Sighing, Harry Potter flopped down onto his bed. Today had been long and hard, but that wasn't anything new. So far his whole summer had been a drag. Almost everyday Harry would have to work outside in the pouring down rain (unlike last summers drought, this summer had been very wet and dreary).

Harry got up from his bed and looked out the window hoping to see his owl, but all he saw were dark, gray clouds. He hadn't seen Hedwig for about a week and he was starting to get worried. [i]I hope she's okay.[/]

He thought about what Moody had said to him at the train station in June. [i]"If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along. . . ."[/i]

It had been two days since Harry had sent a letter to anyone. [i]I should send them a letter soon.[/i] Harry hadn't really wanted to talk to anyone since the end of term. The letters he sent every other day were basically the same:

[i]I'm fine. The Dursley's are being their usual selfs.

Harry[/i]

In truth, the Dursley's were being their normal selfs. But they had been working him harder than ever. Each morning, at about six, Aunt Petunia would pound on his door to wake him up. When he got downstairs he would have to cook breakfast for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and then they would give him a long list of chores that had be done by the end of the day, before Uncle Vernon came home from work. If Harry hadn't been able to finish everything by the time Uncle Vernon got home he wouldn't get dinner and would have to stay outside until he finished all of the work for that day. A lot of the time Harry would go to bed hungry.

He sighed loudly.

Harry went over to his trunk and opened it. He searched through it until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed his photo album and went back to his bed and sat down. [i]I wish I remembered them.[/i] Harry thought as he looked at the picture of his mum and dad at their wedding. His parents had died when he was just one year old. They were killed by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. He flipped through some pages and saw a picture of his godfather, Sirius Black. Harry shook his head.

Another memory of Moody's voice came to his head. [i]"If we get any hint that Potter's been mistreated in any way, you'll have us to answer to."[/i] He had been talking to the Dursley's that time.

[i]I could just send them a letter and someone would be here in an instant.[/i] It was true, but Harry hadn't wanted to be near anyone. He didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him. He just wanted to sit alone, all by himself. And besides, the work from the Dursley's took his mind away from -

"I shouldn't be thinking about him, at least not right now." Harry whispered to himself.

Sirius was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (a death eater and cousin of Sirius) almost 2 months ago. Harry had blamed himself for Sirius's death, and he still does. If only he hadn't believed that stupid vision, Sirius would still be alive.

"Stop it, Harry. Don't think about him. Don't think about anything." Harry said as tears started to form in his eyes. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong, because everyone was counting on him to defeat Voldemort. But Harry couldn't, he just wasn't strong enough. [i]If Dumbledore can't defeat Voldemort, then how can I?[/i] He thought helplessly.

Harry set his album on his bed and stood up. He opened his closet and examined himself in the old, cracked mirror that was hanging in there. His hair was jet black, and as unruly as ever. Harry's face was pale and gaunt and he had lost a considerable amount of weight. His eyes that were once a bright emerald green, were now dull and dark with bags under them.

Harry had been having trouble sleeping ever since he came back from Hogwarts. It was the same dream over and over again: Sirius dueling with Bellatrix, and then all of a sudden falling through the veil. Harry would run to him but Lupin had grabbed ahold of him, not letting him go.

"Potter!" a teenage boy came waddling in.

"What do you want?" Harry asked curtly, now forgetting about his dream and focusing his attention on the boy.

This was Dudley, Harry's cousin. Dudley used to be as big as a baby whale until the school nurse told his parents that he needed to go on a diet because he couldn't fit into the school uniform. So last summer Dudley went on a diet and now this year he looked less like a whale, and more like a regular boy his age. Okay, maybe he was just a little bit bigger than a regular boy, but he did lose a lot of weight. Dudley had gained some muscle too, and if Harry made him mad he could sure punch the living daylights out of him. Dudley wouldn't dare do that though. Harry knew because he had a wand and could jinx Dudley. But of course, Harry would get expelled for that.

"You shouldn't talk to your cousin like that. It's not very nice you know."

"Maybe you shouldn't bother me then." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Come here." Dudley said randomly, motioning with his hands for Harry to follow.

"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"I have something to show you." Dudley said plainly.

Harry decided to follow Dudley, but was cautious. This was some kind of trap, he could tell. He trailed behind Dudley as they went downstairs and to the front door.

"Mum! I am going to go hang out with some of my friends and have a cup of tea with them!" Dudley called out to his mother while opening the door.

Aunt Petunia walked through the kitchen door and headed toward them, her head looking down at the towel she was using to dry off her hands (she had been washing the dishes). "Okay Duddykins, just make sure-" she stopped in mid-sentence when she looked up.

"What is [i] he [/i] doing with you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I- I- thought that I would- err- invite Pott- Harry with me, b-because..." Dudley said stuttering, but then quickly coming up with an idea, "...because I thought that I would try and become friends with him." Dudley lied, putting on a fake smile.

Aunt Petunia just about burst into tears. "Oh Duddy! You are such a gentlemen! Always wanting to help others!" she said hugging Dudley as Harry stifled his laughter.

She turned to Harry and said, "You could learn a thing or two from him. And you better treat Dudley with respect!" Aunt Petunia turned back to Dudley.

"Honey, when will you be back?"

"I'm not sure, mum."

"Well just be sure you are home before midnight, ok?"

"Okay, thanks! Bye!"

"Goodbye darling! Have fun!" Aunt Petunia said while waving goodbye to Dudley.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked a few minutes later, as they walked down the empty street. It was dark and the street lamps had been on for about an hour.

"You will see." said Dudley, grinning evilly

They turned a corner and the park came into view. Harry saw Dudley's gang and a few other kids he didn't know, which he assumed were some of Dudley's other friends. They were all in a circle.

"Go on." Dudley urged.

Harry walked forward. When he got to the circle, someone pushed him in. He gasped when he saw what Dudley had wanted to show him.

Someone from Dudley's gang, held a large, crooked stick in his hand. But that wasn't what made Harry turn as pale as a ghost, it was what that person was doing with the stick. That person was prodding a small figure on the ground, and that figure was Hedwig.

Harry walked over to Hedwig, staring numbly at her. This wasn't happening. No, it couldn't be. Realizing that this wasn't a nightmare, Harry fell to his knees. He noticed she had a large amount of blood covering her snowy white feathers, but she seemed to be breathing...just barely.

"What did you do to her?" Harry's voice was just above a whisper.

"I didn't do anything!" Dudley said defensively.

"What happened to her then?" Harry asked, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"How am I supposed to know? I just thought it would be funny to see the look on your face when you saw it!" Dudley said laughing. He turned to leave.

"How can you be so cruel hearted?" Harry asked, his voice now becoming louder and angry.

"Hey Big D, you shouldn't let your cousin treat you like that. Go teach him a lesson." one of Dudley's gang members yelled.

"Yeah Dud! Show him what you're made of!" another member called out.

Dudley turned back around to face Harry. He seemed to be contemplating on what to do. Harry knew exactly what he was thinking: If Dudley didn't beat up Harry then his friends would think he was scared, and they wouldn't want to hang out with him anymore. But if he did beat him up, then Harry would most likely jinx him, and then his friends would know that Harry was a wizard.

Many people in the crowd were telling Dudley to beat up his cousin. [i]So,[/i] Harry thought, [i]this is probably all they wanted to see, they didn't care about Hedwig. I noticed right when we got here that there wouldn't be this many kids just to see how I react to finding my owl all bloodied up. I bet Dudley told them there was going to be a fight.[/i]

"Oh, is Dudley scared now? He can beat up almost anyone, but not his dear old cousin?" a kid from the crowd shouted out.

"I can beat him up" Dudley yelled.

"Then are you going to?" asked Dennis, one of Dudley's gang.

"I um..." Dudley said, still thinking about what he should do. Harry saw Dudley look behind him and smile.

"Come on! Can you hurry up already, I should be getting home soon."

Harry stood up, while he too, wondered what Dudley was going to do. Harry decided that a little bit of help wouldn't hurt Dudley's decision.

"Duddy, what would your mum say if she saw you right now? She thinks that her [i]sweet little son[/i] has gone to drink tea with his [i]good little friends[/i]." Harry said viciously. "But really, Dudley. . . you are out here in the middle of a park getting ready to beat [i]me[/i] up, right?"

That had done it. Dudley pulled back his arm, and aimed for Harry, who was expecting this and ducked down right as Dudley's fist came swinging at him. He stood back up and sunk hs fist into Dudley's cheek.

After realizing Harry had hit him, Dudley swiftly grabbed his arms, and twisted them behind his back as Harry grimaced in pain.

Dudley called a few of his gang to come and help as Harry tried getting away. Pier and Malcolm ran over to Dudley's side and roughly grabbed a struggling Harry.

Harry freed one of his hands and it immediately went to his back pocket. It wasn't there...he forgot his wand. [i] How could I do such a stupid thing like that?[/i] Harry mentally yelled at himself.

Pier was holding Harry's right side, his tight grip beginning to cut off the circulation to Harry's arm. Malcolm had his left side, and Harry cringed as Malcolm's fingers dug into his skin.

Dudley on the other hand was cracking his knuckles, and a malicious grin was on his face. Harry soon felt a good amount of pain in his stomach as Dudley punched him with all his might. Harry kept trying to get free. He wriggled and twisted in vain. Pier and Malcolm's grip were too sturdy and taut for Harry to get out of.

SMACK!

Harry's head swung to the right and his glasses flung off and hit the ground, when Dudley punched Harry's left cheek.

[I]Oh great. Now I can't see.[/i] thought Harry sarcastically.

He struggled as the punches kept coming at him, but every time he was hit, his struggling became less. It seemed like it would never end, but then it all stopped. Harry sighed in relief.

"Come on!" Dudley called to his gang. "Let's go. We don't need to be wasting our time here, we have more important things to do."

Harry was thrown down. His head had hit the ground the hardest, with a loud 'thump'. It instantly began to ache painfully. Someone- Harry couldn't see who because his glasses were somewhere on the ground- had kicked him roughly in his side. He heard the footsteps and laughter die away after a few minutes. Harry searched the ground with his hands until he found his glasses. He put them on and tried to stand up, but fell back down. He couldn't think straight.

Harry needed to get Hedwig to the Dursley's. If she was out here too long she might die.

The pain in his head was too much. His vision started to blur and blackness surrounded him as Harry fell into unconsciousness.