A short chapter, but a lot happens so don't resent me!

Ex Mentis: You're really knowledgeable aren't you? Thanks to you I learned a whole lot about wolf legends ^^ I already knew Loup Garou though, (is very proud of herself) because I'm French!

I stole the idea of Evan, Lisa and Nicolas being Harry's 'siblings', I hope you don't mind *.*

Athrù. The foreign name was blazing like a torch in his mind when Harry woke up that morning. Finally, he had a clue as to what he was! He was in an excellent mood as he joined Evan, Lisa and Nicolas for breakfast. He was growing quite attached to the three first years. They reminded him of the siblings he never had. The best part of it all was that Lisa wasn't going all Ginny-Weasley on him. Because that had been a blow: when Ginny had started acting like he was a demi-god after he had saved her from the Chamber. Until then, he had been quite content to treat her as a younger sister, but it had become slightly harder when she had started looking at him with sparkling eyes. Lisa on the other hand treated him normally, relied on him when she had problems and was quite happy to spend time just chatting about trivial things while they watched Evan and Nicolas doing stupid things.

The raven haired boy had already been sitting at the Slytherin table for twenty minutes when he started feeling a gaze on his back. Frowning, he turned around to look at the three other tables which he had his back against but as many people often glanced at him fearfully, as if they expected him to go on a killing spree any minute, it was difficult to determine who had been staring at him. Harry quickly gobbled up a last sausage before rising from his seat, saying he had some homework to finish before classes started.

He had just left the Great Hall when footsteps resounded behind him.

"Harry!" called Neville who was apparently hurrying after him.

Harry's blood ran cold and he reflexively pretended he hadn't heard the Gryffindor, while making his strides a tad longer. Whether he noticed Harry's attempt at escaping from him or not, Neville took no notice and continued following the raven haired boy, trying his best to catch up to him. Unfortunately, Harry was quite fast.

"Harry!" called Neville again.

It had reached the point where Harry couldn't pretend he hadn't heard anymore and he was about to turn around, when Pansy came from the corridor on his right.

"Harry!" exclaimed the girl. "I was wondering where you'd gone."

The dark haired girl grabbed his arm and started walking forward without a single look for the Gryffindor who had stopped in his tracks at a distance.

Harry was rather baffled by the closeness of the Slytherin girl since they weren't exactly friends despite the few conversations they had had since Harry had moved into the Snake dormitories. However, with Neville behind, the raven haired teen reckoned he might as well go along with her and escape while he had the chance.

"Are you going back to the Common Room?" asked Pansy conversationally, with a bright smile on her face.

"Yeah…I have some homework to finish." said Harry. "Sorry I didn't wait for you."

Pansy smiled again. To someone else it might have appeared friendly and casual but Harry could see it was actually an approving smile. Pansy was satisfied by his act. The raven haired boy felt rather proud of having gained the approval of a member of his new house.

"That's alright." replied Pansy cheerfully as they rounded the corner. "We can always eat together tomorrow."

They continued chatting in such a way for a few more minutes, even though Neville had stopped following them right away. Once they had ascertained that the Gryffindor had given up and that they were sufficiently far, Pansy let go of Harry's arm and took a step away from him.

"Thanks." said the boy simply.

"No problem." replied the girl looking at him sideways.

Harry glanced at her trying to read her expression but the girl was wearing her 'Slytherin mask' and he couldn't tell what she was thinking at all.

"How did you know I needed help?" he asked after a moment of silence.

The girl gave a trademark Slytherin smirk.

"I heard him calling you and since you didn't stop right away it was quite obvious that you didn't actually want to talk to him." she explained with a triumphant look. "So, what did he do? You're not avoiding him just because he's a Gryffindor."

The last sentence wasn't a question. The raven haired boy was slightly impressed that the girl could observe that much from such a short interaction.

As for why he was avoiding Neville…well…He couldn't forget the look on Neville's face when they had been on the train, and that overwhelming sent of fear…

"You're afraid aren't you?" said Pansy.

Harry snapped out of his daze and looked at her stunned. The girl had a smug expression on her face which showed she thought she had discovered everything there was to discover.

"Afraid?" repeated Harry.

"That's right." said the girl with a nod, wiping the smugness off her face. "Afraid that he'll turn his back on you like the others. You are, aren't you?" she asked gently.

The raven haired boy nodded slowly. Somehow Parkinson reminded him of Hermione though the dark haired girl would be probably not be happy being compared to the bushy haired Gryffindor.

"I don't think he would though." she told him, as they entered the dungeons. "From what I've seen Longbottom is the loyal kind and I can't imagine him judging people on their differences."

"Maybe." said Harry uncertainly.

"Well, it's alright to be afraid." Harry looked at her, surprised. "It proves you're human." said the girl with a smile.

The raven haired boy knew Pansy had meant well, by saying this but it instead of reassuring it reminded him that he was no longer a human, if he had ever been one.

He plastered a fake smile on his face and hid his true emotions from his eyes. He was also a Slytherin, and he was quite capable of wearing a mask too when he needed it.

"Thank you." he said as they reached the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. "I'm glad we got to talk about it."

The dark haired girl returned the smile though she seemed to realize he wasn't being entirely truthful, before joining a group of girls sitting at the far end of the room.

The raven haired boy went back to his room and threw himself on his bed. He lay on his back, watching the green canopy above. Maybe he should have listened to what Neville had had to say…There was no way the Gryffindor would try and talk to him just to tell him he hated him, after all. And that horrible stench he had smelt on the train could have very well been the smell of his own fear, though it was most likely combined with Ginny's…

There was a child with dark hair and green eyes. There was a woman, with long platinum blonde hair and a beautiful smile. Her kind blue eyes were looking at the dark haired boy. She laughed and his heart skipped a beat. The child smiled and laughed with her. The woman hugged the child and kissed his forehead…

The dark haired boy was crying bitterly as he held his stomach. The woman held him in her arms, softly singing a lullaby to ease his pain. Little by little, the memory of the beating and the pain of his bruised body became easier to bear…

They were walking hand in hand chatting merrily as they went. The woman's hand was warm and her smile was kind. The boy was happy, so happy he couldn't help but smile…

A child, maybe nine or ten years old, grabbing someone's arm, and yelling 'Wait!'. The person turned around. It was a woman. A beautiful woman with long platinum blonde hair and kind blue eyes; her skin was pale and her features had an aristocratic elegance. The woman smiled at him sadly, as tears ran down her cheeks, and placed her free hand on his head.

"I'm sorry." she murmured. "I'm sorry."

"Mom!" sobbed the child.

"I'm sorry." repeated the woman as darkness enveloped him.

"I love you."

Harry's eyelids flew open. His emerald eyes were wide as they stared at the canopy and tears were streaming down from them. He lifted himself in a sitting position and raised a shaking hand to his wet cheek. A sob shook his body. He buried his face in his hands, letting the deep sorrow flow in the shape of tears.

After a while, he calmed down. He lazily cast a Tempus, which told him that it was way too late for him to go to his classes now. He fell back on his bed and replayed the scenes in his mind, carving every detail of the woman's face in his memory and repeating the single 'Mom' over and over in his mind, until he got sick of it.

As the process repeated itself for the umpteenth time, his left flank started burning and a sudden throb in his head nearly knocked him out. A whine escaped his lips and he curled up, holding his head with one hand and his waist with the other. As the burning in his side and his headache intensified his slowly lost consciousness.