Author's notes: Right, yet another chapter out…my longest chapter yet. Yes, I do realize that a lot of the content in here is kind of lifted up from GoF…yah…SPOILER ALERT!

OK…I'm been reading some of the reviews, and I noticed that some of you are a bit confused about what's happening and the timeline of the story…so, I'm clearing it up a little now…

For the first three chapters, they're kind of in Sev's POV, about a week or so into the summer holidays after the GoF, between fourth and fifth year. They show how the abuse fiasco was uncovered, and Sev's regret on not treat Harry properly, etc etc. It kind of provides a basis for the relationship development between the two.

The previous chapter, as well as the few chapters after that, is mostly in Harry's POV. They take place near the end of fourth year and continue on through the holidays until when Sev comes to 'rescue him from the clutches of the evil villians'. They would show how Harry's mentality deteriorates with the nightmares and the added abuse. I'm going to make him sort of link to Voldie too, so he has visions on what Voldie's doing, like the killing and torturing etc, to make him more depressed 'cause he's so guilt-ridden. They would also show about previous abuses through flashbacks and stuff, so we know what happened to make him so quiet, with this sad air around him and everything.

The two POVs would merge after a while, at the point where Harry wakes up and finds Sev asleep across from him. It'll become more general, and other characters like Sirius, Remus, etc would come in and try help Harry, though the whole fic mostly revolves around SS/HP.

Right, I hope that cleared whatever questions there are, feel free to voice out more…

Oh…and thanks for all those that reviewed…about 15 of them…less than half the number for the previous few chapters. *pouts* Ah well, that chapter sucked anyway…

So…read and enjoy and remember to review!!!

A Fallen Angel

By chibi-tenshi

Besides Hermione's announcement on the capture of the Skeeter beetle, and then hexing of the 'Dumb and Dumber Trio' (a.k.a Malfoy and his goons), the journey to King's Cross was unnaturally quiet this year. One could tell that the conversation, if any at all, was rather forced. After numerous failures at attempted banter, we finally gave up altogether.

Fred and George were huddled together in one corner, both sulking while looking suitably depressed at the loss of their savings to Bagman.

Hermione could be seen poring over some book or other. Being Hermione, the book was at least 30cm long, 20cm wide and 10cm thick, meaning that it's a very, very big book. I wonder how she carries it around? 'Must have cast some levitation charm or other on it,' I thought as I shrugged it off.

Ron, (surprise surprise…) to my great amazement and utmost horrification, was reading a book too, and it was not about Quidditch! Hell must have frozen over! Upon closer inspection, I saw that he was reading up on chess tactics and strategies. Ah…that explains this unusual phenomenon…

I looked back down at my own book ("1001 Handy Hexes and Curses" by Matilda Lindsay), staring blankly at the pages, though not really seeing anything at all, being preoccupied in my own thoughts…

I had left Hedwig in Hogwarts this year, believing that she'll fare better in the Owlery than with my relatives. After all, nothing stopped them from starving her for the past two years right? It had been a rather hard decision to make, but I love my owl, she was one of the first friends I've ever had. I know it's silly having an owl as a companion, but living friendless for eleven years does do this to people, and, besides Hagrid, Hedwig was the first thing that had ever managed to stay in the same room as me without flinching, the first one that I had been able to talk to without looking at me with disdain, the first one that actually managed to gain my trust…

Alright, enough of this sentimentality. Anyhow, Hedwig's safety won over my fear of loneliness. After all, I had managed to survive 11 years alone before I got Hedwig, hadn't I?

I didn't want to bother Ron and Hermione about this. Hedwig won't appreciate being within a 20 m radius to Pig anyway. Also, Hogwarts was supposedly one of the safest places in the world, despite the fact that Voldemort and his minions had been able to infiltrate into the castle one too many times, without too much of a problem.

Still, she wasn't too happy about me leaving her behind. I think she was under this misconception that I was abandoning her. It hurt to see her ignoring me when I left the Owlery. But it's better than to have her under the mercy of my uncle, better than having her starve to death…

***

Dream

I felt a jerk somewhere behind my navel, and my feet got lifted off the ground without warning before being slammed back on it again. An acute pain shot up my left calf muscles, causing me to pitch forwards and fall facedown onto the…grass?

I felt someone pull me back on my feet. Gathering my thoughts, I looked around…only to see myself in a dark overgrown graveyard. Squinting, I could glimpse a small church beyond a large yew tree to my right. A faint outline of a fine old house could be spotted on the hillside on my left. A combined jolt of panic and fear shot through me. "No! No! Not again…please!"

Continuing my mantra, I felt myself turn to my right, against my will, coming face to face with Cedric Diggory. 'No…please!" I cried inwardly as I heard myself voicing out the question, "Where are we?" I tried to turn around, tried to escape, to run away from this dreadful place, from this inevitable incident that I knew was going to take place.

I could hear myself conversing with him, trying to figure out where we were, why were we here, and what had happened. I could hear the footsteps resounding through the eerie silence, the crushing of dead twigs and crisp dried leaves. I could see Wormtail approaching now, carrying a small bundle, also known as Voldermort (You-Know-Who, Dark Lord, Man-killer Extraordinaire…), trudging through the tombs, coming nearer… and nearer…

I fought to move, to break free from my puppeteer, to release myself from whatever was retraining me. I wanted to curse that traitor, to murder Voldermort with my bare hands, to prevent them from hurting…killing…Cedric.

Without warning, I felt my scar explode with pain. I stood my ground, apparently unaffected…unruffled. After all, I had experienced worse.

Then, it came. The high, cold voice that seemed so far away... "Kill the spare!"

"Avada Kedavra!" A blast of green light blazed through my lids as I shut my eyes against the horrible scene, continuing my chant: 'Please stop it! No…please!'

My eyes was forced open again, coercing me to look at the sight in front of me: Cedric, lying eagle-spread on the ground beside me, dead…his open grey eyes, the blank expressionless windows to his soul, staring back at me…dead

'No…NO! Cedric…' I was weeping inside, hitting myself repeatedly for failing him, failing to save him…

Wormtail came forward some more, dragging me towards a marble headstone, conjuring tight cords tying me down to the tombstone…Tom Riddle

I felt my scar hurting, tingling with pain as I fought with the cords. I could hear Wormtail starting that damn blood ritual thing for Voldermort's resurrection...

"Bone of father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!

Flesh – of servant- willingly given – you will – revive – your master.

B-blood of enemy…forcibly taken…you will…resurrect your foe."

I felt rather than saw the cool tip of the dagger tracing my right arm, penetrating at the crook. 'Not again! No…'

Sparks were emanated from the cauldron as Wormtail poured my blood in it, and a surge of white steam billowed thickly from it once the sparks stopped. A dark outline of a man rose out slowly from the cauldron. "Robe me," a high-pitched screech echoed throughout the empty cemetery.

The events replayed out, right in front of my eyes. Wormtail was given a new hand, the Death Eaters were summoned, …the taunting started…

I was released from the binds…given back my wand. I stood in front of Voldermort once again, under different circumstances, ready to duel. Inside, I was weeping, praying to every god I knew to end this torture…to stop this nightmare.

The whole duel seemed to go on slow motion. The gods must hate me. I experienced the Imperious and Cruciatus curses again. I threw off both with relative ease, though I had to pretend to scream a little under the Cruciatus for Voldermort's sake, hoping to find some way to escape while he was laughing his head off at my 'predicament'.

Then, it came… "Avada Kedavra!" "Expelliarmus!" The jets of light, issued from our wands, met in mid-air, changing into a deep golden beam. I could feel the electric charge surging through it, causing my wand to vibrate. We were lifted up and deposited in a clearing, the golden thread of light splintering and arcing over us, crisscrossing to form an enclosed dome-shaped web.

The Death Eaters were surrounding us, their cries …of outrage?…were strangely muffled. An unearthly and beautiful music filled the air, drowning out all other sounds and taking center stage…the Phoenix's Song

I saw myself directing the large beads to light across the thread and towards Voldermort, seeing his eyes filled with anger, and something that vaguely resembled fear, as he fought back but failed. The beads hit his wand, which began to emit echoing screams, followed by the dense, smoky ghost of the hand he made for Wormtail.

Then, came the…ghost?…of Cedric. It turned to face me, pinning me on the spot with that accusing glare. It was soon followed by the forms of an old man, Bertha Jorkins, and finally, my parents. They were circling me, staring at me with identical looks of hatred. The chant began…

"You killed us Harry…we died because of you…"

'No…please don't!'

"How could you? You just stood there and watched him murder me!" They started cornering me…

'I'm sorry Cedric…I'm sorry…' I was backed against a tree…

"You are a murderer Harry…no better than Voldermort…" Whispers, drowning me in their intensity

'I didn't mean to…I'm so sorry…' I cowered away, hugging myself…

"It's your fault that we are dead!" Voices, getting louder and louder…

'It's all my fault…' I was surrounded as I buried my head in my hands…

"It's all your fault…you killed us…you destroyed our futures…" More and more shadows joined the crowd as they continued to be emitted from Voldermort's wand, Voldermort himself and the Death Eaters having seemingly faded away.

'Sorry…I'm sorry…please!' I dropped my wand as I tried to recoil even more…

"Murderer!" they screeched, clawing at me…

'It's all my fault…I'm sorry…so, so sorry…' I'm sobbing now, begging for them to leave me alone. It hurt……it hurt more than Cruciatus ever will…but I deserved it, it's all my fault after all…

Voldermort's evil, maniacal laughter ringed in my ears, blending with the condemning voices that surrounded me as I screamed into the dark of the night…

End Dream

***

I woke up with a jolt, panting slightly, but thankfully not screaming as I had been in my nightmare. I glanced around frantically, trying to assure myself that I was safe now. Hermione and Ron were both asleep by now, Hermione having laid back against the seat after bookmarking her page, and Ron having just fallen right smack onto the book as he dozed off while reading. Both looked peaceful, tranquil in their sleep. Ron was even drooling a little. Fred and George seemed to have gone elsewhere in search of entertainment.

As my breathing gradually evened out, I began to reflect back on the dream. I'd already lost count of how many of these nightmares I'd had so far. I took to staying awake long after midnight to avoid them, though weariness appeared to encourage them even more, thereby increasing their scare factor. Still, it's better then having these dreams two or three times every night, as had happened in the first few days. I'd decided that insomnia was much better than insanity. I even went to the Owlery a few times under my invisibility cloak after a particularly nasty dream to look for Hedwig and hopefully keep myself from falling asleep again.

I had lots of different varieties of concealing charms all over my face to keep my friends from finding out. I've became quite proficient at them. After all, I had been doing a thorough research on them since first year, to hide what my family had been doing to me and all..

. I really didn't want to worry them, and they'd cart me off to Madam Pomfrey again and force me to stay in the Infirmary. Being there gave me too much time to ponder over things, and I really didn't want to play the 'what if?' game with myself. As if I wasn't engulfed by enough guilt already…any more, and I would really go insane, like what Fudge said…

Finally, the train pulled up at King's Cross, with was filled with the usual noise and confusion as we began to disembark. One would think that we just had a normal school year. I sighed, drinking in the sight, knowing that this may well be the last time I'll ever be seeing this cheerful, carefree scene. With Voldermort back, the loss of innocence of these…children…may well be inevitable…

***

TBC

So…how was it? I sort of changed the Third Task a little to fit my needs, because the Harry Potter in JKR's world is not a poor abused kid that had gone through a lot more than other kids his age. Yes, in case you are wondering, in my fic, Harry can withstand the Cruciatus, simply because his uncle had done worse to him, making the Cruciatus seem like childs' play to him. Basically, he screamed to distract Voldie a little so he could try thinking of ways to get the hell out of that damn graveyard. I was thinking of trying to make him immune to the Avada Kedavra curse too, but…I don't know…

Alright then, I've finished this chapter…please, PLEASE! Review!!! I thrive on them you know…gives me the motivation and things to write more…esp. with another exam of mine coming up…a major one too. I also need a serious ego boost after my horrible final year results…

PLEASE REVIEW!!!