The Dursley's Rules
For the first time in her short life, Hariel Potter was terrified.
It was all her fault. Instead of standing and taking a beating like she should have, she ran. Instead of letting them catch her, she tried too hard. Instead of accepting what should have happened, she used her freakishness.
She had broken the spoken and unspoken rules of the Dursleys.
She was three.
Dudley had taken to hitting her with his rattle. She had screamed and wailed for him to stop. She had hoped that any second, Aunt Petunia would come in and take the rattle away.
Minutes passed. She kept wailing.
Eventually, Aunt Petunia did come in. She looked rather annoyed. She walked over to the crib and her long neck craned down right in front of Hariel's face.
"Stop right now you freak. I refuse to listen to you whining!"
She didn't say
"Dudley, you stop hitting her."
Or even
"Do I have to separate you two?!"
She simply didn't care about Hariel. So Hariel learned her second Dursley rule.
Adults don't care who did it, just that whomever is making noise is silenced.
Of course, she didn't know this applied to all adults until preschool, but that's a different story.
She was five and affection starved.
She had been working very hard today, and even made extra bacon for breakfast. Then, she did it....
She called Aunt Petunia 'Mum'.
Instantly, all motion stilled. To Hariel, it didn't make sense. After all, Dudley had called her 'Mum' just seconds before, and it wasn't a big deal then. But then, she looked up to Aunt Petunia's eyes. They were filled with seething hatred.
"What did you call me Freak?" Her voice was deadly calm.
"I... Uh, I said... Could I g-go to the ba-bathroom..... mum?"
Within seconds, Petunia was in a rage.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL FREAK! YOU'RE LUCKY WE KEPT YOU! I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO VERNON AND DROWNED YOU AS A BABY! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH DISRESPECT FROM YOU!"
As she shouted, Hariel started crying. Silent, blurry tears. The kind you cry when you felt hope, and had it utterly crushed. The torrent of yelling went on for several minutes. Then, Dudley spoke up. He loudly bemoaned his lack of snacks.
Instantly, Petunia stopped shouting and smiled at Dudley, assuring him she would get him some in just a second (as soon as she was done dealing with the Freak). It didn't have the desired effect. Dudley started bawling, whining, shouting about how he was sooooo hungry and that the Freak had more of her attention than he did. It was a typical Dudley tantrum but it worked like a charm. Petunia simpered at him, stroked his face and placed a decidedly dry kiss on his forehead. She forgot about Hariel and focused completely on her son. After a few seconds of her full attention, Dudley calmed. She took the time to shoot Hariel a scathing look that said 'This isn't the end of this', and departed for the kitchen.
That night, as Uncle Vernon brought down his belt on her back for the seventh time, the fifth Dursley rule sunk in.
People will always like Dudley more than you. Do not expect differently or try to change this.
She was six and very tired.
The day before, Aunt Petunia sent her out to weed the entire garden and, while she did like working outside, she had never done it for so long. It was late evening when she finished. The sun had been setting and it left a dusky pink trail behind it. The clouds were golden with deep blue shadows above them. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, just when she finished and stopped to admire it, Aunt Petunia came out.
"Hariel!" She screeched.
(They only called her freak when the neighbors couldn't overhear or when they were too angry to care. In fact, the first time she learned her name was Hariel was on a shopping trip when she was three and a half. Aunt Petunia had been forced to take her as Mrs. Figg from three doors down had the flu and Uncle Vernon was at work. Dudley had thrown three separate tantrums for that event. One for the fact that he was going, Two for the fact that the Freak was going, and Three for the trip to the store.
While in the vegetable isle, Hariel had started softly whimpering while Dudley pulled her hair. As the first rule wasn't concrete in her brain yet, it eventually became fussing. Then Aunt Petunia stepped in with a sharp tone.
"Hariel, be quiet." It wasn't shouted and didn't even sound mean.
Both Hariel and Dudley stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Dudley was the first to speak.
"Mum, whose Hariel?" Aunt Petunia fiddled with a bag of carrots. Deciding whether to get them for soup or not. She replied with a clipped. "She is."
"Who"
"She is."
"Who?"
"The Freak." She harshly whispered. Surprised by the tone, Dudley pouted. Instantly, Aunt Petunia was apologetic. She quickly abandoned the carrots and hugged Dudley to her thin chest. "Oh my poor widdle Dudley-kins, I didn't mean to snap at you." She glared at the newly named Hariel. "Get used to the name. We will use it in public, but know you are still the Freak." And that was the end of it.)
"Hariel, what are you doing girl?!"
Caught up in her thoughts, Hariel had stared off into the sky for several seconds.
"Can't you finish a simple job? You're utterly useless, you are!" Hariel opened her mouth to protest but Aunt Petunia beat her to it. "No matter, off to bed with you, Uncle Vernon has already gone to sleep and I won't be waking him. You will face your punishment after chores tomorrow." Finished, she turned around and marched back to the house, craning her neck to check that the neighbors were all inside.
Therefore, the next day, Hariel was plain exhausted and scared. She knew how bad Uncle Vernon's punishments were and she still had a long list of chores to do. Currently, she was dusting the china cabinet. In a stupor, she momentarily leaned on the top of the rickety frame.
CRASH!
Aunt Petunia heard the noise and rounded the corner at her fastest speed walk. As she suspected, a now wide awake Freak stood over the remains of the best china that her mother had given her. Before she could think the words were already falling out of her mouth.
"Just like Lily to ruin all I love in thi-" she slapped a hand over her mouth. What was she thinking?! Thankfully, the Freak was petrified, staring at the broken china in horror.
"Girl!!! What have you done?" The Freak turned towards her still in shock.
"I'd have thought that obvious Aunt Petunia." As soon as the words left her mouth, both Aunt Petunia and Hariel responded. Hariel shut her mouth and pressed her lips together so tightly they turned white. Her eyes widened and her face greyed. She froze. Aunt Petunia, on the other hand, smiled. A cruel, vicious slash across her face.
"Oooh I'll get you for that one Freak. Uncle Vernon is home in an hour and this, the broken china, and the gardening yesterday might just add up to something special."
Hariel looked up in fear. Aunt Petunia's eyes were alight. They burned with unholy fire. A look of promise and punishment.
Without consulting her, her feet had taken off. She was out the door and into the street before she could process it. She ran all the way to the park. She finally stopped just inside the treeline of the small forest near thy playground. She curled into a ball and cried the tears of a girl conditioned to be silent.
She stayed there for the rest of that day and the two days after that. She stayed out of the populated part and ate grass and leaves. She had no idea which berries were poisonous and which weren't. It wasn't like she was unused to starving anyway. She knew it wouldn't... couldn't, last.
She returned to #4 Privet Drive in the evening, ashamed. Ashamed, starving and very, very afraid. When she got to the door, Aunt Petunia smiled at her. In the kitchen, Dudley sneered. She wasn't allowed a shower, or food. She was only told that she had to clean up any mess she and Uncle Vernon made by two o'clock tomorrow. When Vernon arrived home, Aunt Petunia took Dudley out for ice cream, a hotel, and a theme park the next day.
So, Hariel learned her eighth Dursley rule.
"This better teach you girl," Vernon calmly said from where he stood over her sobbing form, belt missing from his pants. "You can't outrun punishment, you'll only make it worse... For yourself."
He smiled.