Note: Voldemort freed his people before OftP. This takes place after the summer and right at the start of Harry's 5th year.

Chapter 1

Harry

Harry stood frozen. Staring in disbelief at the wand pointed at his face. The elderly grey-haired man pointing it at him wore a sneer that Harry had only seen on the likes of Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape's faces.

"It didn't have to be like this?" the older man muttered, "but it seems I have no choice."

Buried somewhere under the shock, Harry's brain screamed at him to grab his wand, to raise it up and shout every spell, hex, and curse he had ever heard about, but he couldn't move. This man had been like a grandfather to him, or so he had thought.

Right until he had stumbled across a memory hidden away in the headmaster's pensieve. Harry hadn't meant to look, not really, but something drew him in. The memory was an older one of Dumbledore's. The headmaster was sitting across from Molly Weasley talking at length about a marriage contract between Harry and Ginny. Molly was giving demands about what Ginny would have control over and how much she would inherit upon Harry's death. The horror of what he was seeing had been enough for Harry to rip himself out of the memory.

Only seconds later Dumbledore had walked in.

Harry hadn't had time to close the door to where the pensieve was hidden or to gather his wits and control his face upon seeing the headmaster. It had been enough for Dumbledore to know that Harry knew and the man had drawn his wand.

"Obliviate!" The headmaster shouted. Pain surged through his knew he screamed, even if he couldn't hear it over the pounding in his ears. Then he was didn't have time to throw his arms out to catch himself, and even if he did everything was blurring and he wouldn't have had the strength to hold his weight. Then everything went black.

"Harry?"

He groaned and then winced. His head hurt. He reached up to rub his temple, not that it seemed to relieve any of the pain.

"Harry? My boy are you alright?" He recognized Dumbledore's voice and looked up at the man.

"What happened?" He asked. His head was a mess. It was like his thoughts were cloudy and when he tried to remember what happened, everything was just fuzzy.

"You fainted." The headmaster said, sticking his hand out to help Harry up. He fainted? Why didn't that sound right? And where was Madam Pomfrey? Shouldn't she be here if he fainted? He shook his head, trying to clear the doubt. Why would the headmaster lie?

It took him two attempts to find his feet and when he did he grabbed for his wand. Which made him feel silly. Again he shook his head, though he didn't put it back in his pocket.

When he looked at the headmaster, he noticed the man watching him carefully,his blue eyes on Harry's wand.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. His head felt like it had been kicked in but other than that he felt okay.

"Then perhaps you should put that away?" The headmaster smiled when he said it but something about the tight smile and pointed look was off.

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood on end. "What am I doing in your office, Professor?" Harry asked, the wand still held tight in his hand.

Dumbledore frowned and Harry felt sweat start to build on the base of his neck. Why couldn't he shake the unsafe feeling?

"I asked you here to talk about your classes this year, you don't remember?"

Harry shook his head no and winced at the pain that vibrated through his skull.

"You wanted to drop Divination, I believe?" The headmaster asked.

Harry thought about it. He had been thinking about dropping that class this year. It was pointless and he was sick of listening to crap predictions about his death.

"Yeah?" He said, still not really sure. He moved to sit in one of the large chairs before him. His legs shook and he ended up leaning against the back, not quite able to make it all the way. He tried not to notice the way the headmaster tensed when he moved or the fact that Dumbledore's wand was in his hand resting in the old man's lap.

"Well do you know what you wished to take instead, my boy?" Dumbledore asked. Harry was stuck with the oddity of it all. The way the headmaster was sitting on the edge of his desk, the way they both held their wands, and the cautious look the man kept giving him. Not to mention the nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept reminding him he would have gone to Professor McGonagall if he wanted to change his classes.

"Runes." Harry blurted out. It wasn't a class he had any real interest in but it was the first thing that came to his mind. Right now he didn't care about what class he would be stuck in, he wanted out of the headmaster's office.

"I see." The headmaster said tilting his head to the side. "That is a complicated class Harry, are you sure?"

Frustration filled him and Harry pushed away from the chair, "Ye—"

Pain surged through his head and he grabbed it crying out. He was barely aware of falling to his knees. The pain in his head was more intense than anything he had ever felt before, including Voldemort's touch for the end of last year. He clutched at his head, trying not to scream.

"Harry?" He heard the headmaster say through the ringing in his ears. An image of said headmaster pointing his wand at him crept through his mind, followed by the man shouting a spell at him. Harry gasped and fell forwards, hands going to the floor to keep himself from falling face-first into the carpet.

Fuck, he cursed inward, remembering what had happened. He moved his right hand trying to subtly feel for his wand on the floor. He had dropped it when his head had all but exploded, he needed it now. Only he couldn't find it.

"Harry, what happened?" He heard Dumbledore get off his desk and tried not to tense.

"My… head?" he stuttered out, "I think I need to see Madam Pomfrey."

"Stand up, Harry." Gone was the caring gentle tone. Harry cringed and looked up at the man he once trusted. Once again he found the headmaster's wand pointed at his face though this time the man holding it seemed just as shocked as Harry.

"How?" The headmaster muttered as he looked Harry over.

Then something sparked in his eye and the old man sneered, "Tom."

"Tom?" Harry asked confused, his right hand still searching the damned floor for his wand.

"Doesn't matter." Dumbledore told him, "Now stand up!" The order was harsh, something akin to Harry's uncle's tone when he was pissed and wanted to take his anger out on Harry. Only this time Harry didn't think he would be able to run away until the anger faded away.

Carefully he stood up. He tried not to show the old man how scared he was. He had stood against Voldemort, he could stand against Dumbledore.

"What are you going to do?" He asked, "You can't obliviate me, clearly." He was a little surprised by his own tone. Though perhaps he shouldn't have been. After all, he had mouthed off to Voldemort, Snape, and Umbridge, so why not the headmaster.

Dumbledore's gaze narrowed, "No, it seems I can not." With a swish of his wand, Harry found himself tossed into the chair he had been leaning against before, ropes appearing to hold him down.

"You bas—" He tried to shout but another wave of Dumbledore's wand and he couldn't make a sound.

The man moved behind his desk. Harry watched as he searched the shelves for something.

"You must know Harry, this is not what I planned. You seemed to have a habit, my boy, for ruining my best-laid plans." The man shot Harry a cold look before he turned away to look at a shelf full of small glass bottles.

Potion bottles, Harry's mind supplied and his heart started to race. The headmaster was going to kill him. He could feel it in his bones. It didn't matter what the wizarding world would think. Harry had a feeling the 'leader of the light' would twist it around to make him look like he died a hero, then use it for his own means. It made him sick to his stomach. How had he not seen it before? Dumbledore was using him. And now that Harry knew, he couldn't be allowed to live.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat. He wanted to beg and plead. But even if he wasn't silenced, he wouldn't have. He had never begged for his life from the Dark Lord and he wouldn't do it now.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and hope-filled Harry. Before Dumbledore could call for them to enter or tell them to get lost the door opened and Hermione stuck her head in. Her eyes widened when she saw Harry and he tried to call out to her for help.

"Professor?" She asked, entering the man's office. The door closing behind her, an uneasy feeling settled in Harry's stomach.

The headmaster turned to look at her, he gave her a grim smile, "A small hitch in my plans, my dear, nothing that can't be handled." Harry's blood ran cold as his best friend just nodded her head in acceptance.

"Well, his disappearance from the common room wasn't missed, Sir, that's why I am here. Some of the others are starting to ask where he is." Harry cursed and shouted, though it was all muted by the headmaster's spell.

"Tell them he is in detention. I believe he has been serving a number of them with Professor Umbridge."

Hermione nodded, "I'm sure Ron can come up with a good enough lie to convince the others." She said and turned around and headed for the door. "Goodnight, headmaster." And then she was gone.

Harry stared at her completely lost. How could she betray him? She was supposed to be his friend. He could feel tears falling down his cheeks. First the headmaster and now Hermione, possibly Ron as well. Was it all a lie? Were all his friends lying and betraying him? And why? That was the biggest question rattling around in his brain, why?

"Ah, here it is." The headmaster said, suddenly breaking Harry out of his thoughts.

He watched as the man crossed the room, stopping before Harry, a small purple bottle in his hands.

"Drink this!" The man demanded. Harry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows because seriously? No way was he going to just drink something the headmaster wanted him too. What the hell was the man thinking?

"You know, Harry, there is a very efficient spell that mediwiches use to feed potions to unconscious or uncooperative patients." The headmaster waved his wand over the bottle muttering something before pointing his wand at Harry's stomach. Harry could feel it, the sudden weight of something filling his stomach. He tried to struggle against the ropes holding him but it did no good.

"Now," The headmaster leaned down and grinned into Harry's face. "Mutatio Interiorem Bestia."

Something inside him snapped and Harry screamed.