Stormseeker: Unwanted Destiny

"Report, Severus," Tom says.

"The Order of the Phoenix is celebrating the end of the Dark Lord," Snape says. "The only one who doesn't seem to believe it completely is Moody, and he has always been overly suspicious of everything. No one else is listening to him right now. I believe they are going to disband once again."

"That's excellent news," I say. "Moody might still be a problem, but at least the bulk of the issue will be off of our heads."

"Indeed," Snape says.

"We should keep our eyes open, regardless," Tom says. "It wouldn't do to underestimate Moody, and we need to make sure that there aren't any other problems as well."

Shortly, our letters for the next year at Hogwarts arrive. I intend to go to Diagon Alley for books and supplies with Cassie and Gerard, but Tom stops us.

"I'm going with you," Tom says.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Cassie says.

Tom shakes his head. "I'm not going to take any chances."

Cassie's not bonded to me yet. I don't know if Moody would stoop to targeting her to get at me, but I can't blame Tom for being paranoid. I'm certainly paranoid enough myself. I've been having nightmares about losing her on and off for months, as well as fears of the bond with Tom not working properly and something going horribly wrong. I refuse to start dipping into Dream Sweets again, but I'm sorely tempted sometimes.

The four of us Apparate over to Diagon Alley. We pick up our books and supplies, and are intending on heading for Ollivander's next when Gerard stops to look down Knockturn Alley.

"Come on, let's take a look," Gerard says.

"Gerard, that might not be a good idea," I say.

"Bah," Gerard says, heading in anyway before I can stop him.

I glance aside at Tom and Cassie, sigh, and follow after him. I can't really blame him, I suppose. I know I made a beeline for Knockturn Alley the first time I came here, and accidentally got killed for it, but then I was an actual ten year old, and not a Dark Lord who is over a century old and simply in the body of a first year student.

"We really ought to go and get your wand, Gerard," I say.

"In a minute," Gerard says. "I want to take a look at their books."

"Alright, alright," I say as we toward a seedy-looking bookshop, in fact the very one I ran into Tom what seems like ages ago, where he was looking for Secrets of the Darkest Art. "I'll keep watch from outside."

Cassie nods, and heads inside with Tom and Gerard. I pull out the Elder Wand and stand ready in near the door, trying to look casual. I'm nothing if not paranoid, especially here. I'm not about to let down my guard for anything.

While I'm watching the door, an elderly witch approaches the shop. She pauses to look at me for a moment, and I mutter, "Nomino."

Nymphadora Tonks.

That can't be a good sign. Is she still working with Moody, and trying to spy us out?

"Pardon me, young man," Tonks says. "But do you know which way I need to go to get back to Diagon Alley?"

I glance around warily, but before I can react, I hear a spell go off. A flash of red light slams into me. I'm out in the blink of an eye.

"Rennervate," says Cassie, bringing me back to consciousness.

I get up quickly and assess the situation. Tom is on the ground. Our assailants are nowhere in sight. Tom doesn't look good. My limbs grow weak as I see how badly hurt he is. He was practically torn apart by curses. He's not breathing. No heartbeat. Fuck.

"Tom!" I ask. "Cassie, Gerard, What happened?"

"We heard a spell go off outside, and Tom ran out to help," Cassie says, trying to tend to Tom. "We were too far behind him. He was... already down when we arrived."

"It was Moody," Gerard says. "He took the Elder Wand, too. And then he ran off after blasting Tom with it."

"We've got to get help for Tom," I say.

"It's probably already too late," Gerard says.

"We've got to try!" I snap.

"Let's get him to St. Mungo's," Cassie says, going to gather up Tom in her arms as best as she can. She's either stronger than she looks, or is just that desperate.

"You're not supposed to be able to Apparate yet," Gerard says.

"Better to get in trouble for Apparating without a license than to lose Tom," I say.

Cassie Apparates with Tom, and Gerard Side-Along Apparates with me to keep his own cover. At least for the moment, nobody in St. Mungo's is inclined to pay attention to that, however. Healers rush in to try to get emergency treatment for him.

"I'm sorry," says one of the healers. "He's beyond our help now. There's nothing we can do for him."

"Fuck," I mutter.

"Do you know who did this?"

"One of those terrorists with the Order of the Phoenix," I say, half-growling. "But he got away."

My hands are shaking. He was already down by the time I regained consciousness. I can't go back to try to prevent him from being... being killed. It's some small consolation that his soul is still bound to me, and he can't actually fully die. But regardless, this will complicate things, to say the least. Without him, how am I to bind Cassie's soul?

Someone from the DMLE shortly shows up to question us about the incident. My voice is shaking too much to answer him coherently, and Gerard is playing the part of a scared child, so it winds up being Cassie who tries to explain what happened.

"Also, you Apparated him here without a license?" the wizard says finally. "Normally that would be worth a fine, but since it was an emergency situation, that can be waived. You could have done more harm than good, however."

"It was the fastest way to get him here," Cassie says. "Hauling him to the nearest Floo would have been worse."

"Cassie..." I murmur softly. "Let's... Let's go home, please..."

"Alright," Cassie says. "Alright, Harry. Let's go."

Back at Caer Danas, I slump down on a couch in the main hall. "I'm sorry, Gerard. We never did get a wand for you."

"I grabbed Tom's wand," Gerard says. "I think for the moment I'd rather use a wand I'm not perfectly attuned to, than risk getting outed by Ollivander."

"Relax, Lexen," Cassie says. "It'll be alright. It's not like he's really..." She looks uneasily at Gerard.

"What?" Gerard says, raising an eyebrow. "What is it you don't want me to hear?"

"Secret," I mutter.

"Bah," Gerard says. "Enough of your secrets. Did he have a Horcrux or something?"

"I guess keeping it a secret doesn't really matter so much at the moment," I say. "Maybe you can even help." I glance around the hall. "This isn't the place for this talk, however."

Sirius and Remus are probably still asleep, but I don't want to have to explain this to Hermione. She's clever enough that she'll piece together any hints we inadvertently drop, given the opportunity.

I head over to the library, only to discover that Hermione is actually in the library, with an open book and scribbling on a bit of parchment. Probably working on her summer homework or something.

"Harry?" Hermione says, looking up at me.

"Sorry, didn't realize you were in here," I say. "We'll find someplace else."

"Oh, don't let me stop you," Hermione says. "It's your house, after all."

"No, no," I say. "We were just looking for some... privacy."

Cassie clears her throat.

Hermione blinks at us. "With Gerard?"

"Uh..." I say. "No."

"Okay, you guys are behaving really oddly," Hermione says. "Are you trying to keep secrets again?"

"Bah, forget it," I say, stepping inside. "You want in on our secrets? Fine. Right now, we can use all the help we can get."

Once we're all in the room, I lock the door and put up privacy spells with my pine wand, just to make sure that Sirius and Remus don't go eavesdropping on us again and wind up hearing something unfortunate and potentially incriminating. Paranoia, really, as I'm sure at this point those two won't betray us anyway. But they don't need to know about the Soul Bonds. Well, neither do Gerard and Hermione, but they just might be able to help us somehow.

"Hermione," I say. "We were attacked while out shopping today. Moody and Tonks."

"Oh my," Hermione says. "Is everyone alright?"

"Tom's dead," Gerard says.

Hermione gasps. "How could they?"

I put up my hand. "He's not exactly fully dead. He's Soul Bound to me. So long as I'm alive, he can't actually die. And since I can't die myself... well, you get the idea."

Gerard's eyes widen. "You... How does that work?"

"We figured out a way to manage it," I say. "Or should I say, he did. Now, when I die and go back in time, he goes with me. And if he dies first, he'll just keep hanging around like a sort of wraith or something. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about necromancy or Soul Magic myself."

Hermione blinks for several long moments. "When you decide to share secrets, you drop them all at once, don't you."

"Nah," I say. "I've got plenty more that I'm going to be keeping to myself." I smirk. "Gotta keep you guessing, right?"

"So, not a Horcrux, but a Soul Bond," Gerard says. "And a two-way one at that? That's crazy..."

I give a nod. "By the way, that's the secret I mentioned for Halloween. We were planning on bonding me to Cassie then."

"So you could take other people with you when you travel through time..." Gerard says. "But if you're a time traveler, why can't you go back to before Tom died and stop it from happening?"

I shake my head. "It doesn't work that way. I'd just wind up jumping back to the moment when Cassie Rennervated me."

"You were Stunned, and that stops it?" Gerard says. "That makes no sense."

"Tell that to my power," I say, shrugging. "I don't know about sense. It's magic, and that's the way it works."

"But if you can only go back a few hours generally, what's the big deal about taking others with you?" Gerard says. "Aside from giving them some insurance against death like a Horcrux."

"Because it's not limited to that," I say. "If you hit me with a Killing Curse right now, I'd jump back to the summer of 1991 instead."

"Aha!" Gerard says. "I thought something seemed off about you claiming to be twenty-eight, and then saying you could only go back a day."

"That's incredible," Hermione says. "So you can always go back and fix any mistakes you made the last time through?"

I laugh bitterly. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But it doesn't work that way. This timeline looks nothing like the last one I went through. I changed so much that everything that happened after that summer is unrecognizable. And not all of it was even intentional, either. People I'd never even spoken to got sorted into different houses!"

"I can't imagine that living through the same set of years over and over would be all that pleasant, though, even if things might be radically different," Gerard says.

"There's more to it than that," I say. "And it's not like I have to go back to Hogwarts. Or even to this world."

"What do you mean?" Gerard asks.

I take a deep breath. "Well, there's another one of my big secrets. At the start of any loop, I can actually choose what world I want to spend the rest of the loop in. And there's many, many worlds out there to explore. I haven't even seen the smallest fraction of them yet."

Gerard stares at me for a long moment. "Alright, now I can really see why you wanted to get those Soul Bonds up."

"And, I suppose, since I'm getting this all on the table, it almost seems redundant to say that I'm not from this world, and I'm not actually Harry Potter, and never have been," I say. "Harry Potter died at the age of five, and I've just been pretending to be him. With Dumbledore's help, and later Tom Riddle's."

Hermione looks at me in shock, but Gerard shows no reaction. "How could you do something like that?" Hermione says, wide-eyed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," I say. "Dumbledore convinced me to do it, and all because I looked vaguely like Harry Potter. He didn't want anyone to know that he'd screwed up, and the Boy-Who-Lived died under his watch."

"So that's why you wanted me to swear an oath to the Stormseeker," Gerard says. "So, Stormseeker, who are you really?"

"My real name is Lexen Chelseer," I say. "Stormseeker of the Elkandu. Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood."

"How could you take advantage of a poor boy's death for your own gain?" Hermione says, almost shrieking now. "Were you just looking to take advantage of his fame and status?"

"Hermione, it's not like that!" I say. "I didn't want this. I never wanted this!"

She runs to the door, points her wand at it and says, "Alohomora," and storms out.

"Hermione!" I cry, then mutter, "Why do I even bother locking things?"

"Because polite people generally won't barge in without good reason then," Cassie says.

"Cassie, can you go try to calm her down?" I say. Cassie nods and heads out, and I close the door again behind them with a sigh. "Colloportus," I mutter, locking it again for whatever good it will do.

"So, you're an immortal time traveler with access to many worlds," Gerard says. "Look, I can probably figure out this Soul Bond thing. I might even be able to find a way to resurrect our dear friend Tom. I'll do whatever I can to help you, on one condition."

"What's that?" I ask.

"Take me with you," Gerard says.

"What, bind your soul to mine as well?" I say.

"Absolutely," Gerard says. "There's nothing for me here any longer. Friends and enemies alike are all long gone. It's funny how you guys are the closest thing I have to friends now. I don't know what these other worlds you mentioned might even be like, but..."

"Neither do I," I say. "The last world I visited had people who could Shape strange monsters out of nothing in mere minutes, who would serve them obediently. And the world I grew up on, Lezaria... I don't even know how to begin to describe it."

"I want to see them," Gerard says. "While I appreciate the chance to start over again in this world, it's far too late for me, I think. I don't really want to go back to Hogwarts. I want to see what else is out there."

"I don't know," I say. "I'll have to ask Cassie about it, and I really wish I could ask Tom..."

"I'm not going to help you if you don't agree to this," Gerard says.

"You know I'd also have to get you out of prison at the start of every loop," I say.

"I'm sure you can find a way," Gerard says. "Get Albus to help if it's necessary. Blackmail the shit out of him if you need to."

I sigh. "I don't like agreeing to something like this. I hate to admit that I really do need the help. And you're not exactly horrible to be around or anything, when you aren't trying to kill me. But you can be sure that if you ever piss me off, you're going to wind up spending the next loop staying in prison."

"Got it," Gerard says, smirking. "You already made me swear a damned oath to you. What do you really expect me to do now?"

"Sorry," I say. "I'm paranoid and I don't trust easily."

"I can understand that," Gerard says.

The door clicks as the Locking Charm is broken, and Cassie comes back into the library. "That could have gone better."

"What happened?" I ask.

"Hermione went outside for a walk," Cassie says. "She was totally freaking out about the whole thing and would hardly speak to me."

I sigh. "I hope she doesn't do anything rash."

"It would probably be best just to Obliviate her, if she's going to react like that," Gerard says.

"Do you know how to cast that spell?" I ask. "I certainly don't."

"I was never very good at it," Gerard says. "And I don't have my own wand at the moment, either."

I look to Cassie hopefully, and she shakes her head. "I was never particularly interested in dealing with other people."

"Alright," I say. "We can deal with this. Go stun her and bring her inside. I'll contact someone who can do it. Discreetly."

"The Ministry Obliviators?" Cassie says. "I can't imagine any trained Obliviator will want to get involved in this."

"Of course not," I say. "I'm going to owl Gilderoy Lockhart."

I pull out some parchment and a quill, and write a message for Lockhart. I don't really like contacting him, but he's the best I can get who can be blackmailed and bribed easily.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just go back in time to fix this?" Gerard asks over my shoulder.

"Do you want me to kill myself and leave you here?" I ask. "Besides, I'd wind up going back to when Cassie Rennervated me. I don't want to go back there."

"Eh, point," Gerard says. "So who is this Lockhart?"

"A Muggleborn who is only good at Memory Charms who has everyone utterly convinced that he's a pureblood or something that has done all sorts of amazing things," I say.

"Sounds like he's good at what he does, at least..." Gerard says, raising an eyebrow.

I finish up the letter and hand it to Solomon to take off. "And you know what? I'm going to take a fucking nap."

I see Tom's face in my mind, as if trying to reach out to me, but there's nothing. There's an Abyss between us, a swirling darkness of oblivion.

"Wake up, Stormseeker," Gerard says, poking me with Tom's wand.

"Ugh," I mutter. "Just as well, I could hardly sleep anyway." I groan and get up. "What is it?"

Gerard points to Solomon, who is perched above my bed with a bit of parchment rolled up, waiting expectantly. I take the letter and give him an owl treat.

"Lockhart, I presume?" Gerard asks.

I nod. "He's agreed to my request. Let's take Hermione to him and be done with this."

"Both of us?" Gerard asks. "What about Cassie?"

"What about me?" Cassie says, coming into the room carrying a book.

"Why is everyone hanging out in my room while I'm napping?" I wonder.

"We're not hanging out," Gerard says. "We're guarding you!"

"Uh-huh," I say. "Right. Anyway. I'd like one of you to come with me, and the other to remain here. Lockhart won't be able to Obliviate both of us at once, and if he does manage something, the one who stays here will know about it and can kick his ass."

"I'll go with you," Cassie says. "We're already known associates, and we can keep Gerard as our secret weapon."

"Great, now I can be your secret," Gerard says, grinning wickedly. "I think I rather prefer being the secret than constantly getting told something is a secret so you're not telling me."

"Are you sure about this?" Cassie asks me. "Surely there's a better way to go about this. She'll have to see reason."

"I'm not willing to take the chance," I say. "I shouldn't have told her in the first place. She's flipped out on me when she's found out about my secrets before. Of course, that was when I told her that my father is Darth Vader."

"Wait, what?" Gerard says.

"Your Muggle research included decades-old movies?" I say, raising an eyebrow.

"I was very thorough," Gerard says, smirking.

"When did you ever find time to teach?" I wonder. "Well, anyway, I said I'm from another universe. I was actually born in the universe depicted in the Star Wars movies, although I grew up on Lezaria."

Gerard looks at me like I'm insane.

I snort softly. "Don't take my word on it. I'll show you in a Pensieve later. Let's go see Lockhart, Cassie."

"This better be good," Gerard says as we head out.

I've been too paranoid to get my house hooked up to the Floo Network, even with the Fidelius Charm being down now. Cassie and I Apparate out to Diagon Alley and take the public Floo station to Lockhart's house, since we haven't actually been there ourselves. The only potential problem is that we get a few odd looks since I'm carrying a still-unconscious Hermione. I'm not sure that I care at the moment, however.

We're barely out of the fireplace, when Lockhart begins, "Obliv--"

His wand is thrown out of his hand by a flick of Cassie's wand and not even a word spoken. "Don't try anything," Cassie says.

I growl softly, and lay Hermione down on a nearby couch. I mutter another Stunner at her for good measure. I really don't want to have to fight her.

"Ah, welcome, welcome," says Lockhart, clear nervousness in his voice smoothly masked with flashing pearly white teeth. "As you probably already know, I am Gilderoy Lockhart. Welcome to my home."

"Pretending that you didn't just try to Obliviate us won't help you," I snarl, pointing my wand at him. "Crucio!" Lockhart screams, but I only keep it up for one second. "Never mess with me or my friends."

"Ah, ah, my apologies," Lockhart says quickly. "I must say, I am curious as to how you found out about me."

"That's a secret," I say, still keeping my wand trained on him. "And unfortunately, Hermione here found out my secrets and reacted badly to them. The only one of my group who was good with Memory Charms is unavailable now, unfortunately."

"So, what do you need me to make her forget?" Lockhart asks.

"Can you make her think she spent the entire day studying in the library and not talking to anyone?" I ask.

"I can do that," Lockhart says. "I'm still curious as to how you found out, but very well."

"Be assured that my method is one that isn't available to anyone else," I say. "Let's leave it at that."

Lockhart gives a nod, and goes to pick up his wand again. He points it at me and says, "Obli--"

I wordlessly cast a Lightning Curse at him while Cassie disarms him again. Lockhart goes flying back against the wall and slides down to the floor. "Didn't I warn you about that?" I go up to him and say, "Crucio!" I keep it up for five seconds this time before releasing him with a snarl.

Lockhart stops screaming again and lies on the floor, panting and twitching. "Sorry, sorry, so sorry..." he murmurs.

"Knock that off," I say. "I need this done, but I can do it just as easily with you under the Imperius Curse instead. Is that what you want?"

"That won't be necessary," Lockhart says quickly. "I'll do what you ask. May I have my wand back?"

I give a nod, and say, "I'm still watching you."

Lockhart gets up and retrieves his wand. He goes over and points it at Hermione, and says, "Obliviate." After a few moments, he says, "It's done. Would you please leave my home now?"

I give a nod, and say, "Thank you. This could have been a lot easier on you if you hadn't been a moron."

I go over and pick up Hermione in my arms again. As I turn my back on Lockhart, he says again, "Oblivia--"

Cassie is too quick for him. Lockhart's wand goes clattering away, and he's thrown back against the wall again.

I growl softly, rage boiling in my veins. I gently set Hermione down on the couch again, and pull my wand on Lockhart. "CRUCIO!"

Lockhart lays on the floor, screaming and writhing under my curse. There's few things that anger me more than the idea of being Obliviated.

After a minute or so, Cassie says quietly, "Harry." She puts her hand on my shoulder when I don't respond, and says more forcefully, "Harry! Harry, that's enough."

I release Lockhart from the curse, and glance aside to Cassie. "Sorry, got a little carried away."

Lockhart groans softly and rubs his head.

"Let's just go," Cassie says.

I give a nod, and collect Hermione again. "We're leaving now, Lockhart. I think that's been enough of a warning for you. Do not piss me off. I'll do more than just expose you for the fraud you are."

Cassie and I Apparate back to Caer Danas, and I go to put Hermione in her room. I set up a contingency spell to Rennervate her in the morning.

"Was that really necessary?" Cassie asks. "Poor Hermione."

"I told you, I'm not taking any chances," I say.

"And Lockhart!" Cassie says. "Did he really deserve that?"

"You don't know what he did to me and my friends in my last life here," I say. "I killed him, then. He got off easy this time, just because I needed him."

"Ah, you're back," Gerard says from the doorway. "I'm still eagerly awaiting however you're going to explain the things you told me earlier."

"Right," I say. "Let's head over to the Malfoys'."

The three of us Apparate over to Malfoy Manor. Narcissa answers the door, and says, "Ah, Draco's friends from school. Come on in, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

We head in, and find Draco and Lucius further inside. "I don't suppose you've heard the news yet?" I ask.

"What is it?" Draco asks.

"Tom's dead," I say. "Well, as dead as he was before, anyway, but at least he wasn't defeated by a baby this time. Moody and Tonks ambushed us in Knockturn Alley."

"Fuck," Draco utters.

"Language, dear," Narcissa says absently.

"Also, we need to use your Pensieve for a moment, if you don't mind," I say.

"Go ahead," Lucius says. "With the Headmaster dead, I'll need to go and deal with school matters..."

"Of course," I say. "I know where it is."

I lead Gerard off to the Pensieve room, followed by Cassie and Draco. I have no intention of showing this to Draco, however, but this was the only Pensieve I knew about that we would readily be able to use. Using the one in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts might be problematic at the moment.

I go up to the Pensieve and put in the relevant memories from my homeworld, ones about my family discussing my father, and enough for him to get a feel for Lezaria and Torn Elkandu. I even put in a short bit from my first day on Terrestia, too.

"There you go, Gerard, it's ready for you," I say. Gerard nods and plunges into the Pensieve.

"What're you showing him?" Draco asks. "And who is he, anyway?"

"Gerard Boltwood," I say. "Formerly known as Gellert Grindelwald. I trust that you can keep that secret, since you've kept our others."

Draco's eyes widen. "I see. Yeah."

"Why, you afraid you'd have to take Draco to see Lockhart, too?" Cassie says. "I'm sure he'd be quite willing to cooperate after you Crucioed him three times."

"Wait, what?" Draco says.

"Sorry, Cassie," I say. "No way am I letting Draco get Obliviated. I just don't like people threatening my friends, and I really hate Obliviation."

"So Hermione isn't your friend?" Cassie says. "And if you hate it so much, why'd you have him Obliviate her?"

"What did you do to Hermione?" Draco demands.

I rub my head and sigh. "It's for the best, alright? I didn't want to have to do it, but..."

"So don't do it!" Cassie says. "Aren't you the one who is always going on about choices?"

"I know," I say, shaking my head. "I guess I just... took the easy way out rather than trying to talk through it. I'm sorry. Maybe it was a mistake. I guess I'm just really on edge today, and my patience is running thin."

"I've noticed," Cassie says dryly. "So long as you admit your mistake. But I'm not letting you down easy from this."