Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

It's the third of March. I'm more tired than usual today, as I was out longer than usual last night in hopes of drawing out the Heir of Slytherin. Not tired enough to bother with a Wideye Potion, though. I'll save them for an emergency. I'll just suck it up and try to focus on my classes. Everything's looking to be another uneventful day, anyway.

Classes progress as normal, and I head for the Great Hall for dinner. I'm eating at the Hufflepuff table with Luna tonight. Ham, potatoes, and corn for a quiet evening...

Justin Finch-Fletchley storms into the Great Hall, late for dinner, and races up to the staff table. What's going on? Oh no, someone hasn't been attacked, have they?

McGonagall's amplified voice echoes through the Great Hall. "Prefects, please escort your houses to their common rooms at once."

I grab Luna and head over for the staff table. Since neither of us were eating at our proper tables, our houses won't immediately notice that we aren't where we're supposed to be. Dumbledore nods to me, and says, "To my office, at once."

Momentarily, the Stormseeker Conspiracy is gathered in an emergency meeting in the Headmaster's office. "Alright, what happened?" I ask once everyone is present. Snape arrived a little late, as he was getting down the location.

"Jennifer Stillman is dead," Dumbledore says.

"When and where?" I ask.

"Sometime between the end of her last classes for the day, and when dinner began," Dumbledore says. "Mr. Finch-Fletchley found her lying in a corridor on the way back from the greenhouses."

"If classes were already out, nobody would notice if one of the students were somewhere they shouldn't be," I say, making a face. "Show me the spot."

The five of us file out of the office again and head for the location. The girl's body hasn't been moved yet, and Professor Sprout is there with Justin.

"This is terrible, terrible," Sprout says.

"Pomona," Dumbledore says. "Would you escort Mr. Finch-Fletchley back to his dormitory? We'll take over the investigation from here."

"Yes, Headmaster," Sprout says. "You heard the man. Let's go." Sprout and Justin head off.

I look down at the girl. She was the one who told the Great Hall that Justin was dead, and now Justin found her dead instead. She was also the one who welcomed Luna and I to the Hufflepuff table for dinner the first time we ate there. And now she's dead. But I will save her. I will save her, damn it.

"Was anyone seen nearby?" I ask, looking around for paintings, for something. Thankfully, there are actually a couple paintings in this section of the hallway. "You! Paintings! Did you see anything?"

The terrified paintings poke their heads out. It's a portrait of a man in fine robes who replies. "A giant snake... It was a giant snake..."

"But did you see any other people?" Dumbledore asks.

The portrait shakes his head. "No, no other people besides the poor girl who was attacked."

"The culprit could have ordered the snake to come, and have been nowhere near the scene of the crime himself," Snape says.

I pace about in front of the corpse, trembling a little and sighing heavily. "I need all the information I can get, to take back," I say. "This might just be the chance to stop this. There will be several hours between when I woke up and when the attack would occur."

"I'll have the heads of house do a headcount and make sure all the students are accounted for," Dumbledore says. "If anyone turns up missing..."

"Could someone have been magically compelled in some way to do this?" I wonder.

"It's possible," Snape says. "Someone might have been placed under the Imperius Curse, for instance."

Luna nods thoughtfully. "Grackles aren't attracted to the weapon, just the one wielding it."

Dumbledore, Luna, and I head back to the Headmaster's office, Snape going off to take care of that, and Lockhart dealing with the body. The change in location primarily results in me moving the spot where I'm pacing. At least I'm not being violently ill at the idea that somebody died this time.

Snape returns after a while to report, "All students are currently accounted for."

"I suppose it was too much to hope for, getting a clue out of that," I say, sighing. "Do we have anything else to go on?"

"Lexen, there's a lot of pressure on you..." Dumbledore says.

"Don't worry about me," I say. "That's what I'm here for."

"When this incident is over, you should really take a few days off from school to rest up," Dumbledore says.

I sigh. "If there isn't any other information to take back, I'd like to go now," I say. "Every minute is another minute that I have to stay awake, and I'm already going to need to use a potion as it is."

"I have your way back here," Snape says, pulling out a vial.

"Remember, don't try to handle the basilisk yourself," Dumbledore says. "Come and tell one of us immediately, so that we can begin a plan of action."

"I know, I know," I say. "I'll do whatever I have to, but I know perfectly well that I don't stand a chance against that thing myself."

Luna hugs me tightly. "Goodbye, Stormseeker," she says quietly.

"Luna?" I say.

"I hope you can save her, but I'll never see you again," Luna says.

"I'm sorry, Luna," I say quietly. "I have to try, though..."

"You don't have to say goodbye, though," Luna says, smiling at me. "It's alright. Perhaps we'll meet again, somehow."

"Are you trying to convince me not to drink this?" I say.

Luna shakes her head. "Never mind me. Do what you need to do. And good luck, Stormseeker."

"Why do people always say that to me?" I say, smirking faintly. I drain the vial of poison and let the blackness take me.

I wake in the Gryffindor boys' dorm, and reach out to down a Wideye Potion to dispel my weariness. I have work to do. First stop, the Headmaster's office.

"Ah, good morning, Stormseeker," Dumbledore says. "Is there a problem?"

"Between the end of afternoon classes and the start of dinner, Jennifer Stillman will be killed in the first floor corridor near the greenhouses," I tell him. "No clues on the culprit, but the basilisk was definitely sighted."

"I see," Dumbledore says, frowning. "Time to call together your Conspiracy and make some preparations, then."

Momentarily, Snape, Lockhart, and Luna join us in the office. I brief them on what little I know. A victim, time, and place. What we need is the culprit, damn it.

"But the culprit wasn't present?" Snape asks.

I shake my head. "All the portrait saw was the victim and the basilisk itself," I say. "Nobody else was around."

"Perhaps we should cancel afternoon classes and confine students to their common rooms," Dumbledore suggests.

"The culprit would go to ground again and we might never catch him," Snape says.

"Failing all else," I say. "Couldn't we just kill the damned basilisk? At least then, the culprit would need to get a new murder weapon, or kill people himself, and hence be forced to expose himself."

Snape nods. "That is probably the best course of action, if we cannot pinpoint the culprit. Make sure a group of the staff members who are most competent at fighting are present in the right place at the right time, prepared to deal with the monster."

"Meanwhile, the rest of us can keep our eyes open to see if anyone is suspiciously missing," I say.

"The culprit is specifically targeting Muggleborns..." Lockhart says.

"He's right," Dumbledore says. "Chances are, it's going after Miss Stillman, not going to a specific location. The basilisk may not even emerge if she isn't present."

"Much as I hate using a child as bait, you're probably right about that," I admit.

"I can Obliviate her afterward," Lockhart says.

"I'll keep watch for anything unusual," Luna says.

Snape gives her an odd look and says, "I'd say you are something unusual."

"Thank you, Professor," Luna says brightly.

"Very well, we all know our tasks?" Dumbledore says, looking around to the rest of us, who nod. "I will notify the appropriate staff members and make arrangements for dealing with the basilisk. Let's get to breakfast, now. We've a long day ahead of us."

And to think I had thought today would be just another boring day. I head off to the Great Hall to get something to eat. I really wish we had a better plan than this. I'm extremely uneasy about how today will go, but I bury it behind my Occlumency barriers and put on a cheerful face for the crowd.

It's just as well that I've been through today's classes before, as I have a lot on my mind. As the hour of the attack approaches, I feel like I should be there, even though I know logically that I won't be able to do any good. I just can't shake the feeling of dread that something will go horribly wrong somehow. But no. I should have faith in the teachers. They're much more skilled wizards than me.

As the hour approaches, I keep a close eye out for anyone acting strangely, or anyone that's about to run off by themselves. But I see nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that might give a clue as to what's really going on here. When the last class of the day gets out, I watch people. It's hard to keep track of what so many people are doing, however, and still I see nothing. I sigh to myself and head to the Great Hall.

Luna isn't there yet. I'd imagine that she's probably having more success with this than I have. No matter. I must stay focused on my task. Even though I know, at this very moment, there's probably a terrible battle being fought elsewhere in the castle.

Dinner's about to begin. Most of the teachers still aren't present. Jennifer isn't present. Luna isn't present. Has something gone wrong?

"Harry?" Ron says, approaching me. "Come on, let's eat."

I shake my head, but I'm unable to get any words out.

"What, you upset that your girlfriend isn't here yet?" Ron says. "You've been spending more time around her lately than you have me and Neville. And I thought we were your best mates!"

"Ron, shut up," I mutter.

"What's gotten into you?" Ron says.

"Harry, is something wrong?" Neville asks.

"Stay here," I say, turning to head for the doors.

"Harry! Wait!" Neville calls.

They're ignoring me. They're following after me. I can't worry about that at the moment, though. I don't have time to stop and convince them to stay behind. I have to get to the attack location. I break into a run the minute I get clear of the worst of the crowds.

"Harry!" Ron shouts. "Where are you going?"

"Don't follow me!" I yell back.

I reach the spot. Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and two teachers I don't recognize are standing there, poised for a battle that hasn't come. Jennifer is laying on the ground between them, and for a moment I think she's dead, but then I notice she's still breathing. They must have put her out so that she wouldn't accidentally look into the basilisk's eyes.

"Harry?" Dumbledore says. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know," I say. "But something's wrong."

"What's going on here?" Ron wonders.

"They're trying to catch Colin's killer," I explain shortly. I need to say something, after all.

"Oh..." Ron says dumbly.

"Has something else gone wrong?" Dumbledore asks me.

"I'm not sure," I say. "But something isn't right."

"We have not been attacked yet," Snape says.

"Harry," Dumbledore says, looking at me pointedly. "Please take your friends and return to the Great Hall. We will remain here a while longer to see if anything happens."

"But--"

"You heard the Headmaster," Snape says. "Go."

"Alright, alright," I say, gesturing to Ron and Neville. "Come on, guys."

I reluctantly head back toward the Great Hall. Neville says, "I thought they said Colin was killed in an accident..."

"You guys gotta keep this quiet, alright?" I say to them. "There's a murderer loose in the school. Not only would it cause a panic if it got out, but any chance of catching them would go out the window."

"Merlin," Ron breathes. "I understand, mate."

"That is why I've been spending so much time around Luna lately," I say. "She can see things most people can't."

"Oh..." Ron murmurs.

I sigh softly. "I really... just wish I could focus on classes and whatnot for once."

"Maybe you should try to relax and get something to eat," Neville says. "I'm sure Dumbledore can handle it."

"I can't even think about food at a time like this," I say. "I just want to know what went wrong."

Nevertheless, I follow them back to the Great Hall and go quiet, putting on a mask of normalcy. I take at seat at the Gryffindor table and force myself to eat something, even though I can hardly taste it. Dumbledore's team doesn't return for the entirety of dinner, and I still see no sign of Luna, so I stumble on back to where the squad is waiting futilely for the basilisk to appear.

"Sorry about bringing Ron and Neville into this," I say. "Still no sign of activity here?"

"None," Dumbledore says.

"I don't know where Luna is," I say. "I'm worried about her."

"We will reconvene in my office," Dumbledore says. "Filius, go to the Ravenclaw area and see if Miss Lovegood returned there. The rest of you, search the rest of the castle for her."

"We use an eleven year old girl as bait, and now a second one could be in danger?" McGonagall says. "Albus, I don't like this one bit."

"I know, Minerva, but we have little choice in the matter," Dumbledore says.

I return with Dumbledore to his office as the others go off to search for Luna. My body is trembling, and I slump down into a seat.

"Sherbet lemon?" Dumbledore says.

I give a small nod and pop one into my mouth. "What went wrong?" I murmur. "What went wrong?"

"Perhaps we tipped our hand, and the culprit decided not to attack," Dumbledore says.

"And where is Luna?" I say.

"Relax, Lexen," Dumbledore says. "We will find her."

After several minutes and a handful of sherbet lemons, Snape's doe Patronus appears in the office. "Come to the Forbidden Lavatory," says the shining silver deer. "I have found Lovegood."

Dumbledore and I rush out to Moaning Myrtle's restroom. There, laying on the floor below the Chamber of Secrets message, lays Luna, her body motionless.

"Luna!" I cry, rushing to her side. "Is she..."

"Dead," Snape says.

"Fuck," I mutter. "I'm going back for her. I still don't know what went wrong, but I've got to go back for her."

Snape sighs softly. "I expected that you would say that."

"We do not have any new information for you to take back, however," Dumbledore says.

"Why was she killed here of all places?" I say. "For that matter, why put this message about the Chamber of Secrets here? Why was Myrtle killed here fifty years ago? What's with this damned restroom?"

"Perhaps it is near the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Snape suggests.

I rub my temples. "I don't know. Just... just send me back. Please."

Dumbledore sighs. "Very well. I cannot argue with wanting to save your friend."

I follow Snape back to his office, and numbly take the bottle of poison he offers me. I'm coming for you, Luna...

I wake, and reach over to down a Wideye Potion. I still feel tired afterward, so I drink a second one. Damn it, I might not be able to get through another loop if something goes wrong this time. I'll have to do whatever I can. I get dressed and make my way to the Headmaster's office.

"Call together the Conspiracy," I say. "The basilisk will be active today."

Once the five of us have gathered in the office, I give them a debriefing on what happened during the previous two loops.

Luna looks at the floor when I finish describing everything. "I'm sorry," she says.

"You haven't done anything yet," I say.

"But I must have found something, and I died before I could tell anyone what it was," Luna says.

"At least now we'll know how to avoid that outcome," Dumbledore says.

"Yeah," I say. "Don't go near that restroom alone..."

"The suggestion for attempting to take down the basilisk was a good one, however," Dumbledore says. "We will continue with that course of action. Take away the culprit's murder weapon and force him to come out and do it himself if he wants to kill children."

I head off for breakfast, leaving the preparations to Dumbledore, and feeling a little better about things at least. With more forewarning, surely things will go better this time. Hopefully, this time, we won't lose anyone.

I sit through today's classes again, growing increasingly tired along the way. I can't nap now, though. And I don't want to end up overdosing on Wideye Potion. This is making me increasingly uneasy again, as well. What if something goes wrong again somehow? How can I keep everyone safe? Too many terrible what-ifs running about in my head. I can't concentrate. I'm grateful when classes get out so I can at least stop pretending to pay attention.

Shaking a little, I head up to my dorm room. I'm having trouble keeping up the mask, and don't want everyone to see me like this. I poke around in my trunk, and find some of Dumbledore's sherbet lemons. Didn't Professor Snape say that these were laced with a Calming Draught? I could really use that about now. I'm going crazy from stress and tension here. I pop one in my mouth, and start to suck on it, then another, and another.

My eyelids are so heavy... it couldn't hurt to just close them for a moment...

"Wake up, you fool boy!" Snape's voice cuts into my consciousness.

I blink for a moment and rub my eyes. "Huh? I wasn't asleep... I was just resting..."

"You couldn't stay awake, could you," Snape says, sighing. "To my office at once. I will debrief you there."

I follow along after him, absently wondering what he's doing in the Gryffindor dormitories to begin with. He gets a number of stares from the students in the common room on the way out, and murmurings that I must be in big trouble if he came for me like this.

We arrive down in Snape's dungeon office, and he casts several spells to ensure our privacy. "Stormseeker, we could not kill the basilisk."

"It escaped?" I ask.

"No," Snape says. "I escaped."

"What?" I say dumbly.

"The battle was a rout," Snape says. "We lost McGonagall, Flitwick, Vector, Babbling, Kettleburn, and Lockhart."

"Lockhart?" I say. "What was he doing there?"

Snape sighs. "Trying to help."

"Fuck," I say. "No wonder you lost, then."

"Lexen!" he snaps.

"Sorry," I say grimly.

"Dumbledore survived only by the grace of his phoenix," Snape goes on. "This... was an unmitigated disaster. Furthermore, Stillman and Lovegood were also killed before the basilisk retreated back to the Chamber of Secrets."

I feel a sick knot in the pit of my stomach. "This is all my fault," I murmur.

"No," Snape tells me firmly. "Do not blame yourself for this. You attempted to help. You gave us valuable information. This, or worse, could have happened even without your intervention."

"I just made things worse," I say quietly. "Much, much worse... And I couldn't stay awake..."

"I was going to find you to send you back, but no point in that now," Snape says. "Now, you'll just need to live with the same consequences that we will."

"Consequences..." I repeat numbly. "What will happen now?"

"Now?" Snape says. "Classes will be shut down and the students sent home immediately. We can't continue teaching with so many professors missing. And then after the civilians have been cleared from the area, Dumbledore talked of calling in a team of Aurors to scour the place from top to bottom. The basilisk will need to be killed and new teachers re-hired before anyone can even think of starting classes again."

"Shit," I whisper. The real impact of this disaster is only slowly starting to sink in. And I fell asleep. Fuck, why did I have to fall asleep?

"These are the worlds you leave behind every time you die carelessly," Snape says.

"What am I going to do now?" I murmur.

"Perhaps you should return to the Burrow with your Weasley friends," Snape says.

I shake my head. "No. I'm not done here. I should help with finding the Chamber of Secrets and stopping the basilisk."

"I think you've done quite enough, but the final decision isn't up to me," Snape says. "Return to your dormitory. The students will be returning home tomorrow. You'll be notified on whether you will be allowed to participate by then."

"Alright," I murmur. I can't imagine that Dumbledore would cut me out at this point, after everything that's happened, after everything we've done. But I suppose I can understand that he might blame me for what happened. I certainly blame myself enough.

I stumble back to the Gryffindor Tower in a daze. I get changed into my pajamas, and by the time I curl up in bed, I'm crying unashamedly.

"Harry?" Ron says quietly, coming up to the side of my bed.

"What's wrong?" Neville asks.

"Why are you crying?" Seamus wonders.

They don't know, yet. They haven't been told, yet. Would they be able to get to sleep at night if they had any idea what happened today? Fuck it. I'm sick of secrets. Sick to death of them.

"We're going home tomorrow," I say.

"What?" Dean says in puzzlement.

"What are you talking about?" Ron asks.

I sit up, and gesture to them to gather around in the center of the room on the floor, sitting cross-legged. "There's a monster loose in the school," I tell them. "It killed Colin. The teachers were trying to kill it..."

"What happened?" Neville asks.

I'm shaking, and I choke out through sobs, "Half the teachers are dead."

"What?" Ron exclaims.

"You can't be serious," Seamus says.

"Oh, Merlin," Neville says.

"Professor McGonagall is dead," I say, wiping tears from my eyes. "So is Flitwick. And Lockhart. And three others..."

"Well, nobody will miss that prat Lockhart at least," Ron says.

"Ron!" Neville says. "The man's dead, don't speak ill of him!"

"This is terrible!" Dean says.

"I can't believe it," Seamus says. "Why would they tell you about this all first?"

"Because I was involved," I say. "I was helping their investigation. But I didn't realize things would go oh so very badly..."

"Merlin, I'm sorry, Harry," Ron says. "You-- I'm sure you'd be welcome to come back and stay with us at the Burrow if the school gets shut down."

"Thanks, Ron," I say. "I appreciate it."

"We live near the Lovegoods too, so you'll be able to... Harry?"

I practically choke at that. "Luna... Luna's dead, too," I manage to sob out.

"Oh, Merlin," Ron whispers. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

Neville hugs me. "I know you were close to her," he says. "This might not be saying much, but at least you've still got us... We've got your back, Harry."

"Thanks, Neville," I say, sighing softly. "Maybe I should've asked Snape for a dreamless sleep potion while I was downstairs."

"Knowing Snape, he'd probably just poison you," Ron says.

I snort softly in morbid amusement. "I'm sorry to tell you guys such horrible news before bed," I say. "But I'm sick of lying and hiding things. We've kept this secret for months, and now... now look where that's gotten us."

"It's alright, Harry," Neville says. "Thanks for telling us."

"Best try to sleep now, I suppose," I say. "The train will be coming to get us in the morning."

We crawl into our beds. As tired as I still am, however, sleep is a long time in coming. And when I do get to sleep finally, it's with the thought that I will wake up on the previous morning, with this nightmare never having happened. But it's just wishful thinking.