A/N: I start school tomorrow and decided that, in honor of my first day of my last year of high school, I would update this. It cannot be beta-ed right now as my beta, Xirleb70, is unavailable for the time being, so I am taking the chance and updating without it being as thoroughly edited. I hope to have the beta-ed version up soon. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen

Previous Chapter: Harry saw red. "You have no idea what you are talking about! Do you think I don't know what it's like? How horrible it feels to know that your own family doesn't give a damn about you? To be locked away for just being what you are? Trust me, I know all too well." He stood up stiffly. "I can't help. I'm sorry but I can't help everyone."

The door banging shut left a sickening echo in his bleak wake.

Harry ran. Throughout his childhood, running had been his escape. It had been the only way to avoid the beating of his cousin's fist, the only way to get away from the horrible life he had been stuck with. He ran and ran until he couldn't run anymore.

He burst through the door of the Astronomy Tower and hit the wall, staring down the precipitous drop. He breathed in heavily, head swimming with vertigo, and dropped to his knees. He slammed his back in to the bricks, sliding down the only barrier between him and assured death.

Clenching his teeth together, he gazed up in to the looming black sky. The stars were barely visible through the haze, but Harry knew they were there, shining down on him.

"Mum," he choked, eyes blinking back the tears he would not let fall, "Dad, I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. Why is it always me? Why do they always need me to fall back on? How can they expect me to save the whole world when I can't even … I can't even save myself. I'm not a hero. I can't … I'm only sixteen. I can't do it."

He looked down at his clenched hands. "He is going to kill me," he announced with absolute finality. "He is going to kill me, he is going to kill Remus, he is going to kill Red … he is going to kill them all, everyone I have left, what is left of my family. And then me. And there is nothing I can do about it." He stood up and screamed into the night, all the rage he felt at the hopelessness of the situation pouring out of his voice. "Do you hear me? I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!"

"Harrison? Harrison?"

Harry felt dizzy and cold. He stared blearily at the stone floor below him, bewilderingly wondering about how he had ended up on it. There were no stone floors in the Dursley's world of crisp carpets and sparkling linoleum. And unless he had passed out on the kitchen table, he was sure that he wasn't still at Grimmauld Place.

Groaning, he pushed himself up, knocking his head into a sharp metal object. He cursed and glared at the offending entity. A brass telescope, the kind that would be found …

At Hogwarts. He was at Hogwarts.

As his mind tried to grasp this new information, the events of the past week emerged in his head. He flopped back on the floor. It was better to just lie there, he decided, than to face another day like the last.

"Are you alright, Harrison?"

"I … think I'm going to be sick." He abandoned his safe spot on the ground once more and retched over the ledge. Panting, he sank back into a heap.

"Well that was a pleasant sight." The voice had a sarcastic tint to it, but still sounded compassionate. Harry recognized it at once, but did not want to believe that this would be the person to find him, that this would be the person who cared enough to look after him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and peered out from beneath his arms.

Severus Snape met his eyes directly. He pushed forward a small vile of purplish liquid. "Drink this," he ordered. "It will settle your stomach."

"Thanks," he mumbled and downed the bottle. It burned slightly going down.

"I did not think I would find you up here," Snape commented lightly, taking the empty bottle back and pocketing it. "You friends are scouring downstairs for you and Lupin" his nose wrinkled in distaste "is searching Hogsmeade and the forest."

"I wanted to get as far away from the Great Hall as I could," Harry admitted, sitting up and wrapping his arms around his legs.

"Did you spend the whole night up here?" Snape's brow creased slightly in concern and Harry had to look away.

He nodded. "I didn't mean to. I guess I just … fell asleep." Biting his lip, he asked hesitantly, "Is everyone really mad at me?" He hated how immature he sounded, but he needed to know.

Snape sighed. "I won't lie to you, Harrison. There are some people down there that aren't very happy with you."

He wrapped himself in tighter. "Maybe I should've just said yes. It would've been so much easier … "

"Never." Snape's eyes were fierce and Harry flinched back uncontrollably. "Never say yes to someone just because it's what everyone wants you to do."

Unbidden a voice popped into his head. '… a choice between what is right and what is easy …' Dumbledore's words from the end-of-the-term speech after Cedric was murdered. Harry had sworn to himself to never take the easy way out, to always stand his ground and fight. And he would.

"I know," Harry whispered. "I know. But sometimes I forget … It seems like no matter what I choose, someone always gets hurt. Including me. This time it was just so – " He stopped. He had been going to say 'literal', but Snape couldn't know that, not yet. "… hard," he finished lamely. Snape's eyes seemed to pierce through him and he severely hoped that the man was not reading his mind. "What's going to happen to the kid now?"

"They are sending him to a safe house for the time being. It's what they should have done in the first place." Snape stood up and extended a hand to help the student. "But don't worry about that. You did nothing wrong."

Harry stared at the hand in wonder. "Why are being so nice to me? You don't even know me."

"You are in my House, Harrison," Snape said briskly. "And I take that very seriously. I would never let any of my students waste away on top of tower, especially in November." He softened a bit and smiled. "And you seem like you could use some help every now and then."

Harry smiled back and took the hand.

For the second time that day Harry awoke to a hard stone floor in his face. Rubbing his aching head, he sat up and glanced around. The comfortable guest room at Hogwarts had disappeared; instead Harry found himself in a richly furnished chamber and in front of a roaring fire.

He slowly got his feet, brushing invisible dust of his robes.

"Enjoying your stay in 1986, Potter?"

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. Sitting on the other side of the room was Lord Voldemort.

"I know you are there, Harry," Voldemort said tauntingly, the firelight flickering off his too-white skin. "I can sense you."

To no avail, he scanned the room for an exit. Cautiously he approached the Dark Lord. Voldemort appeared to be sleeping, eyes closed and mouth rested in a lazy smirk.

"Now don't worry, Harry," he cooed, sending shivers up and down Harry's spine. "You're still safely sleeping up at the castle. I just simply wanted to remind you."

"Remind me of what?" he asked warily.

"I'm watching you, Harry. You are far less protected here than you ever have been. It is almost time." He let out a high-pitched chuckle, baring his sharp teeth. "We will meet soon, Harry. But in the meantime … Crucio!"

Harry bolted up in bed, screaming his lungs raw. The door slammed open, shaking on its hinges, and Remus appeared.

"Harry! Are you okay?" Harry doubled over on the bed and Remus wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Do you need to go to Madame Pomphrey?"

"I'm fine – Ahhhh!" Harry screamed again, clutching his hair and pulling his head back. He gazed up at Remus with desperate green eyes. "I need help."

"Harry, your face! You look … you look like you!"

Harry shivered in agony. "I can't hold it. Please, just cast a glamour."

Remus raised his wand, mumbled an incantation, and scooped the boy up into his arms. Even without the assistance of his werewolf strength, Remus was sure he would have been able to lift the boy up; he was much too light for his age.

"Don't worry, Harry," he said softly, rubbing the shaking child's hair. "We're going to get you some help."

Madame Pomphrey entered the hall, wiping sweat from her brow. "Well, I've done everything I can," she said as she gazed at the concerned group in front of her.

Remus Lupin was slumped down in a chair in the corner, but looked up sharply when she came out. The Headmaster was calmly sitting by the door and munching on what looked suspiciously like jelly beans. Mr. Peterson had his arm around Miss Williams, who was sobbing into his shirt. But the man who shocked her the most was pacing up and down the corridor, muttering under his breath. Severus Snape had shown up only moments after Harrison had been brought into the Hospital Wing and had remained outside his room ever since. Madame Pomphrey had never seen the Professor so worried in the entire time she had known him.

"And?" Lupin croaked, his face filled with anxiety.

"He's going to be fine," she assured them and there was a collective sigh of relief. Dumbledore began to hum quietly to himself. "He just needs some sleep."

"What happened to him?" Severus asked sharply.

Madame Pomphrey shook her head in confusion. "I wish I knew. I thought you said he never left his room today," she said, staring at Lupin. He gave her a puzzled look.

"He didn't," he replied. "I was outside his door all afternoon."

"Then how would he be suffering from exposure to the Cruciatus Curse?"

"What?"

"My tests indicate that he was held under it for a full minute," she reported, trying her best to ignore the horrified stares directed at her. "And I believe this wasn't the first time. It shows signs of previous curses cast upon him. Both Cruciatus and Imperius."

"Curious," Dumbledore muttered to himself, deep in thought.

Miss Williams rose slowly, trying to stop the tears that were running down her face. "Can I see him?" she asked shakily.

"Of course," the matron said gently. "He's sleeping right now and I must ask that you keep quiet until he wakes up. He really needs his rest right now."

"Okay." She walked up to the Hospital Wing door and tentatively pushed the door open. Madame Pomphrey watched her progress before turning back to address the rest. "No more visitors until tomorrow morning," she instructed sternly.

"But – " Lupin started to protest, but she hushed him.

"No. You can come back in the morning. All of you go get some sleep."

Lelia's footsteps echoed in the dark infirmary. She gazed around at the empty hospital beds, her eyes finally resting at the end of the ward. She reached up and parted the curtains.

Zach looked peaceful. His dark hair was pressed up on the pillow, making him look like a hedgehog. The blankets were pulled up tight around his neck, the fringe tickling his nose. He wrinkled it slightly and turned his head. Lelia repressed a chuckle.

He definitely didn't look like someone who had been subjected to one of the most painful curses in Wizarding history.

This thought sobered Lelia right up. She knew what kind of agony that spell could inflict; her father had taught her many things.

She pulled a chair up next to his bed and closed the drapes again. "Hi, Zach," she greeted softly. "How are you feeling?" No answer. "That was a stupid question."

Leaning her elbows on the edge of the bed, she peered at the face of her new friend. There were so many things about him that she didn't know, so many things that she was dying to find out. Zachary Harrison was a mystery to her.

"I'm sorry all this is happening to you, Zach," she said, reaching up to brush the hair off his forehead. "But it will all get better soon. It has to. I promise – " With a gasp, she stopped.

The boy in front of her changed slightly. She watched as his hair shortened and his face shifted. She could see his eyes behind shuttered eyelids roll upwards. And she could feel the skin beneath her fingers alter, becoming more rough.

She removed her hand from his forehead and brought it to her mouth in shock. Where Zachary Harrison's unblemished skin had been there was now a stark lightning bolt shaped scar.