A small finger traced the faint scars across Harry's wrist. His eyes were glazed over and he was staring blankly at the door. Any moment now, he thought. And as quickly as the thought came to Harry, there was a loud creaking on the stairs. A few thuds sounded from the hallway, then the sound of the door being unbolted, the chain swinging free from the door. Then there was a turn of a key. Harry was crouched beneath the windowsill, the window had been boarded up but there was a crack in the panels that invited an inch of sunlight through. He rose cautiously, steadying himself against the wall and the sunlight illuminated the side of Harry's face. His face was hollow, the shadows lined his sharp cheekbone, and his lips were dry and pale. His green eyes behind his glasses were as strong as ever, they were glistening with ferocity. Harry didn't give a damn anymore. He was once terrified of his uncle, scared to move, scared to answer back, scared to challenge him. This last week, Harry had silently decided that he had absolutely nothing to lose. Vernon wouldn't let him leave the house. There wasn't a chance in hell that Harry would be going back to Hogwarts and without his wand, he was defenceless.

The door creaked open and a small bony hand reached towards Harry. It was Petunia. Harry quietly moved over to her and the hand shot back, the door closing. Harry stepped away. 'Stupid woman,' he heard Vernon growl, and Harry glared, his hand reaching for his absent wand. 'What have I told you-' Harry heard hushed whispers and hesitantly approached the door, he opened it until he door was ajar and Harry peeked through- Vernon and Petunia were halfway down the hall, he had her against the wall an arm against her throat… Petunia was in tears, the hem of her dress had been lifted above her thighs… she caught Harry's eye and threw him a furtive glare. Harry understood it and when Vernon was facing the other way he made a run for the stairs. There was no possible way Harry could have succeeded without making a single noise. The creak of the floorboards beneath Harry's feet caught his uncle's attention and Vernon eyes were wild as he saw Harry run for the stairs. He screamed and threw Petunia to the ground before making a leap for Harry. Harry dodged him, and Vernon collided with the banister, Harry tripped as his uncles hand pushed him hard and fell to the bottom of the stairs. His eyes were swimming with tears as his head ploughed into the wall near the front door. Vernon faltered as he stood, Petunia grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to stop him charging down the stairs. Harry yanked the cupboard door open and collected his things together. He hastily stowed his wand into his waistband and grabbed his trunk, heaving it towards the door. His free hand reached up towards the door handle…

'Not so fast, boy.' Harry was thrown backwards; his body collided with the laminate flooring and his uncle was towering over him. Vernon was wheezing with laughter, his face dripping with sweat and his purple complexion added to his demented expression. He licked his lips before coming closer to Harry his eyes feral and his breathing rapid…

'Severus, would you like some… more stew?' Molly asked stupidly, seeing Severus's untouched bowl and she continued along the table. He was sat with the Order, Dumbledore was sat beside him on his right and Arthur was on his left. He could feel their interfering glances every so often.

'That was lovely, Molly.' Dumbledore smiled. 'Thank you, Albus.' She beamed, sitting back down with a triumphant look about her. On the opposite side of the table sat the Weasley children, Granger and Tonks. Molly was at the head of the table facing Lupin on the opposite end. Lupin had left his stew untouched also. Severus sneered as Lupin left the table. All eyes were on Lupin as he took small steps towards the door.

'I think Severus should be on duty tonight.' He muttered, turning to face the table. All eyes turned on Severus and his eyes narrowed at Lupin. Albus was the one who replied. 'We'll discuss it after dinner, Remus.' He smiled, but his voice sounded final.

Granger raised a hand. 'Yes, Miss Granger?' Albus spoke softly and Hermione slowly put her hand back down 'Excuse me Professor, but we-' Weasley shot her a threatening look. 'I mean- I wanted to know what the Order was on duty for?' She whimpered as if she might be scolded for asking too much but she continued. 'Is it for Harry?' she whispered, eyes filling with tears. The rest of the Weasley children looked intently at Dumbledore, Tonks was signalling to Lupin to ask him to sit back down. Lupin obeyed.

'Yes, Hermione.' Lupin sighed, 'It's for Harry.' He said as he pulled his chair up. 'I know you want to know if he is safe. We all do. It's just difficult-' He put his head in his hands and Tonks ran over to him, comforting him they seemed to be in a deep conversation about something. Albus turned to Granger. 'You see, Miss Granger, we can't interfere like we would in any normal circumstance. As they are Muggles, and Harry's legal guardians we cannot do much to help.' Tonks and Lupin left the room together. 'What is Lupin doing then?' Ron questioned, angrily as soon as Lupin was out of earshot. 'Why doesn't he do something about it? He's there every night isn't he?' Albus nodded but it was Molly who spoke. 'Ron! We can't just go up to the door and demand to have Harry back. They're his family!' Ron snorted in disapproval and swung back on his chair. 'Molly's right.' Arthur was standing up now. 'They're Muggles! We can't be seen attacking Muggles!' 'Nobody said anything about attacking them…' Ron muttered under his breath.

Harry was back in his room. Alone. He was crouched by the windowsill, his body shaking ferociously and his face stained with tears. He scratched at his face angrily; refusing to let himself cry. I'm not weak, I'm not weak… he chanted in his head. But as he let his hands fall to the ground he began to doubt that. The shirt that was clinging to his back with sweat was torn, he hugged his body as he rocked backwards and forwards slowly, his eyes wide open and blank. He couldn't help but glance at his wrists, how pale and clean they looked… the temptation was overpowering, it was like a thirst… it was stronger than his desire for food, it was stronger than his desire to be rescued. He glanced at the empty glass of water that had been lying there for days… he closed his eyes, half of him wanted it, half of him wanted to be stronger. But how could he be strong? 'Snape wants you to be strong.' A voice rang in his head. 'I don't care.' Harry retorted, but he knew this wasn't true. He would be betraying Snape's trust if he let the temptation get to him. But where was Snape now when Harry needed him the most? This thought had haunted Harry all week and it gave him all the reason he needed…

I hate how short it looks on here. It makes me die a little inside. Well, this was a quick update. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the suggestions in your reviews... I've taken them into consideration :3