Free Will and Fate

"So, what are we going to do?" Bellatrix entered Snape's office and closed the door firmly behind her. She looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

Snape looked up from the papers on his desk and frowned. His day had been irritating enough. He was hardly in the mood for this. "Well, what? What do you expect we should do?"

Bella stood in front of his desk for a long moment, staring at the sour face before her. "The old man is suspicious, isn't he? He's sent an Auror to search the school."

"Your eyes and ears are functioning at a suitable level."

She rolled her eyes at this. "Well, Severus?"

He put down his quill and stared at her. She really did expect him to solve everything, didn't she? "What do you expect me to say, Bella?" She began pacing in front of his desk, wringing her hands. "The last thing we need to do is start panicking."

She stopped moving abruptly and turned to him, a look of impending panic distorting her features. "Well then, what do you suppose we do? Diggory is here to search for missing objects, and if she finds the notebook, we're headed for Azkaban."

Snape sighed patiently. He watched as Bellatrix resumed pacing in front of his desk, a child verging on a tantrum. "If she finds it, I will have to answer for it, not us. It is in my possession. Although I can easily conceal it someplace else." Bellatrix did not seem reassured by this statement. "And you surprise me Bella, I thought you believed me intelligent enough not to leave something...sensitive where anyone could find it."

She stopped moving and narrowed her dark eyes on his face. "Forgetting the Key so soon?"

The sound of the pale fist hitting the desktop startled a small scream out of her. Snape stood and came from behind the desk, anger set deep in his face. "I do not make mistakes. I do, however, have the unfortunate luck of choosing accomplices who do. It was not I who left the parchment sitting on top of the desk the first time. It was not I who forgot to reinforce the protections around my office and house." He began shouting. "And it was not I who failed to handle a few defensive spells from a 15-year-old child! I would not have let him get away with the most crucial element of our plan. That was Lucius's mistake," he snarled. "He beat the boy senseless, against my instructions, and still came away with nothing to show for it. I also did not leave our best resource where he could lay his bloody mitts on it without a fuss a second time. That was your mistake, I believe? You or that idiot brother-in-law of yours. See that it is your last."

Bella took a deep breath, calming herself in response to the obvious threat. "I did not leave anything where Harry could find it. It was only that--"

"It was only that blessed Lucius would rather keep up appearances at a public function than do a job properly. And you did not remind him of his priority before you left. The responsibility is as much yours as his. He was in such a hurry to pose for the cameras and hand over a bag of gold, he left the Key on my desk where anyone could've seen it. The house was left scarcely protected for nearly a week. That parchment could be anywhere."

"Then why do you have me questioning Harry about it?"

"Because he is the only person who would dare defy me." He frowned. "Other than you and Lucius, of course."

She glared back. "If we are so useless to you, why are we working together at all? You treat us as if our presence is a mere convenience."

"My apologies if you feel you could be of better use elsewhere," he drawled. He moved to sit behind his desk again. "I value Lucius for his connections at the Ministry. They have hidden our adventures from the public as well as prying eyes behind closed doors. I value your brains and cunning...when you use them. And, of course, both of you have contributed something of far more material value. You may think I am being dismissive of both of you, but I merely seek to keep everything organized and flowing smoothly before the final steps are taken."

Bellatrix snorted in laughter at this.

"I didn't realize our plans were so ridiculous. Why do you insist on questioning everything I say?"

"Try as you might, things don't seem to flow as perfectly as you plan," she responded.

"I remind you, that is not my fault. Perhaps if you could control that nephew of yours. Or if you had managed to gain Harry's trust long before now, dissuaded him from his interests."

Bella frowned. "Why do you insist on blaming everything on me? Lucius craves power and influence, that is no secret. Draco is just as ambitious, but he knows nothing. Harry..." Her voice trailed off and she looked thoughtful. "He is scared. If anything, that should keep him from telling what little he may know. I still don't see why you can't handle Harry yourself. You would be able to get to him better than anyone else."

"I am doing what I can to stay under the radar, Bella," he responded. "If anything happens to my stepson, I have to have an alibi. Lucius's contacts are far better able to protect him than me, if there is a choice."

She shook her head. "That won't make a difference if the origin of the curse is ever traced to you. If Harry remembers anything about what happened Sunday, it's only a matter of time before he runs to the strongest person who could protect him. Or before the Minister gets something out of him."

"You're assuming Dumbledore hasn't already gotten to him," Snape said quietly.

"Why would he?"

"You said it yourself, the old man is suspicious. I'm sure he recognized the method of the attack. His memory is long and not faulty. If someone was able to get to Harry quickly enough the other day to save him, I'm sure he knows enough to start his investigation. First, he'll be looking at anyone connected to James personally. Then, he'll look to anyone who may have been close to him then or who is close to Harry now, assuming he isn't foolish enough to believe it all a coincidence."

"And then he'll find you?"

"No." Snape waved his left arm in front of his face. The shiny black mask of a Death Eater appeared. He waved his arm in the other direction and it disappeared. "He'll find the enemy he is looking for."

The low fussing of the portraits failed to break into McGonagall's thoughts. A night of fitful sleep had done nothing to calm the anger that had left her shaking when she had retired into her quarters the night before. It was all she could do to not hex Severus in the middle of the Great Hall, to stand in impotent fury as he sat next to her place at the staff table and ate as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Of all people, she should've known he was capable of it. She had personally separated James and his friends from run-ins with Severus and other Slytherins when they attended Hogwarts, forcing them to serve detention together until they had appeared to get the childish pranks out of their systems a year or two before graduating. She, as had everyone else, had believed that Severus Snape had forgotten and forgiven all when the time had come to save his old rival's life. They had even become friends. To think that he was behind what had happened to James then and was happening to Harry now...

She stared through the window, looking out over the grounds of Hogwarts. She had promised Harry her protection and would give it, however much it pained her to not take immediate action. There were no words for how she felt now that she knew the truth behind the mask he'd been wearing for years. But, in spite of her own anger, she could not turn him over to Dumbledore just yet. She would rather find the proof that would condemn him beyond all doubt and let the Dementors give Severus a final goodbye. Turning him over to Dumbledore would result in a quick end, one she felt he did not deserve.

McGonagall's fists clenched tightly. No, Severus Snape would reach a more painful end than the one he had inflicted on James and his son. And if the courts did not serve him a well-deserved piece of justice, she and Lily would.

The moment he'd gotten on the broom, Harry felt the problems weighing on his shoulders melt away bit by bit. By the time he'd gotten up and over the Quidditch pitch, nothing mattered to him but feeling the wind in his hair and closing his hand around the Snitch in record time. An hour later, when the tryouts were over and Angelina reluctantly replaced Dean with Harry as the new Seeker, he felt a sense of elation that hadn't been there in so long, he hardly recognized the feeling for what it was.

As he received congratulations from the other team members and a few of the spectators, Harry spotted Hermione standing just outside the boundaries of the field, near the tunnel that lead to the locker room. A cold feeling in his stomach quickly replaced the happiness he'd been feeling and he took a series of deep breaths, waiting until everyone had gone to change or started walking back to the castle before he finally approached her.

"I know what you're going to say."

"No, you don't," Hermione said. Her eyes dropped from his face and she fidgeted as she continued. "I know what I feel is strong, but it doesn't give me the right to tell you what you should feel. It took me a long time to convince myself of that, but I can't force you to do anything because it's what I want." She looked up at him, an uncertain frown tugging down at her mouth and creasing her forehead. "I'm sorry."

Of all the things he had expected Hermione to say, this was the last of them. He'd thought sure she would continue throwing herself at him until he gave in or throw a tantrum until he admitted he was feeling more than he'd said the night before. He had misjudged her as he had so many other situations recently. Knowing this would've been the result of any earlier conversation, he immediately felt bad about avoiding her the entire day.

"I'm sorry too," he said. "I never wanted to make you feel like I don't care, if that's how you feel."

"Oh, it's not," Hermione responded. She gave him a small smile. "I think if you didn't care at least a little bit, you would've just said yes and that would have been a shame."

"A shame?"

"Yes." She stepped closer. Close enough that he could smell the faint scent of peaches. "Because when you do change your mind, you'll find it will be so much better when the feeling's mutual. In the meantime, I'll try to control myself around you." She cleared her throat and blushed when Harry laughed. "Of course, we'll still be forced to pretend to be very close, for the sake of the investigation."

"Of course," Harry said. His put his arms around her and rubbed her back slowly. He was glad he couldn't feel as much of her curves as he normally would through all the padding he had to wear for Quidditch. He might have said no the night before, but the little control he'd exhibited had been quite close to breaking. She had no idea that her pushy routine was probably more an incentive than a hindrance. It was that whole in-love-with-the-other-guy-she-can't-be-more-than-a-friend thing that had gotten in the way. Harry could never let Hermione know how close she'd come to making him forget all of that. She would definitely try again. He didn't know if he'd be strong enough to resist a second time.

"So," she began. Harry felt the warmth of her breath on his neck and shivered. "Does this mean we're still working together?"

"Yes, of course. You're the only person I can trust to work with me on this." He looked down and locked eyes with her. "I think you're the only person smart enough to figure out this entire mystery. If you can figure out what Snape did, you'll be able to save my life." He didn't have to spell out for her what that might mean. Her sudden smile said everything.

"You know, I was surprised when Ron said you came down here. I thought you were just talking about Quidditch tryouts to get Professor Snape out of the conversation."

Harry shrugged. "I was, sort of. But once I thought about it, I realized it's a good idea. If--well, when we get everything sorted out, I want my life back to normal. My classes will be sorted out and I'll be able to play and fix everything that's broken now."

"Everything?" she asked.

Harry nodded and she leaned up to kiss him then, squeezing tighter against him as he responded. A few seconds later, he pushed her away. "Hermione. You can't do that."

She turned and began walking towards the school. "What?" she asked over her shoulder. "I was just congratulating you on making the House team." She started to walk backwards, smiling. "Just wait till you see what you get when you've won your first game. I'll grab the parchment and meet you in the Room of Requirement after you've changed." A minute later she was gone and Harry was cursing himself for being 3 kinds of fool. He had done the right thing, he knew that, even if she was giving him reason to regret it.