Title: Cut

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N the song Cut is by Plumb. If you haven't heard it, I strongly recommend doing so before reading because the song just calls to you in a way reading printed lyrics can't.

! ! !

I'm not a stranger, no, I am yours with crippled anger and tears that still drip sore.

"Boy!" Young Harry ran over to his uncle, almost tripping in his haste. "Go get the belt."

Harry nodded and ran to his uncle's closet. He grabbed the thickest belt with the biggest buckle. The belt. Running back into the kitchen he handed it over.

Vernon kicked the ten year old so that he fell on his stomach. Then he lashed out the whip. Over and over until Harry's back was just a mess of muscle.

"Clean up that mess." Harry felt a small poke of anger but it was siphoned away before he could acknowledge it.

"Yes Uncle." This was the life of the Boy-Who-Lived. One could only wonder where the Headmaster was.

A fragile frame aged, with misery and when our eyes meet I know you'll see.

"Severus would you be so kind as to fetch Harry from his uncle's house to go school shopping?" Severus glared at the Headmaster but gave a curt nod.

"But, Headmaster! Shouldn't I get him?" Minerva gasped. Severus sneered and walked out as Dumbledore addressed the Head of Gryffindor.

The Potions Master knocked on the white door of 4 Privet Drive. There was a thundering as someone approached the door. A blond boy of about 11 opened it.

"Are your parents home?" Severus asked, eyeing the fat boy in disgust.

"Mum, Dad! Door for you!" Dudley wailed, before running back to the television.

Vernon came out and frowned at the weirdly dressed man at his door.

"What do you want?" He asked in a fake polite tone.

"I've come for Harry Potter." Snape spoke coldly. There was a gasp from the kitchen.

"He doesn't live here, so sorry." Vernon said quickly, attempting to close the door.

Severus snapped it open and entered the house. There was something off about it. The imposing man made his way to the kitchen. Harry stood there putting away a rag, no signs of the earlier whipping.

"Come, Potter, we must go." Severus snapped.

The boy turned, and in those impossibly green eyes Severus saw something.

It was gone a second later, but it was forever burned into Severus' mind.

I do not wanna be afraid. I do not wanna die inside just to breathe in.

Harry followed the man donned in black through Diagon Ally. The man scared him. Very much. However, there was something about him.

"Potter!"

Harry looked at the man with wide eyes, as he silently cursed himself. This man was safe. There was no reason to be afraid. Yet he was.

"Yes sir?" Harry squeaked.

"Go get yourself an animal." Harry looked at the store before him.

Guinerver's Creatures. Get all your animal needs here!

Harry entered and stared in wonder. The caws of birds, purrs of cats, barks of dogs, all ensnared him. He grinned and left to the back corner. Severus followed him. There were twenty different snakes in various glasses.

;Hello;

;You speak?; one hissed lazily raising it's head.

;Yes; Harry replied. The next moment Severus was gripping his arm and pulled him in front of the owls.

"Snakes aren't allowed." He said coldly.

Harry gulped and he felt a small part of him cower in fear. Maybe the Professor wasn't safe. Maybe he was just like his Uncle.

I'm tired of feeling so numb

Relief exists, I find it when I am cut.

Harry took the 50 lashes quietly and without tears. The 10- year-old lay belly down on the ground again with his uncle towering over him.

In a twisted sense Harry was glad for the lashing. It took his mind off of the man he had been with earlier. It gave him relief from his tension.

As Harry scrubbed the floor once again he caught a glimpse of his scar. The stupid scar that made his aunt hate him. The stupid scar that made his cousin taunt him. The stupid scar that laughed at him.

I may seem crazy or painfully shy.

Harry distanced himself from his House mates. The Slytherin students ignored him. It was a win-win situation. At least to Harry.

Most if not all of Slytherin was wondering how the Wonder Boy had gotten into their House. They tried to approach the black haired first year, but the boy would bolt. Flint proclaimed he was crazy.

Draco thought he was shy. The boy had acted the same way in the robe shop. Draco wanted to befriend the boy, but couldn't. For his own code got in the way.

Trust no one, be ruthless, make Father proud.

And these scars wouldn't be so hidden. If you would just look me in the eye.

Harry inspected Malfoy. The blond was interesting. Draco was only reciting lines in a miscast play.

"Oh, look at poor Potter. Going to stay here for the Hols because no one wants you at home?" Harry looked into Draco's steel grey eyes and saw his inner emotions reflected.

"No. I'm staying here because I don't want my family ruining the Hols."

Draco saw the buried pain and suffering. The code was faltering, and breaking. In was back in balance in a moment though.

"Oh, do they not pamper you enough?" The blond sneered before walking off.

Harry gave a small smile. A miscast play indeed.

I feel alone here and cold here, though I don't want to die. But the only anaesthetic that makes me feel anything, kills inside.

After finding a multitude of presents under the tree, Harry took out the mirror shard from his trunk. It teased his skin before making a cut. A drop of blood fell onto the bed. Harry closed his eyes and sighed.

He had begun to think he was someone. That he would amount to greatness. Now wouldn't that be a shame, to think that only for it to be stomped upon by the Dursley's.

Another cut and he was Harry Potter, wizard.

Another and he was Harry Potter, student.

Harry Potter, freak.

Harry, freak.

Freak.

Boy.

Boy put the mirror shard back into it's case before falling asleep on the floor.

I do not wanna be afraid. I do not wanna die inside just to breathe in.

Boy sat in the library, flipping through an enormous, old book. He flipped another page.

'The ancient study of alchemy,' Boy was about to flip the page when he remembered something. Harry scanned the page.

'The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers..." Harry grinned. Time to go after it. He wasn't afraid, because he was Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived.

But, he was still just a boy.

I'm tired of feeling so numb. Relief exists, I find it when I am cut. Pain, I am not alone, I am not alone.

Harry stood in front of the mirror, a confident Quirrel/Voldemort beside him.

"What do you... see?" Voldemort gasped.

"I-I see me. With some boy named... Riddle? He's helping me, h-hurt the Dursley's. And now were helping and gathering the abused kids and we're k-k-killing their parents." Tears welled up in Harry's eyes. "NO! That's not right! This mirror lies!"

"No, it doesn't... Harry it... tells the truth. Join me... and we will... rule the world."

Harry turned to the most feared wizard in the world. "No." His world faded to black.

Harry woke up much later in the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore sat next to the bed speaking with Professor Snape.

"He can't go back, he is being abused." Severus growled

"There is no proof." Albus sighed wearily.

"Just ask the boy."

"Ask me what?" Harry yawned.

"Do you wish to remain here or return to the Dursley's?" Albus asked in a grandfatherly way.

"The Dursley's, please, if you don't mind." Harry responded. Severus stared at the boy in shock.

"Very well. The train leaves tomorrow morning, 9 am."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

Not a stranger, no, I am yours with crippled anger, tears that still drip sore.

The image of Tom Riddle became steadily fuller, and livelier. Ginny Weasley on the other hand, was dying slowly.

"Come on Harry, join me." Harry studied the face of Tom. It was kind, and young.

"If- if I join you. You'll consider my ideas too, right?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Of course, we will rule together." Riddle proclaimed, outstretching a hand. Harry hesitated a second before placing his hand into Tom's.

Not three months later, Great Britain fell to a higher power.

Ginny Weasley's body was never recovered.

Harry hunted weeks for Draco Malfoy before finding him an inch from death after a severe beating from his father.

Lucius Malfoy was Crucio'd to death at the next meeting. Draco healed by Harry himself, took his place in the ranks.

Severus lived a long and happy life on the Untouchable list, while Albus sat in his office, wondering how it happened.

He was killed in a raid the next day by Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-Great.

END

*AN please no flames.