And we're back! So soon, and twice as long, just for you guys. :) I really didn't expect so much positive feedback! You all made my day. I used another few lines from PoA (though I tried to edit them), disclaimers still stand, R&R, and enjoy the next chapter!
EDITED 6/20: A few changes in wording
Previously…
Harry thought… What scared him most in the world?
...
Uncle Vernon, raising his hand to hit Harry, yelling, "Freak!" at the top of his lungs…
...
"No matter what people tell you, all you are is a freakish, no-good, orphan boy, who intruded upon the lives of good, respectable, happy families that were better off without you…"
...
Harry took a shuddering breath, choked out, "May I be excused?", and rushed out of the room.
Harry ran, not knowing which way he was going, the only thing registering in his brain was that he had to get out of that room.
He turned a corner, and found a tiny niche hidden nicely behind a tapestry. He went in, curled up into a ball, and buried his face in his knees, trying desperately not to cry.
Uncle Vernon was right, he didn't deserve any of this — maybe it was all a hallucination, and he was still just a freaky boy all alone in his cupboard… He didn't want to imagine it, waking up in his small, cramped cupboard — but maybe he had already woken up; after all, he was in a small, dark space, isolated…
"Harry? Where are you?"
Harry ignored the voice and continued his train of thought.
What would he do then? He would just go back to being the slave of the Dursleys, cooking, cleaning, and being ignored and hated at the same time… But he would be able to deal with it — after all, that was the life he had lived for the past twelve years.
"Harry! Is that you?"
The tapestry was ripped open, and Harry looked up, to be faced with the two worried faces of his best friends.
Though, would they still be his best friends? They probably didn't even want to talk to him, now that they had seen how much of a freak he was — yes, all they were here for was to yell at him for tricking them, telling them that he wasn't a freak...
"Harry, are you okay?" asked Ron, as he and Hermione climbed into the small space and shut the tapestry behind them.
"Professor Lupin dismissed the class right after you left, so we went immediately to see you, I was so worried —" rambled Hermione, stopping when Harry let out a shuddering breath.
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione, and something broke inside Harry. To his embarrassment, he began to cry, the tears flowing thick and fast, and his chest aching.
Ron and Hermione huddled closer as Harry, for the first time in his life, allowed himself to break down.
"I-I'm s-sorry," said Harry, blushing profusely as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.
They had missed the rest of the day's classes, just staying in that little hole behind the tapestry until Harry had calmed down.
"It's fine. I think you needed that," said Hermione, smiling warmly.
"Yeah, Harry. I knew that something was wrong, seeing as there were bars on your window and all, but really —"
Ron went into a large rant about how much of an stupid arsehole Uncle Vernon and and the rest of the Dursleys were, causing Harry to give him a small smile. It was a testament to how much Hermione hated the Dursleys that she didn't even reprimand Ron when he used especially colorful language.
"— and, wait a second, didn't the Boggart say something about starvation and beatings?" said Ron, he and Hermione pausing to look at him worriedly.
Harry ducked his head. "No, it's nothing, just —"
"Are you sure it's nothing?" asked Hermione, crossing her arms. "We all know how much you downplay things."
"Yes, it's nothing, all right?" said Harry irritably, speeding up slightly so Ron and Hermione couldn't keep questioning him.
Apparently, they had decided to drop it for now, so when Ron and Hermione caught up, Harry and Ron just talked about the upcoming Quidditch match while Hermione listened.
"Who do you think the Boggart Man was?"
"Maybe it was a teacher!"
"No, there's no way a teacher would do that. It was definitely a babysitter. Everyone knows how evil they are."
The story of his encounter had spread throughout Hogwarts, so Harry had taken to avoiding everyone to keep them from pestering him for answers that he rather would not give. Soon, Ron and Hermione had become his personal bodyguards, keeping everyone away from him so that they couldn't interrogate him in the middle of the halls.
In the absence of his answers, the whole of Hogwarts had begun whispering to each other when they thought he wasn't looking, or even when the knew he was, about the newly dubbed 'Boggart Man'.
Harry was used to rumours, but these ones made him both upset and ashamed. This was the one secret he didn't want Hogwarts to know about, but now, they would know he was a freak, and they would kick him out, and then he would have to go back to living under the stairs —
"Harry! Are you okay?" said Ron, tapping him on the shoulder.
Harry flinched, then shook himself. Lately, he had been having panic attacks that hit at random moments, and caused him to hyperventilate, shiver uncontrollably, and more.
Harry didn't know why the thought of Privet Drive caused him to be terrified now. He had lived with it for the past twelve years, and never once had he had a panic attack. He supposed it was because his secret was now in the open, but he wasn't sure.
"Yeah, sorry," said Harry, giving him a weak grin. "Go on, go to Hogsmeade. I'll be fine."
It was Halloween morning, and the date of the first Hogsmeade visit.
Harry had asked Professor McGonagall if he could still go to Hogsmeade a few weeks before, but his professor had regretfully informed him that only a legal guardian could sign the form, (though she didn't say it outright) no matter how horrible the guardian happened to be.
There was nothing they could do. Ron had called Professor McGonagall a lot of names that had had Hermione reprimand him for language, Hermione had assumed an expression that suggested that she had expected a lot better from the people in authority, and Harry had had to endure everyone in the class talking loudly and happily about what they were going to do first, once they got into Hogsmeade.
"We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes," said Hermione, looking desperately sorry for him.
"Yeah, loads," said Ron, looking at him sadly.
"Don't worry about me," said Harry in what he hoped was an offhand voice. "I'll see you at the feast. Have a good time."
He went them to the entrance hall, where Filch was standing near the front doors, checking off names on long list, peering suspiciously into everyone's face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out without a form.
"Staying here, Potter?" shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle. "Scared of passing any stray Boggarts?"
Harry ignored him and made his way up the marble staircase and up to the owlery, thinking to spend time with Hedwig. When he was passing through one of the corridors, however, he heard a voice from a room off the hall say, "Harry?"
Harry went up to the room to see who had spoken, and saw Professor Lupin.
"What are you doing?" Professor Lupin asked, beckoning him in.
Harry didn't want to be rude, so he followed his professor into what Harry assumed was his office.
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Professor Lupin said, smiling at him.
"Hogsmeade," said Harry, attempting to use a casual voice.
"Ah," he said. He paused for a moment, seemed to steel himself for something, and said, "I knew your father. I just thought you might want to know."
"What, really! Tell me all about him!" said Harry eagerly, forgetting all about the fact that he wasn't at Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione.
Over tea, Professor Lupin told him about the Marauders, their friendship, their pranks, and anything related to them. It seemed like he was leaving something, no, someone out, but Harry didn't push the matter.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I should have checked on you, sent a letter, anything! Instead, I left you to the mercy of those despicable Dursleys," said Professor Lupin suddenly.
Harry stiffened. He did not want to talk about this, especially with someone who used to be his father's friend. Professor Lupin would say that James would be ashamed to have a son like him, a freak, and he would be right, of course, because he had known his father for almost his whole childhood, plus a few years, and then he would tell Harry that he didn't deserve to have such wonderful parents, because he was a freak, a no good orphan freak —
"Harry, are you alright?"
"Er, yes, Professor, I'm fine, I'm just feeling a bit ill. May I go to the dormitories?" said Harry, feigning a cough. Professor Lupin looked suspicious, but he didn't argue.
"Alright, then. Maybe you should visit Madam Pomfrey, though," said Professor Lupin, giving him a look over.
"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for the tea, and telling me about my dad," said Harry, leaving the room. He went back up to Gryffindor Tower, where Colin Creevey and a few others were sitting at a table.
"Hiya, Harry! Want to come sit with us?" he said, glancing around at his friends. "There's plenty of room!" He knocked a bag off of the chair next to him, which became soaked with ink from shattered jars.
"Er —"
"Oh, Harry, is the Boggart Man real? Who is he?" asked one of the boys sitting with Colin. Colin tried to hush him, but the damage had been done. The tiny part of Harry that was telling him to go sit with Colin and his friends vanished at those words.
"Er, no, I think I'm going to go work on, my, er, Transfiguration homework! Yes, that."
And with that, Harry marched up to the third year boy's dormitory, went in, locked the door, and collapsed on his bed.
