Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I'm assuming that you are familiar with Harry Potter, his story, and his world. Therefore, I'm not including Year One. Nothing really differs from canon, except that Harry is given nutrient potions and some better glasses by Madame Pomphrey. Also, I won't really be detailing plot points unless they differ from canon. As the story continues, it will pull away more and more, but until then, I don't want to bore you with what you already know. That being said, if you have questions, just leave me a review with those questions.

After dubiously accepting his pride's leadership, Harry settled in for summer. At least this time he had nutrient potions and some food to tide him over. But he didn't hear anything. No letters from anyone. Had they all forgotten him?

Harry lay on his bed, idly flipping through his Transfiguration book. The phone rang downstairs and only a moment later, his aunt shrieked "Boy! Get down here!"

Surprised, but loathe to ignore her, he rushed downstairs. Aunt Petunia was holding the phone as though it was somehow contaminated. "Someone apparently wants to talk to you."

With that, she dropped the phone into his hands and stalked out of the room.

"Hello?"

"Harry!"

Wincing, he held the phone away from his ear.

"Oh, Harry, I was so worried. Why haven't you written back?"

"Hermione, what do you mean 'written back'? You haven't sent me anything."

"I knew it! Harry, I've written you loads of letters. So has Ron. And maybe some of the others. I don't know. But Harry, this is important. Something is stopping you from getting your mail."

"Or someone. Look, is there anything we can do about this? Or can you get me out of here?"

"I'll talk to Ron and a couple of the others. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Hermione. I knew I could count on you."

They talked for just a little while longer before she had to go. For the rest of the day, his voice continued to ring in her ears. I knew I could count on you. It filled her up, gave her a purpose for the upcoming days.

Following some frantic owling, it was finally decided that Ron's oldest brother Bill would fetch Harry the day before his birthday and bring him to the Burrow - the Weasley's house - where he would stay for the remainder of the summer. Harry quickly packed his things and was ready when Bill knocked on the door of 4 Privet Drive.

Bill had wanted to meet him, this famous boy who had befriended his youngest brother. He didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't this small street urchin with too-green eyes, sharp elbows and scruffy clothes. "Bill? I'm Harry."

Bemused, Bill shook his hand. This kid had to barely come up to his shoulder. This was the Savior of his world?

Harry spent the rest of the summer in a contented mash of Quidditch games, homework, reading, chess, and good food. His birthday was marked by small presents from everyone in the pride as well as those on the Inner Circle. And, of course, Mrs. Weasley's wonderful food.

All too soon, it was time to head back to Hogwarts. The second night back, Harry attended his first ever IC meeting. Oliver Wood was head of Gryffindor. Each pride leader was in attendance, though they had little to discuss. They went over the basic rules, and then they were dismissed. Katie Bell, though, held him back. "Okay, Harry, as the pride leader of the year above you, it's my job to explain your job to you."

Like it or not, Harry was responsible for his year. They were his - his to govern, punish, and reward. He didn't really like it, but he understood. And as pride two leader, the cubs were under his unofficial jurisdiction. Technically, Percy (as fifth year prefect) was their pride leader until they elected their own, but he had so many responsibilities Harry kept an eye on them. They were a cute group, shy and a little in awe of him, with Ginny in particular resorting to squeaks when he spoke to her.

Life continued as usual for the students of Hogwarts. A usual which included a "different" type of DADA professor. The year prior, the DADA professor had been possessed by Voldemort. This year it was milder; Lockhart was simply a vain, self-glorifying phony of a man. About the only thing he did that made Harry even mildly impressed was announce the formation of a dueling club.

Nearly the entire school attended. Some to learn, some to swoon at Lockhart, and some to watch as Snape (Lockhart's assistant) destroyed him. Predictably, Snape tried to humiliate Harry by calling him and Malfoy to the center. When Malfoy conjured a snake, Harry revealed himself to the school as a Parselmouth as he ordered the snake to leave Justin Finch-Fletchley alone. As the school looked at him in terror, he fled with Ron and Hermione.

That night, he called the pride together. Hermione told them about snake lore. Harry told them what he had actually said. When they still looked at him doubtfully, he conjured a snake and spoke soothingly to it. Only Neville took him up on his offer and touched the snake. Everyone else remained frozen.

All the anger suddenly drained out of Harry, leaving him with only disappointment. He could understand, a bit. They were just kids faced with something they had been told was evil. And yet... "You call me your leader, and at the first sign of trouble, you turn on me. Fine. I won't bother you anymore with my presence."

He dismissed them. Ron, Hermione, and Neville stayed. Harry looked at them steadily before smiling. "Neville, welcome to the Inner Pride."

Ron was caught off guard. Not only was Neville joining them, but it was the first time that Harry had actually acknowledged Ron and Hermione's places. Hermione just looked thoughtful. They headed to their corner of the common room, while Harry called an IC meeting to explain the whole situation.

The circle believed him immediately, but not the rest of the house. They had been trained, if not their whole lives then at least since they were eleven, that snakes were evil and wrong.

There were a few, however, who completely believed Harry. Notably, Fred and George. They approached Harry in the common room the next day, bowing to the "prince of almighty darkness who shall forever rule from the shadows." Harry laughed, and they nodded to him once, completely serious, and left.

Ginny watched him timidly from the cub corner, but whenever she began to approach him, she just turned bright red and ran away.

At Quidditch practice, Katie approached him. "I think it's kind of cool you can talk to snakes. 'Know your enemy' and all that. And besides, it's been so long since the founder's, that I'm pretty sure anyone who's not a muggleborn can claim to be a founder's heir. This whole thing is a bit ridiculous."

Oliver called her away, while Harry stared after her for a long moment.

Dean apologized first. His fear had blinded him, and he soon realized it. Harry didn't want to, but he knew that he had to punish Dean. And so for four days (the amount of time it took him to come to his senses), Dean was prohibited from drawing.

Next was Parvati, who had been scolded thoroughly by her sister. Harry had Hermione lecture her, while he watched through disappointed eyes. Then Parvati was sent to time out. Harry reasoned that if she was going to react like a child, then he would treat her as a child.

When Colin was frozen, Lavender and Seamus folded. Frankly, both of them already knew they had been wrong. After Colin, they could no longer hide from it. All Gryff's knew how protective Harry was of the cubs. The council had already known of Harry's innocence. Now, so did the rest of the house.

Lavender was placed on room arrest for one week, and house arrest for another. Seamus expected a spanking, or something of that sort. Instead, Harry let his temper loose in a blistering tirade that hurt more than any spanking ever had.

Once they had all returned to the pride, Harry called a meeting. It was time to lay down some ground rules. A majority of them could remove him from leadership, BUT they had to confront him directly and give him the opportunity to defend himself. Everyone had the opportunity to defend themselves to the pride. Innocent until proven guilty.

Then Hermione was frozen. The rest of the school suddenly realized what Gryffindor already knew. Neville spent more time with Harry and Ron as they frantically searched for anything that would help.

When Ginny was taken, Harry felt responsible. The cubs were his charges, too. So it was without hesitation that he grabbed Ron and sprinted to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Neville was left in charge of the remaining cubs.

After everything in the Chamber, with Hermione back, Harry told his pride and the circle the whole story. Percy was furious with himself. Harry might have been unofficially responsible for the cubs, but they were Percy's charges, and Ginny was his sister. How could he not have noticed that something was wrong? He had been completely caught up in his prefect duties and classwork. He suddenly realized how blind he had been.

And then it was back to the Dursley's and another trip through hell for the summer.