A/N
This is my first fanfiction so please be nice and give me a review! I have more updates on the way just want to see the response to this. If there's anything you don't understand, it will soon be explained. Literally.


You're worthless. An eerie inner voice mocked and it echoed through her mind. Why didn't you die in your sleep? A loud bang came from downstairs and she sprang upright. Footsteps proceeded around the first floor and then clanged up the staircase. Not again… she thought. Instead of doing what she would normally do in this situation, she slowly formed a devious plan in her mind. She pulled back her quilt and swung her legs over into the darkness beside her bed. She silently rose to her feet and gathered pillows together on the bed to look like she still slept underneath the covers.

She paused to think again for a moment, was getting expelled worth freedom? Screw Dumbledore. I'm getting out. She smirked at her thoughts before grabbing for her wand that lay in the box underneath her bed. Her Uncle hated her being a witch and told her if she ever dared mention Hogwarts or anything magical, she would be put into an orphanage. Heartless prick. She often thought this about him, but other than his hatred for the thing that killed his beloved sister and his best friend, and being an alcoholic, he was a genuinely nice guy. When the cold smooth wood of her Redwood wand touched her fingers, she felt more confident and determined to make her great escape, but as to where she was still clueless. She listened to the bangs and stomps of her Uncle John as he reached the top of the stairs. Following her newly formed plan, she dropped to the floor and wriggled into the dust and darkness that enclosed the space below her bed.

She lay under the bed for what seemed like ages, listening to the noises from beyond her bedroom door. Then startling her, the door slammed open, clashed with the wall, and her Uncle flopped onto the bed above her. As his heavy breathing began to even out above her, she started to wriggle, not out the way she came in, but through the bottom, towards the door.

The person above her made the bed creak as they rolled over, and she froze. A few moments passed and snoring started, she thought it was safe to begin her wriggling again. Her feet were pointed to the door and she kept as quiet as she could, not daring to breathe while listening to the steady heavy breathing above her.

Her legs were out from underneath the bed, another minute or two and she would be out in the open. Her stomach began to tighten and her heart beat faster, thudding gently in her ears. Her waist was out now, and she still concentrated on the movements and breathing above her, only just remembering to breathe herself.
Her neck was the only thing still under the bed. I can do this. Once I get out of here, I'll get a job somewhere in Diagon Alley or if I'm lucky I won't be expelled and I can go back to school! As her mind continued buzzing along this line of thought, she realized she was now staring at a dark ceiling. She panicked slightly but then concentrated looking about without moving too much.

Her room was much the same as usual, except there was a slight dent where the door had made contact with the wall. The soft snoring continued through her train of thought and she quickly realised it was safe to continue out the open door. She rolled silent as a mouse onto her belly and then spun to face the door again. Her freedom seemed so near but she wasn't out of the woods yet. She focused on the noises the large body on her bed was making, while doing an army crawl closer to the door. The bed creaked again and she stopped dead.

The huge lump made a loud snort, a sickly wheezing sound and then continued snoring like a pig. She was at the door and soon she'd be beyond the boundaries of the shapes view. She smelled the carpet of the hallway and her mind raced and her heart leaped as freedom was in sight. Her elbows now scraped the carpet and her body warmed in excitement. She could stand now and silently get some belongings from the cupboard, and leave without a note to say goodbye. So she pushed up with her elbows and onto her knees and slowly got her feet firmly onto the aging carpet. Another snort came from behind her and fearing she had made too much noise, panicked again.
Her body became cold but slightly damp with a worried sweat. She gracefully and memorably moved her body to the left, and took 3 steps forward, stretched out her right hand and placed it onto a rough wooden doorknob. She turned her hand and the door opened slowly and without noise, and she took time to examine the room, pointlessly checking for anyone waiting on her.
After checking carefully, she took another few steps into the dark room. Her eyes wandered to the window, where she could see the peaceful, empty street below. She suddenly felt very alone and even more scared than when she was under the bed hiding. Remembering her plan, she moved closer to the window and again turned to her left and drew up to an old chest of drawers. Most of her stuff was thrown out when she moved into her Uncle's semi detached, but the most precious things and some important garments of hers where locked in the large bottom drawer.

She always locked her private drawer, which she now cursed herself for doing. Her previous excitement at maybe going back to Hogwarts was wiped from her mind, along with any other sane, coherent thought. She prayed to Merlin that she had remembered to put on her necklace as her hand rose to meet a thin silver chain and a delicate key. She lifted the chain from around her neck, and leaned down to slot the key into the rusting hole. She turned the key counter clockwise and she heard a faint click. If she was going to be expelled she could have used an unlocking charm, but seeing as she had no dire need for magic yet, she wasn't going to be stupid. She paused before she opened the drawer to listen to the sleeping lumps snoring; after a few seconds of listening, she thought it was safe to open the drawer.

The locked drawer had concealed all her old textbooks from her first and second year at Hogwarts, her letters from her friends and school, school robes along with her tie, some oversized dull shirts, a few pairs of rumpled up faded denim jeans and an old antique jewellery box. It had an intricate flower design, the painted flowers had started to fade and the corners of the box had been a bit battered. She gently lifted out the box and smiled, remembering the day she got this.
It was before she was trapped in this horrid place, when her parents were alive and she still had a baby sister on the way. They were picking out nice things for the baby's room and her mother thought this would be a sweet addition to her growing collection of trinket boxes. Alicia would have been beautiful. She was wrenched back to the present moment with a wet face and a dribbling nose, forgetting her current situation. She found her school trunk the corner of the room and quietly pulled it over to the drawer. She loaded her books and clothes into the brown case and then looked to the box again. She made up her mind and threw it in along with the rest of her stuff. Once everything was packed she closed the drawer again and locked it, turning the key the opposite direction from before. She slowly got to her feet and taking a second look back out onto the deserted street below, she left the room trunk lugging behind her, tears still sliding silently down her face.