AN: This deviates from canon in several places which is intentional

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.

Warnings: Abuse, manipulation

The person in the mirror looked foreign, unrecognizable. Harry sighed. The physical differences that greeted him were just another reminder of the events that had transpired only a few short months ago. He had fallen for a trap set by Lord Voldemort and had rushed off to the Ministry of Magic, certain that Voldemort was torturing his Godfather, Sirius Black. It struck Harry as extremely ironic that in trying to save Sirius, he had set into motion a chain of events that would end in Sirius' death.

Sirius had, of course, accompanied the Order of the Phoenix when they'd come to Harry's aid and had been part of the battle against Voldemort's Death Eaters. He had been hit by a curse from Bellatrix Lestrange, which had put him into a coma. Harry had been told that he would never wake up and that it would be kinder to put him out of his misery. He'd disagreed at first but when Dumbledore told him that Sirius would be in constant pain and there was nothing that could be done to alleviate it, he'd had to accept that forcing the man to stay that way would be incredibly unfair, especially seeing as a small part of Harry simply didn't want to be responsible for the man's death.

The guilt had tormented him constantly since then. He should've been able to tell that the vision was a fake. He should've listened to Hermione and not tried to be a hero again. He should've tried harder at Occlumency.

He had so many regrets and in the solitude of summer, he couldn't stop himself from dwelling on every mistake he'd made and beating himself up about it.

Logically, he knew that there were outside influences that had contributed to the events but he could also not deny that much of the blame lay with him. He somehow always seemed to become involved with something dangerous and the people closest to him got dragged into the mess along with him.

And it seemed that his friends had realized this as well. Not a fortnight into the summer holidays, Pigwidgeon had arrived with two letters, one from Ron and Hermione respectively.

Harry had opened the first and received a nasty shock. He had been worried even before he'd opened it due to the shortness of the parchment. Hermione's letters were usually very long, not at all like the short piece of parchment Pigwidgeon had delivered to him.

Harry

I'm sorry about this but I've done a lot of thinking since what happened at the Department of Mysteries and I've come to the following conclusion –

I can't be friends with you anymore Harry.

I'm sorry but I need to think about my safety and the safety of my parents before anything else and the fact is, being around you is dangerous. You're always involved in life-threatening things and as a friend of yours I was forced to become a part of those things which was always detrimental to my health.

Now there's the prophecy and you're going to be needed to defeat You-Know-Who. I'm sorry but being close to you will make me a target and it will put my family in danger as well.

I can't do that to them or to myself.

I ask you to respect my decision and not try to seek me out or interact with me overly much at school.

Hermione Granger

He'd opened Ron's letter immediately afterward, preferring to get it over with quickly. Ron's letter had actually been much longer than Hermione's, also uncharacteristic.

Potter

Look, this needs to end. It's first of all been nothing like I expected. I thought that being the best mate of the Boy-Who-Lived would be a lot more worthwhile.

Turns out the only thing I got from it was to play second fiddle to you. I'm well-known but people prefer you over me.

I could've dealt with that. You're an okay person and I was fine just being your mate.

But then it got dangerous and it kept on that way.

In my first year, I got a concussion.

In my second, my wand was destroyed.

In third year, I lost my pet, got a broken leg and nearly got eaten by a werewolf.

Fourth year wasn't so bad if you don't count the ridiculous amount of attention you were getting.

Still, I could've dealt with that. I mean, none of the damage was ever lasting and I got well known around Hogwarts.

But after what happened at the Ministry of Magic, it's not worth it any more. I was in the Hospital Wing for days, I've still got scars and this time you even got my sister hurt!

And this time, it was all your fault. You got fooled and you yanked us all to the Ministry with you.

I can't do this anymore. The danger around you keeps getting worse and I can't keep risking my life.

There's no pay off anymore either. Instead of fame, I get ridicule for sticking with you and believing what you say.

Enough's enough.

So, don't talk to me at Hogwarts. Don't try to get me to change my mind and most of all, stay away from Ginny and Hermione.

Ron Weasley

Harry sighed. He couldn't find it in himself to care very much about Ron and Hermione's decisions anymore. He'd been upset when he'd first read them but right now his thoughts were with Sirius and he couldn't spare the emotion to care about anything else. It would probably begin to hurt more when he got back to Hogwarts but as of now, he felt numb.

A childish part of him was still hoping that his friends would reconsider but he knew that even if they did, he wouldn't be able to forget the fact that they'd wanted to abandon him, that they'd both gone far enough to write and send letters to him.

It would've been a different thing if they'd been talking about it and one of them had suddenly found it to be too much, but a letter was different. It was a premeditated action and that was much harder to brush off as a momentary lapse of judgement.

And the letters themselves had been eye-openers. Not so much Hermione's but Ron's was definitely a wake-up call. The red-haired teen had come right out and told him that he'd only become friends with Harry because he wanted fame and money. Hermione hadn't said anything about her motives for befriending him but what she had said, namely the things about him defeating Voldemort, were just as clear in other ways.

It seemed that he would no longer be able to deny that the motives of those he'd considered his 'best friends' had been far from pure.

He sighed.

No Ron and Hermione.

Nor anyone else at Hogwarts if the Daily Prophet could be counted on.

And in a few days, no Sirius,

By September 1st there would truly be nothing tying him to the Wizarding World or to the image of the Golden Boy he'd cultivated upon arrival there.

Maybe it was time to think about bringing the true Harry Potter into the spotlight.

But as quickly as that thought struck Harry, he pushed it away. It would be far easier to simply disappear and allow Voldemort to get on with it.

Decisions, decisions…

er

Harry looked up and saw an owl flying towards him. He instantly recognized it as one of the Ministry's – the regal bearing and slightly pompous air, as well as the official-looking seal on the letter it bore were dead giveaways. He opened the window and allowed the creature to come in, quickly relieving it of its burden. Opening the letter, he braced himself for more bad news, absent-mindedly noticing that the owl had yet to leave.

Mr. Potter

You have been summoned to an official Ministry hearing on the 28th of August at the Ministry of Magic.

This hearing concerns the incident that occurred two months previous at the Department of Mysteries as well as several other incidents that have been brought to our attention.

The charges laid against you currently are as follows.

Slander

Trespassing

Destruction of property

Conspiracies against the Ministry of Magic

Defamation of character

You are required to be present in Courtroom 10 of the Ministry of Magic on the above date with only your wand. Due to your being a minor in a Muggle residence, it will not be possible for the Department of Magical Transportation to issue you with a Portkey and therefore you will be required to use Muggle transportation methods.

Failure to appear on time at the Ministry will be taken as your admission of guilt and Aurors will be dispatched to escort you to Azkaban so that you may fulfil your sentence.

Hoping you are well,

Valencia Jones

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Harry read through the letter once and then again. Half the charges didn't make sense. Slander? Defamation of character? Trespassing, destruction of property and conspiracies against the Ministry, he could at least understand, what with the article in the Quibbler and the Department of Mysteries incident but it sounded as though Fudge and his lackeys had pulled the rest out of their collective – The article.

Of course.

Which meant that the majority of the charges came from Lucius Malfoy and since Fudge was in Malfoy's pocket, that would make the court case that much harder for Harry to win. And now that Ron and Hermione had severed all ties with him, he had precious few witnesses and even fewer allies in the magical world.

The Order members couldn't reveal their identities – they were vigilantes and they would be charged if it were to come out that they broken into the Ministry and caused all that damage trying to help Harry. So the only two witnesses he had were Neville and Luna who couldn't be expected to subject themselves to disdain from the majority of the Wizarding World, not to mention danger from Voldemort because they were associating themselves with Harry. There was no way that his word would be taken against Lucius Malfoy's - the man had enough money and power to ensure that the majority of the Wizengamot would do as he told them and he probably wouldn't even have to work that hard on most of them because of the reputation the Daily Prophet had begun to develop for him a year ago.

Harry was well and truly screwed and there was precious little he could do about it. His only hope was that Dumbledore would pull some trick out of his hat – allow Harry to submit Pensieved memories or take Veritaserum so that the truth of his claims couldn't be disputed. But those still weren't full-proof plans – an insane person's memories would portray events the way they believed said events had played out and Veritaserum had changeable side-effects on those who hadn't reached magical majority.

There was a flawless way to get the truth but it was obscure and Harry couldn't remember exactly what it was. It was some ritual, some…

Harry started. The ministry owl, getting impatient because of his lack of a response, had nipped his left hand to get his attention. The dark-haired teen looked at it enquiringly, thankful that Hedwig hadn't been there to witness the bite. He didn't want to add murder of defenceless owls to his list of charges and Hedwig was extremely protective of him.

"What is it?" he asked. "Are you waiting for a response?"

The owl jerked his head towards the envelope Harry had dropped onto his bed.

"There's more? I'm almost afraid to look at it. This has been a bad enough day already."

The owl jerked his head again and moved his beak closer to Harry's wrist.

He chuckled. "Alright, I get it. I'll open it. Just keep your beak to yourself."

The other piece of parchment was barely more than a scrap. It contained only two lines.

Confirm your receipt of this letter by signing it and returning it with the delivery owl. Do NOT send it back with a different owl.

Harry moved to the loose floorboard under his bed, pried it up and retrieved quill and ink. He signed the parchment and then attached it to the owl's leg.

"Here you go. Sorry for making you wait." He stroked it before leading it to the window so it could leave.

His own owl came into view just as the Ministry owl took off. She flew in through the window and he automatically raised his arm for her to perch on.

"Well, Hedwig. Looks like life's about to get complicated again."

She crooned at him, cocking her head enquiringly.

"I have to attend a court case in a few days time. Fudge is trying to discredit me again and Lucius Malfoy's working on Voldemort's orders to try and make my life as difficult as possible. Not to mention the fact that I still need to make a decision about Hogwarts this year. I've realized that I can't leave the magical world before I reach magical maturity but once I turn seventeen, I'm in full control of my actions and I'm free to tell the Wizarding World to go fly a kite. But what about in the interim?"

AN: Let me know what you think!