Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Hermione fussing over the darkening bags under his eyes as he played with the food on his plate. He was having difficulty eating, and Ron's habit of stuffing his mouth like a hamster was not helping in the slightest.

"I'm telling you to get a sleeping potion from Mme Pomfrey, Harry." Hermione said, looking at him with concern. "Sleep is important, you can't just forgo it because of last year. I know it was hard, but you shouldn't punish yourself like this."

"I'm fine Hermione, a sleeping potion probably won't help anyway." Harry said, faking a smile at his best friend.

"C'mon mate, eat! The food's good." Ron said, through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Ron, eat or talk, not both." Hermione said, using a napkin to wipe his spit off her cheek.

"Oops, sorry Hermione." Ron said, after swallowing the large mouthful. "Harry, you're acting like 'Mione last year with the whole spew thing."

"It's not spew, it's S.P.E.W, and it's important!" Hermione huffed, indignant at Ron's lack of care about her house elf rights movement. "But he is right Harry, you're barely eating more than I did and this is going on longer."

"I'm fine okay? Just not hungry." Harry snapped, appreciating his friends' concern, but annoyed by their babying of him, he's already escaped near death enough to be classed as an adult as far as he was concerned. And where was this care when he was stuck with the Dursleys?

"Mr Potter." McGonagall's voice rang out behind them, standing there, prim and proper as always, looking as though she had just bitten a rather sour lemon.

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked, it was first thing in the morning, had he already done something to receive her wrath? She hadn't seemed to mind too much about his detentions with Umbridge.

"The headmaster wishes to speak with you." She said, looking disapproving, but the irritation in her eyes wasn't directed at the three students, but at the headmaster she was currently playing owl for.

"Now?" Harry asked, breakfast was almost over and it was Thursday so he had lessons after this. Not to mention that Dumbledore had been ignoring him for months, what could be so important now?

"Yes, Mr Potter, you had best be quick, you wouldn't want to miss more class than you need to." McGonagall said, walking back to the teachers' table.

"What did you do Harry?" Hermione asked, turning her attention to her scrawny friend, concern laced in her voice.

"Nothing! You have been with me the whole time other than my detentions, and even then you wait up for me to return, so what do you think I could have done Hermione? Oh, of course, everything wrong is always my fault." Harry hissed, getting up and walking away, ignoring Hermione's protests that she hadn't meant that.

"It's okay, 'Mione, I'm sure he knows we don't think that." Ron said, awkwardly patting her arm. "He's just tired, hungry and angry."

"But what does he mean 'always'? I'm worried about him, Ron." Hermione said, her voice wobbling as she bit back tears that longed to fall.

"I don't know..."

-----

Harry approached the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office, only to remember he didn't have the password. He walked up to it anyway, wondering if Dumbledore had returned the password to one he knew.

"Sherbet lemon." Harry said, holding his breath for a moment, but after nothing happened, he let it go.

He sat down on the wall opposite, taking out a book from his bag, one Hermione had lent him, he sat down to start reading. He looked at his watch to check the time, not that he really cared about being late to Defence Against the Dark Arts with that cow as the teacher, but curious how long it would take Dumbledore to look for him. It took him a moment of shock at how late it was to remember his watch had been frozen since the second task, he just wore it out of habit.

He was so engrossed in reading that he didn't notice when a first year he had never seen before ran past him, their long blond hair dyed black at the end and no house colours trim of their black robes. They noticed him, though, pausing to look at him for a moment, before rounding a corner into an alcove and disappearing.

He was never sure how much later Dumbledore finally left his office, it both like forever and no time at all, Hermione had good taste in books. He was aware, however, that the old man had stood in front of him for a moment, trying to get his angered expression into one of more grandfatherly affection and concern.

"Harry, how long have you been sitting there?" Dumbledore asked, trying to look like he was worried about the boy in front of him.

"Oh, um, I don't know, my watch is still frozen." Harry said, putting his book away again.

"Why didn't you come into my office?" Dumbledore asked, fighting to keep his anger in check, why was this boy trying to resist him? Hadn't he been his saviour?

"I didn't know the password." Harry said, looking up with well feigned innocence.

"That hasn't stopped you before, why didn't you try?" Dumbledore said, irate this boy was trying to get independence from him.

 "In the past I wanted to see you, this time you wanted to see me. Etiquette dictates that you should make sure that I can come in." Harry said, standing up and looking at Dumbledore in the eyes.

"Well, let's take this discussion to my office, shall we?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing for Harry to follow him as they went up the moving staircase.

"What did you want to talk about, Professor?" Harry asked, looking around at the whirring intricate devices around the room.

"I have been talking to the Sorting Hat, and it has come to my attention that you don't belong in Gryffindor." Dumbledore said, conjuring an ugly and garish chair for Harry as he sat behind his desk.

"You knew that I was almost sorted into Slytherin, and you said that it was our choices that made us who we are." Harry said, walking over to Fawkes as if on instinct, stroking her in the way he would Hedwig, receiving a happy trill from the bird.

"While that is true, I said that before I knew how well you fit in Slytherin." Dumbledore said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "As your headmaster and wizard guardian, it is my duty to make sure you are where you belong."

"Am I even going to have a choice?" Harry asked, looking solely at the large phoenix who was loving his attention.

"You are to be resorted, if you're still a Gryffindor, then that's where you'll stay." Dumbledore said, taking advantage of the boy's turned back to smile evilly to himself. Fawkes noticed, however and squawked at him, flapping her wings as though ready to attack him.

Taking after the phoenix he was so eager to show affection to, Harry half turned his head to Dumbledore, fixing him with a glare that could freeze magma. A faint amount of non-wizard magic filled the air, of course the boy was managing to overcome the restraints he put on him as a baby, he is that irritating, isn't he?