The next instalment... It's a bit of a ramble, a lot of background and a bit of drama.... I hope you like it!

As always thankyou so much to my reviewers, you make me feel warm and fuzzy!

Disclaimer: I don't own it Yada yada yada....

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Chapter Six

Harry POV

Professor McGonagall welcomed us back with her first speech as Headmistress of Hogwarts, announcing that Professor Snape would be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor with Professor Slughorn as our Potions Master. They stood up, looked around and sat back down. The head boy and girl were announced, Hermione was the girl and, to everyone's surprise, Draco was the boy. They went to the front of the hall to receive their badges before heading back to their seats.

McGonagall then proceeded to sort the first years. As I sat and watched the sorting for the last time, I felt sad. But it was a good sad, not stemming from pain or regret but from the fact that another part of my life was ending.

Last year had been a bad experience; the Death Eaters had stormed the castle and taken over. Through luck more than prowess we'd managed to fight them off, but with a lot of student deaths. But the death that most affected me was Dumbledore's. Snape had killed him, but only to spare Malfoy. The ferret wasn't even man enough to kill him himself, I thought venomously.

As the last of the first years were sorted, I broke out of my reverie, smiling as I applauded loudly.

The night went on and I found myself relaxing as I talked with my friends as we ate the lovely feast the house elves had prepared. I had a conversation with Hermione about Muggle life. Luna had joined us at some point and we all chatted together, Ron sometimes sharing a fact or two he'd learned from his dad.

Ginny was all over me, which was starting to get tedious. I mean I liked her and all; it was just so stupid to be dating your friend's sister. It wasn't as if I'd even had a choice in the matter. If I turned her down, Ron would be after me, demanding to know why his sister wasn't good enough for me.

As it was he loved the fact that his very own sister was dating "the boy who lived". I sighed; Ron could be so damn petty when it came to status and popularity. This was evidenced in fourth year when I was named as one of the Triwizard Champions. He didn't talk to me for close on three months. Sometimes I doubted whether he even knew the real me. The me that was hidden deep in the shell that everyone knew as Harry Potter, the golden boy. The me who was finally starting to gain control again.

Soon it was time to go to our dorms and as we waited for the first years to be escorted out by Hermione and Dean, we chatted to some other inter-house friends. Sharing news and gossip as we always did.

Us Gryffindors left the Great Hall as a group and chatted all the way to the portrait. As we reached it Ginny pulled me away from the group and into a passionate kiss. The rest of the group hooted and continued on into the common room.

She slowly pulled me along a corridor and into an unused classroom, kissing me again. But as she began to unbutton my robes I grabbed her hands and pushed her back. She peered up at me with a confused expression.

"I'm sorry Ginny." I sighed and walked out of the room. I couldn't face her, couldn't try to explain my lukewarm feelings for her. She wouldn't understand; hell, even I didn't understand how I was feeling most of the time.

I wandered through the castle, visiting a few places I hadn't been to for a while. I found the room that had once housed Fluffy, the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the trials that ultimately led to the Philosopher's Stone. Then I made my way to the bathroom that held the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. I traced the snake on the side of one of the taps. The year that I found this had been the year I found out I was a parselmouth. This was right after people had started to be paralysed by the basilisk that had been set loose by Ginny under the influence of Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Voldemort. I left the bathroom and walked to where the Room of Requirements was situated.

The door appeared and I seized the handle, opening it to reveal the room that it had transformed into for me. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I stared. It was the cupboard under the stairs, my first sanctuary from my uncle's rage. Too small for the rotund man to follow me, it had been the perfect place. I had often been locked inside for almost two days at a time, but it had still been a place that was mine and mine alone. I walked into the room and closed the door behind me, collapsing onto my old bed.

I lay there for a while, just breathing in the old smells. Even the odour of smelly old socks was calming. I sighed and let myself wonder about how much my life had changed since I was my aunt and uncle's slave. I had to admit that life was much simpler back then. I did the jobs they forced me to do and that was that. Occasionally I got a beating and I'd been locked in the cupboard without tea more than once. But even though I loathed that existence, it had been my life.

Now I was Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the adored golden boy that everyone looked to for guidance. I was a kid! I was only eleven when I was first told of my reputation; I had no idea of what I was getting into. Now several years and run-ins with Voldemort later, I was very aware of what I had needed to sacrifice. Third year I'd found my godfather, Sirius. He'd been in Azkaban for years for a crime he never committed. I'd entertained the idea of going to live with him and get away from my aunt and uncle. But it wasn't to be. He'd had to run away with Buckbeak to escape the dementors. That was also the year that I met Remus Lupin, a werewolf, and another of my father's closest friends. I found out there had been four of them, my dad, Lupin, Sirius and Peter Pettigrew. Peter had been Scabbers, Ron's rat, for as long as Sirius had been in Azkaban. It turned out it was Peter who'd betrayed my parents and committed the crime that Sirius had been convicted of.

Fourth year was the year I watched a person die in front of me. Cedric Diggory, one of the four Triwizard Champions. The Triwizard Cup turned out to be a portkey that led directly to a graveyard where Pettigrew and Voldemort were waiting. Pettigrew killed Cedric outright then used my blood to re-embody his master. That time I only barely escaped with my life, but at the cost of a friend's life.

The next year was spent training myself, and anyone else willing, to fight Voldemort. That was the year that Dumbledore was rendered useless by the Ministry of Magic.

Professor Umbridge, a ministry official had become our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, much to our disgust. She refused to teach us practical uses of magic, so we used the Room of Requirements to train in secret. Little by little she took over Hogwarts, eventually instating herself as the Headmistress. That year ended all too soon with the near-death of my godfather, who only survived through sheer luck.

The Death Eaters had ransacked the Ministry and we barely held our own against them. Voldemort was eventually driven off but he was to come back the next year. The year he took over Hogwarts itself. The year that Dumbledore died. The year I consoled myself with Ginny.

I sighed and buried my head into my pillow like I used to after Vernon had beaten me.

In my mind I was reliving the first time Vernon almost killed me. The wild look in his eyes still haunted my dreams. He had been drunk, again. Frustrated with his life in general he had taken it out on me for no reason except that I was an available, suitably weak target; or so he thought. He grabbed me and shoved me against a wall, pinning me against it with one of his beefy hands. I struggled wildly but all that achieved was a slap across the face. It felt as painful as an iron skillet being smashed into my face. I hung there, half concussed as he shouted at me, blaming me for everything wrong in his life.

Then he wrapped one of his hands around my throat and squeezed. "I ought to kill you, you stupid runt! You're worthless, pathetic and weak! You're no better than your bastard parents! I ought to kill you!" he yelled at me. He laughed as I began to choke and struggle for air. I blacked out soon after that, I thought I was dead; until I woke up in the cupboard the next morning.

I turned around and lay staring up at the ceiling, my arms resting beside me. I hoped that this year would be uneventful. I could feel myself getting closer to my breaking point. Much more and I'd snap.

End Harry POV

So that's it! Please tell me what you think! ^.^