Disclaimer: Harry Potter, as always, belongs to JK.

AN: So for some reason, I started reading letter fics. Thus this little plot bunny decided to sprout and would not leave me alone until I put thought to paper. So here you go, a letter fic of my own making. I did change some of the dates around to suit my plans. So far it is only planned to be a one-shot. Let me know if you guys want me to continue it.

Harry watched as Hedwig disappeared into the distance. He was furious at having been kept in the dark. He was seething at his so-called friends and Sirius for not truly writing to him. Sure they sent him empty letters of platitudes, but that was all they were, empty letters to dissuade him from doing anything drastic.

So he decided to do something completely reckless, dangerous, and unexpected. He picked up his damaged quill and drafted another letter. This one he would not risk using his beloved Hedwig to deliver. No, he would think of some other way to get it to the recipient.

Dear Dark Lord,

Surprise! I'm still alive after your latest attempt to have me killed. Seriously, Dementors? I thought you wouldn't let anyone else do your dirty work.

Does that mean I now have to worry about every lower-level Death Eater trying to kill me?

Of course, if your whole plan was to get me expelled, I congratulate you. Thanks to a house-elf incident in the summer before my second year, I already had a warning in my file. Now I'm going to have to explain myself at some type of hearing.

Do you think they will believe that there were actually two Dementors who tried to Kiss me, or do you think they will believe I made the whole story up?

Yeah, I'm doomed.

I suppose it will make our next meeting easier for you. I would be worried if you were unable to murder an unarmed teenage wizard who had his magic bound.

I don't want to lose my magic. Four years is both too long and not long enough. If something like this had happened back when I first got my Hogwarts letter, well, I wouldn't have known what I would be missing. I would have likely just accepted that I was to remain trapped in the cupboard forever.

You are probably wondering why I even bothered to send a letter to you. Well. I don't actually know. It is stupid, dangerous, reckless, everything that is Gryffindor.

At least I am taking the only precautions that I can. Not sending this with my own owl. It's not like I can perform more magic to curse or hex this letter.

By the way, why did you come after me as a toddler? I've asked Dumbledore many times, but he never tells me anything. I know that you were after me and not my parents. That's the only thing I am grateful to those Dementors for, being able to remember those final moments before my life became a living hell of my mother's life, how you told her multiple times to step aside.

She should have.

Bloody Hell, this got depressing.

Anyway, that's all I have for now.

Harry Potter

Harry dropped his quill and sat contemplating the letter he had written. He had made sure to scratch his mistakes out as thoroughly as possible. If it had not been his last clean piece of parchment he would have completely rewritten it.

So with a sigh, he called for Dobby and asked the excitable house elf to deliver the letter discreetly. Before letting him go, Harry confirmed that Dobby would not be in danger of being hurt and that the house elf would not tell anyone that he had sent a letter. Once Dobby was gone he curled on his uncomfortable mattress. He needed at least a couple of hours of sleep before he had to get up and slave away at whatever tasks his relatives wanted him to do the next day.

Harry was awakened by the loud thumps of Vernon's meaty fist slamming against his door. "Boy, get up!" He knew that it was going to be a rough day then. It was not often that Vernon woke him up anymore. "You will make breakfast then do whatever your aunt tells you to."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." He kept his voice bland and subservient in order to not anger the man any more than he already was. When Harry sat up, he saw an elegant barn owl perched on his desk. The owl hooted as she saw that Harry was awake and flew over to the recipient of her letter.

Harry took the letter from the beautiful bird and smiled sadly at her. "You better go, it isn't safe here for an owl." With that, the barn owl took flight and left the residence. He looked down at the innocent-looking letter in his hands and opened it up.

Boy,

I do not need Dementors to destroy you.

My Death Eaters know better than to attempt to kill you. They all have orders to capture you and bring you to me.

I did not even know of the murder attempt until I read your letter. It was not ordered by me or any of those under my command. That leaves someone at the Ministry as the culprit.

I will find out who. No one, not even you, deserves to have their magic taken away.

The reason I targeted you as a toddler was because of a Prophecy that Severus overheard.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him.

I'm certain there is more to it, but I haven't obtained the full contents yet. I am working on it though.

I do agree that it was exceedingly stupid for you to write a letter to me. I could curse this letter so that you would die. I could turn it into a portkey. I could place a tracking spell on it and find your home.

I haven't.

The Dark Lord Voldemort

Harry did not have time to write a reply out to Lord Voldemort before his day started. That was probably a good thing as his letter back would have likely been a lot less kind than he had been able to write that evening. His muscles were sore from working outside most of the day. He had only been allowed inside whenever he needed to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

He was not given anything for him to eat.

Dork Lord Tommy,

Continue calling me 'boy' and I'll completely forget that there is another name you prefer to go by.

Thank you for telling me about the prophecy.

So in a rash, Gryffindorish move you decided to attack before having all the information? I didn't think Slytherins were supposed to lose their sense of rationality. Maybe I am more Slytherin than I thought if that is true.

That was a very beautiful barn owl. Don't send her again, it isn't safe here for owls. I have a hard enough time keeping Hedwig safe. If my uncle sees her then… Just don't send her.

I'll ask Dobby, the former Malfoy house elf that delivers my letters to you, to listen for your call. If you try to hurt him or attempt to use him to get to me then he will defend himself. Dobby is a free elf, afterall.

You better be happy that the muggles kept me busy all day. Otherwise my anger would have likely gotten the better of me and this letter would have been filled with many more insults.

Harry Potter

Harry had just settled himself for the night when his scar erupted in pain from Lord Voldemort's fury. His last conscious thought was that he would do it all over again if the Dark Lord dared to call him 'boy' again.

Brat,

I hope you enjoyed that.

No one insults Lord Voldemort and gets away with it. Not even you.

I will call you whatever I want Boy.

Why are you not using fresh parchment when answering me?

Did you just thank me?

I will use your house elf.

Word of advice, bond your house elf to you. Otherwise it will not matter what the creature wants, someone will eventually find it and force it into servitude.

The Dark Lord Voldemort

After the pain from the previous night and the nightmares that plagued his sleep, Harry was done. He flipped the parchment over and angrily started scratching away his reply.

Riddle,

Fuck you.

Here I thought that you would not want to have anything in common with a muggle. Especially one as foul as my uncle. That's his favourite name for me. Well that and Freak, waste of space, you, and many others that I've forgotten.

It is hard to always use fresh parchment when I have none. I highly doubt that you would appreciate me writing you with muggle paper and pencil.

Yes, I did thank you. It's called being polite. Something you apparently know absolutely nothing about anymore. Which is weird, because when you were in Hogwarts, you were able to bite your tongue and continue being polite even when being insulted.

Harry Potter

He looked over the short letter a final time before he was satisfied. He called Dobby to deliver the letter, but hesitated before he gave it over.

"Dobby?"

"Yes, Harry Potter?"

"Is he telling the truth? Can you be forced to serve someone if they find out you are a free elf?"

The house elf in question suddenly looked down from Harry. He shuffled his feet nervously. "Yes, Harry Potter, it is possible." Suddenly the elf started crying loudly. Which was not good. "Master must forgive Dobby. Once old nasty master freed Dobby, Dobby bound himself to Master Harry Potter. Dobby was happy to be freed, but Dobby also worried that he would be made to serve someone other than Master Harry Potter.

"Dobby, hey, please stop. If my relatives hear you." It was too late. "Dobby, deliver this letter, we will talk about this later."

"BOY!" He heard Vernon's steps thundering down the hallway.

"Don't come back until I call for you, Dobby. It might not be safe." He shoved the letter at the house elf and forced a kind smile upon his face. "I'm not upset with you." He heard the deadbolts being unlocked. "Go, now!" Harry sighed in relief when the house elf disappeared. Dobby had escaped from his uncle's anger.

Now all he had to worry about was himself.

Lord Voldemort felt the thrill of fear rush through his body as the house elf appeared before him with another letter from Potter. As he reached out to take the letter he felt himself being pulled towards the teenager's mind. That had never happened before. It was always Potter that got visions from him.

So the Dark Lord allowed his mind to be pulled towards the one that was prophesied to be his downfall.

What he saw horrified even himself.

There was a whale of a muggle beating Harry Potter. With a belt. It took him a moment before he realised the animal was shouting at the rapidly weakening wizard.

"I've had enough! First you darken our door, cost us money that we could have been spending on our son, then bring your freakishness here! You blew up Marge and nearly got Dudley's soul sucked out!" Lord Voldemort watched as blood flowed from the places where Harry Potter was struck. He looked around. Surely Dumbledore would not allow this to happen? Surely he was keeping a close eye on his pet.

The Dark Lord forcibly pulled himself from Harry Potter's mind and looked at the house elf before him. "I know you do not have to listen to my orders, but I will ask that you go to Albus Dumbledore and inform him that Harry Potter is being beat up by the muggle. Do not tell him that you came from me." The house elf disappeared without a word to the Dark Lord and he had no other choice than to wait. He felt it when Harry Potter fell unconscious with a rather vicious kick to his head. The pain reverberated through their link, giving him the start of a rather brutal migraine. Not to mention all the other points of pain from Harry Potter's broken limbs and skin.

Dobby reappeared wringing his hands. "Mister Dumbledore tried to erase my memories Darky Lordy. He isn't going to help kind Master."

Lord Voldemort growled at the news. He half expected it, but that still did not prepare him for the anger he felt in defence of the teenager that reached out to him because of boredom and the desire for information that Albus Dumbledore was hiding from him. "Can you discreetly monitor the situation and let me know when the muggle leaves his room?"

Dobby looked up at Lord Voldemort with confusion in his eyes. "Dobby has been told not to return until he is called." The house elf hesitated for a moment. "It was not a direct order though…"

The Dark Lord looked at Dobby in surprise. The elf was exceedingly loyal to the Gryffindor. "Then go and observe only. Come back here once Harry Potter is alone." He waited for the elf to disappear before he summoned Severus. It took the spy a few minutes to get there.

"My Lord." At that moment Dobby reappeared.

"Master Harry Potter is alone now, but Darky Lordy there is a lot of blood."

His wand flashed out and a nonverbal spell hit Severus just as the spy was about to retreat. "Now Severus, I'm not the one that hurt the boy. In fact I had this house elf inform Dumbledore that one Vernon Dursley was beating his pet Saviour." He looked the potions master in the eyes. "He responded by attempting to obliviate the elf." The Dark Lord strode over to his spy. "I really do not have time to ensure you do not run straight to the old man, but I seem to also be in urgent need of healing potions." He released the spell.

Severus stumbled back from Lord Voldemort as he was released from the spell. "Albus isn't going to do anything?"

Lord Voldemort started to answer but was interrupted by the wailing house elf. "Master is dying."

At that, Lord Voldemort took a hold of Severus's arm. "Dobby, go to Narcissa and tell her that she is required in my office." With that he gripped his wand tightly and apparated himself, and his spy, into Harry's room. He smashed through the blood wards that were already weakened from the resurrection ritual and weakened further by his intention of saving the nuisance.

As soon as they appeared in the small room, Severus strode over to the pool of blood that contained one Harry James Potter. "His pulse is thready, but I can get him stabilised enough to move. It will take several minutes though."

"Good." The Dark Lord said as he blasted the door open. "I will handle the muggles and the Order, if they arrive in time." He strode out of the room and cornered Vernon as the muggle exited the bathroom. He still had traces of his nephew's blood on his clothes.

"W-who are you?" His face was rapidly reddening as that pale yew wand was pointed at his face.

"I am the Dark Lord Voldemort. You are guilty of committing a grievous crime against a wizarding child." He tilted his head to the side, "Crucio." He poured all his hate and anger into the spell, but it would not be enough. He had to be quick or there would end up being a full scale battle. "Stupify." He levitated the stunned muggle to Harry's room before he found the muggle woman and gave her the same treatment. Lastly he retrieved the muggle boy that was the same age as Harry Potter and bound all three together. "Are you finished, Severus?"

The man was sweating in effort as he continued to shove potions down the teenager's throat. "I'll need a couple more minutes My Lord." Severus Snape was casting spell after spell on the teenager to heal as much of the damage to his organs as possible. His main concerns were the child's heart and lungs.

Lord Voldemort turned to the three muggles and renervated the muggle woman. "Where are your nephew's school things?"

Petunia looked up at the Dark Lord with fear in her eyes. She stuttered out that they were locked in the cupboard under the stairs. Satisfied, the Dark Lord stunned her again and moved through the house. He glided down the stairs and walked around to the cupboard. He could feel the darkness that oozed out of it with a frown. "Interesting." He blasted the door open and shrunk the trunk, pocketing it. Then he saw the crayon drawings on the walls.

Harry's Room.

"Incendio." He poured enough magic into the spell that the contents were reduced to ash rather quickly. With a satisfied nod, he retreated back up the stairs. He looked around the room with a frown.

"Accio Harry Potter's wand." The dark strip of wood escaped from under the loose floorboard under his bed and was stored within Lord Voldemort's sleeve. Then he cast the summoning charm a few more times and watched as a silvery cloak soared to him along with a couple of letters.

"He is stable, My Lord." Severus said as he stood up shakily.

"Not a moment too soon." He saw that Albus Dumbledore had just apparated in with several Order members. "Grab the muggle filth and take them to the dungeons, I'll get Potter." He waited until Severus had done as he said before he lifted the teenager into his arms. Harry Potter weighed a lot less than he should have, that was certain. Once he straightened and looked out the barred window at Albus Dumbledore. He blasted the window open and cast an amplifying charm on himself. All was done wordlessly and without utilising his wand.

"You had your chance, Albus Dumbledore. The house elf told me what you attempted to do after he informed you about the muggle beating your Saviour." The man smirked as Order members started to question the Headmaster. "I suppose it was fortunate that Harry Potter and I had started corresponding." He could now feel the heat of the fire at his back. His magic had ensured that the structure would be gone within moments of the Dark Lord leaving. It was ordinary fire, but might as well have been fiendfyre with how effectively it was causing destruction. Without another word, the Dark Lord apparated back to his office with his prize secure in his arms.

"Here is your patient, Narcissa. I expect him to make a full recovery." He said as he laid the boy down on an enlarged couch. "Severus had to stabilise him before we could move him."

The blond looked at the child that was the same age as her Draco for a moment before she pulled her wand. "Yes, My Lord." She cast a diagnostic on Harry Potter and stared in horror as the list grew beyond his most recent injuries. Tears fell from her eyes as the records stretched back years before Harry Potter had reentered their world. It nearly broke her when she read that he had brain damage that occurred back when the child was newly orphaned. "My Lord." She laid the parchment on his desk in front of him and then went over to the child and started healing him. It would take a long time to heal the most recent injuries, much less the ones that were over a decade old.

Lord Voldemort scanned the list. His fury grew more and more potent as he looked down through the years. The last one before October 31st was from a blow to the toddler's head a mere week after his parents had been killed. Before that day at the end of October, the only injuries that Harry Potter had gotten were minor cuts, bruises, and scrapes. He had never had a broken bone before being abandoned to those muggles. He waved a wand over the parchment and copied the information onto another piece. Then he grabbed a quill and wrote a short explanation.

"Dobby?" He was only slightly surprised that the house elf appeared before him. "Would you take this letter to the editor of the Daily Prophet for me? Tell him it comes directly from Malfoy manor." He saw the house elf hesitate as he saw his master. "Harry will be fine, Narcissa is extremely gifted as a healer."

"Dobby knows, Darky Lordy sir. Dobby trusts Missy Cissy to save her Master Harry Potter." He took the letter and popped to the Daily Prophet.

"This is the end of the Order, isn't it, My Lord?" Narcissa asked as she took a small break to take a pepper up potion.

"Yes, Narcissa, I do believe that they will not survive this."

The next morning a snow white owl deposited a letter at the desk of one Dark Lord. He watched the owl as she perched herself beside her master with warning in her sharp amber eyes. He pulled his yew wand and checked the letter for any signs of hexes or curses. When he was satisfied that it was clean, he opened the letter and read it. A maniacal grin spread across his lipless mouth as he read the words of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Then his own owl swooped in and dropped the newest edition of the Daily Prophet in front of him. He unfurled the newspaper. "Perfect." He said as he read the headline.

Albus Dumbledore: Criminally Negligent? Or Something Far More Sinister?

Yesterday this reporter received a missive from Malfoy Manor. Curious, I read through the letter and the attached medical report.

It was horrifying.

Let me start off by saying that it was the medical report of one Harry James Potter, 15. It was explained that Mister Potter's house elf had frantically searched for help for his master yesterday morning, July 31st, as Mister Potter himself was in grave danger. First the house elf approached Hogwarts' Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, who I have found out is Mister Potter's Magical guardian. Imagine my horror when it was said that Mister Dumbledore ignored the house elf's plea for help and tried to obliviate the house elf.

Said house elf then did the only thing he could think to do. He went to his former masters, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, for help. Mister Severus Snape, Hogwarts Potion Master and Head of Slytherin house then had the elf take him to Mister Potter. Once there Master Snape struggled to stabilise The-Boy-Who-Lived enough to transport him to Malfoy Manor.

If Master Snape had been even ten minutes later then this would be an obituary instead.

Why Malfoy Manor you might ask? Narcissa Malfoy was a celebrated Healer before she married Lord Lucius Malfoy and they decided to start a family. Since then she has dedicated herself to raising her son and hosting social gatherings that only the most elite are ever invited to.

There Lady Malfoy discovered a horrific history of neglect and abuse that Mister Potter has suffered.

On the morning after He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was killed, young Harry Potter was placed with his closest family, his mother's squib sister, Petunia Dursley, her husband, Vernon Dursley, and their young son, Dudley Dursley.

No one aside from Mister Potter's muggle family knows exactly when the abuse started, but a mere week after he had been placed with them, the toddler had significant brain damage inflicted upon him. Since then nearly every bone in Mister Potter's body has been broken. This reporter does not want to describe, in detail, the results of the medical report.

Temporary custody has been awarded to Narcissa Malfoy. Permanent custody will be decided at the next Wizengamot meeting Friday, August 25th, at eleven in the morning.

Mister Potter will be recuperating in Malfoy Manor for the remainder of summer. It is unknown if he will be attending Hogwarts for his fifth year, if he will be sent to a different school, or if the Malfoy family will privately tutor him.

Medical report, p3-5

This reporter was unable to reach the Dursley's as there had been a massive fire at their home, Number 4, Privet Drive.

The Dark Lord laid the paper down and smirked. Yes, this could not have gone better if he had planned it out himself. He could almost taste the end of the war.