A Sleepless Night

Harry woke to the loud snores of his cousin, Dudley.

"Why can't I ever wake up to the bird's chirping?" he grumbled as he got out of bed. He

now had to share the room with his cousin because Dudley had fallen out of his bed the other

night with the result of part of the ceiling caving in.

Harry snickered at the memory as he looked at Dudley's new "bed." It was a mattress on

the floor. Uncle Vernon was afraid of Dudley falling again and causing another "small

earthquake," as he had explained to the neighbors, so he figured the closer Dudley was to the

floor, the better.

Of course now Harry had to sleep on only a mattress too, he couldn't have anything more

then Dudley. The only thing stopping the Dursley's from making Harry sleep only on a blanket

was Moody's threat.

As Harry began to wake up a little more, he noticed it was still extremely dark out. He

glanced at the clock which read 2:01. "Oh this is just great," he thought, "There's no way I'm

gonna get back to sleep with the Atomic Snorer over there." At the moment, Dudley gave a

particularly loud snort. Harry shook his head, disgusted. "Oh well, might as well write to Ron

and Hermione," he said to no one in particular.

Just as he was about to drop his quill into the ink there was a loud explosion downstairs.

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Harry jumped to his feet and ran to his trunk in the corner. He rummaged through it until he

found what he needed. His wand. As he was opening the door he heard his uncle shout, "Who's

there?!" In response there was a loud, cruel laugh.

Harry's heart stopped. He knew that laugh, he had heard it at the ministry two months ago:

Lestrange. Hearing her laugh opened the floodgates Harry had used to keep the painful

memories back. Now they streamed into his head as if he was watching a movie: Hermione

telling him not to go because it might be a trap, his friends following him into needless danger, the

prophesy breaking, Hermione being hit with a potentially lethal curse, Sirus dying...

"NOOOO!" he screamed. He ran down the stairs in a blind rage. "You'll pay Lestrange!"

"I'll pay what, Potter?" she sneered, "I was doing my family a favor, he was a bad apple."

"Shut up!" Harry yelled with surprising force. His aunt and uncle were standing on the top

landing taking in the exchange. Dudley was amazingly still snoring away muttering something

about dancing horses in tutus.

"Don't you dare talk about Sirus like that! He was ten times better than you anyday." Harry

had kept all this locked inside him for two months and it was all coming out at once.

"Aw, Potter, come on now. We both know it was your fault he died. If you hadn't been so

bent on playing the hero, Sirus would still be here today. I really must thank you by the way."

She leered at him. She was expecting him to break down now, for all the guilt that had been

eating away at his conscience all summer to resurface and make him vulnerable. The problem

was none of this happened.

When Harry first came back to the Dursley's after school got out he did start to blame

himself, but Hermione put a stop to that right away. She wrote him letter after letter telling him

not to blame himself, and she reminded him over and over again of all the good he had done.

Harry thought of these letters and gained strength. You're gonna have to think of some new

tactics, Lestrange. These aren't gonna work." He took a step towards her.

She looked flustered. She was not supposed to physically harm the boy. Her orders were

to tear Harry apart from the inside out. Now that he didn't blame himself, she had no ammo.

Suddenly she smirked. "Well, well, it seems your friends have helped you get through again.

Whatever are you going to do when they're not around?" she feigned concern. She then

apparated leaving a horror struck Harry to think of what she had.

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Harry stood there for a minute until the small voice of his aunt brought him back to earth.

"Harry? Are you ok?" It was the first time she had ever said anything to him

without a smart comment attatched.

Harry turned to look at her. "I don't know," was all he said. He walked passed them and

into his room. Dudley, thank goodness had rolled onto his stomach, smothering his snores

slightly. Harry needed to think. "What have I done now? She's gonna go after Hermione and

Ron now. I have to tell them somehow." He knew writing to them would take way too long.

"Think, Harry, think!" he yelled at himself.

Dudley suddenly kicked out in his sleep and hit Harry's trunk. "Idiot," He thought. Just then

something rolled out from under the trunk. "That's it, my broom!" Harry could've hugged

Dudley, he was so happy. He quickly extinguished the thought, "I might get lost in there," he

looked at Dudley's "baby fat" as Aunt Petunia liked to call it.

He was about to fly out the window when he remembered his aunt's concern a couple of

minutes ago. "Might as well let them know where I'm going," he thought. He walked back out

his door and down the stairs. He found them in the kitchen making some strong tea. "Um, I just

wanted to let you know I have to go. I'll be back in a couple of days." He said not used to

talking civilized to them.

"Ok," Uncle Vernon grunted.

Harry turned to leave, but stopped when he heard Aunt Petunia.

"Harry,"

"Yea?" he asked nervously. The last thing he needed was to end up in a screaming match.

"Be careful." She turned and walked out of the room. Uncle Vernon followed her with a

strange look on his face.

Harry was left looking stunned. He had no idea what was going on. He shook himself from

his thoughts remembering his friends were in danger. He walked out the front door and went out

back. There, he mounted his broom and kicked off, thankful there was no moon tonight. "Hold

on, Hermione and Ron, I'm

coming." ............................................................................................................

AN: Alright let me know what you thought of this please!! You can give me suggestions to make it better or just tell me what you think.