Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All I own is my original characters and settings that will come up later is the story.

I am rewriting/adding parts of this story to improve it and get rid of inconsistencies. If you see any let me know. Tell me if it's improved if you've read it before. And if you're a 'virgin', so to speak, just drop a line and tell me how it's going.

I'm going to make a calendar and post it on my website to explain the time duration of all this. There are days in between some of the chapters that explain Harry's changing behavior. As time goes by he's adjusting to his environment. I'll post a note when it's up. It might take some time.

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The feast lasted forever. Finally the prefects stood and motioned the first years toward the doors. Harry slipped out quickly and hid in the shadows. Draco walked by followed by the first years. Lila separated from the group and slid into the shadows. Harry knelt and hugged her. "What are you doing here Lila?"

"Momma wanted me to be safe. So here I am." She pulled the hem of her robes out from under her feet.

Harry pulled her deeper into the alcove as the Ravenclaws passed. "You were safer where you were and you always squirm when you lie. Why are you here Lila?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. But I got a wand!" She pulled it out of her pocket. "It's going to be so cool."

She's here to watch me. They sent a six-year-old to watch me. "Be careful here Lila."

Lila giggled and kissed his cheek. "I know. I've already seen lots of stuff to avoid. It will be okay." She glanced out into the entrance hall. "Oh! A boy with red hair will be mad if he finds you in bed with a girl with red hair. He'll punch you before he listens. Try not to act guilty." She ran off.

Harry sighed. "This is not going to be good." He ran his hands through his hair. "The laptop!" He ran up the stairs toward the tower. He met the group of Gryffindors at the Fat Lady.

Hermione was explaining the password. "The password for this week is Polonius." The portrait swung open and they piled in.

Harry stepped through last. "Brevity is the soul of wit." He skirted around the group of first years staring in awe at the common room and trudged up the stairs.

Seamus, Dean, and Neville were emptying their trunks.

Harry unlocked his trunk and opened the lid. He pulled the bag over his head and dropped it on the bed.

"How was you summer Harry?" Dean hung up the last of his clothes and flopped on his bed.

"Good." He pulled off his robe.

"Where did you get those pants?" Seamus closed his trunk.

Why is Seamus looking at my pants? "Hot Topic."

Seamus shut his trunk. "What?"

Harry shrugged. "A muggle store."

Ron slammed the door. "There are way too many first years."

Harry laughed. "Yes, well. You'd think parents would send their kids somewhere Voldemort didn't always try and attack." The four boys froze and stared at him. "What? Am I wrong? Voldemort wants me dead. He's going to keep attacking." Now they think I'm some kind of freak. No one understands. No one will ever understand. "Why are you all staring at me?"

Dean slid farther back on his bed. "Harry, you're glowing."

"I'm what?" His hands were giving off a blue glow. "Oh. Okay. You can look at me strangely then."

"What's happening?" Ron stepped forward.

"It's just a warning. A little overzealous if you ask me but it made Chris feel better." He pushed stuff around his trunk. He pulled the blue vial out of the potions storage container, pulled out the stopper, and downed it. The glow disappeared. "That's better. Sorry to freak you guys out. It's just a protection spell. I forgot to reverse it before I came."

Seamus closed his trunk. "Why would you want to reverse a protection spell?"

He tossed the empty vial on his bedside table. "It just alerts me to the fact that someone is plotting something against me. If I kept it on I'd be glowing constantly here even if it was only attuned to Malfoy."

"I've never seen a protection spell like that." Ron sat on his trunk.

Harry smiled and hopped onto his bed. "For the most part it was just an easy way to avoid people pulling pranks on you. Dad made it."

Neville's head whipped around from where he had been putting away clothes. "Your Dad?"

Yes. My dead father is making potions. Were they always this stupid? Was I this stupid? "Well no. Dad, yes. My dad, no. Mr. Richardson made it. He taught potions this summer since he's on vacation from work."

"Who the bloody hell is Mr. Richardson?" Ron's freaking out again. Does it kill him that I may have actually enjoyed my summer vacation for the first time in my life?

"The man I stayed with this summer. He's Cali's father. You met Cali at the station, remember?" His hand reached inside his bag.

"Whatever. I'm going down to the common room." Ron walked out followed by Seamus, Dean, and Neville.

The door shut and Harry ripped the necklace off and chucked it on the table. He clenched his hand into a fist to stop the shaking. Stupid pricks. He twisted the top off the pill bottle, tipped a few pills in his mouth, and swallowed them dry.

"Harry?" Ginny peeked around the door. "I saw everyone leave so I figured it was safe to come up. Are you okay?"

He relaxed his hand and shoved the bottle back into his bag. "Yeah. I'm okay."

She looked at the robes spilling over the edge of his trunk. "You haven't unpacked. Do you want some help?"

Harry smiled. "Sure. Thanks." He pulled out the drawer in the bedside table and started emptying his bag into it.

Ginny pulled clothes out of his trunk and hung them up. "So you have a lot of strange muggle clothes."

Harry laughed. He slid the pill bottle under his dream journal at the front of the drawer. "Cali took me shopping a few times. She said I had to stop dressing like a poor, fat, snotty little English boy."

"And start dressing like a what exactly?" She pulled something out of his trunk and blushed.

Harry grabbed the corset and tossed it into the bottom of his closet. His face felt hot. "We, uh, went to see Rocky Horror." Her face didn't lose any of its color. "Which means nothing to you but it's an explanation." He folded his arms across his chest. His left boot was scuffed. He should probably try and get that off.

Ginny coughed. "Is it safe to look in your trunk now?"

Harry coughed, leaned over, and pushed everything around. He pulled out a pair of black stilettos and fishnets and tossed them in his closet. "Should be safe now."

Ginny pulled out a pile of shirts and started to hang them up. "So you said you were going to show me something."

"I almost forgot." He jumped onto the bed on his knees and pulled the laptop out of his bag. He flipped the top up and pressed the power button.

Ginny glanced over from the wardrobe. "What does this do?"

"Well it can do a lot. You can play music, games, write assignments if you have a printer and don't have to do homework like you're living in the dark ages, and if you have an Internet connection you can find pretty much anything you need. For me it should let me talk to Cali since she fixed it so it would work in the presence of magic and without an Internet connection."

"I don't think I understand." She hung up the last shirt.

"Come here." He patted the bed next to him and she slid over. He clipped the web cam to the top of the screen and clicked on the icon in the middle of the desktop. A video window popped up filled with static.

"What is it?" Ginny leaned in.

Harry flopped banc against the pillows. "Not what it's supposed to be. Damn it."

"I'm sorry--"

"Harry!"

Harry shot up. "Cali!"

Cali's face backed away from the screen. "Don't do that to me!"

"Do what?"

"You took off your necklace. I thought you were dead." Her hands were shaking.

Harry grimaced. "Sorry. I--I needed some alone time."

"I see." Her eyes shifted to Ginny. "Hi. I'm Cali. We didn't have the chance to be formally introduced before the yelling started."

Ginny glanced at Harry. "I'm Ginny."

"Weasley right? Harry told me all about you." She smiled her evil grin. This is not going to turn out well. "You're going to watch out for my boy while he's at school right? He's a cute boy, but he needs hugs."

Harry sighed. Too bad you couldn't hit people when they were on a different continent. "Shut up Morganna."

Cali pouted. "You first."

Ginny giggled.

Harry smirked. "What are you laughing at?"

Cali whistled. "While I'd much enjoy continuing with this very mature argument, I have a potions practicum in ten minutes in west side and Dad's not talking to me."

Harry grimaced. "Your little stunt didn't go over well?"

Cali shrugged and glanced around her. "It was more the getting caught part he didn't like, but don't tell Mom that."

Harry laughed. "I'll talk to you later Cali."

She nodded. "You bet your cute little ass you will. It was nice to meet you Ginny."

"You too." Ginny looked shell shocked. Cali did take a little getting used to.

He hit the power button and the screen went black as Ginny threw herself on him.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Ron slammed the door.

Ginny pulled her robe back over her shoulder. "Ron--"

Lila. Harry rested the urge to scream 'This isn't what it looks like.' "Hey Ron. Common room get boring?"

Ron shifted form foot to foot, looked between them, and took a step forward.

Harry sat up, pushed the top of the laptop closed, and pushed it to the end of the bed. "Apparently all the girls in my life have decided what I lack is hugs. I swear they are all insane."

"Hugs?" Ron played with his shirt.

Please let this work. I would like to survive this night. "I know. We were putting my stuff away, then we were talking to Cali, and she goes and tells Ginny to hug me."

Ginny coughed. "Well I think she was right. A hug can help anyone out." She yawned. "Well I'm off to bed." She kissed Ron on the cheek. "Night Ron." She's gotten a little too good at this.

"Night Ginny." Ron's eyes darted between her and him.

Ginny shot a grimace at Harry from behind Ron's back and closed the door behind her.

Ron wrapped his hand around the bedpost. "She was giving you a hug?"

Now we make anything else sound ridiculous. "Yeah. What did you think was going on?" If I were back at the Academy stupid human contact like that wouldn't have made anyone even bat an eye. I guess my hug quotient for the year has dropped.

Ron wouldn't even look at him. That's a good start. If he were going to kill me he'd probably be looking right at me. "I--I wasn't sure. She had that crush on you and--and Cho's out of the picture--"

"And she's your sister Ron. Which means she might as well be my sister." He moved off the bed and threw his arm around Ron's shoulder. Of course I doubt I'd flirt with my sister, but she's the only one I'd feel comfortable doing it around since I know she's over me even if Ron hasn't figured it out yet. "Who you should be worrying about is every OTHER guy at Hogwarts. Ginny isn't a little kid anymore."

Ron sighed. "Well why can't she be a little kid? It was so much easier."

Harry shrugged and pushed his bag toward the middle of his bed.

"Harry, what's this?" Ron grabbed Cali's purple makeup bag off the floor as it dropped out of his bag.

His father could have told him about muggle drugs. "Don't touch that!" Harry lunged for it and Ron jumped back and sent the bag flying. The broken zipper opened and seventeen pill bottles rolled across the floor.

Harry clenched his fists and stopped the magic before he sent the bottles flying back into the bag. He ran over and stuffed them back inside.

"Harry, what are all of those?" Ron looked nervous. Damn. His father had probably told him about them. No!

"Nothing. They're nothing." He shoved the bag into the drawer.

"Then why don't you want me to see them exactly?" Ron's face was red and his hands were clenched. "What aren't you telling us Harry? What happened this summer?"

I'm fine. The pills are to make sure I stay fine. Why won't anyone leave me alone? Harry sighed, pulled the bag back out of the drawer, and tossed the pills onto the bed. "Fine. Look."

Ron stared at him and slowly picked up a bottle. "Venalfaxine, valium, amoxcillin, what are these?"

Harry ran his hands through his hair and plopped onto the bed. They are bottles that fill the only bottle of pills I ever take anything from. "The first one is an antidepressant, the second one calms you down to deal with stress, and the third is just an antibiotic for my bronchitis."

Ron's face turned whiter. "And the rest?"

He's never going to believe I'm okay if he thinks I need these drugs. He's a wizard. He won't believe that these pills won't make you better and that you have to keep taking them. "More of the same. There are a few anti psychotics in there. I think two of the bottles are filled with candy." He understands candy. If I'd keep candy in with the pills then the pills themselves can't be such a big deal, right?

Ron sat down next to him. "Harry, I have no idea about muggle medicine, but even I know this probably isn't a good thing."

No idea about--score! "It is a good thing, kind of. I got most of them to deal with the aftereffects of the spell." I have to do something to ensure he doesn't tell anyone. " I haven't taken any of them in weeks. I kept them in case something happened and I needed them again." Okay. That's not exactly a lie. I haven't eaten any of the candy in a few weeks. He didn't ask which ones I was taking.

He handed the bag back to Harry. "You're sure that you're okay?"

The next person that asks that is going to get the crap beaten out of them. "I'm fine Ron, really. Thanks for worrying though, it means a lot to me."

"It does?" Why does he look so surprised? It's better then him not caring if I'm okay.

Though in this situation I'd prefer that he stopped caring and left me alone. "Yes."

"Then maybe you are crazy." He laughed and patted Harry on the back. "I am going to bed. Those first years have way too much energy."

'Maybe you are crazy.' Cali would never have said that. "Goodnight Ron."

"Night Harry." Ron changed and pulled the curtains closed around his bed. Dean, Neville, and Seamus came in and did the same. They were all snoring half an hour later.

Harry took the candles out of his trunk and slipped out the door. The bathroom was dark. He set out the candles in a circle and sat in the center. The walls themselves fluctuated with magic. "Lumos." The candles flared up and settled into small flames. The magic coursed through his veins. The light flickered on the walls. The candles went dark. He sat back on his hands. "This is going to be a long year." His vision went white and the room started jerking sideways. He took the pill bottle out of his pocket and swallowed a few. His vision cleared and the floor settled back down.

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