Disclaimer: I own nothing from Harry Potter (none of the characters, places, storylines, etc.). They all belong to the fabulous and talented J.K. Rowling that has created this wonderful world she lets us play in.

London

Deep within the depths of the Ministry of Magic in London, in a dark room, a bright light suddenly glowed as a black shaggy dog emerged from an archway with a tattered veil. The dog looked weak and worn but happy nonetheless and he quickly set out for the door. He managed to wind his way through the depths of the darkened Ministry and into the Auror offices, where he found one very surprised pink-haired Auror working a night shift.

Number 4 Privet Drive

As the dog emerged from the veil in London, a teenage boy woke in his bed with a shout from a nightmare in which he watched his godfather fall through the same veil and out of his life. The boy ran a hand through his messy black hair and rubbed the sleep from his emerald eyes. The clock only read three in the morning, but he knew he would not get more sleep tonight. The boy's name was Harry Potter and he wondered yet again what it would be like to sleep through the night without being forced to relive the deaths of those you care for.

Harry was startled out of his thoughts by the resounding bang of his bedroom door as it bounced off the wall when his Uncle Vernon threw it open. Harry flinched at the sound and cowered back against the headboard—he knew what was coming next. It had happened nearly every night this summer. Harry's nightmares about Sirius's death were horrible, it was only compounded with the overwhelming sense of guilt he felt about his own role in Sirius's death. Every night Harry awoke in a cold sweat and more often than not with a shout. When his shouts woke his uncle, Vernon took it upon himself to use his fists to ascertain that Harry understood such behavior was not to be tolerated.

Tonight was no different than any other. Vernon quickly—or as quickly as his great girth would allow—advanced upon Harry's bed. The first blow fell on the side of his head, there would only be one to the head because they left too much evidence. The remaining blows fell on his arms and his stomach. Harry's ribs ached fiercely when his uncle finally exhausted his anger and stopped raining down blows.

"Now you listen to me boy, I have had enough of this yelling in the night and your freakishness in this house. One more time, just once more, you wake me up in the night and that will be it. You will be out of this house before the light of day and you won't be coming back!" With that Vernon slammed Harry's door and returned to his bed.

Harry turned his head toward the wall and bit down on his lip to prevent a whimper of pain from escaping. Hedwig gave a quiet hoot of concern from the other side of the bars on his window; Harry had left her out of her cage at the start of the summer to keep Vernon from locking her up. Harry couldn't send letters this way but he could receive them and the words from his friends comforted him, as did the knowledge that Hedwig was safe from Vernon's temper. Harry weakly waved his hand at her to go hunt and choked back a gasp of pain as the movement sent white hot daggers through his flesh. Hedwig looked at him reproachfully but acquiesced to his command all the same.

Not for the first time that summer Harry considered writing to Remus and trying to get Hedwig to take the letter in her beak. Harry knew that the werewolf would not let Dumbledore leave Harry at the Dursley's if he knew of the abuse. As usual, however he rejected the notion, Remus had enough to deal with considering his best friend had been killed just one month ago. It was your fault. It is your fault Sirius is gone and Remus is miserable. You deserve what Vernon gives you. You bring nothing but pain to those you love. It is better to leave Remus out of it, that way he will be safe.

Harry shook his head to clear it of the nagging voice that gave him no peace from his guilt and pain. His head swam with dizziness and his vision was going black around the edges. Tonight's beating had been particularly brutal and he could feel blood drip down the side of his face and into the dirty sheets by his neck. He was barely hanging on to consciousness and he knew that he would soon pass out. Why won't he just kill me so that I can be with Sirius and Mum and Dad? Harry wondered as he felt himself slipping slowly under. His last thought was of how much he longed to see his godfather one more time. I never told him I loved him and now he is gone Harry thought as darkness overwhelmed him. One lone tear rolled down his cheek and pooled in the blood by his neck.

A.N. Hey guys! So this is my first attempt at fanfiction and I would absolutely love your feedback! I am a big Sirius fan and I always loved to pretend that he came back to Harry so that Harry could have his own family, so I decided to write a story that would turn out exactly the way I wanted. Not sure how long this will end up being and that will depend largely on reviewer response. Thank you so much!