Harry Potter had lost a
lot of weight since his 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. It had only been 2 weeks, but the result was obvious. His
first week back Harry had locked himself up in his room, only leaving
to use the restroom. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia didn't bother to
ask if he was alright. In fact they seemed quite pleased that the
object of their constant distress had separated himself from "normal"
society.
This first week was spent in a cloud of misery. Harry
couldn't help but relive his most recent encounter with Lord
Voldemort. And he also, despite his desperate yearning, couldn't get
the image of Sirius, his wayward Godfather, falling through the veil
out of his head. At night Harry would wake up in a cold sweat that
mingled with his tears. He did, however, keep up his correspondence
with Professor Lupin every three days so the Order of the Phoenix
would know he was ok. "Ok?" Harry thought to himself," How
could anyone even ASK that?"
So Harry's first week back slowly faded into the second week. Harry, tired of his solitude, finally ventured out on a sunny Tuesday morning (avoiding breakfast and snide comments from the Dursleys). The perfect day didn't do much to lighten Harry's spirits as he slowly made his way to the park. Sitting on the last swing to survive Dudley's gang's attack, he listened intently for any unusual sounds. It wasn't that he was worried that a pack of Death Eaters was going to swoop down on him where he sat, far from it! Harry just NEW that he was being tailed by a member of the Order. Pushing his glasses up further on his nose, he scanned the park as best he could. It was easier to guess who was not there, then who was assigned to him that day. He KNEW it couldn't be Tonks, because he would have almost certainly heard her by now. And he knew it wasn't Mundungus, because he would be able to SMELL him.
Sighing to himself and at his utter lack of new knowledge, Harry decided he had better head back before the Dursley's woke up. Adjusting his very oversized t-shirt inherited from his rotund cousin, Harry slowly made his way home. Once reaching the rather ordinary house on Privet Drive, Harry noticed a sign from the house across the yard. Squinting to read it as the sun reflected on its shiny surface, Harry could make out two words: FOR SALE. "Good," Harry thought to himself," this will give Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia something ELSE to talk about. A new neighbor always means new gossip." Sneaking upstairs and back to his rather messy room, Harry threw himself down on his bed. Groaning to himself, he finally decided it was time to start on his long list of homework, and in particular, a nasty essay for Snape, his least favorite teacher. Harry pulled out his quill, ink, and parchment and stared dumbly at them for what seemed like hours. Pulling at his hair and uttering a few curses under his breath, he put everything away. "I just can't think right now," he said out loud to his empty room.
The rest of the day went slowly enough, its highlight being a scuffle with Dudley in front of the bathroom. Harry lost and was forced to wait while Dudley purposely took his time. Sitting at his desk as the moon started to rise, Harry, once again, tried to fight back the memories that were always hiding under the surface of his thoughts. Once again he was in the Ministry of Magic with his classmates. Running from room to room, fighting death eaters, seeing the Order burst in to save them all, and Sirius falling, falling, falling. Harry woke up with a start as he banged his head on the hard floor. "Must've fallen out of the chair again" he said to no one in particular.
Suddenly Harry heard the sound of someone yelling an incantation outside...
