A/N: Hello everyone! I decided I would try my luck at Severitus' challenge. I hope it meets the requirements. If not, then it'll still be fun to write. This is an AU for Harry's 3rd year. Don't give me any of that OOC stuff. I won't hear it. This is AU and Harry will act as close to J.K.' s depiction as I can make him. So there. =^_^=

This has mentions of abuse in it and if that offends you, don't read it.

P.S. This is my 5th story and yes, I know I'm insane. Oh well. To each is his own.

Disclaimer- The lyrics in this chapter belong to Lifehouse and the HP characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The idea was inspired by Severitus.

Enjoy!

~*~*~ ~*~*~

~*~*~ ~*~*~

Harry sat dejectedly in his cupboard. When his uncle had picked him up he hadn't been very pleased to see his nephew. The ride back to Private Drive was full of yelling on Uncle Vernon's part, he was still angry about his ‘escape' the previous summer and the fact that he had to pay to have the window fixed.

When they arrived home Harry made to remove his trunk from the boot of the car but when Vernon grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the car and into the house.

Once inside Harry received another lecture and then the abuse came. Harry had seen it coming. It happened after he came home from his first year so why shouldn't it happen after he came ‘home' from his second year? Why should the abuse stop after he started Hogwarts? He didn't think it should. And it didn't. Nothing's changed and nothing ever will.

Harry shifted as much as he could without causing his body too much pain. He really didn't know the extent of his injuries because after the first few years of the constant abuse, his body had taken to numbing itself. He didn't think it was a normal response but there was nothing he could do about it, so why bother.

The most he knew was that he couldn't open one eye and that he had bruises and a few broken bones. He didn't really want to think about all the other damage his uncle had done after he had lost consciousness.

He laid back on the cot that was still in the cupboard and drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~

The summer passed like that. Abuse, chores, meager rations and it repeated over and over again. The Dursleys had allowed Harry to work on his homework because they didn't want anyone from his ‘freak school' finding out about his home life. Harry didn't want anyone finding out about his home life. Everyone would know that he wasn't as strong as people thought him to be.

He answered his letters regularly, no one suspected a thing. That's the way the Dursleys and Harry wanted it.

Before Harry knew it he was in front of the Leaky Cauldron, before he went in his uncle called him back over, "You be back out here in one hour, boy. You hear me?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said.

"You had better or you'll get the worst beating of your entire life and you can bet it will be worse than the time you were five." Vernon snarled.

Harry nodded, "I'll be back on time, sir."

Vernon nodded and drove away.

Harry stood up and walked into the Leaky Cauldron, he was very glad to be wearing the large, baggy clothes his cousin had to offer, it hid his injuries and didn't brush up against them horribly. Harry nodded to Tom and entered the alley.

He moved swiftly, or as swiftly as he could. He got his money from the bank, and headed to the book store, Potions store and even managed to get an ice cream. If filled his stomach and it was a feeling that he missed and welcomed with a smile.

He was standing in front of the pub with ten minutes to spare. He was glad he didn't run into any of his friends because he didn't want to have to explain the bruises on his face.

His uncle drove up on time with a sneer on his face and told Harry to get in rather nastily, which Harry complied nervously. Had he done something wrong?

~*~*~

It was finally September first. Harry walked into the barrier. Not all of his bruises had healed, including the one on his face. He would tell them that he had been clumsy and ran into a door. It was believable, right?

He stepped through the barrier and didn't wait for Ron or Hermione. They would be with the rest of the Weasleys which meant he would get a bone crushing hug. His bones had been crushed enough over the summer.

He got onto the train and went into the very back compartment and saw that there was a man, he was fast asleep, so it didn't matter...at the moment.

He settled down in the seat and sighed. He studied the man for a moment; he looked haggard and tired. His robes were patched and frayed, he had light brown hair that was speckled with gray. His mouth was slightly open as he slept. Harry wondered who he was. Could he be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor? Since Lockhart was gone? It was a possibility.

He was jolted out of his musings by the compartment door opening and his friends coming in.

"Harry! Where were you?! We were so worried!" Hermione said worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused.

"Didn't you hear?" Ron asked.

"Hear what? What are you talking about?"

Ron and Hermione shared a glance, "We thought you had heard, but, I guess you should hear it from us...instead of someone like Malfoy."

"What is it?"

"Well, Harry, it was reported that Death Eaters found You-Know-Who and-and, oh, Harry, he's back!" Hermione said, terrified.

"W-what?" Harry asked, shocked, he thought the pains in his head were from the beatings, he never thought that it was his scar...

"We thought you knew, mate." Ron said, sitting next to his friend.

"W-when?" Harry asked.

"Late August. We were told not to send you any owls because it might give you away." Ron said. "I guess Dumbledore didn't tell you either..."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I guess not. I suppose he'll tell me when we get to school."

The nodded. Before they knew it, the train was moving. They talked about various topics and astonishingly bought his story about running into a door.

The ride went on without incident. Malfoy, amazingly, didn't bother them. Ron came up with some pretty interesting places where Malfoy could be and what he could be doing.

When they were almost there, the man woke up. He introduced him as Remus J. Lupin and that he was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had also asked what happened to Harry's face.

When Harry told him his story, Lupin looked rather skeptical but he accepted it.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, it was dark and raining. Harry, Ron and Hermione rushed onto the carriages. They didn't know where Professor Lupin went. He most likely went into the castle by some other means.

The carriage ride was silent as they were joined by a Ravenclaw, Terry Boot. The carriage came to a stop and they went in. Harry had to stop a few times to catch his breath, his friends really didn't seem to notice as they were split up.

Harry entered the Great Hall, he was tired and would rather sleep than be at the Sorting.

The Sorting went on as usual, the song was just as great as it was the previous years and the first years were as nervous as ever.

Dumbledore stood up and gave his usual speech, "Hello, hello, welcome to a new year! I hope you are ready to refill your empty heads this year. Now, I have news of grave importance. I'm sure everyone who receives the Daily Prophet or those who have parents at the Ministry, know this; the Dark Lord has risen again..." Dumbledore didn't get to finish because people started talking quickly.

Dumbledore shot sparks off that ended with a series of bangs which made everyone quiet down and look up at the Headmaster, "Now, as I was saying, you will all be safe as long as you are in this castle and on the grounds. The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden, Hogesmeade trips will be decreased and curfew is eight thirty unless you are with a teacher."

Amongst the groans and moans they all knew that it had to be done.

"Now! Tuck in!" with that Dumbledore sat down and the food appeared.

People talked and talked. Harry picked at his food dully, he didn't really feel like eating, the last time he had a full stomach he got sick, he wasn't eager to do it again.

"‘Ot ‘ungry, ‘Arry?" Ron asked with his mouth full of pot roast.

"Oh, not really." Harry said with a weak smile.

"Are you ill, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, no, I just ate a lot this morning and I'm not hungry." Harry said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Hermione, I'm sure." Harry said.

She nodded and ate her own food while listening to Ron talk.

"Hey, Harry, where did you get that bruise?" Neville asked.

"Oh, I wasn't looking where I was going and I ran into a door." Harry said, doing his best to look sheepish.

Neville grinned, "I've done that plenty of times, never that bad though, were you running?"

"Er, yes, I was in a hurry."

"Are you all right?" Neville asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, it hurts a little but it will be gone in a while."

Neville nodded, "Yeah, you're right, it'll be gone before you know it."

Harry nodded in agreement and stared at his dinner for a little longer until it was time to go to bed.

He never noticed a pair of coal black eyes on him.

~*~*~

The next morning Harry awoke with a groan, he ached all over. He sat up carefully, so not to jar the two broken ribs he was harboring.

He looked at the clock and saw it was around six in the morning.

Good, he thought to himself. No one will see me.

He gathered his clothes and quietly made his way to the showers. He shut and locked the door behind him. As he stripped down he looked at his naked body in the mirror; he was pale, purple and black bruises covered him almost from head to foot. He had cuts and scratches here and there were many, many scars.

He looked away and carefully went into the showers and was extra careful.

~*~*~

About twenty minutes later, Harry came out of the showers. He gathered his books and flinched, they were way to heavy. He put a feather light charm on them and then picked them up.

He walked out of the Gryffindor Tower and into the Great Hall. He sat at the table but didn't eat. He drank some milk so his bones might heal faster.

After that he just sat there, looking through a book he brought from 'home' it was in Dudley's room and he nicked it, along with the other ones, he was reading J.R.R. Tolkien's, The Hobbit to be exact. The strength of Bilbo and Gandalf gave him hope and inspiration to keep moving.

He liked reading fantasy stories, he liked to lose himself and get away from his problems. Sometimes they were too much.

~*~*~

Time flew by and Harry didn't even notice it. He had been so engrossed in his book that he didn't even notice students trickling in. He wouldn't have noticed his friends if they hadn't said anything to him.

"Good book?" Ron asked as he chewed his eggs.

"Yes, very good." Harry said as he put his bookmark in it and placed the book in his bag.

Hermione had said nothing as she was engrossed with a book as well; Transfiguration: The Theories Behind It.

Harry shook his head slowly, only Hermione would be interested in something so boring.

Suddenly owls fluttered into the hall delivering the mail and more importantly the schedules.

Hedwig flew to Harry who gave her his uneaten sausage, she ate it with flourish.

Harry looked at his schedule and groaned; Double Potions with the Slytherin first, then Defense Against the Dark Arts which won't be so bad, History of Magic and Divination.

He heard Ron groan next to him, "Bloody hell! Does someone hate us or something?! Slytherins first thing in the morning?"

Hermione gave Ron a condescending look, "Oh hush up, Ron, we might as well get it out of the way than dreading all day."

Harry silently agreed but didn't voice his opinion, he didn't want to have Hermione and Ron in a row this early in the morning.

The late bell rang signaling that there were only five minutes to get to class.

Harry got up and he and his friends made their way to the dungeons, he lagged behind Ron and Hermione partly because they were arguing and because he didn't want to have to move to fast.

They made it to the dungeons and into the Potions classroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione took their traditional seats in the back.

Parvati and Lavender came and giggled when they saw Harry.

"What?" Harry asked bluntly. Did he have something on his face? A pimple?

"You look different, Harry." Lavender said.

"How so?" Harry asked confused. He looked just the same as he always had, right?

"Here, take a look." Parvati said and handed him a small mirror.

Good God! He had changed! His hair was a bit longer so it wasn't as wild, his eyes were more vivid than they were before and his face looked different somehow…he couldn't put his finger on it, but something looked vaguely familiar…

His thoughts were interrupted by the door banging open and the Potions Master stalking in; his black robes billowing about him.

Harry quickly gave the mirror back to Parvati who hurriedly turned around.

"This year," Snape started softly, his voice echoing around the room. "we will be working on more difficult potions, with simpletons like you, it should be a challenge." He gazed around the room, his gaze lingered on Harry and something flashed in his eyes and he seemed to go a shade paler. "The potion we will be working on today is the Capillus Accretio Potion."

The only person who seemed to know what the Professor was talking about was Hermione.

"Can anyone tell me what this potion does?" Snape asked.

Hermione's hand shot into the air, she was the only one.

Snape sighed, "Granger?"

"The Capillus Accretio potion is complicated but it does something very simple, it grows hair." She said as if she were reading from a book.

"Very good. Today we will be making it and its antidote. We will test both next class period." With that he began to write ingredients on the board for the Potion and its antidote.

~*~*~

Harry's potion simmered as he added the last ingredient to his antidote. The Capillus Accretio potion was perfect and now he added the ground snake fangs into his antidote.

It turned from aqua green to navy blue in a matter of two seconds. He counted his turns; three clockwise, four counter clockwise and so on and so forth.

The potion simmered more violently now, that was good right?

"Potter!" Snape snarled.

Guess not.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Stirring my potion, sir." Harry answered.

"Stirring it wrong is more like it. Dump it. See me after class." Snape sneered and walked off to praise Malfoy.

Harry sighed and, in secret, cast another feather light charm on his cauldron and carried it over to the sink and dumped it.

He sat down at his desk and watched everyone else work on their potions.

"All right, put portions of your antidotes in these vials, mark them and then clean up your mess." Snape said.

People complied, pouring their potions in the two vials provided for them. They marked them, placed them on a shelf and then cleaned up their areas. Just as they were putting their books away the bell rang.

Ron and Hermione gave Harry a sympathetic look before walking out of the door. The Slytherins laughed at him, as usual.

Snape shut the door with his wand and walked up to Harry, "Potter, are you aware of what you did wrong in your potion?"

"No, sir." Harry said.

"You were stirring it three times clockwise and four times counter clockwise when I clearly said four times clockwise and three times counter clockwise." Snape snapped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I must have misheard you." Harry said.

"Right. You shall see me tonight for a detention to fix your potion."

"Yes, sir." Harry said as he got up to leave.

"Potter?" Snape asked.

Harry looked up at him, "Yes?"

"Where did you get that bruise?"

"I, uh, ran into a door."

"I don't believe you." Snape said bluntly.

"What?"

"You're not Longbottom, I don't believe you. What happened, Potter? Who hit you?" Snape said.

"No one 'hit' me!" Harry said, getting up and ready to leave.

Snape grabbed his arm and he cried out in pain.

Snape let go, "I didn't even grip you that hard…wait a minute." He grabbed Harry's wrist and started to pull up his sleeve.

Harry struggled but could do nothing when the stronger man grabbed both of his small, skinny wrists with his large hand and pulled back his sleeve.

"Oh, my God." Was all Snape could say when he saw Harry's arm. Bruises littered it along with cuts, scratches and scars. "Who did this?"

"I, uh, no one! I-I…" Harry tried to think of a way to explain his arm.

Snape pulled back the other sleeve and his other arm was in the same condition, "Who did this, Potter? What other injuries do you have?"

Harry struggled to get out of Snape's grasp, "I'm fine! No one hurt me!"

"Don't lie to me, Potter." Snape growled dangerously.

"No one…" Harry tried.

"WHO DID IT, POTTER?! DO NOT LIE TO ME!" Snape yelled, absolutely livid.

"I-I can't tell you." Harry said softly, looking away from his Potions Professor.

"Why not?"

"Because if I tell you, you'll tell Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said.

"If I give you my word that I won't tell anyone, will you tell me who did this to you?" Snape said softly.

Harry looked at him for a minute, "All right."

"Tell me."

"M-my Uncle Vernon did it."

Snape let go of Harry's hands in shock, "Your uncle?"

"Yes." Harry said.

"H-how long has he been…abusing…you?" Snape asked slowly.

"Ever since I can remember." Harry said sadly. "But there's nothing anyone can do about it."

"What do you mean?" Snape asked sharply.

"If someone tells on the Dursleys, I'll have to go to an orphanage or a foster home, and I don't want to do that, Professor!" Harry pleaded.

Snape sat down on one of the desks, "What do you want me to do, Potter? May I give you some potions?"

"I don't want you to tell, Professor, please. Don't tell. And, as for my other injuries; I have something wrong with my ribs and my wrist hurts." Harry said softly.

Snape nodded, got up and went to a cabinet behind his desk and rummaged around. He walked back over to Harry and uncorked four vials, "Here, drink these."

Harry smelled the first one apprehensively and downed it. Instantly he felt the burning in his chest fade away and the pain in his wrist fade. The second vial he downed got rid of his bruises, the third got rid of his deep cuts and the fourth rid him of scratches.

"Thank you, sir." Harry said softly.

"You're welcome, Potter." Snape said, as he put the vials away.

"I-I should get to Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry stammered.

"Of course, I'll write you a pass." Snape mumbled.

Harry stood in front his teacher's desk nervously, when Snape handed him his pass he turned with a small, "Thank you." And walked away.

Before he was out of the room Snape called him, "If-if you ever need to-to talk, I'm always down here."

Harry looked at him for a minute, "A-all right, sir." And he walked away.

"Good bye, Harry." Snape said to himself.

~*~*~

Harry walked into DADA nervously and apologized to Professor Lupin many times for being late as he showed him his pass.

"It's all right, Harry. Take a seat." Professor Lupin said soothingly.

Harry sat down, he still looked rather sickly but he was healed, except the bruise on his cheek. He sat down and Lupin continued with his introduction.

"Now, this term we will be learning how do defend yourself against certain curses and jinxes." Lupin said.

"Now, open your books to page one hundred and twelve…"

The day went on like that; they didn't get any homework but they did quite a bit of note taking.

Harry lay in bed that night, he turned over on his side and sighed; he was glad he was healed. He wondered vaguely why Professor Snape was so concerned. Before he could think about it anymore he was asleep…and dreaming.

~*~*~ ~*~*~

~*~*~ ~*~*~

~* Review *~