Disclaimer:

I don't own Harry Potter or my own home.

I never invented any new professional sports or won more than five dollars in the lottery.

I am not making any money from this.

Therefore, hoping to sue me for anything beyond copious amounts of sarcasm is a pointless exercise.


Chapter One

The day of Harry's seventeenth birthday dawned abominably bright. He opened his sleepy green eyes and blinked at the dingy wall in front of him. There was a smudge of dirt on his cheek, accenting the way his cheekbones jutted out from his emaciated face. His whole body was filthy and his clothes were rumpled beyond belief. The interesting aroma that wafted off of him indicated that he had not changed either shirt or pants in a very long time.

He pulled himself up off the bed and stared blankly at the plate someone – he assumed it was Aunt Petunia – had shoved under his door. Reaching for his glasses, he pulled them on and looked at the plate again. His stomach rolled at the eggs and bacon sitting there, and he gestured. The food shoved its way back out the door, and he flopped back down on his cot. He hadn't been able to stomach eating in a very long time, especially when it was something particularly greasy.

Petunia had spent the last few days trying to get him to eat more high-calorie food, no doubt in hopes of making sure no one thought that she'd starved him this summer. He could have told her that they wouldn't notice if she did, but he assumed she wouldn't believe him. Besides, it was much better for her to think that she was in danger from his friends than it was to reassure her and let her return to her previous behavior.

Seconds later, there was a tapping at the window and Harry jumped up to open it. A tawny barn owl landed on the sill. Harry smiled and slipped it an owl treat as he took the rolled up parchment from the bird. Noticing that it seemed to be waiting for a response, he quickly unrolled the scroll and his smile turned into a grin.

Mr. Potter,

You are hereby invited to spend the rest of your summer at Hogwarts as the guest of both myself and the staff. I urge you to keep in mind that this is a privilege that has never been extended to any other student. Mr. Shacklebolt and Ms. Tonks will arrive to pick you up at 1:30 tomorrow morning, if you accept. Please send your reply with this owl.

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

It wasn't that he wanted to go back to Hogwarts. He knew that when they got him there, the members of the Order would never give him the freedom he needed to search for the Horcruxes. Still, six weeks with the Dursleys was enough to make him happy to return. He was also fairly certain that he could find some way to get around the Order, even if it meant running away again like he had the year Sirius escaped.

Smiling at the thought of leaving the Dursley's for the last time, he quickly scrawled a 'yes' on the parchment before giving it back to the owl. It hooted at him and took off. Harry watched him go for a moment, and then turned to start haphazardly throwing his things into his worn trunk.

Eventually, he was fully packed and freshly washed. So, Harry found himself with nothing else to do. He fiddled with the desk, noting how the pull on the top drawer was still loose. He smiled and debated casting a spell to repair it, but decided against fixing anything that belonged to the Dursleys. He flopped onto the cot that had been his bed for the last six years, failing to realize that he was grinning.


Harry's eyes snapped open and he glanced at the window. It was dark out, so he checked the clock. It was one minute after midnight. What had woken him up? His escort wasn't supposed to arrive for another hour and a half. But, Tonks wasn't known for keeping things straight.

He frowned as he heard a creak on the stairs and then Petunia's door opened. He heard her screeching about strangers in her house, and he jumped up to stop her. Without warning, he saw a flash of sick green light under his door. "Avada Kedavra!" Petunia's scream abruptly cut off, and he heard screams from Vernon and Dudley that were silenced just as quickly with similar flashes of green.

Cursing himself for his stupidity and inaction, Harry stumbled backwards and scrambled to get to the wand he'd left on his desk. Just as his fingers closed around it, the door slammed open. "Stupefy!" The blast of red light struck him in the back, and he collapsed to the hard floor.

A black robed Death Eater stepped into the room. He was soon followed by two others. Pulling out a silver serpent, the first Death Eater grabbed Harry while the other two reached out to touch the portkey. A whispered word and the four were gone.


Urgh. Cliffhanger.

Should I continue this or not? Like it? Want to burn me in effigy? Let me know!