One in a Million

The Fire

Harry's POV:

I boarded the Hogwarts Express, dragging my trunk behind me. The Scarlett steam engine immediately helped me relax, but then I remembered my friends and I tensed once more.

I hadn't seen Ron or Hermione all Summer and it had taken its toll. Being trapped at Privet Drive seemed worse this year than it had for the first eleven years of my life.

First of all, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were angry at me for getting Dudley in trouble last Summer. I would have thought they would have gotten over the dementor attack over the course of a year, but apparently one of the things the Dursleys are best at is holding grudges. And they make their grudges known.

Uncle Vernon locked me in the cupboard under the stairs for the first month, saying that I deserved what I got and that I should appreciate that he didn't kick me out on my scrawny little arse. I honestly thought that was more desirable.

Since I had grown a lot, I barely fit in the cupboard. I couldn't stretch out and I couldn't even sit up without my head hitting the bottom of the stairs.

The spiders down there still didn't creep me out though. I figured since I had faced Aragog and his entire family, I could handle a few Daddy Long Legs, which, let's face it, just sounds kinky.

After a month though, they got tired of having to unlock the door to let me use the bathroom and give me the little amount of soup that they did, so they let me out.

I wasn't allowed to leave the house, so I basically spent all Summer in my room.

The had let Hedwig go because they didn't want to take care of her, but they also had closed and locked my bedroom window so she couldn't come in and sleep. I missed her a lot.

During the time I was locked in my cupboard without distraction, my mind kept going to Sirius. I hated myself for being so incredibly stupid at the Ministry. Of course they hadn't taken him! Of course it was a trap! Hermione was right. I was just 'playing the hero'.

But Sirius is alive. Barely. It made my heart soar when we were able to get him back. He's currently in St. Mungo's, completely unconscious and unresponsive, but as long as the machines at his bedside are still beeping, I'm not out of hope.

I know they will find something to get him awake again. The curse Bellatrix had used wasn't a killing curse, but it had made Sirius' heart very, very weak. That's what the Healers are trying to reverse now. They're trying to make it strong again.

Moony has been sitting by his bedside all day every day. I wish I could have gone to visit him and give him a break, but the Dursleys forbade me from leaving. I would have grabbed my broom and left as soon as I could, except for they had locked away my broom and everything else once again.

It honestly did feel like I was back in Second Year. Except this time no flying car at the window came to save me. I had to do what the trio does best. Save ourselves.

When August 31st came around, I walked down the stairs and demanded for my Uncle to free my broomstick from the cupboard where he had locked it away.

"And who do you think you are to be giving me orders, boy?" He yelled at me, his big purple face just inches from my own.

"The boy who can turn you and your entire miserable family into toads if you upset me. The boy who can make you blow up and float around on the ceiling all night! Or did you forget what happened to Aunt Marge? I would have thought my saving your son from bloody dementors would have earned your favor at least a bit, but now I see that nothing ever will, so I'm going to stop trying. I'm going to give you to the count of three, otherwise I will leave this place in ashes." Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia both looked shocked, frightened, and enraged.

I was so tired of doing everything to please them. To keep myself out of trouble. By now I knew that nothing I did would ever make them happy, so I stopped trying to. I was done being kept locked away like some criminal. I would be going back to Hogwarts, whether they let me go willingly or not.

"One."

I saw Uncle Vernon's beady little eyes flash to the cupboard. The kettle on the pot started to whistle, even though I knew there was no water in it. Aunt Petunia eyed it fearfully.

"Two."

All of the burners on the stove turned on and sparks started flying out of the television.

I wasn't sure how I was doing it, but I was. And I knew if they didn't stop me I would be in serious trouble with the Ministry, but I wasn't thinking. I felt anger building up in me, ready to explode.

"Three."

The flames from the stove jumped off and started spreading to the counter and cabinets. The sparks from the televisions around the house jumped around and lit the carpet and dining table on fire.

Aunt Petunia screamed and Uncle Vernon shouted at me to quit it, but I just looked him dead in the eye, waiting for his response.

"I've had enough of your shit. It's a yes or a no. If it's a no, be prepared to say goodbye to your house. Good thing Diddydums is with his friends, isn't it?"

I don't know what came over me. Suddenly I didn't care if they were hurt or not. I wanted them to be hurt. I wanted them to feel the pain I had felt for sixteen years under their rule. This was my chance and I was going to take it.

"Enough! Yes! Yes! Just stop it!" Uncle Vernon bellowed.

The flames immediately went away and I smirked at him.

"That freak school is never going to take you now. But you will have nowhere to go. You definitely won't have this place to come back to."

I just smirked as I grabbed Uncle Vernon's key and walked over to the cupboard. "It's not like it was ever home anyways."