To Be Set Free by Merrinpippy

Chapter 1: i'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Summary:

Harry receives a letter. Tom receives some bad news.

The day started, as days usually do, with breakfast. If Harry Potter's parents hadn't died in a carriage crash when he was a baby, he might have been eating said breakfast, but Lily and James Potter had died, and so Harry was making breakfast for the Dursleys instead. As he always did, he accidentally made a little bit too much so that he could eat the leftovers later, seeing as the Dursleys hadn't let him eat with them since he was very young. The Dursleys knew about this, but didn't stop him as long as he finished every other chore they gave him first.

After the drama of his parents' deaths had died down, and superstitions of dark wizards (a fairytale created to help Harry cope with the deaths of his loved ones, the villagers said) all but disappeared, Harry himself passed into anonymity except when someone commented on how generous Vernon and Petunia Dursley were, raising Harry alongside their own child. And if Harry wasn't seen outside the house quite as often as Dudley, good on the Dursleys for letting him mourn and keep to himself. And if Harry, when he was seen, had dirt on his face and clothes and a resigned look about him, how brave he was for just getting on with it and busying himself instead of moping.

What the villagers didn't comment on, because they simply didn't know, was that from the time Harry was able to walk and talk he was made to do all the chores he could, until he became like a servant to the family. Dudley himself barely remembered that they were cousins, and although Harry did, he wouldn't dare tell him. Years later, the Harry they had spoken of was long forgotten, replaced in their memory as the young man who had served the Dursleys for years.

Living with the Dursleys took its toll on Harry. For one, he had mastered the ability to blend into the shadows for his own safety, and he drastically fluctuated between strong for having done so much physical labour and weak from near-starvation (being threatened with no meals for anything they perceived he had done wrong didn't help that). He lived in the cupboard under the stairs, despite the family living in a mansion, and it was a testament to his silent will that he didn't buckle under the strain of the house and its responsibilities.

"Comb your hair," Uncle Vernon greeted him as Harry brought them breakfast that morning. Harry made no attempt to do so; his hair was always messy and that was unchangeable.

"Tidy your clothes, they look awful! What have you been doing to them?" Aunt Petunia said, conveniently ignoring the fact that all of Harry's clothes had been supplied by the Dursleys (see: given to him when they got too small for Dudley and wouldn't make money if sold).

"Get that soot off your face," added Dudley, smirking. Well, it wasn't Harry's fault that the cupboard was the one place Harry wasn't permitted to clean.

He was used to this, though. Every morning was a different set of complaints. He soon became part of the scenery, refilling glasses and serving more food when necessary to avoid rebuke.

When breakfast was done, it was time for chores.

"The stairs and the foyer must be spotless this time, boy, I'm warning you- I could tell Dolores noticed last time, and if you cost us friends in high places there'll be hell to pay," Aunt Petunia told him after he'd cleared the plates and cleaned the table.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," came Harry's monotonous reply.

"After you're done you come report to me. If I deem it satisfactory, I have more for you to do. Do not report to me until the floors are like mirrors, understand?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Aunt Petunia sneered and left Harry in the large foyer with a bucket of soapy water and a mop. The foyer itself was a large square that the front door led into, with blue-tiled floored and rich wooden doors to the left and right of the room. Across from the front door, the large staircase rose with the same tiles as the floor, and underneath that staircase was Harry's home.