Family Matters: Chapter One
Chapter 1
The car ride home from King's Crossing was tense, to say the absolute minimum. Here's a tip: adding extra words doesn't make you a better writer. Vernon was an odd lampshade, almost flickering between his usual puce and a pasty white, neither of which was a good colour on the man. "Think they can threaten me, do they?" was all Harry could hear, repeatedly. It's been established that Vernon is a bully and a coward. So yes, I do think they could threaten you quite successfully.
When they returned to Number four Privet Drive, Harry learned something of what Uncle Vernon had decided. They entered the house, where Vernon immediately took the cage that Hedwig resided in and headed toward his den.
"Where are you going with Hedwig?" Harry demanded.
"I'm finally going to get some tonight! Don't take that tone with me, boy!" his uncle sneered in his face. "You need this owl to communicate with the others. So, I'm keeping her with me until you go back to that foul school full of freaks. I'd stop you from going if I could, but that's not a possibility, since they'll come to collect you in September. What you're going to do is write a short note to them every other day, in front of me, and we'll send the owl out to deliver it. She'll come back and we'll repeat it until the summer is over."
"What if I refuse?" Harry balked insolently.
"Makes no difference to me. I can snap the owl's neck right now, or wait until the summer is over. You do it my way, or she dies. As simple as that." Yeah...no...
"What if I send her off and tell her not to return?"
"Then I think you'll dislike the treatment I give you. I'll take away your Herbal Essence! There are things I can do to you, Harry, that won't show up in a search." He grinned. "Don't think I won't, boy. Your wizards don't understand the simplest things about the real world, and I guarantee that I can outsmart them." Hey Vernon, remember the last time you tried to outsmart a wizard? How much did it cost to get Dudley's tail removed?
"You wouldn't dare," Harry said, turning white.
"You willing to bet the life of your owl on that? I know you care for the beast."
Harry looked at his uncle, and then looked at his aunt and cousin. Indifference from her, and the desire to snap Hedwig's neck himself from Dudley. "You win. I do it your way," Harry acquiesced.
"Of course I win, boy. That's why I do so well at poker sales. I always win, and I always will. It would do you well to remember that. I wouldn't recommend playing strip poker with me, either!"
Inside the house, he was given his first surprise. "Trunk in the cupboard, boy."
"But I need to study!" Vernon moved his hand to the door to Hedwig's cage. Psh...Hedwig could take him. "Fine. In the cupboard. Will I be sleeping in there as well?" he snarled.
Vernon's free hand came out of the closet and smashed against the side of Harry's head. "Don't you take that tone with me, boy! Now that you mention it, though, that sounds like a good idea. Give Dudley his second roomtesticle back."
Harry staggered at the force of the blowjob to his head. He opened the cupboard and placed his trunk inside, bending down to find the best possible placement for his sleeping arrangements that night. Maybe I can get the bedroom back if I watch the tone around him for a week or so.
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He spent the week learning exactly what the Dursleys had in mind for him this summer. The threats to Vernon had caused the exact opposite effect from what the Order members had expected. They had expected him to be cowed, and to give Harry greater freedom; instead, they had set Vernon to calculating, and had returned Harry to his pre-Hogwarts days. For some reason, I'm really not buying this explanation.
So...Vernon fries Harry's hand or something. He pushes it down into a hot frying pan. I assume it smells delicious.
He closed his mind, and tried to ignore the pain. He tried to focus on anything that might help him. His mind flitted past his friends - Ron, his impetuous friend, constantly in arguments with Hermione. Hermione, his genius best friend, her beautiful chestnut hair still as bushy as when he'd first met her. Beautiful chestnut hair? I smell Suemione. And she smells like dog shit. He could see her studying something in the Common Room, one strand of hair out of place, hanging down in front of her face. He always wanted to walk over and brush it back behind her ear, but that would be too forward, so he simply watched her as she studied. I can never admit it, but she's the reason I never do well on my essays - I'm always looking at her. How do I tell her that she's beautiful? That somewhere in the last five years, I fell in love with her? Huh. You'd think that the reader would have heard that at some point, since we've been IN HIS HEAD. Assuming, of course, I even know what love is.
He fell asleep in the cupboard with a smile on his face, unbeknownst to him.
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That set the tone for the days with the Dursleys. He was given no chance for his hand to heal - the wound was constantly cracking and bleeding. He knew it was going to be hard for him to even use this hand at Hogwarts. Oh, won't Snape enjoy that! He loves left-handed hand jobs! He'll find reasons for me to use my left hand in class, and then deduct points when I can't work properly with it.
His second day there, he was forced to sit down and write a message for the Order members. Nothing fancy was permitted, just a simple, "Everything is going well here. More in two or three days. Harry." He then heard Vernon talking to Hedwig. Aaand why would Hedwig listen to him? It's only the first chapter, and the stupidity is already driving me to drink.
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It was in the beginning of July that he finally took his chance. The Dursleys had decided to go somewhere for Dudley's birthday, which hadn't actually arrived yet, but the concert he wanted to see was not going to be in town his birthday weekend. I don't care. So, they took him to see the band he wanted to see, and locked Harry in the cupboard for the duration.
Harry waited for a full hour before he decided on his course of action. He would poop in their beds! That would show them! He pressed against the wall of the cupboard and kicked as hard as he could against the door. The door hinges cracked and bulged away from the wall, so he kicked again. The door exploded open and dangled from its padlock.
He climbed out, dragging his trunk and depositing it in the foyer. He stalked over to Vernon's den, and kicked the door open, again near the hinges. This time it fell in quite satisfyingly. He saw a very startled Hedwig in the room, who began hooting happily when she realized what had happened. "Okay girl, I'm going to free you. Fly to Hermione and stay with her." Hedwig hopped out of her cage and held out a leg. "Oh, right." He quickly scribbled a note.
Hermione,
On run from Dursleys. Wondrous idea Order had backfired. Do not tell Order anything other than that I am no longer at Dursleys. Having difficulty writing coherent sentences. Fear I am trapped in a Harmonian fanfic. Send help.
In fact, I'm not telling you where I'm going so that Dumbledore and Snape can't mind-rape you into giving them the information, since they'd insist I come back here and live in the cupboard again. Wow. I have no words. I didn't think Harry could get any more angsty than he was in OotP, but compared to this, he's a fucking ray of sunshine!
Fuck them all! Let Tommy kill all the damned wizards! If this is the kind of treatment the good guys give their saviour, I'd be tempted to join up with Tom. Why don't you stamp your foot, Harry? I hear that helps.
I won't, though, because it would disappoint YOU, and I've done that too many times. I will fight Voldemort for YOU, Hermione, because you've always been there for me. Not for Dumbledore, or MacGonagall, or even the Weasleys. OH BITCH DO NOT DISS THE WEASLEYS OR I WILL MAKE YOU BEG FOR DEATH. For you and your parents, and all the other Muggle families out there who get caught in the middle of this shit.
I hope to see you back at Hogwarts, if I survive that long.
Harry
P.S. - Please take care of Hedwig for me.
He tied the letter to Hedwig and said, "Stay with her, girl. That way you'll be safe." She nipped his finger affectionately and flew off.
He grabbed Vernon's heavy luggage carrier (the wheeled one) and put his trunk on it. He grabbed some food as well, and then took a good long look at the house. It may be childish, but I'm going to make a point to them as I leave. He very carefully walked around the house and destroyed a good many of their prized possessions. He utterly trashed the bedroom that Vernon and Petunia used, and he took great joy in smashing everything of value in Dudley's room. Downstairs he simply tipped over the hutch with all Petunia's fine china, which included some of Vernon's mother's irreplaceable china. He destroyed what sat on the mantel, and then walked out the front door, carefully leaving the door slightly ajar. He walked down the street, whistling. Ah, Harry the psychopath. My favorite part of any fanfic! Except not.
He hadn't gotten very far when he heard someone come up behind him. "Wotcher, Harry! Where you going?"
Harry is very rude to Tonks. And angsty. Very angsty.
He grabbed a handful of Floo powder in his right hand and tossed it in the fireplace. "Gryffindor Common Room!" As the flames shot up, he stepped through.
Table of Contents ~ Chapter 2