Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. There's also references to canon child abuse and non-canon character death. Feel free to back out if need be.

Author's Note: I originally set out to write a different story. Sorry/not sorry.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Post Term 16); MC4A (Year 5)
Individual Challenges: Red Dress (Y); Not There; Red Lights; Ginger; Red Wave; Happy Birthday (Y); Rainbow Rainbow; Missing Rainbow; Magical MC; LEO MC; LEO MC; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion; Ethnic & Present; Hold the Mayo; Tiny Terror; Lunar Era; Old Shoes (Y); Short Jog; Bucket Listing (Y); Two Cakes (Y); Eating Cake (Y); Green Ribbon; Greatest Gift (Y)
House: Slytherin
Other Hogwarts Challenges: 365 [149](Accident); 1000 Prompts Challenge [775](Fresh Start); Hogwarts Gardens [Herb 09](Being Rescued)
Other MC4A Challenges: SuB [4D](Sacrifice); AU [2D](Everyone Dies); Chim [Dyx] ("Running up that Hill" - Placebo; Race Bend; Lime; Life/Death; Hospital/Medical Ward);Hunt [Sp WD (Native/Indigenous); Su Set (Night); Su Items (Sweater/Jumper)]; Fire [x3](Genius); Garden [Tools (Sweater/Jumper); Badges (Desi Character); Bait (Kid Harry Potter)]; Harvest [A&B (Building/Assembling); AUs (Character Died); Items (Jacket; Vest); Trope (Unexpected Death)];
Representation(s): Desi & Prodigy Harry Potter; Native OC; Redhead OC; Dursleys' A-Plus Parenting; Dursleys' Death; Chim Song Prompt; Cease-Fire between Blood Wars
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: A Long Dog; Larger than Life; Second Verse (Persistence Still; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel; Middle Name; Nightingale; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice); Chorus (Pear-Shaped; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade); Demo 1 (Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Getting On)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: Once (Cabaret; Santa Fe); War (Orator; Sanctuary; Ennui); T3 (Toad); SN (Rail; Ameliorate)
Word Count: 1581 words

(^^)
From the Cupboard
(^^)

Harry felt the ache starting in his bones as the weather turned colder. Something about the late fall going into winter made him physically hurt in ways even the worst beatings from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia did. As October turned into November, every year without fail, his bones would begin to ache and his joints would get creaky.

Not that he remembered more than a few. The books in the school library said that babies didn't remember things the same way that little kids (like him and Dudley) did, and little kids didn't remember things the same way as bigger kids and adults. As interesting as those books from the library had been, they didn't really explain what Harry had been trying to understand. They didn't explain why his body hurt when colder weather came and why he wanted to sleep so much when it did.

He hated the way that the effects of that seasonal malaise left him slower to react and sick to his stomach from the pain. Inevitably, those side effects would earn him some additional punishment on top of the pain he already was in. There were no good punishments at the Dursleys' home, but that did not mean that Harry hadn't developed his preferences over the years. He could tolerate nearly any form and measure of beating, even Uncle Vernon's belt or Aunt Petunia's frying pan. Missing out on the already scarce rations he was given by his relatives only ended up compounding the way that the pain twisted his stomach into knots, along with making him even more slow and clumsy and thereby more likely to earn further punishment.

But worst of all the ways that the Dursleys punished Harry was the times when they locked him away in the cupboard under the stairs and then just forgot about him. Most of the time, Harry was only locked away for hours at a time. Aunt Petunia was fairly diligent about letting Harry out at least once every ten hours or so. It might only be long enough for Harry to use the bathroom and sneak a handful (or two if he was really lucky), but it would at least be out of the cupboard.

Harry would do just about anything to avoid being locked in his cupboard. The cupboard had its own set of rules, even when Harry was just in it for the night. First and foremost of those rules was that when Harry was locked away, he was not allowed to draw attention to himself, not one little bit and not even if he had to use the bathroom outside of whenever Aunt Petunia had scheduled the trip. He was to be absolutely silent and pretend that he didn't even exist. This was especially important if the Dursleys had any kind of guests over.

But Aunt Petunia had locked him in what seemed like days ago. (It was always so hard to keep track of time in the darkness.) The Dursleys had been going out for a special dinner celebrating Uncle Vernon securing a bit account for Grunnings. Not wanting to deal with Harry during the happy event, they had locked him in the cupboard before they had left. Harry must have missed them coming home as he drifted in and out of sleep. Thankfully, drinking and eating so little meant he was only struggling a little bit keeping control of his bathroom needs.

But his throat was so parched that Harry could feel it crackling as he breathed as quietly as possible. The silence that had filled the Dursleys' home for the last few times he had been awake was finally broken. He couldn't hear any of the Dursleys' voices in the mix, not even Dudley who had no concept of an inside voice. Harry snuggled down into his pile of clothes handed down from Dudley or scavenged from the lost and found bin at school, trying to decide what to do as much as relieve the ache in his body.

Harry knew the rules. He had learned them through pains far greater than his winter sickness. He understood the consequences of breaking the rules. He knew it would mean a beating and then yet more cupboard time.

But he was just so thirsty.

"I really think the neighbor was just a nutter," one of the speakers said. They sounded like they were walking down the stairs above his cupboard. "Other than there being two rooms with children toys in them, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that another kid lives here at all."

"The school had two kids registered from this address," another person said. They sounded like they were coming from the kitchen. "The car was a right tangle. Maybe the second kid was also there? Maybe thrown a bit?"

Like a flash of lightning, Harry realized that something must have happened to the Dursleys. He had not been forgotten, at least no more than a pet left at home. Carefully, he crawled out of his pile and shuffled his way across the few feet to the cupboard door. He hesitated, fighting against a lifetime of lessons to pretend that he did not exist.

Then he knocked softly on the door.

The voices hissed at each other before falling silent.

Summoning every ounce of willpower he had, Harry knocked again. This time he dared to be a little bit louder. He started to tremble with nerves for drawing attention to himself. Terrified suddenly of what could happen if the people exploring the house left without letting him out, Harry began knocking on the door without stopping. He honestly didn't think he would be able to make himself start again if he stopped again.

Finally, Harry heard the bolt on the door sliding free. The sunshine from the kitchen and dining room was blinding. Two men dressed like county safety officers were silhouetted by the light. They both looked like they were going to be sick. Harry hoped that they wouldn't be. He didn't feel well enough to clean up that kind of mess right then.

Both officers had on thick jackets with a reflective white band around their sleeves. Over the jacket, they had on lime green vests with a thick band to match the ones on their sleeves. One of them had brown skin similar to his but with a bronze-like tint to it. He wore his long black hair in two thin braids wrapped with a thin red cloth. The other man had skin that was even lighter than Aunt Petunia's and hair the color of fire. In addition to looking sick, the pair was now looking like Harry had just kicked their dog or something.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked hesitantly even though he would rather her not know just how much he was breaking the rules. (Not only was he drawing attention to himself, he was talking to safety officers! He was going to be in so much trouble when Aunt Petunia found out!) His throat protested speaking even that much without having a drink. The bobbies exchanged looks that made Harry shift uneasily.

"Uh, Ford," the redhead asked, "what age did the school say the kids were again?"

"They're supposed to be six and a half," Ford replied. His dark brown eyes were wide as they looked over Harry. Nervous, Harry tucked his hands into the sleeve of the opposite arm of his jumper. It was the best way to hide how they clenched at each other. "Do you—" Ford swallowed hard before starting again. "Do you have a brother, by any chance?"

"Dudley's my cousin," Harry answered with a small shake of his head. He couldn't quite repress the wince against the pain of speaking. Both the adults noticed.

From there it was a whirlwind of activity. Harry found out that his relatives had been in a car accident. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had died at the scene. Dudley had survived the initial wreck but died on his way to the hospital. The old lady that occasionally babysat Harry had asked the authorities to check the house for him when she had heard about the accident. The safety officers had been humoring Mrs. Figg when they had agreed to do so.

No one had expected to actually find another child.

The officers had taken Harry to the local hospital. After several hours of being poked and prodded by medical staff, Harry had been admitted to the hospital. A very nice (if stern) lady had shown up to talk to him about all sorts of things. Many of those things were topics that Harry wasn't supposed to talk about, but with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon no longer around, Harry decided that it was probably best to not make the new people angry like his relatives had always been. So he answered all the questions they asked him.

And when they sent another doctor in to play with him, Harry made sure to answer all of his questions and do all the puzzles the man gave him, too. It was the most fun that he had ever had. Harry especially loved making patterns with the red and white blocks. Doing math problems wasn't as much fun, but mostly because it was so boring and holding a pencil for so long made his already achy hands hurt even more.

Still, even with the boring math, it was better than living with the Dursleys.