DURSLEY ― harry potter

‣︎︎CHAPTER THREE

Trigger Warning! Mentions of abuse, child neglect, and starvation in this chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:

THE GREAT ESCAPE

☍︎︎

THE NEXT THREE DAYS WERE SOME OF THE WORST IN DAISY AND HARRY'S LIVES.

Vernon paid a man to install bars on their bedroom window and a cat-flap on the bottom of the door for feeding times.

They were fed in increments of three throughout the day, once in the morning, afternoon and night. They were allowed bathroom times in the evening and morning, separately and for only three minutes at a time.

Daisy leaned her body against her bed, sitting on the floor and hugging the small stuffed dragon she'd managed to hide from her parents upon returning for the summer. It was a gift from Blaise for her birthday, which he'd given to her late on the train. His mother sent it to him later than promised, but it arrived on the last day of owl post before they returned for summer vacation. (He took time wrapping it up in paper he'd "borrowed" from Theo, but had ended up just giving it to her whole, claiming the paper didn't exactly work out.)

She wished she could hug him right now. Or Theo. Or Cedric. Her heart panged, thinking of her older friend. Her first friend in the magical world — would she ever see him again? Would she see any of them again?

She glanced over at Harry, who lay on his bed, staring out the window, a deep frown on his face and a crease between his eyebrows. A cold fury swept within her and she felt very angry, for the first time since Christmas.

How unfair was it to make Harry grow up an abused orphan and then rip away his only chance at happiness? He wasn't safe here — he'd surely starve by the time September 1st rolled around. He'd finally made friends and was burdened with the idea that they hated him,  only to find out that a creepy little house elf decided his "possible impending doom" was worse than the harsh treatment by her family's hand.

No, she didn't think it was very fair.

And how unfair to her as well. To separate her from her family, make her feel isolated and alone. Only to give her a glimmer of hope in friendship and magic — just to take it all away again. She didn't care about some evil impending doom.

Dumbledore could keep Harry safe. And the more magic she learned, the more she could keep Harry safe too. But now she might not ever return back to school. Back to goblins and ghosts and magical feasts — she had to get back to Hogwarts. She had so much to prove, still.

How would it look if she didn't return back? Draco Malfoy would bully anyone he came in contact with and would claim she didn't return because she "didn't belong."

She tightened her grip on the stuffed dragon.

Didn't belong.

Of course she belonged. She belonged to Hogwarts just as much as he, more so in fact. She worked harder and excelled in class just as much as him. She had to show him and every other pureblood supremacist with low opinions of her just how much better she actually was.

Who would stick it to Snape? Her grip tightened again, squeezing the dragon. Lucky it wasn't a real animal — otherwise it would probably be squirming in pain. The only good thing that would come of her being gone is Pansy Parkinson having no one to do all the potions work — perhaps she'd get kicked out for being as unmagical as her pug-faced self actually was.