YES PEOPLE, I AM ALIVE! AND I COME BEARING A MASS UPDATE TO MAKE UP FOR THE WAIT!

I have had a really, REALLY bad case of luck for a full month. Starting with the car finally giving up the ghost and ending with my mother being in and out of the hospital. On the plus side, my muse has gotten the swift kick in the ass it needed to update some of the older fics. Here's to hoping the rest of the month is better after the mess the last was.

It was such a small thing in the grand scheme of things. A child's prayer that normally would go unanswered by the Heavenly Host, simply because most didn't care about humans in general.

However this one time, an angel heard the plea for someone, anyone, to just listen to him. To see the child for himself, and not someone everyone expected him to be. To just let go of his so-called 'destiny' according to others like him, and the fate he was slowly coming to realize was his.

Castiel, an angel of the lord, heard that plea from someone who was being destroyed by forces all around him.

And he filed for a leave of absence among the host to at least fulfill that tired prayer for someone to care.

Zachariah didn't look twice at the request. Castiel was such a minor angel no one really cared what he did so long as he followed orders and stayed out of the way. Or worse, rebelled.

Harry Potter was tired. Ron and Hermione claimed to be his friends, but after the way Hermione had to talk him down from punching Malfoy after one too many comments about his 'home' life and how he was a spoiled brat (and there was the pot calling the kettle black) he realized that neither of them actually understood him.

Hermione only saw his behavior as textbook teenaged rebellion. Nothing to be concerned about, in her opinion, just highly irritating to listen to. Ron didn't care, and his loyalty had been highly questionable after last year when he was so sure that Harry had put his name in. He never once believed him until he saw those dragons.

And Harry had noted with some anger that the two of them were subtly keeping the rest of the house far, far from him and isolated. The few times he tried to branch out to the other houses, Hermione forcibly dragged him to the library to 'study' or Ron would whine until he agreed to a chess match he would inevitably lose. To be perfectly honest, if they didn't back off soon he was going to hex them both and be done with their farce of a friendship.

Which was why the first chance he had, he slipped into the Chamber of Secrets with his Firebolt and closed the entrance behind him. Myrtle was all too happy to lie about seeing him, seeing as how Ron was a tactless jerk and Hermione had always rubbed her the wrong way.

If nothing else, she would send Peeves after them both.

Harry took a deep breath, ignoring the stench of decaying snake.

He could put up with such a horrible smell for even a moment of privacy to think.

So he was very startled when he realized the room was brightening, and not by any spell. He would have drawn his wand, but the light seemed to make him feel...safe.

"Who's there?" he called out in the empty expanse before him.

"My name is Castiel and I am an angel of the lord. I have heard your prayers," stated the light simply.

Harry blinked into the light. It was so bright that if he wasn't squinting it would have blinded him. Even so he could feel it through his eyelids.

"What do you want?" asked Harry.

"To help. If you allow me, I can make sure you're not alone anymore. All you have to do is say yes."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will simply find someone else to share a body with. Consider me your guardian angel," stated 'Castiel'.

Harry realized he had two options. Let this...angel...share his body or deal with someone new trying to barge their way into his life.

"If I ask you to, will you leave?"

"Yes. This has to be consensual," said Castiel.

"Will this hurt?"

"From what I understand, no. Because you have natural magic, it means you'll have a greater degree of awareness during the times I'm in control. For the most part I'll be asleep however."

"Then I accept. You can use my body so long as you don't go on a rampage or anything."

Harry could feel something enter his body, a sense of wholeness he had never experienced before. But more than that he felt the one thing he had desired since realizing at the tender age of six that he would never fit in with his 'aunt' or by the people of Surrey.

Acceptance. This Castiel saw his every flaw and doubt, and he accepted it all without hesitation. Harry didn't even realize he was crying until he felt something wet hit his shirt.

Harry not only knew that Hermione and Ron would all but jump on him when he returned to the common room, he expected it.

Castiel was highly confused why his 'friends' were so angry with him going anywhere without them.

Is either one your lover?

Harry almost vomited at the thought.

'Hermione is like a sister to me and Ron used to be my best friend.'

Then why do you allow them to yell at you like that? I did not realize that human friendship meant that you were allowed to berate and yell at each other at some perceived slight.

Harry thought that statement over for a moment, as he had not actually been paying attention to their rant. Castiel had a valid point. The last time he checked, friends didn't yell at each other just because one person decided they wanted some space and privacy. Without even realizing what he was doing, Harry hexed both of them silent.

Nobody spoke, shocked beyond belief at what he had done.

"Right. Granger, Weasley, consider this your only warning. I am not a child and I don't need you two holding my hand every bloody minute of the day. And I am sick and tired of you two isolating me from every other house just because of some perceived 'need' to keep me to yourselves."

And with that, Harry went to bed because of the migraine the two had given him. Castiel managed to soothe it enough that he was able to fall asleep relatively quickly, but the fact of the matter was that everyone realized one crucial fact.

Harry Potter had enough.

Following the shocking events the night before, Harry woke up feeling more refreshed than he had in years. It didn't hurt that he heard the soft 'Good morning' from the angel that was now inside his body.

Compared to the fact he knew Voldemort had somehow left a sort of open connection in his head, Harry had no issues with sharing space with an angel.

Castiel felt...nice...for lack of a better description. Harry had the feeling the angel was about as hopelessly naïve as Ron was when it came to normal things like television or phones, but unlike the red head, Castiel at least made an effort to learn.

'Morning, Castiel.'

Harry stretched a bit before he took a quick shower and left the common room before any of the other boys even considered waking up. Harry was always the earliest riser in Gryffindor. Every other student in the tower took the opportunity to sleep in.

He found it easier to keep waking up early to avoid oversleeping once summer hit.

Besides, the few moments of peace and quiet in the morning were the only time until yesterday that he had any time to himself.

Though if those two who claimed to be his friends annoyed him too much, he was going to enjoy a lot of free time away from his watchers.

Once he was good and awake, Harry looked at the time and went down to get some breakfast. One look inside at the pink cardigan, and he opted to try and find the kitchens instead.

He was not dealing with the Toad this early in the morning, no matter how much of a morning person he was.

It took him an hour, but it was entirely worth it to find the kitchens. Even if he did have to deal with the unexpected surprise of finding out what happened to Dobby and Winky.

On the plus side, he no longer had to suffer through the overly fattened 'breakfast' served every morning. Harry had despaired of finding any fresh fruits or vegetables, and to be fair he had disliked the smell of anything fried or overly sweet since that was the only thing Dudley ever ate.

A small request to the elves to leave things like apples, pears, oranges or bananas, and they agreed to leave healthier alternatives on the Gryffindor table wherever he happened to be sitting at.

Apparently he wasn't the first to make such a request, nor would he be the last. Though usually it was Madam Pomphrey or one of the various heads of house asking the elves for the change because of dietary conditions... like a muggleborn with diabetes or the like.

Or in the case of Harry, a preference to fresh fruit.

Once he had eaten his breakfast (several apples, some lightly buttered toast and fresh squeezed orange juice) he mentally reviewed which classes he had.

And then grabbed several fruit for a snack.

A quick stop at the library and he had something to do for History of Magic.

He went to the back closest to the window and out of the way, and cracked open the random book he checked out. By the time Binns showed up, Castiel finally took notice.

You do realize that I could exorcise that ghost for you.

'Really?'

Most spirits are weak against the effects of salt and iron. Of course angels such as myself can make ghosts go to whichever afterlife they belong.

'I'll have to try that salt thing on Peeves later. Binns isn't too bad, and since he often puts people to sleep it gives me a chance to read anyway.'

Castiel curled up against Harry's magical core. It was warm, for lack of any other way to describe it.

Harry almost grew bored with his book, so his next question actually kept Castiel awake.

'Castiel? What's heaven like?'

So Castiel told him. About Micheal and the other angels, his superior Zachariah (there was thinly veiled dislike when he mention the other angel, and it sounded much like how Harry felt about Snape) the other choirs which he generally didn't socialize with...it fascinated Harry. This sounded much more real than anything those priests ever taught him in Sunday school.

Harry went to his other classes, keeping his mouth shut in DADA as he had deemed that class a permanent lost cause until proven otherwise (three out out five teachers had been utterly useless, so he chose to self-study in that area and give in half-assed essays...except for Remus who was one of the few he actually respected) and generally trying to ignore Snape's caustic remarks in potions.

Castiel helped in that regard, sending soothing waves of something to his frazzled nerves.

Because he was actively avoiding Hermione and Ron, Harry made a point to try and make new friends. Particularly if they were muggleborn, because at least they would semi-understand about the things he was talking about.

Unfortunately he hadn't counted on the fall-out of his annoyance with his soon-to-be former friends.

In less than a month he quickly realized everyone and their grandmother assumed he would make up with them and things would go back to the way they were. Another factor which was starting to piss him off was the fact that if it wasn't for his association with the other two of the 'Golden Trio', it was the fact he would inevitably be dragged into some misadventure or another by year's end, something most students did not want to deal with.

Harry vowed by November that he would have a nice quiet year's end without being stuck in the hospital wing if it killed him. Realizing that making any new friends while Ron and Hermione were doing damage control for their spiraling relationship with Harry (something he had only caught glimpses of, and only increased his desire to spend even less time around them) was impossible, the only person Harry could even talk to at all without worrying about the reaction of everyone else was Castiel.

Castiel, while being rather painfully oblivious to pop culture references and certain human traits, was actually a very good sounding board. It seemed like Harry, he was something of a loner and spent most of his time reading or practicing.

And by the time Christmas came around, Harry was more than ready to leave Europe far behind and never look back. Magic or not, there simply wasn't any reason he had to put up with this much nonsense simply because he didn't want to be dragged into their hissy fit.

At least, until he suddenly bolted up from bed and raced to get McGonagall. Every Gryffindor knew where she slept, so it didn't take much to wake her up. (Thank you Fred and George for her increasing paranoia!)

"Mr. Potter, what..."

"Mr. Weasley was attacked, by a snake. I don't know where he was, but it looked like there were a lot of weird orbs or something," said Harry.

McGonagall paled.

"Did you get this information from your..."

Harry nodded.

"I see. I think you and the Weasleys should leave early for Christmas break. The last thing I want to deal with is the Toad trying to keep you here. And while you're here I must say I am astounded at your self-control. I half-expected you to snap at her after she sent you to my office."

"Apathy is a wonderful way to ignore the world around you," deadpanned Harry, "And I find that treating her like a more annoying Binns works wonders. That and it's relatively easy to switch the covers of books I check out with the one she assigned."

Madam Pince hadn't been happy learning his trick, but when he explained why she had merely requested he use a temporary sticking charm using the cover instead. At least he wasn't burning it outright like most had with their Lockhart books.

Seeing the look on McGonagall's face, Harry's resolve to leave magic behind once he graduated only strengthened.

Yes, idiots who agreed to work for demons were evil, but magic was apparently some form of parasitic virus that traded intelligence for 'power'. How else could he explain Hermione's sudden inability to think of obvious solutions without her wand?

Considering most of the examples of natural magic were the same as Harry's, Castiel was inclined to agree.

It was either that, or magic naturally turned hardworking people into the laziest humans on the planet.