A Good Old Fashioned Fairy Tale
Title
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me in any way, shape, or from. They belong to Miss J.K. Rowling.
The boy did not leave her thoughts all the rest of that day, nor that night. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his gaunt, peaked little face and her heart ached for him. She couldn't fall asleep that night, and she tossed and turned for hours on her silken hammock, sewn from spider's thread.

She was up with the sun, and darted off into the golden sky, searching vainly for the small boy's house. It took her nearly all day, but finally after hours of searching, she stumbled upon the house.

It was located in neighborhood that was the epitome of neatness, and order; the houses marching up and down the street in perfect alignment, the hedges perfectly trimmed, and all the houses with gleaming coats of fresh paint.

She recognized the beefy, red faced man pull up in a flashy convertible. She watched him head up the walk and the tubby, blonde boy ran out to meet him. But instead of wrapping his father into a hug, she saw him eagerly search the man's pockets, but when finding nothing, he bestowed upon him a fierce kick and waddled back into the house, scowling bitterly. The beefy man merely laughed good heartedly and the little fairy wondered distractedly if maybe the beefy man wasn't so horrible after all, but these thoughts quickly dissolved when she witnessed what happened next.

A cry of joy nearly escaped her lips when she saw the little dark haired boy come teetering from the house. His arms were outstretched, and spread across his face was a jubilant smile. Upon reaching the beefy man, he wrapped his arms around one of the man's thighs, his hands barely touching. The look that passed over the beefy man's face was one of utter disgust. He stared down at the small dark head, buried in his pant leg and looked as if an enormous glistening leech had just attached itself to his leg. Lip curled in disgust, he reached down and plucked the small boy off, setting him down roughly, several feet away. The small boy stared at him through large bewildered green eyes. A muscle in the beefy man's face twitched horribly, and narrowing his eyes he bent way over so that he was eye level with the boy. He stared, unblinking. The small boy stared back. And then, in a voice as loud as thunder, he bellowed, "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN YOU MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING! YOU'VE COMPLETELY SOILED MY PANT LEG, NOW I'LL HAVE TO CHANGE BEFORE I SAY HELLO TO PETUNIA. GO UP AND START A LOAD OF WASH THIS INSTANT, AND DON'T LET ME CATCH SIGHT OF YOU THE REST OF THE DAY!" And with a final horrible grimace, he turned and strode into the house, his face, a brilliant shade of vermilion.

The small boy stood completely motionless for several seconds, and then his lip wobbled furiously and an enormous tear leaked out the corner of his eye. His small shoulders sagged, and a sob tore from his lips, he gasped several ragged breaths, and then bit his lip, to keep it from trembling. A high, irritated voice drifted out the kitchen window, "Stop sniveling and kindly remove yourself from the lawn. We don't want the entire neighborhood witnessing your theatrics." The boy wiped his hand fiercely across his eyes, then straightening his narrow shoulders, he turned and walked into the house.

Once again the little fairy gaped in horror and disbelief at the scene she'd just witnessed and her little heart was torn between feeling a deep sorrow towards the boy, and a dark bitter hatred towards the other beastly people he was living with. Which feeling was stronger, she couldn't decide but both were growing steadily, the more she saw.

Feeling very daring, she'd crept very near the house, and she was now nestled in a primrose bush almost directly beneath the kitchen window. She watched eagerly as the boy set the table and brought in three plates of steaming food to the bony nosed woman, the beefy man, and the chunky son. *But where is his plate?* She wondered anxiously, *What does he eat?*

The boy stood obediently in a corner, his hands clasped sedately behind his back. But although his composure was demure and subservient, his eyes watched eagerly; large and hungry as the family spooned down heaps of mashed potatoes, slices of roast chicken, and steaming bits of broccoli, all drenched in luscious, brown gravy.

The little fairy stared at him painfully, wishing she had some food to give him, as she watched his eyes flicker enviously over the mounds of food. He swallowed heavily, and the little fairy suddenly realized just how large and round his eyes were, sunken darkly into his thin, pointed features. His expression was drawn and his eyes were heavily shadowed, embedded deeply in his grim, ghost like little face. But although he was ravenous, the boy said not a word throughout the meal, and the minute the others had finished he whisked their plates away and disappeared into the kitchen.

Once he'd washed and dried the dishes he sat waiting patiently for something, leaning over the edge of his chair, his small dark face taut with expectancy. The bony nosed woman came into the kitchen and set on a plate, a hard roll and a small piece of cheese. She smacked these on the table in front of the boy, then left huffily, her pinched nose held high in the air, as if feeding him was some enormously generous task that she performed, and he was hardly worthy.

He inhaled the food like lightning, then sat staring rather sadly at his empty plate. Sighing, he shuffled over to the sink and did his dishes. He turned to gaze out the window, and the little fairy ducked hurriedly to avert his gaze. Slowly, she crept back up the window to peer into his eyes. In them, she could see the reflection of the setting sun, which he watched disinterestedly as it slid away behind the row of houses across the street. Staring into his eyes she could see they were still terribly hungry, but not just for nourishment. They were hollow and empty from lack of love. These horrible people not only starved him from food, they starved him of any kind of compassion. Those eyes although a beautifully striking shade of green, were like two empty shells, not having known any real beauty in the world. They reflected dully back what they had witnessed throughout their existence, pain and hatred.

The little fairy's heart gave a horrible wrench, and she felt her hands curl despairingly into frustrated fists. *I love you* she thought, *I care about you.* Her eyes flickered desperately over the dark wisps crisscrossing his forehead, the lovely emerald eyes, and the small sorrowful mouth twisted painfully into a frown. *I love you so much* her heart called. He stood there at the window several moments longer, as if expecting something to happen, but the little fairy just sat there in the darkness, not saying anything, her heart beating wildly, fluttering up and down inside her chest. She wanted so badly to speak with him, but she knew it was forbidden. It took all her will power to sit there silently, watching his poignant gaze stare bleakly out the window into the darkening sky, as the velvety blanket of night began to sweep across the horizon. And when nothing happened, he sighed once more, a sigh that was far too heavy for his small, narrow shoulders. They drooped wearily, and he flicked off the kitchen light.

She darted to the front hall window and watched him crawl into a small cupboard beneath the stairs. Several minutes later the beefy man strolled by, and when he bent over the cupboard door, the little fairy heard the distinct click of a key turning in a lock. There was a start from within the cupboard and a wicked grin spread across the beefy man's face. "See how you like being kept locked in there for a few days," he breathed malevolently into the keyhole. Then, straightening up, he flipped the key into the air, and caught it, whistling to himself as he waltzed away up the stairs.

There was the sound of panicked, but muffled protests from within the cupboard, and the wild beating of small fists upon the door. But when his desperation was met only with deathly silence, the pounding faltered and there was a single wail, then a bump, as he slumped against the door, pressed as close to the keyhole as possible. And there, cramped horribly close to the narrow beam of light the hole emitted, he drifted into a tense, uneasy sleep.

The little fairy hovered just outside the window watching with a heavy heart as the small boy was carried off to sleep. And sighing, her little wings beating fitfully, she flew away from the sad little house, with the sad little boy, only to be carried off herself into restless, dream ridden sleep.

~*~* So, how do you like it??? Why don't you review, then I can know exactly what you think, how does that sound? You can give me your thoughts, opinions, ideas, hopes, dislikes, whatever!! Just as long as you write something, and something long preferably (grins devilishly) Please, write a lonnnnnnngggggg review, I don't care how much effort it takes you to drag your fingers across the keyboard and search your foggy brain for something for you to say, just say it!~ Well anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed before, I love you guys!! Especially those of you who kindly wrote a deliciously long paragraph, you have no idea how happy those made me :) And whoever's been guessing it was right, it is fashioned after the little mermaid, though not the cheap animated version, don't get me wrong I love disney movies but the real fairy tale is the best.~ so good work guys! Uh..what else, sorry it took so long for me to type this up, but y'know I'm working on my other stuff too, and I know it was awfully sad, and nothing much really happened, but it was just so much fun to write, poor little harry *sigh* I promise you though, in the next chapter there's a lot of action, things happen!! Ok, well I'd better go since this is beginning to become longer than the story itself, haha, cya later~