Disclaimer:

If you think I own this tale,
Let me assure you with out fail
Nothing written here is mine
I disclaim all, thus owe no fine

First of all, I would like to thank my beta Faye Chua for the great job correcting my story. Thank you so much, there really is a marked improvement.

Second, I am sorry that this is so late, I am finishing the year in college and my free time is sparse as of late.

Here we go.

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Chapter 7

Liar, Liar
Fiends conspire
Friends betray
Truces expire

Pyre! Pyre!
Wizard's ire
Wrath displayed
In vengeful fire

Harry paced his room, his previous hunger had all but disappeared due to the distressing news he had acquired. Harry felt sick, queasy; he had given up his life, he had lost everything, and now suddenly the people who he had given his very childhood to save were screaming Azkaban at him.

Oh yes, Harry was ticked off beyond anything he had felt previously. It was not just what he had sacrificed, but the lives of everyone who had given themselves to save him. Not that anyone in the wizarding world had ever shown one iota of respect for Sirius beyond that of irrational fear. But by claiming that Harry had turned evil, would that not have made the people who died protecting him nothing more than fools in everyone else's eyes?

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat, his breath coming in short rapid gasps. And Dumbledore, what did he believe? The man, after all did subject him to this imprisonment with the teacher who had the most cause to detest Harry's very being. Was even his old mentor turning him away with the belief that the darkness he had destroyed was now suddenly tainting his soul?

Harry wanted to scream, he wanted to throw something, anything…no he wanted to throw everything in a fit of pure rage. But really, what good would it do. They had won; they had bound him here using his own magic to hold him prisoner. At least according to what he had read, that is what a life debt entailed. No, no they would not win; he would find a way out of this, surely there had to be something built into this magic that dealt with motive. How can the price of having your life saved be even higher than if it had never been saved at all?

Harry ceased his furious trek around his room and looked over to the desk at the shiny silver tray that held his unwanted noon meal. Harry felt the anger burn in him still deeper. Alone, stuffed into a corner, something owned but never wanted, that was what that tray said to him. He was fed in his room, given work where he would not be noticed by the residents of the manor, yet it was outside where everyone who knew to look could see that he was enslaved.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm the storm raging about inside of him. It would help nothing to lose control. It would solve nothing to lose the advantage of having knowledge that everyone thought they were keeping from him. He had to do this right if he was going to survive this, he had to by all accounts out-slither the Slytherin as the saying went. Harry could do that; he was not Ron, he knew how to lie and deceive; it was something he had learned was a necessity in the war that had been thrust upon him. He hated lying, manipulating...it left him feeling unclean, but it had saved his life many times and if Harry had anything to say about it the very same thing would be done now.

Harry found a calm deep within himself as the embers of his anger and betrayal began to cool. Taking a couple deep breaths to bury his feelings on the matter just as he had for the last couple days, Harry retrieved his friends' letter from the top of the dresser where he had cast it upon entering the room.

Harry needed a place where he could read and not have to worry about being discovered before having a chance to hide the post. His first thought was oddly enough the wardrobe, but he was used to being stuffed and forgotten inside of a cupboard from his youth. Harry dismissed the idea as soon as it had occurred to him, whereas it was commonplace to appear out of a cupboard when called at the Dursleys, here it might seem to be just a little odd. No, the bed would be the best place, as long as he had the curtains drawn...but the wardrobe would be the best place to store the other letters that he had received until he was prepared to go over them.

Decision made, Harry dropped the shielded pile of letters into his trunk, slid on top of his bed, and pulled the hangings closed as he moved up to rest his back against the head board. Flicking out a bright Lumos with his wand Harry set the wand down beside him and unrolled the letter, a warm steady light washing over the letter as he read.

Oh Harry,

It was from Hermione; Harry knew that she had written the letter not only from how the greeting was worded but also from the length of the missive written in her tiny but neat script.

We came back as soon as we got your letter, but Professor Snape had already taken you. I am so sorry, if I had known they were going to do that I...we would never have left. The headmaster had spoken to us earlier and told Ron and I that we should leave as he had something he needed to talk to you about without distractions.

Distractions, yeah, like being able to ask for help and being able to at least say goodbye to his best friends before he was dragged off to lead a life of servitude was a distraction, Harry thought resentfully as he reread the beginning of the letter.

Listen, Harry, when we were away from Hogwarts we heard some pretty horrible things. People are saying the most awful things about you. They are not true, I know you never did it, but the Dursleys are dead. Oh Harry, the Prophet is claiming that you did it...

This was as far as he had gotten in the owlery before he had cast aside the letter and took up the article included in the post. What a way to find out that your only remaining relatives were murdered. According to the article he had read earlier it had happened not long after midnight the night before Dumbledore had called Harry into his office, and now the entire Wizarding world believed the printed lies.

Harry clenched his fists further wrinkling the letter in his hands. Harry took a deep breath and let his anger flow out of him as he continued.

...and that you are the next dark lord. They even asked Malfoy to give his opinion on your sanity. They asked Malfoy! The son of the man who was Voldemort's most loyal supporter! He is playing off of the falsehood that he is a victim of a horrible childhood raised by a crazed death eater, he is playing off of public sympathy, and they love him. Oh Harry, he is leading a rather angry mob of wizards who are after your blood.

Harry's hand shook. With his anger abated, horror had quite effectively taken its place. Not able to see clearly due to the rush of emotions Harry dropped the letter down beside him, laid one of his many pillows over it, and lunged out of bed to resume his pacing. He knew that it would take him forever to complete his letter at this rate, but the whole situation seemed unreal. Harry did not understand, his thoughts seemed to be all tangled up, he could not even see straight.

Malfoy...that at least did make sense. Harry after all was the one who was responsible for his father getting killed. Oh no, the young hero did not actually strike the killing blow, but he did make the dark wizard doubt the man's loyalties. Harry guessed that that bit of information must have gotten around.

Harry remembered that day clearly. It was the last day of the final battle. He was alone facing Voldemort and his two most trusted servants, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy.

So even though Voldemort did not know it, it was actually two on two. One of his two most trusted servants was a spy. Harry had known that would not be enough to win, but an idea had struck him. A very Slytherin idea.

As Voldemort had addressed his potions master, Harry let out a cry of rage.

"Traitor! I knew it, you spineless coward! I knew you had to be in league with him, I knew it and no one would believe me!"

Voldemort had laughed at the hate and betrayal Harry had purposefully projected. Harry could not see Snape's face at the time to see if he understood enough of what Harry was doing to play along and the younger wizard could not risk anything that would have alerted Voldemort that Harry was lying. So Harry just went on with his plan.

"Lucius, I asked you over and over again if Snape was working for Tom, you just kept changing the subject! Don't you know how much danger I could have been in! I had class with him daily! I could have been killed!" Harry whined in a spoiled, self-righteous tone emphasizing Voldemort's muggle-given name in an attempt to infuriate him.

Then the downside of the plan had come to hit Harry in full force. Voldemort was consumed with such rage that it had broken through the potions that had been given to Harry to stifle the connection between him and the dark wizard. Harry had never felt such pain in his scar as he had then. He had fought to keep on his feet, to keep from doubling over with the pain of it. Harry could not even focus on Malfoy's rapid denials; Snape's taunts went unheard by the boy. The only thing Harry knew was pain, then suddenly it was over and Malfoy lay dead. Dead by his master's own hands.

Yes, this new strike against Harry just stunk of the younger Malfoy, but how did he learn of what caused his father's death? Only Snape and Voldemort had been there.

Malfoy had to know though; his whole family was big on getting even. Harry had wrongly accused Malfoy Sr. of being a traitor and his master turned on him, now Malfoy the younger had the wizarding world believing that Harry was a traitor and was effectively turning them against their hero.

Knowing Malfoy, he would find the situation fitting.

But would he have gone so far as to kill Harry's relatives…Harry knew the man had no qualms about killing muggles, but there would have been an investigation. Then again, it did not sound like there was.

Anyway, who knew. Harry had a lot of enemies. Perhaps someone else killed the Dursleys and Malfoy just happened to be in the right place to turn Harry's 'loss' to his advantage. It was, after all, a very Slytherin tactic.

Harry growled, he had thought himself in circles not to mention that he was probably wearing a hole in the carpet. He needed more information; he had to go back to the letter. Harry sighed and crept back into his cushioned cave. As he picked up the letter he felt an emptiness inside his chest, he wished his friends were beside him reassuring him and bouncing ideas off of each other just like they always did when there was trouble.

The letter went on for a few more paragraphs about how the wizarding community was reacting to the news that their savior had gone dark. Harry found himself skimming through, he was used to bad reactions from people who closely followed the press and he could not afford to get himself worked up again. Harry wanted to send a letter off to Hermione before it was time for him to go outside again.

Finally the letter turned to the information Harry needed to know.

Harry, I looked up life-debts. You were right I could not resist, and I learned a lot, but I need some specific information from you to be able to determine the terms, limitations, and obligations of the debt you have incurred. I need to know the exact wording of what was said to you when the life debt was placed upon you. In fact it might just be better to tell me everything that went on in the meeting. I need to know what was said, how it was said, who was there, how you felt, your response, and anything else that you can think of.

Harry smile in spite of the situation, he could almost see Hermione bustling around the library with books stacked all around her placed in organized piles according to their subject and its relevancy.

There are twenty-five different classifications of life-debts and three more that are similar to a life-debt but are known as wizards-debts. The difference lies in how the debt was formed, who it was formed with (Enemy, Friend, Relative, Acquaintance, and Stranger), and how the debt was placed upon the debtor. I need to know all of this to be able to divulge the accurate information for your situation.

Harry closed his eyes. Was nothing simple anymore, then again was it ever?

There is good news, I think. I cannot find anything that shows that the ministry has caught wind of your new situation yet, then again, if my speculation is correct it may not matter. It all depends…Write me as soon as you are able, I will watch the skies.

Hermione

P.S. Ron would write something, I know he would wish to send his rants…err…regards, but he is still up shouting at the headmaster. He has been up there for over five hours. I stomped out rather angrily after only a half an hour oftheHeadmaster'shalf witted explanation, I figured that I could get more accomplished looking up relevant information, besides blowing up at people is Ron's forte as you well know.

It was strange how someone could feel both less and more lonely at the same time. Still, for the first time in the past two days Harry felt hope. He and his friends had been able to get out of everything they had been through before, they would get through this now. Each had their roles to fill, sure they may be separated, but they were still together where it counted. That would be enough, right?

Harry tucked the letter away in his trunk as he pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill from amongst his school supplies. Pushing aside the lunch tray, Harry sat down at the desk and began to quill the letter, explaining in detail everything that his friend had asked about. He even went into how Snape's silent treatment had infuriated him, although he tried to keep the correspondence from sounding whiney or immature.

Finally, after writing enough to adequately fill up one of McGonagall's assigned essays, Harry had said all that he needed to and was ready to send it off.

Just before Harry opened his door to head back up to the owlery, he turned and walked back to the desk. No sense in wasting his lunch just because he was not in the mood to eat. Grabbing a couple sandwiches out of the tray for Hedwig, Harry left his room to meet back up with his owl.

The first thing that Harry noticed when he returned to the owlery was that for some reason Hedwig was angry with him. Harry coaxed and crooned to get his bird to come down from the rafters but it was as if she had never even heard him.

"Hedwig, I don't understand? Was it because I left so quickly? I had to; I would have exploded up here. Come on girl. I really need to get this off, it is important. I do not trust any of these other birds to do half as good a job delivering it as you would." Harry pleaded to no avail.

Hedwig just stuck up her beak in protest.

"Hedwig, I am sorry. I must have been very rude with the temper I was in. Would you please forgive me? I brought you up some sandwiches." Harry held the food up in an attempt to lure the owl over to him. It worked, the snowy owl glided down landing on Harry's shoulders; her claws scratching him rather painfully through his sleeve.

"There girl, good girl," Harry winced. "I really did not forget you; I brought you these even before I knew you were mad at me," Harry said holding the food out to her. "There is a bit of a problem going on and I need you to take this letter to Hermione as soon as you are able, okay girl?" After taking a few swift pecks at the sandwich in Harry's hand Hedwig held out her leg so Harry could tie on the parchment. The owl then nipped gently at Harry's ear and took flight out of the owlery.

Harry sighed as he watched her go. He would have patience, he would! As for now, he had a part to play. He had to be a good little house elf. Harry shuddered. He had an hour left to catch up on the reading that he had fallen behind on, then gardening again.

Okay, maybe not be such a good house elf with the gardening…it just had to look authentic.

Harry was over halfway finished with his first book by the time the hour was over, and honestly he had learned quite a bit more than he thought he would have. What had gotten him interested in the book at first was the chance to further his prank on Snape, but now he almost wished to just be able to do what he was doing out of enjoyment. He could finally see what Neville saw in the subject, although Harry knew he would never be quite as good at it as his friend was. There were so many different uses for magical herb, and potion ingredients were only a small part of it.

Then, Harry had also found out how all the plants requiring different temperatures and care could reside within inches from each other, but he would have to wait until they began to grow before he could apply the charms.

Of course, the part that Harry was most pleased with was that he not only found more plants that were prominent ingredients in what Snape would consider asinine potions that were not worth the time it took to brew them, but he found many of them that bloomed bright pink. Perfect way to brighten up him manor, Harry thought vindictively.

When Harry made his way down for his second working shift, he had a rather sardonic glint in his eye. He was looking forward to putting some of his new knowledge to work. Besides, he had some emotions to work off; after all worrying would not make it any easier to get out of the abysmal situation he found himself in.

Anyway he still had people on his side, he would get through this. After all, next to Voldemort how bad could a vengeful Malfoy and an idiotic ministry be? After being enslaved to a war and fighting free, surely a life-debt couldn't be any worse.

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AN: Okay, I have been asked by a couple people how long this is going to be. My guess is that it will be around 80,000-100,000 words. I have planned a definite end, so it will not go one forever.

One of my goals in writing this is to keep at least a little humor in the midst of all the problems as well as really trying to keep them in character…although I do know that war changes people and I am trying to keep that in mind too.

Now for a small bit of bad news. I have finals coming up next week and I am not sure how much time I will have to write the next chapter, it may not come out until after I finish the semester which is in about a week and a half. It should not be much longer than that if any.

I would like to thank everyone for their reviews, I really was not expecting such a response to this story and I am glad that for the most part it has come off well!

By the way, Bookmarker, your poetic review was awesome, it really made my day. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

Also, Padawan Jan-AQ I am honored to be included in your C2, thank you for including my fic!