Hope Restored
Chapter 2
Summary: Harry has just finished his fourth year and after defeating Voldemort he wants to do nothing but disappear. But he had been forcibly bound to stay at the Dursleys and forced to endure constant abuse.
Warnings: Abuse, OOC, Corporal Punishment, Self Harm.
Disclaimer: My stories are based on characters and situations created and owned by author J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made from the stories on this profile and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Nor is any insult or defamation of character intended toward any of the wonderful actors who brought the original Harry Potter books to life through the cinema.
Harry's musing was cut short when Petunia knocked, more like banged, on the door of his cupboard. "Wake up boy, you lazy freak! Why isn't breakfast made yet!" She then yanked him out by his shirt and said "Wait for Vernon, let's what he will say when his breakfast wasn't made!"
Harry tried to explain "But Aunt Petunia I-"But he was shut up with "I don't want any excuses boy; make breakfast" Harry really sometimes didn't understand his relatives. How could she expect him to make breakfast when they forgot to unlock the cupboard door?
He really hadn't wanted to make Uncle Vernon mad, but he had no choice, he couldn't get to the kitchen. Well, no matter. He concentrated on making breakfast as fast as possible without burning anything. He knew how Uncle Vernon liked to have his breakfast and didn't want to risk anything angering him.
It would only make more trouble for Harry later. He had just finished putting the plates and food on the table when he heard Uncle Vernon and Dudley waddle down the stairs. He was amazed that the stairs still hadn't broken.
Uncle Vernon came into the kitchen and Harry was relieved when he just sat at the table and started eating like his fat son. Aunt Petunia came in and practically threw him the chore list. It was impossibly long. "Have it done before we get back home boy, or you'll get it"
Harry immediately went to the garden and started working. He didn't know when they'll be back. The weeding was an easy chore and he heard his relative's car leave. He quickly went to his cupboard to get Aton and take him outside; it wasn't good for him to be trapped inside.
Aton instantly snuggled to him and started purring. In times like this Harry was filled with happiness and could forget everything else and focus on bringing pleasure to little furry monster.
He left him in the garden while he completed the rest of the chores. The worst thing about the chores was that he had a lot time to think and he didn't like it. His mind soon went back to the topic of his father.
He had found about Severus being his father when he was at Gringotts at the start of his fourth year. He performed a simple blood test and the goblins told his about Severus being his father.
His only hope now is that Severus went to the bank soon and the goblins told him the truth. Harry had wanted to tell him himself but when Voldemort was defeated he told the goblins to tell him the truth. He smiled a little when he thought about Severus reaction to the news. He only hoped that he wouldn't reject him when he finds out he is his son.
He looked at the clock and it said two in the afternoon, he went to the kitchen and grabbed himself something little to eat. He then went to his cupboard and gave food to Aton. He had bought it one time when he was shopping for his aunt. The hungry cat quickly ate it and Harry resumed his tasks.
When he was finished he quickly put Aton in his cupboard and made dinner for his relatives, as they could be back any minute. He then went to his cupboard and lay on the bed. He was like a Hogwarts house elf; he did all the work and was rarely seen. He had all traits, he wore rags, he cleaned and cooked, the only thing missing was large ears like Dobby's.
He practiced his occlumency until they came home. He had learnt it by himself during his training. Snape had helped; more like made it harder, for a while but then threw him out. So Harry learned on his own and eventually succeeded.
His defenses were a library and in the books were stored his memories. Nobody could access them because of the various defenses. Not even Voldemort had gotten to the last of his defenses, a Parseltongue password. Harry was very proud of his occlumency, it had taken a lot of time and effort to learn, but it was worth it.
It had helped him greatly with his addiction. He still slipped sometimes but it wasn't as severe as before. In the past his cutting was worse than now and he had gotten close to killing himself in the past, unintentionally. He hadn't told anyone about it and he was ashamed that him horrible control of emotions had almost killed him.
But now with occlumency emotions were there, but they didn't overwhelm him like before. They were still there but at a lesser scale. He was also glad that he could still speak Parseltongue; it meant that he had inherited it from someone in his past.
He heard his relative start to eat dinner and he just buried himself further in his blanket, Aton still on his chest purring. He hoped that Uncle Vernon wouldn't punish him today, he had already done so yesterday and his back and ribs still hurt. He looked sadly at the box for which he communicated with Gringotts. It didn't glow, and they told him that it would glow green when his father found out.
Harry laid down completely to sleep, with a tear leaking down his cheek. But what he didn't see was a green glow many hours later in the night.
