A/N Enjoy the story and let me know what you think. This was a little idea of mine and I hope you'll not be offended. Read the A/N at the bottom for further information.
"Harry?" Ginny asked cautiously. They were sitting on a loveseat in the Gryffindor common room. Voldemort had died eleven long days ago, and many stayed at Hogwarts as they deemed it to be safe there. The Order had made Hogwarts a temporary headquarters for the survivors of the battle and the families that no longer had a home. The Order was trying to round up the last Death Eaters and restore Hogwarts to her former glory.
Harry was taking a break from all of the work and the new fame he now had. People had asked him to tell the story hundreds of times in the first two days and he had exploded and told them to go bother someone else. Putting it down to tiredness, his newest fans had not felt insulted and took a turn to the left to bother his two best friends.
Hermione, getting crazy because of the idiocy of their fans had asked Harry if they could just tell the story and be done with it. After getting permission to tell everything and answer all questions she wanted to, she held a conference in the Great Hall and proceeded to do just that. What she and Ron had apparently misunderstood was that they should begin with the Horcrux hunt, and not with Halloween 1981.
After telling the crowd about his life more than theirs (while Harry was talking with Professor Dumbledore in his old office) and answering all questions, the story was published by Luna in the Quibbler and that was where everything went wrong.
The Daily Prophet had deemed it necessary to excessively write about his home life and two days later the papers had agreed that the headlines should all say : 'Harry Potter: Abused?', with capital letters. That resulted in pity which Harry did not need right now. He had denied everything when people asked. Ron, Hermione and Ginny hadn't tried to breach the subject and were left arguing with everyone on why denying abuse didn't mean that the abuse was there.
Harry hadn't said anything either and until that day, he wasn't planning to explain himself. That was, until Ginny finally found it prudent to ask.
"Yes, Ginny?"
Ginny gathered up all of her courage and began the most informative conversation she ever had.
"What really happened to you while you lived at Privet Drive?"
The first reaction she expected was that his yaw would tense, the second was anger, and the third outright denial. She didn't, however, think he would stand up and say: "I don't want to talk about it," and walk away. He hadn't lied to her, she glad about that, but that didn't mean she was giving up. She had finally gathered the courage, and now that she practically had a confession, she wasn't going to be satisfied with a 'I don't want to talk about it.'.
Ginny was a Weasley, and her whole family was stubborn, hard-headed, and had the infamous Weasley temper, Giving up was the last thing she was contemplating at the moment.
She followed him through the portrait of the Fat Lady and the hallways. Hogwarts was still being repaired and Ginny could see the boulders and debris on the floors. Harry took a secret passage way and she thanked the twins from whom she'd learned the password. The tunnel was dark and damp and she couldn't run in fear of tripping and rolling the whole way down the stairs. When she exited, she saw Harry disappear behind a corner and had to run to keep track of him.
The second floor was a maze. Stairs had been blasted to peaces and doors had been turned into dust. Paintings had been turned to dust and all the landmarks she usually used had disappeared. The statues that had been a majestic army were still guarding the castle, and a passage way she could've used to be outside before he was had collapsed. Just before the man had reached the castle doors she yelled at him from across the hall.
"What happened?"
Turning around he faced her and walked away from the doors. The entrance Hall had been filled with people when she walked in, and when they saw the confrontation forming between the two lovers they quickly told their friends.
"Is it true?" she asked defeated.
"It's true," he admitted reluctantly. He looked determined and stopped a couple of feet away from her. The crowd trapped them in a circle and watched carefully.
"Why didn't you go to Dumbledore, to Mom, to Sirius? Why didn't you tell Hermione, Ron…. Me?"
"It doesn't matter."
The crowd had a faint idea of what they were talking about and was determined to get the answers from their hero (even though they hoped that Ginny would succeed and they wouldn't have to face the powerful wizard).
"It matters to me. You deserve to be happy, Harry. Why do you think you don't?"
"Maybe I do deserve it, but the past is the past, you should leave it alone." The force with which he said it almost made her back down. Almost.
"You think that I should condone abuse, encourage it? You think that because people died you deserved to be punished? Why didn't you go to Dumbledore?"
"He knew." That turned her world upside down. If the Headmaster had known, did that mean that he was the one behind it?
"If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him and….,"
"Don't," he interrupted. "Don't blame a wise man for what happened. I don't, and you shouldn't either."
"But…," Ginny tried to object.
"He saved lives by placing me there. Intentional or not, he saved thousands of lives."
"What about your life, doesn't that mean anything?"
"Does your life mean anything to you when you can save others by giving it up? Would you give you life for your family, for a little girl that was at the wrong place at the wrong time, even if you didn't know her?"
"I would," she answered immediately, confused by his line of questioning.
"Of course you would. I didn't have to give my life to do it. I gave my childhood to save your life, their lives." He gestured to the crowd. They held their breath so they could hear what he had to say next.
"The blood wards couldn't keep me safe from the people inside the house, but it could keep me safe from people outside of the house. If I hadn't lived there, I wouldn't have been able to beat Quirrel in my first year. Voldemort would've gotten the stone and he would've had six extra years - maybe eternity - to kill everyone he wanted. Hundreds, thousands of wizards and witches. Billions if he wanted to kill all muggles. I would've been dead and the 'power he knows not' might have never been used. He would be alive today, and we would be dead."
He paused and observed the crowd, watching the realisation of the horrors of what could have been. Their eyes were aimed at him and he sadly faced his girlfriend.
"I want you to understand. If I had lived here, or anywhere else but Privet Drive, the world as you know it would've been burned to the ground. Maybe I would've been safe inside my house, but I would've been in even more danger every time I stepped outside."
"When Neville's parents were attacked, they did it because Alice and Frank Longbottom were friends of my parents. They thought I would be there, given to them while Sirius was in Azkaban, Remus wasn't allowed to take care of me, and practically everyone was partying except for the parents of the other child that fit the description of the prophecy. They are in St. Mungo's because of me. The next day the Prophet told every Death Eater that I was with my relatives and no-one was attacked again."
He glanced sadly at Neville and got a sad nod in return. They had already discussed what could've been and both had visited the brave Aurors to pay their respects. The kind faces of the couple still looked at him every time he closed his eyes. He had somehow gotten closer to Ginny and gently grabbed her shoulders.
"Don't you understand? We would've given our lives, but I only had to give my childhood. It is nothing compared to what would've happened. I believe in the Greater good. It's not something that should be said with sarcasm or hate or mockery. One life, one childhood, is nothing compared to the life of one innocent, let alone thousands. My mother was one of those innocents, and she gave her life for me. She believed in the Greater Good, as did my dad, who died for the both of us. I believe it, and I was prepared to give my life. My childhood was not like yours, not normal, maybe not ideal, but I would do it exactly the same again, if I had the choice."
"Dumbledore, no matter why he did it, made the right choice. As I told you before, it doesn't matter. I am proud what I've done, of who I am."
A/N Now, to clear some things up. I do NOT condone abuse of any kind. It is something that should not even exist, I don't even agree with the Harry in my story, but I felt that Harry could've said/done something like this. No matter how much he was actually abused, if he was beaten and tortured, or locked in a cupboard without food for a week, Harry wouldn't have been angry. I've read a lot of stories that show his reaction, and this is my version. Harry would've played it down, maybe cried, but I think that no matter the reason, he would think it justified. If he believed that he should be punished, he was wrong, but I think that a man like Harry (one of a kind) would gladly give his childhood if he could save those lives. Abuse is always without a reason, and shouldn't happen, but it saved lives when he lived there, and that means something to HIM.
I've read many fics in which Harry is angry at Dumbledore, at the world, and even though I haven't grown tired of them, I wanted Harry to agree. Of all people that have been treated unfairly, it is Harry who would now his place in the greater good. I believe in that phrase, because we would jump in front of someone if it would safe their life, if you could safe thousands, your own life shouldn't matter. No matter if they are family or strangers. Harry has been treated unfairly, and it shouldn't have been this way, but he was prepared to give his life, and that was not because he was forced or confounded or manipulated. He believed in what he did when he walked into the forest, and we should as well.
I also think that Dumbledore did plan out Harry's life. His motives have been written down by many exceptional writers and my own take on it doesn't matter. If he loved Harry or not doesn't make a difference, but Harry is Dumbledore's man, always has been, always will be. The reasons to why he is are complete speculation and I and others will loose sleep on it trying to find out what really happened. Harry's life was hard, but he is a caring, loving, brave if slightly pained individual. That makes him: Harry. And that is what the books are about. What Harry's been through and who stand by him. Who Harry is and why he is that way. And that is why I like them so much. In those books, there is magic beyond the magic.