Chapter 1: STRANGE BEHAVIOURS
Harry looked around the crowded platform as he stepped off the Hogwarts Express. It was the end of his sixth year and he was to return to the Dursley's for another month before he could go to the Weasleys for the rest of the summer.
"Bye Harry," said Hermione, "I'll see you at The Burrow later this summer, alright?" Harry nodded as he hugged one of his best friends.
"See you later mate," said Ron, "by the looks of it you better get moving, that git of your Uncle's coming."
"Ron," scolded Hermione. Harry turned to see his uncle approach them, without a word to the weasleys he grabbed Harry by the arm and literally dragged him away. Harry was surprised. His uncle at least pretended to be nice to him in front of the Weasleys for fear of being hexed or something.
"Bye," Harry managed to yell over his shoulder as he was dragged to the parking lot.
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"Get in and stay!"
Harry felt a hard shove and the next thing he heard was the door of his room banging shut. He picked himself off the floor still bewildered. He hadn't done anything yet to make his uncle angry. He felt a growing apprehension. Something was up and he wasn't sure what.
He missed his owl. Hedwig was with Ron for the time being, last summer she had nearly bitten off Dudley's finger and Harry thought it best for her to stay with Ron.
He frowned. Aunt Petunia and Dudley had a loathing look on their faces when he saw them, it was odd as they had treated him with something between fear and hatred for the past year. He couldn't help the shudder that went through him.
Very strange indeed.
The next two weeks were the worst that Harry had ever spend with the Dursleys. The pushes and shoves were almost too much and Harry already had bruises.It took every ounce of his energy to keep his calm.
It was on one such instance that the final blow came.
Harry was washing up after lunch one day when Dudley came in. "Hurry up Potter," he sneered. Harry girtted his teeth, recently his cousin had developed an uncanny similarity to his school nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
"You're a freak you know," continued Dudley, Harry scrubbed hard at the plate he was holding imagining that he was wiping off that sneer from his cousin's face. That's when Dudley spoke something that caused Harry to explode.
"Your parents were freaks, they were a couple of bas–"
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY PARENTS!"
Harry saw red, he'd had enough. He barely noticed Uncle Vernon enter until he felt a hard slap on his cheek. Harry fell to the floor, his eyes widening with shock as he tasted blood.
His uncle had actually hit him.
"Get Up!" his uncle growled dragging him to his feet. A minute later Harry found himself being flung on the floor of his room. That's it he thought, I'm stuck in my room for the rest of the month. If he thought it ended there he was wrong.
Very wrong.
'HOW DARE YOU YELL AT DUDLEY!" Harry looked up at his uncle's purple face, his own temper rising. He spat the blood from his mouth, his own temper rising.
"He had no right to talk like that about my parents!" Harry said, "he–"
But Harry never completed that sentence because at that moment his uncle's fist connected with his skull, throwing him on the floor.
Harry was dazed but realised he'd gone too far, his uncle was beyond control, a brief thought of what happened to his uncle flitted across his mind before it was pushed out of him along with the air that was forced out of lungs as his uncle's large foot connected with his stomach.
Harry gasped in pain and shock as his uncle continued to kick.
'Don't," his uncle growled punctating each word with a kick, "Ever. Talk. Back."
As Vernon's foot collided with his ribs Harry heard a distinct crack followed by a searing pain. He knew his ribs were broken.
"Uncle Vernon," he pleaded, "stop… please…"
"NO!" his uncle roared, his large hands grabbed the thin boy before him and flung him against his bed. Harry's eyes watered as the pain increased at the impact.
"YOU'RE GOING TO GET WHAT YOU DESERVE!" his Uncle yelled, "ONCE AN FOR ALL!"
Harry's eyes widened as his uncle picked up a detached plank from the floor and moved towards him, he closed his eyes. Dear God…, he thought desparately, please let me just pass out now please…
Harry couldn't supress the cry that was torn out of his throat as the plank came crashing down on his arm.
God…please…
"I DETEST YOU!" his uncle yelled as he continued to hit him, Harry curled up into a ball, tears pouring down his face. His body was screaming with pain and Harry just wanted it to end.
Please…
"FILTHY ANIMAL!"
God save me…
A sharp searing pain shot through his side, a new wave of fear washed over him.
The plank had a nail sticking out of it.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
His uncle Vernon seemed to have to noticed it too because now every time he hit he dragged it plank down his body. Harry could see that his clothes were now soaked with blood.
"DISGUSTING FREAK!"
I'm going to die, he thought, he's going to kill me…
"ABOMINATION!"
Harry watched in horror as his enraged uncle brought the plank down on his head. It was the last thing he saw before the plank connected with its target and he mercifully lost conciousness.
Harry slowly tried to open his eyes, only one opened. His head felt as if it had been trampled on. He tried to move but nearly screamed as pain shot through his body. With supreme effort he turned over and caught a glimpse of his face in a piece of broken mirror on the floor.
His glasses were cracked, and his face was severely bruised and there were gashes on the side of his face where the nail had torn the skin. His face was bloodied and the reason why his left eye wouldn't open was because it glued shut with dried blood.
He needed to get out of Privet Drive, Harry knew that. He looked at the clock, it was six in the evening. What he needed more than anything now was someone who could heal his wounds. He was aware he had lost a lot of blood. Why did his uncle do this?
The only thing he knew was that if his uncle came around again he was as good as dead.
He had to go to the Burrow, he decided. But how?
Harry suddenly remembered that Hermione had forced him and Ron in the sixth year to read a book on apparating insisting knowledge of the theory would help in the practical application. They had grumbled but had done it to pacify her, Harry knew the basic method but had never applied it for fear of getting splinched.
Right now it seemed the only way. Harry was unsure if he'd get splinched or not in his present condition but, he reasoned, atleast the officials will find me then. Either way he'd be better off.
Painfully dragging himself to his trunk he grasped the handle with his good hand. He could feel the splintered bones in his body and he gasped. Summoning all his strenght he concentrated like never before.
For a brief second Harry felt as if he was moving through a fluid medium, he faintly heard a pop and his head hit something soft.
He looked into the shocked and horrified face of a red haired girl and heard her scream before he passed out from exhaustion.
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