The Cupboard Under the Stairs: A Harry Potter Fanfiction
Disclaimer: In no way, shape or form do I own anything pertaining to the magnificent works of J.K. Rowling. If I did…
Miss Charlotte D Potter
Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Surrey
Charlotte dropped the letter, trembling and fearful. Someone knew. Someone knew. She wouldn't make it past midday if the Dursley's were to find out; she wouldn't make it to her next breath. She made her way to the kitchen, distraught, as she shoved the letter under the running water from the faucet. Once the letter was unsalvageable, she took the remnants with her to the front garden, digging a hole to hide the evidence.
She heaved a sigh of relief and closed her eyes. If somebody knew of her current circumstances, which, apparently, they did, then, surely, they would have come for her, right? Seeing as they hadn't, she was safe to assume that no more letters would come for her and she'd be able to, well and proper, move on from this moment. Having gained control of herself, she proceeded to finish the chores set out for her just as was expected of her.
''
The scars always remained and this had confused her. The wounds would heal, would stop bleeding, but they would always remain. In some ways she was glad. If they'd've disappeared completely she couldn't be certain that this was all just her imagination. The scars that littered her body were hard proof that she survived, proof that the Dursley's couldn't deny and proof that they'd never be able to get rid of, unless of course they finally got rid of her.
Unfortunately, and I mean that with utmost sincerity, more letters arrived at number four Privet Drive, addressed to the odd, disruptive and all around no good young girl that had been raised by her selfless and loving Uncle and Aunt.
"I think you finally killed that piece of filth Dad." Dudley Dursley, the only child of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, said, standing over the unmoving body of his cousin. "About time. Can we finally use that old cupboard now? I need more space for all of my things!"
"Now, now Duddykins, how will anything be cleaned if that thing is gone?" Dudley pondered his mother's question before kicking the girl on the floor. Usually by now there was some sign that it was alive. Growing even more frustrated, Vernon picked the girl up by the hair, dragging her limp body to the cupboard and locking her in.
"This place better be spotless by the time I get home from work tomorrow." He said aloud. His wife nodded, throwing a glare at the cupboard door before ushering her husband and son into the lounge room, dishing out the dessert the other child had made earlier that night.
"Don't you worry honey: the house will be clean by then." She places a reassuring hand on her husband's shoulder before sitting herself down to eat.
''
Charlotte Potter was surprised this day. It was her over-indulged and spoiled cousin's birthday. After cooking an actual feast for her relatives, her cousin had thrown a tantrum which resulted in the family going to the local zoo. The result of the child's anger did not surprise her, not one bit. What had her completely suspicious was the fact that they decided that she'd join them! She couldn't help but wonder when they were going to kill her. Would they push her from the moving vehicle? Would they manage to throw her into the lion's den at the zoo? Either way, she was on high alert for anymore strange behaviour from her relatives. It came soon enough but not in any way she had imagined.
''
If her calculations were correct, and judging by the lack of people, the zoo was on the verge of closing. That wasn't so odd. However, she had not heard or seen her relatives since the vanishing glass incident at the reptile display earlier on. That had her spooked enough. Vernon hadn't even raised his voice to her, Petunia hadn't glared at her and even Dudley had only muttered the word 'freak' under his breath. Charlotte did one last lap of the zoo before making her way to the office area at the front.
"Excuse me," she began, "I can't my family." The woman behind the glass immediately took pity on the poor, sickly looking child and ushered her inside.
"Do you know your phone number, sweetie?" Charlotte shook her head. That was something the Dursley's refused to allow to her know. It was their family, not hers, so she didn't need to know their business. "Oh dear. Okay, well, do you know where you live?" Charlotte nodded her head and rattled off the address. "That's good. Very good. Okay, how about this: it's getting rather late and by the time we make it to Surrey, I'm sure you're Aunt and Uncle will be well asleep. Now, I know you don't know me, but I have a young girl the same age as you and I'm sure she wouldn't mind you staying over for the night. We'll take you home bright and early tomorrow morning. Does that sound alright?" Charlotte was wary of the woman but could sense no ill-intentions so she nodded her head and thanked her.
It was the strangest occurrence, but that night was only the beginning of a chain of odd events.
''
She claimed that she'd just wait with one of her friends that lived down the street, placating the sweet lady who helped her at the zoo. The woman was reluctant to leave her, but eventually conceded. Charlotte drew in a breath of air the moment the car turned out of the street and made her way to the front door. Once there, she grabbed the key from the pot-plant and made her way inside, making sure to make as little sound as possible. She went about doing her chores as if nothing had happened, prepared dinner as if it were a normal day, but come seven o'clock, she began to worry.
The Dursley's had never done this before. They were predictable; creatures of habit. She was to be awake and cleaning by five in the morning, breakfast was to be served at half past seven. Vernon would leave the house with Petunia and Dudley at half-past eight. Petunia would go about her house-wife duties of shopping and meeting with the other wives of the street for lunch, Dudley would be at school until three and by the time five o'clock in the afternoon came around, everyone was home. But not tonight. Charlotte was almost afraid to leave her room when she hadn't heard footsteps or screaming. She was very hesitant to make it to the loungeroom to peak out of the curtains in order to watch the street.
Once the realisation hit that nobody was coming, she set about cleaning the dishes, wrapping the plates and refrigerating them, and continuing on as if they were home.
''
There was a strange man walking around the Dursley's house. Charlotte had no idea who he was or what he thought he was doing there. She was also too scared to even begin to find out. She watched from the small hole in the door as the man looked over the family portraits, watched as he plucked on off the wall and sneered at it. She had no idea why he was so upset; not a clue as to why the man seemed angry at the picture. He pulled out a stick soon enough and, much to Charlotte's surprise, the tip of the stick started to glow. Her eyes widened and she shuffled backwards, crouching down by her makeshift bed and cowering by it. The footsteps grew in volume and the door handled rattled. She held her breath. It rattled again, then she heard the man mutter in a foreign language. Her door flew open, almost busting off of its hinges at the force of something invisible.
"Charlotte?" The man was looking at her, towering over her small form and she almost fainted. She shook her head. "Charlotte, honey, what are you doing hiding in a cupboard? Where are the, the Dursley's?" He spat the name of her only living relatives as if it were vile. "Did they leave you at home, alone?" His questions were met with absolute silence. Charlotte was scared out of her wits. She just kept shaking her head. The man was confused. The little girl, she was shaking, obviously scared, and looked on the brink of a panic attack. He looked around them, then, and his blood froze.
In his desperation to find the girl, he hadn't taken any notice of the small space he had stumbled into. With a quick flick of his wand, the cupboard was illuminated in a blue-hued light. He had to remain calm. That was the key. He didn't want to frighten her any more then he already had, but if his suspicions were confirmed, he wasn't sure he'd be able to do that.
"Charlotte, sweetie, I need you to come with me, okay?" She refused to move, still shaking her head. "Please. I'm a friend of your parents, of your real parents, sweetie. Now, please, I need you to come with me."
"I can't." The sound of her voice nearly brought the man to his knees. How had they failed so spectacularly? It was the softest of sounds but it held nothing but fear and worry.
"Why can't you, sweetie?"
"They'll come back soon. I need to make dinner and I haven't prepared dessert. I haven't even finished cleaning the bathroom upstairs. They'll know. They always know. Please, you can't take me anywhere. I'm not allowed to be seen." He stood back, at an utter loss as to how he should handle this situation.
"What will happen if you don't?" She shook her head, refusing to answer. "You can tell me, you know. I won't tell anyone."
"I'm not allowed to say. I'm sorry, Sir. You need to leave though. Please don't tell them that I've been an awful host. I should have offered you a drink and biscuits. I didn't know someone would be over. Please, just, just don't tell them. Please!"
"Okay, honey. I won't tell anyone, but, you'll come with me. Don't worry, they won't find out. I promise." She shook her head. He was desperate. He needed her to go with him so he did the only thing he could think of right then and there. He stunned the poor child and apparated them.
''
Remus Lupin ran a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. His wolf was screaming for vengeance and he had very little control at the moment. It was a stupid idea to have sent him, but Albus Dumbledore knew what he was doing, apparently.
"Molly, you need to make sure those boys stay well away from her, okay? I'm serious. If they upset her between now and the full-moon: I'm sorry to say but I will attack. Moony's going absolutely ballistic. They've hurt her, Molly, in ways I don't even want to think about." Molly watched the still figure of the little girl with eyes filled with heartbreak and pity. She was just so little for her age and, it was painfully obvious, that she hadn't been treated very well.
"Don't worry, Remus. I've had a stern talking to those boys and they know what will happen to them if they disobey me."
"Will she be alright?" Another male voiced questioned.
"She should, Arthur. At least, I sincerely hope she will be." Molly looked over to her charmed clock.
"Best be getting everything ready. The rest of the Order will be here soon." She made her way to the kitchen.
"If you need to leave a little earlier, Remus, no one will judge you for it." Arthur told the man, a hand on his shoulder.
"Except Snivellus." Arthur gave a hearty chuckle before leaving to help his wife. "What are we going to do?" He asked aloud.
''
She didn't scream when she woke up but she did bolt for the nearest corner and promptly tried to hide herself behind the bookshelf in the room.
"Sweetheart, please, no one's going to hurt you, okay? We're good people. We just want to help." Tears were now freely falling from her eyes and the little girl refused to make eye contact with any of the adults that were watching her. "Just, just come out here, Charlotte."
"Charlotte, deary, we really aren't here to hurt you. We honestly do just want to help. So why don't you come out here? Look, I made cookies earlier today. You're welcome to have some." The little girl froze. She'd heard that before. Aunt Petunia had a streak meaner than the look on her face when she was feeling spiteful. Although the rather robust woman with the orange hair didn't project that kind of a feel, Charlotte was anything but trusting of the situation. She recognised a trap when she saw one. She flinched when the woman reached a hand out for her to hold and almost screamed when she was pulled up from her place in the corner.
"Please, let me go! I need to go back! You don't understand: I need to finish my chores. I need to. Please, just let me go back." Molly immediately let go of the girl and the Order watched and listened as the poor child began rambling about all things that she needed to do when she got back, about how she was going to try and find time to do what usually took a whole day into only a few hours, how she'd be up all night trying to fix this mess.
"Charlotte Potter, you will come here, now." The calm, stern tone of the mans voice had Charlotte obeying. Everyone watched, most with suspicion, as she stopped in front of the former Death Eater and double-agent known as Severus Snape. "Stop this. We are no threat to you and your relatives aren't here." She wiped at her eyes, fear still shining through, but she managed to calm herself down. He bent down, careful not to touch her in any way and simply asked for her to explain. She did so. Severus thanked her and turned to the rest of the Order. "Charlotte, you are going to go through those doors and you will interact with the children. They wish to see you and to play with you." She nodded her head, reluctantly leaving, and Severus waited for her to close the door. Sitting calmly back in his seat, Severus addressed the headmaster of Hogwarts. "How have you allowed this, Headmaster?" Albus merely sent a sad smile to those now seated around the table.
"I'm afraid I was unaware and unprepared for such a thing. However, she does have amazing occlumency skills."
"Amazing occlumency skills?!" Severus' raised voice turned everyone's head. He took in a few needed breaths. "I will be taking her to my house; she will be my ward until the school year starts." He simply stood up, cloak billowing, and exited the meeting room.
''
"You will be starting school come September. There are several things that you will need to know." Severus Snape began a lesson in the basics of magic, its uses and how the child before him had the gene that was passed from bother her mother and father. She remained silent, hardly daring to breath as he spoke, though she flinched every time he moved. Once he was sure she understood what would be happening, he dismissed her. He showed her the room she would be occupying during her stay, showed her the dining area they'd be taking their meals and showed her the bathroom for when she would need it. "So long as you don't breech the privacy of my room, you are free to explore. What you do with your free time is of no business of mine unless you make it so. Do not break anything." With that, he was gone and Charlotte had nothing to do but what she knew.
''
If it was one thing that Severus Snape despised? It was bullies. Especially those that abused their power and hurt innocent children. Despite his stern, serious and callous countenance, Severus did, in fact, have a heart. It seemed to soften the moment he laid eyes upon the abused girl. He wasn't sure what to expect of the Potter offspring. He was certain, though, that the frightened child back at his manor was definitely not it. She brought back memories of his own childhood and he wondered just what it was that Dursley's did to have utterly ruined the child. He also wondered about the extent of the abuse.
"I believe a visit from Poppy wouldn't go amiss, Albus."
"She won't let anyone near her, Severus, and I believe that forcing her to go through a medical examination would be detrimental to any sort of foundation trust we wish to build." Severus remained silent and simply apparated. The Headmaster was an eccentric man, but he was undoubtedly foolish.
When Severus arrived back home, having been to Diagon Alley for the necessary school supplies for his temporary ward, he wasn't entirely surprised to find the main rooms spotless, nor was he all that surprised to find dinner set on the table. Old habits die hard and Charlotte probably hadn't fully understood the circumstances of her staying there. He could see it in her eyes: she was constantly on high alert, watching his moves with a fear that seemed to be everlasting, and he knew, by her looks to the front door, that she expected the Dursley's to come for her. He would make it clear, soon enough, that she wouldn't be returning to those people. He would be introducing the idea slowly.
''
Authors Note:I absolutely adore all things Harry Potter and have written several fanfictions for this fandom. However, this is the one I've decided to upload first. It's nowhere near complete, unlike most of the others, but is by far my most favourite. Hope you enjoyed! Thank you.