Benign

Chapter One: The Beginning

*Author's Note: I hope you like the first chapter! This is also posted on ao3 under the username Moony394!*
Disclaimer: I own only the plot, the characters belong to JKR.
Chapter One:    
    A five year old Harry James Potter lay in his cupboard under the stairs atop some old, tattered blankets. The little boy who should have been out laughing and running around with friends, lay instead mapping out each line and crevice of the dusty old cupboard. The young boy had a bruise above his left eye, and had the tellings of bruises elsewhere too. He whimpered slightly when he had to shift so he could move an arm that had gone numb. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in there, how long he’d been staring at the ceiling. Hours maybe, a day, minutes. It had gotten to the point where he’d lost all concept of time. Didn’t know if he was or wasn’t.
    He gradually became aware of a distant ringing in his ears. It was easy to ignore, so he did. He eventually dozed off, and was in and out of sleep for a time unknown. Harry didn’t notice the growling of his stomach, the dryness of his mouth, or the ache of his bladder. Nothing. It was both a bliss and a torture. But, as Harry had learned in his young age, all good things are bound to end eventually.
    His aunt Petunia gave a harsh whack on his cupboard door and he flinched, the sound of her shrill voice following. “Wake up you little freak, breakfast isn’t going to make itself!” It was strange, to Harry, her voice was, much, much, quieter than than it usually was, and he had to strain to hear it, in fact, it sounded like it was fading all together.
    “Yes aunt Petunia.” he croaked out, voice dry from lack of water and use. At least he assumed it was, he couldn’t hear it. The poor five year old boy was frightened by this fact, but hid it carefully. He pushed open the door, and pushed himself out through the pain and popping of his bones. He walked over to the stove and began the familiar, steady process of cooking. He waited, attempting to hear if his aunt was heading over to bombard him with her usual bout of insults as he cooked. He listened, but didn’t hear anything. He would realize later that she had in fact done that, but it had fallen on deaf ears.
    ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘not being able to hear could turn out to be a good thing.’
A few months later, he disagreed with that thought wholeheartedly. Things got a lot worse for him at the Dursleys, because they would tell him to do things or ask him something in their usual harsh way, and he wouldn’t answer them. Over the course of those few months, his hearing had faded entirely, so he had no idea. The Dursleys didn’t know that though, or care enough, so they did much more cruel things to him. Beatings, and starving him more. Only feeding him once a week.
So Harry resigned himself, and taught himself to read lips.'

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About 5 years, 7 months later…

Harry now stood just outside Platform 9 ¾ after having hid behind a post and watched a large, red haired family pass through one brick post in particular. He had none of the items that he had bought with Hagrid with him, other than his wand. The Dursleys had burned the rest as soon as he had brought it back with him to stick out the rest of the summer. Even Hedwig. He had silently cried in his cupboard for hours when it had happened, hating the Dursleys more than he'd ever hated them before.
He tensed, and decided that if he had any chance to get away from the Dursleys, he had to try and go through the post the red haired family had just went into. He stepped back a few feet, and ran through.
Harry’s eyes widened and as he looked around at was obviously Platform 9 ¾. There was a large, black, red, and gold train titled ‘Hogwarts Express’ and people bustling about in clothes similar to the ones the people wore in Diagon Alley. It looked as though it were full of noise, and it made him anxious. He didn't much like crowds, the amount of people and things going on overwhelmed him and became his form of loud.
He broke out of his awe when the sudden fear hit him that he would miss the train, and hurried over to an opening and climbed through it. He walked down the long halls of the train, set on looking for an empty compartment. He finally found one towards the end, and slid open the door and sat down. He glanced out the window, and then pulled his wand out of the waistband of his overly baggy pants, and began to twirl the only thing he had left between his fingers.
A few moments later, he saw the door open out of the corner of his eye, and looked over at the people who entered. There were three people, two of them boys and one a girl, who looked to be about his age. In the front of them, was a boy with slicked back, pale blond hair, striking silver eyes, and pristine, nice looking robes that made Harry feel even more inferior. The other boy was dark skinned, and in a simple t-shirt and black slacks, while the girl had loose, curly, dark brown hair, tan skin, and dark eyes and was in light pink robes. Even with the blond boys hair, none of them even came close to resembling the Dursleys or any people they would associate with, and he almost sighed aloud in relief. Harry gave them a shy smile, hoping that maybe, just maybe, these people could be his first ever friends.
The boy with the blond hair smiled slightly in turn, and began to introduce himself. “I’m Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and this is Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson.” Harry’s eyes watched his lips the whole time, and was happy to note that he talked slow enough that he could read his lips and understand him.
“Nice to meet you,” he said quietly, “I’m Harry, Harry Potter.” He held out his hand shyly and Draco immediately shook it, after blinking in surprise at his name, but other than that, didn’t show much of a reaction.
“Do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full.” Draco asked, smiling. Harry loved that when they learned his name they didn’t bombard him like everyone else. Draco put off an a calming exterior that made Harry already like him. But he didn’t trust so easily, the Dursleys made sure of that.
“Sure, I don’t mind.” He usually spoke quietly, so he could make sure he wasn’t yelling his words since he couldn’t hear them.
Draco sat down next to him, and Pansy and Blaise sat down in front of them on the other side of the compartment. “How come you’re dressed like that, and where’s your stuff?” Pansy asked in her blunt way, and Blaise elbowed her. Harry sighed when he saw her lips move, because she talked way too fast and he had no idea what she had just said. He realized he would have to tell them then, so they wouldn’t think he was being rude.
“Um, I have no idea what you just said, you talk way too fast and I couldn’t read your lips.” He pointed to his ears shyly, “I’m, um, deaf.”
Draco’s eyes widened slightly. “You seemed to be able to understand me, I had no idea.”
Harry smiled shyly, “Um you talk slow.” When he said this, Draco looked like he didn’t know whether to be offended or to take it as a complement, but just shrugged it off.
Blaise, who had been quiet up until now, laughed. "You know, if anyone else would’ve said that to him, he would have exploded. He seems to like you.” With relief, Harry noted that he could understand him perfectly, and he smiled. He looked over at Draco and saw that his cheeks had tinted slightly.
Pansy began talking a little slower after that, and as they talked Harry got to know Draco, Pansy, and Blaise a little better. They talked about each of the Hogwarts houses, Quidditch, what to expect when they got there, and other miscellaneous things. Soon, the time came when they had to change into their black school robes, and Harry looked down at his feet and tugged awkwardly at his tatty shirt.
Draco tapped on his shoulder, and he looked up reluctantly. “Aren’t you going to change?”
Harry sighed, and looked close to tears. “I um, I don’t have any robes.”
Draco frowned, but didn’t push. “I have an extra set, you can borrow them if you want.”
“You don’t have to do that, they're your robes. I’ll be okay.” Harry attempted to assure him, not wanting to make him think he was taking advantage of him, but failed miserably.
Draco gave a tight smile, and had a certain worry beneath his eyes that Harry could only recognize because he had seen it directed at other people, but never at him. “I want too, you’re my friend.”
Harry gave a small smile and agreed, taking the robes that were handed to him a second later and quickly changed into them. They sat down and continued talking, and a few minutes later the train stopped. Draco, Blaise, and Pansy all grabbed their things and then Harry followed after them when they exited the compartment. They stepped down the stairs and off the train into a place that Pansy, Draco, and Blaise explained previously, was Hogsmeade. The rest of the years other than first, headed over to the horseless carriages, which harry blinked at, utterly astounded. "Draco..." he started tugging on the blond boys sleeve and pointing, "what are those?" He made sure to tear his eyes away from the carriages, so he could look at Draco and read his lips. "They're the carriages that take the older years to Hogwarts. Amazing aren't they? I have no Idea how they do it." Draco explained, his eyes watching the carriages. They continued walking, following the direction the rest of the first years were going, and were met by Hagrid before they were escorted to several small boats. Harry bowed his head in shame a the sight of Hagrid, feeling guilty because the birthday present he got his was gone, along with the rest of his things. Thankfully, Hagrid didn't notice him and the four of them climbed into one boat, and the rest grouped up and climbed into the others. They all grinned at each other, and looked in the direction they were going, anticipating when Hogwarts, in all its beauty, came into view.