"Harry, My Boy, I've called everyone here so that we can discuss the lies you've been telling about your relatives."
Harry wasn't sure how to react. What about his relatives? What lies? He hadn't lied about anything, and the only time he had talked about his relatives in the recent past was to tell Dumbledore about the truth. But surely that couldn't be what he meant? That couldn't possibly be what he was talking about, could it?
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, hoping he was wrong.
"You know exactly what he's talking about!" Molly exclaimed, sneer firmly set on her face, disgust clear in her voice, "How dare you lie about your relatives in such a way!"
He was still confused. Couldn't they be any clearer as to what lies he had supposedly spoken. At Harry's confused expression, Sirius stepped forward, and with a sneer worthy of Snape, said, "Your lies about them abusing you."
Harry froze at that, the confirmation of what he had most feared hitting him square in the face. "Honestly Harry," Sirius continued, "I myself was abused and that is nothing to joke about! What you did was so beyond rude and disrespectful, it's disgusting!"
He was near tears by then. He had finally trusted someone and it came right back to bite him in the ass. Why had he even bothered?! It was a waste in the end anyways, but he really had thought that at least Sirius would stand by him. He was wrong, so very wrong. Because in the end, his 'beloved godfather' was one of the first to turn on him.
"I wasn't lying," Harry said in a cracking voice, "and how did you know about it anyways? I only ever told Headmaster Dumbledore."
It was then that Harry realized what had happened. The Headmaster had told everyone what had happened to him. But if that was the case, why did they think he was lying?
"Of course the Headmaster told us!" Sirius shouted, "He wanted us to know how much of a liar you are! I can't believe I ever considered adopting you! I hope you go back to your relatives and you learn what abuse is like! At least then you won't have to lie anymore!"
At the end of Sirius's rant, Harry began sobbing. How could he? He thought over and over again. But then he noticed that it wasn't just Sirius. Everyone but Ginny and Snape were nodding their heads in agreement with Sirius' words. They agreed with him.
Molly stepped in front of him and said, "I can't believe I allowed your filth near my children! You are never welcome at the Burrow again!" Once she had finished speaking, she slapped him.
After she slapped him, Harry began screaming. He knew, logically, that he was still in Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts, but he had been thrown into a flashback. All he could think was that it was his uncle hitting him, beating him once again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He began screaming, "No Uncle, please don't! Please! I'll do better, I promise!" He was begging, pleading, for his Uncle to stop hurting him. And it tore at Severus's very soul. He knew that Harry had been abused from that display alone.
"Can't you see you were wrong!" He shouted over Harry's screams, trying to be heard, "Can't you tell he was telling the truth?"
He knew he wouldn't be able to take much more of the screams. He himself had been abused, and while he didn't suffer flashbacks, things like Harry's still reminded him of bad times.
"He's faking it," Hermione said, "No muggle would abuse their child. If anything, it would have been the Potters who abused him."
She sounded so smug and superior that it left a bad taste in Severus' mouth. Severus couldn't believe that the know-it-all could think such a thing, didn't she know about all the abuse cases brought up in the muggle world practically everyday? Did she know nothing of the real world?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can't believe this," Ginny said, disbelief clear in her voice.
"I know," Hermione said, "I mean, who would have thought Harry would be such a liar."
Ginny looked at her with an expression of pure disdain, and said, "No! I meant that I can't believe you lot! Calling him a liar, when he was obviously telling the truth, and then saying such cruel things to him! How could you!"
Ginny was, quite honestly, in utter disbelief as to how the others were all treating Harry. She couldn't believe that her friends and family would treat Harry in such a way. And most surprisingly, the only other person to seemingly believe him was Professor Snape. The same professor who hated him more than almost anyone or anything else.
When she saw Ron walking towards a still begging Harry, her protective instincts kicked in. "Stay away from him," She warned, "I don't want to have to hurt you Ron, but I will if I have to."
"Great," Ron said, "Now the little freaks corrupted my baby sister too." The sneer on his face had Ginny wanting to throttle him, but she refrained. Just barely.
"What did you just call him, Mr. Weasley?" Ginny heard Snape ask her soon to be ex-brother.
"A freak," He said with no remorse.
The look the professor gave him was filled with such hatred, that she had never even seen the likes directed towards Harry before.
"Enough!" She heard Remus say, hope blossoming in her chest that just maybe, someone else was going to help them defend Harry.
"Ms. Weasley," She heard him continue, "Move away from the boy now. He needs to be taught that lying is never expectable."
At those words, her world shattered. The one professor she had ever truly enjoyed, turned against a student without any reason. "No," She said clearly, "I won't let you hurt him again."
"Ms. Weasley-"
"No."
"Ginny-"
"No."
"Ginny, please-"
"I won't move!"
"Ms. Weasley," She heard Dumbledore saying, "You need to-"
"No."
As her mother was about to say something, they all heard a loud pop come from behind her. The entire group turned to look at where Harry had been moments before, but had suddenly disappeared from.