By tati1
Disclaimer: sorry, but no, I do not own Harry Potter. Which really bites.WARNING: This story is R for a REASON! It is NOT NC-17, as I have read much, /much/ worse that was permitted, so I have abused nothing! Rated for violence, serious angst (later on), and rape. If you have a problem with it, go read something else because I didn't write it just to be safe. It's written because it's how and what I write. So buzz off. :{
(and if my mean attitude offends, I do apologize but I'm sorta protective of my work.)
A/N: So sorry I took so long! I'll try to do better, and I've already written one and two halves chapters in one night (three stories will be updated on the same day, only I haven't finished them yet – by the time this is posted they'll all be done though.) Ah, the marvels of dedication!
Now, RER (Read, Enjoy, Review)!
Chapter 7 – Spelled ParchmentAbout five seconds later Harry was done and was holding the purring kitten gently. Poor little thing belonged to one of the Gryffindors; he would return it.
"Poor kitty," he crooned softly to it, "Don't worry; they'll be in no mind to bully anyone for a long time. I prob'ly should have done it from the first," he sighed, "but I do need discipline. Then again, the Seventh Years are way more than enough - "
"Mr. Potter!" screeched a new voice from behind him. Harry sighed again. McGonagall. "No fighting means no fighting, Mr. Potter! And you are far more advanced than they are. I never imagined a First Year Gryffindor to be a bully, but then, all my First Years truly belonged in the House they were placed!" Harry squeezed his eyes shut. Just like the Dursleys. He tried to do well and people assumed the wrong thing. Always. "30 points from Gryffindor, and three detentions serving under Professor Snape. Now go to your common room. Disgraceful." Harry nodded tiredly and trudged away; kitten tucked safely away in his arms. As soon as he was sure she couldn't hear him, Harry began yelling while the kitten watched with wide eyes.
"This is all my fault! I should have stopped them, but I'm just useless like the – the … like they always told me. Do nothing right except make people upset. And this whole stupid world would be altogether better off without me, but I'm too much of a coward to kill myself! I'm so stupid. Don't deserve Fred and George's friendship; defense. And now the Seventh Years'll be mad at me too…" he trailed off desperately, seeing that his rant had lasted all the way to the Gryffindor portrait hole.
"Gibbet and Blobs," he said sadly. The fat lady smiled at him.
"Cheer up dearie. Things'll get better," she chirped softly. Harry gave her a small smile as she swung her frame open.
"I hope so," he breathed as he entered the common room. He sat down quietly by the fire to undo a few minor hexes that had been shot at the kitten. Just as he finished, Matten Badit, a First Year, came in with the rest of Harry's year mates and spotted Harry with his wand pointed at the purring cat. He ran over, snatched the kitten away, and gave the smaller boy a hard kick; toppling him.
"I knew you were trouble! Don't you dare come near my cat again! And unhex her RIGHT NOW!" Harry looked at him before snapping back.
"I can't." He glared as Matten opened his mouth again. "I can't and I won't because I was unhexing her when you came in! Where were you when she was - " he broke off and wiped at his bloody nose, which had been bashed against the floor when Badit attacked him. "Nevermind. Hope I didn't bother you," he said bitterly. And he vanished out the portrait hole. Ron, whose eyes were gleaming nastily, turned to Hermione.
"Have we read that parchment yet?" She shook her head. (A/N: 'shook head' means 'no'. I hate it when people substitute it for 'yes' sometimes as well. Too confuzzling.)
"No, but perhaps we should. We need the countercurse to whatever it is that he did anyway." Hermione went to her room and returned with a few rolls of parchment. Saying a few words, she unrolled the first and heard Fred and George:
"Heya, Harry!"
"Feeling any better?"
"Hey!" Lavendar Brown interrupted. "I thought that thing only wrote down the stuff!" Hermione smiled smugly.
"Right. But I had an idea, so Jessica – the Seventh Year who did the spell – modified it for me, so now we can hear it and identify voices."
"So you've gone and spied on Harry's life now, huh?" a scornful voice cut through the scroll depicting the boy's morning chatter. The twins stood in the entryway, livid with barely constrained fury.
"Just listen to it, will you?" sighed Hermione. "Harry may have hexed his - " She nodded at Matten. " – cat, and we need the curse he used."
"Besides, now you'll see what we have to put up with!" shouted several people in the back. Gryffindors of all ages began to gather and listen to the Potter boy's dialogue. The twins settled down, still scowling, and the entertainment was interspersed with the listener's comments as it was confusing since the magic hadn't recorded pauses between one talking session and the next. Unfortunately, Harry walked in as the first magically recorded after-dinner scene occurred.
"Dungeons. Five minutes. Bring Dumb and Dumber."
"Don't tell me you like this, Potter?"
"No, but I can take it. And I at least can defend myself before - "
"FINITE INCANTATEM!" he screamed; voice cutting through the past and ending the spell. A few people groaned at the end of the interesting part, but went silent when they saw who had stopped their fun. Several went white as a furious Harry Potter stormed over to the parchments. "Incendio!" he hissed, and the pile went up in flames.
"Hey - " began Hermione, but quailed under Harry's glare. His face was dead white.
"How dare you. H – how could you – it – it's my life; leave me alone! You were doing that pretty effectively before! I didn't complain! I never said anything against you!" Harry was wild; his whispers had grown into shouts and the shouts echoed into screams as tears welled up in his emerald eyes, though they would not fall. His body was hot; throbbing with tension; his mind was a blank whirl; a wall of hurt, a wall of disbelief; a wall of red fire that blanked his thoughts and would later make remembering his own words difficult. His body shook with suppressed rage, and everything, everywhere, was tight. Tight with tension, tight with anger, tight with hurt … tight with disbelief. He whirled on Fred and George; finger pointing accusing the two thunderstruck thirteen-year-olds. "And you! I thought you were my friends! My very first children friends … " his voice had again dropped to a whisper and he trembled; hurting and burning; wanting them to hurt, to know what they had done, to know what he was, to know their wrongs, their crimes, their vices. He wanted them to hurt. Like they had hurt him. "Not like I deserved you; ever. But I thought – I thought - " Harry couldn't finish, and he couldn't see, but he stalked out, still burning with anger and hurt and humiliation and hurt. So much hurt… As people silently and guiltily moved to their dorms, Hermione cleared up the ashes of her failed project. Miraculously, Harry had managed to miss one scroll. She picked it up and began to read. Soon, her eyes widened.
"Ron, get down here!" she shrilled. The Gryffindors raced down again; guilt forgotten. "Listen to this:
" – this is the test - "
"I think the product passed - "
"But if the creators live remains to be seen."
"I'm sorry, but I don't have TIME for this today. I have a previous beating arranged. You can have me when I'm done, okay?"
"Not okay, midget. We know who pranked us, and what we do to you is their warning."
"Please, I have to be somewhere! Repello! (A/N: not very imaginative, I know, but whatever.)"
(Cat yowl)
"I told you what would happen if you broke your word."
Hermione looked up. "It's smudged after that until:"
" – points from Gryffindor, and three detentions (smudged out) under Professor Snape. Now go (smudged out). Disgraceful."
"This is all my fault! I should have stopped them, but I'm just useless like the – the … like they always told me. Do nothing right except make people upset. And this whole stupid world would (smudged out). I'm so stupid. Don't deserve Fred and George's friendship; defense. And now the Seventh Years'll be mad at me too…
"Gibbet and Blobs."
"Cheer up dearie. Things'll get better."
"I hope so.
"Now, let's get those hexes off, (smudged out)."
"The rest's burned off, but I think we can guess what happened," concluded Hermione.
"And I cannot believe you just read that boy's personal thoughts to the entire House," said a grown and cultured voice from the back of the group. The students whirled as Hermione set fire to the last bit of parchment. Professor Snape glared at them all fiercely and stalked up the boy's dormitory stairs, muttering about 'collecting Potter's things.'
"Why's he getting Potter's stuff?" asked Dean after a long period of silence. Snape appeared again with the boy's trunk levitating beside him.
"He has asked the Headmaster for a bed in the Hospital Wing."
"Taking the invasion of privacy thing a bit hard, isn't he?" someone chuckled.
"He knows about this?! How long has this been going on? He asked for a new bed in the Infirmary over an hour ago. Came in with a bloody nose; hasn't even spent one full night in his dorms, so he wanted to spare people the trouble of worrying where he was since he'd wind up in the Hospital Wing anyway … and you do this in front of him?! No wonder he ignored me! Ten points back to Gryffindor," he added in a quiet mutter. "Who is responsible for this?" he demanded. Some people pointed to Hermione; others to Jessica Cummings; and some to the First Years as a whole.
"Right," the professor snapped. "The entire House is to write an apology to Mister Potter, which I will read through, and everyone receives a detention with Filch every night for the next month. 50 points from Gryffindor. This is absolutely ridiculous." He turned for the portrait hole, and paused, throwing them an evil eye.
"Thank you," he said mockingly, "for proving my longtime suspicion that Gryffindors are more conniving and cowardly than my Slytherins." He noted the shocked and angry faces. "You're surprised?" he sneered. "That makes you stupid too; though that I have known for ages. You went into a child's private life after you made it hell. So kind of you, I'm sure." He swept out, and the portrait slammed shut behind him.
"50 points - "
" – with Filch!"
"Little ass - "
" – too good to live with us - "
"Saint Potter - "
" – apologize!"
" – hey, my eyes have stopped glowing!"
"Shut up, Perce - "
" – can't believe Snape took his side - "
"It was his privacy, and we - "
"But we needed proof - "
" – and you didn't get what you wanted, did you?"
"Yeah, you went and proved he's a good guy - "
"Stood up to defend - "
" – stuffy - "
" – kind - "
" – so small - "
" – brave - "
" – that 'beating' talk was bothering me - "
"Why'd he have to burn it?"
"And we'll never know the full story - "
"Oh yes you will!" shouted Parvati Patil; making herself the center of attention. "We made copies!" The crowd roared in approval.
"Three Sickles a copy to be given out on Sunday!" Lavendar assured the students. Hermione was silent a bit with her disgust. But she had to say something.
"SHUT IT!" The room was quiet. "How dare you? What we did was wrong; I know that now. I knew it then, but I did it anyway; blinded by prejudice. But this is worse. You know how upset he was; how could you do that to him again? Besides," She nodded at the two girls. "You only copied what you already heard and made up the rest to make him look like a prick – I saw you, so don't even try and deny it! We are the ones who lost 50 points and we brought it upon ourselves. Do you think I like a stain on my record? I should think NOT! And how would you like it if someone did to you what we did to Harry? So far as we heard I am more impressed with Harry and the way he's not tattled on anyone far more than I am with our behavior in the last few days. Now, I'm going to bed before anyone makes me hex them." As she left, Fred and George began to clap. Ron looked as though he might, but only Fred, George, Jessica, Neville, and a few others were applauding Hermione's impromptu speech, so he didn't, but rather cast a wistful glance at the braver children who dared to be the different that he had helped to try and stamp out through the persecution of Harry.
*
A/N: Wow! Seven pages; I'm so proud. I really like this chapter…tell me what you think! REVIEW!
September 25th was my Birthday! Yay! Fifteen at last! And I'm already into sophomore year too…hmm…I'll never be eighteen while in high school…odd. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews!
There are more important things occurring, though. Really, if anyone from the website Psyke hangs out on ffn.net, please contact me. Especially if you know or are Manchester_United_Fan (Lee). I miss him; though he's probably forgotten me. We only spoke once or twice.
If you are from ANY self-harm group or on your own, please feel free to write me. I suck at counseling and I guess I'm not all that nice, but…nevermind. I'm probably just saying that to make myself feel better (it's two days after I typed this chapter up and you have no idea how depressed I am at the moment – my subconscious is so going to kill me for actually posting this message – I overreact and overstate everything, and I'm sorry for wasting your time and – god.) Anyway, I suck, life sucks, and I hope yours improves. Right.
I have no idea what I set out to do when I began to re-edit this A/N, so I guess I'll leave now, but does anyone know any hacker things to use on Parental Controls for MSN without letting parents know you've done anything? Please, the situation's pretty bad.
Now that the weird rants are over…
Please review; it means the world to me.
