Here's another one of my Harry x Hermione stories! It'll be AU and have lots of violence and cursing. I based it off slasher movies! And have a more mature relationship between Harry and Hermione (to some? Idk not really to me but just wanted to warn you guys, just in case).
I didn't see any official names for Hermione's parents, so decided to name them Arielle and Julius.
To help basically this chapter goes present tense (current stuff), memory using past tense (past stuff), and back to present tense (current stuff again). With both Harry and Hermione's awful circumstances.
And they both are at the library on the same day.
I don't own Harry Potter. That belongs to J.K Rowling and various publishing companies including Scholastic Corporation, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Raincoast Books, or any other company that has to do with the movies or merchandise.
The Cleanup Crew – Chapter One
Nighttime. Where one could be cloaked in the shadows and not be found if they wished. Harry was glad no one else on his street was out still. He hastened his steps to the library.
He thought back to what happened only hours ago.
The door to the Dursley house ki had slammed open.
"Ahhhh! Mommy!"
Petunia dropped the frying pan she was holding over her plate, straight to the counter. Paying no mind to the hash browns littering the tile.
"Oh my poor Dudley! What happened?"
Petunia brushed his hair back, trying to soothe the pain.
His arm was cradled close to his chest. A trickle of blood could be seen on the outside of his arm near his elbow.
"It was Freak!"
Petunia had a second of pause, in which she felt a tinge of fear. But she quickly shook it off.
"Really? Oh Dudley! I'm so sorry this happened! Come we'll get you fixed up right away!"
Petunia took her son to the bathroom, rushing to get the first aid kit. Dudley clutched his bleeding arm all the while.
Harry strolled into the Dusley house nonchalantly.
Ever since he found out a week ago that he had magic inside himself, things began looking up in his life. Harry was able to heal damage done to his body by the scumbags he lived with. He was very grateful to magic itself in general.
But coolest of all, Harry found out he could do things. Perform feats normal people would call imaginary. Acts that (if Harry willed hard enough) could not be traced or noticed to the naked eye.
He started by making food disappear, in order to feed himself nourishment he had been lacking. Slowly and little by little, he began to fix his starvation. Well, beginning to anyways. After a week of full meals and snacks day after day, Harry was feeling the best he ever had.
He didn't have it in him to care if they noticed the changes or not.
Which they had. But could do nothing to stop.
Magic was also great because it made him powerful. And gave him the means to protect himself. In the past, all three Dursleys would take great pleasure in harming Harry as much as his body could take (even when passed out).
Now the tables were turned.
Harry got himself some sugar puffs in a bowl. Getting out the milk, he poured until he saw the cereal rise up.
He could hear the shrill yelling of Petunia on the phone, rushing her husband to hurry from work because of what happened to their son. In the background, Dudley was whining about how much his arm hurt.
Harry snorted lightly to himself, almost getting milk up the nose.
So the asshole was calling her husband, urging him to get home? Fine, then Harry would make sure to be waiting when he arrived.
Petunia and Dudley rushed down the stairs when they heard the family car pull up.
Storming in was an understatement. It was like thunder rolling from the heavy stomping the man was doing. Harry had an amused grin as he noticed that right now was the fastest he'd ever seen the guy move.
Vernon walked menacingly towards Harry, blocking the boy's view of Petunia and Dudley. Vernon could see matching terrified expressions in their eyes because of the smallest human there. Vernon felt fire in his veins. He had gone over his tolerance limit of the kid.
Harry stood there defiantly yet calm as ever. His muscles seemed relaxed but he was indeed ready to launch himself at a moment's notice.
"You can't do anything to me."
"No! No! Not this time! I won't stand for this anymore! Your magic won't frighten me anymore, Freak!"
Harry smirked, a little thing that the other three had no time to wonder about. Time seemed to stand still as Harry struck. First he stopped Vernon, then began on Petunia and finally Dudley.
Vernon was slammed into one of the living room walls, but that pain was nothing compared to what happened next.
This time Vernon really felt his blood boil, when he raised his fist to take a swing at the little shit. But then suddenly he couldn't. For something far worse happened.
Vernon let out a scream. His skin was literally bubbling and popping. He was rolling his body side to side. But to no avail. It felt like the fires of Hell were in his blood.
Nothing helped.
Vernon couldn't move to pat down his arms or anything (Harry kept him from doing so).
There was some puss that the young boy created too, for Harry felt that was fitting for the blight on the world in front of him. Plus, it added to the fun.
Petunia and Dudley were stuck to the opposite wall, though far enough that they weren't touching. Both were unconscious.
Harry's body didn't shudder with fright anymore as he remembered all that had transpired against him thanks to these three people.
Stepping closer, Harry wore a faux thinking face.
"Say, does this feel familiar to you? It must, because you were laughing at me last month when I was like this."
Harry's was silent as his mind drifted for a moment.
"You wretched creature! I told you to have dinner started before I got home!"
Vernon harshly shoved a muddy Harry towards the oven.
Petunia and Dudley were out shopping. Harry of course wasn't allowed to go.
Petunia had kept him out longer than usual, tending to her flowers with more care. And making him redo things until she deemed them perfect.
Point was, Harry was now paying the price.
Hitting his side, the boy wasn't given any time to get out of the way. Vernon grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Facing the appliance, he was instructed to turn on the burner and get the stock pot. Once done, the man said to get water and boil it.
Doing all this, Harry didn't utter a peep. It would only make things worse.
A while later the boiling was the only noise in the kitchen. The man of the household had moved over to the table to read the newspaper. But he was now standing up and coming towards Harry.
Apparently, Harry was taking too long since he got yelled at to hurry up. Harry walked over to the cabinet where the dry food was stored. He then got out a box of pasta and opened it. Harry was then jostled by the ear and he ended up dropping the noodles on the floor.
Growling at the boy Vernon looked at the now boiling water. The pasta was useless, contaminated by germs and whatnot. He then got a brilliant idea. Or what seemed like one, to his mind.
Grabbing Harry by the arm, he picked him up and aimed his arm at the pot. As the boy was small and underweight for his age, Vernon was easily able to keep control of him. The thrashing against him did nothing. Vernon reveled in the loud cries when Harry's arm was dunked into the scalding water.
Harry could do nothing but take it. The pain was excruciating. It felt like the heat was trying to sear through his skin. He tried screaming and kicking the old man but no good. Threats didn't work either.
Harry's arm wasn't the only part of him to get wet. His chin, ear, hair, side of his face, and shoulder all were drenched with the too high water. Harry even tried to use his body weight to tip over the pot but was unsuccessful.
Finally the man let him go. Sopping wet, Harry was thrown to the floor.
Yelling at the freak, the man ordered him to the cupboard. Vernon growled at the mess he had to clean up. Least this way, the abomination wouldn't drip all over the tile while trying to clean.
Harry stopped remembering then. Back to the matter at hand.
Vernon's cries turned into blubbering noncoherent whimpers. Long disgusting strings of snot mixed with his tears, falling down his face. He could do nothing as blood spurted from the boils that now surfaced on his skin. They made grating wet popping noises, that Harry was soon tired of. It was bulging all over his body.
The boiling then simultaneously burst all over his skin, causing spurts of blood and puss to shoot out.
Raising his voice, Harry allowed it to carry over to the man as he made his way over to the knife block on the counter.
"Or how about the time where you slammed my head on top the stove when I slightly burned the bacon? And not just once either. Over. And. Over. Again."
Harry raised his voice to carry behind him as he walked to the block of knives in the kitchen. He picked up a big butcher knife. Making his way back to the man, Harry reveled in the fearful eyes.
"I know you don't feel any regret and want to kill me. So really, this? Me talking to you? It's honestly cathartic for me, really. Not that I'll have any shame for my actions after this."
Harry brought the waste of space down to a more manageable level. Magic made it so there was no more thrashing or jerking from the adult.
Harry held the knife so his thumb and pointer finger were parallel with bottom of the handle. Aided by magic backing up the blow, Harry brought the weapon down.
On top of Vernon's head.
Harry felt visceral satisfaction as he mentally compared the act. It reminded him of an apple being cored or a pumpkin being carved.
Harry hummed to himself and shrugged. Well whatever it was, he liked it.
"You sadistic bastard. You made my life hell."
Piercing through the skull had been easier than he thought it would be. Letting go of the handle for a moment, Harry let himself do a mini dance. Still happy, he then twisted the knife so it blended Vernon's brain along with it.
Harry felt no seriousness or shame, only giddiness and glee.
Harry smiled after he spit in Petunia's face. This didn't wake her. He then carved into her stomach, eyes glittering as her organs spilled out onto a pile on the tile. She let out a animalistic scream. Harry was again annoyed by all the noise.
He paid her dying body no mind as he talked.
"You were also cruel to me. You deserve this just as much as your husband."
He remembered on a cold day, nearing winter season. Harry had been out in the garden. He had been ordered to tend to the already dying plants. He knew this was useless, however no one listened to him. Not that he was surprised really.
Petunia went out to look at his handiwork afterwards. As she usually did.
She was furious.
The Dursleys fence was high from all sides. No neighbor could see in.
The old crone had grabbed the hedge clippers before slicing his neck slowly. Not too deep, but enough that Harry was bleeding and it stung. She also yanked fistfuls of his hair. Both of these actions made tears form.
Acting fast, Petunia shoved his body down with her other hand. She then ground a high heel shoe into his back. It wasn't long before Harry felt something pop. He felt a heavier weight and realized her knee had replaced the shoe on top of him.
Her body contorted slightly as she leaned her head upside down. They were now face to face. Her warm breath had stunk as she whispered.
"If you ever try to tell anyone, I'll have Vernon blow your head clean off with his shotgun."
Harry could do nothing but glare as she held him down on the grass.
"Everyone in this town knows how much of a hellion you are. We'd have no trouble convincing people we would be defending ourselves from you. And no one will believe otherwise."
She dug her heel one last time into his back before dusting off her dress and walking into the house.
Harry now chuckled menacingly at the memory.
It turned into a laugh as he sliced the old woman's neck, before going down to her chest and jabbing it multiple times.
No response still. Not that there could be.
"Remember Petunia? Payback's a bitch, yeah?"
He turned to Dudley, who was still watching. The oaf had soiled himself with poop and pee.
Harry's body no longer shook sacredly at the painful memories the other three cast upon him. But boy was Harry mad.
Harry's grin turned feral.
"You dumb fucker. Look at you. Pissing and shitting yourself. Pathetic."
Harry remembered the last time Dudley and his gang had wailed on him.
Harry hadn't realized at the time, but magic had mended his teeth and regrew them afterwards. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness due to the beating. Couldn't hear or speak. Just trying to heal alone in his cupboard. He had felt so out of his mind from the pain. It was more like a fever dream. When he woke up a while later, he had assumed Dudley hadn't been strong enough to break his teeth.
But Harry had been pleasantly wrong. He could see that in hindsight.
Another time Dudley had de-pantsed him and kicked him hard in the privates. Harry tried to scream and get away, but Dennis and Gordon pinned his limbs down.
It took longer than Harry would've liked for him to move his body, or be able to think without pain.
That memory was dreadful for Harry. Not that there were ever any nice ones, with the filth around him.
Harry grinned a menacing toothy grin as he exploded Dudley's privates. The boy screamed as blood flew around the room. Harry then cut his tongue and force fed it to him. He laughed as the evil little spawn choked and went still.
Harry was so grateful to his magic for awakening inside himself.
Magic had made what was happening currently possible for him. Helped him get this far.
Harry had faith that magic would get him through all that came after.
By getting rid of the scum of the earth he was forced to live with until recently.
Harry then felt his emotions spike. Anger, eagerness, and joviality.
Time for the finale.
"Burn in Hell, you evil pieces of filth."
Harry had assumed they would just go there after their bodies were empty shells, so he hadn't put any extra feeling behind his words to make anything happen.
But then they caught on fire.
He let out a whistle. That was a nice little touch.
Nothing else was burning. Just them.
Harry looked at the three bodies. It was very satisfying to watch.
He knew he had to keep the ball rolling, though. He wasn't done yet.
He then concentrated the hardest he ever had in his whole life. He put all his thoughts and all of his emotions into this act. Feeling the raw magic building under his skin. Unlike it had been with those pricks earlier, Harry could tell it was a welcoming warmth for himself and not overbearingly hot.
Harry then saw a shimmering blue substance. This was the first time he saw his magic tangibly. It looked slimy yet was somehow dry. One thing he could tell, was that it was powerful. It was practically oozing with intent and energy.
Slowly the burnt crisps turned into ashes. Harry then felt his magic cleanse the house of the smells.
Afternoon was slowly fading into nighttime. Harry put the ashes in the watering can. He then went outside and turned on the hose.
No one would think anything unusual, since it was nearing the time Harry went out to water the plants anyways.
Shoveling a bit, Harry poured the contents into the dirt.
He then got everything clean by using his magic. Getting rid of the blood and stuff.
Wanting to leave no trace of himself behind. No evidence to make it look like a murder happened. He concentrated on making it seem like the Dursleys left their house of their own free will. And created a shimmery wall of magic so any who came in contact would be confused at whether-or-not a little boy also lived there.
Harry whistled as he got himself clean in the shower and put on some fresh hand-me-down clothes. Putting on his glasses, he finished with his routine by brushing his teeth and hair. After all this was done, Harry walked down the stairs and out the front door.
As he had never been out of town before, Harry didn't really know a lot of places to go. There was one at the forefront of his mind, however.
It was now nighttime. The library was near closing time. There weren't many customers so Harry was left alone as he quickly skedaddled to the children's section.
Hermione was glad that there was a full moon, guiding her path as she ran to the library. She thought of what the magical moment that transpired two weeks ago, as well as today.
Earlier Hermione had looked out her bedroom window at the fading sunset, wishing she could be anywhere else.
Hermione cried as she listened to her parents yelling on the other side of her door. They couldn't get in, for which she was grateful. Her magic was going haywire, swirling and sparking around her to keep her safe. It was blue and shimmery. Her magic had a lukewarm feel to it.
Hermione clutched her book as she thought back to the day she had her first accidental magical outburst.
It was almost two weeks ago.
Geoff the older bully on the playground had stolen her book and ripped it all up. Then he rubbed her face in the mud. Hermione was bawling but oh so furious too.
A teacher had then shown up at the scene, demanding to know why Hermione was filthy and crying. The woman had been upset at the wrong person, reprimanding (gently, in Hermione's opinion) Geoff.
Hermione tried to explain what transpired but the teacher would not hear her out. She looked to other students for backup to what happened, but there was no help from anyone. Hermione was shocked but she knew that she shouldn't have been.
She was always bullied, but this had been a step too far when her possession was broken. And no one batted an eye either. Hermione could've been hurt far worse (and thought that she might have if the beating kept up) or even permanently.
She hadn't yet realized that magic would keep her safe from now on.
The recess bell rang out, signaling it was over with. Hermione went over to her pile of a book and started to put it in her backpack.
She wasn't alone like she thought, however.
Hermione tried her hardest to ignore the taunting and shoves as she walked past.
"Aw too bad I only destroyed one of your stupid books. Next time I'll make sure to get them all. And make you eat the mud you faceplant into as well!"
That was it for her patience.
Hermione flew at Geoff and let loose a punch. She knew how to keep her thumb out of the fist. She herself got punched by the people she lived with a lot. The only reason no one ever found out was because she was a fast healer.
She was thankful for this fact since her knuckles would be fine in no time.
Hermione gave Geoff two black eyes as well as a bloody nose. She didn't have time to give him more since she was pulled off the boy.
Looking up into the fiery eyes of the same teacher from before, Hermione couldn't find it in herself to be remorseful. Snatching her backpack when she passed it, Hermione allowed a small smile to stretch across her face.
Arielle and Julius Granger were awful people. In Hermione's eyes she stopped considering them anything other than the other people in the household the first time they beat on her. They were abusers who she hated.
Arielle spoke in a quiet tone to the principal.
"Thank you for telling me what Hermione did. Her father and I will make sure she learns that this is not the way to behave against her fellow peers."
Arielle maintained appearances until they got out of the school. Then she roughly dragged Hermione to the car.
Once home, Arielle got out and made her way inside. She walked up the stairs to her room she shared with Tobias. She got his leather belt and left the room. Downstairs she saw Hermione innocently sitting on the couch watching tv.
Hermione figured she might as well enjoy the few minutes of peace while it lasted.
The woman stopped in front of the brat. She then pulled her up by her disgusting mud-crusted hair.
Yanking her pants and underwear down, Arielle started spanking the soon-to-be twelve year old with a belt. She gave her four lashes on one of her cheeks before pausing and doing the same to the other one.
Julius Granger had then walked in the house, ignoring his daughter's screams. On the phone earlier that day (before she had gone to pick up the creatin) Arielle had told Julius what happened. Hermione has started the fight because another kid had destroyed her book.
After changing into more comfortable clothes, he walked out of his room. Julius then went over to the little hellion, crouching before her. In a flash his fist struck her right eye.
Hermione felt the biggest pain she had ever felt up until now.
And she didn't even have time to recover before he did it again.
It wasn't until she was thrown in her room that Hermione was alerted to something. She gathered up the pieces of her destroyed book. She was crying freely onto the torn pages, wishing that it had never happened.
This was when she got the biggest shock to her young life so far. It was good as new. The text, pages, cover, binding, everything. Hermione let out a gasp of shock.
This had to be magic. There was no other explanation.
She found out that her magic was a blessing. Truly it was. For it allowed her body to heal itself.
The adults quickly caught on that something wasn't right. They knew she was sleeping better and looking more healthy than before.
Up until now Hermione hadn't thought about escaping. Sure she had wanted to stop the beatings, but she hadn't thought much more than that. Trying to survive day after day.
As the two adults tried their best to get in, Hermione was pulled out of her musings of the past.
She knew what she had to do.
She barely moved as she thought of her escape. Identifying possible holes. If she tried to run away the police or some adult would notice. If the Grangers didn't first. So that idea was a no go. Hiding out at a neighbor's house? No.
All the while she could hear Arielle and Julus pounding away.
"When we get in there, we'll beat you til you're bleeding all over your entire body!"
"And you'll be trapped with no way to escape! Nobody to hear you scream! No one to help you!"
Hermione's body trembled without her permission. She took a deep (albeit shuddery) breath.
It was hard but she cupped her hands over her ears to drown out the screaming somewhat.
Maybe she could sneak out while at school during recess? Then when the two noticed they would have no time to do anything. But no there were security cameras that would catch her.
Hermione stuck out her tongue a teeny bit, poking at her temple. As if the motion would help her think of a solution faster.
Suddenly the commotion went quiet. Which was not a good thing. She daren't peek. Her thinking went silent.
The doorknob then jiggled. And kept on rattling and moving.
Oh god.
The two would be in Hermione's room. She felt like they would make do with their threats.
And then kill her.
"Go away! Goawaygoawaygoaway!" Hermione's breathing picked up very shallowly. She tugged her hair as she felt magic seeping out of her even more now.
Everything in the household was deathly quiet. Hermione almost couldn't believe it.
After ten minutes pacing, she convinced herself to check. Expecting a sneak attack, she quickly peeked her head out her door. Looking this way and that, she couldn't sense anything. Hermione kept a white knuckle grip on her doorway.
Moving cautiously out her bedroom, she kept her footing light. Hermione was ready to hightail it back to the safety of her lockable room.
More minutes. No noises whatsoever.
Hermione felt a teeny prickle of hope beginning to bloom in her chest. Now was her chance. She hurriedly rushed around the house, searching everywhere for the bastards that owned the house.
They were nowhere to be found.
It didn't take long for her to slide down the living room wall. The shock was strong.
Time passed slowly. The clock chimed, which startled her into moving.
No one could find out what she had done.
Silently she tried to focus on her magic. It's watery-looking substance waved before her in the air. She reached out and gently made contact.
"Thank you for helping me."
In response, it curled around her finger making it feel strange. It was like being surrounded by a water tube plastic squishy toy. But with nothing containing the magic. Hermione giggled.
She quickly sobered up though. She had to keep going.
Logically she knew where things were in the house, but before now wasn't allowed to touch them (nor did she let on that she knew about the hidden things).
Running up to the office, she used her magic to open the locked drawer. Inside she found a man and woman's passports and other official documents. In the kitchen she found two ID cards before grabbing those too. Under some books on the coffee table she found an envelope with tons of money. She emptied it before leaving the envelope out. Finally she put in some toiletries, clothes, and suitcases.
She didn't know where they ended up, but couldn't care about that right now. After carefully making things look as if the horrible people were going on a vacation, Hermione stepped back to survey her work. Yes, that would do nicely.
Going to her own room, the girl started packing what little clothes she owned. As well as her books. She then grabbed some money before stuffing all that into a backpack.
Hermione was pulled out of her musings of what went on that day, when she heard the little bell signaling she reached the library. No one paid her any mind as she quickly rushed in.