Desert Warrior

Child of Sand

"She can't take her" Petunia fumed, pointing a rude finger at the small child crouched in the corner "and she'll probably destroy the house if we leave her here."

"Marge won't take her either" Vernon's voice rumbled through the house "but I don't see why we can't just lock her outside."

"No" Petunia's face was fearful "the freaks might find out. We'll have to take her with us."

Vernon Dursley looked decidedly unhappy "fine, but only because this trip is important for the future of Grunnings Weapons or we would wait until Mrs. Figg could take her. The freak can keep our Dudley amused and help carry the bags."

Harika continued to crouch in her corner, knowing that her aunt and uncle liked her to stay out of the way and the corner was better than the cupboard under the stairs any day. Harika cringed as her uncle glared at her one last time before leaving the room, how she wished her parents had never died in a car crash. Or perhaps she should have done like her aunt and uncle said and died with them.

… … … … …

Five year old Harika Potter looked around herself, amazed that she was actually on a trip to Egypt with her relatives. Sure they were being even crueler to her than usual, but the new sights around her more than made up for that. At least during the boat ride to Alexandria and the train ride to Cairo afterwards he hadn't had to deal with her relatives much as they had bought her the cheapest tickets available for both, Vernon grumbling all the while about the waste of good company money. Harika shuddered as he briefly remembered his aunt dragging her off to the loo before they boarded the boat, smacking her a few times to make sure she remembered to behave. Now Harika was struggling under the weight of Dudley's suitcase, trying not to loose her own ratty bag as she strained to keep up with her aunt and uncle as she followed them to the waiting car outside the train depot.

"Let me take that little one" the kind voice of the driver came right before Harika was relieved of her burden "you should not be carrying the bags."

Harika stammered a polite thank you, quailing under the dark looks of her relatives as her uncle jabbed a meaty finer towards the open car door. Harika could tell that her uncle would prefer to have her walk or be shoved into the trunk with the luggage rather than sitting in the car with them. The resulting car ride was very uncomfortable for Harika, her uncle's gaze promising punishment when there were no witnesses, so she was both relieved and filled with trepidation as they arrived at the hostel they would be rooming at.

Over the next few days the Dursley's mainly ignored Harika except to command her to do something or to absentmindedly punish her for some imagined wrong. They also left her behind when they went out, giving Harika time to sneak around Cairo while her uncle dealt with business and her aunt and cousin shopped. It awed Harika to see all the different people around her and she was currently sitting in the corner of their room where she slept, planning what she wanted to do the next day. Perhaps she would go to the market place and watch the dancers or—

"Dad" Dudley's young and shrill voice echoed through the room "my sweets are gone! I think the freak ate them!"

"Girl" Vernon was livid "how dare you eat Dudley's precious sweets! Do you know how much it costs to get them?"

"B-b-but" Harika stammered as her uncle advanced upon her, trying to say that she hadn't done it.

A crack sounded through the room as meaty flesh met the tender flesh of a child and the lights began to flicker and leap wildly in the room until a second crack echoing the first was heard, a gas lamp had exploded. Vernon's face purpled in anger as he glanced between Harika and the broken lamp, but there was also fear in the portly man's beady eyes. Before Harika knew it she was being crammed into one of the small cabinets along the wall that were used for storage. The last thing she heard before the sounds of her relatives going out for the evening was something heavy being shoved against the wooden cabinet door with a harsh scraping noise, it was meant to make sure she stayed in there and couldn't get out. Tears stung Harika's bright green eyes, but Harika knew better than to let them fall as she sought the sweet release of sleep.