Free Will and Fate

The globe was still dark. Harry turned the prophecy over in his hand. The light streaming through the dorm window showed no change from the last time he'd looked at it--the night he'd traveled to in 1981. Not one wisp of smoke disturbed the smooth surface. It was a disappointment, but it also raised a number of questions. If he was meant to possess some power Voldemort knew nothing about, was changing the past the catalyst for his death? Or did changing the past eliminate Harry's chance of winning altogether? Did it pass to Neville? Will Voldemort not be a threat at all in this life?

Harry had to consider that option the most likely. Voldemort had possessed Professor Quirrell as a means of getting to the Philosopher's Stone and obtaining a body. From what Hermione had explained, nothing of that scale, nothing even mildly unusual, had happened their first four years at Hogwarts--not even around The Boy Who Lived. In spite of everything else, this was something of a victory.

He dropped the prophecy back into his bag and slid it under the bed. That was something else he'd have to ask Dumbledore about when he got the chance. Whether the Stone was safe and whether there were rumors of Voldemort lurking around somewhere.

Harry opened the lid of his trunk and quickly scanned the contents. There were the textbooks from yesterday's classes--he quickly moved those to the floor--extra quills, ink, parchment, and a wrapped square package. He pulled that out and tugged at the strings holding the brown paper wrapping in place. A high laugh escaped as the cover of the book he was holding came into view.

It read Wondrous Ways To Win In Battle: A Guide To Self-Defense by Gilderoy Lockhart. The same award-winning smile Harry remembered was on Lockhart's face. He appeared to be brandishing his wand at an unseen foe beyond the length of the book while he simultaneously smoothed his hair back with the other hand. The book was new by the looks of it. Has to be for Hermione, Harry thought. Makes sense. Her birthday is 3 weeks away. He would have to teach Hermione some real defensive techniques later if he gave her that to study. He put the book down and continued searching.

There was nothing left in the bottom of his trunk but clothes and a couple of ratty textbooks for classes he hadn't attended yet. Harry pulled out his copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and put it on the bed for later. If he remembered correctly, a long essay would be the first assignment. He shuffled through the clothes he hadn't bothered unpacking yet, sure he would find nothing, until his fingers brushed against a metal box. Tugging, he pulled the box out and examined it. It was antiqued silver, gilded in a fleur-de-lis pattern across the top with two hooked latches across the front. Harry unclasped the latches and lifted the lid.

The box seemed to be filled with nothing but Bulbadox Powder, which Harry was loathe to touch. He didn't fancy getting boils all over his hands in search of a piece of parchment that might not be in his possession. More likely, his counterpart at St. Mungo's was still carrying whatever he'd spoken to Draco about, unless he'd been caught. That might explain Snape's anger about Harry "managing" something. Of course, he could merely be upset because he thought Harry had gotten away from whatever had happened at King's Cross.

I could really use... He spotted his dragon hide gloves among the clothes in his trunk and slipped them on to shift through the powder, careful not to spill any of it down the front of his robe or anywhere his feet might touch next to the bed. Buried at the bottom of the box, below four inches of powder, lay a folded sheet of parchment. Pulling it out, Harry noticed that the powder seemed to slide from the parchment's surface as if there were a field around the sheet protecting it from damage. If Snape and Lucius Malfoy were trying to keep it safe, this charm didn't surprise Harry in the least. If it were up to Snape alone, Harry was sure the thing would probably try to possess anyone who tried to read it.

With that thought in mind, he cautiously opened the parchment, surprised to find the folded-in sides blank. He would leave it up to Hermione to do the honors. With her class notes to rely on for so many years, he hadn't bothered committing any revealing charms to memory and none of the books in his trunk would be helpful. They'd be going over the library books later, anyway.

On the subject of memories, maybe he and Hermione could figure out how Dumbledore had extracted memories to store in the Pensieve. Would the Room of Requirement give them one? If it could, he'd at least be able to show Hermione what had happened that night at the Ministry and get her help figuring out how to fix the time turner, if it could be fixed by a student. He'd probably have to ask Dumbledore for another one. That was a conversation he was not looking forward to.

"Ready?" Hermione asked as they left the Great Hall.

Harry pulled her to the side, out of the way of the other students leaving dinner and heading for their common rooms. "Actually, I just remembered something. I need to go to the dungeons and finish the Draught of Peace for Lestrange. You can go to the dorms and get the books. My notes are inside the time travel book already. You can add anything you think we need to go over. I'll meet you in the Room of Requirement later." Harry should've known before he'd finished that ordering Hermione off was easier said than done.

She shook her head. "I don't want you down there by yourself at night. It's too dangerous."

"Hermione, it's just a classroom. I'll be fine." And I haven't done too badly taking care of myself with or without your help, he wanted to add.

"Yes, you will," she said, "because I'll be coming with you." As Harry rolled his eyes, Hermione continued. "I can use the time to work on the antidote and figure out what Professor McGonagall gave you." She gestured to the pocket containing the vial of blue potion. "That will tell us if she can really be trusted."

Harry started to argue with her, but stopped himself. What would be the point, really? She'd end up down there with him anyway, only she'd be upset, determined to prove herself right. The last thing he needed was the same type of relationship she had with Ron. Or used to have, before everything changed. He still wasn't sure it had all changed for the better.

"Fine. You'll still need to get the remedies book, at least. I've already got my stuff for Potions." He lifted the strap on his book bag to his shoulder. "I'll meet you down there?"

Hermione smiled at his easy acquiescence. "See you soon." She turned on her heel and headed up the stairs, just missing Harry's quick eye roll. She might be less of a pain in this life, but she was no more a pushover now than she had been then. Harry had half a mind to start flirting with her to see if it would loosen her up a bit. That had kept Hermione from asking too many questions his first night in the castle. Then again, what would he do if she started to like it?

Harry was adding syrup of hellebore to the potion when he heard Hermione come into the dungeon classroom behind him. "It's about time," he said. "I thought you'd abandoned me."

A throaty laugh accompanied the sound of heels walking across the stone floor. "I couldn't do that, Harry." Harry's blood ran cold as he turned and spotted Bellatrix Lestrange making her way across the room towards him. She smiled as she reached his table. "Expecting someone?"

"Hermione." Of all the times to not have taken an antidote to a truth serum. "She's coming down to work on something. She'll be here soon." Why did I add that last?

Bellatrix nodded. "You two seem very close."

Harry didn't respond. Why is she down here? Her last class would've ended over an hour ago, he thought. He turned back to his potion and stirred the contents.

She peered into his cauldron and smiled. "I'm surprised at you, Harry. You seem to be doing better with this potion than some of the easier ones we attempted last year."

He shrugged. "I've learned what not to do when making a potion."

She laughed and Harry wanted to back away a step. "You're a smart boy," she said. "Young man, really." Bellatrix circled the table and put an arm around Harry. He dropped the silver knife he had been using to cut his next potion ingredient. "You know, if you ever need help, or anything else, I'd welcome it if you came to me," she said, voice low. She smile and gazed into his eyes as her voice dropped to a whisper. "If you ever need something Hermione isn't in a position to--"

"Harry, I think I've got it figured out," Hermione started. "By the way, your dorm is an absolute mess--oh! Hello, Professor." Hermione had stopped short a few feet into the classroom, taking in the scene before her.

Bellatrix straightened as Hermione came into the room, giving Harry a chance to hide his now shaking hands beneath the table. At this rate, he'd need to take the Draught of Peace before the night was over.

"Miss Granger. Harry told me you were coming down to work on something." She smiled and took a step back from the table.

"If you don't mind me using a cauldron, Professor. I know Harry's only here to make up class work." Hermione reached the table and put her bag down next to Harry's cauldron.

"No, I don't mind," Bellatrix said, backing up further. "As long as you clean up after yourselves. Harry, if you finish the potion tonight, I'll be in my office. But there's no rush," she said. "I'll be grading the assignments from your class tomorrow." She smiled quickly and left the classroom, slamming the door behind her.

The minute the door closed, Hermione asked, "What was her excuse for being in here?"

Harry shrugged. "Never gave one, really."

"But, why was she even talking to you? How did she even know you were down here?"

"Hermione, you're starting to sound paranoid. If she was on the way to her office, she probably noticed I left the door open. Is her office down here?"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Yes, it's just down the hall...but why was she talking to you? This potion is difficult enough without someone in your ear the whole time. She was touching you, just like in class, and she was whispering in your ear!" Hermione's eyes narrowed and she turned to Harry. "There was no one around to overhear. Was she--Harry, was she flirting with you?"

Harry wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of Bellatrix Lestrange putting moves on him, but he couldn't deny feeling something weird around her again. He shrugged. "She was saying something about helping me if I need it and standing far too close. When you came in, she was telling me she can give me what I need that you can't. I'm not really sure what she meant by that."

"I am, and it's disgusting." Hermione slammed her fist onto the desk. "There have been rumors for years that some of the more handsome students in her classes have gotten better grades once they spent time getting tutored by her, but I never believed any of it. I thought she was helping them learn." Hermione's mouth dropped open. "You don't think she's tried to do anything like this to you before?"

Harry leaned back from the table, hands up in a defensive gesture. "The way she was talking, I think this is the first time she tried to get close like this. She's not really my type anyway. I prefer girls my own age."

Hermione smiled. "See that you always do."

Harry smiled back as she immediately relaxed. He neglected to remind her that she no longer had a claim on whatever girls he took an interest in.

An hour later, an exclamation from Hermione stopped Harry as he added the last few stirs to his potion.

"Damn," she said again in a much softer tone. She consulted the book she'd been working from before crossing her arms and staring at the bubbling liquid in the cauldron.

"Did you just curse?"

"You were right," she responded.

Harry fought down a grin. "Say that again."

"The antidote was real."

"Well, yeah."

Hermione fixed Harry with a glare. "I'm going to add the last few ingredients back in," she said. "It needs to simmer for another 20 minutes before it'll turn blue again. Then you'll need to take it off the fire."

"Me? Where will you be?"

"Girls bathroom on the second floor." Hermione frowned. "The ones down here are disgusting. They're all dank and covered in mildew. Probably haven't been cleaned since the school was founded. I'd rather take my chances with Moaning Myrtle. If I'm not back before 20 minutes is up..."

"Yeah, take it off the fire." He extinguished the fire under his own cauldron with a quick puff of air from his wand. "Still don't see why it'll take 20 minutes."

"You try negotiating the stairs after carrying those library books half the day along with everything else and see how much energy you have." She smiled as she said this and left Harry in the dungeon, seriously debating slipping Hermione some of his draught. She could stand to lighten up a bit.

He siphoned his potion into an empty beaker and, checking his watch, decided he could slip into Lestrange's office and make it back in time to take the other potion from the heat.

As he neared Bellatrix's office, Harry heard voices coming from inside. He stopped just outside the slightly open door.

"I'm beginning to wonder why I asked you to help at all. You're not proving very useful."

Snape?

"Oh please, Severus," Bellatrix started. Gone was the simpering, sugary tone Harry had been hearing for two days. Now he was hearing the deep tones he associated with the torture-loving Death Eater he'd met in the Hall of Prophecy. "Don't act as if I've been of no use to you, to the cause." There was a pause. "I gave you something very valuable, did I not?"

"You did prove useful...a long time ago. Now it seems as if you're good for nothing but prancing around a classroom and giving lackluster students a pass."

There was a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl and the sound of breaking glass.

"Temper, Bella," came Snape's drawling tones.

"I'll have you know this assignment is not what I had agreed to. My talents are being wasted on simple-minded children."

"If the students of Hogwarts are so simple-minded, why is it that you can't get so much as a piece of parchment from a hormonal 15-year-old?"

She growled again. "You try charming anything out of him. I spent half the summer trying to get into his head to find out what he knew. The boy looks scared every time I come near him."

"As well he should, if I remember your proclivities correctly," Snape responded. "Charm it out of him? Are you a witch or aren't you? I don't care if you torture him and Obliviate him after, I want that parchment back! Preferably before he figures out the whole plan."

"I thought he didn't have his mother's brains, Severus. And why is it that you can't retrieve it from Harry, again? He is your stepson. I'm sure we could get Draco to--"

"Harry, you almost let the potion boil over."

At Hermione's voice, Harry jumped and ran down the hall, glancing over his shoulder as he pushed her in front of him.

"What--?"

"Shh!" The voices in the office had gone quiet. He would have to strangle Hermione later. "Is it done?" he asked, motioning to the vial in her hand. She nodded and he downed the still-warm liquid as the door to Bellatrix's office opened down the hall. Harry turned, one hand hidden behind his back. Hermione slipped the empty vial from his hand and into her robe pocket.

Bellatrix smiled as she walked down the hall to them. "Finish your assignment already?"

Harry nodded and held out his potion. He couldn't tell if the antidote was working yet.

She smiled wider at the two students. "Looks like great work, Harry," she said in what he now thought of her Perfect Professor voice. "You'll remember what I said about coming to me for anything?" She glanced at Hermione. "Even just to talk?"

Harry nodded and began backing away, taking Hermione's hand as he moved. "I'll be sure to come to you if I have the slightest problem." He smiled brightly. Now he was sure the antidote had worked.

"Good night," she called as Harry and Hermione slipped back into the Potions classroom.

Hermione watched Harry pack his things with shaking hands for a full minute before her curiosity got the better of her. "What happened? What did I miss?"

Harry stopped what he was doing. He wanted to yell at her for interrupting, but she'd had no idea what she was doing. That almost made it worse since she was constantly telling him to be more careful. Constant vigilance. Too bad she'd never had the chance to meet Mad-Eye Moody.

She touched his arm. "Harry?"

"Whatever Snape and Malfoy are into, Bellatrix Lestrange is a part of the plan," he said softly so his voice would not carry. "And it's her job to get to me."