A/N: This chapter takes place after the incident in Dumbledore's office at the end of 5th Year, right after Sirius died.
Chapter Three: It Happened Again
As the door closed after Harry, Dumbledore sighed and leaned his head on his hand. The combination of Sirius' death and Harry's outpouring of anger had left him feeling drained and tired. Although he could understand Harry's anger, it hadn't hurt him any less.
He knew that he should have told Harry about the prophecy sooner. His goal had been to protect Harry, but what he hadn't realized was that Harry didn't really need protecting. Keeping the prophecy a secret had been more for his sake than Harry's.
Now, Harry's trust in him had been destroyed; he didn't know when, if ever, he would get it back. Once again, a series of actions and mistakes had destroyed something. This time, the victim was the relationship between the Headmaster and the boy he had come to view as a kind of grandson.
When Lily and James had gone into hiding, he had sworn that he would watch over their son if anything happened to them. But what had he done? He had sent him to live with relatives that hated him, let him go up against a maniac with little or no training, and kept secrets from him. All these things had been done, or so Dumbledore had believed, for Harry's own good. He had been sent to the Dursley's because of the blood protection he received there. He had been allowed to battle with Voldemort as preparation for the final battle. Secrets had been kept in order to protect him.
But each of those things he had done for Harry had somehow backfired. The Dursley's had tormented him for years, and still did each summer. Several times, he had nearly been killed when he fought Voldemort. And now, Harry was furious at the Headmaster for withholding the contents of the prophecy for this long.
He had sworn long ago that he wouldn't let the same thing happen to Harry as had happened to Tom. He wouldn't let Harry become so disillusioned and hate-filled that he turned on the world. Of course, he firmly believed that Harry would never do such a thing, but then, people hadn't believed Tom capable of it either. He had promised himself that he would always be there for Harry, that he would do what was best for him.
Even though Harry's trust in him was destroyed, he hoped that someday it would be restored. The bump in the road could be smoothed. Somehow, Dumbledore knew he would fix things with Harry.
The only problem was, he didn't know how.