It's All Inside My Head

Christmas Day

Fuck the saviour thing, Harry should've been an actor.

The minute Ron left the room, Harry's eyes snapped open and he grinned broadly. They had all fallen for it, every single one of them. Even Dumbledore! Harry suspected that the old man still had his doubts and would be wary around him, but at least he hadn't killed Harry on the spot. What hope was there for the Order if they took Harry at his word like that?

Idiots.

"You did well tonight," Tom whispered in his head.

"Yeah I know, I expect lots of praise when this is all over."

"And you shall get it."

Harry shivered at his tone and rolled over.

"Now remember, in a week's time-"

"Lure them to the Ministry I know," Harry finished, rolling his eyes.

Lure them to the Department of Mysteries so Tom could get the prophesy, so he could kill Dumbledore. Would he expect Harry to blow his cover then? Or would he make Harry continue to play his part. Harry hoped not, he wanted to use his new skills in the dark arts, he wanted to hurt, to kill.

He could almost hear Tom sigh, "Sleep now, and try not to get yourself killed."

"Yeah yeah."

~~~~~~~~~~

Harry was awoken the next morning by Ron shaking his arm softly, Harry jolted awake and went to grab his wand, before realising that would be stupid. He wouldn't have had his wand if he'd been locked in a cell.

"Just me Harry," Ron said, "Merry Christmas mate, I've left some clothes there so you can have a shower all right?"

Harry nodded weakly, "Thanks Ron," he murmered, sighing in relief when he walked out.

"Now he pays attention to you," Tom hissed, "When his other friend is dead and you've been mission for months. Pathetic."

Harry chuckled and walked down to the shower, the bundle of clothes in hand. The dirt that Tom had spelled on him washed off easily, but the hair on the other hand was matted and knotty, taking forever to untangle. When Harry stepped out of the shower, he dried himself and put on what was definitely second hand Weasley clothes. Baggy trousers, a shirt that was slightly too small, and a jumper than engulfed him, hanging over his hands. He tucked his wand into his pant pocket, the fabric of the jumper erasing any trace that it was there.

His face was covered in fake bruises that were clearer now the dirt was gone, he winced as he looked at his reflection, glad that the injuries weren't real.

His hair was longer than it had ever been before, thanks to Tom's growth charm, and hung just below his shoulders, curling already as it dried, bits of it sticking up. Harry rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, remembering to walk slower and keep his head down. He had a role to play after all.

When he reached the living room, the Weasleys were crowded around the dining table eating breakfast. All of them had brand new Weasley jumpers on, and all of them turned to stare at Harry when he emerged.

"Harry!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, jumping up and running over to him, giving Harry a tight hug.

Harry tried his best not to cringe away, but did hiss in 'pain'.

"What's wrong?" Mrs Weasley asked, holding him at arm's length and scrutinising his bruised face.

"My ribs are bruised," Harry said softly, "They're just a bit sore."

Mrs Weasley looked like she was about to burst into tears and Harry just stood there, trying to look small and...wounded? Anyway, going by the sympathetic expressions on everyone at the dining table, it worked.

Mrs Weasley guided Harry down to a chair and loaded up a plate of food that smelt absolutely delicious. He looked up to see everyone staring at him and froze.

He missed Tom.

He missed their breakfasts in the morning, and his heart dropped when he remembered that he wouldn't be able to have his ass kicked in training for a whole week.

"Feeling a bit emotional?"

Harry scowled, "Shut up."

He took a bite of scrambled eggs just as George cleared his throat, "Where've you been Harry? We've been looking for you for months."

Harry's eyes flicked downwards and he tried his best to look traumatised...whatever that looked like. "I was in a dungeon," he said softly, "It was dark and I couldn't see much. Food came once a day-"

Mrs Weasley took a sharp intake of breath, "Once a day?" she hissed, "I'll kill You Know Who myself."

Harry gritted his teeth at that, forcing himself not to snap at her.

"How'd you get out?" Ron asked through a mouthful of bacon, "You didn't say last night."

Harry had this prepared, "There was a house elf, I can't remember her name. We would talk when... he wasn't there I guess. I convinced her to rescue me, and this was the first place I thought of."

Stunned silence followed, before Bill spoke. "What happened to your face?"

Smooth. Very smooth.

Harry made himself shudder, "Every so often, Voldemort would come to... talk."

Harry would let their imaginations do the rest.

"It's Christmas isn't it?" he asked, to discourage further questioning.

Ron smiled, "Yeah. We've already given out presents, we thought you should sleep as much as you needed to."

Harry nodded at him, "Thank you, I haven't been able to sleep since the first night I was captured."

Ginny reached over and grabbed his hand, Harry fought the urge to rip it away. He missed Draco as well. He missed his pointy, kissable face and his snarky attitude. He missed his stupid hair and his stupid, beautiful smile.

"You're safe now," Ginny said, "He'll never get you again."

Here was Harry's moment, the foundations he needed to set.

"I see what he sees sometimes," Harry whispered, "In my dreams. I feel what he feels and my scar burns like fire."

Harry saw Ron frown, "Like visions?" he asked.

Harry nodded, "Yes. They aren't dreams. It's like-" Harry shuddered, "like I'm seeing into his mind."

Harry buried his face into his hands and breathed heavily, making his hands shake. He felt hands on his shoulders and Mrs Weasley's voice in his ear. "It'll be all right Harry, he can't hurt you here."

"You should be scared of me," Harry said thickly, "What if he gets inside my head again and I kill you like I did Hermione?"

"You won't." Ron's voice this time. "We won't let you Harry, we'll protect you."

Harry smirked behind his hands, if they only knew how wrong they were.

Notes:

An update two days in a row??? Who is she???

We're getting close guys, I know these couple of chapters have been out of the norm, but I reckon there's only a couple more to go till it's done. Thank you all for the votes and don't forget to comment, they literally make my day.