The Slytherin Queen

The Girl in the Attic

When someone imagines family, they think of a loving mother and father, and maybe if you're lucky, you get a brother or a sister thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that. All I have is an abusive aunt and uncle, an incredibly stupid cousin, and a brother who hates me.

So, of course, it was normal for Aunt Petunia to wake me up at 7 o'clock sharp by banging her broom on the attic entrance. I wasn't a morning person, so I struggled to leave the warm embrace of my blankets, but I sat up, not wanting to anger her, and proceeded to fall on my face from the blankets. I quickly threw on a pair of Dudley's old clothes as Aunt Petunia banged on the attic again, growing impatient. I let down the latter, sadly missing my aunt's big head.

"Freak, go help your brother with breakfast. I want everything perfect for my Diddykins birthday! Then go start your chores," she said, scowling at my presence. I rolled my eyes. It's not like I wanted to be here either.

After living with me for ten years, you would think she would realize I was an awful cook. I must have been standing at the top of the stairs too long because the next thing I know, a pair of hands are pushing me, and I'm falling headfirst down the flight of stairs. Someone howled with laughter above me as my head connected with the stairs. I rolled down a few more steps and landed on the tile with a thud and a groan.

I picked myself off the ground and spun around to glare at the culprit: Dudley Dursley. I resisted the urge to bash his head against the wall as he stood before me.

"Don't you have something to say to me, freak?" Dudley asked confidently. I let out a huff, knowing nothing good would come from me ignoring him.

"Happy Birthday, cousin," I muttered. He puffed out his chest in pride and waddled towards the kitchen. I sighed and followed after him to help Harry.

Inside the kitchen, Harry was hovering over the stove, making eggs and bacon. He glanced over at me as I stood beside him, ready to attempt to make pancakes. He quickly turned away from me, not saying a word. Harry has recently decided that he is going to start hating me. I wasn't sure the reasons other than he was stuck living in a cramped cupboard, and I had a spacious attic. Another reason was that Dudley's gang had stopped trying to hurt me. If Harry opened his eyes, he would see that they were constantly flirting with me, which in my opinion, was worse than being chased for two blocks. It frustrated me that he stopped treating me like a sister over matters I had no control over.

While I was on my third attempt at pancakes, Dudley threw a fit over the lack of presents. I scoffed, hearing his sobs. The spoiled prick should be grateful he even got gifts. All I ever got was a plastic fork, which I chose to constantly poke Dudley with. Unfortunately, Vernon slapped me and took away my only entertainment. Of course, I got necessities, but that was after much begging and agreeing not to be such a pain, not that I kept my word. If I was going to be miserable, at least I would enjoy it.

Aunt Petunia walked into the room with a frown. "Bad news Vernon, Ms. Figg broke her leg. She can't take them."

I tuned out the rest of the conversation to focus on not burning my third attempt at pancakes. The Dursleys drop Harry and me off at Ms. Figg's every year so they can go out and celebrate Dudley's birthday. I hated it there. She always made us sit on her old, lumpy couch and look through photos of her hairless, ugly cats. In my opinion, they all looked like tall rats.

Harry would always sit and listen like the golden boy, but since I'm not a little golden girl, I always sneak out the window to go to the park. Ms. Figg was practically blind, so it wasn't like she would catch me anyways.

I returned back to the real world to hear Harry suggest that they could leave us here. I scoffed. Never in a million years would they allow that. Aunt Petunia looked scandalized at the idea.

"And have the house in ruins?" She snarled.

"I won't blow up the house," Harry said, but he was ignored as usual.

"I would," I mumbled. I had a slight addiction to fire, which ended in a three-day school suspension, but we don't talk about that.

I put the plates on the table and walked back to the kitchen, watching in envy as Harry and the others sat at the table eating the food I helped prepare. Harry looked at me in hesitation before glancing down at his small meal before glancing back at me. I gave him a small nod.

Last night as punishment for talking back, Vernon had forbidden me from eating until dinner, and I was only allowed scrapes. My guess is they would purposely ensure that there were no leftovers for me to claim. I silently slipped from the room but not before grabbing the piece of bacon that Harry had left on the counter for me. He may not like me anymore, but at least he didn't want to see me starve.

I climbed up the latter, only wincing slightly, and saw a sleeping girl in my bed snoring loudly. Now you may be asking yourself, why is there a girl sleeping in your attic with you? I've been asking myself that for years.

I rolled my eyes. It's a wonder that no one knows she's up here, I thought to myself. I walked over to the small bed we shared and ripped the covers from her petite body.

"Selena, wake up!" I said, shaking her. She only snored louder. I kept shaking her, but she still wouldn't budge. I smirked, an idea forming in my head.

I leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I guess I'll have to eat all this chocolate by myself."

Selena immediately shot up as if an ice bucket had been dumped on her. She looked around, eager to find the supposed chocolate. I laughed when she realized that there was none. She scowled until she spotted the bacon in my hand. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at me.

"Happy Birthday!" I said, excitement dripping from my voice. She was finally eleven, and we both knew what that meant. I handed her the single piece of bacon that was supposed to be my breakfast.

"Did you eat?" She asked quietly. She didn't take the bacon. It wouldn't be the first time that I had tried to lie to her to ensure she was able to eat too.

"I had a piece of toast downstairs," I lied, hoping she would believe it this time. Selena continued to stare at me, searching for lies. When she failed to spot one she took the bacon and bit into it.

I felt a twinge of guilt for lying to my best friend, but it was for the best. Selena would worry about me if she found out the full extent of the abuse. She thought it had stopped for the most part. She had always been protective of me since she found me bleeding out in the park.

I heard Aunt Petunia yelling at me from downstairs to start my chores, so I quickly put on my shoes and walked towards the latter, but a green hoodie was thrown at my head. I turned to look at Selena, wondering why she threw a hoodie at me and where she got it.

"It's cold outside, and don't ask questions," She said before I could utter a word. I rolled my eyes at her and put it on. I didn't argue that it was June and nearly summer, knowing it was useless.

I climbed down the stairs checking the chore list. Today I had to weed the garden, clean the windows, including the second-story windows, too somehow, sweep the floor, go buy groceries and still make it back in time to help prepare dinner. While all Harry had to do was dust, do the dishes, and the laundry. I rolled my eyes at the thought of Harry getting work in the air conditioning all day. If the Dursleys didn't hate Harry and me equally, I would almost think Harry was their favorite.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I scowled, seeing Dudley's best friend Pier the rat smiling at me. He moved to walk towards me, but Aunt Petunia ushered him and Dudley out the front door. That was one of the only moments I had ever been thankful for my aunt.

My happiness was short-lived as I felt someone grab me by the back of the hoodie, yanking me to the front door. I could tell it was Vernon. I attempted to glare at him, but I couldn't actually see him since he was dragging me backward, causing me to borderline choke. He let go before any of the neighbors could catch him dragging his niece around like a dog.

"Girl, get in the car! We're going to the zoo." Vernon said. I nodded, rubbing my neck. Hopefully, today will actually be a good day.