AUTHOR'S NOTES: A very short chapter but I was thinking about how to up the drama level and give Harry a very dark secret.
Remus, Sirius, Petunia, Dudley, and Luna find out how Harry's been dealing with his pent-up frustrations and emotions.
As always… read, review, and show your love!
Chapter 7 Secrets
Sirius coughed and sputtered on the sip of butterbeer he'd just taken, staring wide-eyed at what Harry had just said. "An-Anna Rion?"
Remus thumped Sirius on the back. "Breathe, Sirius."
After a few moments, Sirius was okay but he still looked unnerved. "Anna Rion?" He repeated, making sure he'd heard Harry correctly.
"How do you know her?" Harry asked, curiously.
Clearing his throat, Sirius replied, "Anna was… your mother's best friend at Hogwarts. She never forgave me for… for not being the Secret Keeper."
"After Sirius went to Azkaban," Remus said, picking up the story. "Anna became a muggle doctor." Turning to Sirius, Remus added, "She doesn't hate you, Sirius. She was angry about Lily's death and—"
"What's that?" The conversation stopped as Petunia noticed something on the inside of Harry's left forearm she'd never seen before.
Sirius and Remus turned to catch a glimpse of a mesh of faint scars on Harry's arm as the teenager hastily pulled the sleeves of his sweater back down. "Harry?" Remus said in a kind, yet stern voice. "What was that?"
"Nothing," Harry replied, innocently, pulling up the right sleeve. "See?"
Sirius, who was sitting on Harry's left side, gently took his arm and pulled the sweater sleeve up, turning the arm gently upwards. "Try again, Harry."
Harry tried to jerk his arm out of Sirius's grip but the older man held firm. "It's nothing," Harry said, defensively. "Quidditch accident last year."
"You didn't play Quidditch last year," Luna said from across the table.
"3rd year, then," Harry snapped, yanking his arm away and standing up from the table. "Just leave me alone!"
Once Harry had left the room, Sirius looked at Petunia. "Did you know that Harry has been cutting himself?"
Petunia shook her head firmly. "No. I never knew that… he…" Seeing the squirrelly look on Dudley's face, Petunia frowned at her son. "Did you know about Harry?"
Dudley started to get up but his mother pointed a warning finger at him. "Don't you move another inch, young man! SIT!"
Dudley sat down slowly and said, "He made me swear not to tell anyone. He… it was after Harry's second year at… at that school."
"I'm going to talk to him," Sirius said, getting up along with Remus.
"Let us," Luna said, standing up and looking at Dudley who retrieved Harry's cane from where Harry had left it by the table. The two teenagers left the room and found Harry climbing the stairs to his room. "Harry, we need to talk to you," Luna said, kindly.
Harry stopped and waited until Dudley and Luna were on the step below him before snatching his cane from Dudley and turning to continue up the stairs. Dudley dashed ahead and planted himself firmly in Harry's way. "You're not going anywhere until we talk."
Harry turned to go downstairs but Luna was blocking the way. "I'm fine. Those scars are old," Harry protested.
"I saw the fresh ones on your leg, Harry," Dudley said, crossing his arms. "At the doctor's office today… I saw the marks on your right thigh."
Harry felt his temper rising. "You want to know who Cedric is, Dudley?" Harry said, angrily. "He's a friend I saw murdered last summer. Right in front of me at a school competition."
"I'm… I'm sorry," Dudley said, lamely. "I didn't mean to…"
"You want to know why I do this?" Harry said, roughly pulling the sleeve of his sweater up. "Because pain and the blood reminds me that I'm still human. I'm still normal. Not just The Boy Who Lived. My entire existence is under a microscope in the wizarding world. It's a release."
"Cho Chang does it because she can't face her pain over Cedric Diggory's death," Luna said, calmly. "You're not the only one, Harry."
"A kid at Smeltings cut himself until last year," Dudley said, not relenting to Harry's self-pity. "He cut too deep and ended up killing himself. What you're doing is dangerous."
"Just leave me alone," Harry said, again, not wanting to have this conversation.
"Not until you promise not to do this anymore," Luna said, reaching up to take Harry's hand. "We're worried for you."
"I…" Harry didn't want to promise anything. It was his life. Who cared what he did? "I'll… try."
Dudley nodded. "I'll hold you to that, Harry." He stepped aside and let Harry pass.
"Yeah," Harry said, quietly. "You do that, Dud."
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Once Harry and Luna were back at Hogwarts, Luna corralled Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Tonks to tell them about Harry's secret.
"Harry's been doing what?" Hermione breathed, aghast.
"Cutting himself," Luna repeated before looking at Ron. "The most recent time was because of you."
Hermione turned to Ron and slapped him hard across the face. "See what you've done?!" She shouted, angrily. "Because of your… demoralizing attitude towards Harry, he started cutting his own flesh!"
"Okay, okay," Tonks interjected before Hermione started cursing Ron magically. "For the moment, let's try not to call attention to the fact that we know what Harry's been doing. Just keep an eye on him and if there's any suspicious behavior, contact McGonagall and Dumbledore immediatly, okay?"
"I'll talk to Moaning Myrtle," Ginny said, with a flash of brilliance. "She can watch Harry when he's in the bathroom. Invisible, of course. She can let us know if there are any new cuts or scars."
"What do you want me to do?" Ron asked, hopefully.
"Try not to aggravate Harry," Ginny said, hands on her hips and looking very much like her mother. "And help Harry during Quidditch practices. Maybe a victory against Slytherin will cheer him up."
