Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or and of it's characters. I do this for my own enjoyment.

AN: I have not written in a long time but I do plan on continuing this story. I'm not sure when I may go back to the others but I wish to continue those as well. If you have read this before I ask you to go back and read it again as all the chapters have been updated and reviewed. Thanks DragonFoxx

Welcome to my life

Chapter 4 (Morning Comes)

Take your knocks, shake 'em off, duck every body. Your gonna take 'em again. You are your foe, your friend, you are the Paparazzi. You are the tragedy end. And the worlds a craze and the end is near. So push rewind just in time think anybody, your gonna do it again.

The way that you walk, its just the way that you talk, like it ain't no thing. And every single day is just a fling. And when it comes it moves so slow. Kind of like its saying 'I told you so.' Looking back before she goes, tomorrows gonna hurt.

Smash Mouth – Then the Morning Comes

(June 12th, 3 nights after second beating)

Early the next morning Harry's door was opened and Vernon came into the room. "Boy, I'm leaving for a week. If I hear from Petunia that you haven't done your chores or that you have in any way been bad then what happened a few days ago will be nothing. GOT IT?!" He growled out at the still injured young man on the bed.

Harry, woken up when his 'Uncle' began unlocking his door, was currently sitting up against a pile of Dudley's old castoffs. In fact this was how he had fallen asleep the night before. Part of this was for some cushioning against his torn up back and another part was to keep pressure on his back and soak up the blood still leaking out. Yet the main reason Harry was in this position was that he simply didn't have the energy or strength to move. His whole body hurt and he could really only move his arms and hands due to them having been sheltered by the rest of his body during the last beating.

Looking up at his uncle with fathomless emerald eyes, uncovered by the glasses that lay on the desk by the window, the young man slightly nodded. "Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry replied in his meekest voice. Since the spell on Petunia had started to wear off, she and Harry started to talk about many things working to get to know each other. Included in this were some of their fears and with his aunts help Harry had come to understand a bit why he was afraid of his Uncle. It was a start for getting over the fears.

It in part, a major part, came from the fact that Harry had been living with the aggressive man since he was one. The fear had been started early and buried deep. This was in great contrast to his more recent introduction to the murderer of his parents. A murderer he had never really feared. They still weren't sure why on that one. Only Vernon had ever had that distinction in his life.

"You better well be listening to me Freak!" Vernon semi yelled not wanting to catch the attention of the neighbors. 'Damn. That was stupid of me. Don't ever get lost in thought around Vernon. You know this Harry!' Said young man tried not to flinch with expectation because of his mistake.

Vernon on the other hand quickly pulled out his belt, and stalked toward the young man on the bed. Harry still weak from the beating three days ago was unable to do much other than to roll slightly to the side and cover his face. His back and legs still tender would barely move.

Very quickly for Vernon, he had the belt out and down on to Harry's side. It was lucky for Harry that the over sized man didn't really have the time for anything other than a few whips. It was unfortunate for Harry that with Vernon not moving around to the end of the bed and Harry on his side it gave a great opening for the belt tip to curl around his waist and grab at his stomach, a previously untouched area on the young mans body. Now it too would be covered with welts like much of his arms, legs, and back. Legs and back which also consisted of many open wounds that would again be bleeding freely due to the mornings activities.

Not much could be done about it now. About ten minutes later the whipping stopped and Vernon gave a grunt of satisfaction at the mess he had made of his nephew. Blood was freely pouring out of Harry's back and new welts were quickly forming on his side and stomach though Vernon couldn't see them. Harry himself was trying to regain a steady breathing pattern.

"I will be back in seven days Freak. You do as Petunia tells you and you get another week without chores. You don't and you get another beating for every day I was gone. GOT IT?" The red faced Vernon asked.

"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry gasped out. Vernon gave another nod and left the room again, locking the door. Harry lay on the bed not moving from his position. He knew he was again loosing a lot of blood. It was why he blacked out after the last beating, and the same was likely to happen again.

Listening closely Harry could hear Vernon walking around downstairs. Soon he heard the front door opening and then closing again after a moment. Next came the sound of car doors and then the car engine being brought to life. He was sure that it would be Aunt Petunia driving Vernon to the train station. Nothing could be done until she got back seeing as Harry couldn't even move back to his former position. 'Yea, way too much blood lost.' This was the last thought of the lone occupant of Number 4 Privet Drive before he was pulled into unconsciousness.

Petunia was in the kitchen waiting for Vernon to be finished upstairs. The problem was that she knew he would go in to see Harry and give him a speech about behavior over the week he was gone. She also knew that Harry would likely get another beating and she wouldn't be able to help him till she came back from taking Vernon to the train station.

Soon she heard it. The unmistakable sound of leather hitting flesh. Again and again she heard it. She wanted to cry but could not. The monster would see and everything could be ruined. 'Lily I'm sorry. I should have done more. Your son never should have gone through any of this. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I promise you this is the last time. We will get out of this. We will finally go HOME.'

It was ten minutes before Vernon was done. Ten minutes of torture for both Harry and Petunia in differing ways. Of course those ten minutes would turn into over two hours before the torture could even beginning to end. For that was how long it would take to get Vernon to the local train station and for Petunia to get back to the house.

Those two hours were the longest Petunia had ever endured. Having to make Vernon believe she would miss him with out the help of the Character Charm placed on her by Dumbledore; having to kiss the disgusting man goodbye. It was not easy. All the while she was thinking of her injured nephew. The young man her 'beloved husband' had whipped before they had left. She prayed for him to hold on. She would be there as soon as she could.

It was with great relief to Petunia to watch Vernon's train pull out of the station and move around the bend of the building. Once it was out of site she too left in quite a hurry to get back home. She had an injured young man to tend to, and many things to get done before Vernon got back.

Soon the car was being parked and Petunia Dursley was seen by her neighbors pulling a bag out of the back seat and steadily walking alone into her house. It had quickly spread through the gossips of the neighborhood that Vernon had a raise and was to leave for conference early this morning. As it was now near 7:00 am many others in the area were awake and getting ready to leave.

Now Petunia may have looked calm to all those she knew were watching but on the inside was a whole other story. She was a nervous wreak, she was so worried about Harry. It was only a few days after he had gotten a really bad beating and with the one from this morning he was likely in a very bad shape. Once inside the house of Number Four all pretences were dropped. The mask she had worn was just taking too much energy. Something she could put to better use in helping Harry.

Petunia ran up the stairs once the door was closed, still holding the brown paper bag. She had to set the bag on the floor for a moment unfortunately to pull out her keys to unlock Harry's door. Once that was done she threw open the door and picking up the bag again went inside the room.

What she saw was not a pretty sight. Though she had not really expected one. Lying on the bed on his left side was Harry. His blood was every where. On the bed, the sheets, the floor. Some even on the walls and ceiling. Unfortunately it was also still coming out of his back.

Petunia went over to the bed and saw that Harry was completely out. She set the bag down on the floor next to the bedside table. She was lucky that the table was to Harry's back and that there would be enough room for her to sit on the bed and tend to the young man. This would make things easier for both of them as she would only have to move him a few times while caring for his wounds.

After placing the bag on the floor she again went out of the room. Having calmed down at seeing Harry still breathing she was better able to think of what else she may need to help Harry. She wanted it all in the room so that she would not have to get up once she had started. The only other thing she could think of besides food for him for later was warm water to wash out his wounds.

Heading down to the kitchen she first turned on the tap to let the water run till it was hot. As the water ran Petunia pulled out her largest mixing bowl. Once the water was hot to the touch but not at a burn level of heat she filled the bowl three quarters of the way. Finishing in the kitchen she walked back up the stairs with the bowl of water in her hands.

Entering Harry's room again she set the bowl down on the bedside table. Petunia then picked up the bloody rags that had served Harry as a cushion the night before and threw them into a pile at the side of the bed. That done she now had a place she could sit as she cared for the wounds on Harry's back.

Reaching into the bag on the floor Petunia brought out a box of sanitary gauze. Opening it she pulled out a large square of the gauze and dipped it into the warm water. She then began to gently clean Harry's back. He had a lot of dried blood that had been sealing the wounds but that would only create ugly scars. Therefore she cleaned those out as well. Quickly the first gauze pad became unusable and she threw it on to the bloody pile of rages and got out another one. It took her two boxes just to clean Harry's back of the dried and scabbed blood.

Petunia then pulled out a tube of antiseptic gel and slowly began to message it into the wounds on Harry's back. It took a while but did help to slow the bleeding enough for her to begin the bandaging. This unfortunately was a more difficult part. She needed Harry to sit up.

The good thing was that some time during her cleaning of his back Harry had come out of unconsciousness and was simply sleeping. This would make it easier for Petunia to wake him.

"Harry dear, I need you to wake up. You have to help me so I can help you. Come on now. It won't be for long." Petunia said quietly while gently stroking his hair. Slowly Harry awoke.

"Aunt Petunia," Harry slightly slurred from exhaustion. "What…?"

"Shhhh. Don't worry we're the only ones here. I need you to try and sit up a bit so I can wrap your back." Petunia said gently.

"Mm'k." Was Harry's only response. He did however move his arms so that he could push himself up a bit. Unfortunately this caused great pain and he wasn't able to hold it. Petunia caught his shoulder as he fell. She helped him to lay back down.

"I have another idea. I'm going to help you sit up, ok?" Petunia asked.

"I think I can do that. My butts the only back part of me not hurt to bad." Harry mumbled.

Petunia gave a slight smile. "Its nice that you can still think positive in you position." She stood from her spot on the bed and walked around till she was in front of her nephew. She then had an idea. It would make things easier for Harry if he had something to hold onto to keep his arms up so that she could rap his back. This in mind she pulled the desk chair over to the bed.

Carefully the two worked to get Harry's sore and torn legs off he bed and Harry into an upright position. Petunia then moved the chair in front of Harry and placed his hands on the back of it. "Now don't move. I want to rap your back, chest, and arms. It shouldn't take to long then we'll do you legs." Harry simply gave a tired nod. He just wanted to fall back to sleep and leave the pain behind for a while.

Petunia was right, it didn't take long to wrap Harry's back though she did pause to take a look at the welts on his stomach and put antiseptic gel on those as well before they too were covered by the bandages. With Harry already awake and Petunia not wanting him to get ill she thought it would be a good idea to remove the bloody sheets from the bed.

"Harry I need you to stay like this for a moment. I'll be right back."

"Mm'k." Harry said once again.

Petunia quickly walked out of the room and opened up the hall closet. Pulling out two thick blankets she went back to the bedroom. Walking over to Harry she took his hands in her own and slowly helped him to stand. She then turned him around and sat him down in the chair he had previously been holding on to.

Quickly she striped the bed and then covered it with both blankets. They would be more comfortable than simple sheets. She once again helped Harry to stand and then gently helped him to lay back down on the bed, this time on his stomach. During the whole thing Harry simply tried to stay awake for his Aunt. She was doing a lot for him, the least he could do right now was help her.

Once Harry was laying down again he really started having trouble staying awake. Petunia saw this though. "Harry you won't need to move again for a while. Why don't you go back to sleep. It will help you get your energy back. I'll wake you for a large lunch, ok?"

"Thanks, Aunt Petunia. For everything." Harry mumbled. He was quickly asleep.

"Of course Harry. I love you, its what I should have been doing from the beginning." Petunia said quietly. She then got to work on both of Harry's legs, repeating the process she had done with his back. It was nearing 10:00 am by the time she was finished and though she too was tired they both needed a large lunch to help get their strength back. There was a lot to be done with in the next few days.

A lot that needed to be done before Vernon and Dudley returned.

When Petunia was done bandaging Harry up she was quite dirty herself. Being sore, tired and covered in old blood she felt that she had plenty of reasons to take a nice long shower. After all it was only 10 in the morning on a Sunday morning. She would make the two of them lunch when she was done.

Not long after she had finished her shower was there a phone call. Hoping that it wasn't from her 'beloved' husband, Petunia began making her way down stairs. She really didn't feel that she could keep up any pretenses if he were to call right now. She was too angry at the man for having beaten her nephew, and drained from spending so much time fixing him up. Though that was in no way his fault. No Petunia lay all the anger and blame on Vernon and Dumbledore.

Finally reaching the kitchen where the phone was she picked it up. "Hello?" she asked as politely as she could.

"Hello. Petunia its Betty."

"My word," Petunia said with a smile. The first real one in a while truthfully. "It's been so long since we've seen each other. Are you in town?"

"I just got into town this morning, and saw you at the pharmacy. I hope everything is alright with you. I wanted to say hi there but you seemed in such a rush and had bought quite a bit. Can you talk?" Betty asked her old friend. The two had not seen each other much since they had graduated from University. "Frankly I would have called earlier but didn't want to bother you to much."

"Yes I can talk. Things have been taken care of and my nephew and I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday. Why don't you come over for a large lunch?" Petunia asked her friend. "I should warn you though that a lot of unpleasant things have recently come to light and I'm trying to work through them. You are likely to come in contact with that if you do come over."

"Oh Petal, you know that I will always help you in any way I can. Our families have always helped the other in what ever they needed. I think this is why I came back." Betty said starting to get a far off thinking voice.

"Well lets not talk over the phone. Come on over as soon as you want. I'm going to get started on a large lunch for the three of us." Petunia said.

"I'll be there soon Petal. Love you my sister." Betty's heart felt smile could be heard through the phone.

"Yes soon Betty. Love you my sister." Petunia replied. With that the two both hung up the phones and Petunia did as she had said. Preparing a large meal for three all the while wearing a rather large smile.

It was a half hour since Petunia had hung up the phone and gotten to work on the meal. That was when the door bell rang. Leaving the stove for a short moment, she went to the front door and opened it with a smile.

"Betty, it has been so long. My word I've missed you my friend." Petunia said when she saw the woman at the door. With that she quickly threw herself at the other woman and the two hugged. "Come in, come in. Lunch will be finished in about 20 minutes."

Betty was a short woman reaching only 5'2" and had long strait hair that was shockingly purple and stopped at her waist. Her bright green/hazel eyes were shining with delight as she followed her friend into the kitchen. Betty thought that by the look of Petunia there would be a long talk soon. They did have a lot to catch up on and there seemed to be many things going on that Petunia didn't like and was hopefully working to correct. Betty was sure this was the case, and she would help any way she could.

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