A/N Next chapter hope you like it as much as the last.
Three months later
"Damn you boy!" Vernon hissed angrily as he slammed the buckle of his belt against Harry's back making him cry out in pain.
"I'm sorry Uncle Vernon." Harry said as he tried to move away from his enraged uncle. He didn't know why his uncle was so angry but knew that it wouldn't hurt to apologize. He was just cleaning up after Petunia's and Dudley's dinner when Vernon came stumbling through the front door reeking of alcohol. The next thing that he knew he was being thrown to the ground getting hit and kicked.
"Dammit." Vernon said again before stumbling out of the room. Harry didn't know what he was doing but figured it wasn't going to be good. So he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled to the back door. He unlocked the door and quickly left the house grabbing his worn out jacket on the way out. He ran as quickly as he could and ran straight towards the park. When he got to the park he collapsed on the slide. He was sitting their for a few minutes when he heard someone approaching. He quickly sat up and looked around for some reason expecting his uncle to be coming towards him. He was relieved to see that it wasn't his uncle but his only friend Vera.
"Wotcher Harry." She said with a smile which Harry half heartedly returned.
"Hey Vera, what are you doing out here this late?" He asked trying to hide his pain.
"I was bored so I snuck out." Vera replied with a laugh. "What are you doing out here so late. I thought you'd be cleaning up after those freaks you live with."
"Yeah I was." Harry said with a forced laugh as he stood up. "So we're both here what do you want to do?"
"Well I was just coming to swing on the swings." Vera said playfully pushing Harry towards the aforementioned swings.
"Okay." Harry said and started walking towards them. He looked back towards Vera and saw her standing at the end of the slide looking down at it in shock. As Harry watched she leaned down and ran her hand across the slide. Harry stepped closer and saw that Vera's hand was covered in blood.
"You're bleeding." She said softly looking up at him in concern.
"It's nothing." Harry said with a shrug as he turned and started walking towards the swings again. He only got a few steps away when Vera grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"It's nothing huh, just like your black eye a few weeks ago." Vera demanded.
"I told you that was an accident." Harry said not looking at her as he turned towards the swings.
"I'm not stupid Harry, Vernon gave you that black eye and I'm guessing he did this too." Vera said running her hand over the blood stain down his jacket making Harry wince.
"I'm fine Vera." He replied
"Take off your jacket Harry." Vera said carefully pulling at it and Harry let her pull the jacket off to show his shredded shirt underneath it. Vera reached out and lifted the hem of his shirt to reveal seven long cuts a few criss-crossing over old scars. "Oh Harry."
"It's not as bad as it looks." Harry said
"Well then it just must feel awful because it looks horrifyingly so!" Vera said angrily and Harry flinched slightly. "I'm sorry Harry I didn't mean to shout. We have to tell someone about this though."
"We can't." Harry said softly.
"We have to Harry." Vera said insistently.
"No we don't you need to mind your business." Harry said turning around to glare at Vera.
"Harry we have to tell somebody." Vera said again
"No you need to go away and leave me alone." Harry said pushing her slightly.
"Don't push me!" Vera said and shoved Harry causing him to stumbled backwards. Before he could steady himself he fell and cried out in pain as he landed on the pea gravel. "Shite Harry I'm sorry."
"Shite." Harry moaned out softly as he rolled to his stomach to relieve some of the pain.
"I'm sorry Harry you're bleeding pretty bad. If you won't let me tell someone then at least let me bandage it." Vera said pleadingly.
"Okay." He said and allowed Vera to help him to his feet. She slid his jacket over his shoulders and led him to the swings.
"Wait here I'll be back in a minute Harry." Vera said and Harry watched her run toward her house. He wanted to trust that his only friend wasn't going to go against his wishes and tell anyone but he was a little nervous that she may. As time went by he grew more and more worried but also more tired. As he started to nod off he saw Vera coming back towards him clutching something to her chest. As she slowed down Harry heard her breathing heavily from the running she just did. "Sorry it took so long."
"It's okay." Harry said as he stood up.
"Come on let's go to the clearing." Vera said grabbing his hand and leading him towards the woods. After a few minutes of walking through the woods they came upon the small clearing that they claimed as their own. The moon was hanging just over the clearing lighting it up slightly but after she opened the case she held Vera switched on a high powered flash light anyway. "Take off your jacket and shirt Harry."
"Why?" Harry asked softly.
"I need to clean and cover these wounds mate." Vera said so Harry sighed softly and slid his jacket off. He sat there for a few seconds before pulling his shirt off as well and he heard Vera inhale sharply. "I'm going to be using alcohol to clean these then I'm going to stitch them all."
"Is, is it going to hurt?" Harry asked with a slight tremor in his voice.
"I'll try to be careful, but the only things I've ever stitched are pillows with my gran a few years ago." Vera said as she unscrewed the lid on the alcohol. "This may burn."
"What mi…" Harry stopped as he cried out in pain for the countless time that night. Vera was biting her bottom lip as she covered his back with the liquid. After she was done she sat the bottle to the side and pulled out a gauze pad and started to carefully dab at the wounds. After she cleaned all the wounds she pulled out a spool of thread and a large curved needle.
"I'm sorry Harry this is going to hurt." Vera said after she threaded the needle and carefully got to work stitching him up. Harry started crying as the needle was pushed through his skin again and again. After a while he eventually stopped feeling the pain. Nearly an hour and half after she started Vera finished with the last wound. She placed gauze over the stitches and taped them down.
"Are you done?" Harry asked weakly.
"Yeah Harry I'm done." Vera said as she wiped her bloody hands off on Harry's ruined shirt.
"Thank you Vera, I'm sorry for pushing you earlier." Harry said as Vera carefully placed his jacket on his shoulders.
"That's alright Harry, just promise me that you'll never do it again." She said as she wrapped her arms around him.
"I promise." Harry replied softly before falling asleep on his friends shoulder. Vera sighed before carefully laying down with Harry still in her arms and fell asleep.
Harry was sleeping more peacefully than he had in years. He was a bit chilly but other than that he couldn't complain. He was surprised that he was up before his aunt woke him up to cook. Then he remembered the night before and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked his eyes a few time before he realized that he was looking at Vera from mere inches away. Vera mumbled something under her breath and moved slightly closer Harry. He didn't mind though as he was still tired and it was still dark so he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep. When he woke again a little while later he opened his eyes and jumped a little as he was staring right into Vera's mismatched eyes. It was still a bit dark out but Harry could tell the sun would be up soon.
"Good morning Harry." Vera said softly and smiled slightly.
"Morning." He replied as they both sat up. Harry looked around as he stretched and felt the stitches in his back pull slightly. "Oh I'm going to be in so much trouble."
"Sorry Harry I should have woken you up. But you looked peaceful so I figured we'd just stay out here." Vera said standing up and stretching.
"That's okay I was going to be in trouble anyway." Harry replied as he stood up as well.
"We'd better get home, we might make it before anyone wakes up." Vera said and Harry nodded.
"Okay I'll walk with you. I'm in no hurry." He said and Vera smiled at him.
"Alright thanks." She said as she gathered together the first-aid kit and hid it in some bushes. After she was done they made their way out of the woods and walked in silence for a few minutes.
"Thank you again for patching me up last night." Harry said quietly.
"No problem, what are friends for after all." She replied as they turned down an alley way.
"And thanks for not telling anyone." He said making her sigh as they stopped at the fence that blocked her house.
"See you later?" Vera asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hopefully." Harry replied and Vera gave him a sad smile before climbing over the fence. Harry turned around and quickly started walking towards Privet Drive. When he got to the house he went around to the back door and looked in to see all the lights were still off. So with a sigh he sat down and waited. After about ten minutes Harry saw lights popping on in the hallway just before the kitchen door was pushed open and Petunia walked in. Harry stood up and stood there waiting for her to notice him standing there. She looked up and noticed him after a few moments. She crossed her arms and glared at him through the door. Harry saw her sigh before she came over and finally opened the door.
"Where did you go last night you ungrateful boy I had to clean up the mess you made last night." Petunia said as she pulled him inside by his arm.
"I passed out in the woods Aunt Petunia I'm sorry." Harry said and Petunia shoved him towards the door to the hallway.
"Go wash up, then get back in here and cook breakfast boy. Be quick about it." She snapped out at him.
"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry said and quickly left the room. He stopped by the cupboard under the stairs and grabbed a clean shirt before going upstairs. When he got to the bathroom he quickly pulled off his jacket, the back of which was covered in dry blood. He pulled on his clean shirt and quickly washed his hands. After he was done he went back downstairs pausing long enough to throw his jacket into his cupboard before walking into the kitchen. He cooked a large breakfast and was able to slip a few pieces of bacon and ham into a napkin and into his pocket before Petunia walked into the room.
"Go to your room boy I'll get you when it's time to clean up." Petunia said and Harry walked from the room. When he passed his aunt she slapped him upside the head and pushed him to make him walk faster. After he entered his little room Petunia slammed the door shut and Harry heard the lock being slid into place. After hearing his aunt walk away he pulled the ham and bacon out of his pocket. He opened the napkin and ate the food slowly as he heard his fat relatives walking down the stairs. After he finished the food he sat there waiting for his aunt to come and get him to clean the kitchen. He was sitting there for about an hour before the door to his room was pulled open. He was expecting Petunia to be standing there but the enormous mass that was his uncle was blocking the door instead.
"Get out here boy." Vernon said moving back from the door. Harry stood up and ducked out of the room. He stood in front of Vernon who glared down at him. "Where did you go last night boy?"
"I passed out in the woods sir." Harry said softly looking down at the ground.
"Did anybody see you?" He asked
"No sir." Harry said shaking his head quickly.
"Good, go clean the kitchen and do your chores. When you finish go back to your room." Vernon said and turn and walked out of the room. Harry sighed but went to the kitchen and started to clean up the mess his family made eating. After he finished he went about his usual daily chores. As he was working outside Vera walked by a few times but he avoided looking at her. After he finished he went back inside and went to his room. After he went entered the cupboard Vernon walked by and locked the door. He was only let out again over the weekend to cook meals and do his chores then he was put straight back in his room. On Monday after making breakfast Harry had to start walking to school so that he could make it before class started. He was, as always, picked on by all of his class mates who knew if they were even just indifferent to him that they would be prey for Dudley and his gang. But as always he got relief during lunch as he and Vera sat far away from everyone outside and she shared her lunch with him.
"Where were you all weekend Harry?" Vera asked as she picked at her sandwich.
"I wasn't feeling well." Harry replied not looking at his friend as he nibbled at the part of a sandwich that she gave him.
"Harry please don't lie to me." Vera said grabbing Harry's hand and he sighed.
"Vernon locked me in my room. I was only let out to do chores." He said shrugging. "It's a lot worse then I thought it would be after I ran off like that."
"Well I missed you this weekend. Are you going to be able to come and play today after school?" Vera asked and Harry shrugged.
"I have to walk home again so I'm not sure how much time I'll have before I have to make dinner." Harry said.
"Well then I'll just walk home with you." Vera said and Harry smiled at her as the bell sounded signaling that lunch was ending.
"Ok want to just meet here?" Harry asked and Vera shrugged.
"Sounds good." She said as they stood up and made their way back to the school.
A/N Let me know if there are any major mistakes I can never catch them all for some reason, thanks.