Harry sat down on his bed, gasping for breath as he pressed his hands against his ribs, cataloguing his injuries – his wrist was sprained and left arm broken, three ribs were cracked, and another two were three quarters of the way there. Not to mention that his neck was covered in bruises, with new ones already starting to form, and his back twinged with every movement thanks to sharply studded belt that his uncle was so free with. And he was still trying to pick shards of glass out of his palms.

He cringed as he fished out another shard, which was particularly deep, from his palm. Two and a half weeks into the summer and already he was begging for it to be over. The Order's threats to the Dursley's probably hadn't helped either. Groaning, he yanked the last shard out painfully, throwing it to the pile on his bed, his nerves quivering with suppressed pain. His uncle was going to pay for this! And that so called "family" of his too. The worst thing, Harry thought, was that he had just taken it, not even trying to help himself. Well, that was going to stop! He would leave, and…

His thoughts trailed off because the more the teen thought about it, the more his hopes fell. He had nowhere to go – Ron and Hermione hadn't written at all, and he knew that mail could get through because he received mail from the Headmaster weekly and The Daily Prophet every day. Harry scowled; Dumbledore had told him that he would have to stay at Privet Drive for the whole summer. Even after Harry had sent a letter telling him that the Dursley's were abusing him, the old fool just said that he shouldn't exaggerate, and that lying wasn't a very nice thing to do. Harry scoffed, Dumbledore thought he was lying?

And Harry just knew that his guards were aware of the abuse because they would come in at night and heal him, which only served to enrage Vernon even more, which in turn cause the beatings to get more and more severe. To make things worse, the Order members would just look at him in disappointment and scold him for provoking his uncle. Like it was his fault!

Harry scowled again, deeper this time. He knew that he couldn't survive this much longer, Vernon's beatings were quickly reaching the point where Harry would pass out for hours at a time, not that that deterred his uncle any. So Harry knew that he had to leave and the sooner the better. But who could he turn to?

For a moment his face cleared as he thought of Remus Lupin, his third year Defense teacher, but then it settled into darkness as he once more scowled. Dumbledore had probably told everyone that he was happy where he was, and why wouldn't he be with his "loving family"? Besides, after Sirius' death, he had to have time to mourn. Not that any of them would have dared to argue with their precious headmaster, or even to think for themselves! Didn't they see that he was just the same as Voldemort, the only difference that he proclaimed himself "light" and didn't showcase his manipulations and murders? Damn Dumbledore and his "Greater Good". Well, Harry had had plenty of time to grieve, thank you very much! And even thought the sadness was there whenever he thought of his Godfather, he had thought things over and had realized that Sirius was his own person, perfectly capable of making his own choices and decisions. And Sirius had chosen to come after Harry, not anyone else, but Sirius. Sirius had chosen to come after Harry, and Harry would respect his choices.

So Harry made his decision. Standing up, Harry winced as he felt his wounds reopen and start to sting and leak blood again. Holding back a groan of pain, Harry strode over to his old and battered trunk, opened it and started throwing in any possessions he could find of his. As soon as he finished, Harry tore up one of Dudley's old shirts and started to create make shift bandages for his wounds. Once done, Harry tightly gripped his wand in his hand and drew strength from it as he hefted his trunk out of the window, wincing as he heard the thud it made. Turning back to the room, Harry unlatched Hedwig's cage, bringing her up to his face as she hopped onto his outstretched hand.

"Come and find me before school starts again girl. I'm going to be running and I want to make sure you're safe, OK?" Harry said quietly to his beloved owl. Hedwig hooted softly and nipped his fingers affectionately before flying off. Harry sighed softly before shaking himself out of his self-pity-induced stupor. He had to leave, and quickly – his Aunt could be waking up at any moment now!

Carefully, but quickly, Harry managed to get out of the window. Taking care not to make any noise, Harry lowered himself down until he was about 1 and half meters off the ground. Letting go, he landed softly on the grass, quickly looking around; he grabbed his wand from between his teeth and hefted the trunk up off the ground into his arms.

Thank Merlin for the lightening charms on it, Harry thought as he slipped between the gap between the fences. Regret shining in his eyes, he glanced back at No. 4 Privet Drive; thinking about what it could have been like. Clearing his mind, Harry shrugged and lifted his wand, summoning the Knight Bus. The bus appeared almost instantaneously, and before Harry knew it he was sitting down, headed for the Leaky Cauldron. As the bus raced through the traffic, Harry's grin grew. He wouldn't be returning to Privet Drive any time soon, not if he had a choice, and he sure as hell would! And if Dumbledore thought that Harry wouldn't put up a fight, well… that meddling old Headmaster had a thing or two coming for him!

A/N. Hope you guys like this – I wasn't really sure of it at first. R&R please!

Coming up in a later chapter… Harry stood up from his seat before Dumbledore could speak, waiting for silence to fall in the Great Hall. Slowly, one by one, the students and the teachers quietened down, staring at him with curiosity. The new first years, the last one only just sorted, looked at him, wondering at seeing their "Saviour". As the Great Hall fell into silence, Harry straightened up to his new, impressive height of 6'4, and proudly lifted his head. His eyes glinted with an un-named emotion, and a smirk on his face. Speaking clearly, Harry looked at the Headmaster, before saying;

"I petition the school to be resorted."

Silence reigned before the Hall exploded with noise…