Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am just borrowing the characters for some fun.

Warning:This story will contain swearing, scenes of torture and sexual innuendo. Eventual Slash. This chapter contains a graphic torture scene that may be disturbing, If you are bothered please scroll past the italicized text.

Summary: Nothing is going to plan. The order is three days late to pick him up and Lucius Malfoy has somehow managed to get out of Azkaban. Remus always wants to talk, but Harry can't bring himself to even think of what happened in June. It was time to face facts: Harry's life belongs to the cause and his own feelings don't matter. Begins after Order of the Phoenix. Eventual Slash.

Chapter Two: Safe

After only 3 short days at Grimmauld place Harry was finding himself doing homework. Grimmauld place was very limited in the entertainment it could provide for a 15 year old boy. The first couple of days Harry had enjoyed spending time with Remus. They had played numerous games of Exploding Snap, bickered about who would cook the meals and begun to explore parts of the house that Remus was relatively certain where not dangerous. Unfortunately, Remus did have work to do for the Order and he had left early that morning on a mission he refused to tell Harry about.

It was incredibly frustrating to be locked away in a house doing homework while everyone around him was off fighting for the war effort. Hopefully he would at least get Exceeding Expectations on his transfiguration paper out of this whole mess. Hermione would have been proud of his new brooding method, and Ron would have been totally horrified.

He was seated in the small library on the second floor, pursuing his texts books for any useful information on the effects of transfiguring water creatures into an item that can be placed on land. It was a dreadfully boring topic, and to make matters worse there only seemed to be a tiny paragraph about it in their text book. He became more and more frustrated the more he thought about when he would actually ever need to transfigure a fish into a hair comb. The whole assignment was a total waste of time.

Feeling that he needed a break, Harry decided to head down to the kitchen for something to eat. The day had passed by without him noticing and dinner time had come and gone. Without Remus to keep him regimented, Harry seemed to drift through his days.

The house felt still as he walked through it. Had he been at the Dursley's Harry would have definitely used this opportunity to sneak onto the computer or watch the telly, but the wizarding world had no such distractions. He looked curiously at the door to the ladies dining room that he had been forbidden to enter. Remus had blocked off certain parts of the house due to containing dark artefacts. Several bedrooms, a bathroom, a small study off the master bedroom and this dining room where all considered out of bounds. As his boredom mounted, peaking into these rooms became more and more desirable. What exactly made those areas of the house so bad? He couldn't help feeling like if he had dealt with the seventh floor of Hogwarts in his first year, the Chamber of Secrets, the Forbidden Forest and the Department of Mysteries, surely he could take on a charmed tea set?

But respect for Remus and a rumbling stomach won out and he moved on to head into the kitchen.

Scrape

Harry paused. Did that just come from the dining room?

Thunk.

Okay so maybe there was something truly enchanted in there...

He back up a bit and stood in front of the door. His hand reached into his pocket and he felt for his wand. If he was not mistaken it sounded like voices coming from in there...

He listened more carefully. Definitely voices. And the sound of china tinkling, like someone was having tea? Had Remus come back early and decided to tackle the dining room? But why would he be talking to himself? Or having tea in a 'dangerous' dining room?

Harry's heart started to beat more quickly and before thinking too much about it he knocked on the dining room door. "Remus? Remus, I didn't know you where back early? Need any help with the dining room?"

The absolute silence was back and something Remus had said earlier floated to the front of his mind. Some of Voldemort's followers came a little too close to discovering our location. The sweat on his palms was making it hard to grasp his wand. What if they had discovered headquarters?

Harry steadied himself and took a deep breath. Well now that they knew that he was here, there was nothing for it. He had taken on Death Eaters before, he could do it again.

He knocked more firmly this time. "Show yourself right now or I'll blow this door down! My wand is pointed at your exit and I am not afraid to spell you out cold, you sons of bitches!"

He heard a rustle from the inside of the room and the door knob began to move. His wand shook slightly as he pointed it at the door.

The door flew open to reveal a less than impressed Severus Snape. "Potter, What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing? I believe Lupin made it clear this room is off limits?"

Having nearly had a heart attack, Harry stood poised and unsure of what to say. "I...um...I thought that maybe, you were a Death Eater come to kill me, sir."

Snape looked at him absolutely deadpan. "And your best strategy was to announce yourself and goad a confrontation? How positively Gryffindor. I am astounded by your stupidity. I would have thought that the death of your dear old mutt would have taught you something. Apparently I was wrong."

Harry saw red. "Don't insult Sirius! I have taken on the likes of Malfoy and any other foul Death Eater you can imagine and I am not afraid of them! I don't hide like a scared little snake!"

"Well perhaps a little fear would be better for your health Potter. Although I am simply a pretend foul Death Eater, I can think of at least 10 ways I could have killed you when coming out from this door. However, I do have a particular fondness when it comes to the topic."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Who were you talking too?"

Snape's face remained unreadable. "I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about, Potter."

"I heard voices in there. You're hiding something!" Persisted Harry. "Who were you talking to?!"

Snape leaned close to him, so that his ugly nose was only a hair length away. "You do not demand things from me."

Giving up all pretexts (and still feeling upset over the slur against his godfather) Harry shoved Snape out of the way and pushed into the dining room. He was not prepared for what he found.

Lucius Malfoy was sitting calm as ever at one of the dining room chair. One hand was holding an ancestral black family tea cup and the other was idly holding his cane. His robes where all black, and clearly made just for him. He started at Harry as if he was a mosquito that annoyed him. All in all, the picture made Harry freeze.

Malfoy gave him a quick up down, and Harry was suddenly very aware that he had decided to remain in his pajama bottoms all day. "You would do well to take your professors advice and be a bit more afraid Mr. Potter."

Malfoys hand stroked his cane.

Harry moved his hand with his wand up and opened his mouth to cast. But before he could utter a word, the wand flew out of his hand and into Snaps awaiting one.

"That was very foolish, Potter." Said Snape, as he gleefully tucked the wand into his robe pocket.

"You traitor!" Screamed Harry. He had always known that Snape was an absolute git, but a part of him had trusted Dumbledore's assessment of the man. Especially after the memory he had seen last year, he had felt that he better understood his potions teacher's bitterness. But all along the man had been playing them.

Harry moved forward to physically attack and Snape lazily flicked his wand. Harry's body went stiff and he fell over. He instantly recognized the petrificus curse.

He heard Lucius Malfoy move. "Severus, it appears that this meeting must end early. I will be in touch with you later." A telltale whooshing noise came from the fireplace, and Harry thought that maybe Malfoy had flooed out, Perhaps to get more Death Eaters. Was he going to follow with Snape? Harry's face reddened with shame, when he thought of how easily he had been bested by them.

There was another woosh as the floo network started and Harry heard Snape calling out for Dumbledore's office.

Suddenly Harry was looking up at his Headmasters face from the floor. "Severus, was the petrificus really necessary?"

Harry could picture the self-satisfied smirk on Snape's face. "I will not have Potter interrupting a very important meeting, demanding entrance and attempting to curse my ally. My patience has limits."

What patience? Thought Harry.

Dumbledore considered Harry. "Very well, But I think it is safe to undo the curse now, if you would Severus."

After a moment Harry felt that he was able to move his hands, and soon his legs. He jumped up quickly and pointed his finger at Snape. "Professor Dumbledore, He's a traitor! He was in here having a meeting with Malfoy! He brought a Death Eater to Headquarters! He-"

"Harry please calm yourself." Said Dumbledore. "I know that Severus was meeting with Lucius Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy is no more a Death Eater then Severus himself. That is to say, he is not one."

"What!?"

Harry felt lost. As if perhaps his Vernon Dursley had declared his undying love for the wizarding world. What Dumbledore said made absolutely no sense. "Sir, have you been confounded?"

Dumbledore chuckled and sat down heavily in one of the chairs. "Most certainly not. "

"But Lucius Malfoy-"

"Has become a spy for the Order of the Phoenix."

Suddenly also feeling very heavy, Harry sat in the chair closest to him. He turned it slightly so that he could keep his eye on Snape. For the moment, he was still unconvinced with the man's innocence and there was no way he was taking his eyes off him. "With all due respect sir, are you sure that this is not some trap laid out for you by Voldemort?"

"Harry I cannot blame you for being concerned about that. In fact, I would be lying if I said that I had not had my doubts in the beginning. However, I am now sure that Lucius is firmly on the side of the light in this war."

Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"Severus, perhaps you could get us more tea?"

Snape lifted his eyebrow pointedly. "Or you could spell more yourself."

Dumbledore did not seem at all perturbed by the potions masters' behavior. "I think it best if you ready some more for us in the kitchen."

Snape rolled his eyes and stormed toward the kitchen.

"Harry, I realize that this may come as a shock. However, as many things as can be said about the Malfoys, and there are many, nobody can say that they do not have their families best interests at heart. When I spoke to Mr. Malfoy in late June, I learned that his concern for his son is what motivated him to seek me out." Dumbledore arranged his robes for a moment while Harry processed that. "He told me in great detail about the tasks that Voldemort has asked that Draco do. It is far more than he is capable of, and Lucius knows it. Unfortunately if he does not complete this task he will be killed. Lucius Malfoy is a harsh man, but a caring father when it comes down to it."

Harry snorted and Dumbledore looked at him reproachfully. "I must ask you to trust me on this Harry."

Snape came back into the room carrying a tray with 2 tea cups on it. If the situation was not so serious, Harry would have found the image of the dour potions master playing domestic house wife hilarious.

He placed the tray on the table and turned to face Harry. "Potter, it is testament to the Malfoys change of perspective that you have not been killed in the past three days. When the-" He glanced at Dumbledore "when Black died this house was inherited by the nearest Black, and seeing as Bellatrix's madness was acknowledged by her own family long before now and Andromeda was disowned, this property immediately went to the ownership of Narcissa Malfoy. In fact, you should thank her for allowing you residence."

Harrys mouth was working, but his brain did not know where to go with that information" I should thank her-I've been living in Malfoys house!"

"Indeed. And as amusing as your teenaged angst is to me, I have better things to do. Allow me to speed this up significantly: Albus, I believe we should obliviate Potter." The potions master gave Dumbledore a weighty stare, as if he was challenging him in some way.

When Dumbledore actually seemed to be considering the idea Harry's heart started beating very quickly. Images of Lockhart flashed through his head. "Now hold on a minute! If you all need me to defeat Voldemort, you must recognize that my sanity is pretty important!"

Snape glanced at him and scowled. "What little Sanity you have is not of my concern. Both myself and Albus are very competent spell casters. If you remain with this knowledge you are a danger to the whole operation!" Snape turned to face the headmaster. "Please Albus it would endanger the lives of the whole Malfoy family. Unlike myself, he is not telling the Dark Lord that he is pretending to spy for the Order. This could jeopardize everything!"

For about half a minute both Snape and Harry started hopefully at the old man thinking in front of them. Finally he shook his head. "I do not think it is a good idea Severus."

Snape snarled. "Then you are signing their death certificate."

Dumbledore looked sad. "We disagree on that Severus."

Snape looked momentarily disgusted before, without a word, he slammed Harry's wand on the table, stomped to the fire place and flooed to Hogwarts. Harry sighed with relief.

"Harry you must promise me something," Dumbledore was looking at him searchingly. "You must promise me that this information will remain private. You cannot tell anyone. Only a select group of people know. Even Young Draco is not aware of his families' change of Alliance. Remus knows of course, but the Weasley's do not. People's lives are at stake, you must keep this secret."

A knot was forming in Harry's stomach. He was not sure that he wanted any secret that would help protect the Malfoys. But if it meant keeping his memory in tact...

"Yes sir. I will keep it a total secret."

Dumbledore smiled. "Excellent. Well I must return to Hogwarts, have a lovely evening Harry."

And just like that the house was quiet again. Harry noticed absentmindedly that he was still pretty hungry. But his head was definitely filled with way too much to think about.

When Remus came back much later that night, Harry was poised for questioning. Dumbledore had all but dismissed his concerns, and Snape was certainly no likely to have a nice lovely chat over the matter. Considering that the Weasley's did not even know about Lucius Malfoy's supposed change in alliance, Harry figured that Remus was his best bet for some straight answers.

He had positioned himself in the kitchen, so he could sit and look straight down the hall to the entrance, which is pretty much how he had sat since Dumbledore had left. His mind could not seem to turn off. Remus did not arrive back until 2am, but it was not like he could have slept even if he had not been waiting up.

The werewolf seemed to take a moment to notice Harry watching him. He was busy hanging up his coat, it was only when he turned to walk up the stairs that he saw his ward. Looking confused he walked towards Harry. "Harry, what are you still doing up?"

"I have some questions for you." Harry played with the tip of his fork wondering how to broach the subject that he had gone into the top secret dining room.

Remus looked exasperated and exhausted. "Harry if this is about where I go off too, you know I can't tell you that."

Harry shook his head back and forth slowly. "It's not about that, although it does not take a genius to figure out that you are talking to the werewolves." He took a deep breath. "It's about the fact that I am living in a house that is technically owned by Narcissa Bloody Malfoy!"

It seemed to take a moment for Remus to process that information. "Alright Harry, I am not sure how you found that out but I assure you, you are in no danger."

Harry waved him off. "Yeah yeah yeah. That's what Dumbledore said too. Blah, blah, blah." He put on a falsetto voice that was a ridiculous imitation of Dumbledore. "The Malfoys have switched sides because they love their son sooo much. Trust me Harry. Oh and by the way, they also freed all their house elves and discovered a potion that can bottle rainbows." Harry took a deep breath. "What I wanna know is: Have you all gone Mental?!"

Remus seemed to be having trouble picking his mouth up off the floor. Finally he dropped into a chair and thought for a moment. "Okay. I want to know what happened here today. Now."

Harry instantly recognized his no-nonsense teacher voice. During third year, that tone of voice had normally been followed by an unpleasant consequence. As he told Remus about hearing noises and storming past Snape to see Lucius Malfoy he could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. By the time he finished with what Dumbledore had said Remus had regained his normal composure.

"It seems to me that you spoke with Dumbledore and all the essentials have been covered. I am tired and would like to go to bed. Good night." Remus said and made as if to stand up.

Harry jumped up before he could. "I think there is a lot to talk about. How about for example how you are all MENTAL? OR how about how could you risk my life by letting me live in a Malfoy owned house?! OR how about the fact that you most definitely lied to me a few days ago when I specifically asked you about Malfoy being let out of Azkaban? OR-"

"Okay, Okay I get it." Remus sighed and gestured for Harry to sit down. "First I need to say very firmly that I trust Dumbledore's judgement completely. Whatever he thinks is best I will follow." Harry opened his mouth to point out again how mental that sounded, but Remus continued in his no-nonsense tone. "That being said I do understand your reluctance to accept Malfoys new loyalties. However having Malfoy on your side is a huge victory. He was a big support for Voldemort monetarily and, let's just say, he did not get his feared reputation without reason. He can also give us valuable information that even Severus cannot. It is a huge win for us Harry."

"Which is why it's so hard for me to believe!" Harry countered "I know that he was a big supporter of Voldemort, I get that. So that makes it a little hard to believe that he just woke up one morning and decided to become pals with Dumbledore."

Remus tapped on the table anxiously. "Did Dumbledore say anything to you about the reasons behind the Malfoys decision?"

"Some sentimental crap about him loving his son, I wasn't aware that Malfoys had hearts."

"It is not sentimental crap." Remus said. "Malfoy is a world class tosser, but there is nothing more important to a pureblood then their family. Above all else he is a father. Your father died for you, is it so hard to believe that other fathers would do literally anything to save their child?"

Harry shrugged. He did not really have a response to that. It was nice and all that his dad had died to save him, but Harry could not really remember what that love had felt like.

Remus shook his head. "Look. This house is owned by Narcissa Malfoy now. You are staying in it for the summer. The Malfoys are now on our side. These are all things that are not changing, so you just have to learn to deal with it. The reason I misdirected you the other day was because I was worried that you would not know how to deal with it, and your attitude is proving me right. I am completely knackered, so any further discussion has to wait until morning. Good night." Looking much older than his years, the Marauder walked slowly towards his room.

Harry watched him leave feeling like he had not really gotten what he had been looking for when he had decided to wait up for him. Ron probably would have been incredulous and ranted with him about Dumbledore's senility. They both would have complained until there was nothing left to possibly complain about. Hermione would have definitely found some smart way to package everything in a way that would make Malfoy becoming a good guy make sense. But in the end all Remus had really done was told him to deal with it, and upped and left for bed. The 6 weeks that were left of summer seemed longer than ever.

Over the next few days, Harry had still not found a way to deal with the fact that Malfoy could come in and out of the house at any time and he was in a foul mood from having hardly slept. He locked himself up in his room, and made sure to go for breakfast and lunch at weird times so he would not run into Remus. He had decided that he was rather annoyed with his self appointed guardian for the summer. Remus was supposed to be on his side! Sirius never would have acted like this. Sirius had never told Harry to just 'deal with it'. His real godfather would have not trusted Malfoy or Snape one inch.

He wrote letters to Ron and Hermione complaining about how bad his summer was. He did not violate any of his promises, but he was secretly hoping that if he complained enough Ron could get his parents to let him stay with them.

All in all life was entirely too exciting and too boring. He pursued the Daily Prophet with more vigour then a pirate reading a map for treasure, but beyond that and homework there was really nothing to do. He found himself rearranging his bedroom so that all furniture pointed towards the door. The last thing he needed was Malfoy or Snape deciding to sneak into his room. His body was perpetually tensed for an attack and his mind was perpetually bored of having nothing new to think about. Sometimes he would day dream about how the attack would happen. Of course this time Snape would not be able to so easily petrificus him. Harry would jump, roll and curse his way to the Death Eaters and they would be no match for his skill. He imagined tying them up and marching them to a sad looking Dumbledore, who would then proclaim that Harry was right and he would listen to him more often. Of course, after having proven himself so useful, He would then be a full member of the Order and be let in on everything that was really going on.

On his less optimistic days, his daydreams revolved around Malfoy and Snape slaughtering him in his sleep. Dumbledore would then walk in all dressed in black and proclaim that they should have listened to Harry. He would come back as a ghost just to say 'I told you so' and be stuck in Grimmauld place for the rest of all eternity.

Remus seemed to think that over time Harry would outgrow his anger. About three or four times a day he knocked on the door and asked if Harry wanted to talk. This was usually met with silence. One time, after being startled by the knock, Harry had responded that he was busy 'dealing with how shit his life was'. It had been a full day before Remus had knocked again. Intellectually he knew that it was coming closer and closer to the full moon, but he could not bring himself to care.

After three days of holding out on sleep, his body seemed to finally be giving out on him. Unfortunately it seemed like he was going to have to sleep whether he wanted to or not. He forced himself to push his trunk and the desk chair against the door. It was not enough to hold off a magical attack, but hopefully the noise would wake him. The second his head hit the pillow he was in full REM sleep.

He was dreaming about Sirius again. In his dream the veil had not meant death. Instead he had been fine. He had come back just in time for Harry's birthday and brought with him the most amazing gift ever...

An evil sounding laugh disrupted the calm of his dream. "Oh how cute. It appears the boy who lived misses his godfather. I shall have to give Bellatrix a particular honor for causing you so much pain." The voice sounded like a hiss and even in his sleep Harry panicked.

He tried to wake up but the voice laughed at him. "Not so fast Potter. I have something I want you to see."

Suddenly he was not longer in the cosy kitchen in Grimmauld place opening his presents with his Godfather. The view shifted to what seemed to be a lovely looking cottage house. The surrounding area was a lovely example of the British country side. The Sprawling grassy fields looked gorgeous in the setting sun of a warm summer's day. The house itself looked small, but homey. It was clearly an older house and the main living area of the house was made with sturdy looking rocks, rather than the more modern bricks. The front of the house was well cared for and flower boxes hung in front of the windows. Harry could see the light flickering from the inside of the house and laugher interrupted the quite of the sunset.

Against his will he was moving closer to the house. He could feel Voldemort vibrating with excitement inside his head. They knocked politely on the door and waited. A tall man with brown eyes and blond hair answered the door. Before he could greet them properly, a green light was hitting his chest and he fell to the ground. Inside a woman screamed and ran towards them, but Voldemort was already stepping over the man and pushing her away.

"Stupid muggle cunt" reverberated in Harrys mind and he felt his mouth twist into a perverted smile.

Just for fun, a crucio and then when she begged him to stop, the green light made it stop forever.

It was then that the crying in the crib penetrated Harry's horror. Voldemort walked over to the infant, who could not have been more than a year. Harry saw a hand reach out and stroke the baby's head comfortingly. "Just like you, Potter. And just as easy to kill as your parents."

Unexpectedly, roughly, the baby was grabbed by the ankle and dangled upside down in front of his face. A spell was cast and the baby was left to dangle, screaming and wriggling. With a sick feeling Harry realized that the infant had a perfect view of his dead parents. Voldemort placed a large cauldron under his head. Harrys stomach lurched in fear that the child would be dropped into whatever potion was in the caldron. But what happened next was much much worse.

A knife came before his eyes and Voldemort rotated its sharp edge in front of his face. "So many wizards consider it a dark act to kill a unicorn. Do you know why Potter? Because it is innocent. But the blood of the innocent can extend the life of those who seek immortality."

Harry was screaming in his head. NO! NO! NO!

But the knife moved steadily toward the child's arm that dangled down, aligned perfectly with the caldron. And the hand was cut off and the blood dripped down into the caldron. Eventually the crying subsided. The baby stopped moving and only a dripping noise was left.

Harry couldn't feel. He couldn't move. He wanted to wake up so badly, but something held him there. He couldn't stop staring at the small child's hand that had been discarded on the floor.

And then he felt the caldron being brought to his lips and he felt Voldemort drinking deep. A satisfaction ran through his veins. "And that is why you will never beat me Potter."

Harry was thrown violently back into his own body. He rolled over and retched on to the floor by his bed. He could feel himself shaking. Tears where running down his eyes and mixing with the bile in his mouth. His head felt like it was splitting open. His hands gripped the blankets frantically and his eyes rushed to confirm that he was back in Grimmauld place. His mind seemed to no longer be working. The only images he could process where the lives' being so brutally snuffed out of the small happy family that no longer was.

He didn't feel safe. He did not know if he would ever feel safe again. He pulled the blankets to him and tried to calm himself, but the task was impossible. He felt so open, vulnerable. His body heaving, and his stomach still feeling sick, Harry pulled himself and the blankets over to the small cupboard that was on the other side of the room. He huddled onto the floor and shut the door. His body rocked of its own accord and he found himself whispering into the darkness that he was safe.