Above All Else
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Chapter 2- A Day in the Life of Harry Potter
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"Get up!" Harry jolted awake at his aunt's loud shriek, blinking blearily in the dark room.
"Breakfast needs to be ready in 30 minutes. I suggest you get started." His aunt stalked out of his room and Harry sighed, pushing his thin blanket to the side. He stood, stretching with a groan. Harry stumbled to his closet in the dark, cursing his uncle for boarding up his windows and taking the one light bulb that worked in his ceiling light.
Harry dressed in the darkness and five minutes later he was standing in the kitchen, scrambling eggs. He had bacon going in the oven, some biscuits prepared to go in next, and some fruit waiting to be cut. He'd already set the table for three, knowing he most likely would not get anything to eat today.
Vernon had been withholding food for two days now because Dudley had pushed Harry two nights ago and he'd dropped the lasagna he'd been carrying to the table, forcing Vernon to order carryout. His stomach ached, and he was starting to feel lightheaded. His hands were shaking and his vision would blur a little every few minutes.
Harry pushed through the discomfort and finished breakfast. He had just finished setting everything down on the table when he heard his uncle moving about, his heavy footsteps thundering through the house. Harry hurriedly stepped away from the table, his hands folded behind his back and his eyes lowered to the ground.
Vernon stomped down the stairs, sat at the table and began piling heaps of eggs onto his plate with one hand, his other grabbing half the bacon for himself. Harry hesitantly stepped forward, gathering his courage and raising his eyes to look at his uncle.
"Uncle Vernon?" His uncle grunted at him, mouth already bulging with food. "May I have a small breakfast today? Maybe just an egg sandwich?" Harry held his breath as he waited for an answer. Vernon hated when he asked for food but he needed to eat or he'd risk passing out.
A large hand smashed into the side of his face, knocking Harry to the floor. Harry held his cheek lightly, glaring down at the floor. His cheek burned under his hand and he knew it would bruise a dark purple soon enough.
"You ungrateful brat! Always trying to steal the food right out of our mouths. You should be thankful we took you in! Could have left you at some orphanage! Or thrown you in the trash where you belong!" His uncle snarled at him. Dudley wandered in, saw Harry clutching his face on the ground, and snickered as he sat and began heaping food onto his own plate.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry whispered, knowing the man expected some kind of answer. Vernon sneered at him, picking up a piece of bacon and shoving it into his mouth.
"If you finish all your chores today you can have dinner tonight. If not…" Vernon trailed off but Harry understood the threat. If he didn't finish he'd be beaten.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon. Thank you, Uncle Vernon."
"Get out of my sight. Go see what your Aunt wants you to do today," Vernon ordered, turning back to his food. Harry scrambled up off the floor and hurried out of the kitchen, nearly running into his aunt to escape his uncle.
"Watch it, freak!" Petunia hissed at him.
"Sorry, Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon said to see you about today's list," Harry said.
"Yes, well there isn't much to do today. Wash the car, repaint the shed, and water all the plants. When you finish that I want you to clean the bathroom. Then you can stay in your room the rest of the day," Petunia said.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry climbed the stairs and entered his room, searching for his shoes. He shoved his feet into them, lacing them up tightly before he headed outside to the shed.
He found a large bucket and carried in to the front yard, setting it down next to the car. He went back to the shed, grabbed a scrub brush and some soap, and walked back to the car. He poured some soap into the bucket and grabbed the hose from where it was coiled underneath some of the flower bushes, dragging it behind him. He set the end in the bucket and turned back to turn the water on.
Harry swished his hand around in the rising water to make bubbles then dunked the scrub brush in. He took the brush and started at the front of the car, running the scrub brush over the hood to wash off the dirt. He spent an hour cleaning the car, rinsing it off, and then cleaning it again. He dumped the dirty water into the grass and took all the cleaning supplies back to the shed.
He rummaged around for a few minutes until he found the paint and paintbrush, and took them out with him, shutting the shed doors behind him. Harry bent down to open the can of paint and his vision blurred. He tilted to the side and would have fallen if he hadn't caught himself on the shed.
He rested there for a minute until his vision went back to normal and he straightened up. Harry shook his head as his stomach rumbled softly.
"I can eat dinner today. All I have to do is not fuck up," Harry muttered to himself in a parody of a pep-talk. "How hard could it be not to fuck up?"
Harry dipped the brush in the paint and got to work repainting the shed. Not that it actually needed repainting because he'd done this particular chore last week but Harry knew better than to argue. Harry worked steadily, trying to get the painting done quickly. He had to stop once for a few minutes because he got lightheaded again but he managed to finish the shed after an hour and a half.
"Boy! Get in here and make us some lunch!" His uncle shouted from inside.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon!" Harry called back. He quickly set the painting supplies back in the shed, being careful not to smear the paint, and rushed inside to clean his hands at the kitchen sink.
Harry opened the cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread and some chips, setting them on the counter. He opened the fridge and took out a head of lettuce, two tomatoes, pickles, cheese, ham, turkey, mayo, and mustard. He washed the lettuce and tomato, setting them on the chopping board once they were clean. He sliced the tomatoes and tore off a few leaves of lettuce. Harry set out five pieces of bread, spreading mayo on two of them, mustard on two others, and leaving the last one dry. He placed a slice of cheese on each one, followed by pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes. He put turkey on the ones with mayo, ham on the other three, and took out five more pieces of bread, smearing two with mayo, two with mustard, and leaving one dry.
Harry put the two sandwiches with mayo on one plate, the two with mustard on another, and the one with nothing on another. He piled chips onto the plates with two sandwiches and went back into the fridge for some baby carrots and ranch dressing, which he out on the plate with the single sandwich.
Harry picked up his aunt and uncle's plates, carrying them into the living room where they were all gathered around the tv, handing the plates over before he went back for Dudley's.
He put all the food back quickly and grabbed some drinks, a beer for his uncle, soda for Dudley, lemonade for his aunt. Harry delivered their drinks and made his way back outside.
Harry carefully opened the shed door, skillfully ignoring the way his stomach throbbed with hunger pains. He grabbed the watering can and went to the front yard to fill it from the hose. Harry carefully watered all the plants, a rush of pride moving through him at the way they had flourished under his care.
After finishing the watering he went back inside, grabbed all the dirty dishes and washed them, dried them, and put them away.
"One more chore. Just one more and then I can eat. Don't screw up, Potter," he whispered to himself as he climbed the stairs and headed to the bathroom. He took the cleaning supplies from underneath the sink and thoroughly cleaned the bathroom, scrubbing the tiles, wiping down the mirror, cleaning out the sink and tub. He scrubbed the walls and sanitized the toilet. It took all of two hours.
Harry grinned as he put all the cleaning supplies away. He climbed down the stairs and stood at the entrance of the living room.
"I'm done with my chores, Aunt Petunia," he informed her. Petunia waved her hand in irritation.
"Yes, alright. Go to your room and stay there until I come to get you for dinner," she ordered.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Harry turned and trudged up the steps, falling gracelessly onto his bed once he'd made it to his room. He fell into an exhausted sleep quickly. He was woken abruptly when his aunt pounded on the door. He sat up, confused when he could hear her locking the multitude of locks his uncle had installed to keep him prisoner.
"We're going out for dinner. Vernon doesn't want you to be able to wander around by yourself so you'll be locked into tonight," his aunt said through the door.
"Wait! What about dinner? Uncle Vernon said I can eat tonight!" Harry called out frantically, rushing up to the door and placing his palms flat against it. "Please, Aunt Petunia. Let me make a sandwich real quick. You can lock me back in right after!" His aunt stood silently on the other side before sighing.
Harry could hear a rustling of clothes as she moved to unlock his door. He sagged with relief, he wouldn't have to go hungry today.
"Hurry up, Petunia! Dudley's hungry. Just lock the brat away and let's go!" Vernon called from downstairs.
"Coming, Vernon," she responded. She stepped away from the door. "You'll just have to wait until morning." She walked away and Harry slumped against the door, despair welling up inside of him.
He crushed the urge to cry and sat on the edge of his bed, staring around in the dark. Harry was just thankful that he'd had the sense to leave Hedwig with Ron. That was one less mouth to worry about feeding. Harry crawled under the covers and curled up around his aching stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut and if a few tears slipped loose, well, there was no one around to see them.