Disclaimer: I wish I could own HP, but I don't.

POST OotP.

My First Fanfic ever.

Non-slash

Harry, Snape fiction.

Synopsis: After Sirius' death, Harry must learn to cope with the it, as well as voldemort getting stronger and as he has a misfortune in his health.

Harry sat in his room- or what passed as a room anyways. At 15 almost 16, he was back in the cupboard. He thought after Mad-eye Moody and the lot threatened Uncle Vernon that things just might be better. 'ha, better..What a joke.' Harry thought bitterly. He was back to doing tedious chores that went from morning to night with little food and always getting an earful from his relatives.

At night, he had nightmares.. some times it was about Sirius and he would talk about how it was Harry's fault that he was gone, that he was a good for nothing godson. Harry would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air; it felt like his throat was constricted. Other times he had visions of Voldemort giving the Cruciatus Curse to his Death Eaters or tormenting a muggle for fun.

Harry bristled. He hated it when Voldemort tormented muggles for fun. They were harmless; what have they ever done to him.

So after every nightmare, he would wake up at 2 or 3am and start working on his summer homework from Hogwarts. Hogwarts.. he couldn't wait to go back to the one place he thought of as home. Just a few more weeks…

Harry's birthday came on July 31st. As usual, he saw many owls coming through his window. Pig, Ron's annoying owl who kept flapping around the room, dropped off Chocolate Frogs and other sweets as well as Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes from Fred and George. Next was Hermione's owl, who dropped off the gift and went out the window, not looking back. It was a book on charms, an advanced book with all sorts of charms that were not learnt until 7th year. Harry smiled slightly- one of the few since he was at 4 Privet Drive. Next was Hagrid's usual rock cake which Harry deftly avoided. One of the school owls came in and handed him an envelope. He opened it expecting it to be from McGonagall with all the books and materials needed for the following year, but instead it was his OWL scores.

Harry stared at it in shock.

And "O" in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts (of course), and surprisingly, potions of all things. He also received an "E" in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. As well as a "P" in History and Divination.

These scores allowed him to enter all the classes he would need to become an Auror. Harry was beginning to feel excited. He would definitely study harder over the summer to be prepared. But what shocked him the most was receiving an "O" in potions. An O!

Harry groaned. Oh man, Snape's going to have fun toying with me this year.

But Harry pushed away all bad thoughts and resolved to work hard and avoid the wrath of Snape as much as possible.

The next two weeks passed by in the same manner; do chores, eat little, sleep little, study more.

The charms book from Hermione was very interesting. He couldn't do magic due to the underage magic law, but he practiced all the same with the movements, without the wand.

Then the devil happened.

Uncle Vernon came through the door yelling for 'the boy' to come down.

Harry staggered from his room, weak from lack of food and rest and asked, "yes sir?"

Vernon turned purple as he tried to find the words. "YOU COST ME MY JOB!"

Harry was befuddled but hid it as he did with all his emotions around Vernon. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He replied calmly.

Vernon sneered. "You and your lil…. MAGIC. It was all you! You are a disgrace after all we did to raise you and gave you shelter. And boy, YOU LOST ME MY JOB!"

Harry could see how angry he was getting so he didn't say anything at all.

Vernon was not pleased with this. He decided to do something about it.

He grabbed the boy and started beating him all over, while Dudley and Petunia just watched on. Harry tried to curl into a ball but it was hopeless; he was being held in the air by his uncle. After punching his body for a while, Vernon became bored, so he aimed for the eyes instead. And kept punching and punching and punching.

Once he had his kicks of fun in, he tossed Harry into the cupboard and locked it. Harry was nearly unconscious but he heard it and was scared; the cupboard hasn't been locked in 5 years! But he was too weak to do anything about it. He fell unconscious.

When he woke up after god-knows-how-long… he grabbed for his glasses and put them on. He opened his eyes and blinked several times.

And several more times.

After a few minutes, he nearly fainted again as he realized something.

Harry was blind.