Disclaimer: I really don't think I own Harry Potter because then my name would be Joanne Kathleen Rowling, wouldn't you think so... ?
Summary: Death Eaters force a young Harry to run away from the Dursley's, leaving him to fend for himself. What happens when the Wizarding world hears about the 'death' of little Harry Potter? And the next day there is more distress when the public gets word that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. Hmm... ? What's this? Hogwart's Professor Snape has gone missing? *snickers* Fudgie's got a lot on his hands, the git. Hopefully, I'll fire him in this fic.... >:D
Chapter One:The Escape
Six year old Harry Potter lay in his dark cupboard feeling alone, miserable, and weak. Uncle Vernon had made him a box of Christmas ornaments, twice his size, up the stairs. When Harry tripped on the top step and both him and the box flew down the stairs, Uncle Vernon had punched him in the stomach and tossed him as hard as he could into the place Harry was currently residing.
The little boy shook with muffled sobs, thinking he would have to stay here for the rest of life. He fumbled around for a ragged and torn blanket, the very same one that he had been in when Dumbledore set him on front of the Dursley's house. Harry, of course, didn't know that.Feeling the soft cloth, Harry wrapped it around himself. He couldn't see a thing without his glasses, which Dudley and his gang had taken turns effectively crushing to bits.
Sighing sadly, Harry fell into a restless sleep.
~Dream~
"I-I found him. N-Number Four, P-Privet Drive." someone stuttered.
"Very good, Wormtail." spoke a smooth, aristocratic voice. "We attack now. The muggles won't know what them and Potter will be ours."
The sound of raucous cheering echoed after this statement.
~End Dream~
Harry shot up, gasping. He had had dreams like this before, but this one had been relatively short and he couldn't see anything. All he knew at the moment was that it was a warning that the bad people in black were coming to take him away and he had to get out fast. There would be no point in convincing the Dursley's to leave, Uncle Vernon would beat him and the bad people would come and capture him.
Grabbing his only possession, the blanket, Harry shakily stood up and backed up as far he could go, and ran, intending to throw himself against the door. Instead, the door flew open as soon as he was about to crash into it, the momentum sending Harry careening to the floor with a loud 'THUD'. Panicked, he tightly clutched his blanket and did not even notice the front door opening on it's own accord as he ran outside and just made it to the trees across the road as several popping noises were heard. A mass of Death Eaters swarmed into the open door and Harry kept running, not wanting to hear the screams he knew were coming. It happened all the time in his nightmares.
As he stumbled along, further and further from the Dursley's residence, he felt a strong sense of guilt well up in him. 'All my fault, my fault, all my fault. They're dead now, the bad men prob'ly killed them with those sticks. I'm a bad person. It's my fault, I'm a bad person.' With those thoughts running through his head, Harry kept going through most of the night until exhaustion crept over him when he tripped over a large rock and did not rise. As his world blurred, his last thought was'It's all my fault... I deserve to die'.
-~:H:~-
~The next day~
A little red-haired girl was on one of her 'adventures'. Running with her arms outstretched, she imagined that she was a bird flying towards the sunrise while her father watched her running around their backyard. The adoration in his eyes quickly changed to worry when the petite girl stumbled and fell.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look! A boy! He's got an owwie!"
"Oh my lord... it can't be... " The man's voice was quavering as he came over and recognized the lightning shaped scar on the unconscious child's forehead gave instructions to his daughter. "Ginny, dear, go t-tell your mother that I'm bringing a boy in... and that he's hurt. Q-quickly now..."
Ginny Weasley ran off as Arthur carefully lifted the Boy-Who-Lived into his arms and walked slowly towards The Burrow and the beginning of Harry's new life.
