Reflection
Chapter 4 - Hope
The abuse had only gotten worse as the weeks went on. With every, punch, slap, and kick the Dursleys only got more confident. At first, it was simple slaps. Slapping him hard when he "did something wrong" like burning the food when he didn't know how to cook in the first place. he was a fast learner though. Soon they got bolder, he would start to get beat for all sorts of things, spilling a cup of water by accident, burning the food again, not cleaning well enough.
Dudley, his cousin had taken sick pleasure in chasing Harry around the house, purposefully trying to get him in trouble, and tackling him to the ground. And of course, his aunt and uncle did nothing, his uncle encouraging his mini-walrus of a son by laughing when he saw Dudley chasing him. He even got him boxing lessons, though it surprised him, he didn't think Dudley capable of any physical exertion, but apparently, beating him better was enough motivation.
His aunt and uncle had also started to send him to school, the same one as Dudley. he had thought that he would get a reprieve from the abuse, being away from the house and his aunt and uncle for hours sounded like a dream come true. He had thought he might even be able to make a friend or two as well. But it seemed Dudley was popular here, well, more like he terrified the other kids and he and his gang of friends did whatever they wanted.
If any kids had wanted to become friends with him, it wouldn't have mattered, Dudley would have scared them off. It was here that he also took part in a game called "Harry Hunting" during recess. He called it that because Dudley and his friends would chase him until he was too tired and winded to continue running, once they caught him, they'd push him to the ground and kick him.
He had once ended up with sprained wrist because of it. When he told his aunt and uncle what happened, he received one of the worst beatings yet. He then learned that blaming "their perfect little Dudders" was off-limits. He went back to school the next day, telling the nurse that he had fallen off the playground near his house. After that, it became clear to Dudley he really could do whatever he wanted.
He started being more ruthless, not caring about being careful in case the teachers noticed. And despite his weight, the boxing lessons had made it much worse, as Dudely had started using him as his personal punching bag to practice on. Though, he had gotten quite good at evading the gang, learning the best hiding spots, as well as getting faster.
But it was a sunny Tuesday and he was having a very bad day. He had gotten whipped by his uncle's belt the previous night and the pain was still raw. He had dropped a glass that had shattered because Dudley had tripped him. His uncle had beat him severely and promised there was more to come after school. Then at school, he failed to escape Dudleys because of his sore and damaged body, and he was punished with being kicked until the end of recess.
After that he went back to the Dursleys, trying to sneak past into his cupboard to avoid the promised beating his uncle said was coming. He was at the door when he felt his uncle grab the back of his shirt. He was beaten and whipped for an hour before his uncle finally threw him into the cupboard, making sure to tell him that he wouldn't be getting any food or water.
Thankfully, the cuts healed fast, like they always did, so he didn't feel his whole body stinging. Unfortunately, he didn't have any food or water, he hadn't gotten breakfast because of the glass, and Dudley had stolen his lunch the school gives out. So he was left in his tiny prison, starving, alone, bruised, and seething. He hated this. Hated the Dursleys.
He hated his inability to fight back, he hated how he had to lay down and take it. He hated how his mother and father hadn't come to get him despite it being a year. He hated everything, everyone. His anger that had built up over the year was bubbling, ready to burst and take out his problems on the world. And as his negative thoughts continued, his anger continued to grow, continued to bubble, bursting at the seams.
He seethed, and seethed, and seethed, and at once, he exploded. His pent-up frustration and anger flowed through him, powering his thoughts, his actions, his very being.
All he wanted was peace. All he wanted was to not be beaten bloody every week. All he wanted was for his parents to come back. All he wanted was to be loved. All he wanted was some food!
Click!
Harry froze. What was that? Was that his uncle? Did he do something wrong? He stayed completely silent, fully focused on listening to the sounds from above him. He didn't hear the thump of angry footsteps above him, nor the telltale snarling that always came with his uncle's anger. He was so focused on listening to the sounds from upstairs that he didn't see the small cupboard door creak open revealing the dark hallway it resided in. He didn't hear anything upstairs, but he did hear the creak of the door opening, he whipped around eyes wide.
How? That shouldn't be possible, his door was always locked, always.
He slowly and delicately pushed the door open, peaking out into the hallway slowly as if it was a dream that would shatter into a thousand pieces. He put one foot out into the hallway, then another, finally stepping out. He didn't dare take another step, standing there for mintues, waiting for something to happen. Eventually, curiosity won over and he tip-toed towards the kitchen.
It looked the same as always, the white tiles, the black stove, the television in the corner. But to him it was different. To him, it was nighttime, he wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't supposed to be walking around at all during the nighttime. Still, he was hungry, so he tip-toed to the refrigerator, slowly opening it. Inside he found lots of ground beef and assortments of food.
Besides those, he found a couple of bananas and strawberries, he was surprised his aunt still bought them considering his uncle and cousin's obsession with any food that wasn't good for him. He knew that out of everything, they wouldn't notice a banana and a few strawberries missing from the refrigerator. He gently picked up the food and placed it on the counter.
Then he turned around and slowly closed the refrigerator, grabbed the food, and tip-toed back to the cupboard. Inside the closed the door and started to eat. He didn't hear the click this time, too busy gorging himself on strawberries and banana, finally, he finished the food and set down the banana peel left from the banana. He smiled, feeling joy for the first time in a while.
Like I said, could be a day till I update, could be a week, this time it was about a day or two. The story is still in its early stages, for the next chapter or two, maybe more, it's still the prologue pretty much. As for chapter lengths, I think with time they'll get longer, but I'm still experimenting and it also depends on what I plan to put in there, for instance, if I wanted to put the entire Dursley storyline in one chapter, I'd be long but I don't think you could appreciate it as much. Either way as this story gets rolling there should be more improvements in a lot of things. Anyway, as always, if you see any errors at all, let me know so I can fix them.
Signing off for now,
Aith3r
