Disclaimer: JK Rowling created all of the Harry Potter universe. I'm just borrowing from her.

A/N: I actually finished this earlier than I thought that I would. Yay! I saw Goblet of Fire last night, and I loved it. I thought that it was the best Harry Potter movie so far.

Thanks to all of my reviewers: color, saiyanwizardgurl, mmcgonagall, shannyauburn, Riker15, Rosaleen, nicky12330, Dumbledore13, sweets2, Laume, dubdigit, Curalium Lacrimo, Black's Phoenix, and Arica, Princess of Rivendell.


Harry slowly opened his eyes the next morning. The events of the night came crashing back into his mind. Guilt began to consume his thoughts. He would have continued to think about it, but Harry noticed that Dumbledore was still lying beside him on the bed.

"Good morning, Harry," the Headmaster said softly. "How about you get dressed, we'll eat breakfast, and then we can talk?"

"Alright," Harry replied quietly.

After going through a quick breakfast, Harry and Dumbledore sat beside each other on the couch. Harry didn't particularly want to rehash last night's vision, but he knew that the Headmaster wouldn't let it go.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Better. I'm not sore like I was last night."

"That's good, but I'm not just talking about your physical health. We need to talk about what happened last night. Harry, I know that you feel guilty about Cedric death, which wasn't your fault, by the way. How do you feel now that the Dursleys are dead?"

Harry gave a mental groan before answering. "The Dursleys are gone. My feelings about them don't matter anymore."

"Please answer the question. Your feelings are very important. Guilt can eat away at you if you do not get rid of it. It can be unhealthy to not deal with your feelings and emotions."

"Voldemort killed the Dursleys because of me," Harry burst out. "Had I not lived there, he wouldn't have gone after them."

"But I was the one who put you with them. You never had any say in your living arrangements. Do you think that it is my fault?" the Headmaster replied.

"No…but…that's different," Harry sputtered.

"Your relatives knew that Voldemort had killed your parents and tried to kill you. When I left you on their doorstep with a letter, I informed them that Voldemort could possibly return. I did tell them that the wards should keep you safe; however, they did know that there could be dangers in the future. Despite their feelings for you, they still took you in."

"Why did they raise me if they hate magic so much?" Harry asked puzzled.

"I think that a lot of it had to do with your aunt. She knew that, if the situation was reversed, Lily would probably have taken care of Dudley. After all, you are still family," Dumbledore said.

The Headmaster continued speaking. "Harry, the Dursleys might have died even if you had not lived with them. They were all Muggles, and you know how much the Death Eaters despise Muggles. Now that Voldemort is back, they will be torturing and murdering more than before."

"I understand, Professor. It is just something that is hard to accept," Harry answered.

"Over the years, Harry, I have felt a lot of guilt and sorrow. Many students have attended Hogwarts since I have been both a professor of the school and the Headmaster. I have wanted to help all of them, but I have sometimes felt that I have failed some students. We have had a lot of successful, happy graduates; however, there are some who have become Death Eaters, some have committed suicide, and some are drug users. The list goes on and on."

"What did you do to get over your feelings of guilt?" Harry asked curiously.

"I vow to work harder next time. If I see a student who is having problems, I try to make myself available. I can't be hard on myself because of one student who has gone down the wrong path. If I spend a lot of time criticizing myself and putting myself down, I won't be able to help the next student in need. Many kids exhibit warning signs. You just have to pay attention to them. Harry, everyone has their own methods of working through their negative feelings. Different circumstances require different techniques. Things will get better for you."

The conversation was interrupted when Harry could vaguely hear someone frantically calling his name. He jumped when he realized that the sound was coming from his pocket. He hurriedly reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror. Harry saw Sirius's worried face looking back at him.

"Thank God, Harry. I was so scared when I heard what had happened at the Dursleys. I thought that you might have been kidnapped by Death Eaters. No one knew what had happened to you. Where are you? How did you get away?"

"Hi, Sirius," Harry said before looking over at Dumbledore. Harry wasn't sure if he was allowed to disclose his current location.

Dumbledore quietly responded to Harry's silent question. "First find out where he is. If he is in a secure area, then you can tell him."

"What's going on?" Sirius asked. "Who are you talking to? Please answer me!"

"Sirius, where are you right now? I want to tell you everything, but it may not be safe for me to do so if you aren't somewhere secure," Harry said.

"Well, of course I'm somewhere secure. I'm an escaped convict. I can't just be wandering around," Sirius snapped.

When he saw Harry's hurt face, he hurried to apologize. "I'm sorry. I've just been worried about you. Right now I am at Kingsley Shacklebolt's house. He is an Auror in the Order of the Phoenix. He was called over to your house last night after the attack occurred. I just arrived at his house this morning, and he filled me in. So…"

"Oh, yeah. I never went to the Dursley's house when school let out. Professor Dumbledore didn't think that it would be safe, so he let me stay with him at his house…"

Sirius cut Harry off when he heard that. "Why wasn't I informed about this? I'm your godfather. I should be consulted when major things like this are going on. Plus, I wouldn't have been so worried if I had known. Who else knows?"

"Well, just the three of us and Professor Snape…"

Sirius couldn't stop himself from interrupting Harry again. "What! Why did that greasy git know about this before I did? He was probably one of the ones there last night. Now that he knows where you are, he could tell Voldemort about your location."

Dumbledore saw that Harry was getting upset. He took the mirror out of Harry's hands in order to talk to Sirius.

"Sirius, you need to calm down for Harry's sake." Dumbledore waited a few moments before talking again. "Now, I trust Severus completely. He is a spy for the Order, and you know that. He did not know that Harry was here until he came to my house last night in order to inform me about the Death Eater attack."

"I don't care what you say. I'm not very happy with you right now. Snivellus should not even be around my godson."

"Sirius," Dumbledore warned. "I wouldn't be talking bad about him if I were you. He helped Harry last night. Harry saw the attack in one of his visions. When Severus got here, he gave Harry some Dreamless Sleep potion and something for his pain. He also said that he would make some more potions for Harry and bring them here today."

"Harry, are you okay?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore handed the mirror back to Harry. Looking carefully at his godson, Sirius was able to see the tired look on his face.

"I'm fine now, Sirius. I don't really want to talk about the attack anymore, though. Sorry."

"That's alright, Harry. I understand. I'm here if you ever need to talk to me about anything," Sirius gently said. He paused before remembering something else that he wanted to say.

"If Snape," Sirius spat, "gives you a hard time, you contact me. He may have helped you, but you can't expect me to change my feelings towards him."

Harry gave Sirius a small smile. "I'll be fine. He was very civil last night."

Sirius scoffed as if he didn't believe it possible that Snape could act civil towards another human being.

"Harry, I have some more work to do for the Order. I will talk to you soon, alright? Bye."

"Bye, Sirius."

"Harry," Dumbledore said hesitantly, "There is something that I need to do, but I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'll be fine here by myself. No one will be able to get me here. What is it that you need to do?" Harry questioned.

"After the events of last night and Sirius's reaction, I think that I need to tell the Weasleys and Ms. Granger that you are safe. They are probably already worrying about you."

"I wish that I could go talk to them myself," Harry said wistfully.

"I'm sorry, Harry. The summer won't last forever. You will see each other again."

"What are we going to do about the rest of the wizarding world? Nobody knows if I'm even dead or alive," Harry replied.

"While I am out, I will also drop by Kingsley Shacklebolt's house. I'm sure that Sirius has more words that he would like to share with me without you overhearing. I'll have Kingsley tell the Ministry that you have been relocated to somewhere safe, but I won't have him mention who you are staying with."

"I hope Sirius didn't feel too hurt that we didn't tell him. He seemed kind of angry," Harry sadly said while lowering his head.

"If he was angry, it was with me, not with you. I'm sure that he will get over it after he has ranted at me for a little while," the Headmaster replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

Dumbledore stood up and gave Harry a quick hug. Harry was caught off guard, but he hesitantly put his arms around the other man.

"I'll try to be back as soon as I can, Harry. Find something to entertain yourself for a few hours. When I get back, we'll do something together."

"Alright. Would you please tell Ron and Hermione hello for me? And tell them that I'm sorry that I had to lie to them," Harry answered.

"Of course I will. Bye, Harry."

After Dumbledore had left through the fireplace, Harry decided to go back to his room and lay down for a little while. He was still tired from last night, so he decided that it might be nice to rest. He had quickly fallen asleep and dozed for a few hours.


Harry suddenly woke up when he heard the bedroom door open. He groggily reached over and picked up his glasses. When he put them on, he was able to make out Professor Snape standing in the doorway with a strange look on his face. Snape's face hurriedly changed into a neutral expression as soon as he noticed Harry staring at him.

"Potter, where is the Headmaster?"

"He had to leave a few hours ago. He wanted to tell the Weasleys and Hermione that I was okay," Harry replied.

"It has taken him this long to inform them of your current situation? And he left you here alone all this time?"

Harry ignored his teacher's comments. "Did you want him for something?"

"I just came by to bring you the potions that I made. I'll need to tell you a little bit about them so that you don't overdose. Are you sure that you can remember this? Should you write it down?" Snape sneered.

"I know that the Dreamless Sleep potion can only be taken for three days. Then you have to let your body go without it for at least a week so that it can cleanse itself," Harry replied. He grinned when he saw the shocked look on his professor's face.

"How would you know that, Potter?" Snape asked, surprised at the correct answer.

"When you stay in the Hospital Wing as much as I do, you learn a few things about the potions that you have to take," Harry answered with a shrug. "I don't recognize the potion that you made me for the pain, though."

Snape tried to replace his shocked expression with a more dignified one.

"I wouldn't expect you to know that one. It is, after all, used specifically for the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse. You don't see people suffering from that in a school. Of course, you would be the exception. You need to take it whenever you feel pain from the Curse, but you can only have it once a day. When you run out of potions, I will make some more."

"Professor, are you okay? I saw that Vol- sorry, You-Know-Who hit you with the Cruciatus Curse."

"I am fine, Potter," Snape said tersely. "What about you? The Curse was used several times."

Harry was the one who was shocked this time. Professor Snape had actually asked how he was feeling. Lately, Harry had begun to notice that his teacher had been more civil, but Harry was still caught off guard. Even though Snape would make comments towards him, Harry wasn't offended by them like he had been before. The comments weren't as biting as they used to be. Harry wondered what had occurred to make Snape change.

"I'm better. Thank you for making the potions for me."

Snape only acknowledged the thanks with an incline of his head. Harry paused briefly before continuing to speak. He hoped that his teacher would be willing to share some information with him.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened last night after the Dursleys were murdered and the Death Eaters left?"

Snape stayed silent for a long time. Harry didn't think that he was going to answer the question, but Snape finally began to speak.

"We went back to the Dark Lord's abode. He is livid that you managed to thwart his plans once again. He is working harder than ever to find you."

"I know that you weren't at the graveyard. Does he think that you're a spy?" Harry asked.

"No, and that is all you need to know," Snape firmly responded.

They both turned toward the door as Dumbledore wearily stepped inside the room.

"Hello, Severus. Thank you for bringing those potions by. I hope that you two were okay in my absence," Dumbledore said before turning to Harry. "I'm sorry that I took so long, Harry. There was a lot of stuff that I had to take care of. I will explain everything to you tomorrow."

"I must be going back home, Albus," Snape said. "If anything happens, I will return and report to you. Goodbye, Albus, Potter."

"Goodbye, Professor Snape," Harry responded.