Chapter Text
"Get up boy," yelled uncle Vernon at the girl kneeling before him.
The girl slowly stood up, nearly falling back to the floor. Her legs were shaking and tears streamed down her face.
"Didn't I tell you to respond when someone asks you something?" Vernon shouted again
The girl stayed quiet.
"Did you break the vase?" He hissed
The girl shook her head.
"I said respond with words." He raised his hand with the belt, the girls hands flew up instinctively to shield her head. The belt smacked against her side causing the girl to shriek in pain, clutching her side.
"I asked," he yanked her off the floor and hurled her into the cupboard beneath the stairs. "Think about your behaviour there for a night" he said, then slammed the door shut before locking it.
The girl, Harriett, curled up in the corner, clutching her side and sobbed into her knees. The Dursleys were always bullying and abusing her, but it got a lot worse lately. And more recent.
The wounds she received from them hurt so much.
She stayed up all night, crying. What had she done to deserve this? No matter how hard she tried to please her aunt and uncle, it was never enough. One small mistake, and she was punished- harshly, without hesitation.
It wasn't even her fault this time. It was Dudley who deliberately knocked over the vase and blamed her for it.
And while she was abused, she had to pretend to be a boy- probably for her aunt' and uncle's reputation among the neighbours or something.
All she ever wanted was a normal life- to be praised for her achievements, not beaten and locked away for days
Halfway through her thoughts, she drifted off- only to jolt awake four hours later to the sound of a rat squeaking in her ear.
"Shit" she shot up, banging her head on the low ceiling. "Ouch... that's it. I've had enough. The bullying, the pretending, the starvation- it just won't stop, will it?" She murmured to herself, tears welling in her eyes again.
"Why the fack am I supposed to put up with this?" She continued whispering to herself while tying knots on her blanket, to make it somewhat like a bag. Once she was done, she crouched in front of the locked door, fingers digging through her tangled black hair as she searched for the hairpin.
The door to the cupboard was unlocked ten minutes later and with a victorious 'yes' Harriett tiptoed into the kitchen.
If she's going to run away, which she most certainly is going to, she needs food. Unfortunately, the only food left in the Dursleys kitchen was bread. Fortunately, Harriett didn't have anything against bread, so she grabbed it, the whole pack of it. Now for clothes (though she didn't have many). A few shirts passed down from Dudley, a hoodie, and a pair of shorts, plus jeans that hung way too big on her. She grabbed them all, shoving everything into her blanket-bag
Last thing last, the actual escape.
Harriett quietly crept towards the front door. She put on her muddy sneakers and slowly twisted the lock until it finally gave way.
She turned, stealing one final look at the house that held all her pain, before slipping outside and closing the door without a sound.
She started walking away from the house, her steps quickening until she was sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her.
This is it. Freedom at last. All thanks to a single hairpin.
“I’m free” she shouted on top of her lungs, after which kissing her hair pin like it was a hard-earned trophy.
She came to a halt, doubling over with her hands on her knees as she struggled to breathe.
What should she do now? Find a place to stay, but she didn’t have any money. Roam around in hopes of finding a shelter?
Suddenly her stomach rumbled, stopping her train of thoughts. She pulled out the pack of bread she stole, opening it. 18 pieces of bread. ‘Should be enough’ she thought before carefully tearing one piece in half, leaving one half in the pack and chewing on the other.
After finishing eating half of the bread, Harriett decided to walk south, believing luck would strike her there. (Actually she just saw a pigeon fly south and decided to follow it)
Minutes stretched into hours. And as the sky darkened, Harriett finally reached the city. Fatigue settled in, and her legs ached from the relentless walking.
Soon night would settle and she still didn’t find a place to stay. Would she really have to sleep out on the streets?
And then out of nowhere she tripped, therefore falling face first and scratching her knee.
“Ugh, why me?” she whined before getting up. The girl looked around for somewhere to sit down when she saw it.
The library, working till late nine.
Harriett confidently walked up to the door, lightly pushing it. The glass doors opened and she entered the building.
The library was filled with hundreds of bookshelves and millions of books. There were tables, some had computers on them. And there was a big clock on the wall, reading 20:08
Harriett made her way towards one of the tables, placing her blanket-bag on it. She sat on the chair before resting her head on her bag and dosing off to sleep.
The first thing Harriett saw when she woke up, was a pair of hands, scribbling notes into a copy.
Harriett lifted her head to see a girl sitting opposite of her. She blinked, then jerked her head towards the clock. The digits glowed: 20:49
She turned back to the girl who was already gazing at Harriett
“Hi, I’m Hermione. Sorry I sat beside you. I was just thinking of waking you up before the library closed, I hope you don’t mind.” the girl, Hermione, said, nervously tugging at one of her bushy curls
“Oh no, it’s alright, Hi. I’m Harry- I mean Harriett. Actually I don’t mind what you call me” Harriett smiled nervously.
"It’s nice to meet you Harry. If you don’t mind, can I call you Harry? It’s shorter and easier to remember"
“Sure” answered Harriett a bit more confidently this time.
“Great, then let’s be friends” cheered Hermione as she took Harriet’s hand and shook it firmly.
"Okay" she said shyly, the words trembling on her lips. She'd just made a friend. Her first ever friend.
"Why are you here so late?" questioned Hermione.
"Oh" Was it okay to say she'd run-away and was looking for shelter? Or should she lie? But this was her first friend. Wouldn't it be wrong to lie? She hesitated, then took a breath and let herself speak the truth for the first time- voice trembling with every word, soft but honest.
When she finally finished, she looked up at Hermione– who said nothing, only sat there with silent tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Oh Harry, it's going to be okay" Hermione wrapped her arms around Harriett, gently patting her back.
"You can stay at my grandparents' house" she said softly, "That's where I'll be for the summer. We'll figure something out together, okay? Don't worry– everything's going to be alright. Let's go to my house, come on"
She quickly gathered her books, took Harriett's hand, and together, they left the library.