Hey, Potter fans, long-time-no-see!
Welcome to my long-time and new readers! Before I get started with the actual story, just a quick note for you all.
This is a REVISED version of my first Potter Fic, Divide. Divide was written shortly after HP&tOotP, so it goes AU from the end of Harry's fifth year. This fic is set during the summer after his sixth year - so the whole sixth year is entirely different to HBP. Bits and pieces of the sixth year will be alluded to and there may well be flashbacks - I have the sixth year all marked out in my head and in note form. Horcruxes will not feature and Dumbledore is not dead.
The original version of Divide was written when I was nineteen years old – seven years ago! Because of that, it is chock full of plot holes, continuity errors and probably more than one outright crap paragraph. After reading back through it a few times, I've noticed that my characterisations bare little resemblance to the characterisations in the sequel, CONQUER. There are also things missing that needed to be mentioned, personality traits that needed to be explained and magic and reactions that were poorly thought out.
So, I've undertaken the task of re-writing the entire thing. THIS is the result so far.
Every time a chapter is completed and BETAd, I will update as usual.
Those who have read the original version of Divide will recognise what's going on, spot the similarities and quite probably spot were some major changes have been made.
Those who are new to this, having never heard of the original version, sit back and enjoy! It should be a quick updater, as essentially, the story is already written, it just needs tweaking here and there.
So, with that – onwards to the REVISED Prologue!
Title: Divide - Chapter 00
Pairing: Harry Potter / Draco Malfoy
Rating: 15 for language, violence and sexual situations
Genre: Pre-Slash, Drama, Adventure, Romance
Summary: Harry Potter hates summer. This summer, however, the Dursley's take him with them on a family vacation. In the strange new city, Harry finds more trouble than he expected, in the form of Death Eaters and Draco Malfoy.
Divide.
Prologue
Summer.
Summer was a time of rest and relaxation; smiles and laughter; ice-cream and sea-bathing. During summer, families got together and took vacations, visiting new places, seeing new things, enjoying their time together, away from work, away from school. Parents and offspring alike looked forward to the extended holiday.
Harry Potter, however, didn't know what rest and relaxation was, smiled and laughed rarely and had never been sea-bathing or eaten ice-cream as it melted in the noon-day sun. Harry Potter was nearly seventeen years old and unlike most his age, didn't particularly look forward to the summer.
Harry had never taken a vacation in his life and had no family he would like to spend one with, anyway. During the summer, Harry actually missed school. Summer meant he was away from his friends, away from the only good life he had ever enjoyed, away from the place he tried not to think of as 'home'.
Summer meant he lived with his Aunt's family again. For ten years, Harry had been an unwelcome guest in his Aunt's home – living in a cupboard and treated like a House Elf. Not to mention being treated in other, never spoken of, rarely thought about ways that he kept to himself. Since his eleventh summer, he was still an unwelcome guest, but at least he had an actual room. Even if the rest of it (and he refused to name it, even inside his own head) was still holding true.
The only thing that kept him sane over the two and a half months away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, were the letters he frequently received from his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Hermione's endless advice and comforting phrasing, and Ron's boisterous, conversational tone always worked to soothe and calm him, even when in the midst of emotional darkness.
Currently Harry was lying in the grass at the far end of the local Wreck. He was ignoring the troubling thoughts that always flitted at the back of his mind, listening to the breeze ruffling the trees and the long grass hiding him from view.
He rolled onto his back, lost in a light haze of occlumency induced comforting memories, gently brushing a few strands of grass from his face as he did so. He stared absently up at the sky. He spent as much time away from the house and lying here as he could and had begun cataloguing the different shades of blue the sky took on as summer peaked. Today it was a ridiculous shade of periwinkle blue – something he thought Dumbledore would appreciate.
If he paid attention and listened closely, he could just make out Dudley's obnoxious voice drifting down from the other end of the park – the end closest to 'home'. He was, once again, terrorising the younger and invariably smaller children trying to play in the Wreck. As far as Harry knew, either Dudley was studiously ignoring him, or he hadn't noticed Harry was even in the park. That suited Harry fine – most of the time, these days, Dudley steered clear of him anyway, clearly terrified of what Harry could do to him.
Harry slowly grew restless; his stomach had begun to complain again. He didn't have a large apatite at the best of times, but during summer, he wasn't fed nearly enough, despite hoarding what he could. After a short while, he sighed and climbed to his feet. He'd probably have to eat something from his stash, but he'd probably put it off until the Dursley's were all asleep, just in case they actually did allow him to eat dinner tonight; that way, he'd be one meal up tomorrow.
Carefully, before even turning, he checked to make sure his wand was in place, tucked into his sock, hidden under his trouser leg. It was an unconscious gesture, something he had learned over the past year to be very careful about. His wand was on him at all times now, even in sleep. He had begun keeping it under his pillow at night, after last Christmas. He had learned his lesson then.
After a moment, he turned and slowly trudged back to number four Privet Drive.
The walk took about ten minutes and he felt heavier and heavier with every step closer. By the time he quietly and carefully opened the front door, he was once again feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Anyone looking at him wouldn't have been able to tell, though, as over the past year, he had also mastered the emotionless mask that Professor Snape was well known for.
He stepped inside and made his way silently up the stairs, meaning to make his way to his room without being noticed. Mere steps away from freedom and the relative security of the smallest bedroom, Vernon's voice resounded through the floor. He barely reacted, simply closing his eyes momentarily as the voice washed over him.
"BOY! GET DOWN HERE!"
With nary a sigh, but with resignation seeping through his limbs, he made his way back downstairs and slipped into the kitchen. Vernon was standing by the table, face red and purple with rage, ugly bulges at his temples, moustache fairly bristling. He was clutching what looked like a letter in one beefy hand.
As soon as Vernon spotted him, he waved the crumpled letter in Harry's face. "You're a bloody nuisance, Boy!"
Harry sat down at the table, not a single emotion crossed his features at either the rage or the hateful use of 'boy' instead of his name. Vernon appeared to take affront at this, he drew himself up, puffed his considerable chest out and continued.
"My name was drawn from the ballot this year, for the two week paid holiday at a five star hotel-"
Harry raised his eyebrows quizzically. Vernon caught the look and glared at him.
"We are going on holiday, Boy. But I have to bloody well take you with us!"
It dawned on Harry why Vernon was so angry. The Dursley's wanted to go on the holiday, so they had little choice – either fob him off on a neighbour, leave him to fend for himself for two weeks or take him with them. And because of the particular wards on the house and his and Petunia's blood – he would probably actually have to go with them.
Harry's heart skipped a beat at the thought.
A/N: Well, there you go. Updated, revised, made more sensible XD
As you may have noticed, I've taken artistic liscence with the wards that protect Harry via his mother's and Petunia's blood. Apparently, I forgot to take that into account when I first wrote this fic!
Review and I give you cookies! (Oh, and this chapter may be updated again, as my BETA is currently going over it for me.)