Warnings : Rating for a reason. This fic will contain abuse, dark!harry, suicidal tendencies, chara. death, (some) gryff. bashing, m/m & m/f, language, BDSM, and smut. You've been warned.
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Full Summary : After a particularly extreme beating from Vernon, Harry loses his memory and wanders aimlessly throughout the streets England. Who should find him but a Slytherin? No one really knows his whereabouts, and the wizarding world goes into an uproar. After gaining some new 'darker' wizard friends, Harry gains a new set of memories... and a new view of the world. He eventually returns to Hogwarts an entirely different person. Will a certain silver-eyed blond be able to help him ever revive his memory... and does he even want to?
Disclaimer : Yes, of course I'm richer than the Queen! I just love to spend my free time writing things like this, just for the hell of it. (rolls eyes) I wish, haha.
Note : The chapter titles and fic title all are in reference to a Linkin Park song, called Runaway. Therefore, not all the chapter titles refer to what the chapter is directly speaking about...
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Last Time:
"Sorry to hear about what's happened, Harry." Draco paused, offering his hand. "Shall we start over?"
If Harry thought this was a strange choice of words, he made no show of it. Instead, he looked at the hand, then looked at Draco, taking Draco's hand with his own.
"Yeah, that sounds about good." Harry said with a smile.
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Chapter the Fourth : Now I Find Myself in Question, They Point the Finger at Me Again
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After a brief walk to a sitting room, the trio was now seated comfortably. Harry couldn't resist watching in amazement as the various 'house-elves' popped in and out of the room, asking Pansy, Draco, and himself if they wanted anything. Pansy declined, Draco told one of them to get him some water, and Harry somewhat awkwardly asked for the same. After the house-elves had returned moments later and vanished again, Pansy started up some mild conversation.
"So, Harry, do you remember anything at all now?"
"About this place, or Draco?" Harry paused to glance at the young man across from him. "No, I'm sorry." Draco shrugged lightly in response.
"That's fine, but I must ask; how on earth did you come by such horrendous clothes?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry paused, unaware himself. Maybe he had been wrong earlier. Perhaps he was supposed to live a lifestyle such as this, maybe that's why he was so unsettled? But then, how had he wound up bruised and bleeding faintly in a children's park, in clothing not his own?
"I-- I don't know. I don't remember, I mean. I... well, sorry." Harry looked down at his hands. Draco nodded.
"Don't worry about it. We, my friend, need to take you shopping." This caused Pansy's eyes to light up.
"Shopping? Oooh! Let's go right now, there's no point in prolonging his suffering. No one should have to wear those sort of clothes but mudbloods and muggles, for Merlin's sake." Pansy was practically already half-way out the door, Harry staring bewildered after her.
"What are mudbloods and muggles?" Harry blinked in confusion, and Draco sneered in response.
"Muggles are non-magic humans, entirely ignorant of our way of life. Mudbloods are low-life wizards or witches, born of entirely muggle parents." Draco pulled a face slightly in obvious disgust.
"And that's bad?"
"Entirely. Muggles are pathetic enough as it is, always making up myths and stories about the possibility of our existence. Mudbloods are worse, in that they bring their muggle relations into our world. There's an extreme know-it-all mudblood at our school, a bossy buck-toothed bitch. She seems to think herself your friend, for reasons unfathomable. I still don't see why you haven't hexed her to oblivion yet..."
"I used to spend time with a mudblood?" Harry asked curiously.
"Of course not. She used to follow you around, is all. We should do our best to keep you away from her this year, Dumbledore might not approve of our murdering a student." Harry frowned at this. He wasn't sure he could ever kill someone for just following him around, that sounded outrageous despite how little he knew of himself. Mind you, he couldn't say he knew at all what he used to be like, and there must be something horrible about muggles and mudbloods to make Draco and Pansy dislike them so much. Watching Draco though, it dawned on him that the male before him was being sarcastic.
It was odd, Harry thought, that so many of Draco and Pansy's emotions seemed to be veiled.
"Why not? If they're such a problem, why not just kick them out of the world or something?"
"Dumbledore is a muggle-loving fool. He's lost whatever edge he had in his youth, now he just runs about with twinkly eyes and attempts to sound like a grandfather to everyone. He's a complete nutcase. Unfortunately, he's tried to mess around with your life more times than I can count." Harry nodded slowly, starting to already dislike these people he could not remember. It sounded to him that the because of the people he knew he hadn't had the greatest life so far. 'Ah well, there's always Draco and Pansy, and maybe even some other people, right?'
"Anyway, we should get going before Pansy returns and drags us out." Draco pulled his face into a smile, offering his hand to Harry to help him up, which Harry accepted. They dropped off their water glasses, and walked back out side by side.
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Stopping briefly at the gate after Harry had passed through, Pansy tugged Draco towards her and lowered her voice to a mild whisper.
"What do we tell him if he asks about his family...?" Draco paused and mulled it over briefly.
"A twist of the truth, I suppose. If we lied about it, someone else might bring up the truth at some point and the last thing we need is for doubt to start up in his mind. Let me handle it if and when it comes up." Pansy nodded briefly before stepping out through the gate herself, Draco following not moments after. Pansy once again clutched lightly to Harry's shoulder, and with that the trio apparated.
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Harry couldn't help but stare at himself in the mirror just one more time and wonder at the change in his appearance. After Draco and Pansy had hit him with several cleaning spells and a couple of mild healing spells (to heal up the last of the bruising and lacerations), he had already looked a world different. He hadn't remembered any of the various stores they had brought him into, and the curious gazes of several store clerks upon seeing his face had put him off slightly. But once the purchases were rung up and bagged, the cashiers asked no questions and showed them out with a bright smile. The far too loose clothes of before had been tossed away and burned, being replaced with a variety of far more fitted, stylish, and expensive new clothes.
"Bloody hell..." Harry muttered under his breath as he turned this way and that, still in disbelief. He hadn't yet showed Draco or Pansy any of the clothes he was trying on, feeling just a little nervous and shy. He wasn't sure why, these two were obviously his friends (especially since they were willing to spend such huge amounts on him without batting an eye). But still, his heart pounded at the thought of showing himself off in such attire.
Of course, it hadn't just been his clothes that had changed. First thing the two had done was getting rid of the huge round glasses he'd been wearing, stating that they 'didn't -want- to know where they'd come from to begin with, we've never seen you in anything so horrible' and taking him in to a specialist. His vision had been corrected with a wave of a wand and what seemed like complicated wording, but Harry wasn't really sure.
Shortly after, his apparently hopeless hair hadn't really been changed, until Pansy had announced that she wanted it streaked and Draco had located some dye that 'matched his eyes beautifully!', according to Pansy. And so it came to be, and Harry couldn't help but grin at the change when they'd first shown him a mirror. His rag-tag hair hadn't been changed other than the streaks, but it still made a huge difference. It made his hair looked 'stylishly mussed', as Draco had put it with a smirk, rather than the 'all-over-the-place-I-can't-even-control-my-own-hair' look.
So now he stood before a mirror, too nervous to come out and show off the completed look. A variety of darker colour shirts had been bought, and practically a half tonne of black pants with various strategic zippers, rips, and scuffs. Sleek fitted black robes had been added to the pile, hanging open entirely with tapered chests and dramatic lower-halves that flared outward.
He couldn't help but stare appreciatively at how well his figure was shown off in everything. He had what looked to be the body of a laborer, fit and slightly tanned. He wasn't what one could call ripped, but he didn't lack muscle. Maybe he just worked out regularly? If he lived this kind of life style, there was probably no way he worked for a living. It helped his look, too, that apparently there was magic running through the very fabric. No matter what size it was when you picked it up, it would tailor itself to fit your body properly. It was just a matter of finding the right styles, according to Draco and Pansy, and the two had found excellent styles.
"C'mon, princess; get out here and show us!" Pansy called finally through the door of the fitting room. Harry sighed, he'd have to do this some time, right? Unlocking the door, he stepped out nervously.
"Well now, look at you!" Pansy said with a grin. Draco just raised an eyebrow and whistled appreciatively. Despite the fact that this was Potter they were looking at, they both knew he looked amazing. Who knew that without the hideous rags he usually wore, Potter could look so good?
Harry fought down a blush, and grinned back. "Thanks, both of you... I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly sure as to how I can repay you." With a grin that suggested there was a joke that Harry didn't quite understand, Draco shrugged.
"Don't worry about it. Having you with us is... payment, as one could say, enough." Pansy laughed lightly, and Harry couldn't help but look between the two curiously. Pansy just shook her head, and then nodded back towards the rest of the clothing piled up in the room behind Harry with a smirk.
"Does that all look as sexy as this does?" This time fighting the blush was a sorely lost battle, but Harry nodded (again, somewhat shyly) anyway.
"Then we'll take it." Draco levitated the clothing over to the counter to pay for it, leaving Pansy to chat with Harry.
"It's unfortunate that you're so short, Harry... if you were only taller you could practically be passed off as a male model." A grin painted Pansy's face. Harry blushed again, but thanked her anyway.
"It's not my fault, it's my genetics." Harry mock huffed and crossed his arms. Pausing, he shifted slightly. "Uh, speaking of which..." Harry looked at Pansy both nervously and expectantly, shifting slightly on his feet.
"... Speaking of what?" Pansy asked.
"My... my family." Pansy stared in response, surprised. That had come up fast. Although, he'd probably been wondering about his family for a while now...
"Y-your family? Er, I should probably get Draco to talk to you about this..." Pansy smiled apologetically. Harry cringed, that didn't seem good.
"Hold on, I'll go find him."
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"Draco! He's already asked, I didn't know what you wanted me to say...!" Pansy tugged at Draco's sleeve.
"Calm down; as I said we'll just play up the truth. There's less risk of him finding out the truth that way." Draco left the bags to Pansy, walking back through the store to talk to Harry.
"Harry..."
"Not good, huh."
Draco winced. Well, that was blunt.
"... No. We've been trying to convince Dumbledore to let you come and stay with one of us, but he has consistently denied us. Your parents were..." Draco paused to take a deep breath, "murdered. The murderer then turned his wand on you, attempting to finish the family... but for some reason, you survived. No one is sure why, but you lived, Harry. You're the only one to ever survive the killing curse, which earned you the nickname throughout the world of 'The Boy Who Lived'. You're... somewhat of a savior to the people, Harry."
Harry stood shocked.
"Of course, the media is fickle, so when you befriended us the world somewhat... turned on you, so to speak."
"Wait, turned on me? And why would it be so wrong to be friends with you?"
"We're Slytherin's, one of the four houses at our school. As well, most of us are followers of the Dark Lord. But really, it's complicated..."
"So they're upset because a 'hero' is friends with followers of a 'Dark Lord'?" Harry stared wide eyed, "But I haven't done anything, I just lived!"
Draco nodded. "Well, you've beaten our Lord several times over since then. In that aspect, you've done plenty. However, that was still while you were under Dumbledore's thumb. He's still trying to get you wrapped around his finger again, so be extremely careful when you're around him, alright? Don't trust anything that he says to you." Draco placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, looking directly into his eyes and resisting the urge to smirk.
Harry was shivering slightly.
"I'm a hero to the world that went 'dark', and so the whole world is mad at me? And who is this Dark Lord that I've beaten? And you said... you said... murdered. Who? Who murdered them?!"
"Well, the world believes that the Dark Lord actually killed your parents, which is partly what made your survival so heroic. So that's what anyone would tell you, but that's not what happened. One of your parents' friends from school double crossed them and killed them. The little rat is still alive (1), we'd actually been discussing how we were going to avenge your parents last year... but we might have to put that on hold.
And Slytherin's aren't evil, the world just thinks they are. The Dark Lord is against muggles and mudbloods, unlike the old fool. He does agree that a select few mudbloods might be permitted in our world, so long as they can prove their aptitude level and they cut themselves off from the muggle world and relations. It would keep the wizarding lines going and prevent inbreeding and the like."
Harry simply stared. There was no way to verify any of this as the truth, and to be honest it sounded pretty much outrageous. Him, a hero... and not only a hero, but a hero gone dark. His whole life sounded like something you would only see in the movies! But apocryphal or not, he had agreed that he would trust Draco and Pansy, so he would. Bizarre though this whole thing sounded, he'd trust them.
"So who do I live with for now?"
Draco hesitated. "We... aren't really sure. You never wanted to talk about it, and Dumbledore wouldn't tell us. But we... we think it isn't good. You always came back from wherever you were during the summer looking exhausted, worn out, starved, and half-dead. We think that's probably why you're so... 'vertically challenged', so to speak." Draco half-grinned, looking somewhat bitter.
"It's unfortunate that you're so short, Harry..."
Pansy's words rang through his head. Their conversations with him fit together, and then there was that place he had woken up near... That was it! That place, that must be where he lived. God, Draco was right. There was something horribly wrong with that school, and especially that house. That must be why his mind had screamed at him to get away from there. Draco and Pansy were definitely telling him the truth.
At this point though, Harry wasn't sure if he was happy or upset about that.
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Following some further explanation from Draco about Slytherin and Hogwarts, and the people of the school he attended, Harry was feeling mentally exhausted. He still didn't remember anything of his own history, but some of the spells that Draco was mentioning they'd learned thus far were sounding familiar. In fact, when he heard the name of the spell he could actually picture the wand movements he'd been taught in his head. Pansy had looked briefly alarmed at hearing this, for some odd reason, but Harry just assumed that she was concerned he would try something without a 'wand' as she'd mentioned earlier.
To calm Harry and give the three of them a break, Pansy had suggested they head out to Diagon Alley and find some ice cream, or something. The trio eventually stopped in at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor (2), seating themselves at one of the outdoor tables. The three of them were soon chatting animatedly, and thus, Harry never noticed the passers-by that were shortly whispering darkly behind cupped hands, nor the camera bulb that flashed several times in their direction.
Nor the red head or the bushy brown haired girl that had walked by, and were now staring back at them in shock.
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Chapter the Fourth --- Fin
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(1) - Draco doesn't actually know that Pettigrew betrayed Harry's parents, I know. Supposedly, he's just making up a very lucky-guess-close-to-accurate story. I figured Draco must know about Pettigrew, and I can't see any way in Hell that Draco would actually like the man, so if Draco was going to get a Death Eater murdered he would probably want to off Pettigrew, haha. Yeah.
(2) - I'm aware that this shop closes and is boarded up during the sixth book, but since this is semi-AU and set during sixth year I've randomly decided to keep it open. Haha. n.n'
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A'ighty! I'm so terribly sorry to all of you; I really am not diggin' this chapter. But it had to be done, the whole thing is mostly filler... and at least it didn't take forever and a day for me to update. x.x Not to mention I think this is my longest chapter so far. Yay! xP
But!
In the next chapter, dear old Blaise shows up and induces the foundations of slashy-ness. Look forward to it! n.n
So in the mean time, sorry for this chapter kind of sucking. I don't like putting in the 'such-and-such character goes and gets the whole wardrobe change which is symbolic for a whole re-write of personality' thing, but I was feeling un-creative and couldn't come up with anything else. And seriously, there's no way in Hell the Slytherins would tolerate spending time with someone that's wearing the clothes of a baby whale. I mean, really.
Regardless, shout outs and major kudos to those that reviewed, X-X x0 EVIL POKER 0x X-X, kl, GreenEyedCatDragon, hittocerebattosai, Peril Of Hope, I-see-thestrals, keisan, noperfect917, Twin Tails Speed, Mel, and darkangel36. Much much love to all of you!
The rest of you, please review. Again, it encourages me to not suck so much at updating. xP
See you all in chapter five!
Kyoko