A Letter To Live By

Chapter Two

Home Sweet Home

Harry sat on his bed wondering, for about the millionth time, why Dumbledore sent him to live with these people. Perhaps he knew how bad they were and was punishing him for being weak. He shook his head.

"Dumbledore's not sadistic like that," he said to himself. He looked at the locked door and wondered if he would ever see the outdoors again. Probably not.

It had been three weeks since he had something to eat, and his body didn't really have many fat storages to fall back on. He was shaking visibly and, even though he was wearing his glasses, his vision was blurry. His head was pounding from the lack of nourishment, and he was sure that if he cared to look, he would look like a living skeleton.

Hedwig was quiet in her cage, watching her master silently. She seemed to know what he was thinking. She wasn't as hungry as him because a mouse would occasionally stray into his room and she would eat it. Her cage wasn't locked, but the windows were. Harry's wand was locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and was therefore no use to him.

Harry looked at the clock next to his bed and saw that it was 1:30. He had been fifteen for an hour and a half without realizing. Of course, he wasn't really certain how many more days he had to live. Judging from how dizzy he was whenever he stood up, he probably wouldn't last to the end of the day.

His mind began to wander and he found himself thinking of his love interest. \ And why not? // He said to himself. \ I'm never going to see him again, so why shouldn't I admit that I love him? He'd probably just laugh in my face if he knew. // Draco's blonde hair and gray eyes swam in Harry's mind, helping him to momentarily forget the torment he was in.

He laughed bitterly then winced as a sharp pain radiated around his midsection from his twisted ribs. He calmed himself and slowly resumed a normal breathing pattern. Uncle Vernon had gotten angry because Dudley was suspended from his school, Smeltings, and had blamed it on Harry. Apparently Harry had bewitched Dudley to be a bully. The result of this false accusation was a beating the likes of which Harry had never known. He was quite sure that he had a few broken ribs, and judging by the bit of blood he had coughed up, one of them was poking his lung. Just great.

Harry got out of his bed and went over to his desk. He had managed to keep a bit of parchment and a quill in the floorboard under his bed and decided to write a letter to Draco.

"You're such a prat," Harry berated himself. "It doesn't matter though, because you'll be dead soon." He sat down at his desk and wrote all of his compressed feelings into the letter. He eyed it tiredly before tying it to Hedwig's leg. He wrapped an old shirt around his hand and smashed the window. "Take this to Draco Malfoy for me, okay?"

Hedwig hooted softly, and gave him an affectionate nip.

"You have to stay at his house, okay? I won't be able to take care of you anymore, and Uncle Vernon will likely kill you if you come back." Harry patted her head and struggled to hold back tears. "Goodbye, Hedwig. You've been a wonderful friend. I'll miss you."

Hedwig flew out of the window and disappeared rather quickly.

Harry sighed and got back into bed. His hand had been shaking so badly when he wrote the letter that he was afraid Draco wouldn't be able to read it. Oh, well. He was going to die soon so it didn't matter. He fell asleep and was tortured by nightmares.

Voldemort was screaming and ranting while killing innocent Muggles. He looked rather mad, and Harry woke with his scar burning horribly. He tried to stifle a yell, and let out a loud moan instead. He once again felt guilt for those who he couldn't help, wondering what the wizarding world would think of him when he was killed by simple neglect.

Suddenly there was a loud pounding on his door.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon's voice sounded on the other side. "You better be sleeping in there!" Now Harry could hear the sound of keys as Uncle Vernon unlocked the many bolts confining Harry in his prison. The door flew open and Harry was facing his massive uncle. "So! You're just in here making noise to be spiteful! I could have over looked it if it was a nightmare!" He began to advance.

"No, Uncle Vernon!" Harry begged. "It was a nightmare! It woke me up! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"HA!" Uncle Vernon bellowed. "Excuses! I'll teach you to disrupt the peace of this household!" He closed the distance between Harry and himself in two steps.

"Uncle, please!" Harry pleaded, unable to defend himself physically because he was so weak and malnourished. Uncle Vernon raised his hand and backhanded Harry across his right cheek. Harry fell back on the bed seeing stars in front of his eyes. Uncle Vernon then punched him in the ribs. Harry cried out as Vernon hit his already broken ribs. Vernon continued in this fashion until Harry was once again coughing up blood. Harry now had a broken nose and his arm was swelling rather badly.

"Next time be more considerate to your family!" Uncle Vernon said, exiting the room and bolting Harry back in.

Harry lay on the bed between consciousness and dark oblivion, unable to make a reply. \ I wish it would just end. // he thought bitterly before passing out into darkness.