The-Boy-Who-Lived/Neglected/Lied/Abounded/Betrayed/Fed Up/Left/Tortured /kills

Connection reversed

Cursing Snape extensively in his head, Harry ignored his friends waving him over to their seats by the fire and instead stalked up the stairs to his dorm room. He knew what they would say; Ron would undoubtedly grimace, throw out a 'tough luck, mate. Stupid greasy git,' and then continue playing chess against Dean while Hermione would tut and chide him about working harder while reminding him that it was 'Professor Snape,' as if the evil man ever earned such respect. He realised there wasn't much that either of them could do about his Occlumency lessons, but something more than empty sympathy and platitudes would have been nice.

He didn't think either of them had any concept of what he went through during the so-called lessons down in the dungeon torture chamber. When he had tried to explain it to them they had both brushed it off as him exaggerating and whinging. Which baffled him, as they both knew he wasn't prone to either, in fact he was rather more likely to do the exact opposite. Neither of them had ever had anything horrible in their life (excepting their adventures with him) and thus it seemed they were incapable of believing that he was telling the truth. Ron was firm in his belief that if Dumbledore asked this of him then it was for the best, as the Headmaster was Merlin reincarnate in the redhead's mind; Hermione was simply blinded by her unwavering obedience to authority figures.

He often wondered how the two of them had managed to maintain these beliefs after being around him for the last few years.

He angrily threw himself on the bed, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. Screaming would only aggravate his already pounding head. He was positive that bastard Snape was purposely hurting him; after nearly two months of Occlumency lessons he still hadn't learned anything, and his dreams were actually getting worse. He had found himself plotting how to get through that blasted door the other day before he remembered that it was Voldemort who wanted what was behind it, not him. He had tried to talk to Ron and Hermione about this, but that had been relatively useless. Ron had only ranted about Snape while Hermione had admonished him to try harder. Try at what? Snape had never done more than attack him, and he had certainly never told him how to stop his attacks. Even Hermione usually required a little more instruction than 'clear your mind.' And Harry knew that she had been unable to find any instruction in her trusty library; he had often daydreamed about what would happen if she was the one in lessons with absolutely no resources or instructions. Snape would eat her alive.

Almost like clockwork, as this happened after every lesson, the pain in his scar signaled a new vision. By this point he was almost used to finding himself in Voldemort's body, despite the revulsion that always accompanied this change of venue. A terrifying looking wild man was standing in front of him. He was talking about getting rid of some hindrance, and some of the methods he suggested made Harry gag in horror. He didn't even know the human body could be contorted in such a fashion, and cringed to think how many bones would have to be broken to allow it. The knowledge that there were monsters out there who did such things, and, even worse, enjoyed it, made him briefly wonder why he even cared to try and stop Voldemort from taking over the world; let him kill all the monsters. But then Harry remembered his friends, and, no matter how frustrated he was with them right now, he did care about them. Ron and Hermione, the Weasleys, the Quidditch girls, Sirius and Remus... Remus... With a jolt he finally realized who the man was after... Remus.

Harry's life up until this point had been miserable. He had been systematically denied any true form of happiness since he was a year old, and he didn't think this was going to change any time soon. He never knew his parents, was deprived of the relationship he wished to have with his only remaining relatives, and was isolated from forming friendships for his entire childhood. Even when he got to Hogwarts it didn't really improve. He had Ron and Hermione, but Harry was not blind to the fact that his only two friends had major faults. For a few glorious minutes two years ago he thought it was all going to change, and that he would get to live with Sirius and experience a real family, only to have that snatched away from him. And even though he got to spend time with Sirius last summer and at Christmas, the presence of the Weasleys and the Order seemed to prevent him from having the relationship he craved with his godfather. And now Voldemort was trying to take away one of the few people in the world who Harry considered family.