Warning: Mentioned child abuse/neglect and bullying.

Hope you like it.

"There he is!"

"Quick he's getting away."

"You're dead when we catch you!"

Harry ran, ignoring the words of the boys behind him. He was stupid to do what he did but his mouth spoke before his brain could stop it. Stupid Harry thought Stupid, you should know better by now.

Harry berated himself but didn't stop running. He turned around the corner of the school and continued to run down the deserted lane way. A huge shadow appeared out of nowhere and Harry twisted himself to the left, avoiding the shape.

"Gotcha" The shadow said and Harry quickly realised that the shadow was, in fact, his cousin Dudley.

"You shouldn't have called me stupid, you're in for it."Dudley brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles in a cliché but intimidating move. Harry gulped and gathered his feet underneath him. One chance to escape, he needed to time it right.

"You."

Three

"Are."

Two

"Dead."

Now!

Harry sprung up from his crouch and jumped past the startled boy, accidently pushing him over in the process. Harry winced when he heard his cousins enraged cry, now he really couldn't get caught. So Harry ran.

Harry was a small child, the smallest in his class for sure. He was skinny, some would say malnourished, and he was short. This is the result of being locked in a cupboard days in a row and given one meal a day, if he was lucky. He deserved it all though, at least that's what he'd been told. See Harry was a freak, according to his family, and he was inclined to agree. How else could he explain all the weird things that happened around him?

"I found him!"

The call jolted Harry out of his thoughts and he realised he wasn't running anymore. He was leaning up against the brick wall of the part of the school building. Inside, he knew, was the main office and the main staffroom. There was also the Principle and Deputy's office inside. Harry couldn't stay here, it was against the rules. So he ran again.

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Dudley's gang following and he was a little alarmed at how close they were. Piers, Dudley's best friend, was closest, that made sense; he was the fittest out of the whole gang. He was also the cruellest, other than Dudley. He liked to cause pain and Harry was usually the target. Piers was catching up so Harry pushed his 8 year old legs to run faster. Eventually the boy started to lag behind and Harry let a small smile out. He wasn't smiling for long.

SMACK

Harry was thrown away from the large blob he ran into and pain erupted over his back and shoulder. If the skin wasn't scratched he was definitely going to bruise. Harry ignored this thought, it's not like he wasn't use to bruising. The blob stumbled back as well but didn't fall like Harry. The blob stepped into the sunlight and Harry recognised Gordon. Damn.

Gordon reached down toward the injured Harry but wasn't quick enough. Having seen the intention of the large boy, Harry jumped up and dodged under his arm. He was running again.

Gordon was almost as large as Dudley and just as stupid. He consistently wore a blue cap on his head, backwards. Gordon thought it made him look cool. Harry thought it made him look like a moronic looser. He knew better than to tell Gordon this. Gordon and Dudley were the only two out of the gang that could hold onto Harry if they managed to grab him. Harry couldn't let them grab him.

Harry ran towards the library. Maybe I can escape inside. He was never that lucky. Just as the thought passed through his head, it also entered the last member of Dudley's gang's mind. Malcolm, he was dangerous. He was the smartest of the group. Usually he would stay out of the actual violence but he enjoyed watching. He was also the one that caught or cornered Harry more often than not. Harry wouldn't call him smart but he did have enough brains to actually think things through.

Harry sharply changed the direction of his run which resulted in him heading towards the main classrooms. This was where all the classes took place. There were two classrooms for every grade. Harry usually spent as much time as possible inside this building as Harry and Dudley were in separate classrooms. In fact the only member of Dudley's gang that was in Harry's class was Malcolm.

Harry turned the around a corner and placed himself inside a small bush under one of the many windows. He couldn't catch his breath. Harry slowly calmed his breathing down, he had loads of practice. Having to run almost every break from a beating usually exhausted him. Some days that was his downfall so he knew how to catch his breath quickly.

A movement to the left of where he was hiding caught his eye. It was a teacher. He knew from the lanyard around her neck but Harry didn't recognise her.

"He couldn't have gone far." Harry heard Dudley say.

He wasn't far from where the teacher was and, Harry realised, the teacher heard the boy.

"Who couldn't have gone far, Mr. Dursley?" The teacher asked.

Harry held his breath. It didn't happen often but on the occasion that a teacher stumbled upon the gang bullying someone they would have to put a stop to it, at least for the day. Harry knew that the teachers knew about the bullying, it was hard to miss, but none of them really cared. If they didn't see it happening, it wasn't. Harry knew that the only time they stopped it was when they saw it, or the gang couldn't think up a good enough lie to get away with it.

"We're looking for Piers Ms."

Damn. Harry thought, it was truly unfortunate that Malcolm was there to think of a decent lie. The fact that Piers was only a few meters away from the group didn't go unnoticed by Harry or the teacher but she just nodded and continued on her way. Harry released his breath in disappointment. Unfortunately that alerted the gang to his hiding place.

"There!"

Harry was up and running before all members of the gang were looking his way, this time heading towards the kitchens. Harry knew that students weren't meant to be here either, or at least on this side, but he needed a place to hide. Behind the kitchens there was a group of dumpsters that the gang wouldn't think to look at. Harry could hide out there until the end of break. It worked before.

Three corners to go. Harry needed to lose the gang before he came across the last corner, otherwise they would see him and his secret hiding place wouldn't be so secret anymore. He turned the first corner and a blinding pain shot through his arm. He turned the corner too sharply and had peeled off some skin off his arm. He was also slowed down. Damn. Damn, Damn. Harry chanted in his head. He picked up the pace but was almost certain he wouldn't make it. He turned the second corner and saw the third and final one approaching. He chanced a glance backwards to assess where the gang was and realised they were still behind the last corner. He still had a chance.

Placing the last of his energy into a burst of speed he charged towards the corner, almost diving behind the dumpsters. He didn't see Piers poke his head around and see Harry's feet disappearing around the corner; he didn't see the gang follow him to his secret hiding place. He didn't see this because he was not behind the dumpster. No he was no longer on ground level. He was on the roof. On. The. Roof.

Harry looked around in amazement. He could see the whole school from here. The playground where all the boys played, those not in Dudley's gang that is, the sand pit where the younger children played, the swing set where a lot of the older girls chatted. He was struck by how wonderful he felt being so high up. Then reality came crashing back down. He was on the roof. He didn't climb the roof. He must have flown? Maybe the wind picked him up? Whatever happened didn't matter because he was on the roof of the school and that was against the rules. If anyone saw him he would be in so much trouble. Unfortunately for Harry his moments of pure bliss had condemned him.

"Mr. Potter!" Harry winced; it was the teacher from before. How she knew his name he didn't know. What he did know was that there was no way he was getting out of this. Damn.

He was seated outside the Principles office. Apparently teachers really don't like it when you climb buildings. They especially don't like it when you lie about how you managed to climb up there. Of course he wasn't lying but telling a teacher that the wind must have picked him up did sound like a lie, even if it was the only truth Harry could come up with. Harry was miserable. He knew, from experience, that once his uncle found out he would be in for it. At that moment a large and strangely purple man turned the corner followed by a skinny and drawn woman with a pinched mouth. Harry didn't have eyes for his Aunt though only his Uncles very purple, therefore very angry face.

I should have let Dudley catch me.

WolfWinks -xx-