Harry Potter awoke with a start as several loud thumps knocked him out of his unconsciousness. "Up! I will not have you sleeping all day! Up, up, up!" He heard his aunt's shrill voice yelling at him through his bedroom door. Groaning, he cracked an eyelid open and glanced at the digital clock on his night table. It was half past nine in the morning. Way too early for any human being to be awake, especially once who had just fallen into bed less than five hours ago.

It was the summer after his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and, as usual, he was forced into spending the summer holidays with his Muggle aunt, uncle, and cousin. Only, this summer had taken quite a different turn from the previous one's he had spent here. For the first time, he was allowed to have his school books, broom, and other magical belongings in his bedroom. Part of this was because Remus and Mad Eye had threatened his uncle at King's Cross at the end of term, and partly because Harry was no longer inclined to put up with the Dursley's bullshit.

For years, he had allowed them to walk all over his very existence, but he had decided early into the summer that he would have no more of it. He used the computer, ate whatever he wanted from the fridge, came and went as he pleased, and refused to cook their meals and be their personal servant any longer. At first, they had appeared to be shocked at his new found rebellion, but had quickly grown used to it. He supposed his uncle quite liked the fact that he stayed out of the house for hours at a time. Well that and the fact that he now had a real excuse to continue with his beatings. Only Harry fought back now, which only made it ten times worse.

Harry flung the covers off of himself, knowing that his aunt would just come back if he didn't get up. When he stood, a wave of nausea hit him. How much had he had to drink last night? He honestly couldn't remember, but he knew it was a lot. He slowly climbed down the stairs, clutching his throbbing head. He crossed the living room into the kitchen and sat down, laying his face on the cool counter and taking a few deep breaths. Anything to get rid of the nausea.

Something was slammed down in front of him and he jumped straight up, looking around at his aunt. "Eat," She said, pointing a bony finger at a plate with toast, eggs, and kippers on it. "I don't need you throwing up all over my house again."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, knowing perfectly well that she was aware of what he did when he went out at night. He recalled the previous weekend when he had stumbled in the front door at three in the morning, knocking over an expensive vase and vomiting all over the newly installed carpet in the hallway. His aunt had shrieked and chased him around the house with a broom upon seeing the stain in the morning, which he had claimed was from the stomach flu and insisted that he had no knowledge about what had happened to her vase. He could tell she hadn't believed him, so as punishment she was making him do not only his regular chores, which he put up with only because, although he would never ever admit it, he was slightly grateful for her for putting a roof over his head all of these years even though she hated his very existence, plus extra garden work in exchange for 'destroying' her carpet.

It was late in the afternoon by the time he finally finished her ridiculously long list of chores and headed upstairs to shower the dirt and sweat off of his body. When he entered his bedroom after his shower, Hedwig was waiting on the windowsill for him, a letter tied to her leg. He untied it and gave her an owl treat before opening the scroll of parchment.

Dear Harry,

The reason I'm writing to you is to deliver some great news! Dumbledore's just told us that he's going to get you out of the Dursley's house early this year. Somebody should be around in a few days time to get you, I reckon. Hermione's still in Italy with her parents, but she should be coming to stay as soon as she gets back. Hope your holidays are going well and the Muggles are treating you alright.

-Ron

Harry sighed as he sat the letter down. The formality of Ron's letter was no surprise at this point, as he had only heard from him one another time this entire summer. Hermione had sent him a couple post cards "On the train from Florence to Rome for the weekend! Italy's absolutely wonderful so far! Hope you are doing well! See you soon, Hermione." Other than that, he'd only received letters from Molly and Sirius so far, in which they both mostly fretted over whether the Dursley's were treating him alright and on Molly's part, if he were being fed properly.

Things had changed between the golden trio, it was obvious. He knew that it was because of what had happened at the Ministry of Magic last term. Voldemort had used their mind connection to his advantage, causing him to believe that he was holding Sirius captive in the Department of Mysteries. Of course, the entire thing had been a set up and because of him, he may have cost somebody their life. Sirius narrowly escaped death at the hands of his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, and worse, Dean Thomas was kidnapped by a Death Eater. It had been almost two months now and nobody had seen nor heard a word on the boys whereabouts. Of course, the papers didn't report that he had been kidnapped, only that he had unexpectedly gone missing on the night of the eleventh of May. Harry knew that his friend was more than likely experiencing torture at the hands of Voldemort's followers, and he could only hope that he would somehow make it out alive.

For these reasons, upon many others, he didn't want to leave early this year. In fact, he didn't want to leave at all. He may have it rough out here in the Muggle world, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with all the press, the constant questions, the high expectations that were constantly being placed on him. Harry hated the fact that he was who he was. Why couldn't he have just turned out to be a normal wizard, instead of everybody's precious 'Chosen One?' Who really wanted to be famous for having survived their parent's murders, anyway?

Deciding that he would worry about his life problems some other day, he finished getting ready and went downstairs in search of something to eat. His aunt was in the kitchen and he noticed her raising an eyebrow at him over her magazine as she caught sight of his outfit. He hardly even registered her; It's not like he actually cared what she thought about him. He personally liked his new found sense of style. His jeans were black and rather tight. He had paired them with a pair of black Doc Martins that he'd purchased in a thrift shop, a t-shirt with a popular beer company's logo on it, and a leather jacket. His hair was more tame than usual after having discovered the wonders of hair gel. He also wore a thin layer of black liner on his bottom lids. He suspected a lot of people would be shocked at his transformation, but it was of no concern to him.

"You're going out, I assume." His aunt said

He chugged down his glass of orange juice "Yep." He said, grabbing his backpack off of the counter and swinging it over his shoulders.

He waited for her snippy retort, but it never came. He headed out the front door and began walking the twelve blocks to Andy's house.

Andy was the first friend that he had ever made in Little Whingington. They had unexpectedly met three days into the holidays. Harry had just gotten into a rowing match with his uncle over something stupid, who ended the fight by throwing him into his bedroom mirror so hard that the top half shattered and he was cut all over. He had walked to a nearby park and began picking glass out of his skin with a pair of tweezers, thinking that he was alone. Andy had walked up a few minutes later, and he recalled being quite put off as this strange boy sat down next to him without invitation, said "Damn, looks like that hurts", and proceeded to treat his wounds with a bottle of vodka he was carrying around in a brown paper bag. Afterward, he'd offered him a sip of vodka, and ended up inviting him to a party at his house. Harry had met many people and gotten drunk for the first time that night. Ever since then, Harry had been coming back. This stranger had turned into one of his closest friends and for the first time, he didn't want to leave Privet Drive at all.

Andy had ultimately introduced him to an entirely new world, a new way of living. For the first time in his life, he was free. Free from worrying about the future, free from the judgments of others. All it took was a few weeks for Harry to realize that before now, he hadn't really been living his life at all. In the past month, he had done so many things that he was sure he would never forget. He'd attended his first concert, taken a completely spontaneous road trip to Brighton, became a master at beer bong, pierced a few things, snuck into an abandoned insane asylum, done his fair share of clubbing, and even began to discover himself a little bit along the way.

During his fourth year, he tried going out on dates with girls and kissing them, but they always ended up being clingy and annoying to him. Then there was Cho. She was a nice girl and Harry really had thought that he'd liked her for a wile. But things changed when she kissed him at the beginning of fifth year after the Halloween dance and he realized that there was nothing. No spark. No passion. No firework moment. For a wile, he pondered that he may be asexual, until-until him. Harry actually stopped walking No. He wasn't even going to think about it anymore.

The most amazing thing that Andy had done for him was show him that his sexuality was nothing to be ashamed of and that anybody who told him otherwise was an ignorant waste of his time. It was true that he hadn't told any of his friends or family yet, but he didn't think it was something that should be done through the post. He was waiting for the right time. And when that time came, he hoped that they would accept him. If not, he would just have to learn to live without those people being in his life.

He lit a cigarette as he walked, having picked up the habit. He knew it was bad for him, but he figured he was going to die one day anyway. He let himself in when he got to the tiny white house, walking down the hallway and into Andy's bedroom. He was still sleeping, which was no surprise. Harry positioned himself before dive bombing on top of him. "RISE AND SHINE!" He yelled, getting up from the bed. Andy mumbled something and buried himself down further in the blankets so he ripped the covers off, causing him to sit up.

"Alright, alright, I'm up. What time is it?"

"It's like fifteen after seven." Harry said

Andy got up from the bed and began collecting clothes together to shower before they went out. Harry propped himself up on Andy's bed, already bored. Megan came walking by just then and stuck her head in the room. "Oh hey Harry," She said "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. Is Chad still asleep?" He asked

She shook her head "I literally kicked his ass out of bed a few minutes ago." She laughed before padding back down the hallway and into her bedroom.

He walked to the other side of the house and knocked on Chad's closed door, who called at him to come in. "Did you get them?" He asked after closing the door back behind him.

Chad nodded, already knowing what he was referring to. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little baggie, passing it over to him. Harry dumped the bag into his palm and four blue pills with peace signs stamped onto them fell out.

"Thanks for getting these." He said

Chad accepted his thanks with a wave of his hand. "How long should I wait to take it before we go?"

"I'd take it now." He said

Harry swallowed the pill dry and waited for the effects to kick in.

An hour later, six of them were all piled into Andy's car, going to a nearby club called 411. Harry sat in the backseat on another friend, Faith's, lap. A pleasant sense of calmness had come over him since he had taken the pill and he couldn't stop smiling. Everything in the world was so great. The bouncer let him in without ID, already recognizing him as they came to this club a lot. His friends all ordered their drinks while he ordered a virgin drink, having learned that you couldn't mix ecstasy with alcohol.

None of them questioned him as to why he wasn't drinking, but he assumed they knew he was on something by the way he kept unexpectedly flinging his arms around people he knew when they'd come over to the group. His senses were in touch with everything around him and all he wanted to do was drown in appreciation for the world that had come out before him. From the music to the people around him, everything seemed to be absolutely perfect. He caught himself zoning out completely at one point, feeling the texture on his jeans.

Harry found that he didn't have a care in the world as he spotted a cute boy sitting alone at the bar and walked over to him, not even thinking about the fact that this wasn't a gay bar and he'd probably be rejected in a heartbeat.

Somehow, he struck up a conversation and he could hardly believe it when he was pulled out onto the dance floor. They began dancing together and before he knew it, a pair of warm lips connected with his. He slipped his tongue into the guys mouth and they kissed for several minutes.

"Want to go to my place?" The guy hissed into his ear

He didn't even think about the dangers of leaving with a completely random stranger. All that mattered right now was that somebody wanted him. Harry allowed himself to be lead toward the exit, only they never made it through because Andy appeared out of nowhere and roughly grabbed his arm.

"Come with me." The other boy ordered, sounding angry. Harry tried to wrench himself out of his grip, but Andy got hold of him again "I'm not letting you go home with some random stranger."

"It's none of your business." Harry mumbled under his breath

Andy, having heard him, stopped walking and turned around. "You're not in the right state of mind. Who knows if that guy's some sort of psycho. You're my friend and I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't try to stop you from leaving and something happened to you."

Harry found his spirits rising again and decided to forget about what had just happened, instead grabbing Andy by the arm and leading him over to where the rest of their friends were standing.

They didn't end up leaving the club until closing time at three. They left Andy's car there and got a ride home with their friends Amber and Matt. He usually went home around this time, but the others were all planning on staying for a wile so he figured he might as well. The six of them spread out across the living room except for Amber and Chad, who had mysteriously disappeared into his bedroom and locked the door behind him. Megan and Matt were surfing the television for a movie to watch while Andy pulled out a tray and began rolling a few blunts. Harry flopped himself down on the larger of the two couches and took a moment to simply reflect on how great of a night he'd had. He had to say that his first time rolling was a success. Most of his energy had gone by now and he had slipped into a perfectly relaxed state that he never wanted to come out from. It was wonderful.

Andy lit a freshly rolled blunt and passed it in his direction. The four of them ended up smoking and watching a shitty horror movie until around five in the morning, when he unconsciously fell asleep on the couch.

When he next awoke, sunlight was streaming through the living room window and he could hear the sound of a lawn mower running somewhere outside. He made to sit up, but flopped back down as he noticed his skin felt like it was tingling all over. He slowly sat up, looking around the room. The others were still sleeping last night off. Checking his watch, he swore loudly as he saw that it was almost one in the afternoon. The entire time he was putting on his shoes and gathering up his belongings, he couldn't help but notice that his thoughts were taking longer to process than usual and he was finding it very hard to concentrate on one task at a time. He knocked on Chad's door. There was a giggle, several moments of silence, and then finally a "come in!" It didn't surprise him to see Amber laying on the far side of the bed, a sheet wrapped around her as clothing. He wondered when this new development had exactly occurred, but didn't voice anything out loud.

"Hey, do you think you could give me a ride home? Everybody else is still asleep."

"I don't really feel like going anywhere, but Chad can take my car if he wants." She said

As the two of them drove toward Privet Drive, Harry voiced his concerns about the strangeness he had been feeling ever since waking up that morning. Chad assured him that everything was completely normal as he pulled the car to a stop at the end of the road. He always had people pick him up and drop him off here so the Dursley's, god forbid, wouldn't have the chance to scare his friends off.

Harry walked into the house and was immediately accosted by his angry aunt as he tried to take the stairs. "Not so fast, boy!" He turned around to look at her "You have a visitor." She said, her eyes flashing in a way that told him that a fellow witch or wizard had entered the home.

He was assuming that Dumbledore had sent somebody to collect him as he'd mentioned in his letter. He told her to tell them that he'd be down in a minute and thundered up the stairs to look at his reflection in the mirror. There was a look about his face that you could tell he'd had a rough night. The best he could do was splash some cool water on his face, brush his teeth, and change into a different shirt that didn't reek.

When he came down the stairs, he rounded into the sitting room, expecting to see Kingsley or Lupin, but instead he stopped dead in his tracks as he made eye contact with none other than Severus Snape. He had always had a way with luck.

Author's Note: Choosing to rewrite this story was a very hard decision to make, but I'm now glad that I did it. Thanks to all my amazing followers who helped influence this decision, and I'm excited to hear your feedback on the first two chapter's! I have a lot of plans for this story and I hope it will take a complete turn from the original in later chapters. Enjoy reading! xx.