Setting: This initial chapter is set within the first few weeks of Harry's first year where he has been sorted into Slytherin. It follows the common AU story of Harry having an older brother who falsely wins the title of The Boy Who Lived and consequently gains all the attention and adoration of his parents. There is the suggestion of abuse at the hands of his OOC parents but nothing extreme. Both parents are teachers at Hogwarts, Sirius is alive and as usual Remus is the only one who really cares about Harry. Also, as Harry is from the well known Gryffindor family he doesn't have many fans in Slytherin – Snape included.
Enjoy!
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A Cold Green
Confrontations
It would be the Christmas holidays soon. Harry sat on the cold stone steps at the front of the castle in his big scarf, eating a thick sandwich. His breath rose before him in little puffs and he stretched his toes inside his boots feeling quite content.
He could now choose to stay in the castle away from his family for Christmas and avoid the harassment of the other students while they also left for home. Things had gotten better since the start of term however and it seemed the novelty of his situation had worn off slightly. His housemates now spent less time 'teaching him respect', instead deciding that they needed to use the time on classwork.
Harry was quite happy with that.
A roar broke the tranquillity of the snow-laden landscape, and Harry half-turned with a frown to the main doors of the castle where the voice had come from.
The voices were getting louder, and in the pit of his stomach Harry felt extremely uneasy.
"Where is he?!" The voice yelled angrily, "I'll skin him alive!"
It was his father. Shit. What had he done now?
Harry stood slowly as the dark-faced form of his father stormed down the steps towards him.
"What were you thinking? You little idiot! Still trying to cause trouble!! And using your brother to hide behind!"
Harry winced. His father was obviously furious. Snape stood in the doorway, arms crossed, face expressionless. His brother stood behind his father also, face struggling to hide a grin.
"What-?" Harry managed to say before he was grabbed by the scruff of his robes and pulled up the stairs rather forcibly.
"This is the last straw, I don't care what you say! I am sick and tired of you and your disrespect for everyone!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Harry protested, struggling against his father's grip.
"I think you do. And if you lie to me again, brat, you'll be in extreme trouble!"
Harry's face reddened as his father dragged him inside, ranting at him the whole time. There was obvious staring and pointing being directed their way as his father hauled him through the corridors and into his office, shutting the door with a slam.
It wasn't enough for his family to know that his father hated him – the whole school had to know now too.
"I can't believe you would be stupid enough to- I can't even comprehend what you were thinking-"
James looked genuinely flustered as he surveyed his younger son. It was the same every time - Harry could cope with the disappointment and the anger, it was just the fact that his parents were always so ready to believe that he was guilty that hurt him the most. Why could they never allow him the benefit of the doubt?
"Dad, I haven't done anyth-"
"Oh shut up Harry! I know you did it! I don't know why… but there's no use protesting! I have the proof right here!"
What was he talking about? Harry raked his brains frantically to think of something he might have done wrong by accident but came up with nothing.
Harry frowned in confusion as his father threw a little bag of herbs on to the desk.
"But those are-"
"Illegal, yes, don't act so damn surprised!" James roared, slamming his hand on the desk.
Harry jumped at the sudden noise, eyeing his father warily. He hadn't seen him this angry for quite a while… Where had those herbs come from? He certainly hadn't used them.
"I've never seen them before in my life." Harry said quietly.
"That's not your brother's story."
"Well maybe my brother was lying!" Harry said angrily.
Why did they always believe Benjamin over him!
"How dare you. How dare you blame your brother!" James shouted, shoving a desk out of his way loudly.
Harry scowled darkly at him, trying to burn a hole in his stupid face in a manner similar to Snape. His father always took Ben's word first. Always. And Ben always blamed him because he knew he could. Every word out of his golden mouth was accepted as the gospel truth. It wasn't fair.
The staring match was broken as the door opened and his mother entered the room with Snape.
"James, what has he done now?" His mother asked.
Her words caused a flame of anger to flicker within Harry's chest and he bunched his fists to prevent him from grabbing his wand and cursing everything in site.
"I haven't done anything!" Harry protested, "I don't know what he," Harry pointed accusingly at Ben, "Has told you, but I haven't done anything at all!"
"Don't be ridiculous Harry dear, Ben didn't even know what these herbs were when Professor Snape found them in his bag." Lily said running a hand over Ben's shoulder comfortingly.
Harry stared at them incredulously, then turned to his head of house who stood unmoving by the door.
"You can't possibly believe them can you?" Harry asked.
Snape said nothing, his dark eyes boring into Harry's wide green ones.
"I can't believe you would- Does family mean nothing to you, boy? Nothing?" James asked, his face furious.
Harry turned back to his father, surprised.
"You don't even need to answer because I can see it in your eyes. He's your brother!! Your own brother and you would forsake him like this!!" James was almost screaming at him now.
Harry opened his mouth to scream back before something inside him snapped and he swallowed back his angry words, holding a calm composure instead.
"I obviously mean nothing to this family, so no, you're right, this family doesn't mean anything to me anymore. To be honest, it never has."
His quiet words sank in slowly, the calmness of his voice enraging his father even more.
"How dare you-" James started forwards angrily.
SLAP.
Harry held his cheek, stunned, and turned to his mother in surprise. She drew back her hand, a look of fury on her face.
"How could you say such things about your family, Harry?" She asked in a deadly whisper.
Harry could only rub his face in astonishment. His mother had never hit him before. He felt his eyes watering from the sting, and his chest tightened.
"You all hate me." He whispered, "You've never given me the same attention as him."
Ben stared at the scene before him, clearly having underestimated the reactions that everyone would have over this. Every other time Harry just got shouted at and given a punishment. Why was the little brat retaliating – it wouldn't do any good.
"That's because your brother is special." James said, moving to stand with the other two.
Harry's chest tightened even more as he fought back the angry tears threatening to overwhelm him.
"Of course he is," Harry sneered, "Well I hope he's happy with the situation he's created. I only bet he's disappointed it was Lily who hit me and not you."
Ben's eyes narrowed. It was obvious to Harry that his brother had used him as an excuse when the drugs had been found. He hated his brother for not speaking out.
Harry couldn't look at them any more and he turned on his heel to leave.
"Thanks for all your help." Harry hissed at Snape as he passed him.
The potions master had remained silent throughout the confrontation and only watched Harry intently as he left.
Once in the corridor Harry let the first few tears run down his face in anguish.
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It was dark. Harry could hear the leaving feast upstairs in the Great Hall but he had made a definitive decision to not attend. He scowled darkly and flicked another small stone across the floor of the corridor.
He had returned to the quiet area where he'd found the necklace those few weeks ago. Harry had guessed correctly that he wouldn't be disturbed down here and had sat wallowing in self-pity for the last few hours.
"It's not fair." He murmured softly to himself, running his hand over the seam of his neglected robes.
A large bang echoed from upstairs and the noise level increased, but Harry paid it no attention. He didn't care how much fun they were having, he just wanted to be left alone.
Lost in his thoughts for quite some time, Harry wasn't really sure of how long he'd been sitting there. He blinked owlishly in the darkness and stood stiffly, ready to return to his dormitory before everyone else came back from their meal. Thinking of it, they should probably have returned from their meal quite some time ago.
Hands buried in his pockets, his mind buried in his thoughts, he didn't notice his Professor until he almost walked into him.
"Potter? Why weren't you at the feast?" Snape asked, his voice sounding strange to Harry's ears.
Harry met his eyes, noticing straight away that the older man seemed caught out. Snape was never caught out with anything.
"I wasn't hungry…" Harry returned slowly, catching the movement of Snape's hand as he slid something behind his back.
Was that a… mask?
"I'm going to bed." Harry told him, edging slowly past Snape suspiciously.
"I don't think so Potter." Snape said dangerously quiet.
Harry paused and swallowed nervously. What the hell was going on?
He turned back to face Snape, but he was too late in doing so. A white light flared before his eyes and his world went black.
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"… take this one to the Dark Lord. He's only second best. He won't want him."
"Why not? He can use him as a bargaining tool if nothing else."
"And personally I reckon a good bout of Cruciatus would finish him off."
As their laughter echoed around his ears, Harry wondered why he was on the floor. His mouth was dry and his head ached. What had happened?
He opened his bright eyes and blinked a couple of times.
"I see, look who's decided to join us."
A hand grabbed Harry's robes and pulled him roughly to his feet. The world swayed and Harry stumbled, struggling to focus on the large men standing before him.
They were all wearing masks. White masks with grotesque expressions. Death Eaters? Where was he?
"Where's Professor Snape?" He said, almost stumbling over his own words.
More laughter rang out across the small room.
"Your dear Professor left some time ago. Wanted us to be the ones to present you to the Dark Lord."
Harry frowned at the leering face before him and tried to make sense of the words.
"The, Dark- Lord?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Yes indeed. And you had better show him some respect." Another of the three growled.
"The Dark Lord Voldemort?" Harry asked in disbelief, not realising the faux-pas he had made until a solid punch in the face returned him to the floor.
"Don't ever say his name!" The owner of the fist shouted at him angrily.
Harry shook the stars from his vision, muttering a 'sorry' under his breath. He was soon pulled back into a standing position where the large men in the room eyed him predatorily.
"Your brother is the Boy Who Lived, isn't he?"
"That's what Snape said."
Snape was a bastard, Harry scowled.
"I suppose I am." Harry muttered moodily, the earlier argument still fresh in his mind.
"Well, as we don't have your brother here to pay for his actions, you'll have to do, won't you?"
Harry was suddenly very nervous. These men were all adults and although he had been subject to one or two punches from his father, he'd never experienced the anger of three dark and no doubt powerful wizards at once.
"I- no, I've never- I didn't do anything." Harry stammered as the first man stepped forward.
His grin was feral beneath the mask and Harry couldn't contain the fear he felt inside his chest. He struggled against the man holding him tightly.
"Don't worry, little Harry, we need you in one piece for the Dark Lord." He reassured with a smirk.
"But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun." The man behind him whispered carefully in his ear.
Harry looked anxiously for an escape route but he couldn't even find his wand with his arms held tight at his sides.
With a weary acceptance he met the eyes of his attacker darkly, trying to appear stronger than he really felt inside.
"I want to see him bleed." Came the laugh from the third man.
"So be it." The first grinned, drawing back his fist for a heavy punch.
Harry closed his eyes.
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Stumbling and coughing Harry was dragged to the entrance of the Great Hall. There were voices around him but he couldn't make sense of any words past the ringing in his ears. His three friends were taking him to see their master, he could deduce that much.
He felt the warm blood on his hands and tried to draw comfort from the heat. He shivered in a cold sweat and everything ached. He had particularly disliked the kicks he'd received in the ribs. His vision swam but he thought he could make out a sea of black robes on either side. Where they the other students?
When he hit the ground he experienced a delayed reaction of pain to his knees and winced when it hit. He coughed again and leant forward on his already grazed hands to catch his breath.
Whilst doing so, he managed to focus on the feet before him. Just one pair. The shoes were well polished and sturdily made. He frowned, trying to orientate himself.
He followed the shoes to the robes – also immaculately made, with a pitch black colouring that almost radiated power. Harry thought back to his necklace. The power felt extremely familiar.
With a strain he reached the top of the robes where an emotionless face stared back at him, red eyes burning into his very soul, the whiteness of the face making his headache sing.
"Harry." The figure hissed slowly, savouring the sound of the word, "It's been quite a while since I last saw you."
Harry didn't dare himself to speak. He couldn't tell if it was from pure dread, or if it was just awe. The figure standing before him was not a mere man; there was something about him that knocked the breath out of Harry's chest. The darkness was enthralling but extremely daunting.
He took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself.
"Lord Voldemort." He whispered.
The figure smiled in a way that Harry didn't like at all.
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There you go. Hope it wasn't too violent – but the drama is heating up. It's all about choices in the next chapter. Thanks to the reviewers!x
(Ps. Some of my other stories are just on temporary hold. I go through bursts of enthusiasm towards storylines but there are a couple here that I will definitely come back to at some point.)