"GET UP!" The voice shouted. I stayed where I was hiding in the little corner which only me and my brother knew about. "IF YOU DON'T COME OUT YOU'LL BE PUT THOUGH PAIN!" I stayed where I was hoping they'd leave me alone. "MELISSA!" My name was repeatedly called. The stair cupboard door opened so I crawled deeper into the hole. "She's not even here." The door slammed shut. "WHEN I FIND YOU YOU'LL BE IN HELL!" I crawled out the hole a little and sat down, I was getting hungry so I had to come out soon. I didn't have dinner yesterday because Dudley's pillow wasn't in the right spot and he had caused a massive fuss about it. I hope they don't give me the belt.
"Honey Bee." My brother whispered, he gave me the nickname Honey Bee as when he couldn't say my name and apparently it's easier to say, mum also called me Honey Bee when she was still alive according to our Aunt. "Are you here?"
"Yes." I whispered back so quietly only he could hear. My voice was dry and cracked from the lack of water.
"I can give you a distraction, you can escape for a while and sort this out, it'll be okay, I promise." I crawled out the hole and on top of my bed.
"Thank you Harry." He left the cupboard and walked into the kitchen diner. I don't know what he did but I managed to leave the house grab the shopping that I had hidden the night before and walk back in. For some reason, I knew that I had to make sure I left a bag of shopping outside yesterday. "I GOT THE SHOPPING!" I walked into the kitchen and started to put the stuff away.
"I DON'T CARE IF YOUR FOREHEAD IS ON FIRE YOU DON'T RUN IN HERE ASKING FOR DRUGS!" I looked in the living room still carrying a packet of Cheerio's. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Uncle Vernon shouted at me.
"Getting the shopping like I'm meant to. I got your coffee with the gold strip not the blue and the bacon with the fat left on. I had to ask the man though because I didn't understand what the difference was." I walked back into the kitchen and started to put everything away.
"Get back into your cupboard Harry, and Melissa never leave the house without telling us again." My aunt said as Vernon dragged Harry into the cupboard. He gave me a little wink though, Harry, as he was being dragged away. Our plan had worked, we were both out of trouble.
"MUM I WANT BACON, EGGS AND PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST!" Dudley shouted from his room, he boasts every day that he has a room while Harry and I have to share a cupboard under the stairs. Sometimes I felt like Cinderella, Harry and I had learnt how to read by constantly repeating that story to each other, and I hoped that one day I'd have my Prince Charming sweep me off my feet.
"Melissa you heard him start making his breakfast and I want my coffee." This is always happening, I get shouted at so I hide then I do something that makes them forget about the thing I did before...then I make breakfast and when they leave I make breakfast for me and Harry then I start on dinner.
"Which cup do you want your coffee in?" I asked putting the kettle on and started to fry the bacon, eggs and put the pancakes in the oven. I had learnt how to cook last year, my aunt told me it was a women's duty to cook and clean. So, in her old clothes, I had learnt how to: fry food, make coffee; take out the trash; de-weed the garden and do the laundry.
"The blue one, make it two sugars." I was good at multitasking, not that anyone noticed. "Hurry up."
"Here's your coffee. DUDLEY I HAVE YOUR BREAKFAST!" I shouted up the stairs after giving Vernon his coffee. I plated everything up and put the ketchup on the table. He came charging down, knocking me over onto the floor, sat down and started eating without saying thank you. I didn't expect it but it would be nice to have one. But I'm just a stupid little girl with no place in the world.
"We are going out today and Mrs Figg can't watch over you so I want dinner made and cooking when we get back at 5 and dinner will be at 5:30. You have school tomorrow so I want lunch made for tomorrow for all of us, the bathroom needs cleaning as well as the hall, the garden needs de-weededing and Dudley's clothes need ironing and put away. Anything else?" Petunia said looking at the rest of the family for ideas to make us work. They just loved to torture us.
"The T.V's broken!" Dudley said with his mouth full of food.
"You need to press the button on the T.V then it'll turn on." I quickly said.
"Don't get smart with us," Vernon threatened. "The stray dog keeps on coming back so make sure it doesn't, also I want you and Harry cleaned up before we get back." They take about an hour to get ready and finish breakfast. They walked out the door leaving me and Harry alone.
"You okay in there?" I asked unlocking the door, making sure my plats don't get stuck in the door.
"Yeah, how are we gonna do all that?" Harry asked eating the breakfast I made for him.
"Dinner I made yesterday so at quarter to 5 I can put that in the oven, lunch will be crisps and sweets which is easy. When the washing machine has finished, one of us can do the ironing and put it in Dudley's wardrobe, when I'm de-weeding the garden I can talk to the dog. We quickly do the hall and bathroom after we clean ourselves up."
"Wow, you planed that in two minutes." I nodded.
"We keep our heads down and do what we're meant to nothing will happen." I started to get Dudley's favourite lunch and put them in his lunch box. "Petunia likes salad for lunch so open the packet of salad in the fridge and put it in a pot."
"How do you know these things?" Harry asked.
"You know when you went away for the week with the school?" He nodded I rolled up my sleeves and showed him the deep wounds I had from the belt. "You pick things up."
"Who in their right minds leave two 6 year olds home alone?" I looked at him. "I know the Dursley's aren't in their right minds." I gave him the 'much better' look. "I think that dog's old."
"It's cute and a Maltese, Harry. It's our birthday soon!" I pointed out.
"I'm still older."
"By an hour."
"Still older."
"You're a doodyhead."
"Thank you honey bee."
I heard a ding.
"Washing's done." I pulled everything out the washing machine and into a basket. "Make Vernon's lunch, he likes pork pies and the stuff in the brown bag over there." I started to iron everything and fold it and place it in piles. It was 1pm, four more hours and we had finished lunch, dinner, washing and putting everything away.
"I've noticed something Honey Bee."
"What?"
"You look nothing like mum or dad."
"What do you mean? I found a worm!" I shouted, holding up the worm to show Harry before gently placing it down into the ground again. We were de-weeding the garden and it was very exciting.
"Mum had red hair and dad had black, you have chocolate-brown and brown eyes. Mum had green and dad had hazel."
"I'm still your sister. It's the dog." I ran over to the mini white Maltese. "Hello." It barked. "You can only come when the mean people are out okay." The dog nodded.
"Why do animals understand you?" Harry asked.
"Dunno I must be a freak."
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A/N
Hey guys, so I'm editing Honey Bee right now and I'll be adding a few facts at the bottom to make things a little clearer! You'll know what's been edited as it'll come up as Chapter 1, Chapter 2 etc...
So first fact:
Melissa (aged 6) can only understand animals as it's her first sign of magic! Later in life she'll lose this ability! :)