The Prophesy: Silent Shells

Dinner that night was a very sobering affair. Harry didn't turn up because he was asleep on his bed upstairs. Ron and Hermione were hardly eating. They were tense and itching to get up out of their seats to go and check on Harry.

At the teachers table Dumbledore was sitting lost in thought and the twinkle seemed to have left his blue eyes.

To the amazement of all present Severus Snape and Remus Lupin were sitting together, away from everyone else and were muttering earnestly to each other, while Remus fed scraps to a black dog under the table.

When Ron and Hermione had eaten as much as they could force down their throats, they got up and ran down out of the Great Hall. People watched them and wondered if there was a fire somewhere that they did not know about.

When they got upstairs they found Harry fast asleep on his bed, half covered by his invisibility cloak.

He was so tired that he didn't stir when they took off his glasses and put him, fully clothed, into bed. As they were covering him up Hermione let out a quavering sob.

'Oh Ron look at his arms.'

Harry had forgotten to re apply the concealing charms in all that had happened that afternoon and his arms were exposed for all to see. They were covered in angry red slashes. There were so many new ones that it was hard to see the scars of the old ones.

Ron pulled down Harry's sleeves. 'Leave him Herm, go to bed and get some rest.

'Wait, I think he had been using concealment charms. This will prevent him from concealing them from us again.'

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Harry awoke at one in the morning. He put on his glasses and gazed about the room, trying to remember how he had gotten there. With a jolt he remembered all the events of the day and he wanted to curl up in shame at the fact that Lupin and Snape knew his secret. He was sure that Lupin had told Sirius and he had seen Ron and Hermione clambering up the rocks to the cave as he had flown away. They hadn't seen him as he was under the invisibility cloak. So they probably knew now too.

And Lupin being a Professor and Hermione being Hermione, Dumbledore probably knew now as well.

'Dammit all,' he said to himself. 'I'm not supposed to show any weaknesses. I'm the frigging Boy Who Lived. I'm not supposed to have these problems or at least, no one is supposed to know my weaknesses.' He fumbled around in his pocket for his blade.

Not being able to find any skin that wasn't torn or red he sliced through the half healed gashes that were already there.

He nearly screamed in fright as a pair of arms grabbed him and another pair twisted the blade away. Harry turned to see Hermione with tears running down her face and Ron picking up the blade that had fallen to the ground.

Harry took a running jump and floored Ron. He kicked his blade under the bed and pushed Ron against the wall. 'Never, ever disturb me when I'm doing this, Ron.'

He turned and picked up the blade and threw it in his trunk and magically locked it.

'And don't touch my things again!' He punched him in the face.

He turned to Hermione who was cowering against the wall.

'And you just mind you own fucking business. Now...GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!'

She turned and stumbled from the room.

'Wha...what's going on Harry? Are you being killed?' Dean asked as he half woke up.

'Nuh, just Ron and Hermione unable to mind their own bloody business. Go back to sleep.'

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The next day Harry got up before anyone else. He tried to put the concealing charm back on his arms, cursing himself for forgetting twice in one day, and went down to Quidditch training. He was there for an hour before the rest of the team turned up. They practised for two hours and then Harry went to get some breakfast.

Ron and Hermione were already there eating toast in a twitchy, nervous manner. Ron was sporting a spectacularly black eye.

'Ron what did ya do to your eye?' asked George as he walked past him to get to an empty seat.

'Nuthin, just knocked it on a book shelf in the library with Herm.'

'That'll teach you to go into libraries. They're evil places.'

Harry walked past Ron and Hermione, glaring at them and sat with the Quidditch team as he ate.

'Harry,' said a voice behind his ear. 'Do you feel like coming for a chat with me, Snuffles and Professor Snape after your morning lessons?'

'Do I have a choice?' asked Harry sulkily.

'Not really,' Lupin smiled back. 'Well, I'll see you then, Harry.'

Harry glared after him. 'Why the fuck do I have to talk to him, let alone Snape?' he grumbled to himself.

'Something wrong?' asked Fred who was sitting opposite him and copped the full force of his glare.

'Nope, just Snape,' replied Harry, which after all was kind of true.

Harry got up to leave the table but was stopped by Ron and Hermione.

'Harry can we just...'

'No you cannot just anything.' He pushed passed them and then stopped and turned around.

'Actually there is something you can do,'

They looked at him hopefully.

'STAY OUT OF MY FUCKING LIFE!'

The whole of the Great Hall stopped in shock as Harry stormed out leaving a stunned Ron who had his arm around Hermione who had dissolved into tears.

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The whole Potions class was working in silence when a small boy knocked on the door with a message for Snape. He read it, excused himself and hurriedly left the room.

Whispers started in the corners of the room and were soon raised so that the entire room was talking.

Malfoy however was sitting in silence. It wasn't like Potter to fight with his friends. It wasn't like Potter to retreat within himself and not talk or communicate with anyone. And he had been doing it a lot this year. As much as Malfoy hated to admit it, he was worried about Harry Potter. He decided to try and get him to talk.

'Oi Potter,' Malfoy called across the room. 'Have you and your ickle friends had a fight? I warned you on the first day of school that you shouldn't hang around with riff raff like a Weasley and a Mudblood.'

'Shut up Malfoy.'

'Awww, is little Potter trying to get big strong Malfoy to be quiet. He's gonna have to twy just a wittle harder than that if he wants to succeed.

Poor Little Potter, can't find any friends, has no parents, and I heard that he drove his muggle family to their deaths and now he is homeless as well.'

Malfoy didn't know of course what had happened. He was just making stuff up to try and draw Harry out.

Harry gave a half yell, half snarl and launched himself at Malfoy who hadn't expected anything like that and wasn't ready. Harry flung him across an empty cauldron and punched him three times in the face. He pulled his arm back for a fourth punch when he suddenly froze. He started laughing hysterically. He turned to the class.

'You know what, he's right.'

The class were frozen in their places. Harry turned to face Draco and pulled him up.

'Hey thanks, you're smarter than I thought.'

He pulled his sleeves up because he was sweating from his fight. The class gasped collectively. Malfoy was the first to find his voice.

'Po...Potter, what the hell have you done to your arms?'

Harry pulled his sleeves down and glared at him before racing out the door and up the stairs away from the dungeons.

'You fool, Malfoy,' said Ron after the whole class had just stared at each other for a full minute. 'His Aunt killed herself last week. And you go and say stupid things like that.'

'How was I 'sposed to know? I'm not telepathic. Anyway you're his friends, what was wrong with his arms?'

'He's been cutting himself, if that wasn't bloody obvious enough, Malfoy. He has been doing it heaps recently. Especially since Cedric's death,' spat Hermione.

'That's how Ron got his black eye, Harry hit him when we were trying to stop him doing it last night. That's why he won't talk to us today.'

'Do any teachers know about it?' asked Parvati.

'We only realised what he was doing yesterday, he's pretty good at hiding it, but Snape, Lupin and Dumbledore know.'

'So let us recap,' said Malfoy sarcastically, 'I was just yelling at a boy, saying that his only living relatives killed themselves because of him, when in reality his Aunt just killed herself. He is fighting with his friends and he has a history of self abuse. Now this boy has just had a fight. Is behaving hysterically and irrationally. He has slash marks all up his arms and now is somewhere in this huge castle by himself with a deadly blade and a death wish. Now whose going to be the genius who figures out what he is doing?'

'Fucking Hell!'

'Oh wait, I think it's the red headed Weasley boy. Come on down and claim your prize. Tonight's first prize is a dead best mate. A once in a lifetime opportunity.'

No one stopped to try and fathom why a muggle hating Malfoy was using muggle game show language.

Every one bolted for the door just as Snape came back in.

'Now what is going on here. I think this means 50 points from Gryffindor. Now will someone care to explain how Draco became covered in blood and why that cauldron has been knocked over?'

It took another ten minutes to explain to Snape what had happened but it only took 30 seconds for the whole class to get out the door of the dungeon.

Pansy Parkinson was sent to alert Dumbledore and Parvati was sent to Lupin.

Hermione was hysterical with worry because no one knew where to look.

Then she squealed 'I know where he is, didn't he find the mirror of Erised again?'

'Yes he did, but he didn't tell us where it was. Professor Lupin, where's the Mirror of Erised kept these days?' Ron asked as the said person came running up to them.

'Follow me,' Lupin started jogging up the hall followed by Snape, Malfoy, Ron and Hermione. The rest of the class just stood in silence, waiting hopefully.

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Lupin slowed and stopped in front of a door. He pushed it open warily.

'Fucking Merlin, oh shit, Harry!'

Snape looked in and recoiled. He turned to Ron and Draco, 'Don't let Miss Granger see.'

Hermione, however had ideas of her own. She pushed past Snape and ran into the room.

The first thing she saw was a note on the floor in Harry's handwriting saying

'It's all my fault. I'm Sorry. It's all over now.'

She turned her head to the corner, all the colour drained from her face and she collapsed into a faint.

Ron and Malfoy ran in as Snape was lighting a fire to call Madam Pomfrey. They stopped dead behind Hermione and Ron turned his head and threw up into a corner. Malfoy's knees were weak as he bent to revive Hermione.

'Really Severus I don't see the need to shout, I'm not deaf...oh Merlin' said Madam Pomfrey as she stepped out of the fire.

Albus Dumbledore heard yells and hysterical sobbing as he entered the room where he stored the Mirror of Erised. He pushed open the door and gasped as he looked around the room.