A Nightmare in Heaven

Chapter 2

"Freak! Get up! Dudley wants breakfast in bed!" Harry silenced a groan and got up, struggling to put on his trousers while hunched over in his cupboard.

Turns out Dudley's idea of a breakfast in bed involved Harry filling every spare centimeter of his bed in plates of breakfast foods. He was unceremoniously kicked out when he delivered the last plate and was immediately accosted by his aunt to clean the kitchen from cabinets to floor to be followed by pruning the roses. After that he was sure she'd give him a million more chores.

After his first summer back with the Dursley's he learned rather quickly that Hedwig was not only unwelcome but in danger of being outright murdered. He had managed to sneak her out when Vernon had gotten too drunk to remember the lock and Harry had convinced him the next morning that Vernon had thrown her out of the open window and then slammed him into his cupboard. He claimed he hit his head and didn't remember anything after that and the couple believed him.

This time, he had told Hedwig he was going to let her stay at Hogwarts during the summer, to which she seemed quite sad about. He'd spent hours reassuring her that he wanted to take her with but that it wasn't safe for her to go with him. He loved her too much to see her hurt when she could remain safe at the school owlery.

He only had a few more days before school started and then he'd be able to talk to her to his heart's content.

The train station was crowded as per usual when Harry arrived, but he was okay with that since all the commotion prevented everyone from staring at him. He managed to get onto the train and snagged a compartment at the very back all to himself. He was excited to talk to his friends again, but Ron never came to find him. Hermione had come to talk to him about their schoolwork and had even helped him with one of his essays he was stuck on, but she left shortly after to find some of her girlfriends.

He didn't see Ron until he came to bed that night, but that didn't bother him.

The only interesting thing that happened (besides being the youngest seeker in a century) was the TriWizard Tournament. Harry had been incredibly relieved that there was an age limit on the goblet as well as a 24-hour watch overseen by trained ministry officials. He thought he'd enjoy seeing the tournament, a blessed break from all the studying, but he found that the insane amounts of danger most definitely wasn't his cup of tea. He left the stands halfway through the first task and didn't bother going to watch any of the others when they happened, preferring to stay in the library with Hermione studying.

Ron had ribbed him endlessly about it, making his heart twinge with guilt, but he stood his ground. He didn't want to watch a bunch of idiots risk their lives for some money and a trophy.

The two grew closer as time passed, mostly with Harry putting aside some of Ron's more obnoxious traits. He loved talking about quidditch with someone that actually had a deeper interest with it rather than a superficial enjoyment of watching a game or two and that alone was worth ignoring Ron's degrading comments and occasional joke that took it just a bit too far.

And Harry liked Ron's company when he was in a good mood. He'd even confessed that his situation with his aunt and uncle was abusive if he didn't do exactly what they wanted when they wanted it. They'd had a long conversation that day about what is considered abuse and where the lines lay. Uncomfortable that Ron was firmly in the belief that emotional abuse didn't really count, Harry neglected to tell him about the emotional and mental toll his family had put him through and instead downplayed the severity of their abuse since they didn't hit him all that much. He learned early on how to please his family to avoid getting unnecessarily hurt.

The end of fourth year, the boys in their dorm had been having debates about the TriWizard Tournament once more. It was something Dean just couldn't let go of and fixated on every now and again.