After Remus guided Harry into the house, he closed the door behind them and walked in front of Harry, placing his hands on his shoulders. "I've got to attend an Order meeting, but we will talk later. Why don't you go up and rest until I come get you." At Harry's silence and almost nonexistent nod; he was still in his depressed state, he gave the boy a sympathetic look. He then headed downstairs to the kitchen to join the meeting.

Standing in the entrance hall Harry slowly looked up to the ceiling and spotted a serpent chandelier. He desperately hoped he wasn’t where he thought he was. He then looked around and saw the peeling wallpaper, the dirty threadbare carpet, the troll's leg umbrella stand and the velvet curtained portrait. Recognition finally sinking in, his breath caught in his throat and he began shaking. It was at that moment when he knew he wasn't over Sirius' death. "NO!"

As fast as he could, he turned around and ran to the front door to get out. It was locked. He tried opening the door two more times, each as unsuccessful as the first, then started banging on it. "No! Not here."

Severus Snape appeared at the bottom of the stairway at the far end of the entrance hall a few seconds later. He was on his way down from the drawing room to join the meeting in the kitchen. Hearing the commotion coming from the front door, he stopped to see what was going on.

Harry was still banging on the door but with less strength, now defeated. "No. Anyplace but here." This was the last place he ever wanted to be. It was too close to Sirius' death for him to be in this place. He never wanted to be in this house again. "I'd rather spend the rest of my life with Snape than be in this house," he said between shaky breaths. "Please, anywhere but here." Harry started to cough uncontrollably and sway a little on his feet as he continued banging on the door. He felt like he was going to faint.

Wanting to make the racket go away and wondering if he heard the boy right, Severus stalked over to Harry, gripped his arm, and forcefully turned him around from the door. He gave Harry an odd look then immediately plastered his face with his usual scowl. "Mr. Potter, what is your problem?" He sneered at the boy, seeming to enjoy seeing him in such distress.

Harry shrugged out of Severus’ grip and slumped down onto his trunk, staring at the floor. He was still shaking. "No!" He seemed to not hear his professor's question.

Severus crossed his arms over his chest, his patience rapidly diminishing. "Potter, answer me. I know you feel that being the famous Harry Potter entitles you to not do anything you don't want to, but you will answer me." His threatening tone was coming through loud and clear.

Harry looked up at the potions master, finally getting out of the shocked state he was in. "Professor, please." His voice was beginning to shake. "Please take me back to the Dursley's. Take me anywhere. I can't stay in this house." He tried to get up and go back to the door, but Severus gripped his arm again, preventing him from moving.

"You are wasting my time Potter," he said bitterly, his face mere inches from Harry's. "I have to get to the Order meeting. Get upstairs right now! After the meeting is over, you can tell your sad story to someone who cares." He let go of Harry's arm with a jerk and walked down to the kitchen.

Harry stood there rubbing the arm Severus had in his grip. Getting even more upset after hearing his icy comments, he watched as the professor left the entrance hall. He took a few deep, calming breaths, and forced himself to take his trunk up to the room he shared with Ron last year and kept repeating ‘It won't be that bad. I can handle being in the bedroom again.”

As Harry made his way up the stairs to the second floor, he did his best to just look at the steps he was climbing and not of the walls and the mounted house-elf heads. The less he saw, the less he was reminded of where he actually was.

His determination to go the bedroom was lessening as he walked along the creaky second floor. By the time he got to the room, he was regretting his decision entirely and just stood there staring at the closed door. He knew the bedroom in front of him would bring back too many memories from the time he was there last year…when Sirius was alive. But as much as he didn’t want to go in to the bedroom, it was impractical to stay in the hallway. Besides, he only had to wait until the Order meeting was over before he could convince Professor Lupin to take him back to the Dursley’s. Trying to be braver than he actually felt, he took a shaky breath, opened the door, and walked into the bedroom.