Safe and Sound, Chapter Two
By: blueflutterfly23
Edited by: Snivellus
*ABUSE WARNING*
(Warning: This chapter has excerpts or references of mild underage abuse.)
"I don't want to be down here, Daddy. I want to be upstairs, wif Harry." Gracie said, tugging on the blonde ringlets of her hair. Gracie and the rest of the Dursleys were sitting in the common room all dressed very nicely. Gracie believed Harry was lucky. He didn't have to sit down with the Masons, who Gracie despised, wearing some horribly ugly, itchy yellow dress. Gracie sat on the crisp sofa, watching her mum frost an immaculate cake. 'Harry Potter!" Her father called out. Gracie jumped slightly at her father's projected voice.
Harry bounded down the stairs. At the beginning of summer, the Dursleys had given Harry Dudley's second bedroom, which meant that Gracie had to stay in the cupboard under the stairs alone. Gracie was often extremely lonely and snuck upstairs to his room."I'm warning you Potter, if you can't control that bloody bird, it'll have to go." Vernon said whilst he was fixing Dudley's askew bowtie.
"But she's bored. If I could let her out for an hour or two-" Harry attempted to say, but was interrupted. "Why, so you can send letters to your freaky little friends? No, thank you."
"I haven't gotten any letters from any of my friends all summer. Not one single letter." He replied almost wistfully. "Who would want to be friends with the likes of you?" Dudley said, purposely bumping his broad shoulder into Harry's.
"I should think that you would be a little more grateful, boy. We've raised you since you were young. Fed you food from our table, gave you Dudley's old room out of the goodness of our hearts." Harry snorted, and muttered something quite inappropriate under his breath.
"No, you gave him Dudley's old room because he was getting too big for da cupboard." Gracie said. Vernon glared daggers at Gracie. She smiled deviously. Since Gracie was now aged four, she had began to speak with a little more sass than she did when she was three. Gracie wasn't as afraid of her family as she had been before. Her annunciation had gotten better as well.
"Not now, pumpkin. Save it for the Masons." Petunia said as Dudley tried to eat a cherry off the pudding.
"Who will be here any moment. Let's go over our positions, yeah?" Vernon said. Gracie turned to face him as Petunia and Dudley hurried into the common room.
"Petunia, when the Masons arrive you will be-" Vernon said.
"In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously into our home."
"Right, now Dudley," Vernon continued.
"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley said in fake sincerity.
"Right, now Gracelynn," Vernon said, waiting for her reply. Gracie rolled her eyes and sighed, fixing the large white bow centered on her ugly yellow dress. "I'll be waiting by da couch, offering them to take a seat wifout any hesitation or attitude." Gracie said lacking enthusiasm.
"And you," Vernon said sternly, looking at Harry.
"I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist."
The Masons had arrived no later than when Harry disappeared up the staircase. Harry had opened the door of his bedroom to find a strange looking creature hopping on his bed. The creature was small in size. It had wrinkly skin that clung to his bones tightly. He wore a torn potato sack for clothing, with eyes the size as tennis balls. They were a pale green colour. Harry's own eyes widened in shock.
"Harry Potter, such an honour it is." The creature said.
Harry watched as Dobby the house-elf ran down the carpeted stairs. Dobby stopped before he reached the kitchen's entry. "Dobby, get back here." Harry whispered. Dobby shook his head no. Harry was definitely getting annoyed.
"Excuse me. I have to use the loo." Gracie said politely. She hopped off the couch and began to into the kitchen. She didn't really have to use the bathroom, she just wanted to see Harry. Gracie was shocked to find that Harry was in the kitchen, but he wasn't alone.
Gracie studied the strange, small creature. He wasn't much bigger than Gracie. Gracie followed her eyes up to the pudding her mother had made earlier. It was floating in mid air!
She stood off the the side as the pudding cake began moving towards the couch that the Masons were sitting on. As the pudding moved forward, so did Harry. Gracie assumed Harry was trying to catch the pudding, as he seemed very frustrated with the house elf.
Gracie ran behind Harry's legs. The pudding had dropped on Mrs. Mason, covering her with purple frosting and cherries. Vernon jumped up and immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry, it's my disturbed nephew. Meeting strangers upsets him. That's why I kept him in his room."
Harry looked down at Gracie with anxiety. They were in deep trouble again.
The Mason's left very soon after the pudding incident. When Mr. Dursley slammed the door shut, the fake smile was immediately wiped off of his livid face and he stared at Harry and Gracie with malice. "Petunia, take Dudley away from here. I want a few words with Gracelynn and the boy." Petunia obligated as soon as the sentence came to a close, taking Dudley out of the house hastily.
"I want a crystal clear answer. Which one of you did it?" Vernon asked, his face red with fury. "I don't know." Gracie said in a small voice. Vernon stormed forward and smacked the back of his hand across her face. Gracie started to cry almost immediately. Harry picked her up and held her in his arms, a look of pure horror drawn on his was about to take another blow, but he stopped himself. "You're going to wish you were never born, the both of you." And with that, Vernon stalked off to his study, still seething and very purple-faced.
The next morning, Vernon woke earlier than he ever would to do something very, very special thing to Harry's window. Bars. "You'll never get out of here, boy. You'll never go back to that freak excuse of a school, either. And you'll never see any of your freaky "friends" again!" Vernon said tauntingly through the window, looking at a furious Harry.
Harry closed his blinds and walked over to his bed. He wasn't allowed to leave his room as part of his punishment, which meant that Gracie had to fend for herself against the Dursleys. He hoped she was okay. Harry knew very well that the Dursley's were an abusive sort, but he never imagined that they would purposely hurt Gracie, whose mind was too innocent to comprehend exactly what was going on. Harry imagined her locked inside the cupboard, curled upon her cot, hiding under the blankets, crying silently. He pushed the thought from his mind, it made him extremely uncomfortable and upset. He grabbed the thin comforter on his bed and yanked it roughly over his head, ready for the day to be over.
Harry woke later that night to a strange, faint rumbling noise coming from outside of his newly barred windows. He stumbled blindly towards his window, having forgotten his glasses. Outside, he saw a light, similar to the headlights on a car. As the lights got closer, he realized that it was a car. Harry shook his head. A flying car is outside my window? I must be dreaming. Harry quickly shoved on his glasses and looked back towards the window, where there definitely was a blue flying Ford Anglia. As the car pulled up to the window, he saw who was driving it.
"Ron? Fred? George? What're you doing here?" Harry asked in disbelief at the sight of his best mate and his identical twin brothers.
"Rescuing you, of course. Come on, get your trunk." Ron answered. Harry thought for a moment.
"Would you mind if I brought a plus one?" Harry asked, remembering Gracie and her solitude in the damp cupboard.
"Why not, but hurry. I don't want any muggles to see us. A giant flying car isn't exactly a stealth machine." Ron said, mirth lining his voice.
Harry crept out of his room and down the stairs, skipping the seventh creaking step. He opened the cupboard door. "Gracie, come on." Harry said quietly. "Harry? You 'apposed to be in your room!" Gracie whispered quite loudly.
"I know. Come on, get dressed." Harry said, grabbing some clothes for her. He tried his best to ignore the purple bruise that had swelled profusely on her cheek. Gracie hesitantly agreed. Once she was dressed in a pair of torn jeans and a sweatshirt that belonged to Harry when he was young, He grabbed her trunk and filled it with some random clothes.
"Where are we goin'?" Gracie asked as she quickly grabbed her stuffed rabbit, Mr. Bearsley from her cot and followed Harry silently up the stairs. She ducked into Harry's room. "Away from here." Harry answered. He began packing his various school items into his own trunk. He slipped on a pair of real pants and a shirt.
He turned back to the Weasleys in the car. Ron attached a rusty metal hook to the bars on his window. Fred turned the car around and drove forward, away from the house. The bars came off with some difficulty. Harry placed his and Gracie's trunk in the car. Fred spun the car back to it's side so Harry and Gracie could get in. Ron opened the door. Harry handed Gracie to Ron and she got handed to George who was sitting in the back seat. Harry was about to climb into the car when Vernon burst through the door. He quickly ran over to Harry.
Vernon grabbed Harry's foot. "Let go of me!" Harry shouted and kicked. Vernon refused and only held on tighter. Fred pressed harder on the gas pedal and the car surged forward. Vernon fell out of the window and Harry was pulled into the car, while Petunia and Dudley screamed and ran forward to watch Vernon fall into the perfectly trimmed roses. "That was close. Oh, and by the way, happy birthday." Ron said after catching his breath.
George piped up from the back seat. "Would someone please introduce me to this lovely little lady?" Gracie tiredly giggled. "I'm Gracie."
"Oh, so you're the famous Gracie?" George said. Gracie looked at him with a confused expression.
"Harry talked about you all the time last year." George said.
"Said he missed you quite often, actually." Fred finished. "I'm Fred, by the way."
"And I'm George."
Ron turned around to look at Gracie. "I'm Ron." He said. Gracie nodded, but she could feel her eyelids beginning to get heavy. She leaned up against Mr. Bearsley and finally succumbed to sleep.
When Gracie awoke, it was already morning. She was still very groggy. George couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her cheek. "Hey, Harry?" He asked.
"Yeah, George?" Harry answered.
"What happened to Gracie's cheek?" George asked.
Harry's green eyes darkened. He knew he could trust the Weasleys. He trusted them blindly with his life, but something this big? Harry stuttered "Ummm...well..."
"Harry what happened?" George said, his voice full of concern.
"It was her father," he finally said.
George's eyes widened in surprise, "Her father...did this to her...he gave her this?" He said gesturing to the unflattering, swollen bruise.
"Yeah." Harry said quietly. "I tried everything. I can't stop him." Harry choked out just as the car pulled into the Burrow's dusty driveway.
George looked at Gracie sympathetically. In the year he had known Harry, the topic of his Aunt and Uncle had come up on many occasions. George knew them to be horrible, but not this bad. He knew something was wrong last year.
Talking about the Dursleys and Gracie in a parenting way was always a touchy subject for Harry. Now Fred, Ron, and George knew why.
Wait until Mum hears about this, he thought. The five children were silent as they walked into the Burrow.
Harry had just bitten into a warm biscuit when a plump woman with a kind face screeches, "WHERE... HAVE... YOU... BEEN? . ...CAR ...GONE, ...BEDS ...EMPTY, ...NO ...NOTE. YOU COULD HAVE BE KILLED, ...YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SEEN!"
Ron was the first to speak up, "They were starving them, Mum, you should have seen it! They put bars on the windows."
"Well you best hope I don't put bars on your windows, Ronald Weasley!" The three Weasleys took a step back at that remark.
"But of course I don't blame you, Harry," she said in a kind voice.
Giving the three boys one last stern look, she directed her attention towards the young girl sitting comfortably in Harry's arms. "And who is this?"she asked sweetly.
"I'm Gracie, Gracie Dursley" Molly extended her arms and Gracie lunged towards them, no questions asked. "You yell loud, , Da only oder person dat can scream louder den you is Daddy."
"Well, I had to discipline them, somehow, Now didn't I? said Molly.
Gracie nodded her head.
"What on earth happened to your cheek, dear?"
George, from behind Harry, gave her meaningful look that meant he would tell her later.
"Well it doesn't really matter now does it, let's just go fix it up."
She smiled again, "Would any of you like a spot of breakfast?"
Ron immediately answered, "Merlin...Finally!"
Harry, Ron, Gracie, Fred, George, and Percy sat down at the Weasley's table. They kept to small talk about Hogwarts and how their summers went. Fred, George, and Gracie were having a conversation, though it was mostly Gracie talking and she changed the subject every couple minutes. Gracie was in the middle of a sentence when she sneezed. As she sneezed, the biscuit that lay untouched on her plate lifted slightly into the air and plopped down into the gravy. It splashed slightly all over her plate. Fred took note of this, "Harry, did you see that?"
Harry drew his attention away from his conversation with Ron. "See what?" He asked.
"Nevermind." Fred replied. He looked at George and knew that he had seen the same. Fred couldn't help but wonder. Is Gracie a witch?
Before he got the chance to ask, a girl, around the age of eleven came down the stairs in her pyjamas. She had fiery red hair and freckles, like the rest of the Weasleys. "Mummy, have you seen my jumper?" She asked. "I think it's on the chair, dear." Mrs. Weasley answered. When the girl turned to the table, her eyes widened and her face rivaled her hair. "Hi." Harry said. The girl turned, grabbed her jumper, and sped back upstairs.
"Did I say something wrong?" Harry asked Ron. Ron shrugged his shoulders. "That was Ginny, she's been talking about you all summer, bit annoying, really." He explained.
Just then, a man with identical red hair and glasses , walked through the Burrow door. "Dad's home!" Percy exclaimed. Mrs. Weasley came over and gave the man a kiss on the cheek.
"What a night! Nine raids! Nine!" The man exclaimed as he sat down. Harry turned to Ron. "Raids?"
"Dad works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department." "Misuse...of...Muggle...Artifacts...?" Harry questioned. Ron caught his confusion because he continued,
"That's when wizards bewitch something to drive Muggles mad. Shrinking the door keys, that kind of thing. Dad loves they're fascinating." Harry nodded in comprehension.
Mr. Weasley looked out at the table and saw two faces he didn't recognize. "And who might you be?" He asked kindly. Gracie was the first to introduce herself.
"I'm Gracie." She said. Harry then introduced himself.
"I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter."
"Good God, are you really?" He asked in astonishment. Harry nodded. "Well, Ron's told us all about you. How did you two get here?" Mrs. Weasley then explained why Harry and Gracie were at the Burrow, "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."
"Did you really?... How'd it go?" He asked. Mrs. Weasley hit him on the arm as a way of saying he reacted the wrong way. "I... I mean... that was very wrong, boys. Very wrong indeed. Now, Harry, Gracie, you must know all about muggles. So, tell me, what exactly is the proper function of a rubber duck?"
Harry let out a quiet 'oof' as he hit the floor of the Chamber of Secrets. He stood up, holding his wand out at Gilderoy Lockhart, his Defense against the Dark Arts Professor. He heard a crunching noise from beneath his feet. His eyes traveled to the floor and were met with bones. "Now remember, any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away." Harry said, recalling the information that he had learned of the basilisk, the horrible monster residing in the Chamber of Secrets that kills you if you look directly into it's eyes. Harry ran through a moldy tunnel. Ron and Lockhart were following in pursuit.
The trio stopped when they came across a long snake-like object. "What's this?" Ron asked.
"It looks like a… snake." Lockhart said. Harry ran his hand along the scaly, rough skin.
"I think it's snake skin." He said.
"Whoever shed this must be sixty feet long, or more." Ron said incredulously, causing Lockhart to visibly pale.
Lockhart held Ron's broken wand out to Ron and Harry "The adventure ends here boys, I'll make sure to tell the story, about how I was too late to save the girl. And about how you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body...
You first, Mr. Potter, say goodbye to your memories. OBLIVIATE!" A flash of white light rebounded and Lockhart slammed into a nearby wall. The tunnel began to shake as a shower of rocks separated Harry from Ron and Gilderoy. "HARRY!" Ron shouted.
"RON! RON! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Harry yelled back. Ron was silent for a moment. Harry could hear muffled voices from the other side of the rock wall. Ron then shouted, "Lockheart's memory charm backfired!" He continued saying, " He hasn't got a clue of who he is."
"What do I do now?" Ron desperately asked.
"You wait here. Try to move some of the rocks, I'll go on and find Ginny." Harry said, walking away from the rock wall. He ventured out deeper into the tunnel. He came upon a door with eight snakes carved into it. He spoke in parseltongue and the snakes whirled alive. The door opened and Harry stepped through it.
Ginny was lying cold and still on the wet chamber floor. Harry, who was standing at the other end of the chamber, ran forward and grabbed her small, pale hand. "Ginny, Ginny, please wake up, please don't be dead." Harry pleaded.
"She won't wake" said a cool voice from behind Harry, quickly turning he saw the familiar handsome face of Tom Riddle.
"She's still alive, but only just..."
"You've got to help me, Tom, There's a basalisk."
"It won't come until it's called."
Harry repeated, "You've got to help me, you've got to save her, Tom!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, I grow stronger." Tom paused for the effect of suspense, then continued. "Yes Harry, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets.
As Harry was pulled out of the Chamber by Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix he couldn't stop replaying the conversation with Tom over and over again in his mind.
"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time." Harry asked
Tom replied irritably, "Voldemort is my past, present, and future" with Harry wand he drew out the letters, TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE and magically arranged them to spell I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.
"You, you're the Heir of Slytherin..." an expression of comprehension dawning on his face.
When Harry arrived back to the Dursley's house, he hastily set his stuff in his room. He couldn't believe that another year had gone by so fast. Harry walked back downstairs, hoping to find Gracie. As he turned to walk into the kitchen, he heard small sobs coming from inside the cupboard. He stopped immediately. Unlocking the many new locks on the cupboard door, he crawled inside.
It was dark in the cupboard, as day had recently faded to night. Harry tried to find the string to turn on the light, but failed to do so. He noticed a lump in the thin blankets. "Gracie, come out." He said. Gracie lifted her head up. "H-Harry?" She stuttered. A new set of tears trekked down her cheeks. Harry noticed that her top lip was split and bleeding. Harry pulled Gracie into his arms. He heard someone shuffling down the stairs.
The footsteps were heavy. Harry silently cursed himself for not closing the cupboard door. As the person got closer and closer, Gracie cried harder. Harry was trying his best to calm her down, but he too was anticipating the worst.
"What are you two doing down here? And why is Gracie crying." Dudley asked in a hushed voice. Harry didn't want to have to ask Gracie that question. What did happen? He knew very well that having her explain it would be like pouring salt into a wound. Harry also knew that Dudley was unaware of his father's abusive ways.
Harry just shook his head and continued to rock and hold Gracie. He would have to explain tomorrow.
