Stormseeker: Unwanted Destiny

Chapter 7: Dark Return

---

I wake. I don't know where I am, but I'm tied up and I'm not sure where my wand is.

"So, do you care to answer my questions now?"

Tom Riddle.

Oh, fuck. I think I've already told him too much, expecting to die again, and then got stunned like an idiot. I really should have realized he might try that after the previous time. And now I can't even escape in death.

"No?" Tom says. "How about some encouragement? Crucio!"

White-hot knives piercing every part of my body. I'm screaming. Agony. Make it stop... Make it stop... I reflexively age myself down to force it to stop, and wink out of existence.

---

I wake, tied up, probably in Riddle Manor. Oh, that was perfectly useless.

"Now, do you want to answer my questions?" Tom asks me.

"Alohomora," I whisper, hoping that it works on untying ropes. No such luck, though. "Diffindo." This one slices open the ropes holding me.

"Mimble Wimble," Tom says. "So, you can do wandless magic already, but can you do it silently? Oh, and I'm only stopping you from casting spells, so do feel free to answer my questions. But I think you need a little discouragement from trying to escape. Crucio!"

Horrible pain rips through my body again. Screaming. Damn it, I need to endure it. I can't just go and kill myself to escape. That's no escape. But it hurts. Hurts so much. So much pain. Torment... I find myself de-aging myself again anyway. A brief respite from pain.

---

I wake with a gasp. Damn it! I need to stop doing that. That won't help me get out of here. All that's going to do is make me lose all of my magical energy uselessly.

"Going to answer my questions now, Harry Potter?" Tom asks.

I can do this if I'm quick enough. "Diffindo," I say, cutting the rope. "Fulgoris!" Lightning springs from my fingertips and strikes Tom head on.

"Protego," Tom mutters, and a shield springs up in front of him. "Mimble Wimble. Enough of that. A wandless Lightning Curse?"

Note to self: Learn silent casting, too. Argh. "Going to torture me now?" I say, sighing.

"If that's what's necessary to get you to answer me," Tom says. "Crucio!"

I double over in pain, curling up in a fetal position. I can't keep trying to escape this agony through death. There's no escape that way. No escape. It's hopeless. I'm helpless. So very helpless.

The torment fades after some while. I managed to avoid compulsively slipping away that time. But oh, Shazmar, it hurts. It still aches even after he deactivated the curse.

"Willing to talk now?" Tom asks.

"Just... don't do that... please..." I rasp. "I'd say I have no choice. But there are always choices. I mean, I could choose to keep getting tortured until I turn into a vegetable. But I have no desire to do that."

Not when I have a chance to get out of this unscathed, one way or another. If he doesn't believe lies, I can always resort to the truth, after all. I have plenty of options. I just don't really like any of them at the moment.

"Tell me about the prophecy," Tom asks.

"I don't know anymore than I already told you," I say. "Stop being so hung up on it. It doesn't matter, anyway."

"Crucio!" Tom snaps. Agony rips through my body again for a few seconds. "Do not be so disrespectful toward me. I am the Dark Lord."

"Sorry, sir," I mutter. "I meant no disrespect. I was merely giving honest advice. The prophecy doesn't matter."

"Are you trying to tell me that I died for something that doesn't matter?" Tom says.

"For all I know, Dumbledore tricked you into going after the Potters in the first place," I say. "I couldn't say. Would he have sacrificed everyone for the chance to finally take you down? I don't know. Maybe."

Tom stares at me for a long moment. "Fine. Let's never mind the prophecy, then. Why did you come here?"

"I thought I might be able to get here in time to save Ginny," I say.

"And how did you know about this house?" Tom asks.

"Dumbledore told me," I lie.

"And he let you come here in your pajamas rather than come to face me himself?" Tom says.

"I wouldn't say 'let me'," I say with a smirk. "He doesn't even know I'm here, after all."

"Does anyone know you're here?" Tom asks.

"Cassiopeia Black," I reply. "But I'm sure she'll happily leave me to die, anyway."

"She's still alive?" Tom says.

"No, no," I say. "Sirius Black's daughter, not his great-aunt."

"Sirius Black has a daughter?" Tom says.

"Yeah," I say. "She's in Ravenclaw with me."

"You're a Ravenclaw?" Tom says. "I would have expected you to be a Gryffindor. Especially with a reckless stunt like coming after me alone."

"Yeah, alright, this was pretty stupid," I say, sighing. "So, what'll it take for you to let me go?"

"Let you go?" Tom says. "Now why would I do a thing like that? I'm going to get all the answers I want out of you, and then kill you."

"Because that doesn't really make me feel very enthusiastic about answering your questions," I comment.

"Crucio!"

I'm screaming myself hoarse in agony. Like lava in my veins. Like lightning. By the time it finally stops, I'm left panting, twitching, trembling.

"Feeling more enthusiastic now?" Tom says.

"Fuck me sideways..." I mutter.

"Sorry, I'm not a pedophile," Tom says.

I snort softly, amused despite myself. "Alright, look. I'll tell you whatever you want." Or at least a plausible lie. "Just please, no more Crucios, alright? Please?"

"Begging for mercy," Tom says. "It's a start."

Suddenly, the door bursts open, and there stands Molly and Arthur Weasley, with Cassie Black behind them, all wands trained on Tom Riddle.

"You murdered our daughter, you bastard!" Molly exclaims.

"Ah, time to go," Tom says. He gives me a wave and vanishes with a soft pop, even as Arthur tries to grab onto him.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "You guys are a sight for sore eyes."

"I'll admit that I'm a little surprised to see you alive after that," Cassie says.

"Harry, are you alright?" Molly says, coming up to me.

Her daughter's corpse is lying in the next room, and she still cares enough to check on my well-being. I love Molly Weasley sometimes.

"I'm alright," I say. "How did you find me?"

"Cassie told us where you'd gone," Molly says. "I... I appreciate what you were trying to do, but how could you try to do this by yourself?"

"What did he do to you?" Arthur asks, waving his wand over me. I feel a slight tingling.

"Not much," I say with a snort. "A Stunning Spell, a Tongue-Tying Jinx, and maybe half a dozen Crucios."

"Oh, Merlin," Molly breathes. "We should get you to St. Mungo's right away."

"I'm fine," I insist. "Where's my wand..." I start looking around the room for where he might have put it, seriously hoping that he didn't take it with him.

"Harry, you can hardly stand," Arthur says.

"Come on, Harry," Molly says. "I'll get you to St. Mungo's. Arthur, can you take Cassie back to Hogwarts?"

"I need my wand!" I say.

"Accio Harry's wand," Arthur says. Nothing happens. He shakes his head.

"Fu...dge," I say. Molly gives me a look. "Cornelius."

I really would rather not go to St. Mungo's, but the way I'm still shaking, sore all over, and very weak makes me rethink the assessment that I'm fine. I sigh and allow Molly to take me off to the hospital.

They lay me down in a bed and start doing diagnostic spells and giving me potions. I close my eyes and let out a sigh. I'm just happy to be alive and free. Everything has gone wrong, but at least I'm out of that situation. I never want to be a captive again.

After making sure that there is no serious damage, they transfer me to the hospital wing in Hogwarts to rest. I won't complain about a bit of rest, even if the hospital wing isn't the place I'd prefer to do so. I let myself drift off for a bit of a nap.

---

When I wake, I see Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley standing near my bed. I have to blink for a moment and wonder how those two managed to stay in the same room long enough for me to wake up without hexing one another or something.

"Harry!" Draco says. "About time you woke up."

"Draco..." I say. "Ron?"

"I... I heard about what you tried to do," Ron says quietly. "I wanted to... to thank you for trying to save my sister, even if... even if..."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I wasn't fast enough."

"What in Merlin's name did you think you were trying to do, running off like that?" Draco says. "You could have been killed, or worse!"

"'Worse' would be applicable, yes," I say, wincing.

"What happened?" Ron asks. "They said you'd been hurt, but they didn't go into detail."

"I just got stunned, tied up, and then ate about five or six Crucios," I say.

"Oh, Merlin," Draco says. "No wonder they took you to the hospital."

"Who was it?" Ron asks. "Who did this to my baby sister?"

I purse my lips. "I think I'd best leave this discussion for Dumbledore," I say, noticing Dumbledore standing off behind them.

"And how did you even know--" Draco begins.

"Run along, boys," Dumbledore says, approaching. "I must speak with dear Harry in private now."

"Yes, sir," Draco grumbles, and leaves the hospital wing.

Dumbledore waves his wand. "You may speak freely now. Who was it that attacked Ginny Weasley?"

"It was Tom, sir," I say. "Tom Riddle is back, alive. He used Ginny's lifeforce to resurrect himself, I think."

Dumbledore's face takes on a grave expression. "I see."

"I failed, sir," I murmur. "This was all my fault. I screwed up. I made a mistake. And now..."

"I will call together the Order of the Phoenix," Dumbledore says. "We'll need to make use of our new headquarters."

I nod. "Of course, sir. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this... but I knew he would find a way back sooner or later. I just didn't expect it would be so soon. All of my tactics were just to try to delay him and hinder him. But now..." I sigh.

"Now he's back," Dumbledore says. "And Quirrell, Pettigrew, and Crouch are all missing."

"Merlin," I mutter. "This couldn't have worked out more in his favor if I'd planned it this way." I rub my head. "This is all my fault. I wouldn't blame you if you want to off me for being incompetent."

"I'm not going to kill you," Dumbledore says, frowning at me.

"Yeah, that would be too easy, I suppose," I say. "I made this mess. Now I have to live in it. I just worry that anything else I might try to do will only fuck things up even worse."

"We'll get through this," Dumbledore says. "I will gather the Order of the Phoenix over the summer, and we will prepare for the worst."

"A war has begun," I say. "And it's already claimed its first casualty. A ten-year-old girl." I sigh.

---

"Cassie..." I say, approaching her in the Ravenclaw common room the next morning.

"Harry?" Cassie says, glancing up from her book.

"What happened to bring the Weasleys there?" I wonder.

"They caught me by their fireplace, so I told them what was going on," Cassie says. "I wasn't sure if you really wanted the backup or if you had some plan that you wanted to enact yourself."

"No, no damned plan," I say, sighing. "Because I'm an idiot. I'm glad they came, otherwise I would have had a hell of a time getting out of there."

"You know I'd have gone along with you and helped if you'd asked," Cassie says.

"I know," I say. "I just didn't want to put anyone else in danger."

"How did you not wind up in Gryffindor?" Cassie says. "I'm not going to argue with the part about you being an idiot."

"How is Hermione Granger not in Ravenclaw?" I counter with a smirk.

"Point," Cassie says. "Who was that, anyway?"

"Tom Riddle," I reply.

"I think I've heard that name before," Cassie says. "Why did he want to kill Ginny?"

"Let's not discuss this here," I say, glancing about the room in paranoia. "Morag might be listening somewhere. I'll explain everything when we get home."

"Suit yourself," Cassie says, going back to reading.

I head down for breakfast. Ginny's sudden death is all over the school already. There's rumor that I was involved somehow. They aren't quite sure what to say. Some seem to think that I tried to save her. Others think that I killed her. Still others think I was kidnapped as well and only barely escaped myself.

After breakfast, I decide to go and see Snape, alone. He's in his office grading exams. "Potter," Professor Snape says.

"Can I speak with you for a bit?" I ask.

"Is this about your potions exam?" Snape asks.

I shake my head. "No. It's about what happened yesterday."

"I don't see how this involves me, but very well," Snape says. "Sit down, Potter."

I go over to take a seat across from his desk, and take a deep breath. Now that I'm here, I'm shaking a little. It suddenly strikes me just how terrified I am. If a boggart were to show up right now, I think it would probably have Tom Riddle's face.

"What is it, Potter?" Snape asks. "Do you require a Calming Draught?"

"No," I say. "Maybe." I rub my head and sigh. "Can you make sure nobody can eavesdrop, please?"

Snape looks at me for a moment, then waves his wand and mutters, "Muffliato. Speak."

"The Dark Lord is back," I say.

Snape freezes, and stares at me for a long moment. "Are you certain of this?"

"Absolutely," I say with a wavering voice. "He killed Ginny. He tortured me. Why? Did your Dark Mark not give any indication?"

"How--" Snape says, frowning at me. "Who told you?"

Right, I wasn't supposed to know that, was I. "Was the fact that you were a Death Eater really that much of a secret?" I ask. "But Dumbledore kept you out of Azkaban."

Snape pulls out a potion and passes it over to me. "Drink that."

I don't question him. I take the potion and drink it down. After a moment, my nerves relax and my body stops trembling. "Thanks," I murmur.

"Does Dumbledore know about this?" Snape asks.

"I told him first," I say. "He said he'll be calling together the Order of the Phoenix over the summer. But I thought you might like to know as soon as possible, given your circumstances."

Snape says, "What do you know of those circumstances? What has Dumbledore told you?"

I sigh. "Assume I know everything," I say. "I should tell you. I'm a time traveler. I've seen the future."

Snape stares at me. "You're from the future? And you're still barely adequate with first year potions?"

I snort in amusement. "I was always bad with potions. I'm better with magic that depends upon emotions. But I've been making an effort to improve. I was almost as bad as Neville, before."

"In that case, I am glad that you have made the effort," Snape says dryly. "One Longbottom disaster area is bad enough."

"Oh, I should also tell you, my house is being used as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix," I say. "You should know that Sirius Black is staying there, too. And if he calls you Snivellus, I'll hex him myself."

Snape frowns at me. "Bad enough that Lupin is teaching here. Now I must spend my summer with them as well?"

"For the record, I think what they did in your sixth year was completely uncalled for," I say. "I'd make Sirius apologize, but you can't just say 'I'm sorry' to attempted murder. And my father claiming a life debt over saving you from a situation you shouldn't have been in to begin with if it weren't for his friends? It makes me sick."

Quiet anger flashes in Snape's eyes for a few moments, but then he looks at me appraisingly, perhaps noticing my own genuine anger over the thought. "Perhaps you aren't so much like your father as I had thought."

"I'm in Ravenclaw, aren't I?" I say. "I'd like nothing better than to be left alone to study in peace."

"Tell me," Snape says. "How did this happen? How did the Dark Lord return? And no, the Dark Mark does not appear to have shown any reaction yet."

"It was a diary," I say. "A diary with the memory of his sixteen-year-old self. He drained the life of Ginny Weasley in order to return himself to life. When I saw him, Ginny was already dead, and the Dark Lord was very much corporeal and capable of using magic."

"These are grave circumstances indeed," Snape says, scowling. "And you say you traveled back in time?"

I nod. "Several times. You can see what my attempts to improve things have worked out this time."

"So, this was all your fault, was it?"

"Yes," I say. "This was all because of my mistakes. Blame me, hate me, berate me, go ahead. I'm sick of listening to people tell me that I did my best and I can't be blamed for how things went wrong."

"Very well," Snape says. "You dunderhead, what have you done? Do you realize what you have done? This is an unmitigated disaster, and it's entirely your fault! Do you have any idea how many people may die now because of your actions? How do you expect to resolve this? Your plans are useless! I should give you detention every day for the remainder of your school life!"

I smile at him. "Much better. Thank you. There's a reason why you're my favorite teacher."

"What, not that mongrel, Lupin?" Snape says.

"Oh, hell no," I say. "He's a good teacher and all, but he's far too prone to angsting, and he's kind of an idiot sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Snape says.

"I had to force-feed him his potion last month," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Why is he even teaching, anyway?" Snape wonders.

"Because it could be worse," I say. "It could really, really be worse."

---

The night before the Leaving Feast, the Theatre Club is to give our performance of Hamlet. It's a somber event, in light of recent news. But I throw myself into my role in an attempt to distract me from things. I make for a very mopey and depressive Hamlet. I doubt anyone sees that as a problem. At least this time I manage to avoid any extreme method acting in my death.

"You did a great job as Hamlet," Draco tells me at the Leaving Feast. "Too good, in fact. Will you knock it off with the angsty crap already? If you won't even tell me what's wrong, you're not allowed to mope about it."

I snicker softly. "Alright, alright," I say.

I'm kind of glad to be heading home again. Sirius meets me and Cassie at Platform Nine and Three Quarters and Apparates me back to Caer Danas.

"I really need to learn how to Apparate," I comment, stepping out of the gazebo.

"Yes, you do," Cassie agrees.

"Teach me?" I ask.

"Apparation can be dangerous, you know," Remus says, standing on the back porch to greet us.

"I really don't care," I say. "What am I going to do, die?"

At my insistance, the three of them start tutoring me in Apparation in the gardens behind Caer Danas. It's much like using the Nexus, although without a solid beacon as a frame of reference, it's much more difficult. I only wind up dying a couple times in the process.

By the end of July, the house has become a fair bit more crowded, as the Order of the Phoenix arrives. I recognize some of these people, but most of them are unfamiliar to me. I would feel a lot more comfortable with this many strangers in my home if I still had my wand.

"Professor Dumbledore, I think some introductions are in order?" I say, looking over the small crowd in my main hall.

"Ah, yes, of course, Harry," Dumbledore says. "Everyone, this is Harry Potter." He goes around the room pointing at each person in turn, and telling their name. I already know Sirius, Remus, and Snape, of course, and I recognize Mad-Eye Moody. New names to me are Dedalus Diggle, Mundungus Fletcher, Sturgis Podmore, Emmeline Vance, and Elphias Doge. "We also have some new members. I'd like to introduce Molly and Arthur Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks."

"And don't forget us," Rispy adds.

"Yes, let's not forget Rispy and Dobby," Dumbledore says, gesturing to the two elves.

This is going to be a lot of new names to keep track of. Moody looks over at Cassie, who is standing off to the side of the room, like he's staring right into her soul, and says, "So, who's this girl?"

"She's Cassiopeia Black," I say. "She lives here."

"Should she really be involved in our meetings?" Emmeline Vance says.

"Will you turn away a potential ally?" Cassie says.

"This isn't a thing for children," Sturgis Podmore says. "What are you, eleven, twelve?"

"Professor Dumbledore," I say. "Do you trust these people completely? Can we speak freely here?"

"I would trust any of them with my life," Dumbledore says. "And I'll stake the future of the wizarding world on them."

"Very well," I say. "If I ever find out otherwise, I will be very... unhappy."

"You're here to be protected, Harry," Sturgis says. "You're not a full member, either. You're not of age yet."

"I'm twenty-three," I reply.

"What?" Emmeline says.

"I'm twenty-three years old," I repeat.

"And I'm seventy-seven," Cassie says. "And if either of our secrets leave this house, I will follow through on Harry's implied threat."

"How?" Elphias asks, dumbfounded.

"I'm a time traveler," I say. "And Cassie got de-aged in a magical accident."

"Wait, does that mean that Cassiopeia Black is actually Cassiopeia Black?" Mundungus Fletcher says.

"Astute observation, Dung," Moody says, looking at Cassie warily. Well, that's indisputably the worst nickname I've ever run across, I think.

"I'd trust her with my life," I say, standing by Cassie.

"And now that I know what a reckless idiot you are sometimes, I might try saving that life of yours more frequently," Cassie adds.

"I really can't argue with that sentiment," I say wryly.

"So you're a time traveler?" Molly says. "Is that how you knew Ginny was in danger?"

I nod. "And I'm sorry that I could not get there fast enough."

"Just tell us who that young man was who murdered my baby girl," Molly says fiercely.

"That was Tom Riddle," I say. "Better known as the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Molly stares at me in shock. "Tom Riddle is You-Know-Who?"

"Harry, are you absolutely certain of that?" Arthur asks.

"If I'm not certain of something, I'll say 'I think' or 'Maybe'," I say firmly. "I'm not talking in maybes. I'm not giving speculation or conjecture. I know. I'll speculate by suggesting that he used Ginny's life to resurrect himself, as I'm not certain of that, but it seems a reasonable guess. But there is not a shadow of a doubt who is behind this."

"Oh, Merlin," Molly murmurs.

---

I take an opportunity to slip Snape one of my essence pods to analyze. The twins haven't had any luck with it so far, but Snape is far more experienced with potions than them, and with him on my side, maybe I'll get an answer.

In early August, I catch Mundungus Fletcher trying to filch silverware from my house. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Oh, um..." Mundungus says, trying shoddily to hide his theft.

I put my face in my hands. "Look, Mundungus. If you're going to try to steal from me, at least do it competently. First off, you need to make sure that no one is looking first. And you never know when Dobby might be watching, so don't bother. And if it's Rispy that's watching, he might just stab you in the eye for the trouble."

"Ah, thanks for the warning," Mundungus says.

"And why the silverware?" I say. "If you're going to steal, at least take things no one's going to miss immediately. I eat with that!"

"Sorry, Harry," Mundungus says. "Won't happen again."

"Do you actually need money that badly, or are you just a thief by profession?" I ask.

"Oh, yes, I'm very poor," Mundungus says.

"Right, you're a thief," I say, chuckling. "Do you do smuggling, too? Fencing? Dealing in illegal artifacts and substances? Like, say, Dream Sweets?"

I'm not going to get myself addicted to them again, I swear. But I've been having horrible nightmares ever since being held captive by Tom Riddle. Even just a single night's surcease seems so, so sweet.

Mundungus's eyes widen. "Oh, for you, I could probably get my hands on some. It would cost you, though..."

"I'm just curious," I say. "They're nice and all, but the crash is awful. Do you know anything like that that doesn't have such serious side-effects?"

"Hmm, I could probably come up with something," Mundungus says.

I grin. "Thanks."

---

In mid-August, I'm helping out Snape with preparing some potions ingredients. He's been giving me some helpful pointers on improving my potions skill while reducing the number of unfortunate accidents in class.

Suddenly, Snape drops a silver bowl with a clatter, spilling locust cocoons all over the floor, and grabs his forearm with a hiss.

"Sir?" I say, looking up from my chopping. "Are you alright?" I frown. "Is it the Dark Mark?"

Snape nods. "He's not calling. It just flared to life again."

"What does this mean?" I ask.

"Considering the circumstances of his return, I do not know," Snape says. "Nothing good, I would imagine. One thing is certain, however. He is definitely fully back now."