Chapter 1

It was his second year at Hogwarts, he had barely survived his first year and only by some sheer miracle had he managed that. What had started off as a normal school year, after getting over the initial shock of the existence of magic, had soon turned into a hunt for the philosopher's stone. Which had ended with a battle to death with his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and Voldemort.

But when he got back to the Dursleys nothing seemed to have changed. It didn't matter that he had stood eye to eye with Voldemort and was now able to do magic, they were still as horrible to him as they had always been. Not that he really expected them to change.

Harry's second year hadn't started as he hoped, instead of blending in and having a normal year he was nearly expelled before the school year could properly start. 'Luckily' he had only gotten detention, and 'lucky' for him it had only been with Lockhart and not Snape as Ron liked to remind him.

It was now Saturday morning in the beginning of November as Harry sat in a closet somewhere on the fifth floor. He had gotten back from a detention with Lockhart the previous night and hadn't felt like returning to his dorm room. He didn't want to see his friends right now, or anyone else for that matter, and he knew that Ron and Hermione might have waited up for him. So he settled for an unused closet instead, leaving the door slightly ajar. He had felt completely drained and utterly exhausted before falling asleep on the cold, hard ground of his hideout.

When he woke up he was still feeling awfully tired and then the memories of last night came back to him. He had had another detention with Lockhart, which he had gotten because his last essay wasn't written well enough or something like that. He didn't really know why he had gotten the detention, but it didn't matter anyway for he couldn't do anything about them.

Harry's hands started to shake and his breath picked up as he thought of the previous night. He felt scared and just wanted to disappear. Maybe Dobby was right and he should have never gone back to Hogwarts, He thought as he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. It wasn't save for him here. He started rocking slightly and tears filled his eyes. But he couldn't go back to the Dursleys, they didn't treat him any better. He at least had his friends here, even if it felt like they were a thousand miles away. No, he couldn't leave. Even if he wanted to, he had nowhere to go. He was now full on crying, he felt so hopeless.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed the door opening until it was shut with a slight bang. It startled him and when he looked up he locked eyes with none other than Malfoy. Great! Harry thought, of all people Malfoy – Malfoy! – had to walk in on him in this state! He quickly stood up and tried to wipe the tears of his face without the other boy noticing, but of course his attempt was a failed one.

"What the hell are you doing here, Potter?" Draco sneered, "wait are you crying? how pathetic!"

Harry looked at the ground as his heart pounded in his chest. "Shut up Malfoy! Just leave me alone."

"What did someone forget to kiss the ground you walk on?" he said in a mockingly while crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Harry felt agitated at the closed door and wanted nothing more than for Malfoy to just leave. "What are you even doing here?"

"Peeves came after me with water balloons so I decided to hide out here," he shrugged "but I guess he'll have passed on to annoy others now. I'll just leave you here with your stupid self-pity, you're no fun anyway." He pushed himself of the wall and tried for the door, but it wouldn't budge. "What the hell" he said as he tried again, pressing his whole weight onto the door but it still wouldn't move.

Harry anxiously watched Malfoy try to open the door, the other boy was now trying every spell he knew for opening doors and such but none seemed to work. Slowly the realisation dawned on him. He was locked in a cupboard, again… Tears fell from his eyes again and his breath came in ragged gasps. He could feel himself slipping into his past when his aunt and uncle had locked him up in his cupboard, it always meant bad news when they really bolted the door. He slid down the wall returning to the position he had been in when Malfoy had entered. His whole body was now shaking as a flashback washed over him.

FLASHBACK

It was an important day for his uncle Vernon because he had an important meeting at work Harry knew as he had overheard them speaking of it last night. So he mustn't screw up today. The morning started as any other, he was woken up by the stumping on the stairs and a minute later he was let out of his cupboard. He was allowed two minutes in the bathroom before he had to make the them breakfast. He was making them omelette which he had done a million times. But today he felt slightly nervous, desperately hoping he wouldn't mess up. His hands were shaking and he felt a bit dizzy. He hadn't eaten much the past few days, as he was only ever allowed the left overs. He picked up a fourth egg, ready to split it over the bowl, when aunt Petunia cried out for him to hurry up. Jumping at this remark as he hadn't heard her coming into the kitchen, he dropped the egg and knocked over the bowl. Fear washed over him, as his aunt started to scream at him in anger. 'He was useless and a disgrace! How dare he ruin the breakfast on such an important day! It was his fault that his uncle would be late now!'

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" His aunt bellowed at him.

Harry was truly terrified now, "no, please, I'm sorry…please don't hurt me, I'm sorry" he stammered, but he knew it would be useless.

Vernon chose this moment to march into the living room, he had heard the commotion and demanded to know what happened and where his breakfast was. When he saw the broken glass of the bowl and the raw eggs on the ground, he understood. Without saying a word he strode over to Harry, who was cringing away, and roughly gripped his arm. Harry knew he would have bruises to show for it tomorrow, but he also knew that it wouldn't be the worst of his injuries. His uncle tripped him and pushed him on the sharp shards of the broken bowl. He felt the glass open his skin in several places, he hissed at the pain. However, as he had feared, his uncle wasn't done with him yet. He suffered several kicks in his stomach as he tried to curl into a protective ball. More cuts appeared on his body as he was pushed and kicked around in the fragments of glass.

He lay there helpless and defenceless, when his uncle pulled him up by his hair and dragged him to his cupboard. He was thrown in and the door closed with a loud bang. Vernon bolted the door, there was nowhere to escape now.

"This is not over yet, Boy!" His uncle hissed at him through the door, and he knew the next time that door would open it wouldn't be pleasant. Not even trying for the door as he knew it wouldn't open and there was no escape. All he could do now was wait for his punishment.