Yo! ...It's cold. Thank you to all readers so far!

Mr and Mrs Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive were proud to say that they were terrified out of their fucking minds, thank you very much.

After their horrid nephew had left the other week, they'd been under the impression that they weren't going to have to see or deal with the freaks until the next summer.

As it turned out, they were wrong.

And if their nephew slash cousin was a freak, then the...thing they were cowering before now was the ultimate of all freaks!

Lord Voldemort just laughed. He had already made three mind trips via Legilimency and was beyond furious with what he had learned. It was quite surprising Potter hadn't turned out worse, considering the way he'd been brought up.

The Dursleys, meanwhile, just knew that they were well and truly fucked. Whelp, sucked to be them.


The first week of classes was uneventful, in Harry's opinion. Sirius wasn't a bad teacher at all (though Remus was still better), but, more importantly, Voldemort still hadn't replied to his last letter. That definitely wasn't normal, especially since he knew the Dark Lord had been annoyed when he'd read the missive.

The Death Eaters had been oddly quiet recently too, so there was that as well. And on top of all of that, Dumbledore hadn't once asked to talk to him about how he and Voldemort had been writing to one another for at least half the summer. Sirius hadn't said anything either. Neither had Ron or Ginny.

...What the fuck was wrong with everyone?

Hermione had been quite shocked when Harry explained things to her, and at first, thought everyone had been cursed not to care so they wouldn't interfere in whatever it was that Voldemort was plotting. At least, until she'd learned Dumbledore was doing the same thing as the rest. Wasn't he too strong and smart to fall for something like that? But then, what was going on? Did it really just...not matter to them? To any of them?

"Maybe they're just waiting for him to start revealing plans to you?" Neville suggested on Saturday morning a few days later while they sat at Gryffindor Table.

Harry sighed, picking at his bacon. "But you'd think they'd have realized by now that he's too smart for that. There's no way he'd just start telling me important stuff like that, and frankly, I don't care enough to ask."

Hermione eyed him closely. "Do you like this...thing the two of you have going on?"

Harry shrugged somewhat helplessly. "I know it makes me sound completely crazy, but yeah, I honestly do." He finished off his goblet of milk, absently wondering when his growth spurt would kick in, and then glowered when Ron pilfered the bacon off his plate. "I feel so...normal exchanging those letters with him. It-it's fun."

Hermione just looked at him sadly. They should have been completely against Voldemort and everything he stood for, and yet, even she had noticed the difference in her friend. Harry came across as being genuinely happy. Was that...was that wrong?

She really had no idea what to think about all this, and she certainly didn't understand it. Weirdly enough, Harry's correspondence with the Dark Lord made more sense than everyone else's reactions to it.

All three teens were pulled out of their respective thoughts when hundreds of owls flew into the Hall to deliver the morning post. Everybody's attention was quickly drawn to a large package (probably under a feather-light charm) being carried by a single dark feathered owl. And it was heading straight for Harry. He quickly pushed his dishes out of the way to make space and stared in confusion at the box. What could it possibly be?

"Open it, Potter!" Draco Malfoy called from Slytherin Table, a smirk on his face. Clearly, he already knew the answer.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville exchanged puzzled looks, even as Ron, who was still wolfing his breakfast down obliviously, didn't notice. With a shrug, Harry just listened to Malfoy and did as he'd said. What the heck could go wrong? It wasn't as if anyone was making any move to stop him.

Pulling off the paper, he opened the flaps and peered inside curiously, Hermione leaning across the table and Neville easing in closer to do the same.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Hermione groaned. She paused as if in thought, glanced into the box again, then added, "Yeah, definitely going to be sick." She hurried out of the Hall, Neville not very far behind her.

Harry just continued to stare, mind not registering what exactly he was seeing. His gaze was only torn away when Hedwig landed nearby. She had a letter for him. Hands trembling slightly, he took it from her and quickly began to read.

'Potter,

Normally I would curse you for not immediately gifting me in return, but as you are a Gryffindor, I admit I should have seen your response coming. Be sure to know I will kill you extremely painfully if you do not reciprocate on the thirty-first of December.

What you no doubt see before you now, however, is a gift by no means. As no one else seems to have cared for this common sense or decency, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. And before you ask, yes, they suffered very much for what they have done.

Thank me.

Voldemort'

Harry couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of him, a sound that was half amusement and half relief, which only prompted shocked stares from the Slytherins, who already knew what the box contained.

At the same moment, however, a large menacing-looking owl dropped a letter before Dumbledore on the Staff Table. The Headmaster glanced down at it but made no move to open or read it, choosing to ignore it for the time being instead. But even though the letter wasn't a Howler, it suddenly began to read itself in a loud, yet low, and very cold voice.

'I do not take kindly to child abuse, Albus Dumbledore, no matter the identity of the victim. If you continue to condone it the way you are, do not be surprised if those very same victims turn against you one day.'

There was a very, very long and deafening silence in the Great Hall, no one able to believe what they had just heard. It simply couldn't be possible! ...Could it?

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed suddenly, breaking the shocked and tense silence that had fallen. "Put that finger down! Do you know where Dudley's been!?"

What was even going on anymore!?

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!