Entanglement

The Last Punishment

Elena and Harry Potter lay fast asleep in the darkness of a small cupboard underneath a staircase, Elena on a small mat, Harry laying on a bed. The two alternated places.
However, sleep never lasted for the Potter twins. Their Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.
"Up! Get up! NOW!"

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. Elena bolted awake from the sleeping pad on the floor beside Harry's bed.
"Up!" she screeched.
Elena let out a huff, sitting up as she noticed Harry roll back over. Their cupboard was incredulously small, and could hardly fit the two of them.

Elena sat on the floor, rubbing her eyes as she woke up. She had a peaceful sleep, one without dreams or nightmares. But she knew she must get up now.

Their aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on, I need Elena to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
Harry groaned, and Elena stood up quickly.
"What did you say?" their aunt snapped through the door.
"Nothing, nothing..."

Dudley's birthday– how could she have forgotten?

Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.

Elena turned away, pulling up a loose tank top with jeans and made sure to not look towards her brother as she changed. They had minimal privacy, but maximum trust.

"Are you dressed?" She asked, making sure to keep her back turned until Harry muttered, "yeah, let's just get today over with."

When they were dressed they went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Elena, as Dudley was very gluttonous and hated exercise– unless it involved punching somebody.

Dudley's favourite punchbag was Elena, but he couldn't often catch her. Elena didn't look it, but she was fast. Harry typically gave her warnings so she knew what was coming. While the Potters were twins, Harry acted as an older brother to Elena.
Maybe it had something to do with living in a dim cabinet, however Elena had consistently been little and thin for her age. She looked considerably more modest and skinnier than she truly was on the grounds that all she needed to wear were old garments from second hand store in Surrey. Elena had a meager face, thin body, and long red hair with dim earthy colored eyes. She, as a rule, had an injury some place all over her face or shoulders from the occasions Dudley effectively punched her.

The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question Elena could remember him asking was how he had got it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions." Don't ask questions– that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Elena was turning over the bacon, Harry standing beside her, looking over shoulder.
"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry or Elena needed a haircut. The two must have had more haircuts than the rest of their class put together, but it made no difference, Harry's hair simply grew that way– all over the place. Elena always had long hair and she liked it that way.

Elena was cooking eggs when Dudley showed up in the kitchen with his mom. Dudley looked a dreadful part like Uncle Vernon. He had a huge, pink face, very little neck, little, watery blue eyes and thick, fair hair that lay flawlessly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel– Harry often told Elena that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
Dudley began counting his presents. His face fell.