Hey everyone,
It's official. 2018 is the year of new story ideas. I don't know why my mind had come up with so many new stories, but this is actually one that came up in my mind before I wrote chapter 43 of To Read Into The Universe. And let me make one thing clear for this story: Harry will play an important SECONDARY role.
Let's get started,

The Fidelius Kept Secret
Chapter 01
The Betrayal

Quidditch Pitch, Hogwarts
10th of October 1995
Harry's POV

Last weekend I had a meeting with several students, many of which I knew by either name or face, but a few of which I didn't and the other night I found out that this meeting had been overseen and heard by people that I am supposed to trust. But the fact that I am being watched without me knowing it just really bugs and annoys me.
Yet while I'm sure my friends are expecting me to be most upset about the fact that Umbridge has attacked my owl, Hedwig, in order to read and spy on my mail, do I feel angrier over the fact that people I am supposed to trust aren't respecting my rights. Yet for some reason I feel angry over this, regardless of Hogsmeade.
There is more to this. There is something else about this that angers me, but I just can't wrap my mind around what it could be. That is, until I realize that I have been floating on my Firebolt above the rest of the team for a while and that I have been able to observe them, but that they have been too busy training to notice me do this.

And as I realize this, do I turn from the Quidditch pitch, to the castle that is a few feet away from us. My eyes land on its majestic structure and focus on three points, going from one to the other to the next and then back to the first. A tower which houses the Head of the school, a courtyard that houses my Head of House.
And the tower that houses the teacher that has been a literal and figurative pain in my side for the last month and a week. And as my eyes go from the third back to the first, do they widen and does my heart plummet as I turn from that – to the town where I held my meeting, the meeting I was told was overheard by someone without my knowledge.
I look at the town, my realization coming to me with the speed and ferocity of a Bludger and making me feel as if my insides have been hit with the flames and the spikes of the tail of a Hungarian Horntail, while at the same time the emotions I felt when hearing the lies about Sirius in Christmas Third return to me tenfold.

"POTTER!" Someone yells, the voice sounding distant, but strong enough to break me from my thoughts and I look down. "You done daydreaming? We're heading back!" Angelina, the new Team Captain of Gryffindor yells at me before turning her back to me. Yet I look away from her and scour the field with my eyes.
I try to find it, yet hope not to and don't indeed, but this brings me no reassurance or comfort. Instead I just sigh and fly down, arriving in the changing rooms just before Angelina and Alicia put their brooms on their shoulder. I look from them to the rest of the room and then say: "Wait." The two now at the exit.

They turn to me and I turn back to the room at large, pain and anger and hatred and betrayal coursing through me and making tears spring into my eyes, yet I don't let them fall and just growl: "If you don't want to lose my trust and respect entirely, you will reveal yourself. Snuffles told me about you, now show yourself. Prove you respect me."
The girls look at each other confused, yet Ron and the twins seem to get what I am getting at and the twins step up as one of them says: "Unless you want our next meeting to be filled with punish-filled pranks.""You will do as Harry says.""Cause this isn't doing our trust in your little group much good." The two chorus at the end.
And Ron glaring around the room and actually pulling his wand from his robes seems to do the trick as, from the other side of the room, I notice a flurry in empty space before an invisibility cloak falls away. And the fact that it reveals someone, of who I know has the ability to change her appearance at will, brings with it a new realization.

"I was right. Dumbledore's had me watched even inside Hogwarts. But while they should be keeping me safe – did they do nothing while I was cutting my hand open. And all those times that Ron and Hermione kept trying to tell me to report to Dumbledore, they were wasting their time and breath – because he already knew."
And these thoughts do the trick. My tears start to fall and I growl: "You filthy rats." And while the insult might be considered light-hearted to some, does Tonks flinch back, proving she understands exactly why I use that word for an insult. I then turn to Ron and the boy growls: "Depulso!" Pushing Tonks out of the room.
Angelina and Alicia step away, shocked, but not shocked enough to not close and lock the door the minute she flies through. The twins follow this up with several locking charms I just know they developed to keep their mother out of their room when they are working on their new products, while Katie turns to me and asks:

"Harry, what just happened? Who was that? Why was she in the changing room? And how did you know she was here?" But I just turn my back on them all, not wanting them to see more than my shaking shoulders, proving that I am crying. Instead Ron catches Katie's attention as well as that of the other Chasers as he says:
"That was Tonks. She's a Metamorphmagus, Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix, a group Dumbledore put together during the last war to fight You-Know-Who. And why was she here? Because Dumbledore wants Harry guarded." And the way that he emphasizes the last word with pure sarcasm makes me feel a little better.
"What do you mean? Why would Harry need to be guarded when he's practicing? What? Does Dumbledore think we're going to curse him like back in his First or something?" Angelina asks affronted and Alicia goes on: "And if you're supposed to be guarded, why is Umbridge able – wait, did you just say she's a Metamorphmagus?"
Ron nods and I think: "Which is exactly why I hate her and the others so much. She could have so easily changed her looks to those of a complete stranger and then made the alibi that she was a Boy-Who-Lived fan and felt concerned over how her hero was being slandered and decided to check up on him or something."

And to my slight pride and contentment, as well as a balm to my hurt, crying heart, do I hear Ron explain this same example, almost down to the letter. "So wait, Dumbledore knows that Harry is cutting his hand open, does nothing about it – and still dares to send people out to guard/spy on Harry all at the same time?
And he wants us to remain loyal to him? To fight monsters like Voldemort for him?" She asks and then I finally speak up and say: "No more." The others all turn to me and I say: "I'm not fighting. Not anymore. I – I know what I said this weekend, but –." And Alicia says: "But this just doesn't make anything worth fighting for.
You need to be able to fight for yourself before you should start fighting for others." I smile at her and then turn to Ron before I turn to the twins and ask: "You think you can get Lee to the kitchens without anyone noticing?" The two nod and I turn back to Ron and say: "Make sure the girls take various routes there. I'll meet you there."

And I wipe my face and use the sink next to me to clean my face and make sure no one can see that I have cried. I turn to the girls and send them a quiet look that asks them to trust me and the three of them nod. I then leave the changing room and instantly my eyes roam over the grounds, in search for that traitorous spy.
I don't find her and neither do I see the ripples that prove someone is under an invisibility cloak. I start to walk, but as I do, does my mind race through everything I know, including something I secretly researched down to the very last miniature, insignificant detail after hearing what happened to my parents in my Third.
And these thoughts bring a new realization to me, one that makes it real hard for me to keep a calm, uncaring look on my face as I take the shortest route I know from the grounds to the kitchen. I arrive there first and make sure, once again, that I am absolutely alone before I tickle the pear and enter the large, wide room.

And instantly, upon my entrance, do my legs get attacked by a small being with bat-like ears that squeals as he greets me. A small smile erupts from my face as I hear him squealing and ranting, but then I say: "Dobby." And the urgency in my voice instantly silences the overly excited House Elf, making him look up at me.
I turn to the other House Elves and whisper: "Don't let them hear me, I don't want this getting back to Dumbledore, not yet." The House Elf nods, but I don't see him doing anything and I guess there are just some kind of privacy charms fixed onto the kitchens or moral code going on between the magical little beings scurrying around.
I turn back to Dobby and whisper: "Remember how you felt back in my Second? When you thought I was in grave danger? That's actually more true now, Dobby, than it was back then. And even in ways that your old Master and in return his master have nothing to do with. I am being endangered from the one source that shouldn't endanger me."

The House Elf looks shocked and while I want to elaborate, do I not feel as if I have the time, not if I want to get this done and so I say: "So, because I feel as unsafe as my parents did when – He went after them, am I going to do what they did. And don't worry, Dobby, I did all the research into that spell that I needed to.
I know what I'm doing." The little being looks at me for a while, as if trying to see for himself that I am speaking the truth and I just keep smiling at him, wanting to convince him with the look on my face. This seems to do the trick and then the door opens again, Ron coming in. He smiles at me and nods, proving he's done his job.
I smile at him and then turn back to Dobby as I ask: "Dobby, once I have done what my parents did and make sure I don't make the same mistake they, unfortunately and unknowingly, made, would you like to help me? Provide me with rations and keep my place clean and let me know what the homework is while I'm away?
And can you do that while keeping my location a secret from Dumbledore or keep him from knowing you are doing this?" The House Elf's eyes are wider than saucers and I wonder if they won't, somehow, fall out of their sockets before he squeals and says: "Yes! Yes Harry Potter! Yes! Dobby can do that! Dobby would love to do that!"

I smile at him and say: "Good, you can start once it becomes clear to everyone that I have left. Until then, just keep to your usual tasks and chores. And don't tell anyone that my friend and I were here, okay? You work for Dumbledore, but you're helping me. You're – you're helping Dumbledore keep me safe." And I wink at him before I leave.
The twins, Lee and the Chasers are outside the kitchens waiting for me and I say: "Thanks for coming. There are a few things you should know. You all know how my parents went down under the Fidelius charm to protect me from Voldemort, right? Well, after learning about this, did I study that spell to the last, minor detail.
However, there is one thing that the twins, Ron and I know about that event that you don't, namely – Sirius Black wasn't the Secret Keeper. It was Peter Pettigrew, the same wizard who –." Here I hesitate, not out of fear of telling them, but out of pain of what happened recently and then I push through my fear and say:
"Who killed Cedric." The three look shocked and Lee asks: "Why are you telling us this?" And I sigh as I say: "Because you deserve to. Because – because I found something out that, if my parents had known – if they had that chance, if the war hadn't made everyone distrust each other – I wouldn't have been an orphan right now."

This makes even the Weasleys look at me shocked and I make sure, yet again, that we are alone before motioning them all to come closer. They all come to stand right in front of me and I whisper: "There is a way to make the Fidelius charm absolutely indestructible, to make 110% sure that I can hide behind it with perfect safety.
And I need you, all seven of you, to get this done. I am going to go down to the Shrieking Shack – no, it's not actually haunted, the twins can explain that one – and there I'm going to make Ron my Secret Keeper. When he gets back, Fred, become his Secret Keeper and make George your Secret Keeper and Lee his.
Keep this doing over and over until you feel some kind of magic stopping you. At this point the spell will be at full power and will only be broken – if all seven of you experience the same thing I just did; personal betrayal. Only if all seven of you get personally betrayed by someone, will the spell fail. And yes, I checked seven reference books."

The group shares shocked and amazed looks and I whisper: "Dobby, get Ron the book on the Fidelius charm that is in my trunk." And Ron looks down at his left where the book falls into his hand. He looks at me and I say: "I'll give you the signal when I am down there. Make sure to start this sequence tomorrow between classes."
"Harry, how is you already have all of this planned out?" Alicia asks and I grimace as I say: "I think up parts of this plan little by little every time my mood takes a plummet or when I am near my breaking point. Something that's – been happening a lot more as of late." The girl nods, looking at me with a look of understanding sympathy.
I let my gaze go over all of them, knowing this will be the last time I will see them – and my other friends – for some time, but then I think: "This is what my parents would have wanted for me. They would not want for their friends to be able to break my rights of privacy so easily. They would want me to cherish and protect those rights."
I walk off, but while I pass the twins, do they stop me by giving me a warm, loving and understanding embrace. And while I return the hug, do I whisper: "It was tainted." Before slipping the Marauders Map, which ex-Professor Remus John Lupin gave back to me at the end of my Third, into the back pocket of the left twin's jeans.

I then walk out of the hallway and take a stroll through the castle, making sure that several students see me at several points in the large building before diving into a small secret passageway that I know leads to the witch with the hunched back; the passageway that leads to Honeydukes. I whisper the password to get this done and sneak in.
While moving through the passageway, do I make use of the fact that students can use magic while inside Hogwarts to cast simple spells on the ceiling behind me, causing for rubble to fall at random points. Yet I constantly hear it just hit the ground without interference and feel relieved as this means I am no longer being followed.
With this sense of relief do I leave the passageway and the candy store, feeling even more relieved that, for some reason, the store is actually quite full with several adults that I have never seen before. And because I left my robe behind in the tunnel and used spit to tame my hair a little, do I look nothing like Gryffindor Harry Potter.

I leave the candy store, but instantly sneak into a back alley and make sure I stay out of sight until I reach the small forest that separates the town of Hogsmeade with one of its most famous sightseeing spots. There I carefully move around the Shrieking Shack, making sure to stay out of the line of sight of the Hogwarts windows.
I scurry around the building, trying to find even the smallest of crawling space or the weak points in the structure and then notice one rotten bit of wood that seems to have been half boarded up against a bit of wall near the ground. I touch it and try to move it, my eyes widening when I can push it up and reveal a hole in the wall.
I quickly use my wand, first to enlarge the hole just a bit and then to keep the bit of wood up as I crawl through the hole that is now just large enough that a few rough points scratch at the cloths I'm still wearing. I manage to enter the decrepit building and instantly call: "Dobby!" The House Elf popping in a second later.

"I have a few tasks for you before I want you to inform Ron to activate the spell. First, enchant the windows to make sure no one sees anything inside other than what they always see. Two, take the dust and cobwebs out of the bedroom upstairs. Three, get everything out of my trunk, but leave my trunk in my dorm room, okay?"
The House Elf looks more hyped than I have ever seen him and his eyes are shining like the fireworks that the twins love to shoot off from time to time. This concerns me and so I crouch down to his level and say: "Dobby, focus. If you look like that, everyone will know instantly that I'm asking you to do things for me. You have to contain yourself."
The Elf looks startled and I say: "Just pretend as if I'm Dumbledore or Hagrid or anyone else when I ask you to do something for me. Otherwise, this might not even work. Can I count on you to at least try that, Dobby?" The Elf nods frantically, obviously frightened with the knowledge he might ruin my plans and then snaps his fingers.
I notice a gleam of magic go over the windows, which I made sure not to stand in front of after I got in, and hear something happen upstairs. I smile at Dobby and nod at him as I say: "Good job, Dobby. Now go tell Ron to activate the Fidelius. And please, make sure that you are instantly included and only come here when you're safe."

The Elf nods, his eyes proving he is determined to help me through this and I sigh as he pops away, hating the knowledge that – like over summer – I am on my own again and that I am stuck in one location, at least until things have been settled and those that have hurt and betrayed me have made up for doing so.
And as I move up the creaking staircase up to the second floor and into the now clean bedroom, do I remember what happened in here. This makes me feel even worse and I let myself fall onto the fixed bed, looking up at the canopy that has obviously been knitted back together and I whisper: "Goodbye, Sirius. I'm sorry." And I start to cry again.

Poor Harry.
Yeah, the knowledge that the Map has been messed with is one thing. The fact that the Order told Dumbledore about Umbridge and her Blood Quill another. The fact that someone like Tonks WAS A GUARD and did NOT use her Metamorphmagus form to get Harry out of there without revealing the Order – that's just wrong.
So now, Harry is going to stay inside the Shrieking Shack, while Ron and the others of the Quidditch Team are going to get the Fidelius Charm up to its full power and of course, Harry's disappearance is going to cause all kinds of trouble and disturbances for all parties involved, the Order, the Ministry and Voldemort.
This'll be fun,

Venquine1990