Confidential Lover

Chapter 23

It was black. 

Pitch black, and very quiet, and also very cold. Harry sat up and hugged his knees, unsure whether his eyes were open or not. He looked around, squinting and trying to see any sign of a lamp or light switch, but it was so dark that he couldn't even see the outline of his hand. 

It was so cold that, if he could see, he was sure his breath would be visible, and it was so quiet that he could hear a pin drop. Where was he? None of this was familiar at all. And what happened after he sent the note to Ron and Hermione? Did they even get it?

A loud clanking noise snapped Harry out of his thoughts. He heard, from somewhere in the room, a creaky door slide open. It scraped against the floor and by the sounds of it, it had to be over two hundred pounds. A dim light leaked in through the open door and heavy footsteps echoed over to Harry.

His heart was beating fast and instinctively, he reached for his wand which he almost always kept in his pants pocket. But, when he patted all four pockets, there was nothing there that resembled a wand. 

"H-hello?" Harry said into the darkness.

"Hello?" someone mocked. "Shut up, boy, or I'll knock your teeth out!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the familiar shout of Uncle Vernon. He felt the floor shake us Uncle Vernon drew closer. His heavy breathing was unmatched by the sighs of fury coming from Vernon's nostrils. Finally, he was standing in front of Harry.

"Get up." he ordered, and Harry knew better than to argue with him. He stood up quickly and stood flat against the cold wall of wherever they were. Harry heard the clanking again. 

"What're you holding?" Harry asked, but Vernon ignored him as he harshly grabbed Harry's arms and tied his wrists together with a heavy, metal chain. Harry tried to wriggle away, but Vernon kept him still and tied the chain so tightly that any small move Harry made to try and escape would cause him pain, as the metal twisted his skin.

Harry was yanked forward on the chain and forced to follow Uncle Vernon in a space even further from the door in the distance. They were so far away now that he couldn't even see the door and the only light he saw was a small dot of orange that seemed miles away.

Uncle Vernon opened up a second door, which led into an extremely small space surrounded by concrete walls and a crumbling ceiling. It couldn't have been any bigger than the cupboard under the stairs, but the lack of furniture made it seem so. Harry was thrown onto the floor and Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. He felt around in the air and pulled on a thin string attached to a single light bulb. 

At least I can see now, Harry thought to himself. He tried to loosen the chain on his wrist, but again, it was no use. It just snagged on his skin and created red marks on his wrists. "What's happening?" Harry said again. Uncle Vernon sneered down at him and it actually scared Harry at how furious he looked.

"You really thought," said Uncle Vernon, face turning purple and fat finger pointed down at Harry, who was now sitting firmly against the cold corner of the room. "that we would let you go back to freedom after we found out what you are?"

Harry drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "What? You've known I'm a wizard for years now!"

"DON'T SAY THAT WORD!" he yelled at Harry, spitting in the process. "I'm not talking about that!"

"Then what are you talking about?" Harry argued, trying his best to stand up so he could get in Uncle Vernon's face.

"You and that...boy! I always knew that school was no good. We send you off to the crackpot old fool's school and you come back even worse!"