I would like to thank those of you thank reviewed the long overdue update on this story. Thank you very much for your patience and loyalty, I'm very happy that the chapter wasn't all disappointing. I'm going to try and do my best to make this chapter interesting.
Pedro was walking quiet as a mouse keeping to the shadows. Years of living on the streets had taught him that to not be seen was the safest thing for him. Pedro was a street urchin that has been fending for himself since he was a toddler. This night he found himself wondering where he would find himself his next 'pigeon'. He had been forced to give up the little money he had when one of the local alley gangs had 'persuaded' him that if he wanted to keep his teeth he'd give over his money.
With the agility of a cat Pedro slipped down a very dark alley and stopped as he heard a muffled sound. Frozen in his tracks he listened carefully for the sound again. After a few moments there was a low but distinct moan a little over to his left by a pile of boxes and a few overturned trashcans. Pedro hopped over without making a sound and peered in the midst of the rubble to see who the moan belonged to.
"Lady luck is smiling on Pedro today. This person has probably drank to much and is sleeping it off here. Maybe they have money." Pedro whispered to himself as was much his habit to do so.
Pedro carefully and quietly crept over to the moaning person and a huge smile crept over his face as he spotted a large trunk lying near the person. He rubbed his hands together and started towards the trunk. Pedro however was a very curious boy and couldn't help but get a look at this person who he was about to relieve of his possessions. He about faced and made towards the person who had stopped moaning.
Grabbing on the persons clothing Pedro as carefully as he could turned the body over and peered at the persons face. A gasp escaped Pedro as he saw the badly beaten and swollen face of the person. He now became aware that he was standing in puddle. It wasn't like a normal puddle though, this one was sticky. Pedro leapt back as he realized exactly what it was he was standing in.
"Shit! Bloody flipping hell! What happened to this person?!" Pedro exclaimed as he went towards the person he moaned a little again.
Pedro peered at the near motionless person and shuddered at the sight. After a few more moments of examination Pedro saw that this person was actually not much older than he was. This wasn't a man, this was a boy like him. Something within him stirred and after a few more moments thought Pedro nodded.
"I will help you. It's not nice to be beaten and bloodied with no help. Pedro knows. Pedro knows all too well." Pedro said and proceeded to move the body and take his belongings to a place of safety.
Harry's entire body was wracked in pain. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he raised his arms up in defense.
"NO!" Harry yelled.
This caused poor Pedro, who had been gently prodding Harry to wake up, to fall over and let out a small yelp of his own. A few moments passed before Pedro recovered from his shock and then he cautiously went back to Harry.
"You ok? Pedro did not mean to hurt." Pedro said.
Harry slowly let down his aching arms and peered at Pedro.
"Wh- who are you? Wh- where am I?" Harry asked taking a small look at his surroundings.
"Ah, yes, forgivings, I am Pedro, I humbly welcome you to the home of Pedro. I found you. Brought you here so that nobody could hurt you anymore." Pedro said a huge smile on his face sounding very proud of telling Harry what he had done.
"Pedro, I, I can't........" But Harry didn't finish his sentence as he grabbed his head as a searing pain flashed in his scar.
"Are you ok?" Pedro asked his smile now gone.
Harry sat still for a few moments as the pain very slowly ebbed away. He was breathing hard and felt very weak and dizzy. The pain was too much and his recently acquired wounds didn't help any, only adding to his pain. Harry swooned and fell back into a world of darkness.
"That was strange. He is not well. What should Pedro do?" Pedro wondered out aloud.
Pedro decided that he could try and clean his wounds. But he'd need clean water to do that. He sighed, because that was far easier said than done. There was no clean water in the alleys, the only place he could clean water from was the houses in the nearby neighborhoods. Pedro immediately searched for a clean container and after having found one he made off.
It was by a strange coincidence that Pedro soon found himself in a street called Privet Drive where he saw that in the front lawn was what he wanted, a tap. The only problem was that it was now late morning and he was sure that the people would be home. This house was however the one that was the most accessible and the only one with a tap that he could see. He decided that he had to take the risk.
All was going well and he had managed to fill his container with his precious cargo. Suddenly he heard a roar of rage erupt from the house. He quickly dove towards the wall and sat in the bushes under an open window. He was breathing hard and clutching his precious cargo with all that he was worth.
"DAMN IT ALL! HE'S ESCAPED!" An angry voice roared from within the confines of the house.
"Well now dear, are you sure about that?" Came a voice from very near the window under which Pedro was hiding.
"OF COURSE I'M BLOODY WELL SURE! THAT RUDDY BOY HAS MADE OFF!" The other voice roared again, closer this time.
"VERNON!" The other voice said in a high pitch.
"There is no need to shout at me. Now are you sure that Harry's gone?" The voice that had moments ago shouted back was calm again, the voice belonged to a woman though Pedro thought she sounded like a near strangled chicken.
"OF COURSE, I mean, of course I'm sure Petunia. He's nowhere to be found and all of his things are gone. Even his trunk!" The other voice said loudly, but no longer shouting.
"Well, in the condition you left him in, I dare say that he can't have gotten far. I'm surprised he made it out." The calm voice said and the clanking of dishes could be heard in the background.
"It's just like I told you Petunia, I've been to soft on him." The other voice said now much closer and Pedro knew that this voice belonged to a man.
"It's just what I've been telling you all the time Vernon dear. You're far to easy going with that child. He never works hard and is as lazy as ever. Not like our dear Dudley dinkims." The woman's voice said pride flowing in her voice as somebody else in the background grunted.
"I'll just have to make sure I'm not so soft with him when I get him again." The man said.
"It's rather a bother isn't it Vernon? I mean, now we have to find him, if his freakish friends come back they'd certainly wonder where he is." The woman said.
"Damn, I'd not thought of that. That's it Petunia, no more easy beatings for that boy, I'm going to beat him within an inch of his life when I bring him back. No more going easy on him." The man said and Pedro heard the distinct slam of a hand banging on a table inside.
Pedro was frozen in fear as he heard these people talk so casually about beating somebody. Then things started to fall into place. He was sure that the boy he found was the very one that these grown ups were speaking about. He looked at the water filled container in his hands and remembered why he was here in the first place. He crept away from under the window and out the bushes and then bolted out of the yard as quickly as he possibly could.
From inside the house of the Dursley's, Vernon Dursley watched Pedro rush out of their yard. At first a frown and then an evil smile crept over his face.
"I'll be back in a few Petunia. I've got some business to take care of." Vernon said and rushed out before his wife could say a thing.
'That boy! It all makes sense now, Harry couldn't have made it away on his own! That little piece of filth running from my yard must have helped him. And if he helped that blasted boy then he must know where he is.' Vernon thought to himself as he struggled to keep the fleeing figure of Pedro in sight.
Pedro arrived to where he had left who he was sure this Harry was. He took a rag and dampened it with the precious water that he had just gone to get and started to dab at Harry's face that was swollen and covered in dry blood. It was then that Pedro noticed that Harry was shuddering slightly and beads of sweat were forming on parts of his forehead, the parts that weren't smashed up that is.
"This one is very sick. It isn't good." Pedro muttered and placed the wet rag on Harry's forehead and started to try and tend to Harry's other wounds.
"He is weak, beaten and sick. I must get him food." Pedro spoke to himself again.
After fetching his stash of food, which was in a sack, Pedro sat down next to Harry. His stomach growled in complaint and it was then that Pedro realized just how hungry he himself was. Opening the sack he sighed and pulled out a few old slices of stale bread. His mouth watered at the sight of the bread and he looked at Harry. He shook his head from side to side and then put the bread away.
'I can't eat this food. This one here is in a far worse state than me. He needs it more than I. I can find some more later.' Pedro thought and scowled at his stomach as it growled once more.
Harry groaned and he opened his eyes. He had no idea for how long he had been out of it all and could feel something damp on his head that along draped over his eyes. His entire body was aching and he felt weak.
Pedro saw Harry stir slightly.
"Harry?" Pedro ventured trying to see if this was indeed who he thought it was.
"Who's there? How do you know my name?" Harry replied weakly.
"It is I, Pedro, from earlier. Here, you must eat." Pedro replied and pushed the stale bread into Harry's unmoving hand.
Harry wasn't totally sure what was going on around him, but he did now realize that he was extremely hungry. But try as he might, he couldn't find the strength to take the food from his hand to his mouth. Pedro saw that Harry was still shaking a little and he knew that Harry's fever had not broken.
Pedro took the bread from Harry's hand and placed it by his mouth. Harry chewed and ate the bread as Pedro fed it to him, all the while with wide eyes fighting off his own hunger pangs. When Harry was done eating Pedro poured some of the water he had gotten into Harry's mouth. The water was cool and refreshing and Harry drank eagerly. He choked a little and coughed but felt satisfied. It was a strange feeling for Harry.
"Why are you doing this Pedro? I don't even know you, yet you help me so." Harry asked when some of his strength had returned.
"Pedro knows what it is like to be beaten and sick. He knows what it is like to not have anybody to help or look after him. He knows what it means to be hungry. Pedro hates it when he is all alone and nobody will care for him. Pedro couldn't leave you when he found you." Pedro said and once again tried to stop his empty stomach from growling. Harry heard this.
"You gave me your food didn't you?" Harry asked.
Pedro didn't answer.
"Thank you Pedro, for everything you've done for me." Harry said lifting the rag and smiling a little at Pedro.
Pedro smiled back and felt all warm all over. It was an unusual feeling for him. All his life he'd only been concerned with his own well being and taking care of himself. The gratitude from Harry made him completely forget about his hunger.
"Pedro is happy to help. Now rest, you are sick. I will try and get us more food." Pedro said wetting the rag with the water and disappeared into the darkness.
Harry couldn't explain the feeling he was experiencing. He felt safe and secure yet he didn't even know where he was. He hardly knew Pedro yet this young boy was taking care of him and giving what little he had to Harry. Harry fell asleep, and for a long time nightmares didn't engulf him.
"Damn it all, where could that little piece of filth have gotten to? He was just here and now he's gone." A purple faced and out of breath Vernon Dursley spluttered as he tried to regain his breath.
Vernon had been trying to follow Pedro but the streetwise street urchin had easily evaded Vernon. Vernon leant against a wall and struggled to get his breathing back to normal. Just as he was about to give up and go home none other than Pedro ran smack bang into Vernon. Pedro was knocked clean off his feet while Vernon managed to stay on his feet.
"Ah, just the boy I've been looking for." Vernon said his voice filled with menace as he advanced on the fallen Pedro.
A/N And that is where I leave this chapter. I apologize for this chapter. There was probably nothing in here that would interest you all or what you were looking for. It does however set things better for the next chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try to update sooner, though I need to update in my other story Surviving Without Sirius. So I'd first like to do that. Thanks to all those that took the time to read and review.
Cheers
Lost in A World of Pain