three; WHERE THE DOOR IS

"Thanks for the ride, Mrs Warner," Daisy exclaimed with a wide smile as she exited the vehicle and pulled her rucksack with her, throwing the bag over her shoulder.

"No trouble, dear." Mrs Warner responded happily, "Tell your sister I said thank you for that recipe!"

"Will do." She promised while she waved at Emmy who returned the gesture with a sleepy smile as she tried to hide how tired she was from her stepmother who had already playfully scolded the two girls about the importance of sleeping, especially during school holiday trips.

Mrs Warner sent her another grin before she pulled out of the driveway and drove out of Privet Drive with a parting toot of the horn of her car and when the green vehicle disappeared from her sight, Daisy yawned loudly and turned to walk towards her home.

Nothing about the street changed in the week that the sixteen-year-old had been away on a trip that her school had planned, not that she had really expected it because the houses on the street had all remained the same in the four years that Daisy had lived there: unnervingly boring.

Quickly fishing the house key from her pocket, Daisy slid it into the lock and twisted, smiling excitedly to herself when she heard the faint click and she quickly pulled the wooden door open and stepped over the threshold.

As she hadn't seen her brother-in-law's car out front, she plopped her bag into the tiled floor loudly, "I'm back."

Her voice was loud as she peered about the large home and she smiled to herself when she heard the sound of small feet pattering above her and it widened when Dudley appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Aunt Daisy!" He squealed loudly as he carefully threaded down the stairs, clearly remembering her warning from a few weeks earlier.

Daisy met him at the bottom, she laughed to herself when he threw himself at her and she grunted as she heaved him up onto her hip but she quickly plastered a smile over her frown before he could notice the negative change in her behaviour.

"How are you, handsome?" Daisy asked with a smile as he pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek in greeting.

"Good, I got a new toy." He exclaimed loudly, giggling when she gasped dramatically.

"Oh, you did?" She questioned in a faux shock and without allowing the grin to melt from her face, she placed her nephew back onto the ground, "You'll have to show me later."

"I will, I will." He told her quickly as he nodded his head wildly, "Promise."

"It's a date." She exclaimed as she tapped his nose, her smile widening when he scrunched it up and swatted at her hand, "Okay, now where is your cousin?"

"Daddy locked him in his room for being naughty," Dudley answered her quickly and frowned when her smile faded.

He loved his aunt's smile, it made him happy.

"Thanks, sweetheart." She kissed his cheek and when she started to walk up the staircase to get to her bedroom in order to go and see her other nephew, Dudley spoke again, not having moved from where he had been placed down.

"His new room." He corrected, "Daddy gave him a new room for his birthday last week."

Confused and a tad on edge because her brother-in-law didn't give Harry presents, Daisy turned back to where her eldest nephew stood, "What new room, love?"

Dudley peered around quickly before he pointed at the stairs below Daisy's feet and she stared at him in question for a moment before she pieced together what he meant and felt as though she'd been hit in the face with a brick.

Quickly, she walked back down the stairs and onto the first-floor landing, skirting around her blonde nephew who frowned at the look on her face, "I'm sorry, Aunt Daisy."

"I'm not mad at you, love." She called back to him as she stopped in front of the white door and inspected it, frowning deeply when she noticed the vent in the door that had had been closed for the first time ever as well as the sliding and chain locks that hadn't been there when she had left for her trip a week earlier.

With dread coiling in her stomach, Daisy unlocked the door with shaky hands and when she pulled the door open, she felt the all too familiar sting of tears behind her eyes when she was faced with her nephew who already looked tearful as he squinted up at her due to the sudden brightness after spending who knows how long sitting along in the dark cupboard.

"Hi, Aunt Daisy." He whispered when he finally realised who was standing in the doorway.

Horrified, Daisy forgot her promise of never showing either of her nephew's how sad she was sometimes and allowed a quiet sob to pass her lips as she gathered the skinny four-year-old in her arms and hugged him tightly, a few tears sliding down her cheeks as he returned the embrace as tightly as he could with his little arms.

"I just wanted some more breakfast." He said softly and Daisy choked back a tearful cry as she tightened her hold.

"It's okay, I'll make you something to eat." She whispered, ignoring the way her voice broke as he snuggled his face into her neck.

"Thank you." He murmured as she unwillingly broke the embrace and looked at the boy, attempting to muster up a smile when he cupped her cheek with his small hand and wiped at her tears, "Please don't go away again, I'll be good, I promise."

"Absolutely never again, love." She swore to him, "I'll always be here to protect you."

✦❀✦

Daisy had never been more furious in her entire life.

After placing the television on and making her nephews a few sandwiches each to eat, she and gone upstairs and screamed herself hoarse at her sister who had nothing of value or any words to defend herself with, not that Daisy would have accepted a single excuse from her.

There was absolutely no reason to lock a child in a cupboard, Daisy was sixteen and she somehow knew that better than her sister who was ten years her elder and had been raising three children.

When Vernon returned home from work that night, Daisy was angrier than Petunia had ever seen her, especially after she had to put Harry back into the cupboard so not as to have him angry at the child. Thankfully, he hadn't been in there for very long as Vernon had let him out almost immediately after getting home and ordered him to help Daisy with dinner as it was her turn to cook, with the two whispering amongst themselves so Vernon wouldn't hear them from the lounge.

"Have any stories about your trip?" He grunted after he had sent Dudley and Harry to wash up and get ready for bed once they had all eaten and Harry had helped Daisy with the dishes.

"No." She shook her head as she placed a glass back into the drawer, "Have any stories about locking a four-year-old in a cupboard as punishment?"

A small squeak passed Petunia's lips as she stared at her younger sister with wide eyes as the girl watched her brother's reddening face with hard eyes that were sparking with her rage, a calm contrast to her blank features.

"You informed me that the boy needed his own room." Vernon was barely able to get out before Daisy was speaking, her tone harsh but barely above a whisper.

"I said he needed his own room, not a bloody broom cupboard." She spat out at him venomously, "This is a four-room house, we take up three of those rooms, why isn't he allowed the fourth before you so disgustingly throw him into a cupboard?"

"Where would Marge sleep when she stays here?" Vernon spluttered out, the vein in his forehead slowly beginning to throb as his face turned from red to purple in anger.

"The horrid bitch stays here for a week once a year." Daisy exclaimed as she looked at him incredulously, "She can sleep in my room when she stays or Harry could bunk with me!"

"How dare you dare talk about my sister that way!" Vernon shouted and Petunia gasped when he stood quickly, his chair clattering to the floor as pointed a finger at the teenager who rose an eyebrow in challenge.

"How dare you treat my nephew as though he is less than human." She countered angrily, "If you and Petunia died, how would you feel if Lily was forced to take in Dudley and she locked him in a cupboard and made him feel unloved? You would be heartbroken."

"That freak wouldn't be taking care of my son if we did!" Vernon roared as Petunia stared down at the table she was still seated at.

Daisy flinched at the word Vernon had used for her sister but she stood her ground, "If she had to take Dudley in, if the roles were reversed, she would love your son and shower him with love and attention and she would die before ever even thinking about allowing his room to be the cupboard beneath the stairs, and you both know it, she wouldn't care if he was different."

"That's enough, I forbid you to say another word about her." Vernon spat, slamming his fist down on the table and making to the two sister's flinch at the sound, "If you have a problem with where the boy sleeps, you know where the door is."

Daisy stared at Vernon in utter disgust but didn't move a single step, not because Petunia was shaking her head slowly. She could pack her bags and walk right out that door, sure, she could walk five blocks to her best friend's house and Emmy and her parents would welcome her with open arms, she knew this because Emmy had once told her so.

But, she wouldn't be able to take Harry with her.

Emmy's stepmother had once told her that she and Harry were welcome to stay with her as long as they needed, but Daisy was sixteen, she couldn't legally take Harry and even if she did, Vernon would call the police, not because he cared in the slightest about his nephew being in the care of a minor, but because his wife would ask him to, or because he knew how it would affect Daisy.

Sure, she could leave on her own, but she knew that she was the only thing in the way of Harry's treatment becoming that much worse and if she was gone, he would have no one who loved him or fought for him and if she just left, she would break the very promise she had uttered to Lily and James at the age of thirteen standing at their headstone for the first and only time, holding the very toddler she had just sworn to love and protect.

And so, Daisy Evans remained rooted in place and watched as her brother-in-law chuckled triumphantly and sat back down in the chair that Petunia had picked back up

He underestimated just how angry his niece truly was, nor was he aware of the storm that his words and actions had created and the domino effect they would have.

══════════════════

writing the first half of this chapter broke my heart but it was a huge point in the lead up towards daisy's decisions in the upcoming chapters so it was necessary.

i had a massive inspiration for this chapter and wrote it and i'm kind of proud of how it turned out due to how tired i am while writing it and i hope you all liked it!

thanks for reading!

~r