DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. I wish I did, it really was/is an excellent series.
Warnings-
This chapter- references to abuse-physical, emotional, and sexual. Neglect.
Story: All of the above. Possibly self harm if I can get myself to write it(history). Same with thoughts of suicide. And open to whatever else I think of-whatever decides to 'fit'.
She didn't think that she could do it. She was afterall, a frightfully thin child. But, low and behold, after tugging and tugging she finally got it loose.
She scampered out quickly, cautiously making sure not to make even the smallest noise. For this is what she had been waiting for- she just could not let it be ruined. As quiet as two human stocking feet can be, she made her way to her location, fumbling only slightly in the familiar darkness. But- really, she paid no mind- as long as no noise was made, she didn't really see where any harm would come to her. She really had thought this through. Well, she had thought it through as thoroughly as her desperate situation had allowed. And now, here she was.
The medicine cabinet.
Ordinary children do not plan quests to get bandaids. They do not have to take risks, they do not have to risk injury, to gather a way to heal. Lotus Potter was not an ordinary child.
She knew what was at stake. She understood what her situation entailed. Again, unlike most children, Lotus had an understanding of something that helped her in times like this- higher consequence. She was not like most children. Children who would be afraid of a scolding for sneaking dessert before dinner. No, because she lived in a world where usually there was generally no dinner of hers to ruined, and where the idea of sneaking dessert was laughable. She lived in a world where if she wanted to eat, she had better be making dessert, and anything else her family desired. And then, if the recipients of her meals felt particularly generous, she would be allowed to scrape from their plates.
And she was lucky. She knew she was, for her brother did not even have the luxury of that. In their household, both her and her brother were kept on separate leashes- one pink and the other blue. While she had been labored with all the indoor tasks, her brother could be expected to be working in the blistering heat(of freezing snow) from dusk until dawn. And that was why this excursion had been necessary.
Harry was hurt. Badly. And she was terrified this time he might actually die.
It was all because of stupid Dudley and his stupid moronic friends. If they had just left well enough alone, none of this ever would have happened. But of course, at the Dursleys things generally went the way of Murphy- 'Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.' But it wasn't like there was anything that she could do- if she didn't get dinner on the table in time then she would have to face her uncle, and it had only been a few hours since she had last been beaten. So, Lotus was helpless the entire time she watched her cousin and his friends attack her brother, and she had been helpless when she watched him fall directly onto the upturned rake.
There was so much blood. She needed bandages and gauze and everything- she needed help! But she knew what would happen if she called the police, she was still suffering the consequences from when she had tried when she was six and her uncle had first started looking at her funny. And. She was scared. She might be a precocious child, but she was a child- and a badly battered one, nonetheless. She and her brother didn't even go to school, how was she to know what her options were? Well, maybe she knew- but she was just so scared.
But it was for her brother. She had to. So with one single huff mixed both with resignation and conviction, she picked up the phone and dialed.
