… Harry was running. Running through a large square garden with untrimmed bushes and overgrown weeds slapping his shins and getting tangled around his ankles, slowing him down. He tried to duck the hexes that were flying overhead as he ran straight to the large, old house he had never seen before, but he felt something like a bullet hit his back, sending pain throughout his body. He kept running though, even though his legs felt like they were about to give out, even though he felt like he would pass out at any moment…

Harry woke up gasping, the sheets that had once covered his body were now a jumbled mass around his legs. As he tried to unfurl them, he could feel his pulse banging in his head, chest and wrists as he struggled to calm down. Taking a few more large gasps of air, he rubbed his eyes and let his head fall ungracefully in his hands. More than once he had woken up in this state that summer, though the content of his dreams were usually different. Last night he had dreamed of something that had never happened, it was just an ordinary nightmare, but generally they consisted flashbacks of the time he had spent in the graveyard- the terror, the first Crucio’s he had ever endured, and Cedric, falling to the ground, his grey eyes lifeless.

Shaking his head and shifting his thoughts to the present matter, he reached for his glasses and sat on the edge of the bed. The tips of his toes lightly brushed against the cold wooden floors and he shivered.

Harry walked over to the adjoining door on the side of the room and opened it; it was a rather small and dusty bathroom. Going over to the sink, he turned the faucet and splashed cold water in his face to help him wake up. He dried himself off with a hand towel and looked at himself closely in the mirror. He couldn’t understand why he looked different- he couldn’t explain the change in his face other than his jawbone was a bit wider and cheekbones were more defined and… well, he just didn’t understand why his green eyes looked so empty. Sad even.

There was a knock at the door.

“Harry?” A familiar voice called out to him, but it wasn’t the voice he‘d been hoping for. Harry opened the door to reveal Lupin standing there, looking a bit wary. Probably because of the confused expression on Harry’s face. He had so many questions that he didn’t even know where to begin. Why was he different? Why did he wake up yesterday feeling like he had just been hit by a car? Where were the Weasleys? Sirius? The rest of the people that were there the other night? Why was Snape there? What ‘damage’ had he been talking about? And why were the two of them acting really weird? Harry didn’t ask though. There was no need to. He knew that Lupin knew he had questions, but Harry also knew he probably wouldn’t be getting any answers- not right now anyway. There was something really strange going on, and he would be shut out- just like he had been all summer. He hadn’t forgotten about all the secrets they kept- were still keeping.

“I think its best that you ate a little breakfast,” Lupin quietly said. Harry could hear the guilt in his voice, and as bad as it was, Harry was a little glad about it. The more culpable Lupin felt, the more likely it would be that he would tell him things he wanted to know. This was one of those times that Harry understood the reasoning behind The Sorting Hat’s desire to put him in Slytherin.

“I’m not that hungry,” Harry said, which was the truth. He didn’t think he would be able to keep anything down, not with all this anxiety anyway.

“But still,” Remus said. “The potions that you need to take are required to be taken with food.” Harry frowned, wondering if the man would be so intent on him eating something if the potions weren’t involved. He realized that he was being childish though.

“And what exactly are these potions for, anyway,” Harry slyly asked, thinking that maybe the man would slip up on accident. Lupin looked tentative to speak.

“Harry…”

“If you wish to be rid of your headache and any discomfort, Potter, then I suggest you shut your mouth and take them,” Snape, who had just walked in the room, said. Harry was about to say he felt fine when he realized he did still have soreness and a headache.

“Headache Calming Draught doesn’t need to be taken with food,” Harry put in, knowing that there was more to the potions than just for his headache to go away. Snape glared.

“It seems all those years of schooling are not lost,” Snape sneered. Harry was about to throw a retort when Lupin interrupted him.

“Harry, please,” he said in a strained voice. “I’ve left your trunk on your bed so you can wash up after breakfast.”

“Um, ok,” he said. “Thanks.” Lupin smiled, but it did not reach his eyes.

“I’ll just go downstairs and bring up a tray,” he said and left, leaving Harry disappointed that he hadn’t taken Snape with him. Snape turned to him and handed him three different vials. One being green, one blue, and the last a fizzy pink that reminded Harry of Tonk’s hair.

“After you’ve eaten, take the blue potion, then the pink, followed by the green,” he said seriously.

“Fine,” Harry flatly mumbled. He wasn’t in the mood for a fight with Snape, not right now anyway. With one last glare at Harry, his teacher silently left the room, closing the door with a faint click. Harry sighed and went over to his trunk that was laying atop his bed. He opened it and began rummaging around for some clothes. It was a little hard though, everything was disorganized as it usually was, making it hard for him to find what he was looking for.

“Harry?” Lupin called, and walked in a moment later with a tray of food. Harry was pretending to busy himself with the task of finding clean clothes in his trunk. He did, however, mutter a small ‘thanks’ when he heard Lupin set the tray on the bedside table.

“Do you need anything,” Lupin asked from behind him, in a tone full of something Harry could not recognize. Trepidation maybe. For some reason that made Harry oddly hopeful. Harry shook his head.

“Then after you’re done with breakfast and you’ve washed up, I’d like you to come downstairs,” he said reluctantly. “There’s some things… we need to talk about.” Harry’s heart leaped, and he turned around.

“About what happened the other night?” He asked, hopeful.

“Amongst other things,” he said impassively. Harry wanted to ask what was up with him, but Lupin spoke again.

“Professor Snape wanted me to remind you of the order you need to take your potions,” he said, and Harry sighed. “Its blue-”

“Then pink, then green. Yeah, I know.” Lupin looked like he wanted to say more, but only nodded.

“I’ll just wait downstairs,” he said, as emotionless as ever. Harry wanted to ask what his problem was, and remind him that he wasn’t the one who no one explained anything to, but he had already left the room.

Realizing that the sooner he ate and showered, the sooner he’d get answers (and probably the sooner he’d get to see Sirius if he was downstairs like he assumed).

Harry picked at the tray of food, which consisted of eggs, beacon and toast with a glass of orange juice. He wasn’t at all hungry, but at least ate some of it, though food felt strange in his mouth, like he hadn’t eaten anything in several days. The toast that he nibbled on made his mouth and throat dry, so he drank some of the orange juice.

After, he reached for the blue potion hoping to find a label as to what exactly it was, but the glass vial was unmarked. Shrugging, he uncorked it and downed it all in one gulp, which was surprising as it didn’t wasn’t nearly as bad as what he was expecting. It wasn’t the same blue potion as last night. If it had been, it would have tasted like an unsweetened powdered drink and he‘d be sleepy by now. But instead, it tasted like burned grass- or what he thought burned grass would taste like; he’d never actually tried it. Amazingly though, his head felt relieved of pressure that he hadn’t even known was there. He was a little disappointed that there was still an ache at his temple though. Reaching for the pink potion, he found that it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever tasted. Since it was pink, the thought it would be sweet, or at least not so horrid tasting. He felt like someone had cast a Crucio on his taste buds. He immediately drank some orange juice to try and wash out the flavor. It helped, but he still had that nasty ’shampoo mixed with rotten milk’ flavor in his mouth. Feeling queasy, he swallowed the green potion as fast as he could, thinking that it would be as bad as the last one. However, it tasted a little nutty, with something like toothpaste added to it.

Harry gathered up some clean clothes he had gotten from his trunk, along with his toothbrush, and went into the bathroom. His head and body felt much better after a hot shower, and his mouth felt less foul after he had brushed his teeth.

On his way downstairs, he could feel rather than just hear how quiet the house was. The only sounds were the creaky floorboards and the muffled sound of the floo, but the air around him felt empty and stale- this was not how Grimmauld Place was supposed to be. Though the house was gloomy and dark to begin with, the number of people who were staying there the last time he checked overshadowed the moroseness of it. Only now, it was just depressing.

His first thought was to walk down the stairs as quietly as possible- maybe then he could eavesdrop on any conversation being held in the kitchen, but every step creaked with his weight, and he couldn’t even hear anyone speaking, so he gave up on the idea and walked normally into the kitchen.

He was a bit disappointed to find only Lupin seated at the table, the one that used to be filled with people and was now empty. He had hoped to see Sirius or maybe even the Weasleys there, but was happy enough that there was no sign of Snape. Lupin smiled and gestured for him to sit.

“Would you like some tea,” he asked and went over to the stove and got the kettle.

“Sure,” Harry replied and was handed a cup of steaming tea. The both of them sat down across from each other and neither looked like they knew where to begin. It was Harry who broke the silence.

“Um… Where’s everyone at,” he asked. He couldn’t understand how a house filled with people was so suddenly empty. Lupin drank some tea and took a while to answer.

“Professor Snape had some errands to run,” he said, but didn’t go on, irritating Harry much more than he already was. Hating the way Lupin kept stalling, he rushed in to ask the thing that had been on his mind the most.

“What happened?” Lupin stared at him for a while, then sighed before he spoke.

“First off, Harry, I want you to know that there are many things you cant remember right now,” he began. Harry nodded, even though he was more than a little confused. “I’m afraid you suffered a rather serious head injury, and cant remember anything I’m about to tell you.” Again Harry nodded, not liking the feeling in his stomach one bit, and not liking how his moth suddenly went dry. Lupin cleared his throat and continued.

“A few days ago you were helping the Weasley’s fix up an old house that Bill had bought,” he started. “You had been staying at the Burrow almost three weeks-”

“But I was at the Dursleys all summer,” Harry protested. “I just got here!”

“Harry, please, let me finish,” he said. “I know this must all be really confusing, but it will all make sense soon enough.” Harry nodded, even though he had many questions.

“Like I said, you were helping them rebuild a house that Bill had bought. He wanted to restore it in time for his wedding later this month,” Lupin said. “But something went wrong… Everyone thought the property was secure, Harry. There were many wards placed on the house and on the surrounding acres, we thought it was safe… Otherwise no one would have brought you there, or the rest of the Weasley children for that matter, but somehow the wards were breached.” Harry sucked in a breath.

“Was anyone hurt,” Harry rushed in to ask.

“Other than you, not really-”

“Not Really?” He repeated “Where are the Weasleys now,” he demanded.

“At the Burrow, Harry, they’re safe-”

“Why cant I remember any of this,” he asked frantically. It just didn’t make any sense… what else had he forgotten?

“You were dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange,” Lupin said. Harry remembered that name from the Dumbledore’s pensive, but Harry didn’t know why the mentioning of her made him so angry- he could literally feel hatred running through his veins so much that is fingers itched for his wand.

“You were with her for a while before anyone found you… We had gotten there just in time, Harry, she was already leaning over you and about to portkey you out of there-”

“So that’s why I cant remember? She cursed me?”

“Not exactly, she did curse you, Harry, but we’re led to believe you hit your head on some of the debris from-”

“So I can be healed, right? Its all physical- not some kind of crazy hex. I just need to see some kind of head doctor or something-”

“You’ve already seen a doctor- When you were sleeping. They said the best thing for you to do would be to wait it out, and take a few potions that Professor Snape has made-”

“How do you know its not poison that he’s given me,” he interrupted. “He hates me, and he’s one of them! He’s a Death Eater-”

“Harry, please, listen-”

“Sirius wouldn’t-”

“Harry, please-”

“No!” He shouted and stood up. “Where is he? I want to talk to Sirius!” Lupin stood too, but slowly, like he was afraid Harry would try and hex him.

“Harry-”

“No, I want to talk to Sir-”

“You can't, Harry,” Lupin said, like it pained him to do so. Harry glared.

“Yeah? Why not? I-”

“Because-”

“Because, what?”

“Because he’s dead.” Harry felt like he had just been punched in his stomach; all his wind was knocked from him. He stumbled back. “Sirius is dead, Harry.”