Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
A/N: Hey guys, here's the promised prequel to Dangers in the Past. Just some warning, this is going to focus on the relationship between Dumbledore and Harry, you can easily read it as an apart story. So, now let's get started.
Web of Lies.
It had been two weeks since the ending of Harry's fourth year. The boy had been miserable from the moment he had seen his uncle's scowling face at the train station, knowing that the summer holidays wouldn't be pleasant at all. That turned out to be an understatement. His aunt and uncle had taken to locking him up in his room, too afraid of him to move him back into the cupboard, yet mad enough to keep him away from the rest of the household. He was only allowed out of the room twice a day so he could use the bathroom, but that was it.
After the first week of his enforced imprisonment, the memories of the Tri- wizards tournament had driven him into a deep depression. The nightmares about Cedric's death, in which the boy blamed him, were slowly but surely pushing him towards the edge and he couldn't stop them, they just kept coming. After a few days he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He stopped eating, not that it would have made much of a difference since Aunt Petunia barely gave him anything. He also had taken to ignore the letters that arrived regularly for him from his friends. At the end of the second week, he was not only becoming seriously underweight, but also ill.
Some part of Harry knew that if things continued the way they were, he would not see Hogwarts again; he would be dead either by malnutrition, or by his own hand. He had lost the support he got from other people and now he was lost in his own world of nightmares. No one was there to help, no one was there to care, no one would be there to witness his death.
It was during one of those moments of realisation, in which he knew Voldemort wasn't going to get the pleasure of killing him, that Harry decided to write a letter. He knew that if things continued this way there would be lots of people left feeling badly. He had been told lots of times that they cared about him, but right now that didn't matter. They would not see it his way, they would not understand that it was better this way, that he only brought pain and sadness. He had to tell them that this is what he wanted, to make them understand that this was the only solution. He also had to thank them for putting up with him for so many years.
Picking up one of the last pieces of parchment left in his room, he sat down at his desk, his small, tired body, trembling with the effort of moving. Slowly, he started to write, trying to keep his small hand from shaking too much. He was barely half through when he realised how useless this letter was. Why would anyone care about what he thought? And even if they did, they would be too stubborn to understand, they wouldn't accept it. It wasn't going to change anything. Besides, he was feeling just too tired, maybe he should forget about everyone else and just try to sleep a bit more, hoping no nightmares would interrupt his much needed rest. Having come to that decision, he slowly moved back to the bed and let his exhausted body fall into it, not even bothering with pulling the blankets over his small frame. He knew that they wouldn't keep him warm either way since his fever had been rising constantly during the last hours. Sighing, he sunk into sleep, unaware of the golden eyes that had been following his every move.
Hedwig had been silently watching her master from her cage. She had been very worried about the boy, but hadn't managed to get him to write anything. Now that he had finally written something down, she wasn't going to let it go to waste. The big owl flew out of her cage and landed next to the piece of parchment Harry had left on the table. Picking it up carefully, she considered where she should take it. Finally, she decided on the one man that was always able to help her young master and so, without a second thought, she flew out of the window and started to fly in the direction where her senses told her Albus Dumbledore would be.
***************
Said headmaster was, at the moment, sitting peacefully in the office of his summerhouse. He didn't use that house often since he preferred to stay at Hogwarts during holidays, but that year it had been impossible. Aurors were at the castle right now, updating the old protection charms. Even if Fudge didn't believe that Voldemort was back, he had received enough pressure from his ministers to allow more protection to be placed around the school. Dumbledore had been a bit surprised by it, but had allowed it. A bunch of Aurors would be much more effective in doing this than the teachers would be. So, he and his staff had been forced to move out of the school until term began again.
Sighing heavily, Dumbledore put away some papers. He was trying to organise the resistance against Voldemort, but it was difficult without the direct help from the ministry. He was suddenly startled out of his thoughts when an owl arrived through the window. The snowy owl landed lightly in front of him, making him frown. He would have been able to recognise Harry Potter's owl everywhere. Patting the bird gently, he picked up the letter she had put on the table, wondering if Harry had had new nightmares about Voldemort. Looking at the parchment, he frowned, he could barely make out what was written. It seemed Harry's hand had been shaking badly when he wrote this.
Bending over the parchment he narrowed his eyes and started to make out what the letter said.
Dear Dumbledore, I'm not sure why I'm writing this. I guess it's just to thank you for all the effort you've put into keeping me safe. I just realised I had never thanked you for everything you've done for me and since I probably wont see you again I only thought
The letter ended abruptly, leaving Dumbledore extremely worried. Turning to the owl, he stroked her gently. "Did Harry tell you to give me this?"
Hedwig looked at him for a moment before shaking her head slowly. Dumbledore patted her head again and sighed. Of course not. Harry would never have sent a letter like this one. What really worried the headmaster is that he had even come so far as to write this. Harry was not one for dramatics, he was very closed with his emotions and it took a great effort to make the boy tell how he was feeling. Something was seriously wrong.
Sitting back in his chair, he pondered if he should send Sirius and Remus to check on the boy. He really had a bad feeling about this, but soon he realised that sending them was not possible since both men were out on a mission for him in Ireland. They would not be back for a few weeks and he really didn't want to wait that long. Looking once again at the snowy owl, he sighed again and stood up; he would have to go check on the boy himself. Telling Hedwig to stay put, he walked out of his office. Once past the anti- apparition wards, he focussed his magic on disabling the wards on Privet Drive and immediately apparated away, hoping he would not startle Harry.
To be continued.
A/N: Hope you liked the chapter, thanks to anyone who has been reviewing Dangers in the Past for this last weeks, and thanks to Tanya and Vinnie for beta-reading this story.
A/N: Hey guys, here's the promised prequel to Dangers in the Past. Just some warning, this is going to focus on the relationship between Dumbledore and Harry, you can easily read it as an apart story. So, now let's get started.
Web of Lies.
It had been two weeks since the ending of Harry's fourth year. The boy had been miserable from the moment he had seen his uncle's scowling face at the train station, knowing that the summer holidays wouldn't be pleasant at all. That turned out to be an understatement. His aunt and uncle had taken to locking him up in his room, too afraid of him to move him back into the cupboard, yet mad enough to keep him away from the rest of the household. He was only allowed out of the room twice a day so he could use the bathroom, but that was it.
After the first week of his enforced imprisonment, the memories of the Tri- wizards tournament had driven him into a deep depression. The nightmares about Cedric's death, in which the boy blamed him, were slowly but surely pushing him towards the edge and he couldn't stop them, they just kept coming. After a few days he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. He stopped eating, not that it would have made much of a difference since Aunt Petunia barely gave him anything. He also had taken to ignore the letters that arrived regularly for him from his friends. At the end of the second week, he was not only becoming seriously underweight, but also ill.
Some part of Harry knew that if things continued the way they were, he would not see Hogwarts again; he would be dead either by malnutrition, or by his own hand. He had lost the support he got from other people and now he was lost in his own world of nightmares. No one was there to help, no one was there to care, no one would be there to witness his death.
It was during one of those moments of realisation, in which he knew Voldemort wasn't going to get the pleasure of killing him, that Harry decided to write a letter. He knew that if things continued this way there would be lots of people left feeling badly. He had been told lots of times that they cared about him, but right now that didn't matter. They would not see it his way, they would not understand that it was better this way, that he only brought pain and sadness. He had to tell them that this is what he wanted, to make them understand that this was the only solution. He also had to thank them for putting up with him for so many years.
Picking up one of the last pieces of parchment left in his room, he sat down at his desk, his small, tired body, trembling with the effort of moving. Slowly, he started to write, trying to keep his small hand from shaking too much. He was barely half through when he realised how useless this letter was. Why would anyone care about what he thought? And even if they did, they would be too stubborn to understand, they wouldn't accept it. It wasn't going to change anything. Besides, he was feeling just too tired, maybe he should forget about everyone else and just try to sleep a bit more, hoping no nightmares would interrupt his much needed rest. Having come to that decision, he slowly moved back to the bed and let his exhausted body fall into it, not even bothering with pulling the blankets over his small frame. He knew that they wouldn't keep him warm either way since his fever had been rising constantly during the last hours. Sighing, he sunk into sleep, unaware of the golden eyes that had been following his every move.
Hedwig had been silently watching her master from her cage. She had been very worried about the boy, but hadn't managed to get him to write anything. Now that he had finally written something down, she wasn't going to let it go to waste. The big owl flew out of her cage and landed next to the piece of parchment Harry had left on the table. Picking it up carefully, she considered where she should take it. Finally, she decided on the one man that was always able to help her young master and so, without a second thought, she flew out of the window and started to fly in the direction where her senses told her Albus Dumbledore would be.
***************
Said headmaster was, at the moment, sitting peacefully in the office of his summerhouse. He didn't use that house often since he preferred to stay at Hogwarts during holidays, but that year it had been impossible. Aurors were at the castle right now, updating the old protection charms. Even if Fudge didn't believe that Voldemort was back, he had received enough pressure from his ministers to allow more protection to be placed around the school. Dumbledore had been a bit surprised by it, but had allowed it. A bunch of Aurors would be much more effective in doing this than the teachers would be. So, he and his staff had been forced to move out of the school until term began again.
Sighing heavily, Dumbledore put away some papers. He was trying to organise the resistance against Voldemort, but it was difficult without the direct help from the ministry. He was suddenly startled out of his thoughts when an owl arrived through the window. The snowy owl landed lightly in front of him, making him frown. He would have been able to recognise Harry Potter's owl everywhere. Patting the bird gently, he picked up the letter she had put on the table, wondering if Harry had had new nightmares about Voldemort. Looking at the parchment, he frowned, he could barely make out what was written. It seemed Harry's hand had been shaking badly when he wrote this.
Bending over the parchment he narrowed his eyes and started to make out what the letter said.
Dear Dumbledore, I'm not sure why I'm writing this. I guess it's just to thank you for all the effort you've put into keeping me safe. I just realised I had never thanked you for everything you've done for me and since I probably wont see you again I only thought
The letter ended abruptly, leaving Dumbledore extremely worried. Turning to the owl, he stroked her gently. "Did Harry tell you to give me this?"
Hedwig looked at him for a moment before shaking her head slowly. Dumbledore patted her head again and sighed. Of course not. Harry would never have sent a letter like this one. What really worried the headmaster is that he had even come so far as to write this. Harry was not one for dramatics, he was very closed with his emotions and it took a great effort to make the boy tell how he was feeling. Something was seriously wrong.
Sitting back in his chair, he pondered if he should send Sirius and Remus to check on the boy. He really had a bad feeling about this, but soon he realised that sending them was not possible since both men were out on a mission for him in Ireland. They would not be back for a few weeks and he really didn't want to wait that long. Looking once again at the snowy owl, he sighed again and stood up; he would have to go check on the boy himself. Telling Hedwig to stay put, he walked out of his office. Once past the anti- apparition wards, he focussed his magic on disabling the wards on Privet Drive and immediately apparated away, hoping he would not startle Harry.
To be continued.
A/N: Hope you liked the chapter, thanks to anyone who has been reviewing Dangers in the Past for this last weeks, and thanks to Tanya and Vinnie for beta-reading this story.