"OI, WAKE UP FREAKS" a booming voice awoke the children from their slumber. The girl groaned and shot up instantly whilst the boy rubbed his eyes and reached for his glasses. The single bed they lay upon was small even for a single child and their limbs were tangled as they rose for the day.

Small pieces of rubble fell upon the two children and although it sounded like a stampede of elephants was running on the ceiling above them they did not cringe. They were accustomed to this.

They did not bother to go the bathroom or get dressed or do anything that most children would do upon waking but instead hurried to exit the small cupboard that was their resting place and made their way promptly to the kitchen.

"About time you two woke up, no breakfast for you two today" A snide voice commented as they entered the room.

The woman that spoke gazed at the twins distastefully as they began quickly preparing breakfast, both moving in perfect synchronisation of each other as if reading the others mind. They swapped objects, ducked out the way and moved swiftly to avoid the ire of their 'family'.

The children were small, even for ten years of age. Their bodies were small and frail looking and both looked as if they had seen better days. The girl limped slightly as her ankle was still swollen from being pushed down by her older cousin and the boy had deep bruises littering his arms from where his uncle grabbed him too harshly. Both children were silent as they worked but shared many looks in order to speak to the other. It was a method they had perfected years before to avoid a beating.

The boy suffered in silence as he toiled heavily, feeling his stomach snarling in pain whilst the girl made extremely quiet whimpers as her stomach too longed to be filled. The young boy took his left hand and reached to squeeze his sisters in silent understanding and comfort whilst also giving her a mild warning to keep quiet.

Her big brown eyes met his and they shined woefully for a moment before they brightened up with obvious glee.

The boy furrowed his brow and looked to where his sister's gaze lay and saw her staring animatedly at the empty packet of bacon. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were given four pieces each whilst Aunt Petunia was given two, effectively finishing the packet. However, on this fateful day, someone was smiling down upon them because there was, in fact, an extra strip of bacon left in the packet.

Harry sighed quietly in relief at being able to feed his sister. The pain, humiliation and hunger pains that were his life, was nothing compared to seeing his sister suffer alongside him. It was excruciating. It made him feel like an utter failure as a big brother. He needed to protect and cherish her and he had been doing a miserable job. This extra little strip of bacon was a godsend to him.

His sister turned to look at him with a big ecstatic grin that made her look the child that she was. Harry gave a small smile and quickly snatched a piece of bacon from Dudley's plate before discreetly handing it to his sister. He then promptly started frying the extra piece.

He watched as she stuffed the hot bacon up her sleeve and absently worried about possible burns.

"Where's my breakfast?" A haughty irritated voice spoke as a whale of a man entered the room.

"Right here, uncle Vernon" Poppy piped up, her voice bright and cheery as she placed his buffet of a breakfast down at the table.

The man grumbled, clearly unhappy he had nothing to complain about but just in case she scuttled away to grab her Aunt's and cousins meal too.

Luckily, the extra strip of bacon was just finished frying - as only Vernon liked his bacon crispy - and she grabbed the plates to serve to her stupid family. Poppy shot Harry a sad smile realising that he had no food. She knew her brother all too well, he wouldn't accept any of her meagre bit of bacon. He was too good hearted. Well, she had to do something about that now, didn't she?

As Poppy limped she pretended to stumble and a piece of bacon that was luckily perched at the side of the plate slid onto the floor.

All hell broke loose.

"YOU FREAK, YOU RUINED MY BREAKFAST, MOMMY SHE RUINED MY BREAKFAST" Bellowed the arrogant voice of her fat cousin. She kept her expression neutral but her brown eyes glittered with satisfaction.

Her Uncle shot her a repulsed look and was no doubt about to yell when she spoke up, "I'm so sorry Dudley, this is my fault completely. Should I make you something else from scratch? Pancakes? A cake? You only deserve the best" She spoke in a sickly sweet voice that had her cousin puffing out in pride, "Me and Harry could have the ruined scraps of that" Poppy shot an exaggerated dismayed look at the bacon on the floor, "and we could make you-" She began only to be interrupted by the scathing voice of her aunt.

"No, no breakfast for you. Did you think you could trick me, you little freak?" The sharp nasally voice of her Aunt intoned. Poppy purposely kept her eyes off of her brother Harry not wanting to draw attention to him but she could feel the waves of rage like she usually did when someone insulted her.

Her Aunt began speaking whilst petting her son's head, "Dudley dear, I'll buy you a cake when we go out later, my darling. Just eat what you've got and I'll pick something up for you later" She spoke in a consoling voice which made her feel mildly ill. Her cousin shot her a smug, self-satisfied look that made her want to punch something.

"Here you go Dudley" Harry's voice piped up. She watched as her brother served the baby whale and she quickly scuttled over to the fallen prize on the floor.

"Watch it girl, don't even think about it. In the bin." The menacing voice of her uncle spoke as he pointed to the little piece of fried heaven.

Poppy swivelled round and gave him her big puppy dog pleading eyes and made them water a little. It was a look that earned her sympathy food from strangers. Unfortunately, it was still a work in progress and he merely shot her a repulsed look before shovelling more food into his mouth.

She made a show of picking up the bacon and pretending to throw it away, even giving a few little sniffles here and there. She hid it beside her other piece of contraband. Her uncle looked like a satisfied pig at the moment which made a twisted kind of glee fill her at the thought of eating the strip pork delight hidden underneath her clothes.

She could feel Harry nudging her out of her room and she followed dutifully as they made their way back to their little sanctuary. The cupboard.

As the entered the room Harry closed the door behind him and turned to scowl at his sister.

"Poppy don't, why did you do that? There's no need to push our luck" He scolded her. Poppy moved towards the headboard of their bed and Harry sat at the foot. Anger filled her up at the thought of them having 'luck', LUCK? Was he joking? They were the unluckiest children in England. Unloved and alone. That wasn't her brother's fault, though, they were in the same boat. She avoided eye contact with her brother, feeling guilt build and anger fade. She hated making her brother upset.

"S-sorry Harry, I-I just wanted you to have a piece too, I couldn't just-" Her voice got hoarser and stopped as her throat closed up with emotion.

She heard Harry sigh and rub his eyes behind his glasses.

"Poppy, it's my job to look after you not the other way around. I would manage just fine, don't risk their temper" Harry spoke in his protective brother voice.

Poppy felt tears well up. Harry was the only reason she could cope. She looked into his bright green eyes and saw the concern there and couldn't hold back the tears anymore and threw herself into her brother's arms sobbing. What would she do without her big brother? Technically they were twins but Harry was always the older, more mature one of them. She was silly and weak but Harry was brave, strong and wonderful. When she would cry and ask why other children had parents and so why didn't they? He would hug her and say that if mum and dad were alive then they would love them and take care of them and we would have lots of toys like Dudley and they would tell us how much they loved us every day. He would then say how lucky he was to have a sister like her. But he was wrong. She was the lucky one to have him, not the other way around. He was the one that cuddled her at night, even though he was the one who would get awful nightmares, sweating and crying at night. He was the one that took the beatings and gave her as much food as he could, wanting her to be strong. He would hold her hand if she was afraid and hugged her when she was lonely. He was the best brother in the world.

Harry felt moist tears of his own fall as he held Poppy. He dipped his head in her mane of auburn hair and enjoyed the feeling of having her tucked into him, where it felt like he could protect her forever. Only he couldn't. He tried to. He tried so hard but his Aunt and Uncle made it difficult. Not to mention Dudley. He owed to mum and dad to keep her safe and happy. He sighed into her hair. If only it were that easy.

Poppy had stopped crying at this point but continued hugging him. He shifted a little for them to lie down together. His sister was very physically affectionate. She was always wanting hugs, cuddles, holding hands and every night he would kiss on her forehead goodnight. He didn't blame her. Seeing parents hug and kiss their children at school when dropping them off and picking them up was tough. Seeing his Aunt and Uncle dote on Dudley was nauseating. He was only too happy to reassure Poppy she was loved. Not that he would ever admit it but he cherished it every single time she would hug him or put her head on his shoulder when she would read or even just touch him. He loved knowing that somebody loved him.

A banging on the door startled them, "Right now, get up and get on with your chores. I want the den spotless by the time I get back from work or you both will be sorry" His uncle's voice spoke through the door. He sighed.

Life was tough for them. They worked hard every day and they got very little in return. If it wasn't for Poppy he didn't know he could go on. Life was bad.

Poppy gasped and bolted up on the bed. He watched her amusedly as she grinned and threw a piece of bacon at his face.

"I completely forgot! Here! Oh my gosh, Bacon, Bacey Bacon, baked pig meat, YUM" She exclaimed excitedly as she stuffed her own cold bit of food into her mouth and closed her eyes in delight.

He laughed at her antics and began nibble on his piece, trying not to be over excited even though his stomach practically purred in delight at being filled.

His sister continued beaming at him and bounced excitedly on the bed. He shook his head but smiled.

Maybe his life wasn't so bad after all.