The Beach
Harry had always known the Dursleys hated him. That he was a no-good freak who burdened their family. But he'd never really thought that they would just leave him.
For once they'd brought him out to the beach, which they'd never done before. It should've been the first warning that something was off. He'd been distracted by all the water and the swan he'd glimpsed in the distance. Harry had never seen a swan before. Then he'd checked behind him to see if Dudley was getting ready to do something nasty to him and hadn't seen Dudley at all.
In fact, all of the Dursleys were gone. He checked the outhouse and the water. He looked down the trail to the beach then went down to the parking lot and found that the car was gone.
At first, Harry had thought it was all a cruel joke. Uncle Vernon sometimes liked to scare him a bit by leaving him somewhere far away from the house but he always came back. Or maybe Aunt Petunia had decided she didn't like to go swimming and forgot to take him back with them. She hardly ever remembered Harry when they went out for groceries. Or many she just didn't care. Harry had walked home from the grocer's quite a few times and Aunt Petunia had never seemed too worried.
After what Harry was sure had been a few hours of sitting alone in the parking lot Harry decided they must have abandoned him. They'd always talked about leaving him in an orphanage or dumping him off on someone else but Harry had never thought they would just leave him on a beach in the middle of nowhere.
Even though he knew they hated him, that they'd always hated him. That even his parents had hated him. It was dumb to think they would've kept him. The Dursleys had never been his family and Privet Drive had never been his home.
Harry wanted to be strong. He really did but even though he'd never loved them and they'd never loved him, Harry cried.
He cried and cried until he ran out of tears. Then he wiped his eyes and started to plan.
Harry walked back to the beach and found it empty. He wandered down the sandy shore, searching for something. It was already the evening. The sun was going down, slowly inching towards the watery horizon. He caught his foot in a beach towel that someone had left behind. It was pink with a mermaid on it. Dudley would've thrown a tantrum at having such a girly towel anywhere near him but Harry didn't mind. He shook the sand out of it and wrapped it around himself. He began walking again, kicking the sand up as he walked.
When the sun had began to dip further down, burn a brighter red and light the clouds and water with pink and purple, Harry watched in amazement for a moment before realizing he needed a place to sleep. He couldn't sleep on the beach, it was windy and the sand would lose it's heat after the sun went down. He searched through the bush around the shore before settling into a little mossy area surrounded by trees. He slowly laid down in the spongey moss and laid the pink towel over him. It soon became dark and Harry was very grateful for his towel. The mosquitos were biting but the towel seemed to keep some of them away. He swatted a few more bugs before giving up and falling into a restless sleep.
Harry woke up itchy. He was covered in bug bites. He brushed a few spiders off his towel and stood up to stretch. Harry's relieved himself behind a bush and grimaced as his stomach cramped with hunger. He'd had only a bit of toast for breakfast the day before and it looked like it was a few hours from noon now.
Harry didn't know what to do. Not at all. What were you supposed to do when your nasty relatives dropped you at a lake in the middle of a forest and didn't come back? Harry would've liked to think he could survive in the bush but he didn't know how to do anything, not start a fire or fish or anything. He'd probably just starve out here in the woods and nobody would notice. Nobody would miss the miscreant freak Harry Potter.
He sat down in the sand and buried his toes.
Maybe the Dursleys would come back?
He sprinkled sand onto his buried toes.
Probably not.
Or maybe they came back last night and he had already hidden away in the bush?
Harry groaned at the thought.
A spider caught his eye as it crept closer to his towel. It was big and spindly, like the ones that lived in his cupboard.
Harry missed his cupboard. It was always full of spiders, dust and was way too hot in the summer but at least there had been his blanket. The blue one that had his name on the corner. It was a baby blanket so it was far too small for Harry but he thinks his mum must've loved him a little to give him such a nice blanket.
Harry heard voices and perked up, maybe the Dursleys were back?
He slumped when he saw a dark-haired woman with a very tall blond man.
Harry continued burying himself in sand. He buried his legs then he laid down and started burying his chest. A shadow fell over him and Harry looked up to see the woman standing over him so he sat up.
"Hi. I'm Marlene. Are your parents nearby? How old are you?", She asked kneeling down beside him.
"I'm 8. My parents are dead.", Harry answered, not sure what this lady wanted.
"Oh. Well, are you here all alone, sweetie?", She asked.
"Yeah. My relatives didn't want me anymore so they left me here.", Harry said, looking at the tips of his toes that were peeking out from the sand.
"..are you sure? Maybe they don't know where you are. Are they camping nearby? You can use my phone. What's your guardian's number?", The woman said, already taking out her phone.
Harry didn't know what to do. The lady didn't believe that the Dursleys had abandoned him and Harry was hungry enough that he wanted to go back. So Harry recited the Dursleys number and Marlene dialed the number.
She handed him the phone and Harry rubbed his fingers against his towel nervously.
The phone stopped ringing.
"Hello. Who is this?", A soft, smooth voice asked.
Harry stalled. This wasn't anyone Harry knew. Had he given her the wrong number? He lifted the phone away from his ear to read the number.
It was right.
"Hi… um. Are you one of Uncle Vernon's friends?", Harry asked hesitantly.
"Is this Harry Potter?", The voice asked.
"Yeah..", He replied.
"I'm your mother's friend. Can you tell me where you are.", The man asked but really it sounded like an order.
"At the beach.", Harry said.
"At which beach? I can pick you up.", The voice asked urgently.
"I don't know. Are you really my mom's friend?", Harry asked.
The other person huffed.
"Yes. I need to know where you are Harry. Something has happened.", The voice said.
"Ma'am, what's the beach called?", Harry asked Marlene.
"Um, It's one of the beaches on Warbler Lake. West Cove, I believe.", She answered.
"The lady says that it's West Cove on Warbler Lake… ", Harry said into the phone.
"What lady?", The voice asked sharply.
"The nice lady at the beach. She says her name's Marlene.", Harry answered.
"Ah. Well, Harry. I'll be there soon. Don't move.", The man said.
"Wait!!", Harry shrieked.
"What?", The voice asked sounding irritated. Harry winced.
".. what's your name?", Harry asked quietly.
A sigh came, "My name is Severus Snape.".