Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character, story element or plot item originally published in the Harry Potter books or movies that I may refer to in this story. I'm merely playing in the sandbox.

Harry Potter sat in the circle of light; head bowed as he thought. This was not how he thought his day would go. He'd been there for what seemed like hours, no sound in the stone room except for his breathing and a light hum from the light. He wondered why the light was humming. He'd never seen a magical light hum before.

The door opened and Harry's eyes snapped up to see who was entering. Two figures, one in the markedly unremarkable robes of the Unspeakables, the other clearly an Auror, stepped through, taking a seat.

"Mr. Potter, I want to stress to you that this is a serious matter and should be treated as such. Quite a few people are dead, and a lot of upheaval has been caused by this incident."

Harry simply nodded and the Auror continued, referring to her notes. "You should know that one young Auror is on probation, one is being observed and one of our veteran agents has been sacked as a result of this. Others in our organization may face issues."

"Tonks and Shacklebolt, I'm sure, but I don't know about the rest...though I'd guess the veteran was Moody."

The Auror looked up sharply, but the Unspeakable laughed softly. "I was warned that you were pretty smart." Harry didn't respond, simply waiting. "How did you know?"

"They were members of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. I can't imagine that the Ministry took too kindly to a militia operating on British soil. My team, at least, had the backing of the Department of Mysteries."

The Unspeakable nodded, then gestured to the Auror's notes. "At this time, you've not been charged with anything and you have been granted conditional immunity, including for your failed usage of the Cruciatus, as long as what you've done doesn't exceed a certain threshold."

"What kind of threshold?" Harry's eyes narrowed. His hands weren't blood free anymore.

"Killing Death Eaters in a combat situation is one thing, such as the attacks at Hogsmeade that you were involved in or the incident in Diagon Alley, but something like burning a muggle school down and killing the occupants would be frowned upon."

Harry nodded. "Then I should be safe. Can I see the immunity agreement?"

A piece of parchment was passed over and Harry read it carefully. It looked in order. He just wished he could get someone versed in law to look over it. His own education had been lacking in that area. "Am I the only one who is being questioned?"

"No. Several have already, hence your wait."

Harry nodded. "So, where do you want to start?"

"Let's begin on the night of the attack. I've seen the actual raid on the Department of Mysteries, as well as what happened in the entryway afterwards, but what came next."

"Dumbledore used a portkey and sent me back to his office. From there, he told me the prophecy, at least the one I thought was the prophecy, I destroyed his office, then I went to check on my friends in the infirmary."

"They blamed you."

It wasn't a question, the bland delivery making it clear to Harry that they had heard all about Molly Weasley's demand he never come near her family again and Hermione Granger's accusations as her shrieking drove him from the room.

"Yeah…that wasn't fun."

Harry concentrated on his steps and the corridor ahead of him as he raced down the hallway, slightly faster than the loud voice and footfalls behind him. A red jet of energy whipped past him and he dove through an archway, turning off to the side and hoping to avoid any more spell fire.

He had his wand out, the only thing different from the last "Harry Hunting" session he'd been involved in. He wondered for a second as he ducked into an alcove in the hallway, how long had it been since he'd played that particular game. He didn't have the lung capacity he once had. Living in the castle has made me soft.

The following footsteps closed on the corner he'd rounded, and he cast through the opening, creating the sound of running footsteps down the hallway. Afterwards, he pulled the curtain and ducked back into the shadows.

The heavy thudding passed him, and he exhaled softly, relieved. A moment later, the curtain slipped open again and a tiny redhead eased in. "Good hiding spot."

"Not good enough, if I was found… Your brother wants to kill me." As he said the words, he realized the weight behind them. His best friend was seeking to treat him the way any Death Eater would. How had it all gone so wrong?

"Yeah…I'm sorry about that." Ginny Weasley sighed, then hugged him. "I can't be caught talking to you, Mum would kill me, too." Harry lit his wand with a soft light to see that she was crying, silent tears running down her face. He reached up to wipe away her tears and she sighed. "I can't believe my family turned on you like that. That Hermione turned on you like that."

Harry shrugged, wrapping his free arm around her, focusing on comforting one of his few remaining friends over the crushing feeling of the world closing in around him. "I appreciate that you didn't. I nearly got all of us killed. I did get Sirius killed. I wish…well, it doesn't matter. Your family has made their decisions. I'll just be more careful from now on." He didn't add the next part: I'll have to be, I'm on my own now.

Ginny shook her head, face turned so that she could speak. "Sirius wasn't your fault."

"Not entirely." For a moment, he thought of Dumbledore's locking him in the house with no way to communicate out, Snape's constant mocking of him playing house while others do the work, even Molly's constant fighting with him over how his house should be run. "There are several who owe on that debt, but I do have a part of it. My part was running off to play hero."

"Some of us are glad that you do that occasionally, you know." Ginny's voice was soft, and she pulled back, seeming to shrink as she did.

"Some good came from it, yes." He pulled her back to him, holding her tightly. "There's only one time I'd change, and it wasn't you, Ginny. "

They were silent for a moment. "You know, a few years ago, I would have killed to be hidden in here like this. With you." She smiled softly. "Now that I am…"

"You have Colin. Don't think I haven't seen you two." Harry grinned at her. "You make him very happy."

She smiled at the mention of the boy's name and Harry's heart hitched a little. He wished someone would smile at the mention of his name. Smile? I wish someone would think of me without adding Avada Kedavra afterwards and trying to kill me. The thought almost made him miss Ginny's response.

"I guess you're not as clueless as my brother is." Harry was shocked when she leaned up and kissed him. "Good luck and don't tell Colin. I'm still working on his confidence that I want to be with him. I just always wanted to do that."

Harry nodded, light smile as he realized that his second kiss, also stolen, had been only friendly. They embraced again and he doused his light, leaving her to sneak out. He took a breath and thought of something. "Dobby?"

There was a pop and an excited voice cried out. 'Yes, Mister…" The rest was lost when Harry covered his mouth.

"Shh. We're hiding." Harry dropped fully to one knee. "Dobby, I need you to do me two favors." Dobby nodded and Harry continued, relieved that he hadn't shouted out again. "I need you to first go and pack my trunk with everything I have. Most of it stayed packed, but I need everything put away and hidden somewhere, like in an attic or a storage room. Don't be seen, though."

"What will you wear?" Dobby whispered.

"I'll ask you where it is and sneak up to it. That leads me to the second favor. I need my invisibility cloak and the old piece of folded parchment under it." His stomach rumbled at that moment, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. "I've made a few people angry and I need time to let cooler heads prevail." Or time to plan my escape to Australia, he thought.

"Harry Potter is in trouble?"

Harry started to simply deny the statement, but finally settled on a shrug. "I don't know, Dobby. Can you do those things for me?"

Dobby nodded again, then vanished, returning moments later. "Harry Potter's Weezy boy was kicking the trunk."

Harry nodded. "At least he wasn't angry enough to think of using his wand. Or too angry to think of it…or too stupid to think of an unlocking charm." Harry frowned, wondering for a moment why he was friends with such a hothead. "Was the trunk damaged?"

Dobby shook his head. "The cracks were already there."

Harry sighed, adding that to the list of things that he'd need to take care of. The old trunk had lasted pretty well, for a nonmagical trunk. He was surprised when he found it in the attic at the Dursley home his first year, then had periodically wondered if it had belonged to one of his parents. I'll repair it and replace it, so it'll be safe. Who cares if it isn't one of theirs' if I don't know myself? "Did you get all my stuff from the room?"

"Yes, Harry Potter. I also removed the tracking charm Headmaster put on invisibility cloak. I put it on Weezy's shoe."

Harry stared for a moment at the cloak in his hand before folding it and slipping it into his outer robe's pocket. "I should have known. Dobby…I might…some things have changed." He considered the prophecy again, hearing Hermione's demand that he never speak to her again as he did. He shook that strange thought off and thought again about the ridiculous statement that Dumbledore had made about the power to defeat Voldemort being love. How would I know what love is? I can't even do friendship. He frowned, looking back at Dobby.

"My friends are angry with me and I've found out that there is something important that I must do. I might need to ask you to help me. If you do that, will you need to tell Dumbledore?"

"No, Harry Potter sir. Dobby works at Hogwarts for pay, but he is not bonded to Dumbledore." Dobby reached out and laid a hand on Harry's arm, speaking solemnly. "Dobby will keep Harry Potter's secrets."

"Thank you, Dobby." Harry smiled. "I'm going to go take care of a few things. I can call you, right?"

"Anywhere, just say Dobby and Dobby will appear."

Dobby vanished and Harry stared at the curtain. A tracking charm on my cloak. Interesting. He pulled out the cloak and wrapped it around himself. Beneath its folds, he opened the map and looked to see that the corridor was empty. For now, he was going to get a late breakfast in the kitchens.

That afternoon, after several close calls, he stumbled across Luna. She was barefoot, hanging posters. He stood near her and read one. It was a list of property that she was missing. He exhaled softly, suddenly feeling that these items weren't lost at all. Luna straightened, then looked around, wand in hand. "Who's there?"

For a moment, Harry was confused. She didn't have her usual dreamy tone and her eyes were very focused. He stepped back, raising his hands in the cloak up to his hood. "It's only me," he said, flipping the hood back for a moment.

Luna let her breath out slowly, relaxing again. "You are very quiet." She turned back and finished sticking up the piece of parchment. "There are several looking for you, Harry Potter. Most are very angry."

"I know." He took a breath. "What about you?"

Luna seemed to consider the question, then looked directly at him for a moment before turning back to her poster. "I chose to go because I believed you. I think we did a good thing." She turned back to him. "How long will you hide?"

"I don't know."

She nodded, hugging the posters to her chest. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet. I'm working on it."

"Good." She smiled and reached out tentatively, finding the hood again and pulling it back. She touched his cheek. "Remember, sometimes the night is dark, but it doesn't mean that the stars aren't shining."

Harry stared at her for a moment, considering the words. "What does that mean?"

"My mother used to say that to me. She meant that no matter how bad things get, there is not only always some form of light, but there's also guidance, if you know where to look."

Harry felt some warmth at that statement. "Thank you."

"As for Sirius, you know the ones we love never leave us. I feel my mother is with me all the time." Harry nodded, keeping his silence this time. He didn't trust himself to speak about this topic yet. "While you wander, would you hang a few of these up?"

Harry sniffed, then nodded. "Of course. I'll be glad to."

She handed of a small stack to him, then smiled. "Good luck, Harry Potter."

Luna walked away and Harry's eyes followed her as he considered the enigma that was Luna. She had definitely stopped being the Luna I knew for a second, then it was like it came back.

He shook his head and started to walk away when he heard Dumbledore speaking. "The Weasley boy has broken ties with Mr. Potter, as has the entire Weasley family."

"I thought you had some agreement with them." A deeper voice spoke now. Harry frowned at the implication of that. "What will you do?"

"Severus, my only option is to send him back with his aunt and uncle and continue the isolation. I'll tighten the owl ward around him so that if he sends his own owl out, she won't be able to return. She'll come here and be cared for, of course."

At this point, Harry stepped to one side, pressing up against the wall and the two men rounded the corner. "I can't imagine that that will go over well. The boy has grown accustomed to a certain level of freedom, even with them."

"This growing streak of independence has cost us. Whatever your feelings about Sirius were, we don't know where the house will go. Further, he knows the prophecy now. He will expect me to train him."

Harry crept behind them. "What will you teach him?"

"Nothing. He must be ready to sacrifice himself to Voldemort before I can defeat him. It is the only way this conflict will end."

Harry froze, staring at the two men's back as they walked further, conversation ceased. He was expected to be a sacrifice. He started to walk the other direction, then he stopped. Dumbledore was going to push him to sacrifice himself. How long had he planned this?

He moved to the library, still open, but mostly empty thanks to the ending of exams. He found an empty study corner that most people avoided because Hermione would take it over and verbally assault anyone who distracted her. Sitting where he could slip away quickly, but still could see everything, he left his cloak on and seriously considered things.

The Dursley family was almost custom made to make him suicidal. The abuse was amazingly exaggerated, and he wondered now if there was some compulsion that was causing it. Mentally, he added that to the list, both on himself and on his relatives. Why didn't I report any of it? There was a sound and he started to get up, but a pair of Ravenclaws walked by, the girl's blouse slightly disheveled.

He relaxed, going back to his thoughts. Why did Dumbledore know that Ron had fought with me? It had just happened. His normal answer would be the man's seeming omniscience, but there was something more here. How long had he stood in Dumbledore's office before he returned? Was something said the night before?

For some reason, Molly Weasley's voice inserted itself into his mind, asking where the platform was. Why wouldn't she know after all those years? He'd never admitted it to Hermione, but on nights he had trouble sleeping, he had read a copy of Hogwarts, A History. With one exception during World War 2, that platform had been used for decades and nothing had changed.

He looked up as he heard someone coming and slipped into the array of bookshelves. "I told you he wouldn't come here." Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked from his new hiding spot, between two of the bookshelves.

"Yes, I know. I'd just thought that maybe..."

"I can't believe Dumbledore is trying to make us get along with him again. Look at what he constantly puts us through." Harry peeked through the books on the shelf to see Ron and Hermione talking.

"He did point out that he was concerned that Harry would feel alone."

"He's always pushing everyone away anyway. I think he wants to be alone. Besides, your parents are talking about pulling you because of that whole incident."

"I can talk them out of it. As long as they don't think of one of the schools in America, I can hide behind the fact that of the three main European schools, only Hogwarts is in English. I simply don't have the time to learn a new language in time to start classes. Seventh year might be a problem, but I will cross that bridge when I get there."

"If Potter doesn't push you off."

Harry had heard enough. He slipped out and back down to the kitchens, pausing as he considered it. The other elves did have to answer to Dumbledore. He turned around on the staircase and moved up to the seventh floor. He thought of a room to hide things, then entered the Room of Requirement, willing the door to hide itself from the outside. "Dobby?"

As he called out, he looked at the stacks of things there. He wondered if there was anything useful in there. Dobby popped in front of him. "Is Dumbledore looking for me?"

Dobby shook his head. "Headmaster just asks that we keep you from leaving the castle if you try."

Harry nodded. "Is there a room I can sleep in without drawing attention to myself? I have all of tomorrow and until lunch the next day to keep away from them."

"Why not sleep here?"

Harry looked around. "This would work…with a cot or a mattress or something." He considered the size of the room and the amount of junk in it. "There's a lot of stuff here."

"Many lost things. No owner. Mister Harry Potter can claim it. No one would know."

"I might," Harry said, considering. "I'd need to get an expanded trunk or two, maybe take some time to sort it."

Dobby looked around. "Can Harry Potter wish for the room to only allow Dobby in?"

"You mean to block other house elves?"

Dobby nodded. "Dobby has an idea."

Harry closed his eyes and willed the room to block other house elves until after the Leaving Feast. He had a sense of the room being locked down by him doing that, that it would stay this way until that time. "I think I've done it. What's your idea?"

"I can help you sort, but I don't see any big trunks. You can buy them in town or the Alley."

Harry nodded. "I'd need to go to town to do that."

Dobby nodded vigorously. "Dobby can take you."

"You can take me through the wards?"

Dobby nodded. "Bad Master used me to travel here for meetings. He didn't want to walk."

Harry nodded slowly. "I like that. I need to get some money, though. Molly Weasley has my key. Can you find it and bring it to me?"

Dobby seemed to think for a minute, then touched Harry's arm and closed his eyes. Harry felt a pulling sensation and heard Dobby's finger's snap, then his hand snapped outward to catch the key that appeared in front of him. "Anything else, Harry Potter sir?"

"No. This is awesome." He held his hand out. "Can we go to Gringotts now?"

Dobby took his hand, smile broad. "Yes, sir."

The sensation of elf transport was different, but Harry was glad to know that he at least didn't fall over when it happened. He stood at the steps and frowned. "I didn't think to bring a hooded cloak."

"No wizard will notice Harry Potter sir."

Harry nodded and walked in. Most of the teller windows were closed, but one was open with no wait. He walked up to that one and waited. "Yes?" The goblin behind the desk gave him an annoyed glance.

"I would like to speak to someone about my account." He held out the key, not waiting for the request. One thing he had learned in History was that the goblins were not patient.

The goblin took it, nodding. "Ask."

"May we speak somewhere more private?"

The goblin glanced at Dobby, raising an eyebrow, then nodded again. "Come with me."

They walked back to one of the private offices, the goblin closing the door behind him. "I am Snotrag."

Harry nodded, taking a breath to maintain his composure. "I appreciate your time; I know it is valuable."

The goblin eyed him again, this time amused. "Most humans laugh at my name."

Harry shrugged. "I just assumed it was a cultural thing. A snot rag in human terms would make the name degrading."

The goblin nodded. "You are well behaved, for a human, Mr. Potter. Far better than the Daily Prophet would have us believe."

Harry glanced over at Dobby, but the goblin waved. "Your elf's magic is working. It just does not work on us."

He nodded. "I think you understand why I wanted some privacy."

"Yes. What is your business?"

"I would like to see some transaction statements for the last decade. I've never received any. I also would like to make a sizeable withdrawal."

"We do not make second copies of statements, Mr. Potter. You're not keeping up with that information is your problem."

Harry scowled, looking down as he thought again of the owl ward. "Someone is interfering with my mail, something I intend to settle later. I'm still working on my plans for that time period." Harry managed to keep his temper.

Snotrag's eyes narrowed slowly. "That is borderline on legality. Who would dare?"

"Albus Dumbledore has some kind of owl ward around me. I believe it may have initially started to protect me from the Death Eaters that were not captured, but I specifically heard him say today that my independent streak was causing him issue."

Snotrag nodded. "For a small fee, we can adjust that redirect ward, so that it looks like it is still working. All mail will go to a service we provide to certain customers where we will examine the mail for anything untoward, hand record any howlers, and then shunt it on to a box in your trust vault. At that point, if your elf has your key, he can collect your mail for you."

"Hand record the howlers?"

"Why listen to them when you can read them at your leisure? It's always good to know who has a grudge against you, Mr. Potter."

"I hadn't thought of that. Very good point." Harry wanted to ask why Snotrag kept calling Dobby his elf, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Let's do that. It won't help with what I've lost but will keep me informed in the future."

Snotrag nodded, pulling a form from the desk he sat at. After a few minutes, he turned it for Harry Potter to sign. The jet-black quill that was slid in his direction made him recoil. "Not with that."

"All contracts are signed with Blood Quills, Mr. Potter." Snotrag's eyes flicked to Harry's right hand, in the process of pushing the Quill away from him. "What is that?"

"What?" Harry looked up, then down at his hand and he withdrew it.

"Who made you write that with one of our Quills?"

"Umbridge. My detentions were writing lines with one. She's untouchable with her connections at the Ministry."

Snotrag began to smile, though Harry felt no happiness coming from this smile. "We will document this and pursue charges. Blood Quills are only allowable under treaty for contracts and official paperwork and even then, only for signatures." He gestured to the form. "With this, you would feel a small amount of discomfort and then I would heal it."

He touched a gemstone on the desk and spoke into it, but it wasn't a sound he recognized. "We will handle everything. My recommendation to you would be to include hiding as part of your plans. Find somewhere no one will look for you and we will produce you for the trial if there is one. If you do this for us, we will waive the fee for mail redirect and the monthly maintenance fee on our sorting service for…" He considered. "For your life. I believe that this is worth the minor loss of income to the bank."

Harry nodded. "Done. If it burns Umbridge, great. If you can get Fudge, even better."

Snotrag grinned again, then doors opened. Several large goblins in armor entered, flanking several smaller goblins. Harry rose slowly and made sure his hands were in view. "Director Ragnok, this is Harry Potter." The tallest of the smaller goblins eyed him carefully, then nodded in some form of a bow. Harry returned the gesture.

For a few minutes, this was the last thing said in English. Photographs were taken, strange instruments were touched to his hand and orders were barked back and forth. Finally, the others left, and Harry took a breath. "I apologize for that. There was some excitement over the chance to fire a valid shot back at the woman who strives to ban us from anywhere except for the bank itself on British soil."

"I understand." He shook his head. "I need to make some purchases, so I will need to get the owl ward redirected and make my withdrawal." He took up the quill, then took a deep breath before putting the point to the paper, signing. As promised, the mark was healed, though the scars from the previous usages of the quill remained.

"I apologize, Mr. Potter, but I can't do anything about those scars. They are both too old and very well inscribed."

"I can conceal them if I want to. It's probably better if I still have them for the trial."

Snotrag nodded. "Good thinking. You might not be a waste of magic after all."

Harry decided the better part of valor would be to ignore that statement and focus on what he was there for. "So, there's no chance of getting the statements? I just want to see if has taken money without authorization."

"Ah, well that is easily answered. No."

Harry knew now he had changed. The idea that hearing a prophecy would force him to grow up almost made him laugh. Instead, he was certain it was the combined loss of his godfather, friends and finally his innocent belief that others were working towards his benefit somehow. He continued this change in maturity, thinking before speaking now. Had he done that before the day before? "If you don't mind, how can you be so sure?"

"If the key was not always in your possession, understanding that this is allowed only because this is a trust vault, its contents are audited yearly. Any withdrawals would require receipts. As you took money out your first year to collect your first-year items, no receipts were required because you were the one taking the money."

"What if I wanted to clean out the account?"

"We require a minimum of 250 galleons unless you close the trust account, which you can't until you are twenty-one."

Harry nodded slowly. "So, what if I took everything out except for 300 galleons? Or a slightly more uneven number, to make it look like I just grabbed a bunch and left some. Not like I was planning."

"I can assist you with that now, if you like. We will deduct a small fee from the 300 galleons for two secured money bags. You do have almost fifty thousand galleons to carry. The bags and one drop of blood each to key them to you are ten galleons. No maintenance fees. If you wear them out, you simply replace them."

Harry glanced at the clock on the wall, then back to Snotrag. "Let's do it, then."

Author's Note:

Well, yes, this is another Everybody-Betrays-Harry story. I like to think that I take a slightly different spin on it. I'm actually pretty sure I've never seen anyone use a few of these characters the way I'm going to here. I hope that makes it worth it to you.

A few things to note, first, I don't like Ron. I knew a guy like him in High School and there's no defending it to me. Please don't try.

Second, I read a lot. A LOT. That being said, I fully acknowledge that some other authors may have influenced this story. I know for certain that jbern's Bungle in the Jungle influenced the way Luna behaves. I don't mimic him, but I give him credit because he's the first one to really make me think about why Luna behaves the way she does. I'm giving my own variation of an answer to this one here.

The reason I bring that up is if you see something and say, "He stole that." Stop. Breathe. Breathe again. Write a review or send a message or an owl or something and mention the name of the story. I'll either say "I've never read this" and mention that in the next chapter's author's note or I'll be surprised and give the author credit. I work in Education and accusations of plagiarism are a very serious matter to me. I'd rather err on the side of caution.

Lastly, I began with Harry talking to an Unspeakable and an Auror. They are hearing this story from Harry, but I don't know how much they're hearing. There are still secrets that he'll have to keep after all. I'll leave the details mostly up to you.