This hug felt like when he wrapped his blanket around himself and curled up in the corner of the cupboard right up against the stairs. But better. He wasn't sure why it was better, but it was. Is this what hugs are supposed to feel like? His Aunts tears dampened his hair, but that was ok. A short time later they both stopped crying, and just took comfort in the presence of each other.

"I'm sorry Harry, but I've got housework that I need to do before Vernon comes home."

While he didn't understand everything yet, he now understood enough to understand the end of that sentence.

"Can I help?" he asked hesitantly 'protect us from his anger' he finished in his mind.

"No boy, not with this. But do you want to make us a sandwich while I do the tea and then go out of the house for the afternoon?"

Turning to look her in the eyes, he saw the naked vulnerability there, and though he didn't know what it meant he recognised the look from the mirror occasionally.

"Sure... I'd like that"

"Before we go, let's put your mums' letter away safe, and you can keep the other one too. Come, I'll show you a trick you can do with your desk."

Going over to the desk to show him how to pull the drawers all the way out.

"I remember putting this together for Dudley after Vernon got too frustrated and stormed off to the pub." A look of fear crosses her face at the memory before she continues "There's a catch in the back of the drawer, right here, that stops it from coming out accidently." She gently takes his hand and guides it to the catch that sat flush with the wood of the drawer, only a slight indent giving away the fact that something was there.

"You need to pull it out with your thumbnail, and then pull the drawer out with your other hand. There's then a small gap at the back where you can keep important things."

Carefully putting both letters in the back, she replaces the drawer and leads him downstairs.

Harry had just set down the plate of sandwiches while his Aunt had a pot of tea when they heard a key in the front door. He was looking at her when it happened, and her face changed immediately to the haughty expression that he recognised. That's when he realised that this face is her mask, even though he didn't understand enough to use that language he recognised that this was how she protected herself. Snatching his hand back from the sandwiches he hunches in on himself and makes himself look small and inoffensive.

A moment later Dudley came in through the front door and called out "Hi Mum".

"Oh Dudleykins, I was just thinking about you and had the boy make sandwiches."

"Great, I'm starved, cool beef and mustard, my favourite."

"Boy! You've done all your chores; I don't want to see you here until 6 when you need to start dinner."

Years of training had Harry grab his backpack and flee out the door before his brain could get back into gear after the sudden change in his Aunt from this morning. Struggling with his thoughts he wandered aimlessly for a while before he remembered that he had that book he could read at the library. Pulling himself from his thoughts he looked around to get his bearings and saw that his feet had carried him into the park. He quickly hurried out of the park just in case Dudley came out and headed to the library.

When he arrived, the Librarian turned her stern gaze to him before pulling out the book and handing it to him. "Good afternoon, I see you came back. You can use the same table as yesterday."

He struggled through three pages before he heard a chair being pulled out on the other side of the table. Looking up, he saw the Librarian looking at him with an inscrutable expression. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Nothing." He bent back to the book.

"I know it's not nothing, as you've taken an hour to read three pages, and yesterday you were reading a lot more than that."

Looking up in shock, he hadn't realised how much time had passed.

"It's my Aunt, she… I shouldn't talk about it… it will just make it worse."

The Librarian gave him a long, searching look before she stood up and headed out to the back. Harry turned back to the book and struggled through another few lines before she came back.

"Listen, I know you don't want to talk about it, but these are for you." She hands him a bundle of pamphlets the top one has ChildLine emblazoned in white on a red background.

"This also came in last week. It's a pre-release copy for review, I sometimes get them because of my degree. I can't let you take it away, but you can read it here." She handed him a loosely bound hardback book with a white cover. Printed on the front was 'A Family That Fights by Sharon Bernstein'

"Maybe you should read that this afternoon rather than struggling with an advanced book that many adults would struggle with. Come back tomorrow and I'll help you with the rest of that book."

Not having a better idea, he opened the new book and started to read.

This book was much easier to read, and he only needed to ask for help a couple of times. It was about half way through the book that it suddenly became hard to read, as he realised that the book was describing a lot of the things that happened at home, at the same time he started reading it with an absolute frenzy.

All too soon the Librarian's alarm went off and he was shuffled out of the Library with the promise that the books would still be there tomorrow, the pamphlets hidden at the bottom of his bag. Rather than heading straight home, he turned into an alleyway between two shops, crouched down behind one of the bins taking care not to get himself dirty and cried. After he'd cried himself out, he made his way home.

As he got close to the house, he could hear the sound of whatever game Dudley was playing through the open window of his room. Sighing he listlessly put his key in the door and entered bracing for whatever his Aunt threw at him.

"About time you got here!" her shrill shriek echoed through the house as he entered.

"Go up and get cleaned up then start peeling potatoes"

Rushing upstairs, he bundled into his room. Before he could close the door, Dudley came out of his room and barged into his.

"Ha, I knew it was you, I don't know where you've been hiding, but you know you're just making it worse if we don't get to play Harry Hunting soon. And now you're in trouble with Mum too." He taps Harrys hand with a meaty hand before going back to his game, pausing at the door to punch one hand into the other.

Pulling himself together, Harry closes the door and grabs the pamphlets from his bag. Pulling the drawer out he goes to put them in when it sees a Mars Bar with a note on it.

Happy Birthday Harry, I'm going to take you shopping tomorrow.

Tears prick his eyes as he reverently puts the Mars Bar back, along with the pamphlets and replaces the drawer. Drying his eyes, he quickly cleans up and heads downstairs to start on dinner. Seeing his Aunt in the kitchen, he gives her a quick hug and mouths "Thank you" before they both start on dinner.

At 6:30 on the dot, the sound of Vernon's car pulling on the driveway floats through the front room window. Harry and Petunia glance at each other, and then both their eyes open in surprise before they go back to cooking. Harry flinches as the front door opens more heavily than normal and Vernon stormed into the house. Leaving his briefcase by the door and throwing his jacket over the banister he marches into the kitchen and opens the fridge. Pulling out a can of beer he looks at it, then puts it back before shoving Harry out of the way and grabbing a bottle of scotch from the cupboard and a glass.

Dinner is a quiet and tense affair, as even Dudley knows not to play up when Vernon's in a mood like this. The silence is suddenly broken by Vernon bursting out with "How dare they. What does Steve have that I don't? I've been there longer, I've got more clients, I bring in more money, and they Promote Steve to Senior Manager over me?" Seeing his Aunt flinch at the outburst he makes a rash decision and sets his features. Once dinner is finished, punctuated with more outbursts from Vernon as the alcohol starts to break down his already tenuous control, Harry starts to clear up from dinner. As he expected his Uncle Slams the table as he's doing the washing up, making him jump in shock, unlike normal he doesn't even try to catch the plates as they fly from the drying rack to the kitchen door. A moment later Vernon storms in and drags him out by his hair and throws him across the back of the sofa. Taking of his belt he folds it in half and starts to beat Harry's arse. "Stupid fucking freak, break our fine china, will you? Do you think we're made of money? "Vernon continues to beat on him devolving into incoherent shouting as Petunia and Dudley stand by as still as possible just in case, he turns his attention to them. Eventually Vernon runs out of steam, the belt missed occasionally and got Harry across the back and legs, and the buckle slipped and caught him once leaving a gouge out of his back. But it was over, and Harry was sent to his room. Shortly afterwards the sound of the TV turned on, followed by the sound of Vernon snoring in the chair. Once Vernon was asleep, Harry heard Dudley come upstairs quietly and go to bed. An hour later, his back was still burning when he heard his Aunt coaxing Vernon awake long enough to get upstairs to bed. Once he heard Vernon snoring again, he carefully made his way back downstairs to the cupboard with his blanket. There he fell asleep where he knew he could hear anyone that was coming downstairs.