SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing. Review responses are at the bottom again.

I changed my mind; this chapter isn't my favorite like I said it would be, but I do like the end. I wanna thank Celtic55 for giving me a confidence boost that I definitely needed. Thanks girl–this chapter goes out to you! Everyone go check out her story! Here's the next chapter:

Chapter 6: Explosions, Howlers, and Breakdowns

Harry Potter was currently sitting in the front seat of a large blue truck staring out the window at all of the pine trees passing by. Scrunching up his nose in a disgusted manner, he tried to ignore the wet leathery nose pressed up against his cheek and moved over slightly so he was squeezed against the door. His backpack was currently in between him and the large, slobbery, and wrinkly dog that sat next to him. Next to the dog sat a large, slobbery, and wrinkly man. 'Guess the old saying about the owners being like their dogs is true.' Harry thought amusingly. The radio was blaring on a country station at the moment, and they were driving northwest on a narrow motorway.

Harry had managed to find a ride with a truck driver and his beloved dog. Much like the woman at the Cherwell Café & Inn, the truck driver looked at Harry like he was crazy until he pulled out some money. As far as he could tell, the driver had a bittersweet personality. He was a bitter and angry man but could make jokes and knew humor as well as the next guy—although most of the time when he did or said something funny, it seemed like he was serious, so Harry tried to keep his laughter down so he wouldn't insult him.

They were just driving through a town, and Harry was staring at the houses on the side of the road. This was definitely the residential area of the town. The houses were very pretty and made out of brick. Some were gray, while others were earth tones, and Harry even saw a green brick house. This was nothing like Privet Drive; there were kids happily playing on the sidewalk and there were no fences separating the lawns. Harry was just admiring the beautiful gardens of each house when he jumped a foot in the air.

WOOF!

Looking to the dog, that seemed to be a bloodhound, he saw that he was sniffing Harry's backpack while wagging his tail excitedly and barking. It was actually rather comical to see, because there didn't seem to be enough room for the poor dog to wag his tail. It looked like he was doing some kind of butt-jig. And while 'shaking his booty', the dog's overabundance of skin was wiggling around making little waves.

"Butch! Be quiet boy!" the driver yelled while turning down his music a little. But 'Butch' kept barking and wagging his tail digging his snout into Harry's backpack excitedly. A hiss could be heard and then 'Butch' made a noise that sounded like a half-cry and half-bark. 'Butch' recoiled against his master and put his tail between his legs.

"What the hell is the matter with—Ahhhhhhh!!" Butch's owner had just looked toward Harry's backpack where Sal was just crawling out to get onto Harry's lap. The truck driver jumped and he accidentally turned the steering wheel so they almost crashed into a light post until at the last second, he managed to avoid it. 'Yup, definitely like dog, like owner.' Harry thought mentally laughing. On the outside though, he faked a concerned expression.

"Oh mister, are you okay? Don't worry it's only my snake, it won't hurt you. I promise!"  Harry added when the driver turned dark eyes to Harry.

"Are you sure? It scared poor Butch, and it nearly made me piss my trousers." the driver said seriously almost in a scared tone which just set off more internal laughter and made it very hard to hide a smile. "Speaking of which..." the driver mumbled distractedly. He was pulling the truck up to a rest area and parked it in the parking lot. Getting the hint, Harry opened the door and grabbed his backpack while Sal curled himself around Harry's wrist.

~*~*~*~

It was about ten minutes later that Harry finished washing his hands. The bathroom was barely larger than Harry's old cupboard back at Privet Drive. It was very dirty and had spider webs all over the place. There was a sink with a cracked mirror above it. It only had one toilet so he had to wait for the truck driver to finish his business before going in. While waiting, Harry had gone into the tiny supermarket next to the rest area and bought some food. The supermarket only sold essentials like milk and bread, but that was enough for Harry. He saw the driver and 'Butch' on the way out of the little supermarket and the driver had told him that he would wait in the truck for him while Butch barked in agreement wagging his tail excitedly at seeing his new friend Harry.

BOOOOOOM!!!

Harry had just stepped out of the bathroom and was going to go looking for Sal, who was busy finding some food for himself, when he was violently pushed backwards at least ten feet by a very strong invisible force. Harry covered his head instinctively. It was burning hot all around him and after a few minutes Harry risked looking up cautiously. There was debris everywhere—sharp metal that looked like it was melted on the corners, shattered glass, and even charred wood. It was all on fire; the flames were chocking him and he coughed violently.  Seeing that it was relatively safe as long as he didn't step on anything, Harry removed the hands off his head but began coughing again. Harry jumped a little when he noticed a large piece of sharp metal dug dangerously into the ground just mere inches next to where his neck was. If he had been thrown just a little bit to the left, he surely could have joined the Headless Hunt. Harry was about to get up, when he caught sight of a series of things that made his heart jump. First, where the truck used to stand, there was just a burning mass of metal; that was the thing that had exploded. Before he had time to think about it though, Harry saw what was behind the burning mass. At least ten masked men wearing long, black robes  were standing there just watching the remains of the truck burn.

Death Eaters.

Doing some quick thinking, Harry opened his backpack, got out his Invisibility Cloak, and wrapped it around himself. 'Bloody hell! I forgot about Sal!' Harry thought with some amount of panic. The roaring fire was still crackling and Harry could faintly hear sirens, so there was little to no danger of being heard. Harry began walking around the various rubble, some of which consisted of glass and other dangerous sharp objects, while hissing Sal's name. Harry could hear his name being hissed too, and just followed that sound. The hissing was coming from under a rounded piece of metal, and lifting it up, relief flooded him as he saw his friend sitting there coiled around almost in a defensive ball.

~Are you alright, Sal?~ Harry asked the snake.

~Harry?~ asked the snake confused.

~Yeah?~ answered Harry equally as confused. 'Duh! You still have the Invisibility Cloak on, you Moron.' Harry thought to himself. He could have smacked himself, but instead he just took his hand out of his cloak and held it out to Sal. Sal hesitantly uncoiled himself and climbed on his hand and Harry pulled it back inside the cloak. ~Are you sure you're alright, Sal?~ Harry asked when the snake could see his master clearly. After receiving the affirmative, Harry looked back to the truck–or rather, what used to be a truck. The Dark Mark was floating lazily above it in its sickly green color. The snake that was coming out of the skull's mouth looked almost alive as the wind sent gentle ripples through the mark.

Harry started walking toward the town that lay ahead of the rest stop making sure not to get in the way of any of the Death Eaters. He saw something shiny on the ground ahead and bent over to pick it up. Harry stared sadly at the circular dog tag that said 'BUTCH' on the front of it. Dropping it, Harry walked faster toward the little town ahead with new resolve.

~*~*~*~

"HARRY POTTER!"

Those were the first two words that greeted Harry. After about an hour of walking, Harry and Sal made it to a nice little town named Admaston upon which they directly went to a motel on the edge of town. Harry had gotten a room and opened the window to let some fresh air in, and gone to take a bath. He was terribly filthy and numerous cuts littered his body. His body ached a lot from earlier and one hour of walking rather quickly didn't help at all. He had filled the tub up with hot water and relaxed inside of it. Sal had found his way inside the bathroom, and the two of them had an enjoyable conversation, carefully and purposely avoiding the subject of the explosion. After a long time, when the water had long since turned cold, Harry reluctantly got out of the bath tub. When Harry had walked back to the main bedroom, he was surprised to see an owl waiting patiently with an envelope clutched in its beak.

A red envelope.

Smoke had been coming out of the cracks in the envelope, and with a screech, the owl had dropped it and flew right back out the window.

BOOM!

Before Harry had a chance to move, the Howler had burst open and a loud voice Harry recognized as Mrs. Weasley filled the room.

"HARRY POTTER! WHERE IN MERLIN'S NAME ARE YOU?!?"

Harry winced.

"WE'VE GOT THE WHOLE ORDER SEARCHING NIGHT AND DAY FOR YOU!!! THEY'RE EVEN LOOKING IN BLOODY WALES FOR YOU–"

'Oh, you don't know how close they are.' Harry thought with a grimace on his face.

"WE DEMAND YOU COME HOME THIS INSTANCE!!! THE WHOLE FAMILY'S WORRIED OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!! YOU COULD BE ATTACKED BY DEATH EATERS AT ANY MOMENT AND YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF!!!–"

'That shows how much faith the lot of you have in me.' Harry thought somewhat bitterly.

"I'M GOING TO SAY THIS ONE LAST TIME, YOUNG MAN, YOU COME BACK RIGHT NOW OR TELLS US WHERE YOU ARE!!–"

Harry snorted at that. 'Not bloody likely.'

"Oh and Harry dear, please make sure you're eating right. Last time I saw you, you were all skin and bones." the Howler continued in a much gentler tone until it burst into flame and the ashes landed on Harry's feet.

"Well that was...interesting." Harry said out loud. 

After a few moments of silence, Harry turned to his friend. ~Hey Sal? Do you think we should leave? Maybe we're too close to where the Death Eaters were. I mean, Order members could come find us at any mo–~ Harry was interrupted by a knock on the door. His eyes widened and he looked to Sal beckoning him toward his wrist. There was another knock and Harry quickly gathered his things and covered himself with the Invisibility Cloak. He was just climbing out the window when a voice froze him in mid step. "Nice try, Harry." a voice chuckled but with no trace of humor in their voice. Turning around still covered in the Invisibility Cloak, Harry saw Professor Dumbledore standing there calmly staring right at him. He stood in the middle of the room wearing long flowing purple robes that looked blue when he moved just a tiny bit. "Sit down, Harry." Professor Dumbledore said calmly. Harry remained standing. "I'm not asking you whether you would like to sit, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said, still calmly but with a hard tone. Harry widened his eyes and took a seat on the bed while taking the cloak off. Dumbledore meanwhile had swiftly sat down on a chair that sat opposite the bed. They were both silent for a long time, just staring into each other's eyes. Harry was the first to break the gaze with a painful expression. Dumbledore's eyes were still twinkling but they held a hard expression. The two  bright blue orbs painfully reminded Harry of his dreams and those same blue eyes staring back at him in an accusatory manner.

Dumbledore was the first to speak. "Mr. Potter, what you've done was very selfish of you." he started bluntly. Harry's mouth dropped open in shock and disbelief. Dumbledore had never talked to him like this. Dumbledore continued in a cold tone that was nothing like the usual gentle tone he used. "Have you forgotten your mother's sacrifice so soon? She gave her life to save you, Harry, and how do you repay her? By running away when you knew you could be killed by Death Eaters at any moment. I thought I explained the protection your aunt offers you clearly enough."

Harry's mouth was still hanging open when he seemed to slide back to reality. With an audible *click*, Harry's mouth snapped shut and he made an angry sound of disbelief in the back of his throat.

Anger.

Anger was the only thing Harry knew at the moment. He jumped off the bed and whirled on Dumbledore. "You think I'm being selfish? SELFISH? Are you serious?" Harry asked angrily. He paused and then added, not caring whether he was being disrespectful, a laugh of disbelief clearly evident in his voice, "I think you've finally gone insane, Professor."

Seeing Dumbledore open his mouth, Harry narrowed his eyes and continued in a cold tone before Dumbledore could say anything. "Now you listen here Professor Dumbledore. You think I'm being selfish? Selfish? You think I enjoy running away? You think I actually wanted to never return to Hogwarts—the only place I could ever call home because my relatives detest me and treat me like their personal house elf. Might I remind you, Professor, that you were the one that placed me there. Of course I understood about the bloody 'protection'." Harry's tone was one of mocking when he talked about Privet Drive. He continued again in a cold tone that was filled with disbelief. "The only reason I left was so I could protect you! All of you! You think I like seeing your dull and accusing eyes staring at me every time I close my eyes?"

Ignoring Dumbledore's clearly visible confusion Harry continued in a not so composed fashion. "And why in Merlin's name are you lecturing me on my mother's sacrifice? You're actually willing to question if I remember? Of course I know what she did for me. Every time I look in a mirror, this bloody scar reminds me Professor." While talking—or more like, while yelling, Harry gestured vaguely toward his forehead to where his scar was.

"Gods Professor," Harry continued, "every time I close my eyes, I see her pleading for mer–" Harry's voice broke. He was only mildly aware that a few tears had managed to escape his eyes and were now streaming down his face. He cleared his throat and tried again, "I see her pleading—begging for mercy for me, Professor."

After a few minutes of silence, out of seemingly no where, Harry began to laugh loudly in a maniacal way. He laughed for minutes under Dumbledore's concerned gaze until abruptly stopping as if he had never made a sound to begin with.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry began speaking again in an eerily calm and quiet voice that scared Professor Dumbledore more than any volume of screaming ever could, "You are the last person that has a right to remind me of my mother's sacrifice." Harry paused before continuing again, "If anyone knows about Voldemort's works and victims—it's me. I know my mother gave her life for me—a tiny little infant, when she had her whole life ahead of her. I know my father died because he was being a noble man and protecting his family. I know Sirius died because he was trying to do his duty and protect his godson. I know Cedric Diggory died because I was not too selfish to take the cup by myself. So you, Professor, have no right whatsoever to call me selfish and accuse me of forgetting their sacrifices." Harry finished in a voice that was beyond angry with never-ending tears streaming down his face.

He had gotten out all of the pent up frustration he'd had the whole summer. He'd spoken for every life that had been innocently taken by Lord Voldemort. He had cried for every dead face he'd seen in the Great Hall. He'd screamed for every barrier the Gods decided to throw at his young life.

Harry felt sick after his little rant. His head felt like it was being inflated and was about to float away. He saw black and white splotches swimming around him and was only dimly aware that he was swaying in an alarming way. The last thing Harry saw was Dumbledore's sad and concerned form making his way toward him before Harry's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he finally gave into the darkness that had been threatening to strangle him.

A/N: I hope you guys weren't disappointed that Harry wasn't gone for longer. I know I kinda was, but that was the only way the fic would work. I'm thinking about, when I finish the fic, i might write a second version, where Harry's gone for possibly the whole year, what do you think? It was pretty weird, like two ppl told me they wanted him to go to LA. What's up w/ LA?? Not that it's a bad city or anything, but why LA? Oh well, if I do write the second version (mind you, this fic is going to be really long so don't count on seeing a second version anytime soon), I'll try to keep LA in mind...lol ;-)

I hope you guys liked this chapter. Make sure to let me know why or why not, okay?

Facade1- Don't worry your review was still first  ;-) ...You were entertained by school? omg...I didn't think that was possible. lol...j/k. Thanks again, and keep up those good reviews!

Dakine - LA, huh? Sorry about that. Thanks for reviewing and keep it up.

FroBoy - Is this soon enough? I hope so. Thanks for reviewing.

sze - LA, you too, huh? Sorry. Maybe next story.  ;-) Thanks and please review again!

HavenKane - Thank you so much for reviewing all of the chapters! I doubt that they have Power Ranger pj's also, but hey, poor Dudley can have them if he wants them in this fic. lol

I love the song too. Yeah, about the running thing, the only thing I can say is that he was panicking and desperate to do something.

Yes Snakey finally has a name...lol...I wouldn't be surprised if everyone called him 'Snakey' for a while...that's what I get for naming him so late. ;-)

Of course, I'll return the favor. All you have to do is update your stories!!! ;-) Thanks again and keep up the reviews.

Angelic_devil - Thank you so much! Those comments totally made my day! They made me feel all tingly inside and everything! I'm glad I got Harry just right! Thanks for the compliment on my name. I like yours too—it's sort of an oxymoron, isn't it? lol...Keep up the good reviews and thanks again!

jen c - Thanks!! The song was so fun to make! In fact, I loved making it so much that I started on another song—of course the Sorting Hat song! I finished it and it was so much fun to make!! I can't wait till you guys get to see it, but I'm not sure when Hogwarts will be...probably in a few chapters. Maybe I'll pursue a career as a songwriter or something...yeah right! Wouldn't that be the day? I already know what I'm gonna do, and it's got nothing to do w/ music.

Yeah Harry only knew about Snape to answer your question.

JadeLMSkywalker - Thanks! Wow, 4 nieces and 1 nephew? All from the same sister, or different ones? Wow...congrats again! Thanks again for the review!

Alan - Thank you so much!! As for how many chapters the fic will have, I'm sorry to say that I have no idea. All I know is that I have a lot of plans for it; so it should be relatively long. There will probably be a sequel to it as well. Harry will go back to Hogwarts in a few chapters so that was about 20,000 words for just the summer. Thank you again for reviewing, and a fan, huh? Wow, you're officially my first fan! That's awesome, thanks! Keep up the reviews, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Andrew - You dumbass!!!! (Ok, in case anyone besides andrew is reading this, please note that andrew is my brother, so I'm not yelling at one of you lovely reviewers) You left a whole bunch of double reviews! Thanks though, I appreciate the effort, Andrew. It was probably an accident anyway right? If you're doing it on purpose, then KNOCK IT OFF! Thanks again Dandy. ;-)

Thank you so much for reviewing, I really appreciate it!! Keep reviewing, please? You guys can help me reach 50 reviews w/ this chapter. Please?

Also, do you guys want me to e-mail you when I update? I'll sure be glad to. Just put down your e-mail address if you do. Thanks again.