In the cupboard under the stairs an 8 year old boy with unruly black hair dreamed of a family. His father would laugh and play with him around the yard and tell him how proud he was when he brought good grades home from school, and his mother would cook the best food for him and tell him she loved him before he slept at night. To the boy, one Harry Potter, it was the perfect family. Too bad it was only a dream.

"Wake up Boy!" a loud gruff voice woke him from his happy dream.

Poking his head from out of the cupboard Harry was met with the bulking figure of his Uncle Vernon staring down at him. His uncle was a whale of a person, more round than he was tall, and had more chins than would possibly belong on a face.

"Cook breakfast and do the list of chores on the table boy. There will be no food for you today if you aren't done by lunch!" Vernon nearly roared at his nephew.

Skulking, Harry made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast. On his way, his cousin Dudley pushed him out of his way to get to the table faster. A whale in his own right, Dudley was a miniature version of his father. As the saying went, the apple didn't fall far from the tree at all.

Harry started cooking the eggs, bacon, and pancakes before setting the coffee for his uncle. He learned early to always have a cup of coffee waiting for his uncle before he sat down.

His aunt Petunia completed the members of the household. She was on the phone in the hall while keeping an eye on Harry as he cooked. Probably making sure I don't poison her precious Dudders, Harry thought to himself.

"Poor Marge broke her leg and wants us to visit and help her take care of her dogs Vernon," Petunia announced as she sat down at the table. Vernon just looked up from his paper and grunted.

"But I don't want to go!" Dudley wailed while pound his fist besides his empty plate.

"Now Dudders, it's not polite to complain about family. It will only be a few weeks. Maybe while we're there we can convince here to part with one of her puppies. She said Ripper just had a new brood."

Harry's face paled. The last time Aunt Marge visited she had set her favorite dog Ripper on him and he nearly had his leg bitten off. He did not need a mini Ripper in the house. Dudley, on the other hand, brightened at the idea and promptly stopped his complaining.

After everything was finished cooking and served Harry picked up his list of chores and scanned over them.

Mow the yard
Weed the garden
Clean out the Garage
Wash the car
Do the laundry
Clean up Dudley's bedroom

Harry sighed to himself. It looked like he wasn't getting food today. Sometimes Harry wondered why he was stuck with his family.

Lunch time came around and Harry had just finished washing the car. After putting away the hose and bucket the Dursleys left the house with bags packed for the weeks they would spend at Marge's. Harry noticed there wasn't a bag for him.

"What about my bag?" He asked as they brushed pass him. He knew he shouldn't have said that.

"You! A freak like you going to Marge's! I think not BOY!" Vernon yelled grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and hauling him to his cupboard and kicking him inside. "Now stay in there until we get back and it better not smell when we return!"

Harry heard the lock on the outside of the door put in place and curled into a ball on his mattress. Tears fell down his face as he begged for someone to come and take him away from this place. The last thoughts on his mind where how he was going to eat while locked in the cupboard.

Miles away on a desolate island a dog whimpered in his cell. A warm feeling fell over him as something inside him pulled at him to the west. On shaky feet the dog stood up and slipped out of the bars to his cell. He didn't know what was pulling him to leave, but it was the first warmth he had felt in 7 years. Taking a leap in faith, the dog jumped off a cliff and began to swim to the mainland.

The Headlines in the next day's Daily Prophet would say that the notorious criminal Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban Prison.

AN: I've decided I wanted to try my hand at my own fanfic, but later found actually fitting my ideas to words is a lot harder than I thought. I hope to get better along the way and plan on having longer chapters as well. In the meantime, all criticism is welcome.