Harry's first night in the cupboard and the reason behind it. Harry Potter is only three years old but he is plagued by nightmares that disturb his cousin and keeps Dudley from his beauty sleep, which we all know he desperately needs. What will Dudley's parents do about it?
This one-shot was created for a story contest on pinterest based off a prompt: Your character wakes up in a dark room with no memory of how they got there and the three following items; a key, a match, and a old photograph.
Three year old Harry Potter woke from his nightmare sweating. The flashing green lights and awful sounds soon faded from his memory replaced with confusion. Where was he? The dark room was much smaller than Dudley's room where he fell asleep. He felt the door and tried to open it but it was locked.
His cot was there. There was some rubbish in corner. He put some in his mouth experimentally... Yuck! It tasted horrid and he now had a splinter from the match he had almost eaten. Harry's eyes welled up but he kept silent. Aunt Petunia didn't like it when he made noise. Instead he rubbed his eyes and slowly fell back asleep.
When he next woke it was lighter and he could see better. He decided to take a closer look at the trash pile. There was some old newspaper, a rusty key, more matches, and an old photograph. It was a picture of two girls on a swing set. They were smiling and something stirred in Harry's memory. A flash of red hair and a pretty voice singing him a lullaby. "Mommy," he croaked. Now he cried, muffling his sobs in his pillow until he heard voices outside the door.
"But really Vernon, the cupboard?" That sounded like Harry's Aunt.
"I told you Petunia. The next time he wakes up Dudley with those nightmares of his, out he goes. Sleep deprivation can seriously damage a young mind and I won't have my son be made into an idiot by your nephew." Harry was confused. Wasn't he Uncle Vernon's nephew too?
"I guess you're right but what about the second bedroom?" Petunia asked.
"It's not finished yet and besides, Dudley is a growing boy. He'll need the space once he gets a bit older." Uncle Vernon sounded gruff.
Harry heard a key turning in the lock and blinked in the bright light. Now he knew where he was.
"Harry," said Aunt Petunia. "This is where you'll sleep from now on. Now get up. It's time for chores." Harry nodded and came out from the cupboard under the stair. Following his Aunt for another day of learning how to clean the house.
Thanks for reading and please take a moment to review and tell me what you thought, good or bad, and how I could do better.
