Chapter 6: Trials and Tribulations

"Ron, I don't understand- why don't you want hang out with me anymore? You're always with Hermione!"

"Harry, don't you get it? Hermione's my girlfriend- my best friend."

"But- but I thought I was your best friend- I thought we were going to be best mates forever."

"Don't you bloody get it Harry? Now Hermione's my best friend- she's my world now. There's no more time for you."

"W-What do you m-mean?"

"What I mean, Harry, is that your yesterdays news, your just trash, your not worth my time anymore- Hermione is."

"T-Trash?" Harry asked shaking.

"Yes trash! Look at you! All you do is go and get people killed! Lupin, Sirius, Amy, Cedric and your stupid relatives! And in return you can't even kill you-know-who! What's the point of you living if you can't even kill you-know-who- if you can't even fulfill your purpose in life!?"

"But- but I don't understand-"

"That's because you're stupid! You're stupid and worthless! You'd be better off being a piece of dragon's dung than what you are today!"

Harry fell to his knees in tears. "Ron- Ron please! Don't go! You're all I have, you're my best friend! Just please! Don't leave me here in the dark!"

Ron looked down at his pitiful friend. "I'm sorry, Harry, I don't associate myself with disgraceful, pathetic murderers like you!" Ron whipped around and turned toward Hermione with a smile on his face. "We're free now- we no longer have that bloody burden on our backs."

With that Ron stalked haughtily off with Hermione- leaving Harry on his pleading knees in the utter obscurity of night.

Harry woke up; sweat dripping down his pale face- heart thudding massively against his weak chest.

"That's all I am- a burden and a murderer," Harry spoke to himself. "Not even good enough to save Amy- not even good enough kill Voldemort. Worthless."

I………………………………......I

Minerva McGonagall and Nymphadora Tonks stepped into the Dursley's residence, covered by the velvety, blackness of night.

They looked around, Minerva particularly shocked at the fact that the walls lined with pictures contained not one of Harry.

"That poor boy. What has he had to go through to get here today?" asked Minerva rhetorically.

"And the scariest thing is that not once did he mention or complain about how utterly miserable he must have been," Tonks revealed quietly.

The two slowly walked toward the kitchen, as they entered they saw a once clean kitchen in shambles. The kitchen table was in two pieces, there were shards of broken glass scattered everywhere dried blood was thrown irregularly against the once white walls.

"Minerva, I think we should get the hell out of here before I vomit."

"Yes Tonks, I could not agree with you more. Where did Dumbledore say Harry's possessions were?" Minerva quickly responded.

"Up in the attic. Follow me; I know exactly where it is."

The two slipped past a rather small looking cupboard with a broken door and went up a set of squeaky stairs. They followed a hall down to the end where they found another tiny door.

"Okay," Tonks said. "The attic is right through here."

Minerva opened the small door revealing a dark entry way. She waited for Tonks to go through, but she never did.

"What are you doing Tonks?"

"Well, umm, you never know what's going to be up there and well, ya know, I'm not really fond of dark places and stuff. Umm, so yeah, I think it would be better if, umm, you went, ya know, first?" Tonks whimpered hopefully.

Minerva rolled her eyes and climbed into the shadowy darkness. "Honestly! And you're supposed to be an Auror!" she huffed as she found several cobwebs and another set of steep stairs. She quickly climbed up them, using her wand to dissolve all cobwebs that desperately tried to cling to her.

She and Tonks entered a rather dusty and dark attic.

"Lumos!" they said in sync with one another and the room bursted with light.

"Oh! There's Harry's school trunk!" Tonks exclaimed immediately, breathing a sigh of relief, walking over to it and opening it up. "Hmmm, this can't be his only clothes. I'll take care of this while you look for his other stuff."

Minerva walked to the opposite side of the room. She started looking through boxes full of broken toys and muggle contraptions.

Half an hour later, Minerva had searched through every box, trunk, and chest available- only to find not one piece of Harry's clothing.

"Tonks, you don't think that the Dursley's didn't give Harry any more clothes, do you?"

Tonks looked at Minerva in confusion. "They had to give the boy some clothes- otherwise he'd have to run around naked!"

"Well I just can't find anything Harry's size. I've found baby clothes and other than that everything else is just plain too big. I can't ima-" Something small, hidden in a corner, caught Minerva's eye.

"Merlin! Tonks, look at this!"

She swiftly walked to the corner and lifted a heavy, rectangular box; on top the names Petunia and Lily Evans were engraved in cursive letters.

"Hurry up Tonks! I think I've found something very interesting."

Tonks rushed over to where Minerva sat and together they opened the ancient box.

They found two items preserved in the old box- two picture albums. They each took one, opening them carefully and gasping in shock.

"Sweet Merlin," Tonks whispered to her older companion. "It's a picture album of Lily and her sister from when they were younger!"

McGonagall took the book from Tonks and started flipping through the pages. All the pictures were stiff and unmoving until the very last page, which contained pictures of Lily's wedding; she looked so happy while her sister looked angered and unyielding.

Tonks wiped tears from her eyes. "They seemed really close when they were younger."

"They were- the first year Lily came to Hogwarts she couldn't stop raving about her best friend, her sister."

"Wow, I wonder what happened."

"Lily became a witch and Petunia got left in the dust. Petunia was extremely jealous."

"What's this?" Tonks asked lifting an antique-looking letter, which had been sticking out from the bottom of the precious album.

She lifted it and examined it with the light of her wand. Slowly she opened the envelope and two letters fell from it- one from Petunia to Lily, and the other from Lily to Petunia.

Tonks smiled broadly as she read the first of the letters.

Hey L.E.,

Thanks 4 being my sis. U r the bestest. Now u's in 1 grade and Im in 3 we can be bestestes friendz. When we gets old and maried and have kidses I will luv u.

Ur sis,

P.E.

P.S. Ur the bestestes!

P.S.S. Mummy and Daddy gets u something good 4 ur b-day.

"Oh wow! They were close when they were younger. It's so sad," Tonks commented as she handed the letter over to Minerva to read and picking up the next one.

Dear Petunia Dursley,

It seems so weird to actually write those words since we haven't written in so long! Petunia, I miss you so much. I don't know why we don't speak anymore but it means so much to me when we do.

Petunia, I know you don't like my husband- and I must admit I am just as reluctant at yours- but lets put that all aside. I need you Petunia and so does my son, Harry. Did you hear that, Petunia? I have a son- a son of my own! His name is Harry, Harry James Potter. I've never been so proud in my entire life than the night he was born.

But that's not all the good news! Mum told me that you also have a son! I'm dieing to meet the little boy. Please, Petunia. Let's just make up and be friends again!

I love you always,

Lily Evans (L.E.)

P.S. I hope you enjoy this photo album. It contains pictures of us from forever ago. It contains something else that's even better though- love.

Tonks read over the letter again, tears freely flowing from her eyes. "Minerva, you have to read this!"

Minerva took the letter with shaking hands and read the precious letter. "And look at the date! This was right before Lily died! Could you imagine getting this- then getting the horrible news of your sister's death?"

Tonks slowly nodded her head in sorrow. "Umm, what was that album over there?"

"Oh this? It's just some pictures of Harry thrown together. Lily must of made it for Petunia as well."

Tonks reached over and started searching through the album. "Yeah, Lily could have made it but just one question… how did she know what Harry was going to turn out as when he got older?"

"What do you mean?" Minerva asked, severely confused.

"I mean that a lot of these pictures are extremely recent. Look, here's one of Harry being dropped off at King's cross station- it's kind of blurry like it was taken in a rush- and it's just the back of his head, but I'm certain that it's Harry. And look at this one! It's been torn up and taped back together but that is definitely Harry holding a teddy bear!"

Minerva's heart broke as realization crossed her face. "Tonks, that Petunia, she made this! She must have taken pictures of him and saved them all in this book. And-and maybe these ones-" she pointed to the torn pictures-" maybe these ones, that husband of hers got a hold of and she-she-she was the one to piece them back together."

Tonks suddenly put the book back in it's box. "Minerva, we were just looking at something extremely personal. We shouldn't of done that. I don't think Harry even knows that his aunt loved him enough to do this behind her husband's back."

"Yes, I agree," Minerva said, placing the other album into the box along with the two letters.

"Molinqua Titilius," Minerva muttered shrinking the box and placing it in her robe pocket. "We'll take these to Harry. I think he'll enjoy them."

"Yes, let me get the trunk and we'll get- Wait! What's that?" Tonks asked, suddenly hushing herself. They both listened quietly.

"Come on, lets grab whatever we are here to get and get the bloody hell out of here. I don't wanna still be here when those Order freaks show up," they heard a distant, deep voice say.

"Batondia Wiskerio," Minerva mumbled, putting a cloaking charm on her and Tonks, right as two Death Eaters entered the small room.

Minerva recognized them immediately- one as being the bullying-face of Crabbe Senior, and the other as Bellatrix Lestrange. She heard movement to the side of her, as Tonks groped for her hand and held it tightly.

"Don't worry, if any of those damn people show up, we'll take care of them like we did my stupid cousin."

Tonks squeezed Minerva's hand hard, trying hopelessly not to do anything she would regret to the woman in front of her.

Crabbe let out a gruff laugh. "Yeah, you sure took care of him!"

"Yes, I did," Bellatrix said slyly moving towards the boxes containing years and years of Dursley history.

"What, umm, exactly are we looking for?" Crabbe asked stupidly.

"We are looking for some kind of book- a book that contains a very incredible power."

"What kind of power?" Crabbe asked, once again sounding foolish.

Bellatrix turned and smiled at Crabbe with a raised eyebrow. "Well, Crabbe, let's just say that it's the power to kill Harry Potter."

Bellatrix let out a shrieking laugh and Tonks let go of Minerva's hand, lunging forward at the woman who had killed her cousin.

"Tonks! No!" Minerva whispered fumbling ahead of her, scarcely catching only Tonks's invisible robe.

She quickly apparated from the room, taking Tonk's with her, completely forgetting about the precious box which lay in her deep pocket.

I………………………………I

Harry lay in his and Ron's room in Grimmauld place, alone and cold. He hadn't bothered going back to sleep after his nightmare the night before, knowing full well that sleep would only bring another horrid dream of the same nature.

"It's all my fault. I-I ruin everything! What is wrong with me? I can't even start to get close to someone with out them dying. I'm just a-a murderer," Harry said aloud, in utter, deep despair.

Mrs. Weasley swiftly stopped at the doorway to the room, as she heard Harry's voice. She stopped to listen, curiously, but what she heard made her insides turn to ice.

She quietly opened the door as to not scare Harry.

"Hello Dear, I've brought you some lunch; you slept through breakfast, so I brought you some soup. I hope you like it," said Mrs. Weasley as she set down a tray on Harry's nightstand, helping him to sit up.

Mrs. Weasley noticed the pain in Harry's face as he sat up. Why is it him in pain? He deserves so much better. She thought to herself as she laid the tray on Harry's lap.

"All set?" she asked, while Harry smiled, as his neck still hurt too much to nod.

Harry grabbed his spoon and greedily helped himself to it; he was starving.

"Harry dear," started Mrs. Weasley as she sat down on his bed. "Are your injuries still hurting you?'"

She saw Harry stop eating and look up at her worried, "Well…yeah a bit. Nothing to worry about though, I don't want to bother you or anything."

"Dear, you're not a bother at all. Would you like a potion or medicine?"

"I don't need any. I can wait."

"Love, we'll have none of that. I'll get you some," said Mrs. Weasley as she patted his blankets and got up.

"Mrs. Weasley? Do you know where Ron and Hermione are? I mean they haven't come to see me all day. I-I was just wondering." pondered Harry sadly. Have Ron and Hermione just been ignoring me? Do they not want to be around me anymore? He thought sadly to himself.

"I'm not sure where they are, Love. I saw them at breakfast; they said they were going to see you after they ate. Maybe they got caught up with something. I'm sure they'll come visit you soon."

"Oh," answered Harry as he averted his eyes to his bowl of soup, which seemed to have gotten colder with the thought of Ron and Hermione ignoring him.

"Sweetie," Mrs. Weasley began, she went to touch his arm, in comfort, but he flinched away. His eyes wide with fear.

"Please don't," whispered Harry, as he quickly hid his arm underneath his covers.

Mrs. Weasley looked taken aback for one second, but quickly recovered only looking slightly hurt. "Oh sweetie. You know I love you don't you? I would never hurt you. Ron and Hermione love you too. You're a great person." Mrs. Weasley reassured him.

"Sure."

Mrs. Weasley eyes filled with tears for they boy. He couldn't really feel that poorly of himself; he couldn't actually think that nobody loved him, she thought sadly to herself.

"I'll be back soon with a potion, sweetie," said Mrs.Weasley weakly, having nothing else to say.

"Okay," replied Harry as he tried to scoot back down onto his pillows but the tray of forgotten soup dangerously began to sway under the movement of his body.

Mrs. Weasley quickly took the soup, and helped Harry get comfortable.

She watched Harry's eyes close unintentionally. He, with difficulty, cracked them open once more, desperately trying to stay awake, but he quickly lost his battle and his eyes closed, aching for sleep.

"I love you Harry," Mrs. Weasley said once more, hoping someday soon he would believe that he was truly loved.

She turned around once more before she left the room, glancing sadly in Harry's direction and saw something that made her heart break.

A single tear had rolled down his cheek.

I………………………………............I

Albus Dumbledore walked slowly into a sealed off dungeon at the basement of Grimmauld Place, containing his friend and ally Severus Snape. He quickly removed the silencing and penitentiary wards that held Snape within its grasp and cautiously entered the room.

"Hello Severus."

Snape quickly turned around, relieved to see Dumbledore standing there. "Albus, what the bloody hell is going on? Why am I here?"

"You don't know why you are here, Severus?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Very little information had been released to me. I have no idea why I'm here."

Dumbledore walked towards Snape slowly and conjured up two chairs.

"Take a seat."

"I don't want to take a seat," Snape spat back in a mocking tone.

"Sit down, Severus," Dumbledore said sternly.

Severus sat down in his fold out chair as Dumbledore followed suit. He looked at the younger man sadly, tears entered his eyes. "Remus Lupin was murdered the night of the battle."

Snape's jaw dropped. There was a long uncomfortable silence in which Dumbledore wiped his eyes of the threatening tears and Snape gaped at him in disgust.

"And what? You think it was me?" he inquired angrily rising from his seat and throwing it against the wall. "How could you, Albus? I've been nothing more than a friend and son to you! How dare you accuse me of such a- of such a tyranny!"

"Now Severus, don't jump to conclusions," Albus said calmly. "There was a witness who has admitted to having seen you there. But whether or not this witness was, er, stable at the time of the murder is yet to be decided. But I must ask you- do you know anything about this?"

"Why would I know anything of this matter? How could I know anything? I wasn't even at the hospital. I was at home ill when the battle took place."

Dumbledore looked deeply into Snape's brown eyes. "Were you really at home or were you at the battle on Tuesday, Severus?"

Snape stared right back at Dumbledore. "Honestly Albus, I never stepped foot in the hospital."

Dumbledore seemed satisfied. "Thank you Severus, that is all I needed to know." He rose from his seat and turned swiftly to the door. "And Severus, if you do hear anything of the nature about Lupin's death, you will tell me."

With that, Dumbledore walked quickly from the room, once again putting the wards around the chilling dungeon, leaving Snape standing there with a cocky yellow-toothed smirk on his face.

"Yes, my dear friend. If I find anything out about the death of Lupin, I'll tell you and then kill you," he whispered to himself, grinning the most evil of grins.

I……………………………….....................I

Mrs. Weasley quietly walked into the room Harry was staying in, only to find him fast asleep once again.

"Harry dear wake up, I've come to heal some of your injures," whispered Mrs. Weasley as she gently shook him.

"Hmm…Go away," replied Harry sleepily, as he tried to shoo her hand, that was placed gently on his shoulder, away.

"Wake up, dear," said Mrs. Weasley again as she finally saw Harry's bright green eyes crack half way open, surveying her.

"Mrs. Weasley?" asked Harry, not quite fully awake.

"Yes, dear I'm going to help you sit up so I can give you some potions," said Mrs. Weasley as she lifted the still half asleep Harry and leaned him against the back of the bed.

"Come on Harry open up your eyes. The faster you do this the sooner you can go back to sleep. I need to give you some potions," promised Mrs. Weasley as she grabbed a potion from the nightstand where she had placed them earlier.

Harry slowly opened his tired green eyes, while glancing up at Mrs. Weasley.

"That's good, sweetie. Now I'm going to give you a potion to heal all your bruises. It may hurt a bit, but it will heal them better than anything else I can do, okay?" stated Mrs. Weasley as she handed Harry the vile.

"Yeah," said Harry still queasy from waking up.

Harry tried to hold on to the vile but his unsettled arm limply fell back onto the bed.

Mrs. Weasley heard Harry whimper in frustration and before he tried to lift his arm again, she placed the vile on his lips allowing the potions to enter his mouth.

"Ow," hissed Harry a few seconds later as he felt the acid burn the whole way down his throat and into his stomach, he gripped his abdomen with his un-injured arm, trying to alleviate the pain.

"Shhh…its okay, sweetie the pain will go away shortly."

Harry closed his eyes, tightly, trying to calm himself down. Mrs. Weasley sat down next to him on his bed, grabbing his hand, letting the younger boy know she was there for him.

"All better?" asked Mrs. Weasley a few moments later, seeing Harry's face relax slightly.

"Yeah, pretty much," whispered Harry as he opened his eyes, now fully awake.

Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly. "I'm going to heal your knee now. I may be a mother of seven but I'm no Madam Pomfrey, so I can only put some suave on it. That will only mend the bones together. Your knee is still going to be incredibly weak and you'll have a limp for some time. But that shouldn't be permanent," confirmed Mrs. Weasley as she carefully and gently took the brace off Harry's knee. "Sweetie, I didn't know that your knee was still swollen. Shouldn't it have gone away after awhile?"

"Yeah…umm…I think I kind of bothered it during the battle," answered Harry.

Harry winced as Mrs. Weasley gingerly touched it, "Does it hurt dear?"

"Y-yes," answered Harry confused. Why didn't she think it would hurt? What if it wasn't supposed to ache like I did? Am I going to be okay? Harry thought to himself.

Harry felt a cold substance being lathered on his knee and felt a warm feeling surround the area, clearly trying to relax the muscles and mend the bone.

"Can you try and bend it dear?" wondered Mrs. Weasley cautiously, after giving the potion a few moments to fix his bone.

Harry shot her a fearful look while he slowly tried to bend his knee and surprisingly it hurt considerably less than before.

"Doesn't hurt that much," responded Harry as she straightened his leg carefully again.

"That's good. Now all we have left is your arm. Faniskus Studium," muttered Mrs. Weasley happily, as she magicked the cast off, and tenderly took Harry's arm.

"I'm going to have to bend your arm into a straight position. I can't put the salve potion on your arm to heal the bones unless the bones are straight," said Mrs. Weasley as she glanced at Harry's fearful face.

She quickly bent Harry's arm down from the stationary upright position it had been forced into by the plaster cast.

Harry released an unintentional yelp from the pain and felt himself go limp.

"Hang on dear," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to calm Harry down.

Mrs. Weasley bent his arm once more into a normally straight position, causing Harry to jerk his arms away from her.

"Ow…Ouch, stop, please," cried Harry as tears started to spill over his eyes from the throbbing pain.

"Oh, love, it's okay just stay still. Harry? What happened?" asked Mrs. Weasley while looking at his face. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"Ow... I-I felt the bones-Ugh rubbing against each other. Please don't do anymore," pleaded Harry, even his voice aching in pain.

"Oh, love, I'm so sorry. I know I'm not as good as Madame Pomfrey but we can't seem to reach her. Albus said she was on vacation somewhere," Mrs. Weasley told the crying Harry.

"T-T-That's okay. Just- just- it's alright," Harry said bravely, not wanting to offend Mrs. Weasley's medical skills.

Mrs. Weasley finished putting the salve on Harry's arm and gave him a dreamless sleep potion to help him get back to sleep.

"Harry? There's nothing I can do with your neck. You're just going to have to be careful with it and let it heal on its own," mentioned Mrs. Weasley.

"Okay, I'll be careful. Can I please go to sleep now?" asked Harry as he closed his eyes, feeling the potion kicking in.

"Of course Harry. I think Ron and Hermione are going to come visit you sometime later, okay?"

"I'd like that," sighed Harry as he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I………………………………......................I

Harry woke up a few hours later to find Ron and Hermione both sitting by his bed, talking quietly.

"Oh! Hey Harry. How are you?" asked Hermione as she quickly glanced at Harry to find him awake.

She helped Harry sit up in his bed, making sure to not hurt his pain-filled back.

"Fine," Harry croaked, his voice feeling extremely dry for some reason.

"Here, mate," said Ron as he passed over a glass of water to Harry.

"Thanks," replied Harry as he shakily grabbed the glass and greedily drank down the ice-cold water.

"We have a plate of food for you from dinner that Mrs. Weasley told us to bring up to you, except you were asleep. We didn't want to wake you. Remember Mrs. Weasley said you need as much rest as possible," mentioned Hermione as she bent down to retrieve a tray of food, which was resting on the floor by Harry's warm bed and placed it on Harry's lap.

Ron noticed Harry's inquiring look at the food and responded, "Sorry, mate. Mum says that you need to stick with bland food for right now. Something about your immune system being too weak to carry heavy foods."

He heard Harry sigh and somberly dig into his pitiful plate of food.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" questioned Hermione, watching Harry take a few bites of the tasteless food.

"Hmmm. Better I suppose, I'm just a little sore," stated Harry, not meeting Hermione's eyes.

She didn't quite believe him- Harry was always the type to make matters seem better than they actually were.

"I'm done," resigned Harry a few seconds later, as he let go of his fork which clattered loudly onto his still occupied plate.

"Oh, but Harry you've barely touched it. Mrs. Weasley said you missed today's breakfast and only have a few bites of your lunch. Please just eat a little more, I know it tastes horrible but you need to get your strength back."

"I'm not weak," Harry chimed in; trying to make sure he believed it himself.

"Harry you're not, don't ever think that," demanded Hermione, while taking the plate off Harry's lap, positive he wouldn't eat any more of it.

"Yes-yes, I am. I-I couldn't fight against my-my uncle. I couldn't help with the battle at that hospital, I just accomplished in getting more people killed. Then -" Harry's face grew somber, as if suddenly realizing this for the first time.

"Harry," interrupted Ron, but Harry ignored him.

"Then M-Moony he-he," Harry felt tears sting his eyes and fall down his pale face and down his pastel cheeks. Embarrassed, he painfully laid back down on his bed and pulled his covers over his face so that his friends couldn't see him crying.

He was just showing them how weak he really was. He was a wimp- a freak.

A few minutes later Hermione broke the silence by whispering to him, hoping he hadn't fallen asleep, "Harry don't be embarrassed. You've been through a tough time, it's all right to cry," she comforted.

"No it isn't," demanded Harry, which made Hermione tense up.

"Mate, I would be crying too, I mean in the last month you've lost Sirius, that girl Amy, Mrs. Figg, and Re-" Ron was cut off by Hermione who had smacked him hard on the arm.

"What," hissed Ron, glaring at Hermione while rubbing his now sore arm.

"You're just making Harry feel worse by telling him all the deaths that have happened," said Hermione quietly enough so Harry wouldn't hear.

"Sweet Merlin, you're right," Ron whispered quietly, while glancing at Hermione for support. "You do the talking, I-I don't know what to say," Ron said sadly as tears threatened to fall, disappointed he had upset his friend more.

"Ron, he needs you to! You're his best friend," Hermione said shakily. But Ron just shook his head. "Harry? Don't think about it. Please. Ron didn't mean to say all those things," said Hermione sincerely.

"Yeah, mate I'm sorry," apologized Ron.

Harry didn't say anything but they could tell that he was crying; they could hear him sniffling and his shoulders underneath the covers were shaking.

"Harry-" started Hermione, but Ron swiftly cut her off- knowing what needed to be said.

"We just want the old you back, Harry. The happy Harry who-who played Quidditch and only cared about how you were going to do on a Potion's test. The one who would beat Malfoy to a pulp if he ever dared say something about our families. The Harry we met on the train in first year… don't you remember that, Harry?"

To Hermione's shock Harry replied in a strained voice, trying to not let them know he had been crying, "He's gone, Ron. He left when Sirius went beyond the veil and he'll never come back."