1Disclaimer: I own nothing! OK, so that's a lie... I own a very comfy pair of pajama pants, but that doesn't really have any bearing on the issues at hand. I in no way own Harry Potter.

Infinate Love and graditude to Serylis, who Bated the first 45 pages of this fic the first time around.

Author's note: his is a repost, I have gone through and revised a bit. I'm also breaking the chapters differently. I know that the original chapter length was daunting, to both prospective readers and myself. I am going to divide it into more bit size pieces rather than shove the whole five courses down at once. I am planing to repost once or twice a week so that I have time to keep ahead. I hope that you enjoy.

Chapter One

From my earliest memory on, I have been lied to. First the lies came from my 'family,' then from people I thought were my friends. It seems that the only people I can count on to be truthful are the 'bad guys'. Lets look at it from the beginning; Lie number one: my parents were a drunk and a whore that died in a car crash. Lets look into the actual facts for a moment, James Potter never drank, not even a glass of wine at his wedding. Lily Potter had only slept with one man before she died. To add insult to injury, my parents were killed in a war that I hadn't even been aware had been held.

I was eleven when I began to learn these truths. Sadly, even as I was taught these wonderful little trinkets, I was learning a whole new set of lies. Among an array of lies, I believe that "All Slytherin's are evil" was the worst. It set me up for the worst mistake in my life. The only thing I could think after the Hat told me I would do well there was that I would end up as bad as Voldemort. I find that as we grow into the people we were suppose to be I fit less and less into the house of the lion.

When I was eleven, I could ignore the differences I had with my house, but as of late I find it harder to keep a straight face after some of the comments that Snape makes. Hell, it is getting harder not to stare at the man's bum as he paces in front of the class. That brings us to the center of my problem, now doesn't it? I fear that I have fallen for my Potions Professor, and fallen hard.

As far as I know he is the only person that has never lied to me. He might have a warped view on how I live my life, but even when I thought my father was a god, and he thought that I was a spoiled brat, he never once told me anything less than a truth. Never once has he uttered the dreaded "It will all be alright" or "Your safe". Honestly I think people just use the last to make themselves fell better. I know the truth; I will never be safe until I'm either dead or a much better killer.

I don't think it has quit sunk in for everyone else yet. I'm sure that Ron hasn't realized that I will have to kill Voldemort for this all to be over. I doubt that he would even talk to me any more if he knew how many people I have already killed. The whole of the wizarding world wants me to save them, but they also expect me to remain their innocent golden boy.

I would do it all happily if I could get him to look at me even once with anything short of loathing. I don't need him to return my feelings, that's hopeless, but I would go out there and give it my all, my heart and soul, if only I knew that there was even a chance that I could come back and we could be friends. Fear that he would hate me as much as he does now keeps me under the watchful eye of the original Great Pretender.

X

For the first time in six years, I had the Gryffindor dorms to myself. I was one of a grand total of seven students that didn't go home for the holidays. Out of that seven, two others are in my year. Terry Boot, who says he stayed to get a head start on his study time for finals, and Draco Malfoy. Besides them there is a Hufflepuff first, third and seventh year and a Ravenclaw fifth year. Needless to say, this holiday wasn't very exciting.

I was currently sitting in a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest. The forest hadn't really ever bothered me, and since the beginning of sixth year, I had felt even more at peace in it. I can't really explain it, but I find myself spending more and more time in these magical woods. The time is growing in proportion to my realization that I hold little, if anything, in common with my house mates.

The snap of a twig to my left pulls me out of my thoughts. I stayed still except for the small movement of my right hand to rest on the hilt of the dagger in the top of my right boot. Both the dagger and its sheath had been left to me in Sirius' will, and I had spent the first few weeks of the summer learning how to pull it without cutting myself.

But that was all beside the point at the moment. Right this second I was focused on keeping my breathing normal and listening for movement. Without opening my eyes, I knew when the other person entered the clearing. I remained like I had been sitting for the last hour. My legs were stretched out in front of me and my back was still rested against the trunk of a large tree, but now I opened my eyes and who stood before me but the man that made my heart beat a little faster.

"Mister Potter," he said in that cold voice that he reserved for me alone. "Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention for being in the forest alone."

"No disrespect, but what do you want, Professor?" I questioned.

"The Headmaster has asked me to find and retrieve you for dinner. That is of course if you would bless us mere mortals with your presents." he sneered at me.

"Of course, sir." I said looking up at his slim dark figure. For once he had forgone his robes, probably at the Headmaster's insistence. Today he was clad in a pair of black trousers and a black sweater.

After a second watching me, he asked, "What are you waiting for? You don't expect me to help you up do you, Potter?"

I found that I could do one of two things now. I could either stand with the knife out and see how my Potions Professor reacted, or I could put it away and risk him knowing that I carried concealed at all times. After weighing the choices, I decided that I might be able to pull it off without him noticing.

"What was that, Potter?" No such luck.

Maybe if I denied it he would think he was seeing things? "Nothing, sir." I said it as I got to my feet and move toward the side of the clearing closest to the school.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor. Let me see it." He said in a voice that was slightly warmer than the one he had used previously. Weather the change was caused by curiosity or anger, I don't know, but it made me turn to look at him.

The look in his eyes said that maybe, just maybe, he didn't hate me as much as I had believed him to. The slight hint of worry was enough to make my heart melt, but left his face so quickly that I had to wonder if it was only my imagination. "Very well sir."

I knelt down for easy access to the blade. I held it toward him, hilt first, but that forced him to walk across the clearing to take it from me. I remained there as he looked over my only blade. His long, elegant fingers caressed the silver hilt as he checked its balance.

"It is a nice blade, and the fact that you were not alone in the forest unarmed shows that you do possess some intelligence, but that doesn't mean that I can allow you to keep it." He said with something akin to regret. "Weapons are not allowed to be carried by students in the school. Under normal circumstances a student would be expelled for carrying such as this, but undoubtedly you will get less than a slap on the wrist."

"Under normal circumstances a student doesn't have the need of a dagger, but these aren't normal circumstances sir." I countered.

"Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizarding world." the dark haired professor replied.

"That might be the truth sir, but my enemies have gotten in and tried to kill me time and time again. Regardless of what the headmaster might say differently, there is no place that I would be totally safe. So, I'll take my chances with my life in my own hands." Reaching up I took the dagger back from my teacher and slid it back into its sheath. "Thanks all the same."

"Well Mister Potter, as commendable as your goals are, I cannot allow you to carry a weapon that you do not know how to use. Do you know how to use a dagger?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You poke the bad guy with the pointy end?"

"Come to my office after dinner. If you want to be able to watch your own back, that's fine, but I would hate to see the headlines when the Boy-Who-Lived died from accidental impalation." He smirked down at me and said, "I would like to know why you felt the need to pull a knife instead of your wand though."

"If someone attacked me and ended up dead, magic could be traced back to me and regardless of the reason they died, Fudge would see me feed to the Dementors." With a small smirk of my own, I continued, "In the magical world, a knife is much more difficult to trace."

"Contemplating how to get away with murder is not very Gryffindor of you." the older man responded.

"Don't I know it." I murmured to myself as I stood and turned toward the castle.

X

Dinner was as normal as it could be with Draco Malfoy and I at the same table. Having made the very bad decision to fall behind my professor so that I could watch his ass as he walked before me, it is a very nice ass by the way. Well, because of that, I was now sitting between Dumbledore and Trelawney. Maybe if I keep my head down and eat fast they won't talk to me...

"Oh dear," Damn. "There is a dark shadow on your horizon. I am so sorry to have to be the bearer of this frightful news, but darling, you will die soon." She then threw her arms around me and started to sob.

The headmaster turned to us then, as the rest of the table fell silent, "What ever is wrong, my dear?"

When it was obvious that my professor was incapable of answering, I answered for her, "Well, it aperies, sir, that I will be dying yet again. I wonder how I will go this time. Maybe the giant squid will get me while I rest by shore. Or perhaps I will suddenly feel the need to go the Astronomy tower and fall off."

My professor went rigid in my arms. Then in that creepy voice that speaks threw her during true prophesy, she announced to the world, "The lightning child's show of mercy will become his greatest regret. The servant will betray the master and one will parish. All is lost if the Raven doesn't chose to love."

Great, yet another prophesy involving me. Just when things were getting boring I get an entirely new set of problems. Joy. "This really has been lovely, but I am afraid that I must be going." I said without any feeling. Leaving Dumbledore to take care of his Seer, I stood and walked out of the hall.

I had known even before I left that the headmaster would send someone after me, but I wasn't expecting him to send who he did. I could have understood McGonagall or even Hagrid, but he sent Malfoy.

I was halfway to the tower when I heard the first hints of foot steeps speeding up behind me. Without turning, I said simply, "Leave me alone." I continued walking as I said this and was almost at the Fat Lady when the reply came.

"Really Potter, is that anyway to talk to the person that was sent to make sure you don't do anything stupid?" came the cold drawl from behind me.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" I finally turned to see the blond standing at the head of the stairs. He had let his hair hang lose this year and hadn't been using that atrocious gel in it.

"The Headmaster sent me to find out if you were Ok." He sneered at me. "I can see that you obviously don't need my help, so I'll be on my way."

"That's right Malfoy, just leave. It's not like I would have talked to you anyway." I turned back toward the Fat Lady and continued to myself, "Dumbledore must have finally gone off his rocker. First Snape, then Malfoy. Next he will be sending in the Bloody Baron. He is just making it more and more obvious that I should have listened to the Hat."

"What was that Potter?"

"You do know it's rude to listen in on other peoples conversations, don't you Malfoy?" I asked turning back to him.

"It is also rude to walk away from someone offering help." He replied with a smirk.

"I must have missed the offer of help, because I'm sure that I didn't hear it." I replied flatly.

"Well I'm offering it now." He said looking away from me.

"Well, why should you care?" I asked suspiciously.

"Listen Potter, you obviously need help," He paused to look me in the eyes a moment before looking away again. "And like it or not, I probably know you better than most of your so called friends do."

"That's not true! Ron and Hermione know me better than you every could." I said trying to hold in my anger at this mans audacity. How dare he tell me that my best friends don't know me. Forget the fact that they don't really know me at all, he isn't suppose to know that.

"Really?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do they know that it caused you no guilt to kill those Death Eaters in October? Do they know that you carry a knife in you right boot? Do they even know that your gay?"

"So you suddenly care about my well being now, Malfoy? Did you suddenly realize what an absolute bastard you are and decide to make up for it?" I asked angrily. I couldn't really deny any of what he said, and that really pissed me off.

Malfoy just smiled and said, "Yeah, something like that. If you don't want to trust me, may I suggest an information trade?"

"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"I mean that I will answer one of your questions for each of mine that you answer. That way, if I try to use it against you, you can blackmail me."

Deciding to see just how un-evil Slytherin's could be, I said, "Very well. If we are going to do this, we might as well be comfortable, would you like to come in?" I wonder how his house would feel to know that Malfoy had become their representative.

"As you wish," he said and motioned for me to lead the way.

At the Pink Lady I stopped. When she said "Password?" I realized that I had a slight problem; no matter how much I felt like trusting the blond at this moment, I wasn't going to let him know the way into my common room. I tried whispering it, but the only reaction I got from that was a prompting of, "You have to speak up dear. Violet just had a fight with that Sir Callahan."

"My lovely Lady, we seem to have a tremendously vexing problem. You see, this here," I gestured to Malfoy, "Is Draco Malfoy. I'm sure that you understand why I might not want him to know our most clandestine of passwords."

"Of course, but Harry, darling, it is not permissible for anyone to enter without the password. Lovely one, I cannot allow you to enter without the countersign." She replied with a smile. There was obviously a loophole, she wouldn't bee so pleased if there wasn't a way for me to find a way in. This was her favorite game.

"But, my fair Lady, We both know that as the guardian of this door, it is your decision whom is allowed entrance. Nev doesn't remember the password and yet he still miraculously enters before curfew every night. Even when the Death Eaters possessed the password earlier this year, you choose to deny them access to the sleeping students, although it meant harm to your own lovely self. You are the monarch of this portal, and you may allow any that you deem worthy, to pass." The Pink lady came from a place and time when the vocabulary of a young lady was here crowning achievement. With the mass of the students she didn't get to exercise hers often, but last summer I had ample time to enhance my own.

"There is a reason why you have always been my favorite, Little Sidhe. No one else will play the game, or would they be so accomplished at it." She said with a smile.

"It is one of the few bright spots in these dark days, my Lady." I replied with a slight bow of my head. "If we may be permitted to enter, we could leave you to your lively social life. I'm sure that you have better things to do than talk to mundane students such as I."

That last bit caused her to giggle. "I remember my days in these very halls, and believe me Sidhe, there is nothing mundane about you. But as you say, there is a monk on the third floor I am to meet for a night cap." She giggled a tiny bit more.

"Have fun, and I would advise that you didn't do anything I wouldn't do. Remember that teacher still stalk the hall. What if Snape were to see you?"

"Well then he would be able to count himself lucky. In my day I tempted many a man." After a short pause, where she pushed her ample cleavage toward us, she continued, "Besides, doing only what you would do still leaves quite a lot of options open. You forget, Little One, your silencing charms don't work on me. Go on inside now. I am late."

With that the doorway sung open.

"Thank you Lady." I said as I entered the Gryffindor common room. "Malfoy, come in and have a seat. I'm going to call a house elf for snacks and then we can start." I ushered him to an armchair by the fire and summoned one of the small elves.

End Chapter