Harry took a deep breath. He didn't know how to start. His friends shared uneasy looks.
"How about the first time you met?"
"I was four, I think. I'd been locked out of the house because the Dursleys were gone for the day to London. I just wanted to go to the park to play. I wasn't allowed to leave the house when my aunt and uncle were home. I was supposed to go to Mrs. Figg's house, but the day before she had called, leaving a message with me, that she couldn't. I didn't tell.
Harry ran a hand through his hair as he leaned against Harvey a bit heavily. "Dudley's gang saw me. I was already running from them, but they were bigger, faster, and well fed. Piers caught up to me in no time. However, I was in the Shiloh's yard. Harvey came out threatening with his mum, and they left. After that, I went to their house almost every time I could get, with Mrs. Figg covering for me.
"We became best friends. Even though we were a year apart, when I started school, I was happy. Of course I had to hid that I was smart. Harvey taught me what I was missing. Aunt Claire, his mum, made sure I was well fed any time I was over. Then she got sick."
"Mum had a rare disease, I still can't remember what it was. However, the healers here didn't have a specialist. So I was sent to my dad's, while mum went to the states. About a year later, I was living with her because of my magic. My dad was nearly as bad as the Dursleys, only he just abandoned me, never hit me. I was still his son. Still a child."
"Before Harvey left, he promised to write. He demanded that I tell him if anything happened with the Dursleys."
"Which you didn't keep."
"You didn't keep yours either!...oh alright, that was Dobby." Harry growled, looking away.
"Harry, I thought you hated me for leaving. I thought you stopped writing because I wasn't there to protect you anymore. Then when I heard about the lies they were spreading in the silly newsprint you have, I demanded that I be transferred, but mum couldn't afford a trip overseas again. I'm sorry you had to deal with Aunt Dolores alone, Harry. She can be quite...difficult."
"You're related to that-" Hermione covered Ron's mouth with a frown.
"Go ahead and say it. Hag, bitch, toad. Many other names can fit her, but those are my favorites. Don't worry." Harry giggled, closing his eyes.
"Harry-" Hermione started to say when she was interrupted.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Potter the fag." Harry stiffened, eyes snapping open. Draco Malfoy stood a few feet away with an evil smirk.
"Leave me alone, Malfoy. You have no fucking idea what I've been through the last twenty-four hours." Harry snarled, standing up. The blond snorted.
"What? Get fucked up the arse too much?" Harry flinched back. "Just admit it, you're a fucking whore, who can't get enough attention." Emerald green eyes dulled to a forest green. Harry was trembling as Harvey stood, eyes worried.
"Harry? Harry, can you hear me mate?" The older boy demanded.
"I'm sorry uncle."
"Harry, wake-"
"What would you like to me to do, uncle?" Even Malfoy had lost all his mirth.
"Oh my..." Hermione whispered, eyes wide with horror.
"Don't just stand there! Get that Longbottom boy! Tell him Harry's regressing!" Harvey growled, and the two Gryffindors fled. "And you little rat! I should kill you! He's still fucking healing! How would you like your dear Uncle Rodolphus to not only belittle you, but rape you too?" The blond turned green, and practically ran away.
"I'm sorry Uncle, I am. I didn't mean to-" Harry broke off into a blood-curdling scream. The first years near them screamed too. Soon, a lanky brunette came up, a man running right behind him.
"Dear Morgana!" The man dropped beside the teens. "Harry, luv, can you hear me? Harry, it's Jazper. Harry, wake up now. You're safe. Come on, luv."
"Please, it hurts! Please! I'm sorry! Please stop, uncle!"
"Harry...Harry!...HARRY!" The teen whimpered, shaking his head. He fell silent, but his body still shook, so the mindhealer took out a small syringe. "Damn it, I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this." After finding a vein on his arm, he gave the child the sedative. "Come, we need to get him to the hospital wing. What set him off?" Jazper demanded.
"Malfoy called him a whore and fag. It was the whore that really set him off."
"It's a trigger word for him. He hasn't been called that in two years, so he tells me."
"I figured as much. Just like if he hears the word freak, he won't eat, talk, or sleep."
"You know of his abuse?" The man gave him a searching look.
"I was his best friend, his only friend, before I moved when we were younger."
"Ah, so you're Harvard Shiloh. He talks about you a lot."
"That doesn't surprise me...lately I've been worried about him. He hasn't written for two years, then his face is all over the paper. First in the Tri-wizard, then them saying he's crazy. I can attest that he isn't lying. I saw Voldemort myself! Harry doesn't lie! He can't lie. He was beaten if he even tried. Not only that, what does he have to gain from lying? Nothing. He just wants to be Harry. Not the freak. Not some hero. Just Harry."
"You know him very well, then."
"Yes. I'd give anything to go back in time to stop him from being hurt so much. Yet, if I do that, how many lives would be lost? Even if he never found out, I would know that he would never forgive me from doing something that selfish."
"Selfish? You wish to help-"
"For my own gain. It pains me to see him hurting." Jazper laid Harry on the bed as Neville rushed to assure Pomfrey he was okay. "I love him, more then I probably should."
"You love him deeper then he does you."
"He's gay, but terrified of other men. I could never ask him to be my boyfriend. He'll force himself to marry a witch, just so he would never need to touch a man. It'll be someone he trusts."
"I'm afraid you're wrong. He says that he was raped by more then just his uncle. His aunt sold him."
"I'll kill them."
"Don't be so rash. If he loses you, again, he will kill himself." Harvey sat heavily beside Harry.
"Life is complicated."
"That it is." The man gazed at his patient with a sad face. "That it is."