Nightmares where nothing new to Harry Potter. Ever since he learned he was a wizard and the true events of his parents' death, Harry's dreams consisted of Voldemort and the horrors he had caused. But in the nights after that night in the graveyard, Harry's dream went from being various to a single one.  The nightmare that now haunted Harry Potter consisted on the events on the eve of the Third Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Night after night, Harry was forced to relive the same scenes night since returning to Privet Drive. Cedric benign hit by the Killing Curse casted by Wormtail, and the feel of the knife cutting his skin. Voldemort's emerging from the flame engulfed caldron. Then the duel that followed.

Harry had been plagued by the same nightmare up to two days ago. A new nightmare now haunted the young wizard's dream and he relived it again last night. Harry could still recall the hollowed words of Cedric and his parents. Their words of how it was their fault they were died cut Harry more than Wormtail's blade. Yet their words were nothing new to the young wizard.

"I'm a murder," Harry admitted in a hollowed tone. Harry had known for some time that he was cause for his parent's deaths. And now he was responsible for another death.

At the moment, Harry was not outside attending to the flower beds exacting weeds from the brightly colored flowers, mowing the lawn or trying to finish a foot long list of chores. Instead, he sat at his small desk in his room watching the rain drops fall against the window. Laid out before him were a few sheets of parchment, a quill, a bottle of ink and a potions text book.

He was all alone in the house. Uncle Vernon was at work, Aunt Petunia had gone out to do some shopping and Dudley had gone to his friend's. Harry was happy to be alone. This allowed him the chance to retrieve several of his textbooks and materials from his school trunk his uncle had locked in the cupboard under the stairs. It had been raining for the past three days since returning from Hogwarts. Before, the days were long and hot. Now they were cold and freezing.

‘It's like there are Dementors everywhere,' Harry thought as he recalled the effects that the cloaked creatures caused where ever they went. ‘That's the last thing I need. Dementors here on Privet Drive.'

With that thought, Harry's mind turned to Voldemort. No doubt the dark wizard and his followers were planning something at that very moment. So far the holiday was eerily quiet. There had been no reports of strange and devastating events in the Muggle news which Harry knew would be the work of the Death Eaters. It was just too quiet. Along with the lack of news, there was the fact that in the time he had been at Privet Drive Harry had not received on letter from his friends or Sirius. It was like the summer after his first year. And this time, he was certain it was not because of the actions of Dobby.

Things continued to get worse for Harry. He had been right in thinking his aunt and uncle would still be upset over the incident involving Dudley's growing tongue after he ate one of the twin's tick sweets. He recalled his uncle's little talk with in his room after locking his trunk away.

"You little freak," Vernon shouted as his face turned deep purple, "after we take you in, feed you, put a roof under your ungrateful head, you allow those abnormal people to do that to our own son! We're sick of our lives being constantly devastate by your lot's freakiness boy," Vernon growled, "If it where up to me, you would have been kicked out to the curbed years ago. But your aunt won't let me. Even after those red headed freaks destroyed our sitting room. You better be dame grateful that she won't let me have my way with you."

"Please, Uncle Vernon," Harry pleaded, "I didn't know they were going to do that. I didn't ask them to do it to begin with."

Harry's expiation had no effect on his uncle. He merely raised his pudgy finger at his nephew. "That's bull and you know it. It was payback for our punishment for all the damage you've caused under this roof ever since you found out about all this rubbish."

"No it wasn't Uncle Vernon. I swear."

Harry could feel the anger building inside of him. His Uncle was just not listing to reason.

"Hmpf. And why should I believe you now? You didn't tell us you couldn't do magic outside of the retched school of yours. You said you would act normal when Marge was last here and instead you blew her up. You've lied to your aunt and me before."

"Oh and you haven't lied to me about anything before? Like my parents or magic?" Harry asked defiantly.

Harry never saw Vernon raise his hand but he did feel make contact with his face. The force of the blow was enough to make Harry fall to the floor. As tears started to form in his eyes, he felt his uncle grab him by his hair and yank his head back causing his glasses to askewer.

"I will not be spoken to like that in any way boy! And just for that, you've just brought yourself a week of double chores. Test me again and there'll be no meals for two week. Do you understand me?"

When he did not get a vocal response, Vernon yanked again. "Do you boy?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry finally was able to get out.

"Good. Now you're going to be up here till it's time for you to make supper. And if you're lucky, you'll get feed."

With that, Vernon Dursley left his nephew on the floor in a huddle. He could still feel the sharp sting sensation on his check and brought his hand up to his vivid red area. By the time the door was slammed shut and the many locks on the door were latched, Harry had two trails of tears falling from his emerald green eyes.

Harry shook the memory away. He knew all too well he didn't have to be in the wizarding world to be exposed to the threat of harm.

Looking out the window, he saw that the rain had picked-up again, falling harder against the window panes. The sound of the front door opening and closing singled that his aunt and cousin had returned. Harry hard heavy footsteps coming-up the stairs and knew it was Dudley. After hearing his cousin slam his door shut, Harry heard him turn on the TV and stereo in his room.

The next sound he heard was that of his own door opening. Turning, he saw his Aunt Petunia standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. If she saw the school supplies, she made no acknowledgement.

"Go down to the kitchen, unpack and put away the groceries," Petunia said sharply.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry replied as he got up from his chair. Harry could feel his aunt's sharp eyes on him as made his way past her and down the hall.

"And then when you finish with that," she called out to him when he reached the stairs, "get started on cleaning the sitting room. I want clean from top to bottom by the time supper is ready and your uncle gets home."

Harry simply nodded to the amendment. "Yes Aunt Petunia." It was far easier for Harry to just agree with his relatives' orders than question them. With that, Harry made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.

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It only took Harry a short time to unpack and put away the groceries his Aunt had brought. He had noticed that his aunt had bought the types of foods that the nurse at Dudley's' school had recommended for him. The only time Petunia came into the kitchen while Harry was putting the vegetables away to make a cup of tea. When he was all finished, he walked into the sitting room where he found his aunt reading one of her house keeping magazines.

"I'm all done Aunt Petunia," Harry informed her.

Petunia looked-up from the page she had been reading to her nephew. "The cupboard is unlocked. Vacuum and dust in here while I fix supper."

"Is that all?" Harry asked, hoping his question would not agitate his aunt.

"That and straighten things up," she said as she put the magazine on the coffee table and stood-up with her tea cup in hand. "I would have you wash the windows but since it's raining, there's no point in having you just to wash the inside and not the outside. Besides, the last thing we need is you sick. Or even worse, trailing in mud on the clean carpet."

The last comment was made as she walked right past her nephew without looking at him as she went towards the kitchen and closing the door behind her. Harry stood there for a moment looking at the closed door before he turned and went to open the door to what had been his bed room to retrieve the cleaning supplies. He pulled out the vacuum, dust rage, and closed the door before he set to work.

The cleaning helped Harry somewhat by keeping his mind on his chores and not on his nightmares or Voldemort. He began by vacuuming the floor of the sitting room as he as instructed by his aunt. When he had finished with that, he started to dust and wipe every surface in the room. He made sure to be careful with the many pictures of Dudley and the other items which Harry knew his relatives considered to be more important than him. As he dusted the restored figurines that his uncle had heralded at Mr. Weasley last summer over the incident with the twin's trick sweets, Harry suddenly felt like there was someone standing behind him. He knew it was not his aunt because he did not hear her sharp breathing or any comments about his performance. Dropping the dusting rag, Harry quickly pulled out his wand out of his jean's pockets and turned around.

There was no one there to Harry's surprise. Not his aunt, cousin or to his relief, no Death Eaters or Voldemort. His eyes darted around the room to reinsure his mind. After several seconds, he returned his wand to his pocket and returned to dusting. As he returned the vacuum to the cupboard, he heard the heavy footsteps of his cousin coming down the stairs and felt himself being pushed into the small space as Dudley ran into the kitchen. Harry had managed to keep himself from falling down due to his cousin action but he felt that he may have pulled a muscle in his left arm when he reached out to grab something to steady himself.

As he closed the door to the cupboard, the front door opened and Harry saw his uncle walk in. Placing his umbrella in the rack by the door, Vernon Dursley removed his wet coat and placed it on the coat rack by the door before he turned to pick-up his briefcase and head into the sitting room. When his saw his nephew standing by the cupboard door, his eyes narrowed.

"Trying to sneak out your ruddy schoolbooks are we boy?"

"No Uncle Vernon. I was just putting away the vacuum is all."

Before Vernon could say anything, the door to the kitchen opened and Petunia came in to greet her husband.

"Welcome home dear," Petunia said sweetly as she gave her husband a kiss on each of his cheeks.

"Hello Pet," Vernon replied with the same action.

"How was the office today?"

"Terrible. No one there knows how to do their job," Vernon complained as he went to sit down in is chair facing the television. "I swear nobody at that place has any work effect whatsoever."

"There there dear. Why don't you relax and I'll fix you a drink," she said lovingly, "and you," she said as she turned her attention to Harry, "go and set the table."

"Yes Aunt Petunia."

Harry left his aunt and uncle and walked into the kitchen. Dudley was sitting at the counter watching the kitchen TV while eating an ice cream sandwich. He was so engrossed by the movie that he did not notice his cousin at all. That suited Harry fine as he pulled out the plates and silverware and began to set the table. When he finished the last of the four places, Harry began to place the side-dishes on the table. As he was finishing with that, Petunia and Vernon walked in. Neither one said anything to him. Instead, Vernon sat down and Petunia warmly told her son that it was time to eat before she went and got the finished cooked chicken out of the oven.

Harry was the last one to take his seat. As usually, he was not allowed to serve himself. His aunt filled his plate for him. To his surprise, she had given him a little bit more than usual but nowhere as enough as Dudley. The meal was quiet; Vernon's mood did not seem to change while his wife told him all about her day shopping.

"And what did my little Dudlykins do all day?" Petunia asked to her son.

"Played video games at Pierce's," Dudley answered with his mouth full of food.

"Well I'm sure when the weather improves you can go outside and get some nice exercise."

Dudley did not respond at his mother's comment. Instead he continued to stuff his face. "Mum, can I have some money for tomorrow? I want to go to the cinema with Pierce and the rest of my friends."

"Of course you can dear," Petunia said with affection.

No spoke a single word to Harry. They acted as if they were the only three people at the table.

‘Some things never change,' Harry thought to himself.

When everyone had finished, Harry cleared the table and started to do the dishes while his relatives had desert without him. By the time he was finished, Dudley was watching the television in the sitting room while Vernon was reading the paper and Petunia was busing himself with some papers for one of her social clubs. Harry went and sat in one of the empty chairs on the far side of the room away from his relatives. While he sat by himself, Harry could not get rid of the feeling that there was another presence in the room.

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It was close to nine-thirty when a loud bang was heard at the front door. It caused Vernon who had been dozing for a few minutes to wake-up, not helping the already bad mood he was in. His already purple face started to turn a deep shade of beet-red when another loud bang was made.

"Who could that be at this bloody times of night," Vernon grumbled, "go see who it is boy."

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

"And it better not be any of those redheaded freaks or any of those other freaks you know."

Harry made no comment as he walked to the door and opened it a crack at first and peered outside, weary of whom may be on the other side. His hand in his pocket ready to pull out his wand if needed. Looking out, he saw nothing.

"Well boy, who is it?"

"There's no one there," Harry replied.

"What ? Get out of my way you."

Vernon shoved his nephew out of his way, causing Harry to fall down to the floor and hit his head against the bottom stair. Opening the door all the way Vernon stepped out onto the porch and looked around. The rain was starting to lighten up but Vernon felt the wind sweeping by him. He turned back to his nephew who was starting to get back to his feet and stared at him with narrow eyes. "This better not be any of your wrenched doing."

"It's not Uncle Vernon. I swear."

"It better not be. Now get up to your room. I've had enough of looking at you for tonight." Vernon all but shouted as he closed the door.

Harry was already half way up the stairs when his uncle turned after locking the door. He did not want his uncle to get any madder at him or be on the receiving end of one of his thrashing either. And by the mood he was already in, Harry was sure that his uncle would make it worse than usual. Closing the door to his small room, Harry collected his few school supplies and returned them to his hiding spot under the floorboards. Before he covered it backup, he took out a small piece of the Honeyduke's Chocolate he had saved. He sat on his bed and savored the rich taste and warm feeling the chocolate caused. Harry remained on his bed looking up at the ceiling wishing it was the ceiling of the canopy to his bed back at Hogwarts.

A while later, Harry heard the Dursley make their way up the stairs. He heard them go to the bathroom then back to their rooms for the night. When he was sure they were in their rooms, Harry went to quickly brush his teeth. Once back in his room, Harry changed into his pajamas, got under the blankets, removed his glasses and switched off the small bedside light. As he looked up into the darkness, Harry hoped that he would not be plagued by any nightmares. As his eyes slowly began to closed, he also hoped that he would be able to leave Privet Drive for the rest of the Summer Holiday soon.

Outside the rain had stopped. The billowing storm clouds still filled the sky and the occasional rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. A chill wind swept through Privet Drive which seemed to cause the street lights to flicker. As the wind made its way to the end of Privet Drive, the figure of Severus Snape appeared on the corner under the street light.

‘This was not what I was expecting,' he said in a disappointed tone to himself, ‘Not at all.'

He had been standing for sometime infront of Number 4 after all the lights had been turned off except for the one over the porch.. The words of Vernon Dursley rang in his head as he turned his back on the house and started down the street. Knowing he would need to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible, the Potions Master started down the street. All of the windows were dark so he did not have to worry about being seen. As it was, he almost completely blended into the darkness on his own. He decided to apparate back to Hogwarts rather than use the floo at Arabella Figg's which he had used to arrive to Privet Drive. As he hurried down the street, his mind was filled with what he had heard and seen. He knew he would have to place these memories in his Pensive to go over them again and to show the Headmaster and possibly McGonagall. When Snape arrived at the end of the street and made sure that he was alone, he removed the invisibility charm he had casted on himself and looked back to Number 4 one last time. With that,  he dissipated on the spot and arrived back at the gates of Hogwarts and made his way back up to the castle as fast as his legs would allow.