A/N : Sorry for the delay, again. It was my mum's birthday yesterday and we had some celebrations, so I wasn't able to complete the chapter in time. I promise to try harder in the future.
Warning : This chapter contains some description about abuse.
Chapter 12 : Living Hell
The first week of the summer holidays was as usual. In just a week's time, Harry had almost cleaned the whole house from the chimney to the garden. His muscles were protesting for the overwork, but Harry had ignored it, knowing that he would miss dinner again if he couldn't manage to weed the garden before the Dursleys return from their outings.
Gritting his teeth, he finished the last patch of the garden before rushing to prepare dinner. Just as he placed the food on the dining table, a loud slam of the door announced the return of the Dursleys. Not wasting anytime, they indulged in the spaghetti and pork chop Harry prepared. Although they would never admit it, Harry had a knack for cooking. After they finished and left the dining room, Harry ate all the leftovers quickly, mainly salad and a little spaghetti. It wasn't enough to fill his stomach, but it's better than nothing. Upon cleaning the dishes, Harry trotted to his bedroom to complete his weekly letter to Dumbledore and Sirius.
As much as he would like to rant about his current miserable life to Sirius, he knew that it would only make Sirius more restless and guilty. After some considerations, both Dumbledore's and Sirius' letter contained similar contents, stating that the Dursleys were ignoring him but overall life was acceptable.
Harry tied both letters to Hedwig's leg. She nibbled his palms gently before soaring to the air, leaving Harry trapped alone in Privet Drive. Knowing that tomorrow would again be a hectic day with tons of chores to be completed, Harry willed himself to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he saw Vernon dressed in his best suit, with Aunt Petunia fondling him. Eavesdropping over their conversation, Harry learnt that Vernon was meeting a grand client who wanted to buy one thousand drills. Vernon was very excited about that, for he was guaranteed 10% commission if the sale was successful. That was more than eight thousand dollars. Before Vernon left for work, he instructed Harry to wash all the toilets and sweep plus mop the floor. Not long after, Aunt Petunia and Dudley left for a friend's birthday party, leaving Harry alone in the house, again.
Harry was still scrubbing the toilets when Aunt Petunia and Dudley returned. "Potter! You are very slow, Dudley is hungry and you haven't even started preparing dinner. Miss dinner yourself." Aunt Petunia shouted at Harry. Harry groaned inwardly. He had not taken lunch because he knew he wouldn't be able to complete the work if he did so, and now he had to miss dinner too. The Dursleys really love starving him. Not brave enough to whine, Harry quickly prepared pork skewers and fried rice for the apparently famished Dudley.
Just as Dudley and Aunt Petunia finished their dinner, Vernon tripped into the house, looking drunk and disoriented. He sat on the table where Harry served his dinner. Suddenly, Harry heard a loud slap and Aunt Petunia's shrill. He turned around to see that Vernon had punched Aunt Petunia in her face, Dudley was sitting across the table, godsmacked. As Vernon raised his fist to hit Aunt Petunia again, Harry instinctively slipped in between them. The fist reached Harry instead, who curled up in pain.
"Boy, you have been a nuisance in my house for fifteen years. It's time to get rid of you forever." Vernon snarled. He clearly wasn't in his right mind for his eyes appeared unfocused and his muscles twitched uncontrollably. To sum up, Vernon was not fit to make any decisions that he might not regret afterwards, but it also made the threat more likely.
Harry stood up before Vernon could do further harm to him. He could smell alcohol in Vernon's breath. However, Vernon had often come home drunk after his intercourses with clients, none of it making him act this way. Despite being brutal to Harry, he was always gentle to Aunt Petunia and Dudley.
Just as Harry was contemplating on the causes of Vernon's weird behavior, Vernon was removing his belts. "Potter, look out!" Dudley's scream pulled Harry back to reality. He saw a belt slashing towards him and he ducked. Too late. Instead of hitting its target, Harry's buttocks, it smashed into Harry's vertebrae, hard. That instant, Harry doubled up in pain.
Vernon seemed to be indulging in Harry's pain. He laughed eerily at the screams of Harry. Dudley tried to pull his father away from Harry, but despite him having the size of a whale, he wasn't strong enough. Instead, an elbow from Vernon sent Dudley flying towards the door. Aunt Petunia yelled and rushed over to his beloved son, tears flowing down her cheeks. As Harry, she was confused with the change of character of her husband.
Now that Dudley and Aunt Petunia were not holding Vernon back, he lunged himself on Harry, punching him as hard as he could. Bruises formed immediately all over Harry's body. After tending to Dudley, Aunt Petunia tried reaching out to her wild husband again. This time though, Vernon pushed her and Dudley harshly into a spare bedroom before locking them in. Harry groaned. Now he was facing this monstrous Vernon alone. It's impossible for Harry to win against Vernon in a muggle fight. However, he didn't want to risk using magic, and even if he wanted to, his wand wasn't with him.
Soon, Harry admitted defeat. Vernon stripped off Harry's shirt and whipped him with his belt. Harry rolled in agony, trying to resist but failed. Vernon continued venting his anger on Harry for more than one hour until he finally felt fatigued. By then, every inch of Harry's skin was either covered in blood or bruises. Before retreating for some sleep, Vernon throwed Harry into his old bedroom, the cupboard under the stairs, and locked him in.
Harry tried lying down, but couldn't find any angle that didn't hurt. He was thirsty, famished and bleeding. Trapped inside the cupboard with no light and first aid kid, Harry could do nothing to ease his bleeding. Thankfully, the wounds by the belt weren't deep. Even so, Harry started feeling dizzy after an unknown period of time, apparently weakened by the loss of blood. He finally fell asleep hours later.
The next morning, Harry was dragged out of the room by Vernon. With his peripheral vision, he saw Aunt Petunia and Dudley gagged and bound in the living room. There were unwashed dishes in the kitchen, suggesting that they just had breakfast. The mere idea of breakfast made Harry's stomach growl.
As Vernon approached Harry, Harry couldn't help noticing the dilated pupils, fast breathing rate and slight trembling of his hands. Light dawned on Harry. It was obvious that Vernon had been drugged by his so-called clients. Bracing himself for the worst, Harry yet endured beatings from Vernon. Some of his closed wounds were opened again, accompanied with new cuts, making blood drip down Harry's body.
After several hours of violence, Vernon seemed exhausted. He rested for a while before exiting the house to who knows where. Aunt Petunia and Dudley were staring at Harry, the shock on their faces obvious. They had never seen anyone beaten this bad. Steadying himself with the sofa, Harry edged to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He drank it thankfully, and proceeded to look for food. Unfortunately, there was no ready food. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to cook anything without burning himself in his current condition, so he had to remain hungry.
About an hour later, Vernon returned. With hands trembling uncontrollably now, Vernon took out a jab from his bag and injected some colorless liquid into his arms. Harry's suspicion was confirmed. Aunt Petunia gaped at Vernon with tears flowing down her cheeks again. After moments of stunned silence, Aunt Petunia made a gurgling sound, a failed attempt to shout. Vernon took no notice. He trashed Harry back into the cupboard before locking him in for the night.
Things took a turn for the worse. The third day of Harry's abuse, Vernon started slicing Harry's flesh with a knife. He had to gag Harry before his yells were heard by neighbors. This time, Harry didn't manage to stay awake until the end of the torture session. Drowsiness took over two hours after the session started.
When Harry thought he had endured the worst, he was proven wrong. The next day, Vernon started by cutting and whipping Harry as usual. As Harry fell unconscious again, Vernon performed a muggle torturing technique, rubbing salt on Harry's wound. Harry was aroused from unconsciousness the moment the salt came in contact with his wounds. It was pain beyond endurance. Harry trashed and turned, trying to wriggle out of Vernon's death grip, to no avail. Soon, all Harry's wounds were coated with salt. A sadistic smile appeared on Vernon's lips as he enjoyed the boy's cries of agony.
That night, Harry had not managed to sleep at all, the pain reminding him of the Cruciatus curse. To be frank, he didn't know which one was worse. The pain the Cruciatus curse produced was more immense, but the curse could not be held as long as this. He had been tortured by the salt for more than six hours now and he wasn't sure if he would survive this. The only motivation that kept him alive was that Dumbledore would send help if he didn't receive Harry's weekly letter. Three more days to go, Harry said to himself.
The next two days went exactly like the fourth, but not the seventh. Harry thought Vernon was repeating their routine when he tied Harry. Instead, he reached for Harry's pants. His eyes widened in shock as Harry realized what Vernon was about to do. He was not going to let that happen, not when he was alive. He struggled with all the strength he could muster after being starved for a week, and aimed a kick at Vernon's penis. However, he failed and his actions maddened Vernon even more. Harry felt his pants being stripped off, and Vernon's hand touching his underwear.
"No!" Harry yelled when a blast of magic finally erupted from Harry. He snatched his pants and ran out of the door, leaving Vernon unconscious on the floor.
A/N : I'm not sure how a drug addict looks like, so I rely solely on online information. Please correct me if I'm wrong about the descriptions. Also, this chapter is a little bit dramatic and unrealistic for my liking, but I needed it to continue my story, so please bear with it.