Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
Harry woke up suddenly. The sun was shining brightly, bathing the whole room with light. What time was it? He looked around. Everyone else was already up, and gone. Harry groaned. He'd better get up right away before he was late for classes.
He hurried down the hallways. Passing by a small group of people, he saw that they were all staring at him curiously. He continued forward, bewildered. He was used to being stared at, but he would have thought after more than four years at Hogwarts they would stop. More people were looking now, as he walked by, and pointing. Whispering, too.
Harry stared determinately forward, feeling his face grow red. What was wrong? Did he forget something? Was there something on his face? He had rushed in the morning- he slowly reached his hands down- yes…he did have on his trousers. Blinking confusedly, he decided to ignore the added attention, and sped up his walk to the breakfast.
Draco Malfoy was sneering at him as he entered. "Just had to let the whole world know, didn't you Potter?" the blonde smirked. "Not the smartest move."
"What are you talking about?" Harry spat at him.
"Don't act like you don't know," the Slytherin narrowed his eyes. "Famous Potter, just has to grab all the attention-"
Harry clenched his hand, gripping his wand, and then decided Malfoy wasn't worth the time. He spun around and walked off.
"I'm not finished-" he heard Malfoy snarl in the distance, but he ignored him. Then he noticed that all the students eating breakfast had been starting at him.
On his last nerve, Harry glared at all of them. "WHAT?" They all hurriedly turned back to their breakfast, chatting like nothing had happened.
Harry sighed and walked over to where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were finishing breakfast. "Hey, guys…"
"Hi, Harry," Ron said nervously, while Ginny and Hermione gave him unconvincing smiles.
"Why was everyone staring at me? And what was Malfoy talking about?" Harry demanded. He knew where the truth was when Hermione quickly tried to stuff her newspaper in her robe.
"Hand it over, Hermione," he said firmly. "I'll find out anyways."
"Ok," she sighed, "But you're not going to like it." She reluctantly handed him the paper.
Harry snatched it from her hand, aware of everyone at the table looking at him nervously.
HARRY POTTER IS KEY TO DEFEATING VOLDEMORT
The headline screamed. Harry gasped, looking over at Ron and Hermione. "You-?"
"I swear, Harry, I would never tell anyone!" Ron said indignantly. "Don't you know that?"
Hermione had the same look on her face. "We would never do that to you!"
Silently, Harry turned back to the paper, scanning the article. Snatches of words jumped out at him…magical bond between He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Boy Who Lived…Dumbledore's secrets…stop muggle attacks…there was no author mentioned.
The information about him and Voldemort was the exact same thing he had told Ron and Hermione. Harry frowned. He believed them, though. Maybe they were put under the Imperius Curse, and then had the memory removed? But by who?
He took a deep breath. That didn't matter right now. The thing that mattered was that everyone knew…just what Dumbledore had warned him against.
"Harry?" Ginny asked in a small voice. "Are you okay?"
"You should go talk to Dumbledore," Hermione insisted. "Right now."
"Yeah, mate," Ron agreed. "He'll know what to do."
Before Harry could answer, voices came from behind him.
"Harry!" It was Fred and George.
"Is this true?" George demanded, waving the paper in his face.
"Guys…" Harry felt overwhelmed by all his friends.
"Because if it's not, we'll go find whoever pulled this sick joke," Fred interrupted. "We can't have people spreading rumors about you! It's disgusting!"
"Harry!" Neville stumbled over to their table. "I just read the paper-"
"STOP!" Harry held up both hands. He startled himself with how loud he had yelled, and how shocked everyone else looked. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, trying to get out of the little circle they had unintentionally formed around him. "I just have to go…"
They all backed off, looking unsure, as he rushed from the table.
"Harry-?" Ron started after him, but Hermione grabbed his shoulder, giving him a knowing look.
Harry heard Ron calling after him. He felt horrible about leaving his friends when they were so concerned, but he had to be alone for a little while, to think things through. Like what this would mean for him, and his future.
He was halfway up the stairs to the Common Room when he felt a sudden pain in his scar. It escalated quickly, blinding him, and he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Harry clutched his forehead, shaking, feeling sick. The agony was overwhelming…he couldn't move. He couldn't explain why, but he knew why Voldemort was doing this. Such a strong feeling was getting through to him. Voldemort had found out about the article. Now he was angry and afraid that the Ministry would kill Harry, therefore killing him.
The throbbing and pain reached a crescendo, and the boy slumped to the stone floor, blacked out, hand still clutching his scar.
Later he was awakened by someone shaking his shoulders and crying his name.
"Harry, Harry, Harry…" the voice echoed through his head. He shook his head weakly.
"Harry, Harry, Harry…" it continued, and finally he blinked open his eyes. Neville wavered before his vision.
"What happened?" the frightened boy continued shaking him.
"Stop," Harry murmured. "I'm fine now…" He got up. "What time is it?"
"Just about half an hour after you left the Great Hall. I was in the middle of class when I realized I forgot my book. That's when I was on my way up to the tower, and I found you here." Neville helped him up.
Harry brushed himself off. "Oh shoot, I'm late for Potions. I guess Hermione and Ron think I went to talk to Dumbledore or something. Thanks for waking me up." He took a step unsteadily; his head felt dizzy.
"Don't you think you should go to the Hospital Wing, Harry?" Neville asked uncertainly. "You kinda look…bad. I mean, pale and stuff."
Harry grinned. "Thanks…I think I'll be ok."
With Neville still looking worriedly at him, Harry shakily got his stuff together. "See you later," he said, and started down to the dungeons.
Halfway to class, he wondered if he should go talk to Dumbledore.
"Well…he would already know by now…" he argued inside his head.
Just then the old headmaster rounded the corner. "Harry, my boy! I was just going to to get you from Potions. We have much to discuss."
Harry looked surprised. "Really? Well…I was just about to go up to your office."
"Perfect!" Without another word, the headmaster took Harry's arm and directed him upwards to his office.
As Harry entered the circular room, he saw the familiar black dog waiting for him.
"Sirius!" he took the dog in his arms, hugging it tightly. All the stress was finally getting to him. The dog licked him eagerly. When Harry let go, he transformed back into a man.
"How've you been doing?" He asked, face etched with concern.
Harry sank into a chair, exhausted. "Fine…just fine."
Dumbledore sat down at his desk. "What I want to know is how someone got a hold of that information and put it on today's Daily Prophet."
Harry shook his head. "I have no idea. I only told Ron and Hermione. They would never tell anyone!"
They looked at Sirius. "I have never said a word about it," he said, outraged that they would think of him. "Who would I tell it to, anyways? I'm a convict, remember."
"Never mind about that," Dumbledore said seriously. "Our main concern right now is what to do now. The Ministry won't just rest, now that they know they have a way to get rid of Voldemort."
"You think they'll try to hurt Harry?" Sirius growled. "But they can't get in the school! You won't let them!"
Harry remembered how Hogwarts was the safest place in the Wizarding World.
"There are other ways," Dumbledore said. "Some people are desperate, Sirius. I imagine some parents who work at the Ministry might even try to get their kids here to help them."
Sirius looked furious. "Then expell all of those kids!"
Dumbledore sighed. "We can't just do that. The best we can do right now is to think of some safey guidelines for Harry here to follow. Do you agree?"
Harry nodded. What else could he do?
"First. Never drink or eat anything unless it is directly from Sirius or me. That will rule out poison. Never be alone in the hallways. I imagine your friends will be only too happy to accompany you at all times."
"What about at night?" Sirius asked. "Someone could stab him at night!"
Harry winced. "Thanks, Sirius."
"Sorry Harry-" his godfather looked at him apologetically. "How about this? I can stay with him at all times, and sleep by his bed! My sense of hearing is quite acute actually-"
"But- people will find out about you!"
"No one knows I'm an Animagus. I can just be Harry's pet dog," Sirius said quickly.
"I thought dogs weren't allowed at Hogwarts," Harry wondered. "I thought it was only rats, owls, cats, and toads."
"Professor Dumbledore can make an exception, right?" Sirius pleaded.
"It would be quite dangerous, Sirius," Dumbledore said. He sighed again. "But I cannot deny your right to protect your godson. Just think about the risks, and think carefully."
"I've already thought about it enough," Sirius declared. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to Harry."
"But- Professor!" Harry asked. "Won't people be mad- that you're protecting me? I mean, they all want Voldemort killed! And what about all the muggles and muggle-borns that will be killed? What am I supposed to do?"
Dumbledore looked at him kindly. "Don't worry, Harry. I could care less about what the Ministry thought of me. They never had much favor for me, anyways. As for the other problems, we are working as hard as possible to find a way out of this. So far we have only thought of that one idea, which we all seem not too fond of. All people have been warned of the dangers."
Harry still didn't look too sure. Sirius put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "We'll get through this. And remember, it's NOT YOUR FAULT."
Dumbledore nodded agreeingly, and Harry smiled weakly.
"Yeah, right," he whispered under his breath.
AN: Come on people, review. I have a total of two reviewers right now, who bothare my close friends. If you guys reading this right now don't think it is worth the time to review, I don't think it is worth my time to write this. I really will stop, as I am losing motivation. I know people are reading this...I can check on my stats page! Please...how long does it take?
