Yo! I came up with this idea over the summer and had to try to get it down. I'm sure its somewhat overdone, but I'd like to give it a shot. I'm going to be listing all the warnings here because I don't need to get flammed for this crap. I won't be using trigger warnings or anything, so make note of anything that may be a personal trigger for you in the listed warnings.

Warnings: Physical, emotional, mental abuse. I'm not sure whether there will be any sexual abuse, but if there is it will only be mentions of it having happened in the past. There are likely to be mentions of self-harm and thoughts of suicide. Some characters might be slightly ooc, but hopefully not too much. Bashing, though hopefully not overly so, to Dumbledore, the Weasleys (except Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George), Hermione, and likely other Order members.

Pairings: Tom Riddle/Harry Potter, Severus Snape/Lucius Malfoy, Past!Remus Lupin/Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy/Luna Lovegood, Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

It was ten forty in the morning on the first of September, and sixteen year old Harry Potter was standing the the middle of the very last compartment on the Hogwarts Express. The train wasn't due to depart for another twenty minutes. He was, for the first time, early.

Harry's promptness had to do with his uncle, of course, who had said he would drive Harry to King's Cross then or not at all. As Harry was desperate to return to school, he had agreed immediately.

Since he was so early however, none of his friends had yet arrived, leaving the teen all alone. But he didn't really mind-not right now in any case. Harry was, at the moment, focusing on bringing up a glamour that would conceal his thin, malnourished, battered and bruised body. He didn't want anyone finding out how the Dursleys really treated him.

Sighing in relief when he saw the dark hand print shaped bruise around his thin wrist vanish, he knew the rest of the injuries he couldn't see were concealed too. Harry sank down next to the window, content on waiting for his friends to arrive. They hadn't been in contact all summer. Uncle Vernon had threatened to shoot Hedwig upon their return to Privet Drive, so Harry had sent his beloved owl off to the Weasley twins Fred and George. They would take care of her. He just hoped they hadn't tested their products on her. He trusted them to not harm her, but still...

Speaking, or rather, thinking of hoping, he hoped his friends were doing better than he was after their...foray to the Ministry last June. He knew Neville, Luna, and Ginny would be alright-physically at least. None of them had been injured very seriously. Ron should have been okay, but he hoped the 'brain incident' hadn't addled with Ron's brain. Hermione was the one he was really worried about. Dolohov's curse had been particularly nasty, and he hoped she was all cured from that.

Harry's eyes squeezed shut as the memories of Sirius falling through the veil assaulted his mind. Sirius. Sirius. Sirius. Oh, Merlin, not now. Please not now. He didn't need to think about this right now.

A sudden commotion from outside the compartment caught his attention, and Harry glanced over, green eyes softening when he caught sight of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They seemed to be having an argument, which wasn't new or anything. Their expressions caught him off guard though. They were ones of pure contempt that didn't seem to be directed at one another, but rather, at...him?

Before Harry could do or even say anything, the two entered the compartment, the large smiles on their faces completely the opposite of the frowns and scowls from barely a moment before, and Harry frowned.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, smiling happily.

"Great to see ya, mate!" said Ron, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, guys," greeted Harry softly, quickly concealing his confusion. He watched his friends stash their trunks before sitting down. Hermione next to him and Ron across her. It didn't escape Harry's notice that the two remained seated closer to the compartment door than him.

"Merlin, Harry, you look exhausted," said Hermione with a small sigh. "The nightmares, right?"

"Why don't you take a nap, mate?" offered Ron, sounding unusually kind.

Harry hesitated, unsure of what exactly was going on. He knew something was wrong. He just didn't know what. In the end he just nodded, aware a nap was probably a good idea. Perhaps things would be clearer when he awoke. How very wrong he was...

"Ron! Shhh! Do you want him to wake up?!"

It was Hermione admonishing Ron in a hiss that woke the ever light sleeper, Harry Potter. He was about to open his eyes, but stopped when he heard Ron's reply to Hermione's previous comment.

"So what? Let the idiot wake up. Let him hear. Maybe then he'll finally realize that not everyone actually likes him."

Harry shifted slightly, but kept his eyes shut. He was in disbelief. Had Ron really just said that? He waited for Hermione to start yelling at the redhead for his lack of loyalty.

"Listen Ron, I know how you feel, but how do you expect to get into his vaults if he realizes the truth? I know how much you and your family, well, most of your family want Potter's gold, but I need those books. They're so rare I can't find them anywhere at all!"

Harry could do no more than just sit where he was, frozen in shock. He was sick, wasn't he? Delusional from a high fever? Right?

"Dumbledore's his magical guardian, right?" asked Ron, a frown evident in his voice. "Why can't he get into the vaults?"

"Because, Ronald, they're keyed to his blood. So unless Potter allows them in, no one except the goblins can enter."

"Oh. But what about the vault he actually knows about? Dumbledore's been getting into that one since before Potter even knew it existed. How do you explain that?"

There was a deep sigh from Hermione. "That's just a trust vault. The rules are different."

Ron sighed. "Goblins. Bloody weird, that lot."

"Yes, well..." Hermione trailed off and Harry knew she had probably gone back to reading whatever book she had on her-probably one of their textbooks.

Harry wondered how long this had been going on for. How long had they been deceiving him like this? Who else was in on it? He didn't get much of a chance to dwell on it, for Ron began to speak once more.

"Is Dumbledore gonna reinforce the compulsions tonight?"

"After the feast, yes."

"And...okay, I know Dumbledore's planning on Potter dying when he finishes off You-Know-Who, but what if he lives? Potter, I mean. Sure he's gonna marry Ginny and everything, since that'll be what gets us all into his vaults and whatever, but what if Potter doesn't die after that?"

"Then he'll go to Azkaban," said Hermione in the most casual of tones, as if she spoke or thought of this everyday.

"Azkaban?" repeated Ron, sounding a little confused.

"Well, he'll have killed someone, Ron. It's going to be made that he could become the next Dark Lord and, in renewed fear, people will demand that he be imprisoned. We both know how the Dementors affect him, so I think it's safe to say he'll be Kissed fairly quickly. And if not," she went on, "there will be plenty of others in there who'll want him dead."

"Right, right." Harry could practically see Ron nodding sagely, arms crossed over his chest.*

It took all of Harry's willpower to ensure he didn't move. There was no way he wanted Ron and Hermione to realize he was awake. Though the betrayal was still strong, Harry already found himself plotting. He hadn't nearly been put into Slytherin for nothing after all...

*Anyone else picturing Naruto? Anyway, that's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!