Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, though I wish I did.

A/N: My second fanfiction. I hope you all like this one! Happy reading!

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4 Privet Drive-Tuesday, July Twenty-Seventh 3:47 A.M.

"Please, don't kill him, kill me! Just, don't hurt Sirius," Harry yelled as the scene in the Department of Mysteries replayed itself. He watched as Bellatrix raised her wand, he tried to move but his body wouldn't let him.

Harry watched as that fatal green light, shot out of Bellatrix's wand, headed straight for Sirius. "NO!" Harry yelled, as the spell hit Sirius. "Sirius!" Harry screamed, watching his godfather fall through the Veil.

Harry woke up screaming, with tears flowing down his cheeks. Sweat was dripping down his face and he was shaking uncontrollably. He tried to stay as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake his Aunt and Uncle.

A few minutes later, when no one came in his room, he knew that this was probably the one night that he didn't wake them. Sweet Merlin! I thought for sure they would've woken up. He thought to himself.

With that thought, he let himself drift back to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't have another nightmare.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

4 Privet Drive-Tuesday, July Twenty-Seventh 9:30 A.M.

"Boy! Get down here!" Harry woke up to the sound of Uncle Vernon calling him.

He slowly got out of bed, his stomach still hurting from when he forgot to make breakfast on Sunday.

Harry was rushing around his room, trying to find clothes to wear. It was 10 o'clock and he woke up late. He was supposed to have breakfast finished an hour ago.

He got dressed and ran downstairs hoping that, since today was Sunday, his Aunt and Uncle would still be sleeping. He got to the bottom of the stairs to find out that, today was not his lucky day.

Aunt Petunia was standing by the oven with a scowl on her face, making bacon and eggs. Uncle Vernon was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. I thought Uncle Vernon would already be yelling at me. Maybe they didn't see me yet. I could probably slip up the stairs and stay in my room, he thought.

Harry started walking up the steps, but when he was halfway up, something hard collided with that back of his head. His face landed on the steps and a hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

He was dragged up the steps to his room and was thrown on his bed, all but gently. He turned to look at his assailant, only to see the purple face of Uncle Vernon. He started to reach for his wand, which was on the bedside table, when Uncle Vernon grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the room.

"I told you before, that if you didn't have breakfast ready before I woke up, there'd be consequences." Vernon snapped at Harry.

He watched as Vernon started to take his belt off. "Please, stop," Harry pleaded. His Uncle, who payed no attention to him, lifted Harry's shirt up and brought down the belt.

Harry's screams and pleads could be heard through the house as his Uncle was beating him with the belt.

After what seemed like hours, Uncle Vernon left the room. Leaving a bloody, and hurt, Harry behind.

"BOY! I TOLD YOU TO GET DOWN HERE!" He came back from his flashback, when Uncle Vernon yelled for him again. It wasn't his day to make breakfast; actually, it was the only day of the week that he didn't have to.

He reluctantly left his bedroom, and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where his Aunt was busy cooking breakfast. Uncle Vernon was sitting in his usual seat, reading the paper, just like every other morning.

Harry sat down in the seat across from Vernon, he knew that the seat closest to the TV was Dudley's even though Dudley doesn't wake up until noon. He learned the hard way, to not interrupt Vernon when he was reading the paper. So, Harry sat at the table, waiting for someone to say something.

Ten minutes later, Vernon put the paper down. He looked at Harry, put a folded sheet of paper in front of him, and said, "Boy, your Aunt has a list of chores you have to do. If they aren't all done by the end of the day, then you'll have me to answer to. Got that?"

Harry's eyes glanced at the piece of paper, then at Vernon. "Yes, Uncle Vernon," he replied dully. He then got up and walked over to get some breakfast. He got to the oven, and when he reached for some bacon, Aunt Petunia smacked his hand.

"This is for Uncle Vernon, Dudley, and myself. If you want some, you'll have to finish your chores first." Aunt Petunia said, giving him a cold stare.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said unenthusiastically. Putting his plate down and walking back over to the table, he grabbed the list and unfolded it. How am I supposed to finish all these chores today? He thought. The piece of paper may look small, but it had about twelve chores on it, all of which took at least an hour to complete.

He sighed and walked out the back door towards the shed.

*~*~*~*~*~*

4 Privet Drive-Tuesday, July Twenty-Seventh 10:30 P.M.

Harry's been working on the list of chores for nearly thirteen hours. So far, he's washed the dishes, painted the shed white, raked the yard, changed the oil on the car, cleaned the house, and made dinner, and many other things. The only thing left to do, and the last thing he wanted to do, clean the kitchen and bathroom floors. Not with a mop, but with a toothbrush.

He walked upstairs to take a five minute break. When he got to his room he walked straight for the bed and sat down. "Why me, Hedwig?" Harry asked his snowy white owl, who was sitting in her cage. "What did I do to deserve a life like this? Just because I'm a wizard, no a 'freak' as Uncle Vernon calls me."

Hedwig hooted softly from her cage. "Yeah I know girl, I still have you," Harry replied. "You kind of know what I'm going through. You're locked in a cage, and sometimes I get locked in here. I know that I'll probably be here for the rest of the summer. Dumbledore will want me to stay here so he knows that I'm protected. I'm probably going to end up dieing here then at the hands of Voldemort, but I can't write anybody." Harry spoke, mostly to himself.

Hedwig hooted louder this time. "You're right, I should go finish the last of my chores," Harry replied before walking out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*

4 Privet Drive-30 minutes later

Harry just finished the last chore. He slowly started walking up the stairs, wishing that he could just lie down right there. At least I finished all of the chores before midnight. Now I can finally have a good night sleep.Harry thought, as he got to the last step.

"I bet I could break the lock off of Hedwig's cage if I had the right tools." Harry whispered quietly so no one would hear him. He walked back downstairs and out the back door. When he got to the shed, he looked inside and found a pair of pliers.

He walked into his room, shut the door, and walked over to Hedwig's cage. She hooted softly when saw the pliers in Harry's hand. "It's okay girl, I'm going to get you out of here." He reassured her, before breaking the lock off. He walked over to his desk, pulled out some parchment, a quill, and some ink. He wrote a letter to Ron, asking if Dumbledore told him anything about when Harry could leave. Then, he sent a letter to Hermione, reassuring her that he was fine.

When he was done, he walked over to Hedwig, tied the letters to her leg, opened the window, and let her fly off. When he could no longer see her, he lay down on his bed, and fell asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

He woke up when he heard a crash coming from outside his window. He sat up and reached for his glasses. Putting them on, he looked around the room. It took a while for his eyes to get adjusted, but when they did, he walked over to see what the noise was about. On the sidewalk he saw a large figure on the ground. It looked as though they tripped on one of Dudley's skateboards and got knocked out.

Thinking that it was an innocent person, he walked out of his room, but just in case brought his wand, and opened the front door. When he got closer to the person, he noticed that they were wearing a cloak. The only people that wear cloaks like this are Witches or Wizards. Harry thought.

Thinking that it was someone from the Order, he knelt down by their head and pulled off the hood. When he saw the person's face he was stunned to see that it was Wormtail. Just to make sure, Harry moved both sleeves and saw, on his right arm, the silver hand, and on his left forearm, lay the Dark Mark. When Wormtail started to stir, he walked to the edge of the sidewalk. I should've taken his wand when he was unconscious! Harry thought harshly.

Wormtail lifted his head and looked around. Suddenly, all of the thoughts and memories came back to him, walking around the neighborhood, and tripping over something. "Harry!" He said in his squeaky voice, looking at the 15 year old boy. "I've come to warn you. Voldemort is planning on attacking your house in a few days. I owe you a life debt, so I'm doing my best to at least warn you."

Harry stared at Wormtail. Is he serious? He's actually trying to save me, instead of trying to kill me? "Why are you telling me this now? Why the sudden change of heart?" Harry asked the scared looking Wormtail.

"Voldemort is planning on sending all of his Death Eaters here, myself included. We got orders to destroy everything that got in our way. The only thing he wanted, was for us to bring you to him. I've decided to come to warn you so you could get out of here as soon as possible." Wormtail replied, pleading with Harry to not hurt him.

"Do you know what day they'll be coming here?" Harry asked, the fear evident in his voice. All of his Death Eaters?! I need to send a letter to the Order so they know. First things first though. I need to find out when they plan on attacking so I can get my Aunt, Uncle, and Dudley out of here too. "You said it's sometime this week. So, today's the twenty-seventh. I think I might know what day!" Harry yelled. He immediately regretted it when he saw the light in his Aunt and Uncles room turn on. "I need to go back inside now, just make sure when you leave, that no one sees you." Harry told Wormtail hurriedly before he ran back inside.

Wormtail didn't know why Harry ran off like that, but obeying him, he walked to the darkest spot in the neighborhood, and dissaparated with a small, pop!

*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry ran back inside the house and was at the top of the stairs when he saw a large silhouette standing by his door. "What were you doing outside?" Said a voice the Harry came to hate. ""Were you talking to one of your kind? One of those freaks?" Uncle Vernon spat.

"N-no Uncle Vernon." Harry stuttered. "I just needed some fresh air, is all." Uncle Vernon moved closer to Harry, until he was only a few inches away.

"I don't believe you boy!" Vernon said in a low, cold voice. Before Harry had chance to reply, Uncle Vernon pushed him. Harry stepped back, only to forget that the stairs were right behind him. He missed the step, and went falling backwards down them.

It seemed like an eternity for Harry, before he finally stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He could barely move, and it felt like his head had split open. He was sure that he had broken a few ribs from the fall too. All Harry could do was groan, his legs were to sore to move, and he didn't want to try to get up. He saw Vernon panicking at the top of the stairs, probably thinking that he killed Harry.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Vernon was on the top of the stairs, panicking. "I killed him, bloody hell, I killed him." Vernon muttered, under his breath. "I only wanted to hurt him, I could get in worse trouble if I kill him." Vernon started pacing back and forth. He suddenly stopped, opened his mouth, and yelled, "PETUNIA!"

A few minutes later, Petunia came running out of her bedroom, dressed in a pink, fluffy nightgown. "What Vernon? I was sleeping, and you know I need my beauty sleep!" She snarled at her husband.

"I think I finally killed him, Petunia." Vernon whispered. "We could go to jail for child abuse and murder!" He started pacing again, while Petunia's face looked like she had just seen a ghost. She turned back to look at Vernon.

"What do you mean "we"? I was not the one that killed him! We don't even know if he's dead!" She screamed at him. She hurriedly walked down the stairs, to where Harry was lying on the ground. She checked his pulse and found out that he was still breathing. "He's still alive," she whispered. She looked up at Vernon, who had stopped pacing, and said, "he's alive. We should bring him to the hospital."

Vernon scowled, "we are not bringing him to the hospital. They'll know that he didn't fall down by accident. Just give him some ice. He'll be fine in a few days!" He yelled at his wife. He then, turned around and walked into his bedroom, like nothing was wrong.

Petunia carefully picked Harry up, and started to climb up the stairs. He's so light, a 15 year old boy should not weight this much. Is this what I've been doing to him? She thought as she looked at the innocent teen. She opened the door to his room and walked over to his bed. She gently put him down and left the room. She didn't even notice that Hedwig's cage was empty.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The Burrow July Twenty-Eighth Noon

Ron was de-gnoming the garden, when he saw Hedwig flying towards him. "Finally, he's writing!" He shouted.

When Hedwig was close enough, he grabbed the letter from her leg and opened it right there. When he got to the part where Harry asked when he could leave the Dursley's, Ron smiled broadly.

He forgot all about the gnomes and ran back inside to reply. When he opened the door to his house, he ran into someone and fell on the floor in the kitchen. "Bloody hell! Watch where you're going!" He shouted at whoever he ran into.

"Watch your language, Ron," said a calm, voice. "You're the one who should be watching where they're going."

He looked up to see his sister, Ginny, also on the floor. "Where are you going Ginny? Off to see Dean?" He asked fiercely. On the train ride back from Hogwarts, Ron found out that Ginny was dating Dean Thomas.

"That's none of your business Ron!" Ginny said, the volume of her voice gradually getting louder. "Who I see is my business, if I want you to know, then I will tell you!"

"It's my business if he's not good for you!" Ron yelled back, the Weasley temper coming. "None of the blokes you went out with were good for you!"

Ginny decided that, instead of having this fight with her brother, for the hundredth time, she should just keep walking. So, she stood up, gave Ron one last glare, and walked out the door.

When the door closed, Ron remembered why he came inside in the first place. Putting the fight behind him, he walked up to his room. He sat at his desk, took out some parchment and started writing his reply.

When he was done, he saw that Hedwig flew up to his window. He tied his reply to her leg, and sent her off. When he saw that she was gone, he went back outside to finish de-gnoming the garden.

*~*~*~*~*~*

4 Privet Drive

Harry was washing the dishes from lunch, as best as he could with only one arm, when he saw Hedwig fly back to his window. He hurriedly finished the dishes and walked, as fast as he could with sore legs, to his his room.

He untied the letters from Ron and Hermione and opened Hermione's first.

Dear Harry,

It's so good to hear from you! I know that you said you were fine, but are you blaming yourself for Sirius' death? You know it's not your fault. You were tricked by Voldemort, and I know that Sirius wouldn't want you brooding all the time.

Now, are the Dursley's treating you alright? They're feeding you? I hope the next time I see you, you won't be as thin as a twig!

I know that this is a short letter, but I'm on vacation in France with my parents. It's amazing here! I have to go now, we're going sight-seeing.

Love,

Hermione

Harry put her letter down. "Why does everyone think that I'm brooding, Hedwig?" Harry asked her as he stroked her feathers. She gave him a look that clearly said, "Why do you think?" He sighed and looked at her, "I'm brooding, aren't I?"

She nipped his finger, which he took as a yes. He then grabbed Ron's letter, opened it, and started to read it.

Dear Harry,

I've been waiting for a month for you to write, mate! What have you been doing? Oh well, forget it, you wrote now.

You'll never guess what happened today. I got your letter and went inside to write you back, and I ran into Ginny. I mean I actually, ran into Ginny. Guess where she was going. To meet Dean! Can you believe it? She's actually going out with him! I'm going to have a talk with him when we get back to school.

Harry laughed at this. He could just imagine that look on Dean's face when he was confronted by a raged Ron. That's going to be priceless.He did feel a little sad when he heard that Ginny was going out with Dean. Why do I feel like this? I don't like her, do I? He shook his head and went back to reading the letter.

Anyway, I overheard Dumbledore talking to Mum and Dad a few nights ago. He told them that he was going to send over some members of the Order to pick you up on your birthday! Isn't that great? You'll be spending your birthday at the Burrow!

Mum can't wait for you to come, although, she'll probably be fussing over you for the first few days. I'll tell her to go easy on you when you first get there, but you know she won't listen.

Well, I should go back to de-gnoming the garden before Mum starts yelling at me.

Your friend,

Ron

Harry was jumping for joy on the inside. "We're getting out of here in three days, Hedwig!" He yelled to her as he got up and went over to his bed to lie down. "Only three more days, girl."

A/N: Well, that's the end of the first chapter, what do you think? I plan on having the next one up soon. I want to thank my wonderful beta, who fixes my mistakes. I also want to thank my friends, who gave me some ideas that I put in here.