"...Harry?" Hailey called out tentatively.

Harry sucked in a breath and curled up even more within himself, from under the table.

Hailey heard the slight scraping of chairs, so she turned to investigate.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, crouching down.

Harry let out a yelp and darted out from underneath the table, causing him to hit his head. He grasped his head and frantically searched for an escape-

Hailey bent down and grabbed his arm,

Harry gasped and struggled to break away, "P-P-P-Pl-lea-as-ee n-n-o hurt...s-sor-r-y," he whimpered.

Harry felt her arm extend towards him. He cringed, expecting a blow from being naughty...

Hailey frowned as she saw the boy flinch, but she continued anyways. She gently rubbed the top of his head to check for any injuries, "Oh dear," she breathed, "Sweetie, are you okay? You have a really large bump on your head..."

Harry blinked open one eye.

This lady wasn't hurting him...yet.

Could she be trusted?

He decided to test her, so he sniffed, "Yes..."

There was no response.

Harry looked up, and saw the lady's eyebrows furrow. Harry bit his lip and inwardly cringed. Aunt Petunia always did that right before he was thrown into his cupboard...

Harry yanked his arm away and ran.

Hailey was bewildered, "Hey!" she yelled after him, "Where do you think you're going?!" she hollered.

Harry felt the tears threatening to spill as he slammed the cupboard door shut. No one cared for him. Everyone was always yelling at him. No one wanted to waste their time on a freak.

Hailey sighed and stood up, scratching her forehead in frustration. Now where was the little brat? Maybe the Dursley's were right about this kid being a difficult child...but why had it seemed like he had been hiding something?

Hailey stepped out of the kitchen, and froze as she heard a soft noise...coming from under the stairs. Hailey raised her eyebrows as she walked to the door. She gently pulled the door open and saw...

She gasped, "Harry?!"

Said boy looked up with wide, scared eyes and scrambled backwards. Hailey peered into the area and saw; a mattress, some dirty paper towels, toilet paper, candy wrappers, an old moldy bottle, and a old worn blanket.

Hailey gulped, "Harry...what is this place?" she asked.

Harry began trembling.

"Harry..."

Harry took a deep breath. It wasn't proper to not answer when spoken to.

"Room."

"What?" Hailey asked.

Harry gulped, "Room..." he said quietly.

"What do you mean 'room'? Who's room?" she asked, dreading the answer.

Harry's mouth began twitching, "M-e-e," he said, with some difficulty.

Hailey paled, "This...place...is yours?" she asked softly.

Harry nodded, before clutching the old blanket to his chest and burying his face in the broken mattress.

Hailey sighed softly and shook her head. Anger was beginning to penetrate through her body. She KNEW how well the other kid was treated...just by how the parents swooned over him. She swore under her breath, then peered again into the cupboard.

"Harry?"

Harry grunted.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked.

Harry's stomach growled, and she saw him tense up.

She sighed, "When was the last time you had a bath?"

"NO!" came the reply.

"No...?" she asked.

Harry whimpered, "...Bad..."

Hailey had no idea what he was talking about, but by the stench of the cupboard, it must have been a while.

"Do you still wear nappies?"

Harry visibly tensed.

"When was the last time you were changed?"

"...Four..." he said.

"Four...what?" she asked.

Harry awkwardly sat up, "Four."

"Days?" Hailey asked.

Harry thought about it, then nodded.

Hailey sighed in frustration and sat back against the wall. She ran her fingers through her hair. This poor boy! Deprived of the necessities..not to mention the love and caring all children need. His speech isn't very good either...

"Harry, how old are you?" she asked.

Harry looked at Hailey from inside the cupboard, "Two."

Hailey sighed again.

He was so small...

Hailey edged in closer to the cupboard, "Harry? I'm going to have to take you out now and get you cleaned up..." she said, "And then I'll get you something to eat...how does that sound?"

Harry loved the sound of that, but he was sure that it was all just a joke. He looked down sadly and his grip around his blankie tightened.

Hailey noticed this and reached into the cupboard. She heard a gasp of surprise as she gingerly lifted him out. She felt him tense and squirm in her hands, all the way until she had him resting against her chest. The young boy looked up at her in surprise, then proceeded to look at where he was. He shyly looked up at Hailey, who was grinning at him sweetly.

"Are you ready to take your bath now?" she asked.

The good feeling was gone, he suddenly became very tense again and he began wildly thrashing in her arms.

Hailey tightened her grip around the boy, just as he managed to bop her in the nose. Harry froze and looked up at her in grief and fear, to scared of what she would do to him. Much to his surprise, she calmly walked into the kitchen (still holding him) and opened the...re-re-fridg-erator. Harry stayed completely still, as he watched her rummage through the white box. He glanced at her nose, which had little scratch marks and was turning slightly red. Harry bit his lip and looked down in shame.

Hailey felt the movement, and faced the child. She frowned when she saw his stance, hunched over and ashamed...not to mention afraid. She closed the door to the fridge, and sat down at the table; turning Harry towards her.

"Harry?" she said.

No response.

She clears her throat, and said, "Harry."

Harry whipped his head up in record time.

Hailey saw the unshed tears and raised the boy, so his head was resting on her shoulder. She felt him tense up as she began rubbing circles soothingly on his back.

"Shh..." she said softly.

Harry gripped the back of her shirt tightly, allowing his blanket to fall to the floor.

Hailey began humming...something that his mommy used to do for him.

He sniffed, and buried his head into her neck.

Hailey smiled softly, continuing to comfort the boy.

Finally, after being so deprived of it, Harry began to openly cry. Finally releasing all the feelings of hurt, sadness, and longing.

Hailey continued to rub his back soothingly as she grit her teeth.

Those idiot Dursley's.

They were SO going to pay for this.