"Crucio"

Zak Bagens, an 11 year old boy, lay on the ground bleeding and in pain. He could swear that you could hear his screams from miles away. Yet, nobody came to his aid. Nobody ever came to his aid.

This particular torture session was taking place as 'payment' for his school supplies. He wondered, like always, if all parents were like this. Buy something for your child and then make them pay for it through pain. When he finally felt the pain stop, it had been six hours after all, he just lay there completely limp on the ground. It hurt too much to move. He felt his father kick him, and his mother laugh. "Oh how pathetic you look Zakky" his mother said

He wanted to get up, to get away from them, to run. But he couldn't. He just couldn't. So, he layed there, their taunts sounded very distant now as the pain and bleeding were forcing him into unconciousness. After two minutes, the blessing of dark oblivion was upon him.

Villa looked down at the [i] thing [/i] she calls a son. She got a lot of pleasure out of torturing him, and her and her husband had taken a break finding and killing little mudbloods to torture him as often as possible the last week before school. She gave her husband a look, he nodded and then dragged that boy up the stairs and into his bedroom.

When he came back down, he walked over to her "Are we going to do the same thing we did to last one when he turns seventeen?"

"You asked me this when I gave birth" Villa rolled her eyes "Of course we are."

After a few hours Zak opened his eyes, he was in his room again. It honestly couldn't be described as a bedroom. It was small and claustophobic. His bed was really a pile of old clothes and sheets, the blanket wasn't even a blanket, it was a thin towel. The paint was peeling off the walls, it looked unfit for human life to be honest. He could barely breathe for some reason whenever he was in here. It felt like a box, a cell, something of that sort. There was no windows either, and whenever he was inside the door was always locked. He could never get out. His body still ached, but not as much now. The pain was dulling down.

After a few minutes he stood and tried the door; of course it was locked. He sighed and fell back into his 'bed'. Can't I just die already? He thought to himself, I don't want to go through this anymore.

He was stuck in that horrid room for a week, nearly starved to death. He did eat some, but it was scraps and when he begged for more...he got slapped. Finally the door opened and stayed open "Come. It's time to bring you to the train." his mother said.

Zak merely nodded and stood. His mother grabbed his arm and growled in his ear "Don't you even think about telling anyone what happens here. You will regret it if you do."

He nodded, knowing he would regret it too.

They were at the train station before Zak knew it. He grabbed his trunk, donned his hat, and ran through the wall leading to platform 9 3/4. He stared at the Hogwarts Express in wonder, that would be bringing him to school, to safety. Away from his parents. He practically ran onto the train, he found himself a nice empty compartment and hid in it.

In a moment, he saw a beautiful, timid looking, girl walk into the compartment. She had nlonde hair and blue eyes, Zak caught himself staring at her and forced himself to look away.

The girl was backing out of the compartment and Zak forced himself to speak "Y...you c...can s...stay" he stutters quietly

The girl freezes in her spot, a look of fear in her eye as she seemed to see how much of a threat Zak was but stays silent. Zak frowns and turns away from the girl to look out the window. If she left, she left. It was probably better that way, people are bad.

A/N This is the girls POV (Prim is the girl's name)

"C...Can I r...really?" she asks very quietly. She hadn't moved as she looked at the boy, surprised he hadn't attacked or teased her yet.

The boy just nodded, but never looked at her. She looks down, and slowly shuffles into the room quietly and sits. The boy's eyes remained out the window, he looked as if he were amazed or something. Watching the other boy, she could tell that he was her age. He also seemed... too look like her in a way. Pale, and beaten up slightly. The boy's eyes never ever wavered from out the window. Do I make conversation? Or stay silent since he is... she thinks, not sure what to do since she's only ever interacted with her parents. That wasn't a good thing... He did finally look away from the window, his gaze met hers, his eyes were brown, they had absolutely no spark, barely any life in them at all. Her own blue eyes reflected the same look, but also filled with fear and sadness.

The boy looked down, what looked like tears were in his eyes now. But why?

With a shaky timid voice Prim asks, "W...wha..what's w..wrong?"

"N...nothing." the boy says, his eyes never straying from the ground

Afraid of being punished for pushing him, she nods a little and stays silent. The boy looks up, the tears in his eyes were gone and now there was no emotion at all in his face, the deadened look in his eyes was enough to make any person feel bad however.

"Are you okay?" she asks, he looked so...so lost.

He shrugs "I suppose so." he turns his head to the opposite side to where the window is, reavealing a large handprint.

Prim gasped at the sight of it and the boy's head turned back to her "Wh...what? Wh..what's th..the m...matter?"

"D...do y...your p..parents beat you t...too" she asks

Zak wasn't sure what to say, should he answer truthfully and risk it? Or should he lie and play it safe? He'd lied before, and had gotten rather good at it. He sighs, knowing that if he lied to this girl, for some reason he would feel guilty. He nods slowly "Th...they do" now he shudders "A..and I..I'm g..gonna r..regret t...telling y..you"

And they sat in silence the rest of the way to Hogwarts.