Chapter 3
Harry wandered the halls with Fred and George avoiding the great hall as he had been doing on and off since his second year. It's not like he would be eating if he went, so really not going was saving them all time. Anyway, he would rather spend time with Snape than spend a second more than he was required to in the great hall.
Why would he purposely surround himself with people who hated him? It's not like he had anyone to sit with, and he doubted that there would be a spot for him at the Gryffindor table if he showed up.
He should welcome this, not having to face his old friends and the rest of the school who looked at him with nothing but anger and disappointment. Yet he couldn't help the pang of hurt at the constant dismissal of people who once hoped to be able to call family. They barely knew him but had already dismissed him as if he would never be anything.
Fred and George didn't mind skipping the great hall, they went to the kitchens for most meals anyway. Their current conversation mainly consists of Harry rambling on about useless facts he had read in one textbook or another, and constellations he had long since memorized from late nights watching the sky.
They had heard different variations of this rant countless times but never complained or tried to stop him. They listened and smiled along no matter what he was saying. It was comforting to have his voice not just heard but heard, no matter if what he was saying was of importance or not.
It's almost like they cared for him.
Their afternoon went on like this until they ran into the last person he wanted to see: Malfoy. He had been avoiding Malfoy for the last two weeks, was this necessarily the right thing to do? Obviously not. But it was his only choice as he would not even consider addressing their situation.
Whenever Malfoy saw him he was always met with a questioning look. Not just Malfoy but the whole of Slytherin seemed to be watching him as he walked through the halls or went to class. When Marcus Flint and Gemma Farley caught him wandering the halls after curfew they no longer took points or gave him detention, only telling him not to get caught next time.
The weirdest part of it all was Snape's new treatment of him. In potions, he was used to being ignored for the most part with snide comments here and there. But after seeing his rapid improvement Snape no longer tried to force Harry to partner up anymore leaving him to work alone.
Snape's hatred of him seemed to be non-existent compared to previous years which was more than Harry had ever thought possible. This would be good except for the fact that now he seemed to be taking extra focus on him. Snape watched him from the second he entered the room till he left, even in the halls, he could feel his eyes continuously following him.
Harry tried to ignore Slytherin's weird behavior and convince himself it was just him overthinking everything like he tends to do. As much as he tried to ignore their change, he knew there had to be something more going on he only understood pieces of. Could it be what happened in their common room?
Likely, but probably not. It was such a small incident compaired to their many other interactions.
Was it uncommon for someone to appear in a location unintentionally in a place where it was supposedly impossible? Yes, yes it was. But it's not like it would happen again so he was going to pretend it never happened in the first place, and hope those who witnessed it took the memo and did so as well.
As Harry expected Ron didn't know how to keep his mouth shut and told the entire school about Harry and Cedric's relationship. The fallout was just like Harry expected, awful.
The school was split in their opinion. Half thought Harry lied about him and Cedric being together for attention, that Cedric was too perfect to ever be gay.
They believed Harry was just a pervert who had unrequited desires about Cedric who had never given him the time of day. The other half thought Harry and Cedric had seemed a bit too close last year, so they probably had been together.
The thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Harry was disgusting and wrong for liking blokes. It was just another thing to add to the list of things that made him unlovable, a freak. This news as expected did not make Harry's life any easier.
Instead of being given the cold shoulder by most, he was now frequently getting assaulted in the halls and seemed to be more hated than before.
The aggression Harry liked to think he could handle, but he knew he couldn't for much longer. If he was getting cursed or hexed he could defend himself, he didn't hesitate to draw his wand and reciprocate. The real problem came when people relized he could never fight back when things turned physical.
So now instead of getting hexed he was getting beaten, shoved, punched, tripped, and anything else you can think of. He couldn't bear the feeling of people touching him, each touch felt like a sharp burn, it never went away, the feeling of hands all over him, beating him until he forgot his own name.
The marks that never really went away no matter how much time passed.
He always froze up, he knew rationally he wasn't back at the Dursleys. But in the moments he once again had hands covering him he couldn't tell the difference. Hands pressing against your skin, and hot breath on your face all felt the same with your eyes closed.
Harry had taken to staying in whichever abandoned classroom he came across first as a place to sleep now that he was unable to return to his dorm. He would rather solitude than being alone in a room full of people any day. Either way, he was alone with his thoughts, with no way out besides picking his blade back up.
He only left his room when he had classes or Fred and George came looking for him, they always seemed to know where he was even without the map. He started ditching his classes more often than not, it seemed pointless when he would end up dead sooner than later. All he got were disappointed looks and the occasional question from professors, which were both things he could live with. After all, they couldn't complain when he was top of nearly all his classes even without attending.
Harry blinked, snapping out of his thoughts only to realize Malfoy had been asking him a question he completely missed. He had no idea what he was asking so he decided to go with the safest option, disagreeing with him and denying whatever he said.
“No thanks Malfoy I'm good. Fred, George let's go.” He muttered the last part under his breath but based on Malfoy’s unimpressed look he heard him.
“Potter, do you have any idea what I just said?”
Maybe Malfoy was stupider than Harry though, “Malfoy if you have to ask that question there's your answer. Now I know you love listening to yourself talk but no one else does I can promise you that, I'm sure you have someone else you can go bother. So go to them with your mindless antics next time, it's been fun but let's not do this again.”
Malfoy didn't walk away like Harry was hoping only responding with, “You know you're surprisingly hard to find for a celebrity Potter.”
Why had Malfoy been trying to find him, what happened a couple of weeks ago was weird but it's fine now. “Malfoy look I don't know how you interpreted me avoiding you but I'll spell it out for you since you don't seem to have gotten the message. I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. To. You. Got it? I know you think you suddenly understand me since you're more observant than most but that's not saying much. Now how about you walk away and go to charms which I know you’re supposed to currently be in.”
This shut Malfoy up for a second, when Harry thought he might finally walk away he just had to open his mouth yet again, “Aw you know my schedule, and to think you never cared about me” he said batting his eyes over dramatically in a way that made Harry want to do anything besides stand their and stare.
“Anyways if you give me five seconds to explain why I wanted to talk to you that would be great, especially since you ran away last time I tried. Don't worry I don't want to talk about the incident, all I wanted to know is why you don't show up to half your classes anymore and where you're sleeping. Bold of you by the way to criticize me for skipping a lesson when I couldn't name the last time you showed up for defense or ruins that weren't for an exam. Don't think it hasn't been noticed you haven't been sleeping in Gryffindor Tower, and that you miss nearly as many classes as you go to. If you answer these I won't ask you any more questions and I'll leave.”
Well, anything to make him go away sooner. “There is no point in me going to all my classes when I know everything being taught anyway, I get top marks on everything so it's fine. You're right, I'm not staying in the tower. Instead, I'm staying in unused rooms throughout the castle since hundreds are empty. There happy?”
Malfoy looked anything but happy with the answers he was given but hey that wasn't Harry's problem. This time when Harry walked away Malfoy didn't follow.