Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the characters, they are all J.K. Rowling's. No profit is being made, pleasure only.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a fanfiction so please be kind! This takes place after the 5th book. Enjoy!

Chapter One

I'm Not Made of Steel

"Hold your head high
Don't look down
I'm by your side
Won't back down
You wanted a hero tonight
Well I'm not made of steel
I'm not made of steel
But your secrets safe with me"

It soon turned dark in Little Whinging. This summer was just as hot as last year. It was miserable, and all the lawns were yellow. Harry Potter sat deep in thought as he kept swinging on his normal swing in the park. He had spent a lot of time outside lately, just being inside of Number 4 Privet Drive made him feel trapped. This summer was getting to be the worst summer of his life. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, except for the heat, but the pain of losing Sirius and the prophecy was still raw on Harry's mind. The full loss of Sirius was finally hitting him. There would be no more tropical birds with letters. He would never see that huge black dog running after the Hogwarts Express or chasing cats down the alley.

A sudden pop rang out in the darkness and Harry jumped out of the swing and laid down on the ground with his wand out.

"Wotcher, Harry. Put that thing up before you poke an eye out!" Harry sighed at the familiar voice and put his wand away and stood up.

Tonks held back a gasp at the sight of Harry. There were big dark circles under his eyes. He had always been on the skinny side, but she could see his rib bones stick out under his oversized t-shirt. He was paler then normal, and his black hair stood up as it always did. But what surprised and scared her most was his eyes. His emerald eyes normally shined with life. But now, they just looked dull and pained more than she had ever seen.

"Wow, Harry you look horrible!" exclaimed Tonks before she could stop herself. "Nice to see you too," Harry grumbled. "Sorry," Tonks replied, "but get inside, its way too late for you to be out here!" Harry sighed again and started the walk home. "How are you doing?" Tonks asked. "Fine," Harry replied shortly. When they passed Mrs. Figg's house, Tonks gave him a quick hug. "Take care of yourself, kiddo." Harry flinched at the use of the all too familiar nickname. "Whatever." He said and kept on walking home. Tonks looked at him worriedly before she left.

Harry finally entered the house that he had dreaded going to for as long as he could remember. But anything was better than Grimmauld Place. When he shut the door he heard Aunt Petunia screech "Where have you been boy?" Harry ignored her and walked up to his room and shut the door.

He hurriedly wrote his normal letter.

"I'm fine, the Muggles are being good."

-Harry

Harry called Hedwig over. "Take this to the Order." Hedwig hooted at him reassuringly and nipped his finger in the same way with concerned eyes.

Harry climbed under his covers and turned off the lights for another horrible night.

Bodies were scattered everywhere of men, women, and children. There were some Muggles running around screaming. "Please, what have we done to you?" a father who was trying to protect his crying wife and two kids. Voldemort laughed and said, "Do not talk to me you filthy Muggle." He turned to the first boy, who was about 4 years old. "Avadra Kedevra!" He yelled lazily. He then moved on to the girl, who was about 6 years old. "Bella!" he bellowed.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"This one is yours." "Thank you, Dark Lord." Bellatrix turned to the little girl with an evil smile on her lips. "Incendio!" The girl's whole body caught on flames and burned to ashes.

"Good work, Bella." She bowed and left to torture more.

Now the wife and husband were weeping hysterically. He turned to the wife and murmered a spell that neither could hear, and she screamed in pain, her insides were dissolving. She fell to the ground dead.

Last, Voldemort turned to the husband. "I saved you for last, so you could watch your whole family die, you pathetic Muggle. You didn't even try to save them!" he hissed. "Crucio!" He repeated this over and over until the man had lost his mind. "Avadra Kedevra!"

He called Wormtail over.

"What news did you bring back?" he hissed.

"No-No-Nothing, My Lord. Potter is safe with his relatives. We are attempting to breach the wards, but have had no luck."

"You have failed me. Crucio."

Wormtail screamed and withered on the floor. After what seemed forever Voldemort finally lifted the curse.

"Do not fail me again."

The raven-haired boy woke up screaming. Vernon unlocked his door and slammed it open. "Stop this infernal screaming boy!" he bellowed. Harry leaned over his bed and promptly threw up. Shivering he covered up once more his blankets. "Why you little freak!" Vernon yelled. He ran over and grabbed the teen by the throat. Harry clawed at his arms to get free and breathe. Vernon dropped him to the ground and kicked him over and over in the stomach.

"Learn your lesson boy, it's only going to get worse if you don't!" and Vernon slammed shut the door and locked it.

Harry painfully got back under the covers and laid there shivering. He knew he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight, and he couldn't write Ron or Hermione, he had to push them away. He was a danger to them, to everyone.

Why couldn't he just be normal for once? Harry knew it was useless thinking that, he had known he was abnormal his whole life.

He looked over at his little calendar he had made. He was surprised as he saw there was only two more days until he would go to Hogwarts!

He coughed painfully. 'Great,' he thought, 'to make matters even worse, I'm getting sick.' His ribs were stinging; a couple of them had to be broken.

A few hours later, he heard the locks clicking open, and Petunia stuck her head in and said, "Get up there's chores to be done." Harry sighed and got up and winced painfully. He walked slowly downstairs and started making bacon and eggs. Once again lost in deep thought, he yelped as he felt a hot sting on his hand. He had burned his hand on the stove. He ran it under cool water, but still a red painful sore came up.

Aunt Petunia came in and gave him a list of things to do before Uncle Vernon got home. The list included: repaint the shed, pull the weeds, water the flowers, mow the lawn, vacuum the house, fix the hole in the roof, and wash the dishes. He got the paint from the shed and started painting it.

He kept having coughing outbursts that would last for a couple of minutes and left his throat stinging. He felt really bad, and was pretty sure that he had a fever. Then dizzying spells came. He moved on to the weeds, and started on that. He was moving extra slow today due to all of his injuries, and his illness.

By the time Vernon got home, Harry was fixing the roof, or attempting at least. He was in the middle of a dizzy spell and was about to fall off. He finished that then headed inside.

"No dinner tonight, boy!" Vernon bellowed.

Harry didn't really care. He wasn't that hungry anyway. He sat on his bed. Only one more day. He started coughing but this time he couldn't stop and he ran in the bathroom and threw up.

He miserably laid down for another sleepless night.

A/N: I'm really excited about this story and I hoped you guys liked it! Please review, and make me happy! I also need a beta!