Platform 9 3/4 was packed, and Harry was pretty sure some of the 'parents' standing around were actually reporters. But he did his best to ignore them. Remus and Sirius were standing by him, and The Weasleys were not far off, he could hear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking to Ginny, looking very emotional. He gave her a pained smile, and she laughed.

Remus was practically wringing his hands. "You've got all your things, right? All your books?"

Harry nodded "You only checked them three times before we left." This earned a smirk from Sirius.

"And you remember the plan?" Remus asked, ignoring his friend's sass.

'The Plan' was what they had come up with while Harry was still in hospital. It was set up to help Harry reach out if he needed help, and keep an eye on him at school. But Harry wasn't exactly thrilled with it. He was very used to being on his own at school, and the idea of having people check up on him seemed a lot like smothering. He was on several medications now, but Sirius and Remus decided they didn't really trust him to take them all on his own. Or rather, they didn't trust me not to take them all at once. So, he had to stop by the hospital wing and get them from Poppy each morning before breakfast, and at night before bed. He would also check in with her every other week to see how he was putting on weight, but at least he had convinced Remus he didn't need to keep drinking those disgusting protein drinks.

He would also keep seeing Lou, once a week on Friday afternoons. After which he would floo home to have dinner with Sirius and Remus. Harry had balked at this too, but they had reminded him that lots of kids visited their parents during school. He was all too aware that they could have kept him home from Hogwarts completely, so he agreed.

The train was going to be leaving soon. "Yes Remus, I remember the plan, and if I don't you wrote it out for me and gave a copy to Snape. I'm going to be fine."

Remus gave him a tight hug, then Sirius followed suit.

"Good luck!" They both called as he hurried away to board. He had seen Hermione and Ron slip onto the train a few minutes before, so he hoped they had already found seats.

As he hurried onto the crowded train he could feel the eyes on him. It wasn't the same as having the press follow him, or even the sympathetic looks adults seemed to give him on the platform. Now, surrounded by other teens, the eyes were gawking, mistrusting, and judging. They seemed to say We know, we know what happened to you, you freak! Harry kept his head down, trying to hurry through the hall and find the car holding his friends. But that plan back fired when he ran head first into another boy. "Sorry" he mumbled, not looking up.

"What the heck, oh… it's you"

Harry froze at the voice, it was the same voice that had been taunting him since he had left the hospital.

"Wow Potter, it's like you have a crush on me or something. Can't seem to stay away!" The boy continued "If you're not careful I'll have to go tell an adult. This is practically sexual harassment."

Harry's face was burning, he still didn't look up. "Leave me alone Stevie, I'm just trying to get to my car." He said firmly.

But now Stevie's friends had taken notice. They were all turning to look at Harry. "I'm sure glad I'm not a Gryfendor" one of them commented to another "I wouldn't feel safe sleeping in the same dorm as him, you never know what people like that are going to do…"

The boy's friend shrugged "My mum says he's making it all up, that he's just doing it for attention. His family didn't look that bad."

Harry felt the knot in his chest tightening, he knew he was going to do something rash, but he didn't really care too much. Just then Draco walked up behind him. "Have we got a problem here?" He asked loudly.

This got the attention of several older gryffindors, including Fred and George. George came up right next to Harry, Stevie a menacing look "You aren't bothering my friend here are you?"

Stevie barked a laugh "What Potter, you let snakes and traitors stick up for you now?"

Draco lunged forward, coming up right behind Harry "At least we have some honor, why don't you go get stoned Steven?" He shot back at the Hufflepuff.

Stevie laughed "Honor? Hardly Malfoy. But you're in luck, seems like scumbags like you are Harry's type. Just be careful, his last boyfriend ended up in jail."

No one said anything, they all just seemed to know, as a group, that it was time. Wands were drawn as if a silent signal had gone out, and hexes were flying through the train. Harry opted to lunge at Stevie. Beating someone's face in with your fists was much more satisfying anyway. Soon the rest of the gryffindors and slytherin had followed his lead, and the brawl turned into a vicious mix of hexes and punches.

The brawl was completely out of control within minutes. But unknown to the students, Dumbledore had decided to have the house heads ride the train this year, anticipating that something might happen.

Four adults against twenty or so fighting teenagers was still a bit much though. Snape bellowed loudly for all the students who valued their Saturdays to stop immediately, but no one listened. It was McGonagall who finally cast a spell that made a loud crack sound through the train, freezing everyone in their place for a full minute.

"This will stop at once!" She said sternly, her voice echoing through the very suddenly quiet train. "The person who throws the next punch will spend the rest of the term in detention with me. Now, when you are able to move again you will all sit on the floor calmly and wait until you are told to move a muscle. Am I understood?" As if on cue, the spell lifted, slowly. Harry felt as though his arms were filled with lead. Following his house head's instructions, he pushed himself from the middle of the aisle, where he had been about to land another punch on Stevie's face, and sat with his back against the wall.

The Gryffindors seemed to follow his lead, Slytherins were next, following Draco, and the assortment of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were left slowly started to move back as well.

For a moment no one spoke at all, then McGonagall spoke again. "Would anyone like to enlighten me as to who started this?" She asked sternly.

No one spoke, but she must have noticed that Harry and Draco had been the first to move. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, why is it that whenever there is trouble you two always seem to be at the center of it?" Harry couldn't meet her gaze, he could feel his neck turning red.

McGonagall didn't seem to expect a reply though, she continued "you two follow me please, it seems you cannot be trusted to ride the train unsupervised. The rest of you, if you can make it to a carriage without punching someone, please do so. The heads have taken account of who was involved, and I can assure you that punishments will be handed out when we arrive at school."

People were starting to move, nursing wounds and looking like dogs caught eating the Sunday roast, they disappeared into carriages as quickly as they could find them. Soon Draco and Harry were the only ones left.

They stood slowly and followed their professors into what seemed to be the teachers section of the train. Minerva motioned them into an empty room and instructed them both to take a seat. "I trust I can leave you alone for a minute and find you both in one piece when I return?" She asked coldly. When both boys nodded she turned around and shut the door tightly.

Harry bit his lip, not looking up at Draco "you shouldn't have gotten involved Draco, your father is going to kill you."

Draco rolled his eyes, one of which was rapidly turning purple, and starting to swell. "Harry, I wasn't going to let that jerk talk to you that way. I would have done the same thing for any other kid on this train."

Now Harry turned to his friend "Really?"

Draco nodded "I know we aren't gryffindors, who jump head first into any fight there is to be had, but slytherin prides itself in sticking up for kids who've been abused. No one deserves to be treated like they are less of a human being because someone decided to hurt them." Now Draco was looking away, "For a lot of us, it's personal. Something about our house seems to attract kids who've been through that kind of thing."

Harry nodded "Snape said something about that." For the first time, Harry wondered how his life would have been different if he had been sorted into slytherin, like the sorting hat wanted. Would what the Dursleys were doing have been discovered sooner? What must it be like to be in a house full of people who understand how you feel? "Thank you" He finally said.

Draco nodded "Who was that kid, he seemed to know you…"

Harry shrugged "I met him once, didn't go well."

Draco didn't push him, but he gave Harry a knowing look.

Just then McGonagall and Snape came in, arms folded and looking cross. Minerva took the lead. "Alright, let's have it." She said in an annoyed voice "What were you two fighting about this time?"

Harry said nothing, staring at the floor and trying to pretend he was somewhere else. It was almost a reflex when he got into trouble.

Draco spoke up quickly "We weren't fighting Professor, I swear!"

Snape rolled his eyes. "We saw both of you, Draco you've got a black eye, you expect us to believe what, that you walked into a door?"

Draco scowled "No, I mean we weren't fighting each other! I know it's hard to believe, but we were on the same side…"

McGonagall didn't look like she was going to buy this, but Snape relaxed a bit, sitting across from the two teens. "Okay, what were you fighting about?" He asked, although he could already guess. He knew his house's tendency to defend abuse victims, and he was almost proud that they had been willing to stand up for a gryffindor.

Draco looked at Harry, expecting him to explain.

Harry shrugged "It was nothing, stupid." He muttered.

Draco groaned "Oh come on Harry, don't be ridiculous." He turned to Snape. "I don't know the whole story, I only stepped in when I saw an older Hufflepuff bothering Harry. It seemed like they knew each other. He was saying awful things about Harry… Making fun of him because of" Draco paused, glancing cautiously at Harry "What happened..." He finished awkwardly.

Snape nodded "Okay, what was this Hufflepuff's name?" He asked sternly.

Harry shot Draco a look and shook his head slightly.

Snape sighed, noticing that Minerva had gone strangely silent. "Harry, we can't help you if you don't tell us who it was. This kind of behavior is completely unacceptable, and it sounds like this isn't the first time this boy has bothered you. If he is bullying you, we can help."

Harry shook his head again "It doesn't matter Severus" He said quietly, realizing too late that he had called his professor by his first name. Snape didn't seem to mind, but Draco and Professor McGonagall looked shocked. "I don't want a big fuss, if I ignore him he will leave me alone."

Draco snorted "Did that work with your uncle?" After a sharp look from Severus he apologized "Sorry Harry, I wasn't thinking." When Harry shrugged he continued "It was Steven, a Hufflepuff the year above us. I don't know his last name."

Harry whirled on Draco "Hey!" He said sharply.

But Draco didn't seem to regret what he had said "He is right Harry, this guy needs to pay for what he did. And while the entire house of Slytherin will be happy to throw punches for you anytime you need us, I'd rather not spend the entire term in detention. If I'm going to get detention it should be for something worth it, not for that idiot."

Snape let out a chuckle, but admonished them both "Fighting is not the answer, next time someone is bothering you, find an adult and let them deal with it. Okay?"

Harry and Draco both nodded.

Minerva still looked a bit annoyed "I know you two were doing something noble, but we cannot condone fighting. I cannot speak for the head of Slytherin, but Harry I will see you in detention every Sunday afternoon for the rest of the month. Understood?"

Harry nodded. Snape gave Draco a similar punishment, then moved to leave the car. "I think it would be best if the two of you stayed here for the rest of the ride. We don't need another riot. But I promise that Steven will be dealt with."

Draco and Harry nodded, settling into the carriage, they didn't have much more time before they got to Hogwarts anyway.

Draco smiled "So how have you been? Were you on the unit for much longer after I left?"

Harry shook his head "Nah, I left two days later. I've been good, everything has actually been pretty great up until today. Sirius got his name cleared… and everything has been pretty calm at home. How have you been?"

Draco shrugged, "Happy to be heading back to school."

Harry nodded sadly, he understood the sentiment. He didn't bother asking how things were at home, it was pretty clear that Draco didn't want to talk about it.

"So what's with you calling Sev by his first name?" Draco teased "I didn't realize you two were that close."

Harry laughed "Yeah, we weren't until this summer… I started going over to his lab every day to help him with his stores… That's where I got the dreamless sleep that I…." He blushed.

Draco's face was priceless "You stole dreamless sleep from Severus to kill yourself with? Oh, that's bad dumb right there…"

Harry laughed "Yeah, he was pretty mad… still is I think… I haven't been since I got out of the hospital. I was supposed to be able to help him this semester, I guess he has some advanced students who work on private projects with him… but I'm not sure he will let me now."

Draco's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider "He invited you to that? There are only like three of us, and it's all Slytherins who are really advanced… I didn't think you were any good at potions…"

Harry shrugged "I wasn't exactly applying myself… That's how it all started I guess, Remus and Sirius dumped me with Snape while they were talking to Dumbledore about me, and I let slip that I knew a potion he hadn't taught yet. I think he was actually pretty mad that I had been pretending not to know things… but he was pretty nice about it."

Draco smiled "well I hope he still lets you come, you'd be a fun addition to the group."

Hermione and Ron were waiting for him as soon as he got off the train. Hermione's hair looked tussled, and Ron was sporting a fat lip. The twins stood nearby as well, with matching black eyes. Ginny seemed to be the only one who wasn't marked, before Harry could ask if she had avoided the fight she said, "I was part of it, some of us just know how to handle ourselves in a brawl" Harry laughed as she cast pointed glances at her brothers.

Draco had walked off the train with Harry, but was hanging back a bit. He didn't want to intrude on Harry and his friends, but he wanted to make sure Harry was okay. Once Harry noticed he was still there he smiled awkwardly. "This doesn't make us friends, but just know that slytherin has your back, okay?"

Harry nodded, giving Draco a meaningful look. "Thanks Malfoy."

Draco nodded curtly "Try not to kill yourself again Potter" He said with a smirk "I don't want Gryffindor winning the house cup out of sympathy this year." Then sauntered off.

Harry laughed and shook his head, hurrying to the carriages with his friends.

He was very thankful for the Weasleys as they walked into the great hall, flanking him, daring anyone who looked at them to say something. But they couldn't keep people from staring. Of course, it wasn't the first time everyone had stared at Harry as he walked into a room, but this time it felt different. He could feel the heat rising up on his neck. They all know… They all know what happened to me… they think I'm some weak little freak who can't stand up for himself…He kept his head down and walked quickly to their house's table.

The sorting seemed to take forever, but at least people's attention was focused on someone other than him. Then Dumbledore got up to give the start of term speech. Harry didn't hear much, until at the very end of the speech Dumbledore announced. "In light of recent events within our community, we will be implementing a mandatory physical for each student at the beginning of each school year. The house heads will coordinate when each of their years should report to the hospital wing for their exam. Thank you, and let's eat!"

Harry thought he might die, food was appearing all around him, but all he could see were the annoyed glances of his fellow students. After dinner, Harry and his friends started the long trek up to Gryffindor tower. They had just made it out of the great hall when McGonagall intercepted them.

"Mister Potter, I need to speak to you for a moment."

Harry gulped "Can it wait until tomorrow professor?" He asked, glancing nervously at his friends. "I'm pretty tired and I want to be well rested for the first day of classes." It was a lie of course, but it was all he could think of at the moment.

"I'm afraid not Harry, Madam Pomfrey needs to see you, she wants to check on your injuries from the incident on the train. And when I wrote to your guardians about what happened, they insisted on floo'ing over to speak to you themselves." She gave him a slightly sympathetic look.

Harry could feel his face getting hot. He turned to his friends and waved them off "I'll catch up with you in a bit guys" He said more brightly than he felt. Remus and Sirius were going to be furious, it was barely even the first day of school and he had already caused a fight. Actually, He thought with a smirk Remus will be furious, Sirius might be proud.

Once they had veered off the path of students making their way through the castle and to their common rooms, McGonagall started to speak. "Harry, I first want to apologize for not having realized sooner what you were going through. I am your head of house, and I was responsible for you. I should have seen what was happening."

Harry shrugged and mumbled something about it not being her fault. He wished people would stop apologizing to him. She continued anyway though "I am very glad that you are okay, Remus and Sirius came and spoke to me about what transpired this summer, and I want you to know that I would have been very, very sad if you had died. Not just because you are an important figure in the wizarding community Harry, but because you are an important person to me, and to many others who know you."

Harry was blushing again, "Thanks professor" he said awkwardly. "I don't blame you for not seeing what was happening, I became very good at hiding it from a very young age. The only reason that Remus and Sirius found out was because they came to the Dursleys house... Even then I tried to convince them it wasn't what it looked like."

McGonagall gave him a curious look, but didn't ask any further questions. They were almost to the hospital wing anyway.

Harry was terrified, he wasn't sure exactly what to expect from Remus and Sirius. Logically he knew that they were nothing like his uncle, but that didn't do much to calm his racing heart. as he stepped into the wing he saw Remus sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting area, while Sirius paced in front of him. He tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't bear to open his mouth.

It didn't matter, they saw him right away. They both rushed over quickly, hugging him. "Are you okay pup?" Sirius asked nervously.

Harry nodded, pushing them away a bit. He knew that they needed the assurance of hugging him, but it still made him queasy. "I'm fine, honest... Just a black eye and some bloodied knuckles."

Madam Pomfrey had come over to join the group, leading Harry to one of the treatment cots. "That will be for me to decide, Mister Potter." She looked as if she wanted to lecture more, but Remus was doing it for her.

"Harry, what on earth were you thinking? I thought we had an understanding... you were to get help from an adult if you ran into trouble, not start a brawl on the train!"

Harry winced as Poppy cleaned the cuts on his knuckles "I would have if I could Remus, but there wasn't time... it's not like I planned this! Or even picked a fight..."

Sirius looked a bit more sympathetic "Minerva told us that you were having problems with another boy? Steven? That wouldn't happen to be the same Steven that you punched in the hospital would it?"

The blood drained from Harry's face, he didn't want them getting involved in this. "Stupid Draco couldn't just keep his mouth shut..." He muttered.

Remus gave him a look, now taking Sirius's place pacing before the cot. "Harry, Draco did the right thing by telling who it was. If this boy is bullying you, it will only get worse. You need to let the adults handle this. What did he say to you?"

Now Harry was getting mad too "Oh right, so then it can be 'Harry Potter the victim of bullying' I don't need you to fight all of my battles for me! I could have dealt with it myself if Draco and the twins hadn't barged in! I'm not some helpless victim!" He had worked himself up quite a bit, more than he meant to. And as the last sentence slipped out, his voice broke. He just stared at them, fighting back tears, and wishing that he had never said anything at all.

Sirius sighed "No one here sees you as a victim Harry, but there are better ways of dealing with your problems... Now what did that boy say to you?"

Harry bit his lip, saying nothing.

Sirius was sitting beside him now, locking eyes with him. The older man's eyes suddenly looked very tired to Harry, he could practically see all the years of hurt built up behind them as Sirius spoke. "The thing with bullies, kid, is that they hold power over us, even after they've left us alone. Because the reason their torments work is that we are afraid of what they are saying. Not because it's true, but because if we say it out loud, others might agree. But they are wrong. I promise you, he is wrong. Whatever it is that he said."

Harry kept his eyes on Sirius, silent for a long moment before he spoke. "He called me a fag again, he was saying that I was sexually harassing him... and he... he started teasing Draco and warning him that, that I had put my last... boyfriend... in jail..."

Harry had expected Sirius to go into a rage as he said it, but instead he just looked very sad. "He is wrong Harry, he is so wrong... And I'm so sorry you had to listen to that."

He and Remus glanced at McGonagall, who nodded "Bullying is not tolerated here... certainly not bullying of that nature. Dumbledore and the head of Hufflepuff will be meeting with Steven and his parents tomorrow. I don't think he will be expelled, but he will be dealt with severely. And if he ever bothers you again Harry, I want you to tell me."

Harry nodded quietly, he had a feeling if Stevie ever spoke to him again they would end up in a very similar situation, but he didn't say that.

Minerva moved to leave, but turned back to add "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Professor Snape has offered to monitor your and Draco's detentions. He said you could go to his lab and help him restock his stores. I didn't think it fair to force you to spend the time with your rival and Snape, but he seemed to know something that I didn't, so I told him I would leave the choice up to you."

Harry smiled "I think I'll go with Snape, if that's alright with you professor."

Remus and Sirius each gave him a quick hug as Poppy appeared with his evening pills, and then he was off to his room.

Authors Note:

Hey all! I'm currently updating this story and have done a bit of editing throughout the whole thing. It's a story I have been working on for about four years off and on, so naturally there were some style changes, as well as plot holes/consistency issues. Hopefully I've addressed all of them at this point, and been able to iron out the timeline a bit better.

This was the original end to the story, obviously there is a lot more story already posted, but I like to have a warning here, as the story starts to change a bit, and the eating disorder trigger warning becomes a bit more serious. I will never post chapters that talk about numbers, weight or calories. But by the nature of the story, those subjects come up. When they do I simply put Xs in place of the numbers. However, if you think that is a topic that may trigger you, this is a natural end to the story and you may want to stop here.

In some of the later chapters I have also started to tackle the concept of repressed memories and dissociation. There are in text trigger warnings for these as well.

Happy reading! Please review! Don't feel like you have to wait until you catch up to let me know what you think. Reviews help me remember to write so you may even help me stay ahead of you so you always have something to read.