AN: As of 2010 I have been rewriting this story, since there were only a few chapters to begin with the bits after chapter two are all new. I have written quite a few chapters in advance, so currently I will be updating this story every few weeks to give me time to edit them.

For many reasons this story was barely even started, so now I have less essay's to write this year I am going to try and finish it over the summer.

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters they belong to JK Rowling.

THE DOOR

The screams were getting louder, but Harry could not identify where they were coming from in the pitch black night. He circled in confusion and waited for the next scream, but it didn't come. He launched into a run as soon as he saw the crumpled lump on the floor. He ran so fast he did not see the tall figure glide out of the darkness until it blocked his path.

The pale snake faced man glared down at him. And as the red eyes burned into his, Harry felt the sense of defeat overwhelm him causing his knees to buckle and force him to the floor. One pale arm reached out and squeezed tightly around his neck.

He choked and gasped bringing his hands up to pull away the hand. He squeezed his eyes tight and wrenched hard. He felt something give and opened his eyes wide to find his covers twisted tight around his neck. Gasping for air, he shoved them away from his sweaty body. Heart pounding, he surveyed the room and resisted the temptation to light his bedside candle. Voldemort definitely was not here, it wasn't possible for him to hurt him here at Sirius's house.

The shock of the nightmare slowly wore off as he sat staring aimlessly into the dark. He wiped sweat from his face and felt his face growing hot with shame. He glanced anxiously at the bed next to him to see if his best friend, Ron, had woken. He felt reassured to see that the mop of red hair, which was the only part of Ron he could see, did not move. He chewed his lip self consciously, he felt embarrassed at the thought of Ron witnessing him panic over a nightmare.

He sunk his head into his hands. The image of Cedric Diggory's rigid face instantly flared in his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get rid of the image. His nails bit into his face as he tried to calm his harsh breathing, but he could not stop the anger coursing through him. It was his fault that Cedric was dead. It was his fault that Voldemort was back. He clenched his fist and aggressively punched the wall again and again until he could only feel the throbbing pain of his fist.

He had had the whole summer to dwell on nightmares involving Voldemort hunting down each one of his friends one by one. Dumbledore clearly thought it could happen; otherwise he wouldn't have forced him to stay at the Dursley's for so long. He was sure Dumbledore would have made him stay there for the whole summer if the Dementors had not attacked him.

Clenching his hands, he scowled at Ron's flaming red hair. He knew that it wasn't only Dumbledore who was wary of him, Ron was too. His best friend had not contacted him throughout the whole summer. He was certain that Ron was afraid he would cause more destruction within the Weasley family. He had already caused the near death of Ron's younger sister, and he was the reason Percy had been ostracised from his own family. Why would Ron still want to be his friend when he had so much to loose?

He stood up, determined to confront Ron and force him to reveal why he had distanced himself over the past few months. It took him a moment to step over to Ron's bed, his hand shot out to shake his friend awake, but he hesitated as he focused on Ron's face. His hand fell and his shoulders slumped in shame, he took a step back. Feeling dizzy, he fell onto his bed.

He had no evidence that Ron did not want to be his friend anymore. Like a child he had had a bad dream and was taking his anger out on everyone else. Resenting Ron was not going to punish Cedric's killer, it was not going to stop him feeling scared. Tears began to sting his eyes, and he snatched his glasses from the bed side table. He took a deep breath before scrambling out of bed; he wasn't going to stay like a frightened child in his bedroom until everyone woke up.

To prevent more disturbing thoughts upsetting him, he dressed quickly and quietly so as not to wake Ron. Once he had successfully navigated his way to the hall in the darkness, he stumbled down the stairs wincing as the steps creaked. But his face screwed up in confusion as a series of low thuds echoed along with his footsteps. He glanced cautiously around him, but he could not find the source of the noise. He edged further into the hall, and peered into the narrow passage beside the stairs, which lead up to the kitchen door.

The passage was dark, but he could see that both walls were alive with movement. He gasped with horror and backed away. The decapitated elf heads, which normally served as decoration courtesy of Sirius's mother, were twitching. There were at least fifty gaunt heads, and those that had spotted him leered and jerked themselves towards him, but pinned to the wall they could only thud uselessly. Their mouths gaped open to reveal rotting tongues, and their eyes bulged painfully in their sockets.

Harry slowly slid himself towards the stairs while gaping at the heads in shock; he wanted to get someone to force them to stop moving. But he stopped just as he put his foot on the first stair. He could imagine the look on Sirius's amused face as he asked him to stun a few elf heads pinned to the wall. He was acting like a child again, this was something he could deal with himself, and he did not need an adult to help. The heads probably had a security charm placed on them, which he had activated by coming downstairs so early in the morning.

His first idea was to stun them, but he knew that he was already in enough trouble for using magic outside of school. The next best thing would be to knock them out, so he bent low and felt out into the darkness for the umbrella stand he had seen Tonks trip over only a few days ago. He found it easily and quickly pulled out an umbrella. Walking purposefully towards the first head, which was violently spitting, he carefully jabbed it hoping it would go back to it former stillness.

The head quivered, but soon resumed gnashing its teeth at him. Hesitating, he gave it a firm whack, which instantly made the creature's features slump and then go still. Smiling slightly, Harry turned towards the next head with the umbrella held aloft. He brought it down to strike it, but jumped in surprise as the head fell to the floor on its own accord. It spun several times at his feet, but then stopped. It screwed its face up in anger and then sniffed threateningly at his feet. He gently nudged it away and turned back to the others, but froze in shock.

A door had materialised right in front of him. It was exactly identical to the kitchen door apart from the handle, which was created from the skull of a snake. The handle twitched and the door squeaked open. It was only when an invisible force grabbed his arm that Harry realised he was no longer on his own. He yelped and lashed out with the umbrella. But he was stunned to find it fly out of his hand and hit the far wall.

He struck out in front of him, but his arm hit nothing but air. He pushed and pulled while fumbling for his wand, but his second arm was soon pinned to his side. His arm burned with pain as sharp finger nails dug into him causing droplets of blood to pour from four small wounds. He opened his mouth wide to yell, but it died to a gurgle as some mysterious power stole his voice.

The invisible thing started to pull him towards the gap in the door, but he resisted. He felt his feet slipping on the floor, but used his weight to pull himself back. He twisted from side to side and suddenly veered away from the wall as a surge of elf heads fell to the floor. But the rotting heads still hit him as they continued to rush to the floor where they rolled sickeningly at his feet.

As he continued to struggle, Harry was intently aware of the elf heads snapping their sharp teeth at his feet. The heads were circling him, making him lose concentration as he focused on their grotesque faces snuffling towards him. He kicked out at them and lost a vital inch as the thing pulled him closer to the door. He pulled back just as hard fully aware that a few more mistakes would force him inside the room.

One determined head bit down on his trouser leg, it quickly worked its way up his leg. He shook his leg furiously unbalancing himself in the process and the invisible thing pulled him further towards the door. By the time Harry had regained some balance the shrunken head had reached his chest, and it was persistently working its way towards his neck. An awkward jerk did nothing to shake it off. He could smell its decayed flesh and watched helplessly as it bit down on his neck.

Harry let out a strangled gasp of pain and he jerked uncontrollably. The invisible thing seized its chance, while Harry was distracted, to pull him into the room. It laughed nastily before slamming the door shut.

AN: If anyone has any questions I will reply. It would be really nice to hear what readers think of the story and any comments on what you feel needs improving.

Thanks!