready yet to let go.

He thought of her whispered promise...and though it was meant to comfort, Jake was nervous. "Be careful..." he whispered back. "He's really scary...He might hurt you..." he said, the concern in his voice obvious. "I don't want you to get hurt..." He liked Santario. And if she went searching for the bully, what if he did the same thing right back to her? It would be all Jake's fault if it happened...

After a little while, Jake didn't know what to say. The room which was normally such a wonderful place - a room with owls everywhere you could look - had now become cold. He thought maybe he needed to go back to his bedroom and his stuffed animals. He had his sketchbook now...he could draw his feelings away...put everything down on the paper and get it out of his head where it was making him scared.

"Th-thank you for my sketchbook," the little boy mumbled sheepishly, shifting from foot to foot as he thought of how to end the conversation so he could leave but didn't yet have the social experience to know how to do it gracefully. "Can I go now...?"