Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Well, I can see you liked the last chapter! Thanks to all you wonderful, wonderful reviewers! Now this chappie is quite angsty, just thought I should warn you. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty Five
The portrait door slammed shut after Draco, the sound echoing in the room. Damien watched in dread as Harry turned to face him. A fierce glare directed at all of them. Usually Harry's glares didn't affect him but today it sent a shiver of fear through him.
"Harry, mate, I'm…" Ron started but was cut off as Harry raised his hand to silence him.
"You knew?" he asked simply.
Damien shuddered as the anger and hurt in the voice made his hair stand on end.
"We…we were going to tell you…" Hermione started to explain.
"When? When were you planning on telling me?" Harry asked, the words coming out from between clenched teeth. Hermione ducked her head in shame. With great effort she looked up and met Harry's eyes. She tried explaining again.
"We knew you were going to be angry but…"
"But you decided to keep it from me anyway!" Harry finished for her.
Harry took a step towards them, fists clenched tight at his sides. All four took a subconscious step back, away from Harry. Every eye was fixed on Harry, ready to throw themselves out of the way if Harry chose to attack.
But Harry only stood before them, demanding an explanation. Hermione did most of the talking with Ron jumping in at certain points. Damien and Ginny were standing quietly. They didn't utter a single word. Damien didn't think he had the ability to speak through the large lump at the back of his throat. His eyes were fixed on Harry's face, growing more concerned as Ron and Hermione's explanation was making him angrier. He wished they would stop talking.
"…so we thought once we catch the person responsible, we would tell you everything so you could deal with them." Hermione finished breathlessly.
For a moment Harry didn't speak, he didn't move at all. For a fleeting second, Damien thought that maybe Harry was going to forgive them, that he would understand their motive. They weren't being secretive to hurt him. They were only trying to help. But his thoughts and silent prayers were shattered as Harry looked at them with nothing but fury.
"At what point, in my drugged stupor, did I hand over the rights to my life to you!" he asked angrily, directing the question at Hermione.
"You…you didn't. I…we were only trying to…to help…" Hermione started in a trembling voice.
"Help? How is this helpful? You lied to me, kept the fact hidden that someone was trying to hurt me, sat there and watched as I suffered and thought that I was the one doing the attacks and on top of all that, you had the audacity to blame Draco!"
Hermione looked pointedly at Ron as Draco was mentioned but didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry, Harry." She said.
"Save it! Your apologies are worthless!" Harry snapped back.
"Come on, Harry. We're not your enemy. We are your friends. Everything we did was for you." Ron said, speaking up as Hermione had looked away with tears in her eyes.
"I don't think friends are supposed to lie to each other." Harry said with quiet venom.
His eyes darted to Damien and Ginny standing just behind Ron. Both flinched at the cold look. Damien had forgotten just how much those cold looks could hurt.
"And you!" he spat at Damien. "I would have expected my own brother to have cared enough to tell me the truth!"
Damien wanted to say that he did want to tell him the truth. He wanted to say how much he hated keeping this from him. But his voice failed him. His words caught in his throat. He knew it wouldn't matter to Harry. That fact was that he, Harry's own brother, had lied to him and kept such an important thing from him. He had sat back and watched as Harry tore at himself with guilt over the attacks. He could have prevented that if he told Harry what they had found out. But he didn't. He didn't do what his heart and mind told him. Instead he went with what the others said and now was just as much to blame as the rest of them.
Harry looked at Ginny and for the first time since this conversation started, Harry's expression changed from angry to hurt. He stared at Ginny, the one person he had absolute faith in. The one person he had allowed to become close to him. The one person that had stood back and watched him suffer.
He didn't say anything to her. He tore his eyes away, his anger returning almost ten fold. Ginny felt her heart break at the way Harry had looked at her.
"I wanted tell you, Harry. I really did. I never wanted to go along with this!" Ginny said in a quiet voice, desperate for him to understand.
Harry didn't react. He didn't even look at her.
"She's right, Harry. Ginny and Damien both wanted to tell you, but I asked them not to." Hermione said, not wanting Harry to be angry with his brother and girlfriend. It was better if she and Ron took all the heat. In all honesty, it was their idea.
"Since when do they need your permission to tell the truth?" Harry snapped at her.
Harry! I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say!" Hermione said, now with tears running down her cheeks.
"Yeah, we told you, we never meant for you to get hurt. We were actually trying to protect you..." Ron explained.
Ron stopped talking abruptly as Harry's eyes darkened a few shades. The temperature in the room dropped several notches. Damien could feel Goosebumps erupt all over him. Harry had never looked at them with so much hatred.
"I don't need anyone to protect me!" he hissed at Ron, his eyes dangerously darkening. "I don't need anyone's help or protection! I'm not weak!" he spat angrily.
"I know that. I only meant…" Ron started.
"Shut up, Ron!" Harry interrupted. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to make excuses so you can hide the fact that you lied to me and kept me in the dark!" Harry said, his voice rising with every word.
"No, that's not true!" Hermione said, her cheeks wet with tears now.
"You four, above everyone, should know how much I loathe being lied to!" Harry was so angry now, his eyes were a deep dark green and his knuckles were turning white as his fists were clenched tight. He was walking towards them, his eyes pinning the rest to the floor.
"Harry!" Ginny said, fearfully but Harry didn't hear her.
"I never thought you would treat me like this! Keep me in the dark about something this important, something that could have potentially killed me! Do you hate me that much that you would want me dead?"
"No! No, Harry. We don't hate you at all…!" Hermione said, shaking her head.
"Then why did you do it! Why did you lie?" Harry roared with fury.
"Harry, please…" Damien said, truly afraid of his brother. Harry turned to face him, eyes blazing with rage and then, it happened.
Harry's eyes turned black.
The bottomless pit black that they used to turn just before one of Voldemort's Horcruxes were destroyed. It was perhaps instinct more than anything that saved them. All four saw his eyes changing and knew what was about to happen. They screamed and ducked as the windows behind them shattered with a mighty explosion. The shattered glass rained down on them, cutting their hands and arms as they covered their heads.
Trembling from head to foot, Damien cautiously brought his hands away from his head, wincing as he felt the cuts sting. He saw the others do the same. He couldn't believe what had just happened. His hand found his wand and he was midway pulling it out of his pocket before he realised what he was doing. He looked up to see Harry still standing where he was.
His eyes had returned to their normal colour, but the intense green was no more comforting than the black. He glared coldly at them, showing no remorse for what he had done. There were still glass shards in their hair and their hands and arms were bleeding from small cuts.
The sound of the glass shattering had woken up the whole of Gryffindor. The sixth and seventh year students came running downstairs, clutching their wands, thinking there had been some sort of attack. What they found was four Gryffindors, sitting on the ground, broken glass surrounding them, with Harry standing before them, offering them no help whatsoever.
"Blimey! What's going on?" Dean asked, as he came to stand at the bottom of the stairs.
He took an involuntary step back as he saw the look on Harry's face. Suddenly the common room was filled with a deathly silence. It became quite clear what had happened. The way Harry was looking at the four made it crystal clear who had caused the windows to shatter.
Before anyone could say anything, the portrait door opened and Professor McGonagall came running inside, holding her wand. She took one look at the scene before her and her face suddenly drained of colour. She saw the four teens at the far end of the room, the windows smashed and glass everywhere. She noticed at once that Damien was hurt, blood was leaking out from his hands and arms. Glass glittered in his hair. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were in a similar state. There were quite a few students standing at the stairs, watching everything closely.
"What…what is going on here!?" she demanded.
Ron had helped Hermione and Ginny to stand up. Damien scrambled painfully to his feet as well. Every eye was on Harry, watching him, waiting for him to offer some sort of explanation. But Harry didn't say anything. Instead he turned and walked towards the door. Before he could reach the door, Professor McGonagall stood in his way, blocking him.
"Move" he hissed venomously.
Professor McGonagall wasn't someone who scared easy but at hearing the cold voice, she visibly bristled. She regained herself almost instantly.
"Mr Potter, I assume this is your doing?" she asked, raising hand towards the broken windows.
Harry didn't answer. Damien was praying hard that Harry didn't do anything to her. He watched in numbed fear as Professor McGonagall refused to move out of Harry's way. The upper years stood watching the strange and frightening scene before them.
Harry raised his hand, undoubtedly to blast her out of the way.
"Harry! No!" Damien yelled.
Harry ignored the yell. His silent wandless spell was deflected by McGonagall. She knew exactly what he was intending to do. His green eyes stared at his Head of House in unadulterated fury. She was staring at him just as forcefully, her wand pointing at his chest threateningly.
McGonagall suddenly noticed the large group of students standing at the stairs staring at them.
"Everyone! Upstairs and back to your dorms at once!" she ordered, her wand still carefully aimed at Harry's chest.
They didn't need telling twice, not from an irate McGonagall brandishing a wand. They hurried upstairs.
"Professor McGonagall, it isn't how…" Ginny started but was cut off by McGonagall.
"I think everyone should head to my office." She pointed her wand so close to Harry's chest that it touched the robes he was wearing. "You first, Mr Potter." She said coldly.
xxx
The four Gryffindors found themselves sitting in Professor McGonagall's office. It was now, two in the morning. There were still small shards of glass embedded in their hands and arms. Ron and Hermione even had a few in the back of their shoulders. They didn't seem bothered by that just now though. All four were sitting in front of their Head of House, trying to find the courage to explain what had happened. Harry was standing before the Professor. She had tried to get him to sit in one of the chairs but Harry had refused, even with her wand pointing at him.
Before anyone could say anything, the doors to her office opened and James and Lily rushed inside, looking extremely angry.
"What's going on, Minerva?" James asked as he saw the scene before him.
"I was just about to ask your son the same question." She answered.
James and Lily looked at Harry, who by now had his usual indifferent mask in place.
"Harry?" Lily asked, coming towards him. She stopped as she saw the injuries on the other four. "Merlin! What happened? Damien, you're hurt! What's going on?" she asked.
McGonagall quietly explained what happened when she entered the common room. Her alarm had gone off alerting her that something had happened in the Gryffindor common room. Being the Head of that house, she headed straight away to see what had caused the alarm to go off. She explained what she found and how Harry had tried to use a spell against her. James and Lily were speechless. They stared at Harry in disbelief.
Meanwhile the four Gryffindors felt the situation whirl out of control. They had to explain what had really happened. Why Harry did what he did. There was no way they were going to let Harry take the blame for this.
As soon as Professor McGonagall finished, Hermione jumped in, before James and Lily could start on Harry.
"Professor McGonagall, we have to explain something to you." She said in a shaky voice. Everyone turned their attention to her, except Harry. He got up at once and moved towards the door.
James blocked him and was about to grab a hold of him to prevent him from leaving but suddenly stopped. He stared at Harry's face before stepping aside to let him leave. Harry tore open the door and left.
"James?" Lily turned to him, bewildered at why he would let Harry leave. Something in James' expression made her stop. He looked shaken. Like whatever he had seen had deeply affected him. He stared at Damien.
"What happened?" he asked breathlessly. "What did you do?" he asked Damien with a look on his face that showed that somehow, Harry had managed to tell him with one look what had happened tonight.
Damien didn't know how to explain. He let Hermione do it. With tears running down her cheeks, Hermione told them what had happened. She didn't hide anything. She told them about the Sedare potion, what they did when they discovered it. How they kept it from Harry and everyone else. All four explained that what happened when Harry found out.
Professor McGonagall sat stunned into silence. Her lips thinned as she heard about how someone was drugging Harry and how the four had handled the situation. After the explanations were finished, they sat quietly, waiting for the shouting to start. Damien couldn't bear to look at his parents. It was at least five minutes before the Transfiguration Professor said anything.
"From all the things I have heard at my years at Hogwarts, I have never heard of anyone acting as idiotically as you four!"
The four had their heads ducked in shame.
"Why in Merlin's name, did you not alert anyone of authority that someone was threatening Mr Potter? How could you have not alerted Professors' Potter at least? They should have been told the minute you found out!" she continued.
The four teens had no answer to her questions. They sat in silence, heads bowed and accepting her harsh words. Damien chanced a look at his parents. Both had gone rather pale. They were looking at the ground, as if afraid of looking at the teens in case they lost their calm. Without saying a single word to them, both parents left the room, obviously going to find Harry.
Damien looked miserably at his own bloody hands. He didn't want to think about what it was going to be like, facing his family again. What could he say to make things better?
After McGonagall finished berating them she sent them to the hospital wing to attend to their minor wounds.
"You are lucky! Your injuries could have been much worse!" she told them as they left.
'It couldn't possibly be worse!' Damien thought to himself as he walked alongside the others. He wasn't thinking about their physical injuries, but about the emotional damage done to Harry.
xxx
Madame Pomfrey looked bewildered when she received four patients in the early hours of the morning, but she didn't say anything. She attended to their wounds, raising her eyebrows at the sight of the cut hands and arms but she didn't ask any questions. Damien was glad. He didn't want to tell her what they had done.
"I never thought I would see you in my wing?" she said to Damien, as she closed up the cuts on his hands. Damien jerked his head up to meet her eyes.
"What?" he said caught off guard.
"I thought no student would ever dare hurt you. They would be too afraid of Harry." She said, with a look on her face that could be described as pride.
Damien felt the sharp sting of tears assault him. He looked away from the school nurse, blinking away the tears. She was right. Harry was very protective of him and everyone knew it. No one would ever dare try and hurt Damien. They knew Harry wouldn't stand for it. Damien felt himself sink deeper into self-loathing and shame. How could he mistreat Harry like that? How could he lie to him and keep him in the dark? How could he willingly hurt him when all Harry ever did was look out for him, protect him.
Damien reached for the Layhoo Jisteen that was still around his neck. He pulled out the pendant and looked at the black stone, watched as the green mist swirled around inside it. The green mist that was supposed to have killed him. The killing curse that Voldemort had sent at him had been engulfed by the stone, by this pendant. The pendant that Harry had literally risked his life to come and give to him. Damien would never forget the way Harry had been tortured, the anger Voldemort had shown at the revelation that Harry had bound the pendant to Damien.
He finally broke down and cried. Letting the tears come fast now that he allowed them. He was an awful brother. He had played with Harry's trust. Why had he listened to the rest? He shouldn't have done what they wanted. Harry hadn't listened to Voldemort. If he had, he would never have given the pendant to Damien. Harry had risked everything to help Damien and what did he do in return? He sat back and let Harry be hurt.
Poppy was staring at the sobbing boy with concern. What happened? She tried to comfort him as best she could but nothing she said or did made any difference. She stepped aside as Hermione and Ginny, followed by Ron came over and hugged him, whispering words in his ears. Poppy wondered what was going on. She turned to get a calming draught for the boy when she noticed the door open and two people enter the wing.
Damien looked up as the doors to the hospital wing opened. His sobs caught in his throat as he saw his mum and dad. Both were looking livid.
Hermione and Ron both stepped away to allow James and Lily to approach Damien. Ginny kept a tight grip on his hand, watching the two parents walk briskly towards them. As soon as James and Lily approached the bed their expressions softened. Their son's tear soaked face melted through their anger. Damien couldn't find anything to say. He looked ashamedly at his parents. Lily couldn't take it any longer and stepped forward, taking Damien into her arms and hugging him tightly. Damien couldn't stop the tears now.
He felt James put a hand on his back, wordlessly comforting him. He looked up at them.
"I'm so sorry." He managed to say between sobs.
"Shh, we'll talk about it later." Lily said rubbing his back. Although her words were spoken softly, Damien could hear the anger and disappointment in her voice. Both she and his dad were very angry with him.
Damien quietened down, willing back his tears. He didn't know why he couldn't stop his tears. He felt very childish and stupid, sitting there on the bed, crying in his mothers arms. It was his fault. All of this was his doing, then why was he getting his parents sympathy? He pulled away from his mum and rubbed away his tears.
"Come on." Lily said gently, urging Damien to stand up.
As soon as he was on his feet, James started walking towards the door. He saw the other three standing awkwardly in the room. James had to push down his anger at them as he walked past them. He didn't want to say anything to them. He knew he would regret it if he did.
They left the hospital wing, leaving the other three with a confused nurse. Damien walked in silence, his feet feeling oddly heavy and difficult to move. His mind was buzzing with all that had happened. Resisting the urge to cry, Damien pushed back his tears and continued walking along the deserted corridors.
He was surprised when he found himself before the portrait of the Fat Lady. He looked at his parents. He thought he was heading for their quarters for a long and uncomfortable talk.
"Go to bed, Damy. We'll talk in the morning." Lily explained.
"Harry? Did you…did you find him?" he asked in a low voice.
"Yes, we did. Now go to bed." Lily said just as quietly.
He went inside, not daring to look at the still broken windows on his way upstairs.
xxx
Damien couldn't sleep. All night he tossed and turned. The disastrous events of the night replayed again and again in his mind. He had never thought things would get so bad. He knew Harry would be mad. He knew he would yell and scream at them. But never had he thought he would be that furious with them. He tried to forget the way Harry had looked at him. The way his eyes had conveyed his rage and hurt. He had looked at all of them with nothing other than plain hatred. That was perhaps the hardest thing to accept, that Harry, right now, hated all of them.
His mum and dad were furious as well. They had not said anything to him yet. They had escorted him to his dorm, telling him to sleep and that they would speak to him later. They refused to say anything more. Damien knew that they only took pity on him because he had been crying. They would have felt guilty about berating him when he was already in tears.
He finally gave up on sleep and got up. He knew the morning was going to bring more misery. The entire Gryffindor upper years knew about the windows smashing and the four of them sitting in the midst of broken glass, their hands and arms covered with cuts. What happened between Harry and Professor McGonagall was surely going to spread throughout the castle. By mid morning tomorrow, the whole school would find out what had happened. They had completely messed up. Whoever the traitor was, he was going to find out that Harry knew about the Sedare potion. They had lost. Now there was no way of finding out whom the traitor was.
Damien walked into the common room, wrapping his arms around himself to stop shivering. He stopped short when he saw Ginny sitting next to the repaired window, staring out at the grounds. So he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. He knew that Ron and Hermione were probably awake as well, lying in their beds thinking over the events of tonight.
Damien walked further into the common room bringing Ginny out of her daze. She looked around at him, her face drained of all colour. Damien sat down next to her, not really knowing what to say. He knew what Ginny must be feeling. She didn't want to hide anything from Harry. She had objected from the beginning but no one had listened to her. Now, she had lost Harry. He had been so angry with her, Damien shuddered as he remembered the cold angry look he had directed at her.
"I can't believe this happened."
Damien didn't look at her. He nodded his head slowly.
"I know." He whispered.
"It won't be the same again, will it?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Damien didn't answer. He didn't have to, from the sound of Ginny's voice, she knew the answer. They both did. They had abused Harry's trust. He would never be the same with them. Things would never be the same again.
xxx
Damien couldn't remember when he had last felt so awful. He was trying hard to think of something to say, to answer his parents angry questions. He couldn't think of anything that he could say that would appease them. His dad was doing most of the talking.
"Aren't you going to say something?" he asked him angrily.
"I don't know what to say? I can only apologise." Damien replied glumly.
"That doesn't answer our questions!" he answered sternly.
Lily looked at them both grimly. She couldn't remember ever being this angry and ashamed of Damien.
"What were you thinking!?" she asked.
"I…we thought…" he trailed off, now realising as he was trying to form the words, how utterly stupid their plan was. "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologising, Damien. At least to us anyway. Harry is the one you should say sorry to!" James said, thinking along the same lines himself. He had acted quite horridly with him regarding the addiction issue. His temper flared again at the thought of someone deliberately poisoning his son.
He had found Harry and had brought him to their living quarters last night. They had not bothered him with questions. He had gone straight to the bed that James had transfigured from the sofa. Harry was shaking, whether still from anger or from exhaustion, no one really knew. He had woken up before them this morning and had left the quarters before James and Lily could speak to him. It was probably just as well. Harry wasn't ready to speak to Damien just yet.
"I had never expected this of you! What possessed you to keep this from us?" Lily asked.
"I don't know." Damien answered plainly. It was the truth.
"I told you quite clearly that if you ever learned anything that affected Harry's health, you were to come and tell me. Do you remember that?" James asked.
Damien could only nod his head. He remembered that day well. It was after Harry's trial. The only thing he could do was apologise again.
"I told you to stop apologising." James told him again.
"Is, is Harry okay now?" Damien asked hesitantly.
James let out a tired sigh and sat down next to him.
"I don't know to be perfectly honest. He didn't talk to me."
Damien felt his face burn in shame. This was all his fault. He had never thought things would get this bad. James saw the way his son's face fell and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was still angry with him but that didn't stop him from feeling sympathetic. He wrapped an arm around him and gave him a tight squeeze.
"He'll be okay, give him time. I don't want you or the others to go anywhere near him." His eyes lingered on the Damien's hands. The cuts were healed and there was hardly any scarring but James knew that they were lucky to have escaped with minor injuries. That glass could have done much more damage.
"Dad, is Harry going to get in trouble for last night?" that question had been worrying him all night.
"He's talking to Dumbledore just now. I think exceptions will be made as I don't think Harry really meant to do…what he did." James said uncomfortably. "As for his behaviour with McGonagall, I don't think he'll get away with that. She'll make sure of that."
Damien nodded his head, he knew his Head of House very well. She would definitely make sure Harry was punished for attacking her. Lily sat down on the other side to Damien, looking at him sternly.
"That brings us to the point of your punishment. Headmaster Dumbledore has already written to Hermione and Ron's parents. They will be told exactly what they did." Damien grimaced. They could expect a howler from Mrs Weasley any day now. He didn't know how Hermione's parents were going to react. "Minerva spoke to me earlier on today. She will arrange your punishments as well." At Damien's outraged look she added. "Count yourself lucky she's arranging the detentions. If it were left to me you would be not so well off!" Damien believed her.
"I want you to go now, and if you see Harry, don't talk to him. He'll want to cool off for a few days." James reminded him.
Damien left the quarters feeling slightly better. At least he had dealt with his parents. They had been really mad with him but at least he had it over and done with. He didn't have to evade them anymore. He didn't know how he was supposed to avoid talking to Harry. That was going to be strange, not talk to Harry or spend time with him. He reminded himself that he had lived for thirteen years without Harry but ever since he met his brother, he couldn't think of living without him in his life.
He was still thinking about this when he saw the stone gargoyle leading up to the Headmaster's office move. Damien froze in his steps. He knew who was coming down the steps but he still couldn't move out of the way. He watched with a frantically beating heart as Harry appeared, looking like he hadn't slept a single wink last night. Their eyes met and for a fleeting second he thought Harry was going to call out to him. But he didn't. He merely threw him a disgusted look before turning and walking away, not looking back at him even once.
Damien had expected this type of behaviour but he hadn't prepared for it. He stood where he was, watching Harry walk away from him. Nothing in his life had been more painful to watch.
xxx
Life didn't get any better for Damien and the other three. They got their detentions from McGonagall and found themselves in the company of Flich for the next month. Five nights a week they were helping him with various revolting jobs of cleaning the castle. But they didn't complain. They deserved much more, they knew that.
Ron and Ginny both got an ear bashing from the expected howler from Mrs Weasley which made both turn scarlet. She promised them a personal visit as soon as she could manage it. That was definitely not something to look forward to. Hermione received a letter from her parents instructing her to write a letter explaining exactly what had happened.
But worse that all that for the four Gryffindors was the way Harry was treating them. He ignored them completely. He refused to stay in the same dorm as Ron, and as the traitor was still unknown it was unsafe for him to move into another dorm. Professor Dumbledore agreed to let Harry share James' private quarter. There was enough room and the bed transfigured from the sofa was comfortable enough. Harry wasn't going to be doing much sleeping in any case so that didn't bother him. He stayed out in the living room as James slept in his room. Harry sat with the other Gryffindors at meal times and chose to not even look in Damien's direction. When he was in class, Harry sat with Dean and Seamus instead of Ron and Hermione.
The school soon learnt the contents of the night Harry smashed all the windows in the common room. Thankfully, no one learnt the reason why, all they knew was that Harry was now not on speaking terms with Damien, Ginny, Ron and Hermione. No one had the courage to come out and ask Harry why. They happily accepted him sitting with them at meal times and classes. When anyone asked Damien and the others why Harry was angry with them and why he had hurt them, they told them simply to 'mind their own freaking business!' it was perhaps the only good thing in the whole mess. The truth of the butterbeers and the Sedare potion was unknown.
James didn't have as much luck with Harry as he had hoped. He caught him the first night he came to sleep in his quarter. But no matter how much he pushed, Harry closed up and was determined not to talk about Damien and the others. James had to finally give up but he was there with Harry, making sure that if Harry wanted to talk, he was right there.
James and Lily had numerous meetings with Dumbledore and Minerva, trying to figure out what they could do to catch the person responsible for drugging Harry. So far, they had nothing. The very idea that a student, let alone a Gryffindor, could do something like this was hard to come to terms with.
"Isn't there anyway of catching the person responsible?" Lily asked at one such meeting.
"I'm afraid that there isn't much in the ways of determining who this person is. All we can do is wait for them to make a mistake and reveal themselves." Minerva said quietly.
While Minerva had a soft spot for James and Lily, both being ex students of hers and fellow Order members, she had very little patience for their son, Harry. Part of the reason was his attitude towards her. When she met him after the night he had tried to blast her away from the door, she had expected him to at least apologise. She understood that he was going through extreme emotional abuse at the time but still, that was no way to act with a teacher. Lily had tried to make him apologise.
"Don't you have something to say to Minerva?" she prompted him.
Harry had looked at Minerva coldly before saying,
"Next time I tell you to move, you're better off just doing it."
Needless to say he had landed himself a month's detention, picking herbs from the forbidden forest at night since the plants were sensitive to light, not to mention dangerous. Harry didn't show any emotion to the punishment but did it without complaint.
It had been two weeks since his detention and Harry was sitting in his dad's living room, trying to apply the salve on his bleeding fingers. The damn flowers had teeth and kept on biting him as he tried to pick them up. It was part of his detention. He didn't care though. Nothing really mattered anymore. He only applied the salve to stop his mum and dad from seeing his injuries and making a huge deal about it. He couldn't put up with it anymore. Harry couldn't bring himself to care. He had already convinced himself that it didn't matter. He wasn't going to pretend to himself that anyone cared. They were all lying to him. Just like Ron and Hermione had lied, just like Ginny, like Damien, like Lucius and Bella and Voldemort. Harry wasn't going to believe anyone from now on. He was on his own, just like he always knew he was. His parents would mess up at some point and hurt him. It was best if he just stayed away from them, all of them.
Harry would have left Hogwarts all together if he didn't already know that it was pointless. With the Dark Prince attacking and his disappearance, it would only be a matter of time before the Ministry declared him the killer and sent the wizarding world out looking for his blood, again. Harry knew he could hide, but he didn't think he could deal with all that again. That was partly why he had stopped himself from disapparating from the common room, in front of McGonagall and the other students. It would do him no good to show he was resistant to the powerful wards surrounding Hogwarts.
He was lost in his thoughts and didn't hear the knock on the door. He looked up as a familiar voice called out, "Professor Potter, sir?"
Harry watched as the red haired girl opened the door and walked inside, her brown eyes searching the desk for James. She looked slightly disappointed but then stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes scanned the room and fell on Harry.
"Hi" she said hesitantly.
Harry didn't reply.
"I…I was looking for your dad." She went on, coming further into the room. Harry took the opportunity to examine her. She had lost some weight. Her eyes had dark circles under them, proving that he wasn't the only one having sleepless nights. She looked like she had just recovered from being ill.
Harry realised he had been staring at her. He quickly looked away. Ginny moved a few more steps inside. She had been observing him, noticing how tired he looked.
"Do you know when he'll be back?" she asked, in reality she didn't care when James returned.
Harry shook his head a fraction. The only response he was going to give. Ginny felt her heart jump. She hadn't heard his voice since that night and that was over two weeks ago. She had hoped that maybe Harry would at least talk to her. But it didn't look likely. She turned to go.
"Okay, if you can let him know that I came by. I had to ask him something about class." She said, staring at Harry. He didn't acknowledge the request.
Just as she turned to leave, she caught a glimpse of Harry's bloodied fingers. Before she could stop herself, she had travelled to the other side of the room, coming to rest next to where Harry was sitting.
"Oh God, Harry! What happened?" she said as she kneeled next to him. Her eyes took in the small painful looking bites on his fingers. She acted on impulse and took his injured hand into hers.
She only realised what she had done when Harry yanked his hand away from hers violently. She looked up at him, hurt at seeing the anger swimming in his green orbs.
"Harry"
"Leave!" he hissed, looking away from her.
Ginny stood up, her eyes fixed on him.
"How long are you planning to stay away from us" She asked him. Harry didn't answer. "Harry, please. I told you how sorry I am. The others are really sorry as well. What do we have to do to show you how sorry we are?" she asked.
Harry looked over at her. He knew she was truly sorry. Unfortunately that didn't matter to him.
"Just go from here." He said it clearly so she could understand him.
"Fine, I'll go. But Harry, you can't hide from us forever. You'll have to talk to us sooner or later." Ginny told him. She was trying hard to walk away but Harry's stubborn resolve not to talk to her was starting to take its toll.
"I'm perfectly happy not talking to you ever again!" Harry said evenly.
Ginny would have ignored his remark if she didn't know that Harry was being deadly serious. A sense of foreboding took a hold of her. She believed that maybe once Harry had cooled down, he would talk to her again.
"You can't ignore me forever." She said. She only meant it as a passing comment not a statement to be argued.
"I can't see why I can't ignore strangers." Harry coldly replied.
"What are you saying?" she asked, her voice deathly quiet. Harry didn't have to say it out loud. Ginny understood him perfectly. "Are you…are you breaking up with me?" she asked him.
"Considering that I can't stand to even look at you, I think that would a good idea!" Harry said, keeping is eyes fixed to the wall before him.
Ginny stood where she was. She couldn't move. His words crashed around her like waves crashed around rocks. Harry was breaking up with her. Ginny knew he was angry, she knew he was going to be mad at her for a while. She admitted that it was going to be difficult to gain his trust again, but she hadn't quite realised that Harry may break up with her. In her mind, Harry was always going to be with her.
She turned and fled from there, not wanting to be in the same room anymore. She didn't turn around to look at him. She banged the door open and ran blindly. If she had looked back she would have seen Harry despairingly hide his face behind his bloodied hands.
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