Crunch... Crunch... Crunch...

It had been one month since Harry returned to the Dursleys for the summer but this summer with his trunk in tow and the knowledge that soon his god-father would be coming for him. The knowledge that the rat responsible for his parents' deaths had been caught and soon he'd be with not just one but two adults who wanted to make him feel welcome and care for him as his relatives went out of their way not to.

It was that knowledge that helped make moments like this a little more bearable. He couldn't ignore the fact that his aunt and uncle had ditched him a half-hour from out of city boundaries with instructions to walk back early enough so he could make breakfast but it did make it so he wasn't as angry as he could have been. He wasn't thrilled but he was so excited to go to Sirius' house, wherever that was, that he couldn't find the energy to get mad.

Besides, while they were out, they had more or less been forced to allow him to eat with them because they knew it would draw more attention to themselves if they went inside to eat while Harry was forced to sit out in the car. Of course, this may be while Uncle Vernon felt inclined to pull over and kick Harry out of the car. Another reason Harry wasn't so upset about this was how many burritos his cousin and uncle had eaten, therefore filling the car with enough gas to run a plane by now. Even Petunia looked like she really wanted to get out of the car and walk with him if it meant getting away from the fumes and the way her husband and son loudly announced every time they farted.

In fact, the only thing that he didn't like about this whole ordeal was he was now traipsing through the woods along the road to prevent himself from looking like a hitchhiker, after dark with his only real source of light being the full moon in the sky.

In fact, the only thing that made this whole situation almost worst while was the fact that they had dragged Dudley out with them, despite the other boy being sick and feverish, he was forced to go with them. Partly because Petunia wasn't going to leave him home alone to "perish". They blamed Harry for Dudley's bout of influenza, even though he'd been sent home with a notification stating there was an outbreak among students and that he'd most likely been exposed when his roommate got sick. But this was obviously Harry's fault.

By now, he knew he was almost there, just probably forty minutes left of walking until he reached Privet Drive. Unfortunately, he was going to have to walk the rest of the way to the house because Privet Drive was just far enough away from the main part of town that there wasn't any type of public transit to the area, except maybe a cab which was a bit outside of his budget of two pounds.

Starting to feel tired from such a long walk, Harry picked up the pace in an attempt to stay alert and aware of his surroundings. Occasionally he would hear the sound of a passing car and that was his only assurance that he hadn't strayed too far from the road but unfortunately at this time of night, there weren't many cars.

SNAP

Brought out of his train of thoughts, he surveyed his surroundings, feeling crawling sensations up and down his spine which made the hairs on the back of his neck raise. Unable to shake the feeling that he was in some kind of danger that he could not see and fueled by his adrenaline, Harry started sprinting towards Surrey while glancing around trying to spot the unknown threat.

After several minutes of sprinting, feeling stupid and somewhat glad to have been alone for such a fit of irrationality, Harry slowed his pace and began rationalising what the sound might have been. A fox, a bunny, maybe it was a skunk. Thankfully he was almost there; he could see the street lights of Privet Drive. He never thought he would be so relieved to find the Dursleys house. There weren't bears this close to town... Or at least that was what he had been told.

SNAP

Whipping his head frantically in the direction of the sound, he was relieved to find that he was still alone and still safe until he turned to continue his journey and found himself face-to-face with what was quite arguably the ugliest, sickly but viscous look dog he had ever seen. Its sharp teeth glistened in the moonlight, making the bits of thick saliva more visible as they dripped off his teeth.

This animal was unlike anything Harry had ever seen before; its appearance and movements though animalistic, were also vaguely human. But its appearance was nothing compared to the way it was looking at Harry; the same way Dudley watched a plate of chips he was about to devour.

Taking a nervous step back, Harry tried to keep his expression neutral, making sure to utilise everything he'd learnt when he was small about unfriendly dogs. This was a practice he and most children on Privet Drive have had to use many times as one of their neighbours, Mrs Prestion, was known for dog breeding but unlike most breeders, she was known for producing animals that were best left not existing at all. In fact, this particular creature looked like one of her beloved creations. Shuddering at the idea of this thing cuddled up at his neighbour's side, Harry began plotting to get away from this creature and preferably in one piece.

The creature, seeming to read Harry's thoughts, leapt forward in a furious show of animalistic hunger and fury. When the creature made contact, Harry was knocked to the ground with a breathtaking thud. Barely able to register what was happening, he felt its teeth rip into his shoulder, as though he was a chew toy. Unable to stop himself, he let out a cry of agony. He could already feel the blood pooling where the creature's teeth were tightly clenched.

Almost as quickly as the beast had tackled him, he found himself released and watching mystified as the creature tore off into the woods as though it had accomplished what it had come to do. It was an odd experience that left Harry wondering if he was indeed still alive.

Confused and hurt, Harry wasted no time getting up and running towards Privet Drive as fast as his shaking feet would allow. In the distance, he heard a howl in the night; he knew it was the creature that had bitten him.

Number Four Privet Drive was pitch black, indicating that his family had long since gone to bed, having had their laugh about leaving him in the middle of nowhere. Dudley was no doubt sleeping, as he could barely keep his eyes open for a few minutes at a time and when he did, he simply whined. But this wasn't the irritating thing. Despite his complaints of nausea, Petunia was still trying to get him to eat his usual intake, bringing Harry to witness an event that surely indicated the impending apocalypse: Dudley Dursley refusing and complaining about the presence of food.

Grabbing the key from under the porch, Harry opened the door as quietly as he could and quietly went into the bathroom to look at the damage. It honestly wasn't as bad as it could have been. It wasn't as deep or even bleeding as much as he thought it was. By the time it was cleaned and bandaged, it was half two and he could barely keep his eyes open.

Once he arrived in his room, he found everything felt strange and seemed to be spinning. He barely made it to his bed before he finally dropped into the deepest but most uncomfortable sleep. Every few hours, he would wake up feverishly dazed and confused to the sound of howling in the distance. And for some reason, the sound sent chills down his spine.