Dear Prongslet,
I'm so excited to be able to tell you that Dumbledore has given me permission to have you over for the rest of the summer. Padfoot will be coming to pick you up tomorrow night slightly before midnight. Sorry it's got to be so late, we just thought it would be safest for everyone. I can't wait to see you again, Pup!
With love,
Padfoot

As Harry stretched his aching limbs, he smiled looking forward to when he would finally see his godfather again. He only had to survive 12 hours. Closing his eyes, Harry drifted into a few hours of restless sleep only to wake up a few hours later to scramble around the kitchen. While bacon was sizzling, Harry worked on scrambling eggs. Just as he heard his aunt stirring in her bedroom above, the coffee maker started percolating and Harry quickly added some bread slices to the toaster. He stirred the eggs before working on setting plates and silverware on the table. As his uncle started moving around, Harry scooped eggs onto the plates and placed the bacon on another plate layered with paper towel. Harry was pouring coffee when his uncle tromped down the stairs. While Dudley started complaining at his mom for waking him, Harry set out milk and orange juice and then plated the toast.

"Boy, how dare you not have breakfast ready for us?" Vernon screamed. He threw his cup of hot coffee all over the child as Harry brought over the toast. Then Petunia entered the room and screeched.

"You freak! Inconveniencing our lives every single day wasn't good enough for you? You just had to go and spoil breakfast and ruin my dining room as well! How dare you?" came the shrilled cry. Before he could move, a fork was imbedded in his hand. "That'll teach you to be an ungrateful little brat!" Petunia laughed as she sat and started in on the eggs and bacon.

Harry sighed inwardly realizing just how long the next 12 hours were going to be.

"I'll be home at 5. Make sure the garden is weeded, carpet vacuumed, shelves dusted, toilets scrubbed, cupboards stocked, bedding washed, laundry washed and folded, showers cleaned, floors swept and mopped, and windows washed. Understood?" Vernon barked as he picked up his brief case and brushed the crumbs off his suit coat.

"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled.

"I also need the lawn mowed, the flower baskets watered, and all the appliances cleaned," Petunia added.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry answered.

"Dudley, are you ready for school?" Petunia asked gently.

"Yes, mummy, but can freak vacuum the coach too, it's too dusty for me," Dudley pouted.

"Of course, Dudders. Boy, make sure the coach gets thoroughly cleaned!"

"Yes, ma'am."

For hours, Harry cleaned, scrubbed, weeded, watered, dried, and so many other things he thought he could curl up and fall asleep where he was. Hands stinging, shoulders aching, back throbbing, head pounding, Harry was just about to sneak a sip of water when he heard his uncle's vehicle door slam shut. Quickly, Harry moved to put the ham in the oven. The front door slammed shut just as Harry boiled water for potatoes.

"Boy! What did you do?!" Vernon screamed.

Harry scrambled to the entryway. "I'm sorry, sir," Harry mumbled folding his hands nervously behind his back and staring at the floor in front of his feet.

"So you admit it! This is all your fault! You miserable leeching freak!" Vernon hollered as he shrugged out of his coat and undid his belt.

"I'm so sorry, sir. Maybe there's something I can do to fix it," Harry pleaded as his voice trembled with fear.

"You've done plenty already you worthless freak!" Vernon screamed as he brought his belt down on the boy. Harry turned in on himself exposing his back to the furious adult with a belt. His back stung after only the first few hits, but it was easier to deal with the pain there than across his face or stomach. After almost half an hour, Vernon tired and Harry crawled into his cupboard and fell into a painful sleep.

"Pup! Pup where are you? It's almost midnight!"

Harry woke to whispered noises. His brain was sluggish and he had to focus to understand what was being whispered and hear soft footsteps slipping around outside his cupboard.

"Sirius?" Harry whispered as he tried to get up letting out a small, pain filled groan.

Within moments the cupboard door was quietly opening. Harry smiled when he saw his godfather's pale, thin face covered with a prickly shadow of beard, and a few strands of mangy black curls. The man's face quickly became pinched with worry. "Cub, what are you doing under the stairs?" Sirius fretted.

Harry was about to answer, but was cut off when Sirius softly declared, "Are you bleeding?!"

"I-I'm fine. Can we go to Grimmauld place?" Harry whispered shakily.

"Of course, cub let's go," Sirius answered extending a helping hand to his godson.

As Sirius hauled Harry to his feet, the boy couldn't quite stifle a soft cry of pain.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Nothing, Sirius, can we please just go?" Harry pleaded.

"Alright, let's go over to Mrs. Figg's. We'll discreetly borrow her floo," Sirius surrendered the argument for a moment.

Harry tried to take a step to follow his godfather but would've collapsed if Sirius hadn't quickly threw an arm around the boy to steady him.

"Harry-" Sirius started, but Harry cut him off.

"Please, let's just get to Grimmauld place. Please. I'll answer any questions once we get there. I-I can't be here anymore," Harry pleaded.

Sirius murmured something about being unhappy about it, but helped his godson to the floor next door. Once in the light of Grimmauld place, Sirius gasped audibly. Harry's face was bruised from where the first belt strike had hit his face. The back of his shirt was blood stained with tears revealing horrible bruises and angry welts. The child was so thin he looked like he would drop dead at any moment, and the dark circles under his eyes made it look like the child hadn't slept in days, maybe even weeks.

"Harry, what is going on?" Sirius asked trying very hard to stay calm.

"Thank you for coming to get me," Harry muttered quietly.

"Harry, what happened to your face and back?" Sirius asked more specifically.

"My uncle just got a little mad is all," Harry answered casually.

"About what? Someone from your class attacking you?" Sirius asked shock evident in his voice.

"No, I'm not sure what he was upset about to be honest," Harry admitted staring a hole into the floor in front of his feet.

"Harry, did your uncle do this to you?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Harry whispered.

"Can you elaborate please?" Sirius asked fighting very hard to stay calm.

"He...it just...he came home from work very upset. I'm not sure why...but, it was my fault. I-I needed to be punished."

"Harry, what did he do?"

"He hit me with his belt."

Sirius gently wrapped his godson in a comforting embrace as tears filled his eyes. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. Are you-I'll-let me call Remus. He's better at this healing thing than I am," Sirius stammered as he went over to his fireplace to firecall his friend. What he didn't expect was Snape's hooked nose face to appear in the fireplace.

"Remus Lupin's fireplace. May I take a message?" Snape snapped in his signature monotone.

"Severus, where's Remus? I really need him," Sirius asked frantically.

"I'm surprised you forgot, Black. Yesterday was the full moon," the man answered casually.

"Crap! Is Poppy available?" Sirius asked grasping at straws.

"Unfortunately, she's occupied on a medical conference somewhere in North America."

"Severus, Harry's hurt and I haven't the faintest idea what to do. Is there anyone who can help?" Sirius pleaded about to lose the last grasp on rationality he had left.

"Black, calm yourself and tell me what happened," Severus instructed.

"His uncle beat him with a belt. He's all bruised and bleeding. He's thin as a rail. It looks like he hasn't slept in months. He's trembling. I don't know what to do. I can't lose him. I've failed him so badly and now there's nothing I can do to help him," Sirius exclaimed frantically as a few tears escaped.

"Black! Calm yourself! You are the adult there! Potter needs you to act as such! Pull yourself together. I'll gather a few supplies and be at your place in a few moments," Severus instructed before disappearing.

Sirius whipped his eyes, took a breath, and returned to his godson's side. The boy had sunk to his knees on the floor, and Sirius knelt in front of him.

"Harry, Professor Snape is going to come over and help heal your wounds. I'd like to ask a few more questions if you think that would be okay?" Sirius asked gently. His godson nodded tiredly.

"Have you been eating enough?" Sirius asked unsure of how to be any more tactful.

"Yes, sir," Harry answered.

"Harry, just Siri is fine, or Padfoot, or Sirius, but please don't ever refer to me as 'sir' again. That's just weird. When was the last time you ate?" Sirius asked not believing Harry was being honest.

"Umm, yesterday afternoon," Harry answered after a moment.

"What did you have?"

"I snuck a piece of burnt toast."

"Okay, when was the last time you had a full meal?"

"I mean, probably at the end of year feast."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked obviously confused.

"Does your uncle hurt you often? Do you regularly have to sneak food to be able to eat?" Sirius clarified.

"My uncle only hurts me when I deserve it. And yes, but only in the summer," Harry answered.

Severus had just stepped through the floo and forcefully stated, "Potter, children never deserve to be beat with belts regardless of the offense. Appropriate punishments would include time outs, spankings, groundings, that sort of thing. Beatings and denying food is abuse, not appropriate."

"Severus is correct, Harry. It's unacceptable for an adult to hurt a child in such a way," Sirius reinforced.

Harry was silent for a long time before Severus spoke again. "Alright, Potter, start with this pain potion. Then I want you to remove your shirt so I can start healing the damage to your back."

Harry did as he was instructed and Severus set to work. He disinfected wounds, magically healed the welts as best he could, gently applied a bruise balm to the boy's back and the welt across his face. Severus then bandaged the still tender skin before directing his attention to his childhood nemesis.

"Black, do you have a shirt that Potter can borrow?" Severus asked.

"Of course," Sirius answered and scurried out of the room.

"Alright Potter, what else is hurting you?" Severus asked and then added firmly, "And don't even think about lying to me."

"I have a nasty headache. Probably just a concussion. I think a couple ribs are broken, but they'll heal soon enough. My ankle is pretty sore, but that was sprained at the beginning of summer. It's actually feeling a lot better," Harry admitted quietly.

"Alright, Potter, I'm going to run a diagnostic spell to ensure everything is in order. You'll feel a slight tingling throughout your body and the spell will only take a few moments," Severus explained before he started the spell. A parchment paper appeared with a quill that started scribbling things down, and by the time Sirius returned, shirt in hand, three feet of parchment had been filled and the spell was complete.