CHAPTER 1

With the exception of the dismal weather plaguing the summer, it was a perfectly normal day on Privet Drive. There was nothing out of the ordinary, everyone was cordial and all of the houses and lawns were as neat as possible, with the exception of the mud due to the rain.

However, there was someone extraordinary at Number 4, inside the cupboard under the stairs. A wizard lived here, but not just any ordinary wizard. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived and the savior of the wizarding world was lying on a bed in the dark, staring of into space.

Unfortunately, due to an incident the previous summer when his cousin Dudley's tongue swelled to gigantic proportions, the Dursleys decided to take away Harry's small bedroom. Thus Harry was in the cupboard again, but he really didn't care. He just lay in his bed staring at the wall, feeling numb. Numb was good. Numb didn't involve thinking. Thinking always led to thinking about the Triwizard Tournament and thinking about the Triwizard Tournament always led to thinking about Voldemort's resurrection and Cedric's death. Thinking would lead to a downward spiral of pain and misery.

At first Harry thought that he could escape by sleeping. However, sleeping quickly turned into nightmares about the tournament and frequent visions about Voldemort's horrific attacks. He would awake after a nightmare or vision shaking violently, while attempting to stifle his screams, so he would not awake his relatives. Sleeping soon stopped. So did eating. He was plagued with guilt and the only thing he could do was stare at the wall.

Unfortunately, the Dursleys didn't care about Harry's depression and no one in the wizarding world knew about it or could be contacted. After Harry learned of his fate to live in the cupboard, he sent Hedwig to the burrow to live over the summer, so she would be able to fly. So Harry was left alone, with no companionship.

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A wave of pain rushed through Harry's scar. This was a frequent occurrence since Voldemort was resurrected that fateful day during the third task. However, Harry welcomed this pain, since it gave him something else to focus on, instead of pain and guilt. Unfortunately, after the pain gradually subsided, he became aware of his environment.

He tried not to panic enclosed the dusty small space and tried to focus on the wall again, to escape the pain of his thoughts. He was distracted from movement out of the corner of his eye. It was a small common spider. Ever since he could remember, spiders have always occupied the cupboard under the stairs, and was about to push it out of his mind, until he remembered.

Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path…

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory"

"Kill the spare"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"No, no, no." Harry whispered to himself. Harry removed his glasses and smashed the lenses underneath his shoe. Now he couldn't see the reminder of his failure anymore, and eventually was able to push all thoughts aside and stare at the now blurry wall, ignoring the pain.

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There was a knock at the door, followed by the high-pitched screeching of his Aunt Petunia, which shook Harry out of his stupor.

"What are you doing here with your abnormality? We been forced to take him in, and I wont allow another one into this house!"

"I am here to see Harry. Where is he?" asked a calm, familiar voice. Harry knew this voice from somewhere, but quickly pulled his mind back into the void of looking at the wall.

"He… is ill. Go away." His aunt's voice was full of fear.

The voice commanded forcefully, "I am not leaving until I see him. Now move."

"My husband is at work, please come back later when he is here to settle…" There was a long pause.

"You know what this could do. So I suggest you and your son go away for a while if you don't want to be here, but I am going to see Harry now."

He heard his aunt frantically call for Dudley and listened to hurried footsteps and then the slam of a door. The familiar voice whisper a tracking spell and slow and steady footsteps made their way towards the cupboard. There was a pause. Then a quiet "alohomora." The door to the cupboard squeaked open and all Harry could hear was a gasp as he squinted against the brightness of the light outside the cupboard.

When his eyes adjusted, he vaguely recognized the form standing at the door. "Professor Lupin?" Harry croaked.

Lupin finally collected himself and started assessing Harry's situation. He did not look good. He was far to thin and had dark circles under his cloudy eyes. His hair was limp and unhealthy looking. His skin was deathly pale, as if he hasn't seen the sunlight in weeks. The scar was a dark red and appeared to be irritated or infected. His voice was also scratchy, from either the absence of water or through lack of use… possibly both.

"How long have you been in here Harry?" asked Lupin quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

Harry took a long time to answer. Lupin almost asked again when Harry replied quietly "When did school end?"

Lupin was shocked. School ended three weeks ago, he couldn't have possibly been there for that long. "Where are your glasses and other belongings?"

Harry pointed a shaky finger towards the corner. Lupin waved his wand and whispered "Creo vegrandis," then placed Harry's glasses, along with the shrunken trunk into his pocket "Harry, I am going to take you to see Sirius. We have been working to add extra protections to his house, to make sure the ministry can't find it. Would you like to spend the rest of the summer there?"

There was no answer. Harry just stared past Lupin, at the wall behind him. Lupin knew he had to get Harry out of that house fast. He pulled a rubber duck out of his pocket and placed it in Harry's hand. "Here Harry, just hold on tight to this portkey and then…"

A blood-curdling scream cut him off. Harry started thrashing about and knocked the portkey away. The memories came rushing back to him all at once. Lupin cursed himself for mentioning the portkey, remembering Harry's last experience with one, but unfortunately in his state, this was the only way. "quiesco" he whispered. Harry slumped back in bed and closed his eyes.

Lupin gently wrapped his hand around Harry's hand and the portkey. "I'm sorry Harry." He raised his wand. "I'm sorry for everything" he said regretfully as he tapped the portkey and they disappeared from sight.

Creo vergrandis: make smaller

Quiesco: sleep

Borrowed a few lines directly from GoF, which are in italics (hopefully)

Please review, even if you hate it. If you are interested in being a beta, please email me to let me know. I will try to submit a chapter every other week, but sometimes this will not be possible. However, if I am able to find a beta, then I will be able to submit chapters sooner.