AN: When of my friends had mentioned about Graham Montague's character and since then I couldn't get it out of my mind. So, I thought I would try my hand at it.

I don't own anything, all rights go to J.K. Rowling.

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Daunting Decisions – Chapter 1 (Change in Pace)

If there was a year that Harry had to pick as the worst, it would be his fifth year. Which incidentally was also his OWLS year. It wouldn't have been so bad if the Ministry wasn't convinced that he was just as bad as Dumbledore. All because they couldn't accept the truth.

That part didn't make him furious. What did, was the fact that they tried to make him out a liar. It was like nothing would ever make the Wizarding World happy. Now they were trying to paint him as the enemy because he was trying to warn them. And that hadn't even been the worst part of the year.

The woman that had wanted to convict him at his trial was now the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year. He had instantly been wary of the witch ever since he had seen her at the Head Table. He didn't need for Hermione to tell him that the Ministry was interfering with Hogwarts, he already knew.

And that had just been the start of his struggles for this year. But it started because of Fudge disliked the fact he told the truth. And now this woman was probably doing the dirty work for him. She had already stated that she was there because of the Minister. He could be daft sometimes, but he knew this couldn't be good.

Perhaps his first defense lesson showed him all the truth he needed. She had it out for him ever since that first day. And you couldn't call them detentions, more like her personal set of torture. It didn't even matter if he didn't talk during her lessons, she would find some way to assign him detention. And Harry was getting tired of the constant slicing open on his hand because of her bloody quill.

He knew that Hermione disapproved of it, she practically told him to report it. Who could he report it to? McGonagall already told him to keep his head down. But that was what he was trying to do and the Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape wasn't helping.

So, not only did he have to endure the torture sessions of Umbridge's detentions. Harry also had to put up with his mind being ripped open. Or least that's what it felt like and maybe Ron did have a point. Was Snape only trying to open his mind to the constant dreams and attacks?

Hermione had instantly disapproved of that notion, believing that Dumbledore trusted him for a reason.

Harry snorted; trust was a fickle idea to him. It would only lead to disappointment.

Maybe it was the buildup from the year that made him do his next decision. He had been wearing the invisibility cloak at the time. Seeing that sometimes he just wanted to get away from everything and it seemed that being invisible was the best way to do this. Especially with Dumbledore gone and Umbridge now in the position of Headmistress. That vile witch could be capable of anything. And with the Easter holidays fast approaching…

But then he had overheard the twins talking about a Slytherin.

He recognized the name, Montague.

The Slytherin had been a rival of his in Quidditch. One, he was the Slytherin Quidditch Captain and a chaser. And he wasn't against cheating in the game, he had seen it. He definitely wasn't a fan of Gryffindors, you would hear about it all the time in the Common Room.

But Harry didn't feel it was right.

Fred and George had been talking about where they pushed him into the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor.

Harry's heart sank, he knew exactly what cabinet they were talking about. Three years previous, Nick, the Ghost of Gryffindor had convinced Peeves to crash that same cabinet. He had been about to get detention from Filch for bringing mud into the castle after Quidditch practice. It had saved him from detention, so he had been thankful at the time. Now if felt like it was about to be someone's downfall. What happened to them if they got shoved into a broken cabinet?

The small Gryffindor doubted that Fred and George realized that it was broken. Or maybe they did and just didn't care. He knew the twins loved their pranks, but he didn't think they were that cruel. Montague was still a Slytherin, but he didn't think he deserved that. What if something actually happened to him?

Harry silently walked away from the conversation he just heard. He knew that he had to do something, but how do you get someone out of a cabinet that's broken? He wasn't exactly sure, but he knew he had to do something.

Making a split decision, he headed towards the first floor, which was another six flights of stairs. Though he would grab the Marauders Map first. Hopefully the Grand Staircase would actually lead him to his destination without trying to change.

Harry figured he would probably need the map to locate Montague. He wasn't sure if the cabinet would be in the same place. He assumed it probably had gotten moved, surely it wouldn't stay there for three years.

Though maybe not if it was still on the first floor.

When Harry made it to the first floor, he felt like he should have been surprised. But he wasn't. The cabinet was still resting in the same place, maybe moved a few inches but that was it.

It looked just as he remembered back when he was only twelve years old. Then he had been terrified because everyone had believed he had been the Heir of Slytherin. He placed a hand on one of the cabinet's doors.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do. How did someone use a vanishing cabinet? It couldn't be as simple as opening the door, could it?

Harry took a deep breath and pulled.

The door wouldn't budge, but he wasn't going to give up. He grasped the handle with two hands and pulled. And to his surprise it actually opened for him. Though he had landed on his arse, surprised it actually opened.

The weird part, he could only see half of a body. He looked on in horror. What did Fred and George do?

Did Montague literally get stuck? They had mentioned he probably got lost on the other end. Did that mean he was literally in two places.

Harry took in a deep breath, what if he tried pulling him out. Maybe it was like those muggle magic shows, where it looked like one part was there. Maybe he could manage to pull him out, somehow…

Harry could see Montague's lower half and tried not to think about it too much. Last thing he needed was to get a hard on because he was staring at a wizard's arse. He didn't know if Montague would feel this, perhaps since he would be trying to pull him out.

The first thing Harry noticed was that Montague had moved when he grabbed at his leg. But he didn't try to kick him off. Maybe he realized that someone was trying to help?

Harry pulled and almost thought he lost grip on the Slytherin. Until he actually did, and crash landed onto the floor.

Except he wasn't the only one that fell to the floor.

There was now a heavy body lying on top of him and it was sort of crushing him.

"Move…" Harry tried to say. Though he felt his words were mostly muffled.

Thankfully he was heard, and he could take in much needed air. Then he noticed he was being stared at. No wand was being pointed at him, so he didn't take the defensive. Though he did scoot a little back to put more space between them.

"Why would you help me?" he finally spoke.

Harry found he liked the sound of his deep voice, never before had he ever heard him speak. It was nothing like Malfoy's whiny voice or the grunts of Crabbe and Goyle. He suddenly felt nervous, what could he really say… that he felt sorry for him?

"Because I couldn't leave someone to that fate, not when I probably could help," Harry mumbled.

The Gryffindor watched as his brown eyes widened at him, in shock or surprise, he wasn't sure.

"I'm a Slytherin… you're supposed to hate me…"

"Doesn't do a lot of good when I was almost a Slytherin… And its Malfoy I hate, most Slytherins I don't mind," Harry grumbled.

Maybe Harry felt a bit of satisfaction that he took Montague off guard. That probably wasn't the answer he was expecting.

"Why not leave me there?" he asked instead.

"You do realize that would mean I would have left you in a cabinet that was broken? Can you really expect to get out yourself? You were probably stuck between two locations. I may not know everything about magic since I'm only a fifth year, but I know that nothing good would come of it," Harry retorted.

Montague didn't confirm that, but nor did he deny that statement. Maybe it was because of his pride and the fact he didn't want to admit that a Gryffindor could be right. Though there was a part that was a bit thankful he didn't have to think about what could have happened. But he still found it pathetic that a Gryffindor had to help him. Considering it was the Boy-Who-Lived as well didn't help matters.

"Fine, don't answer me. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. But I guess I'm just a stupid Gryffindor," Harry got to his feet, though he had to steady himself for a moment.

Montague didn't say a word as Harry Potter walked away from him. Yet he wasn't sure if he was glad or disappointed. Clearly Harry Potter was not the Gryffindor that everyone thought he was. But the thing was, he couldn't figure him out and he wasn't sure if he wanted to either. One thing he was certain, what did Umbridge really have against him?

He wasn't an idiot, he knew that Diggory didn't just show up dead and everyone pretend it was a freak accident. There had to be some truth to Potter's words last year and he wasn't about to ask him. He doubted the Gryffindor would be up for sharing that, he was still a Slytherin. But he did say that he didn't really hate all Slytherins, just Malfoy. He still doubted that Potter would just tell him. Though he still found it really weird that Potter would just help him just because he knew that the cabinet was broken. There was more to that story and Montague wanted to know what. He felt that the only people that would know that was Potter himself. And he probably had already gone back to Gryffindor Tower and he was not going to chase after some stupid Gryffindor.

When Harry had gone to his next lesson of Occlumency, he didn't originally go to them expecting it to be his last. It was still under the cover that he required Remedial Potions. So, when a Slytherin burst into Snape's office to report that the Fred and George had set off a numerous amount of fireworks in the corridors. He barely had time to blink before Snape said his lesson was cancelled for the evening.

Maybe that should have been the end of that. But Harry's curiosity got the better of him. He had seen the Pensieve in the corner and had been in Dumbledore's personal one. That had been a memory of Igor Karkaroff's trial, his freedom in exchange for names of Death Eaters. So, he couldn't help the curiosity that caught him again.

Maybe he should have just gone back to Gryffindor Tower, but he didn't. But he knew that he shouldn't have viewed it, this memory was probably kept private for a reason. And he could finally understand why Snape had hated his father so much, why he hated him so much.

But that didn't stop the cold fear that was placed into him on what happened next.

All he could recount was Snape's harsh and cold voice. A death grip on his arm, and no matter how hard he tried to pull away, he couldn't.

He felt dizzy from all the shaking that Snape did. It felt eerie similar to the Dursleys which made his blood go cold. He couldn't help remembering all the hits and smacks he received from them. The touch iron grip that Vernon would have.

The thoughts stopped when he was harshly thrown to the ground, hard. Harry winced, that was probably going to leave a bruise. He could remember the snarls to get out, but he was trying to do that already. Sliding back until he could get to his feet to run.

He saw the jar crash near his head as he practically ran out the door. His arm was starting to throb painfully. That would probably only be the first of bruises. He had to choke back his tears; he had thought Hogwarts would have at least been safe for him. Safer than the Dursleys at least.

But the mark that was starting to show on his arm was proving him wrong. He didn't think he could handle being in another room with Snape again. So, maybe it was a good thing that he no longer had Occlumency lessons.

Then he realized he was crying. His vision was blurry as he ran into someone, literally.

"Potter!" the voice sounded familiar.

Harry wasn't sure if he was glad that he just ran into the Slytherin he had saved from the cabinet just a few days ago.

Strong arms wrapped around him and he felt the dam break. Surprisingly Montague didn't turn and leave him there. But the arms around him only tightened, to the point it was actually comforting. What did it mean that he was literally receiving comfort from a Slytherin? A Slytherin he thought hated him because he wanted to help.

When Harry felt like his emotions were more under control, did Montague speak to him.

"Mind telling me what that was about?" his question was blunt.

Harry sniffled, "not going to make fun of me like the rest of you?"

"Potter, you literally just cried into my arms. I may not be as bright as your muggleborn friend, but I made it into Slytherin for a reason. I'm not as heartless to believe that something isn't majorly bothering you."

Harry snorted at that, which was better than the tears.

"Probably one of those Slytherins that believed that I had the all nice and perfect childhood," Harry muttered darkly.

Whatever Montague was expecting it was not that. Maybe he probably had been one of those. Everyone practically had, they expected that the famous Harry Potter had this amazing life and being pampered. But from his dark tone, it was anything but.

And maybe that actually made Montague a bit furious. He lived his entire life surrounded by talk of Voldemort and the expectation to join. Even after he had fallen the first time. But he was sure that Potter's life was worse than his. And he would have had a better one living with Death Eaters. And that was saying something, considering they were the ones trying to help kill him.

"Perhaps… but that doesn't mean I won't disbelieve you," Montague commented.

"Yeah… right… nobody believed me when I said Voldemort was back. What makes this any different…"

"Because you're not the Gryffindor you try to make everyone believe," Montague said seriously.

For whatever reason, that actually made Harry look at Montague. He wasn't sure what he saw, but something made him want to tell him. Ron may have known a portion of his home life. But there really wasn't someone that actually knew the truth. And it wasn't like he couldn't pass the bruise on his arm for nothing. He had already seen that Montague had noticed the mark.

To say that it was difficult to put into words was an understatement. Because then he had to admit out loud what the Dursleys had done was wrong. Never before had he experienced where someone had believed him. Dumbledore hadn't really believed him, had brushed his words aside. But he didn't want to start crying again. Once had been enough for today.

"That still don't explain why you were in tears," Montague noted.

This was the part Harry was dreading to tell. Because Snape was Montague's Head of House. Before now, Harry didn't even think this would happen.

So, he started to explain that it had never been Remedial Potions that he had been attending with Snape. Then there was the confession that he had witnessed a very private memory that he shouldn't have.

Harry tried to gloss over the details and that it really wasn't that bad. But considering the fact that he had literally balled over the incident said differently. And by Montague's frown, he hadn't been convinced.

"So, he reminded you of your uncle?" Montague questioned.

Harry gave a slow nod.

Montague sighed, "while I may agree with you that you shouldn't have seen that memory. I also believe that Professor Snape was out of line when he grabbed your arm. The fact you tried to get away and he didn't listen still irritates me. I should have some healing paste for that bruise, so it won't hurt as much. He may not believe you about your home life, but that is still not excuse for his actions."

"You believe me?!" Harry was shocked.

"I doubt that you would have gave yourself that nasty bruise. And your behavior actually makes sense," Montague raised an eyebrow.

Harry, who was still in his hold, blushed at that.

"Even if I'm a Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"Your house shouldn't matter, but we both know that would be a lie," Montague stated.

"Even you hate Gryffindors," Harry pointed out.

"I hate idiotic Gryffindors, there's a difference. Would I have tried to calm you down otherwise?"

Harry looked down, "well I did get you out of that cabinet…"

Montague's lips twitched at that, "so, I may tolerate you more than other idiotic Gryffindors."

"Thanks Montague," Harry mumbled. Though he wasn't sure if he was talking about the paste, listening to him, or because he calmed him down. Maybe it was all three.

"The Slytherin looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I think you deserve the right to call me, Graham. Considering…"

Harry grinned, "Just as long as you call me, Harry."

Graham snorted, "I suppose there are worse things in the world than befriending a puny Gryffindor."

Maybe he hadn't gotten all the answers he wanted from Potter… or rather Harry. But he felt that he understood the mysterious Gryffindor a bit more than anyone. He doubted that the Gryffindor ever told that much to anyone else. He wasn't exactly sure why Harry had felt the need to tell him. But he had definitely misunderstood everything he knew about him. And for the first time he had actually hated his Head of House. He would have never thought he would lay a hand on another student, no matter how angry they made you.

And since they were still around the dungeons, it hadn't been hard to sneak into the Common Room, grab the healing paste in his trunk. He knew he shouldn't, but he had enjoyed the feel of Harry in his arms. He was so skinny but felt him shiver against him upon applying the paste. His robes were probably soaked in his tears, but he didn't care at that moment. He had never been so thankful for trying to take points from Fred and George. He may have met the most real person in his entire life.