Good Evening dear readers, and welcome to the first chapter of my new Harry Potter fan fiction, Pain Prophecies and Power (ok, I'm working on the title!). Right. Well, warnings: erm, child abuse, rape, (mentions of both I mean), severe depression (ahhh, poor Harry...), suicidal themes, and possibly nice Snape. (ok... just bare with me on this.)

Remember, reviews help my muse, and my self-esteem, and they help you too, because if I return back home and find enough reviews on my pc, then I might be tempted to give you even more! Yikes, what am I thinking?!?! I don't even have the plot properly figured out yet! My warning applies though, more reviews = faster posting. Thank you for listening/reading, and onto the chapter...

Oh, and the important stuff. If I owned JKR's magnificent and beautiful world, I would be incredibly rich, powerful, and would be loved. No such luck... And if you haven't got the message, I own nothing! There's no need to rub it in though... (sniff).

Summary: After the tragic events in OOTP, Harry decides to take drastic action, not realising he is to be plunged into a whirlwind he didn't sow, and a new prophecy comes to light...

PS: - review! Please? (puppy dog eyes...)

Harry: Yeah, review, she says she'll stop tormenting me if you do!
FireOpal: Yeah, well, maybe.
Harry: What do you mean, 'maybe'? Personally, I don't want to spend the entirety of another long fanfiction being depressed!
FireOpal: Oh shut up Harry, or I, the authoress, will do exactly that!
Harry: I'm sorry, oh grand high wonderful authoress! (snigger)
FireOpal: I heard that!
Harry: Oh shit... (runs off)

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Chapter 1. Midnight.

A thin, black haired boy lay deathly still on his bed, unblinkingly staring at the blank ceiling. The only sign of life was his slight breathing. Other than that, and the occasional blink, his deadened green eyes gazed unseeingly at the space above him. The only light in the room was a shaft of moonlight beaming through an open window. Any ordinary person looking around this night and silence-shrouded room would have been, to say the least, curious. On a battered desk, several books bearing the titles; 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5' and 'Unfogging the Future' lay spread-eagled across reams of parchment and spent quills. Other similar titles where piled unceremoniously on the floor and on top of a trunk. On the bedside table, other than a lamp and a pair of round glasses lay a wand. Looking around a second time, they might've seen, through the open wardrobe door, a large, empty birdcage and a broomstick. All in all, this was the room of someone special, someone different. However, the boy who lay so dejectedly on the bed, was desperately wishing that it was not so. This boy was Harry Potter, and he was a wizard.

Harry's' thoughts, as usual, had strayed to his parents, and his godfather, Sirius – the only family he had ever known. His parents had died when he was a year old, leaving him to rot with his aunt, uncle and cousin, the Dursleys at 4, Privet Drive. They had died at the hand of the most feared wizard of the age, Lord Voldemort. His godfather, Sirius Black had died, (was it only a month ago?) at the hand of one of Voldemorts' supporters, a Death Eater by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange in the Ministry of Magic. Whoever he knew had killed his parents and godfather; he still felt that it was his fault. Everything was his fault. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he made no effort to brush them away. His startling green eyes were filled with tears and pain.

A heart-wrenching sob wracked his body. He longed for the peace of death, the chance to be reunited with his family and godfather so much that it scared him. He hadn't bothered opening any of the letters sent by owl to him from his friends, in fact, he only sent one every three days with his own Hedwig so that they, the members of the Order of the Phoenix, wouldn't storm in and drag Harry away from his lonely exile. He hated the thought of facing his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley and the other members of the Order – he disliked his loneliness, but felt nauseous at the thought of having to pretend he was 'ok'.

He didn't move when a beautiful snowy owl entered by the window and deposited a few letters on the now towering stack from his friends, the Order, and the Weasleys. In fact, he paid her no attention, and the owl, as if familiar with this treatment, flew into her cage and sipped the water there. She knew there was something terribly wrong with her master, but knew by now there was nothing she could do about it.

Finally, the sounds of the rest of the members of the household stirring brought him to his senses. He sat up, face immobile, and got up of the creakily protesting bed. Suddenly, a piercing, excruciating pain surged through the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and he cracked. He'd had enough.

Eyes distant, as though he wasn't even aware of what was happening, he turned slowly to see out of the window, into the endlessly falling rain and deep rain clouds outside. Then, he closed his eyes, there was a sharp and loud CRACK and he was gone, no evidence left of the person, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived at Number 4 Privet Drive.

A lonely, weather beaten tower, the tallest on the castle that stood, framed against the rain-darkened sky. The large grounds were empty, the lake peaceful, and the castle without a light.

'How fitting that this should be the place to end it all. The only place I ever called home.' Harry thought distantly, standing calmly at the top of the Astronomy tower. He stood on a window ledge, rain and wind buffeting his body, whipping his hair around like ribbons and mingling with the tears coursing down his face. Then, without warning, he tipped himself over the ledge, and fell, arms outstretched, face calm, into the night.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin First Class, Chief of the Wizengamot, stared out of the window in his office in worry. He paid no attention to the rain-soaked night. The flickering light of the candle behind him lit the round office eerily, and cast shadows onto the walls. A few minutes ago, his fire had roared into life with a message from the Ministry. Harry had apparated out of his home, and no one knew where he was. The fact that no one knew where he was puzzled and distressed him greatly. If he fell into Voldemorts' clutches, alone and vulnerable, he didn't stand a chance. However, the Ministry should be able to track of wizard when he apparated, yet somehow, they had failed. His mind tried desperately to think of where Harry might've gone. Grimmauld Place was out of the question. He doubted very much that Harry would return to the home of his late godfather, and besides, with Remus and the other members of the Order there, he would've heard by now. He had had to send every member not busy out to search for Harry.

Looking out into the night properly, the Astronomy Tower caught his eye. Suddenly, he felt a sense, and, following his gut, he hurried out of the room, motioning his phoenix, Fawkes to follow him. If he was right, he would need the loyal birds' help.

Following his instincts, he went out into the night, rain dripping down his white beard, and carrying his lit wand before him. Then he saw movement above him, and, as if a bucket of ice-cold water had splashed down his back, he felt cold and yelled into the stormy night.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" The charm was late, but as the dark object fell heavily onto the ground, he knew that there was a chance, if it was what he hoped it wasn't, then Harry would be alive. Moving forwards, he raised his wand above his head, casting more light onto the ground. He saw a dark bundle, and his phoenix lying on top of it. Bending down, he stretched out a quivering hand and turned the body over. The peaceful face of Harry Potter, eyes closed as if in sleep stared up at him. A tear coursed down his wrinkled cheek, and he turned to the phoenix.

"Fawkes," he said quietly, at the same time checking for a pulse at Harry's neck. "I need some help. Get Remus. Then get the rest of the Order." The intelligent bird flew off into rain soaked night as soon as he had finished speaking. Then, straightening, he muttered a few more words under his breath, and the still form was laid on a stretcher, which floated beside him. Harry Potter was alive, just.

At 12, Grimmauld Place, Remus Lupin paced worriedly back and forth in the sitting room, in front of the fire. He had just received the news from Dumbledore that Harry was missing. He had argued with the old man in vain to say he wanted to go out to find Harry, but Dumbledore had reasoned that Harry might still return to Grimmauld Place, and besides, they needed someone 'back at base' to pass on news and stay on the lookout.

His thoughts were mainly on Harry, but as always recently, he was also thinking of Sirius, James and Lily.

'Please help him.' He thought to himself, running his fingers through his grey-flecked hair distractedly. Memories of Harry were flooding through his troubled mind, the time he'd first seen him on the train, the lessons with him in his third year, finding Sirius...Sirius. Then he shook his head, as if to clear these thoughts and concentrated back on the matter at hand – Harry. A short while later, he was still pacing when Tonks and a few other members of the Order stopped by to check if there was any news and to try to console Remus. He just ignored them, still waiting for the news, any news.

He had flung himself into a sagging armchair when Fawkes flew in, a colourful mass of red-gold fire. Remus leapt up. Only Dumbledore would've sent Fawkes, with news of Harry. And Dumbledore was at Hogwarts. The fact that Fawkes held no letter, and Dumbledore could've contacted him through the Floo Network told him that he had found Harry at Hogwarts. Disregarding anything but Harry's' safety, he threw some Floo powder into the empty fireplace, which roared into life with flickering green flames, and yelled

"Hogwarts, Transfiguration classroom." Stepping into the harmless flames, he felt the strange feeling of being transported to Hogwarts.

Just as Dumbledore strode quickly through the entrance hall doors, opening them with a quick spell and carefully guiding the stretcher, Lupin fell out of the fireplace in McGonagalls' Transfiguration classroom. Absently dusting himself off, he strode hastily through the door and into the dark entrance hall. He immediately saw Dumbledore approach, and the breath stopped at is throat, his heart sinking. He couldn't see the stretcher yet, but as he half-ran to greet the man, he stopped short as he saw the floating stretcher.

"Dumbledore, he – he's not-" he said haltingly, dread and fear laying thickly on his voice. The old man looked up and met his eyes with clear blue ones. The pain, fear and other emotions were clear. Remus nearly dropped to the floor from the intensity of the raw emotion.

"Lupin, I need you to find Poppy, bring her to my office, the hospital wing is too far and locked over the summer. Bring everything she might need, Harry's alive, but he needs all the help he can get. Then go back to Grimmauld Place, send someone to the Dursleys, pick up Harrys' belongings and explain he will not be returning. At the same time, I want every Order member we've got to sort out the Ministry and then come here to protect Hogwarts from attack. I just hope we won't need their expertise in the Dark Arts as well." Dumbledore spoke quickly and in a low voice, Remus listening carefully. It was imperative all the instructions were carried out to the letter and immediately. He almost asked the one question that would soon be on everyone's lips – what had happened – but the look Dumbledore gave him made him change his mind. Nodding curtly and without saying a word, he turned and hurried back to the fireplace and floo'd to Grimmauld Place.

As he watched Lupin leave, Dumbledores' hopes lightened slightly. At least they had found Harry, he was alive, and he had sent one of his best men to get help. Then he turned back to Harry's' still form, and guiding it through the passages, went all the way to his office, muttered the password ('Ton Tongue Toffee') to the gargoyle and in his office, lowered the stretcher onto a space on the floor.

"Oh Harry." He said sadly as the dim light lit up the incredibly pale face, showing marks were bruises and cut were forming. The ever-messy hair lay as limp as the rest of his body, uncovering the lightning scar, which looked darker than ever next to the ashen face, and the closed eyes were red and swollen, it looked as though he had been crying before he had fallen. Covering him with a conjured blanket, he found one of the cold hands, and held it. "Please, Harry. Stay with us." Candlelight reflected on the tears coursing openly down his face.

Lupin was nearly in a fit. Having arrived quickly back at Grimmauld Place, he had awoken the entire Order from where they had dropped, dead asleep on armchairs angry that they had slept while Harry had been in danger. He continued to exert his frustration and worry on them as they sprang up and tried to question him. Finally his anger got the better of him.

"SHUT UP!" The normally placid werewolf was glaring at all of them, and they obeyed quickly. Then, turning to different Order members, he gave them instructions. Whereas normally Lupin was a soldier in the ranks, he now commanded them; he alone knew what was going on in the entire room.

"Right, Tonks, Mad-Eye, get along to Privet Drive. Grab Harry's' stuff and tell the Dursleys' he won't be returning." There were tow loud CRACK's as they apparated. "Kingsley, run along to the Ministry and try to calm down the chaos. Harry is at Hogwarts, other than that, tell them nothing." There was another loud CRACK as Kingsley apparated to the Ministry of Magic. Then, turning to the other members, he saw their faces. They were worried. He gave them a brief humourless smile and said, "Harry's at Hogwarts, I don't know what happened, but Dumbledore wants all of us there. Oh, and he wants someone to get Poppy." A hand was raised tentatively, and he saw it belonged to Molly Weasley. She looked the most worried of them all, but her face showed her determination. Remus nodded at her, and she apparated as well.

Remus took a deep, wavering breath and let it out slowly. He saw the Order filter away to attend to other important errands; Arthur Weasley to contact his family, especially Hermione Granger and Ron, who were beside themselves, and members reporting to other duties in the fight against Voldemort. Most he knew would be floo'ing to Hogwarts, as it was the only fast way into the old castle. Hoping the Ministry wouldn't notice the sudden rush to the castle, he waited uncomfortably for Tonks, Mad-Eye and Molly to return – Kingsley would probably be stuck at the Ministry all day trying to untangle the mess they had created.

CRACK! CRACK! Suddenly, Tonks and Mad-Eye stood before him, holding a heavy trunk and a cage. They nodded silently, and Remus told them to go to Hogwarts. Molly was the only one left to arrive, and they needed Poppy's expertise in healing. He felt a breath of wind whisper past him as Fawkes flew from another room to land on the back of a chair in front of him. Even Fawkes look worried, and after resting briefly on the back of the chair, staring into the werewolf's golden eyes, he flew out of the window he'd entered. Sighing deeply, he turned around just as another loud CRACK told him that Molly was back. He faced them, then forestalling their questions, he said

"Harry's at Hogwarts, Dumbledore has him. It – It looks bad." His voice faltered slightly, betraying his pent up emotion. Then, brushing away a rogue tear that had spilled down his face without him noticing, he turned roughly to the fireplace, and returned to Hogwarts, Poppy and Molly close behind him.

Severus Snape had been the first, after Lupin, to arrive at Hogwarts. His cape billowing behind him, he carefully masked him face. Luckily, Voldemort hadn't called him for a meeting, and yet he was puzzled. Settling questions aside, he swept up to the headmasters' office, affixing his customary harsh look on his face before entering. The sight that met his eyes when he entered nearly brought all of the walls he had built and hidden behind for too many years, crashing down. Dumbledore was kneeling, weeping before the still form of Potter. He looked deathly pale. Could he be dead? Swallowing, he rearranged his face again more suitably as the normally strong old man looked up at him. As he saw Severus, he stood up and spoke.

"Has Poppy arrived yet?"

"No, sir. Lupin arrived and sent Molly to fetch her. Kingsley's at the Ministry, Tonks and Moody went to the Dursleys'." As if strengthened by this short speech, Dumbledore wiped away his tears and shook his head.

"Albus?" said Snape carefully. "What happened?"

"I don't know Severus, I found him falling from the Astronomy Tower."

"It wasn't Voldemort, Albus, I would've heard if he had any current plans against the boy. Is he-"

"No, Severus. He isn't dead yet." Somehow the way he said 'yet' wasn't exactly hopeful. Snape swept from the room, hiding the horror on his face – Dumbledore was very nearly a broken man, and the Boy Wonder on the brink of death. The fate of the entire Wizarding and Muggle worlds depended on the boy defeating the Dark Lord. Worrying, very worrying indeed to say the least. As he started down the steps, he was almost pushed aside by a stream of worried Order members.

"Wait!" he said commandingly, not a trace of his normal sneer in his voice. "Only Poppy will be allowed in. Is she here yet?"

"Yes, she is now. Out of my way!" said the bustling figure of Madame Pomfrey as she tried to walk up the crowded stairs. Everyone immediately shrank to get out of her way. She was pale and looked harassed, but wore the same look of worry as everyone else. Wordlessly, Snape moved aside to let her in, then, blocking the closing door with his body, motioned everyone to go downstairs. Only Lupin remained, and when Snape dared to look into those eyes, he knew that he wouldn't move. So, brushing at the stonework, he sat down motioning for Lupin to sit beside him. Remus gave his old archenemy a suspicious glance, then shrugged and sat down on the other side of the stairs, still, thoughtful guardians to the people within.

Inside Dumbledore's office, Poppy had let out a cry as she saw the form of Harry Potter. Dumbledore was standing at the window, staring out into the night. She barely gave the elderly man a glance before she set to work with every spell she knew. After a thoughtful and hard-working quarter of an hour, she stood back.

"Albus?" Dumbledore turned, his face now masked.

"Poppy? Is he alright?"

"I've done everything I can at the moment, anymore spells and we risk losing him, or making the damage worse. I'll ask Severus to brew up a few potions he can take when he wakes." Albus looked piercingly at the healer witch, and saw she was as worried, tired and shocked as the rest of them, despite her calm words.

"Thank you Poppy, I'll take him to the Hospital Wing. If he wakes, I'll send for you. Go and get some sleep." The tired witch's face broke out in a relieved wan smile, and she left. Seconds after the door had shut, and Dumbledore had barely raised Harry beside himself again to levitate him to the Hospital Wing, Lupin burst in, closely followed by Snape.

"Is he alright? What happened? Was it Voldemort?" blurted Lupin, striding across to Harry and, bending over, staring into his face critically. As he brushed a hand over the boys' forehead, he looked up at Dumbledore. Albus sighed heavily. He wished he knew.

"Poppy has done her best. Severus, she wanted to see you about some potions," he turned to his Potions Master, who gave a curt nod. "As for what happened, I don't know, and what I guess, I don't like. Severus himself said that it wasn't Voldemort." Remus looked back at Harry, and then, quickly glancing at Snape, he spoke quietly to Harry.

"Harry, hold on. You'll be fine." With a last glance at the figure, he followed Dumbledore as he walked from the room. He was determined to look after the son and godson of his best friends', not to mention a friend of his. Snape followed them out, and then turned in the direction of the dungeons and his chambers. He had a potion to brew.

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Please review this, you know, that little button just there, I'll be really grateful and everything, please?