Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

Christmas morning dawns at the Malfoy house. A pile of brightly wrapped presents has been stacked up underneath the tree in the foyer. Candles gleam on the branches of the tree, illuminating the room with a flickering light and setting the colorful ornaments to sparkling.

"What are you waiting for?" Draco says when he sees me staring. "Let's open the presents!"

"Heh," I say, giving a faint grin and going over to look through the pile, pulling out the ones with the name Harry Potter on them. Let's see what I got. Hermione sent me a Muggle history book. From Neville, a box of Chocolate Frogs. Draco got me a dueling wand holster. Another book of dark magic from Lucius. A set of blood red dress robes from Narcissa.

And... there it is. James Potter's invisibility cloak, from Dumbledore. The note reads, "You could probably use this more than I. Take care where you walk in the darkness, and let none find you unless you wish to be found."

"Nice, an invisibility cloak?" Draco says. "Who sent you that?"

"Dumbledore," I reply. "It belonged to my father. Isn't it delightful to get one's inheritance back as Christmas presents?"

Draco makes a face. "That's Dumbledore for you," he says. "Thanks for the cream-filled dragon eggs."

"Indeed," Lucius says. "I am not fond of the man's habits."

"Lucius, there aren't any spells or anything on this book, are there?" I ask, holding up the book he gave me.

"No," Lucius replies. "It's just a book. You can safely do whatever you like with it."

"Alright," I say. I take the Muggle history book and remove its cover with a quick Diffindo, and do the same for the dark magic book, then attach the boring cover to the much more interesting book.

"Ah, I see," Lucius says, nodding approvingly. "That should avoid any undue scrutiny at school."

"Just don't tell Hermione that I vandalized the book she sent me," I say, smirking. "Really now, Muggle history? Why would I care about that?"

Lucius chuckles softly, and says, "You were the one who chose to be friends with a Mudblood."

"She's not a Mudblood," Draco says. "She's Ravenclaw's secret heir."

Lucius raises an eyebrow. "Really now? Did Harry tell you that?"

"Yeah," Draco says.

"I see," Lucius says thoughtfully. "Regardless, she is still Muggle-raised, and hence by and large ignorant of our culture."

"They don't exactly have any classes on wizard culture at Hogwarts," I say. "You'd think that would be a requirement for any Muggle-raised magical children. As it is, they just kind of muddle through, step on everyone's toes, and make themselves look like idiots in the process."

"You make a good point," Lucius says.

I open up a Chocolate Frog and munch on it. Draco is nibbling on one of the dragon eggs I got him. Narcissa says, "Be sure not to eat too many of those at once. You'll make yourself sick."

"Yes, Mum," Draco mutters, licking his fingers.

"Harry, dear, let's see how you look in your new robes," Narcissa says.

"Alright," I say, going to slip them on over my pajamas. They're a lovely shade of red, befitting of Gryffindor, although they lack a gold trim to go along with it, opting instead for silver. "They look nice. A perfect fit."

"They'll always be a perfect fit," Narcissa says with a small smile, looking over me appraisingly. "They're charmed to change their size along with you, so you won't have to replace them as you grow."

"That's convenient," I say.

"You can wear them on the thirty-first," Lucius says. "We're hosting a New Year's Eve party this year, and you're more than welcome to attend."

"That sounds like fun," I say.

I don't recognize most of the adults at the Malfoys' New Year's party, but most of the children who come I think are Slytherins. Lucius diligently introduces me to each family one at a time. There's the Greengrasses, Theodore Nott's father, the Crabbes and Goyles of course, the Bulstrodes, Blaise Zabini's mother, the Averies, Yaxley, Macnair, the Carrows... The Parkinsons are conspicuously absent, although Pansy is attending.

"And you are, of course, already familiar with Severus Snape, your Potions professor," Lucius says, gesturing toward the latest arrival.

"Naturally," I say, giving a small bow toward Snape, who just glowers at me in return.

"I see you're in your natural element here, Potter," Snape says. "Hobnobbing with purebloods in high society."

"It's good to see you here, too," I say brightly, with an unwavering smile. "I hope you've been having a wonderful holiday."

"Stow the pleasantries, Potter," Snape quips.

"Oh, there's no need to be rude, Professor," I reply.

"Severus, is that any way to treat my house guest?" Lucius says smoothly.

Snape sighs irritably. "Fine, fine. Happy New Year, Potter. I hope to deduct many points from Gryffindor because of you in the upcoming term."

"I look forward to it, sir," I say cheerfully.

Once all the guests have arrived and the introductions are done, I wander off to grab some punch and mingle. Children and adults alike are generally pleasant toward me, although some seem to be a little afraid, tense. What have the Malfoys been telling them about me? I'm a bit uncomfortable about this sort of attention, from grown wizards no less, but I mask it well.

After two hours of that, I get tired of the crowd, and go out to get some air on the third floor balcony. "Thermos," I mutter to ward off the biting cold. A blizzard has blanketed the area in a thick layer of snow. The sky is heavy and overcast, blocking my view of the stars. It'll probably start snowing again soon, but at the moment, the air is crisp and still.

There's the sound of the door opening behind me, and I glance over my shoulder to see who just came out. Yaxley, I think his name was. He points his wand at the door, and I hear a faint click. Did he just cast a Colloportus on that door? "You'd do well not to wander off on your own, little Potter," Yaxley says.

Yaxley pulls out an ornate dagger and stalks toward me. I try to move, but I find myself frozen in place. I can still talk though, and I still have my wand in hand. "Finite Incantatem!" I snap off, and the spell holding me breaks.

He casts another nonverbal spell at me, and I just barely manage to dodge the bolt. "Hold still, you brat," Yaxley spits. "The Dark Lord will reward me well for this!"

I don't waste time with a retort. "Expelliarmus!" I cry. He manages to keep a hold of his wand, but the dagger goes flying out of his hand and off of the balcony. My heart is pounding. This is an experienced adult wizard, and a Death Eater to boot. I don't stand any chance against him in a straight up fight.

"Why, you..." Yaxley says. "Trying to fight, are you? Well, give it up. You've already lost. Surrender now and I'll make your end quick and painless."

I'm tempted briefly, but I quickly decide that pain doesn't bother me that much. I'm not giving up without a fight, even if the fight seems hopeless. I need something to tip the odds in my favor. "Wingardium Leviosa," I murmur, and leap off the balcony. I can't actually lift myself with this, but it does slow my fall.

"Trying to run, little boy?" Yaxley says, jumping down after me. "You can't escape."

Beneath the balcony, there are some shrubs, with trees further away from the house. Yaxley casts another curse at me, and I tumble behind a large bush to dodge. "I will not surrender," I reply. "If you want my life, you'll have to earn it!"

"If you'd just hold still!" Yaxley says, hurling another couple curses at me that fail to land. I haven't been all that athletic, but I figure that if even one of them hits me, it's over. That's pretty good motivation, right there.

"Tentacula Tenebrae!" I cast. Black tentacles spring into existence, flailing about and grasping at Yaxley. My control with them is terrible, but at least they aren't attacking me, and they do seem to be giving him problems.

"Where did you learn dark curses?" Yaxley wonders. "No matter. I know far more than you ever will!"

He shoots off another curse at me, and I dive out of the way. It slices through my robes and bites into my thigh. If I'd been just the slightest bit slower, it would have taken my whole leg off, if not both of them. I wince and stumble in pain as blood starts staining my crimson robes with a slightly different shade of red.

"Flipendo!" I cast, more to distract him than anything else.

He dodges my Knockback Jinx, and manages to scramble away from the tentacles as well. Another curse flies at me from his wand and strikes me full on this time. I immediately feel dizzy and nauseous. This isn't a time to be vomiting, though. I try to focus, shove all these feelings aside into the storm in my mind. If I am to survive this night, I must defeat this enemy before me.

As I dodge another incoming curse, I realize that Yaxley is now standing underneath a small decorative tree. "Diffindo!" I cast, aiming at a limb just above his head. He moves to dodge my spell, only to realize too late that I wasn't casting it at him. Inanimate objects don't dodge, and the severed limb comes crashing down on top of him.

"Gah!" Yaxley cries, pulling his arm free of the limb. "Enough of this! I'll just kill you then! Avada--"

"Expelliarmus!" Yaxley's wand goes flying out of his hand this time, and buries itself in the snow several feet away. He scrambles after it, wriggling his way out from under the limb. "Petrificus Totalus!" This time the spell lands, snapping his limbs together and holding him in place.

I pant heavily, looking at the immobile form of my enemy. I don't know how long I can hold him like this. Minutes, tops. Maybe even seconds. He'll kill me if he gets the chance. I need to stop him.

It's starting to snow. I'm not sure where Yaxley's wand fell. I'm not even sure where that dagger went. It must be somewhere around here. Damn it, Yaxley's starting to twitch. I need to move fast. "Accio dagger!" I cast. It's not perfectly cast, and doesn't actually bring it to me, but it moves it enough that I can see where it is at least. I snatch it up out of the snow.

"You..." Yaxley snarls. Damn it, the spell's wearing off already? If I'm going to do this, I have to do it now. I stand over the prone form of my enemy, but still I hesitate. "Don't have the nerve to finish me off, little boy? The minute I can move my arm again and find my wand, you're dead. Maybe I'll even torture you first for all the trouble you've given me."

"Petrificus Totalus," I murmur, hopefully giving myself a little bit more time. And just as well, as my body is shaking, and I vomit into the snow. Ugh, I'm not really feeling this sick about the idea of killing someone again, am I? No, it's just the curse he hit me with earlier, I'm sure.

"You're pathetic," Yaxley says as the spell starts wearing off again. I'm still doubled over in the snow, emptying my stomach of the punch and snacks I'd eaten during the party. "You'll never amount to anything, whichever side you decide to wind up on, if you can't even kill a helpless enemy who is intent upon killing you first! What are you going to do, disarm them, send them off to trial? I got out of going to Azkaban, you know. A lot of Death Eaters claimed to have been under the Imperius Curse to avoid prison. They believed us, of course. How could they prove otherwise?"

I wipe off my mouth and straighten, looking down at him again. I'm still shaking, though. "I don't care," I mutter.

"Don't you?" Yaxley says. "Do you know how many people I've killed, Potter? How many I've tortured to death? And I had lots of fun raping the Muggle women, too. Imperius and Obliviate, they can't do anything about it and won't even know it happened afterward. I wonder how many illegitimate children I have running around these days."

"You disgust me," I say. Anger boils up inside me. This man might not be Sedder, but he's just as bad as him. There's absolutely no reason why I should not kill him.

I clench the dagger in a tight fist, and slice it across Yaxley's throat. Blood gushes out for a few moments, spraying me and soaking my robes. I should have really expected that, given how many interesting wounds I've died from, but it still seemed the most expedient way to finish him off.

I glance down at my hands. The bloodied dagger is glowing. That can't be a good sign. It fades away within a minute, though. Still, I'd really like to know just what magic is in this weapon I just killed a man with.

As my anger cools and adrenaline drains away, I find myself shivering in the cold. Oh, right, my Warming Charm got dispelled earlier when I canceled Yaxley's hold spell. "Thermos," I mutter. "Scourgify." Most of the snow, blood, and vomit vanishes from my robes. That should make me a bit more presentable, at least.

I look over to Yaxley's body. Dead. Am I sure he's dead? He looks dead enough. Sure enough sign that he's really dead is that he finally shut up. I turn around and look away, and head back into the manor, leaving the trash laying in the snow.

I step back into the party hall. There's a sudden hush as the guests turn to look at me. One woman even faints. Oh, right, I'd put away my wand, but I'd forgotten that I'm still holding a bloody dagger in my right hand.

"Harry?" Draco says tentatively.

"Yaxley tried to kill me," I explain.

Snape raises an eyebrow at me. "I find it hard to believe that an eleven year old boy could defeat a former Death Eater through anything but sheer dumb luck."

I snort softly. "I killed him," I say. "If you don't believe me, I left his corpse laying out in the snow under a tree." I point with the dagger in the direction I came from. "Sorry about the tree limb, Lucius."

Lucius nods to me, and heads out that way. Narcissa approaches me and examines me critically. "You're bleeding, Harry," she says. "Severus, come help me with this, will you?"

"Oh, very well," Snape says.

The two of them lead me off into a side room to check my wounds. They strip off my damaged dress robes and lay me down on a table. I grimace in pain. Yaxley's curse left a nasty gash on my left hip, and blood is still running out of it.

"You are very lucky this only struck a glancing blow," Snape says. "As it is, it will still leave a scar."

"I'll have the house-elves clean and mend your robes," Narcissa says.

"Here, drink this," Snape says, offering me a potion. I down it without question, although I almost gag in doing so, with how nasty it tastes.

"What is that dagger?" Narcissa wonders, examining the bloody dagger that had been set aside.

"I don't know," I say. "He tried to attack me with it, at first, until I disarmed him. But after I killed him with it, it started glowing..."

"You killed a man with a magical artifact of unknown purpose?" Snape says.

"It was the best thing I could think of at the time," I say.

Snape sighs in exasperation. "What's done is done, I suppose. Did you notice anything else unusual about it?"

I shake my head. "No, just the glow."

"Fine," Snape says. "Once your condition is stable, I will analyze this dagger to ensure that it will not cause any further undue side effects upon you, and then confiscate it."

"It's mine," I murmur.

"Is it?" Snape says. "Did you not say it was Yaxley's?"

"I claim it by right of conquest," I say softly.

Snape snorts. "Do you intend to carry around a dark artifact at school, Potter?" He shakes his head. "Your attachment to the thing might be a sign that there's more to it than meets the eye."

"It's a souvenir," I say. "I never killed someone like that before."

"An eleven year old boy should not be thinking of killing, nor taking such pleasure in it," Snape says.

I don't know about pleasure, but I certainly don't feel as guilty about it as I did when I poisoned the Malfoys in my last life. He deserved it. He deserved it many times over. If anything, I feel... not pleasure, but relief. I didn't die tonight, not even once. I had surely expected it. I thought I was about to die. I can hardly believe that I'm still alive, and I won. I fucking won. Why should I feel guilty about that?

Lucius comes into the room. "What's his condition, Severus?"

"I've removed the curse and stopped the bleeding," Snape says. "It'll scar, but he'll be fine with proper rest." He frowns. "There's something strange about that dagger, however."

Lucius goes over to examine it without touching it. "Yes, you're right," he says. "I don't recognize it, but it's definitely some sort of dark artifact."

"He seems unnaturally attached to it," Snape says.

"I am not," I mutter. "Is it so strange to want to keep a battle trophy?"

"Potter, you're eleven," Snape says. "Battles are the last thing you should be worrying about."

"Severus..." Lucius says quietly. "He... is not exactly an ordinary eleven year old boy."

"Of course not," Snape says, rolling his eyes. "I don't care how amazingly special the Boy-Who-Lived might be. The fact remains that he is still a child, one who is incredibly lucky to live to see the new year."

Lucius glances to me imploringly. I hate leaving Snape out of the loop like this. That was Dumbledore's decision, not mine. And really, letting him in on the time travel thing seems safer than that other secret.

I give a nod to Lucius. "Ward the room first, but tell him," I say softly. "He should know."

"Know what?" Snape says, raising an eyebrow and looking between Lucius and me with a frown.

Lucius casts a few quick spells and puts his wand away. "Harry isn't eleven years old," Lucius explains. "He's a time traveler."

"What?" Snape says. "You can't be serious."

"It's the truth," Lucius says. "He's from the future."

Snape pinches the bridge of his nose. "Even assuming that this ludicrous story is true, why on earth would he tell you this?"

"Professor, would you believe that you were my closest ally in that life?" I say.

"I find this all hard to believe," Snape says. "And if Potter is from the future, why is he so bad at potions?"

I snort softly. "I've always been bad at potions," I say. "But I can throw curses around like nothing."

"Great, the Boy-Who-Lived is another Crabbe," Snape mutters.

"I find it no great shock that he killed Yaxley," Lucius says.

"I don't care if he is from the future," Snape says. "I'm still not letting him take that dagger into Hogwarts."

"Certainly not," Lucius says. "But if he wishes to keep it for whatever reason, I'll store it away somewhere safely for him to retrieve at a later date."

"This is a bad idea and no good will come of it," Snape says. He looks to me. "Who else knows about this supposed time travel business?"

"Dumbledore," I reply. "And Draco."

"Care to offer some proof for your claims?" Snape says.

"Severus..." Lucius says.

"Did he offer you any proof of this?" Snape asks.

"Not as such," Lucius says. "But he was very... convincing."

"If you've got a Pensieve, I'd be happy to provide a memory of my previous life," I say.

"That would be sufficient," Snape says.

I wrack my brain trying to think of a suitable memory that doesn't give away anything I don't want them to know yet, and doesn't include anyone calling me by the wrong name. Hmm, the memory of purchasing Dobby is innocuous enough. That will suffice. I can give him something else if he's not satisfied with that. Snape hands me a small vial, and I pull out that memory from my mind and put the strange silvery material inside.

"Very well," Lucius says. "We'll go and take a look at this memory. Narcissa, dear, could you get Harry back to his room to rest for now?"

"And have him drink this once he's there," Snape says, handing her a potion.

I have to imagine that Snape must have potions stuffed up in his robes wherever he goes. He must have a bag like mine, that he fills with potions rather than books. Narcissa levitates me back upstairs to my room. After downing the latest nasty potion, I quickly fall fast asleep.

I wake in my guest room in Malfoy Manor, and it's morning. My leg is very sore. I must have slept through the new year, or fought through it, I'm not sure when midnight actually ticked over. It hardly matters at this point, though.

"Harry Potter hungry?" Dobby says, poking his face over the end of my bed. "Dobby bring breakfast!"

"Ah, that would be nice, Dobby, thanks," I say.

Dobby beams, and disappears, returning with a tray full of food momentarily. There's an omelette, hash browns, and sausages, along with a glass of orange juice. Other than the wound on my thigh, I feel fine. I'm not feeling nauseous despite having killed someone last night. I have to wonder if that's really a good sign. But I just can't bring myself to really feel that bad about it. Yaxley was a monster in human shape. He was an enemy, and he wanted me dead. It's okay to kill enemies.

Lucius and Snape enter the room as I'm finishing up with breakfast. "Good, you're awake," Snape says.

"Good morning, Professor," I say.

"Spare me the pleasantries," Snape says. "I'm not impressed at this memory you gave me."

"I was trying to avoid anything that would give away too much of future events," I say. "Or are you not convinced that it's real?"

"It's real, I tested it," Snape says. "Although this does explain how you're a competent Occlumens already. But all this memory showed was something that hasn't happened, not too far into the future."

"Is that not proof enough?" I ask.

"Show me something involving myself," Snape says.

"Fine," I say. I pull out the memory of going to Snape after murdering Lucius and Narcissa, and insert it into the vial he provides. "As a note, you call me Stormseeker in this memory."

"Stormseeker?" Snape says, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

I give a small shrug. "It was the title I was mentioned by in a prophecy," I say. "Another one, that Dumbledore didn't tell you about. You, Dumbledore, and Luna always called me that."

"Luna?" Snape asks.

"Luna Lovegood," I say. "She was one of my most valuable allies."

"I see," Snape says. "Lucius, let us take a look at this memory, shall we? As for you, 'Stormseeker', you'd best remain in bed. That leg of yours isn't fully healed yet."

I nod, and the two of them head out of the room again. I hope they don't react too badly to that memory. It was the best thing I could think of, though.

They return a while later. Snape says, "That was an... interesting memory... 'Stormseeker'."

"I didn't realize you were so young when the events you described occurred," Lucius says, frowning.

"And it seems like ages ago now," I say, rubbing my eyes.

"I am satisfied with this, but I would prefer a memory from further into the future," Snape says.

I shake my head. "Sorry," I say. "I must take care not to reveal too far into the future. Things have already gone off track enough as it is. I hope you understand that I must keep some things a secret."

"Tell me about this other prophecy," Snape says.

I shake my head again. "Can't do that, either," I say. "That one is very important that it remain a secret."

"Fine," Snape says with a sigh. "So you're from the future. But don't expect me not to take points away from Gryffindor just because of this."

I chuckle softly. "I'll do my best to lose as many points as possible, Professor."