A/N: This is my first 'chapter' fic, so please let me know what you think. It's meant to be funny but relatively serious at the same time, however, you will see some tweaking of characters to allow the story to flow better. If you feel the need to flame, don't be afraid to, I'm a pyro at heart .... ;-). Also, thanks to Lady Lestrange and DraginLover for reviewing 'Neville'. Any-hoo, once you read, please, please, please review. If you review and have written stories of your own, I'll do my best to review you back. I'll try to update as often as possible, but I can't guarantee it to be regularly. Sit back and enjoy the madness!!
Rating: PG-13, just to be on the safe side - it may be for later chapters.
Summary: It's the end of Harry's fifth year, and the Dursleys don't want him....again. His friends don't understand, and Malfoy's being.... well, being himself. Nevertheless, Harry's fun has just begun.
Disclaimer: I'm not JK, so I can only stake my claim on the characters that escape into this from my (warped) imagination. The plot is mine too, however, if reviewers ( Hint, Hint!!!) suggest things and they get included, they will be properly acknowledged.
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Behind the Façade
By Ammarine
Chapter 1 – Unexpected News
The moment that he saw the expression on the face of his approaching head-of-house, Professor McGonagall, Harry suddenly lost his weak appetite, finding that it had been replaced with a heavy sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Harry knew this feeling well. Harry had lost count of the number of times he had felt this same feeling over his past five years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The last time he had felt like this was only a smattering of days ago, the ill-fated day that he was lured to the Ministry of Magic in London by none other than Lord Voldemort. Because of it, Sirius Black, his guardian and only parental figure he had ever really known, despite being infamous for (allegedly) murdering 13 muggle bystanders over a decade before, had died. It was hard for Harry to not try and destroy something. The memory of that fateful night haunted him whatever he was doing, like some shadow that should only be found in nightmares.
Before Harry could react, Professor McGonagall was standing across the table from him.
"Mr Potter, my office. You have fifteen minutes," sounded her usual curt voice. Her penetrating gaze locking with Harry's eyes, something akin to pity stirring in her eyes as she acknowledged his confusion. However quick her arrival at the Gryffindor table, her departure was in the same manner. He watched as the Professor turned on her heel and strode purposefully back to the Head Table, resuming her seat on the left of Headmaster Dumbledore. At that moment, the Headmaster was conversing with Professor Snape, the Potions professor, on his right-hand side, despite that Snape, judging from the sour expression on his face, wanted to be left alone. After McGonagall had settled, she promptly engaged the Headmaster in conversation. Moments later, the Headmaster paused eating and looked up and straight into Harry's eyes. Harry, who was momentarily transfixed, held Dumbledore's quiet searching gaze, then looked down into his own half-eaten dinner. Not particularly enticed by what he saw, Harry looked across the table to his friends, both of whom had been released from the Infirmary earlier that afternoon. Ron looked up from his dinner to Harry, with some strands of his fiery red hair dangling in his eyes. He gave Harry a quick "good luck, mate" smile, before resuming his dinner, his appetite obviously never wavering. Next to Ron was their other best friend, Hermione. She, like Harry, was picking at her meal, being too deeply immersed in a thick book to be concerned with trivialities such as eating. Harry smiled in spite of himself. The trio had finished their OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) the week before, but Hermione still had her nose buried in a book. Harry guessed it was probably a book for one of their 6th year classes, although they hadn't chosen those classes yet. Despite Hermione's studying fervor, her lack of reaction indicated to Harry that Hermione wasn't worried about Harry's upcoming meeting with their Head-of-House, which was of considerable relief to him.
The sudden departure of Harry's appetite made him feel rather uncomfortable, along with many of the other students in the hall throwing glances in his direction. Harry rose from the table and swiftly walked out of the Hall, not wanting to turn around and face the professors and other students, however not in any rush to get to Professor McGonagall's office.
As he started to climb the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall, Harry heard footsteps crossing the Hall, approaching him. It took Harry a moment to realize that leaving dinner alone was probably a rather stupid idea, but it was even more stupid to berate himself at the current time. As the footsteps came even closer, Harry turned slowly, one hand drawing his wand, ready to hex someone if the need arose.
Spotting the person who had followed him, Harry let out a rather large breath he was unaware he had been holding. "Neville! Oh, am I glad to see you, and not Malfoy or one of his Slytherin lackeys," Harry said, his mood darkening even more at the thought of Malfoy. On Harry's 'List of Excruciatingly Annoying Morons', Draco Malfoy; Harry's arch-nemesis; and his father Lucius, were right among the contenders for first place, along with Bellatrix Lestrange, Wormtail, and Lord Voldemort himself. So far, Voldemort was top and Lestrange a close second.
"I noticed you leaving the Great Hall half way through dinner. I wasn't particularly hungry myself, so I decided to join you, if you don't mind the company," Neville replied, Adding softly, as an afterthought, "that, and you may want some one to watch your back." At this comment, a small flame of gratitude ignited within Harry towards the boy, giving him one of the first real smiles since his godfather's death the week before.
Completely taken by the boy's loyalty and friendship, Harry stammered out his thanks. "I'm glad you joined me," Harry added. "Hermione and Ron are great friends, but they just don't understand. Th-they've never had Him, take away a ... a parental figure ... like we have." The boy finished, taking a couple of steadying breaths, trying desperately not to drown in the despair that had been threatening to engulf him, since Sirius' death.
Neville, who understood perfectly, simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak without losing his composure after Harry's little speech. The two boys weakly smiled at each other and continued up the marble staircase in a companionable silence.
When the pair had reached the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry continued straight past, as though unaware, even, of its presence, causing Neville to scrunch up his forehead in confusion.
"I have a meeting shortly with Professor McGonagall," replied Harry to Neville blatant confusion. "I doubt that you will allowed to join us, so it's perfectly fine if you'd prefer to remain in the Common Room..." Neville shook his head in response. "Fine, let's go then," Harry continued nonchalantly.
It seemed as though in no time the two boys were standing outside the Professor's office door. When they had arrived , Harry resignedly lifted a hand and rapped on the door. There was no answer from within. "McGonagall must still be down at dinner," Harry muttered half to himself, as the Professor rounded the corner. Seeing Neville accompanying Harry, the corners of her mouth turned upwards slightly, in a smile.
"Thank you, Neville, for keeping Harry company and out of trouble. Most of the Gryffindors should be returning to the Common Room, we will escort you there. Regardless of your loyalty and friendship with Harry, I am unable to allow you to be included in our meeting." McGonagall looked at Neville with something akin to sympathy in her eyes. Neville agreed, and the Professor, Neville and Harry walked back to the Fat Lady's portrait, leaving Neville to enter the portrait-hole as the other two made their way down a small flight of stairs. The entire time they were walking, Harry began to feel as though he was filling with dread. The small amount of food he had eaten felt as if they had just been Transfigured into a large mass of wriggling snakes in his stomach.
Harry's uneasiness increased with every step he took. His mind began whirling, thinking of all sorts of reasons to why he had to be in a meeting, each more obscure than the last. Had he missed a detention? Did Sirius not really die? What's about to happen? However, the fact that none of his friends were there to tell him to get a reality check, Harry was starting to believe any of it could be possible.
A sudden voice jolted him out of his decidedly uncomfortable reverie, and Harry had mixed emotions when he realized their destination. Just last week, Harry had been there, venting his anger at Dumbledore by trashing his office. The Headmaster had not stopped him, in fact he was encouraged to continue the destruction brought on by his rage.
As the spiral staircase began its ascent to the office, McGonagall gestured for Harry to get on the stairs ahead of her. The two of them rode the stairs to the top in silence, whereby they were greeted by the brass griffin knocker on the door to the office. McGonagall rapped sharply on the door and they entered when Dumbledore invited them in, McGonagall remaining near the door. The sight that Harry was presented with was unremarkably similar to that of his last visit; the Headmaster was seated behind his desk, his fingers steepled just below his chin and a letter was lying open on the desk in front of Dumbledore. The only real difference to his last encounter here was the lack of random parts from magical trinkets that had been strewn all over the floor. Also, Dumbledore appeared to be much more older and worn than Harry was accustomed to seeing.
"Harry, please take a seat." The dark-haired boy got the impression that it was not entirely a request, so he walked over to an over-stuffed chintz armchair Dumbledore had conjured up for the meeting. "I have just been informed of a small problem," Dumbledore started, with only a faint glimmer in his eyes. The cost of fighting both Voldemort and the Ministry was starting to take its toll on the aging wizard. The snakes that were wriggling and squirming in Harry's stomach only minutes ago felt now as though they were going at double time.
Albus Dumbledore was intently watching the student's reactions, and was mildly amused when he saw a flicker of alarm shadow Harry's face. Chuckling softly, the Headmaster calmed his student. "My dear boy, it not a problem, per se, more of a slight glitch in the grand scheme of things. I daresay you recall the reasons for you to go home to Privet Drive each summer, and this is where the glitch comes in. I happen to have, here in front of me, a rather curt letter from your Aunt, informing myself of the fact that their family will be spending the summer on a normal family holiday at a friend's vacation home in Majorca. It also details that under no circumstances are you to be present in Majorca or in their home on Privet Drive. This means that the charm will not be renewed this year, which may cause further obstacles later down the track." Dumbledore paused, allowing Harry's mind to accept and comprehend the information, before continuing.
"Unfortunately, due to the timing of this letter, we cannot allow you to stay at the Burrow or at Miss Granger's house, simply because we haven't had adequate time to establish any precautionary measures and protection. Granted, both the Burrow and Miss Granger's homes have had additional protective spells administered, however those spells would not be sufficient to protect yourself as well. I had a thought of you staying at Headquarters, but after recent events, would I be correct in assuming you would prefer not to stay there?" Harry nodded glumly, his mind reeling from everything the Headmaster was saying. "It would also be highly impractical for you to stay at Hogwarts over to summer. I am sure that you're aware that a number of professors stay at the castle over the summer, however, with your history of encountering Lord Voldemort in some form on Hogwarts grounds, that leaves staying at the home of one of the Order members. Due to the present circumstances, there is only one member of the Order whose house would be feasible."