Once Upon A Time (Prequel of The Savior Fables)

Chapter One

Harry hopes for a savior, and he gets his wish in the form of a hero to the Wizarding World . . . and she isn't the only savior he meets that day.

Warning: this chapter contains content that includes descriptions of the physical abuse of a minor. If you wish to avoid this content, we advise you to skip the parts between the start of this chapter to "he knew this was going to be a very, very long trip" as well as the parts between "Harry nodded, taking a bite of his cookie" to "He finished one of the cookies."

***

When Harry was four, he was beaten so badly that he had been bruised for weeks on end.

When Harry was five, he had to be taken to the hospital by his to get his broken arm fixed. He never said a word as his aunt Petunia took over answering questions because he likely would have told the nurse what had actually happened. He had been playing with his cousin, and Harry had a toy that Dudley wanted. When Harry refused to give it to him, Petunia grabbed his arm so hard she broke the small bone. The story they told the nurse and the doctor was that he had been outside playing and climbing trees and he fell out of one and landed on his arm.

When he was six, he had been starved for nearly two weeks, given only the bare minimum to survive. Harry was almost too small for a seven-year-old. By then, he should have had his first growth spurt, and because he was always malnourished and dehydrated, he wasn't getting enough nutrients to make sure he did grow. So he was still small for his age. All of his clothes were his cousin Dudley's old ones that were too big for him, and he'd never had clothes of his own. He'd always been handed hand-me-downs and clothes extremely too big for him.

Just recently, right after Harry turned seven, he'd been splashed with boiling water over his back by his uncle, and had second-degree burns for almost three weeks. They healed, but he has scars to prove that it had indeed happened. That was just additional proof he was constantly being abused, both physically and mentally.

Harry was normally a quiet child. He had barely fussed as a baby, unlike his cousin Dudley. He was not normally argumentative like his cousin was prone to be, as he knew he would receive an extreme punishment if he did. He had been told to pack his stuff in a bag, everything he owned, and to get in the car. He hadn't been told anything other than the fact that he and the rest of his "family" were going to be moving to New York City in the United States. He didn't know why, so he asked a question. He was rewarded with hits from both Petunia and Vernon, resulting in little Harry having a black eye and a hand-shaped bruise on the left side of his face. But that was nothing new, for Harry had been covered in bruises since he could remember. He had always been extremely good at hiding the pain of his bruises from his school peers and his teachers, but he had no idea how he was going to hide this from people on the street and people they met.

Vernon roughly shoved him by the shoulder into the back of the car, shaking Harry out of his musings, and he muttered a cruel "get going boy, we don't have all day," at him. Harry did as he was told, not wanting another beating. He knew this was going to be a very, very long trip. He only hoped something good came out of it. As the car started driving away from the only home he knew, Harry stared out of the window, hoping someday a Savior would come to save him from these wretched people.

***

The next day saw Harry and his family arriving at their new home. He finally knew why they flew across the ocean. His uncle Vernon had been offered the job of a lifetime: an executive position of the New York branch of Grunnings, the drill company he'd worked for in England.

Harry knew that very few people would notice the bruises on his face, not if they weren't actively looking, but he knew someone would see them and would hopefully understand what was happening to him. He wanted to get away from here, even if here was his new home. He knew that no matter what happened to him, someone would find out and be the savior he so desperately craved.