I do not own Harry Potter. That privilege belongs to J. K. Rowling. This story is solely for the pleasure of myself and hopefully my readers.

Chapter 1

The deep rumble of thunder, and the blinding flash of lightning sheeting the night sky, penetrated the suffocating darkness of the nightmare engulfing the mind of a sleeping boy. Shocked awake, the boy bolted upright and realised that in the throes of his terrible dreams, he had deposited himself on the hard floor of his tiny bedroom. Rubbing the back of his head where he must have knocked it upon his landing, he fumbled for his glasses sitting in their usual spot on his bedside table. Glancing at the alarm clock sitting next to them, he sighed softly, and then after looking once more, resigned himself to the fact that even though it was only 4 in the morning, he would not be getting any more sleep that night.

Getting up and throwing a shirt on, Harry began staring out of the window. The only difference about this night, compared to every other night since he had been sent back to the Dursley's after the fight at the Ministry, was the weather. He blinked after a particular bright flash of lightning, and in that moment, when his eyes were trying to adjust back to the darkness, he saw a shape in the clouds. It was a Grim. It was gone in an instant, but it was enough for tears to begin running down his pale cheeks, and his head to bow down in utter sorrow. He had not had long with his Godfather, Sirius, a measly couple of years in between school terms and staying at his relatives, but they had done their best to make up for lost time.

But Sirius was never coming back. He had fallen through the veil, and it seemed to Harry as though the joy he had felt since the end of third year and the rescue of his godfather had been sucked out of him, as surely as they had in the presence of the Dementor's by the lake, only this time gone forever.

Over the next 2 hours, the only change in the room was the gradual increase of light as the storm clouds slowly gave way to the dawning of the morning sun, and the expression on the face of the boy staring once more out of the window. What had begun as sorrow, turned into guilt and then anger. Sorrow that he would never see his godfather again; never hear him reminiscing about his parents days at Hogwarts and the trouble they got into; never seeing the smile that transformed the hollow face of a man too long imprisoned for a crime he did not commit into the proud, aristocratic countenance of the man he was and should have been. Guilt that Sirius' death was his fault. After all, Sirius had come to the Ministry to save him, and had ended up dead at the wand of his deranged cousin. And anger at the injustice of the situation. At his own stupid decisions that had led the six of them into the Department of Mysteries, and at Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, who were determined to take what was good in the world, and smother it with darkness.

His thoughts turned towards the prophecy and the anger redirected itself towards Dumbledore. 'How dare that man keep this from me!' Harry felt his fingernails digging into his palms he was clenching his fists so hard. 'I knew Voldemort was after me but now I know why, I am even more terrified than ever. It is not very comforting to be told love is the power he knows not. However, the prophecy can wait. Knowing what it says isn't going to change anything while I am at the Dursley's. I need to focus on one thing at a time and Sirius is ... gone'.

The buzz of the alarm clock signalling 6am, and the start of his day, broke Harry from his brooding, and with a final glare at the window, he turned and started to prepare himself for the tasks ahead. It had been a long time since his uncle had been physically abusive towards him, but emotional abuse hurt as much or more and that did nothing to reduce the list of chores he was expected to complete each day. His aunt had perfected the art of pretending Harry did not exist, as long as the work got done, and Dudley had moved on from 'Harry-hunting' to terrorising the rest of the neighbourhood's children with his gang of sycophants. Being busy would hopefully prevent him from thinking too much, and he might be able to get through the day without breaking down in front of his relatives, or even worse in the front garden in full view of the other residents of Privet Drive.

Harry took a quick shower and proceeded downstairs into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. At precisely 7am, Vernon Dursley came and seated himself at the dining table, merely grunting when a large plate full of bacon, eggs and toast was placed in front of him. Harry silently heaved a sigh of relief. A quiet uncle was a good uncle in his eyes. Vernon was not a morning person and was more often apt to express his displeasure at being up at an unreasonable hour quite vocally, although only at Harry. He was no longer a violent man, but he was no less an awful parental figure for a young boy with his excessive bad language and emotional neglect. Unless of course you were Dudley, resident whale and personal torturer of the 'freak', who could do no wrong in his father's eyes.

Dudley pounded down the stairs at 7:15 demanding his food loudly. Harry placed another even larger plate of food in front of him and retreated once more into the kitchen, followed by the menacing tones of his cousin

'This had better be a good breakfast or else...'

Harry tuned him out, used as he was to threats in this house. The third and final plate of food was put down in front of Aunt Petunia, who had at last descended downstairs. She greeted Harry with a look of indifference and ordered him to start cleaning up. Brushing his hair away from his eyes, Harry put the pans into some hot soapy water and began to wipe down the bench top.

Today was a special day at the Dursley's. Dudley had got a summer job at a corner store just down the road, and was starting his first shift at 8am. He was excited, not because he was thrilled about spending his days in the shop instead of outside terrorising the local children, but because he thought it would give him an opportunity to steal sweets and cigarettes more easily for himself and his friends. He would have to be very careful not to get caught, as it would not do for his parents to find out that he was not the perfect child they believed him to be. His bullying was rarely reported, and when it was, he always had a good excuse lined up, and Vernon would always blame the other children for provoking him. Being caught stealing from his place of summer occupation would be an altogether different situation.

That afternoon, sporting a headache from trying to remember so many different prices, items, tasks and other pieces of his training, and with pockets full of stolen chocolate bars, Dudley looked up and grinned as he saw Harry alone in the nearby park, sitting on a swing, staring off into space, as he often did since he returned from that place this summer. Maybe he could cure his headache the old fashioned way, by giving it to someone else, forcibly. Cracking his knuckles, he began to stalk towards Harry who was oblivious to his cousins approach. When he was about 10 metres away he was suddenly startled by a loud crack behind him, and he turned to see 2 black robed men, who raised their hands and pointed little sticks at him. Dudley began to laugh until he realised what it was they were holding but it was not until he heard Harry frantically yell 'Dudley, get down!' that he understood his mistake.

Time slowed and he could hear the men shouting, and then lights raced out of their sticks straight at him. At the last possible instance before he was about to be hit, he was tackled from behind, the lights crackling as they sped just above his head before taking a large chunk out of a tree somewhere behind him. Sprawled on the ground, he turned his head to see Harry quickly jumping up and standing protectively over him.

'Well, well, what do we have here' one of the men sneered. 'Protecting a filthy muggle, are we. We were going to get rid of him quickly before taking you back to our master, but I think now it might be more fun for you to watch him scream before we go.'

The man then ignored Harry and started moving forwards with his wand pointed at Dudley, who was still lying on the ground, suddenly petrified by fright. Harry screamed at Dudley to run but the words fell on deaf ears. This was well outside the realm of his experience and he was unable to even think of trying to escape.

The second man kept his wand trained on Harry, but he got a shock as he saw Harry's face contort with rage.

'Watch out' he yelled to his partner before Harry had dragged his wand out of his pocket and shot off a stunner. The first Death Eater fell to the ground, unmoving, but this gave the second man the opportunity to strike at Harry. Spinning, Harry attempted to put up a shield but was not fast enough, the spell hitting him in the chest and sending him flying backwards before landing painfully on the ground.

Putting his hands out, his fingers curled around a broken branch. Harry picked himself off the ground and looked back at Dudley, who was now shaking as the second Death Eater advanced towards him. Sprinting back towards his cousin, Harry realised he would be too late as the Death Eater closed on Dudley, dragged him onto his feet and pushed him up against a tree, with his forearm across Dudley's throat and wand digging into his belly.

'Ready for some fun are we, boy? No one to save you now. I would normally use a spell for this but sometimes, it is much more pleasurable feeling bones breaking under your bare hands.'

Putting his wand away, the Death Eater pulled his fist back for a punch when Dudley finally regained the use of his limbs. Self-preservation overpowering fear, Dudley raised a trembling hand to block his face, closed his eyes and waited for the blows to come. Instead he felt a strange sensation in his hand, and the pressure on his neck disappeared. Opening his eyes, the Death Eater was slumped next to his partner. Dudley looked around to find Harry and saw him staring wide eyed, his mouth open, obviously having difficulty processing what just happened.

'Ummmm t-t-thank you, H-H-Harry. Y-You saved my life, again', the words spilling out before he clamped his mouth shut.

There was no response from Harry. He was still standing, still looking as utterly shocked as he was before Dudley had spoken.

'Harry? What is the matter?' Dudley looked over his shoulder quickly, hoping there were no more robed monsters.

'Dudley. I didn't do anything. I was still too far away. What the hell happened?'

'I believe I can answer that' came the familiar but no longer comforting voice of Headmaster Dumbledore as he appeared, walking quickly with Tonks at his side, who immediately checked the stunned Death Eaters and bound them tightly before stunning them again.

'But it is a long story. The Ministry will have recorded the use of underage magic here, and will be along shortly to investigate. While normally a serious charge, the presence of these Death Eaters should be plenty of evidence to prove self defence. I will wait with you so we can get this situation resolved quickly.'

'Professor, how did the Death Eater's know where to find me?'

'The answer to that does not bode well for our struggle. The Death Eater's have infiltrated the Ministry, Harry, and must have been able to access private files that recorded your address. While the wards protect the house, they don't stop anyone from watching the street and the surrounding areas. You are very lucky Voldemort only sent two men.'

More pops sounded as the Aurors arrived on the scene, along with a Ministry Obliviator. Striding up to where Harry and the Headmaster stood was Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was leading the team.

'Albus, what happened here?'

'Death Eaters appeared and attacked Harry and his cousin. Harry managed to stun one of them during the fight. Luckily I was on my way to visit Harry and saw the attack and was able to stun the second Death Eater from behind'

Harry's eyes widened again at the blatant falsehood, but before he could correct the story, he saw Dumbledore quickly stare at him and shake his head and decided to let the explanation lie. Shacklebolt was obviously happy with the response, and after taking a few notes, nodded to his team, who grabbed the stunned Death Eater's and apparated away.

Just as he was about to leave as well, Shacklebolt spotted a Ministry owl carrying an official looking letter descending towards the group.

'That would be your official summons to appear before the Ministry for the improper use of underage sorcery. I will take this with me and deal with it, don't worry. Try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the summer Harry.'

Harry turned to find Dudley sitting on the ground, his arms curled around his knees, talking softly to himself.

'What happened? How did that man get knocked away from me like that? If it wasn't Harry, who was it?'

'Dudley, get up. Let's go home. Dumbledore will explain everything when we get there.'

It was a measure of how traumatised Dudley was, that he obeyed without question and without making any derogatory remarks about 'freaks' and 'weirdos'. He did stare at the ground and refuse to make eye contact without any of them, while still muttering to himself as he stumbled along in the wake of the magical trio.

Unfortunately, however, the day was about to get even worse.

'Where is that smoke coming from?' Harry suddenly asked, pointing into the sky. With a sinking feeling, he realised if the Death Eater's found him at the park, they knew where he lived. Dudley must have come to the same conclusion as he gave a cry and began to run down the road towards the corner of Privet Drive. Harry made to follow him, but was pulled up by a hand on his shoulder and the very concerned voice of the Headmaster.

'Don't Harry. The Death Eater's could still be there. Stay here with Tonks. I will go and check on your relatives.' Dumbledore trotted off after Dudley, while Tonks struggled to physically restrain Harry from charging towards his house.

'Harry! Stop fighting me. You know what he said was true. It is too dangerous for you to go there at the moment.' Tonks grunted in pain as Harry's elbow connected with her stomach and she lost hold of him. Running after him as quickly as she could, after she caught her breath, she rounded the corner to see pandemonium, as number 4 Privet Drive was engulfed in fire, the flames billowing out the windows and a Dark Mark hanging in the sky over the house. Harry and Dudley were both kneeling on the path, staring at the inferno that was their home, horror portrayed on their faces. Vernon's car was parked in the open garage. He must have returned early from work that day, and it would be the last decision he ever made.

Gesturing at Tonks to grab Dudley, Dumbledore slowly walked over to Harry, the usual sparkle in his eyes gone, replaced by concern.

'I am very sorry, my boy. I do not understand why the wards failed. I promise I will get to the bottom of this, but for now, we need to go. The men in the park must have been scouting as they did not find you in the house and came across you by accident. When they do not return, more Death Eater's will come.'

Harry nodded mutely. 'Why am I so upset by this?; he thought. 'My Uncle and Aunt hated me, shut me in a cupboard and treated me like a house-elf. I should be glad that they are gone and I will no longer have to live here.' But a part of him realised that, for better or for worse, they were the only family he had, and in that moment, even if he would never forgive them for how they treated him, he could mourn their passing, and with it, the last living link to his mother. Now there was just Dudley.

It was a very subdued quartet that appeared outside Grimauld Place. With nowhere else to go, the foreboding house and headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix would become Harry's summer residence. Dudley shied away from the front door. He had looked up, after retching into the gutter at the feeling of side-along apparition, wondering how he had got where he was, only to see the house slowly appear from in between the houses already there. Even though he knew he could not go home, he certainly did not want to enter a magical house that wasn't there one minute and was the next.

Finally, realising he had no choice, Dudley walked up the front steps, and followed Harry to a room where he promptly fell onto a couch and starting crying, huge wracking sobs that shook his whole body. He had never cried like this before, but he had also not lost his parents before. What is going to happen to me now?' he thought. 'I will not got to a foster home!'.

But however terrible the evening had been so far, there was one final shock that would send Dudley into a catatonic state. Dumbledore walked into the room, sat down and conjured everyone a large mug of hot chocolate. Staring at the mug blankly, Harry asked,

'Headmaster, what happened at the park? I did not stun the second Death Eater. I was too far away. How did that happen?'

'Ahhhh Harry, this is going to be a long story, that might want to wait until the morning.'

'Tell us now. I need to know.' Dumbledore turned slowly at the sound of Dudley's voice that was barely audible and still trembling with fear and pain.

'Well Dudley, the reason the second man was blown away from you like that was accidental magic. You are a wizard!'