Free Will and Fate

The door to Snape's office opened without preamble, crashing into the wall behind it. He didn't bother looking up from the parchment he was reading as he asked, "Something on your mind, Bella?"

"What were you playing at earlier? You could've gotten us all killed." The witch entered the office and slammed the door closed behind her. She took a seat in front of the desk and tapped her fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair until Snape looked up at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Something to say?"

"I'd like an explanation," she said, in a slightly calmer voice. "When we discussed the extraction, you claimed it would be a fairly simple process once you'd broken the enchantments. When those two collapsed in my class, I thought for sure the Ministry would launch a full-scale investigation. Dumbledore still might. If he was suspicious about Harry being attacked once, what do you think will happen when he finds out it happened again?"

Snape put down the paper he'd been reading, marked the top with a 'D' and placed it on the stack with the other mediocre work. His eyes raked over Bella's face for a few seconds before he leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I apologize for disturbing what I'm sure was a delightful lesson, but have you ever tried removing a bit of someone's soul from a vessel?" Snape reached into a desk drawer and tossed the mangled remains of Tom Riddle's diary onto his desk. "It's not something one is able to do easily. Especially without damaging the portion of soul in question. When I get to the Cup, I'll do it at home so there won't be any further inquiries.

"As for Potter and Longbottom, I had no idea there would be a reaction from any of the students or I wouldn't have done it on school grounds at all. You know as well as I that the Dark Lord requires absolute discretion until the appropriate time."

"Then what happened?" Bellatrix asked. "Why would those two have had a reaction and no one else?" She put a hand to her mouth and sighed as she debated possible reasons and dismissed them all out of hand. "You weren't unconsciously thinking of them as you performed the spell or something along those lines, were you?"

"Not likely, Bella. Mr. Longbottom rarely rates a thought even when flubbing his way through my assignments. And I try to think of my stepson as little as possible if I can help it." Snape rolled his eyes. "The boy is enough of a bother in my life without invading my thoughts as well. I do have to find a way to get the Key back without arousing attention, though. I suppose I'll have to resort to a common ransacking of his room or interrogating him after class again. Assuming I can catch up with the little sneak. He's been disappearing after classes so quickly, I haven't been able to corner him."

Bella smirked. "I noticed that too. He and Granger have been running off like their robes were on fire after every bell. That, in short, is the cause of your next issue. You won't likely catch him anywhere, at least not for a couple of weeks. Just before I left the Hospital Wing, Minerva put the pair on punishment."

"For what now?" Snape snapped. "A few detentions from the Headmistress is hardly debilitating."

"It's not merely detention. She's going to have the two locked up in her office for the next while for Independent Study instead of going to classes. Apparently, she's finally through with them sneaking about the castle at all hours, going off where no one can find them."

"That boy and his girlfriend are as arrogant as his father's little gang, if not more. Is he going to wait until he gets them both into real trouble before he stops to think for once?"

Bella smiled and said in a high sing-song voice, "Aw, Sev. I didn't know you cared. Don't wish to become a grandfather so soon?"

He frowned. "No child of Potter's will be a grandchild of mine. And no, I do not care. I merely do not wish to hear my wife whining about how I should've protected her precious clone of James from his own stupidity again. If he's foolish enough to get caught, or worse yet, saddle that insufferable girl with his baby, he deserves whatever consequences he has coming."

Bellatrix nodded her agreement. "I don't understand the punishment, myself. Honestly, if Minerva thinks they're having sex in the castle, I don't know why she doesn't just expel them both. She recommended as much for me my seventh year."

"You would've been more likely to get expelled for nearly killing Professor Sinistra if anyone had known." At Bella's surprised expression, Snape added, "Oh, yes. Lucius thought your tale of 'almost accidentally' pushing a professor from the top of the Astronomy Tower was funny enough that he repeated it after you'd left school. Malfoy has always been the epitome of discretion.

"As for Potter and Granger, I suspect the true nature of the punishment will be depriving the girl of nagging her professors with never ending questions and incessantly attempting to upstage her classmates by proving she can memorize textbooks, while with Potter, the loss will be his time to chatter with his friends during class and show off during any in-class spell work." He paused. "Actually, it's a rather genius punishment for those two. Complete isolation and probably a daily lecture from Minerva about the virtues of propriety. They'll be suicidal by mid-week at the latest."

Bellatrix laughed. "So, how are you going to get to Harry? She'll probably keep them there from sunrise until just before common room curfew. I can't imagine you'll interrogate him in her office."

"No," Snape said. "I'll search his dorm on my own first. I'll find some essay for my class--" He glanced at the stack of failing papers he'd just finished grading. "As a matter of fact, I'll have them fix this mess they turned in the other day and use the time to search his things in the morning. If it's not there, I'll find a way to pay him a personal visit."

"And if he still won't give you the Key?"

Snape smiled. "I'm not above being creative if I need to be. I just hope it doesn't become necessary. We do have a bit more time."

Bellatrix was quiet for a long moment before she asked, "Are you sure you didn't direct some type of attack at Harry and Neville? For the life of me, I can't figure out what happened."

Snape rolled his eyes. "They're both weaklings, Bella. Did it ever occur to you that they simply couldn't handle being within range of such a powerful spell?"

"I suppose that's possible, but...you weren't there. It wasn't just a fainting spell."

"Then tell me what it was like," Snape said. "All you said before you rushed out of here earlier was that they'd collapsed and would be fine. What else was there?"

Bellatrix told him of the entire episode, from Neville's fall to the floor to both boys dissolving into some type of fit. When she finished, Snape was staring at the cage in the back corner of his office, seeming to study the sleeping snake inside.

"Are you sure of this hissing noise?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "It was quite strange. I don't think I've ever heard a human make a sound like that. For both of them to do it at the same time doesn't seem at all normal," Bella said. Snape looked at her in surprise. Her tone betrayed just how shaken she'd been by the experience, though she'd relaxed considerably since it happened. "Any ideas, Severus?"

"I'll have to ask the Dark Lord if he connected with the students somehow," Snape said softly. "From your description, it appears they may have been speaking Parseltongue. If that's the case, I'll have to wonder if the Boy Who Lived and my own dear stepson have some secrets they haven't shared since coming to Hogwarts." He glanced at the snake again. "In my experience, secrets of a certain magnitude can be of advantage to the people who are aware of them. If I have my way, Longbottom and Potter's secrets will serve the Dark Lord well."

When Harry opened his eyes, he saw the Headmistress sitting at the foot of his bed, her eyes lingering over his face in the hazy light of the late afternoon. He turned his head to find Hermione still sitting steadfastly at his bedside, her thick hair obscuring her face as she dozed leaning onto his bed. He wasn't surprised to see that she remained. Her devotion to her position had outlasted not only the Headmistress and Nurse, but a number of their classmates who had come by to check on Harry and Neville before their next class. None of them had been able to persuade her to relax and look after herself. It was only her own worrying that had finally tired her out enough to put her head down at Harry's bedside, where she claimed she would "feel a change" if his condition worsened.

Harry smiled at Professor McGonagall and attempted to sit up, moving slowly so he wouldn't wake Hermione.

"Feeling better?" the Headmistress asked.

"Yes," he said. "I almost feel normal." It was true, this time. The dizziness and headache were gone in their entirety. Harry couldn't even feel that lingering sense of invasion he always dealt with anytime Voldemort got inside his head. Now there was nothing but the uneasy feeling that he was heading towards something he could scarcely understand. An uneasy feeling, but familiar all the same.

"From what you've gone through, I imagine that normal is not an apropos description often, Mr. Potter."

He nodded. "You spoke to the Minister last night?"

McGonagall stood and walked closer to the head of the bed, pulling her chair closer so she could continue their conversation in a lower tone. "He told me a very interesting tale about how the origin of your scar connects to your actions with a Time-Turner." She studied Harry's reaction for a few seconds before adding, "I'm having trouble seeing how all of this fits together."

"I understand that, I guess. It's hard to process if it's not happening to you," he said. "Even if you don't entirely understand, you did say you would help me with anything I need."

"Within reason," she responded. "I understand it was your choice not to tell the Minister the name of your attacker." McGonagall paused. "That was a wise decision. You see, everyone has their own ideas of what is acceptable in any given circumstance. You and the Minister may have one idea of how Professor Snape should be dealt with, while I may have another."

Harry nodded, not really understanding her point.

"I just want to make a few things clear before I help you further. I want to see justice done. I want the guilty parties to be convicted of wrongs they have clearly committed and no more." Her eyes narrowed on Harry's face. "I will not be a party to unwarranted attacks, public accusations merely to assuage any personal vendettas you may have or reckless actions that may result in any of the students getting hurt. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor," Hermione responded. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes with one hand, stifling a yawn as she looked over Harry. "Everything we've told you and Minister Dumbledore so far is the absolute truth as we know it. If Harry were going to attack someone purely for personal reasons, I don't think we'd be investigating at all."

"An admirable sentiment Miss Granger, but I'd prefer to hear from Mr. Potter without your prompting this time."

"I think she's capable of speaking for me," Harry said. He wasn't bothered by McGonagall's answering frown. "I haven't lied to you about what I'm doing, who it involves or what I hope to accomplish. If you want me to tell you more about what we've been doing, I can do that. I can tell you everything. But, as I said before, I don't want you to react before we have time to prove anything."

"Like a Death Eater conspiracy involving you as the target victim?" she asked.

Harry didn't like the sarcastic note to her voice but could hardly blame her. If someone had come to him with a story like his before he'd known any of it was possible, he'd wonder if that person was either insane or a highly skilled liar.

"I'm not the victim, but yeah. Things like that. I could've told you everything about my background and what I did with the Time-Turner Monday, but would you have helped me if you'd known it all then?"

"Perhaps," McGonagall said. "Though, I have trouble believing the Death Eater story wasn't cooked up as an elaborate plan to separate your stepfather and mother."

Harry shook his head. "I hate him. I'm not going to deny that. If I had any proof my mother would believe, I'd let her know what he did to me and why. It's about more than me. They're going to do something horrible and we're the only ones that can do anything about it," he said, motioning between himself and Hermione.

"I also find it difficult to believe something so complex and dangerous can only be resolved by the involvement of two teenagers."

"If you'd seen what we have," Hermione said, "you would have less trouble believing it. Like Harry told the Minister, we can move around the school and get into things where adults, Aurors included, would stand out as suspicious."

McGonagall looked across the hospital wing to where Neville and Lavender lay side by side. Both students were still asleep. With a quick flick of her wand, she set a charm around both beds to keep their conversation from being overheard. She turned back to Harry and Hermione. "I think now would be a good time for you to tell me exactly who and what we're dealing with. I am prepared to accept the excuse for your Time-Turner use on faith for now, though I would like to examine a few of those memories before you transport them to the Minister. As for Death Eater activity at the school, I believe you owe me at least a cursory explanation for that theory."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a quick look as both thought over the benefits of stalling the explanation or telling only a part of the truth. After a minute of silence, Harry said, "You're right. You should know a lot more than what I've told you. We're going to need help before we go any further, anyway."

Thirty minutes later, the Headmistress was pacing back and forth next to Harry's bed. She was agitated, but Harry couldn't determine the exact reason why. She had said nothing when they explained about the notes they'd copied, their theory about Voldemort coming back, or the Key being stolen just before school started, resulting in Harry's hospitalization. She had merely listened and nodded, before getting up and walking near the bed in a nervous state, the slight movement of her lips as she thought over the information the only disturbance in her stoic expression. Finally, she stopped and faced them both.

"You're sure of Professor Lestrange?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "There's no person Voldemort would want by his side more. Other than Snape, I guess," he added, looking at Hermione for confirmation.

The Headmistress thought it over for another minute before resuming her seat next to Harry's bed. "You'll have to show me your copy of these papers you've found. If the originals are where you say, we'll have trouble connecting them to whoever stole them."

"But you think it can be done?" Hermione asked.

"It's possible," McGonagall said. "So much of what you've told me will be difficult to prove unless they get far enough in their plan to be caught in the act. But I don't wish it to go that far if it can be avoided." She tapped one finger on her chin as she thought, her gaze unfocused for a moment. "I think we'll leave it for now. We do have a little time. Tell me, Mr. Potter, what happened during your attack this morning? What can you remember?"

Unconsciously, Harry brought a hand up to his bandaged scar. The mention of what had happened brought phantom pains that disappeared as quickly as they came. "We were working on our potions and...I think it started with a headache. My scar has bothered me before, but usually only when Voldemort is near me or when he's feeling particularly strong emotion. Mostly anger. If it only tingles a little bit, I hardly notice it. When Neville collapsed, I wasn't feeling more than a few pains. I wasn't even paying attention to it. Then, suddenly it was so strong, it felt like my head was being split open from the inside. It felt like something was trying to pull me out of my body," he said.

"I think my eyes were open, but all I could see was red, bright red. Then..." Harry stopped and looked down at his hands in his lap. He had no desire to get into the rest of what he could remember. The entire episode was reminiscent of standing in Dumbledore's office months before, just after talking about the snake attack on Arthur Weasley, and feeling the sudden urge to strike Dumbledore himself. There had been a moment when he hadn't felt in control of himself, when his mind had been consumed with this foreign presence, and he had felt a rage so pure, it sent a small chill through his body to think of it now.

"You were both screaming," Hermione supplied. She put a hand over one of his. "Then you stopped and you started making this weird noise. It's hard to explain."

"That was Parseltongue," Harry said. "Voldemort--he was speaking through me, through both of us. I don't know how because no one knows where he is or how close he could be to the school. But he doesn't have to be close to connect to me," he added, turning to the Headmistress. "His connection with my mind has been pretty strong for a while now."

"What did he say?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Harry paused to think over the words again. "He said 'Upon my rise, the unworthy shall be destroyed, the penitent shall be forgiven and the loyal shall reap the rewards of the new order.' I'm not really sure who he could've been talking to, to be honest," Harry said. "It wasn't really a vision like I'm used to, just his voice. If he's around somewhere, he could've been talking to a follower or someone he was about to hurt. Or it might've been a thought he was having that was somehow transmitted to me and Neville."

"But how? Nothing about this is easy to understand, Harry," Hermione said. "Wouldn't he have to initiate contact for something like that to happen? He can't just speak through you without it being deliberate."

Harry shrugged. "Not all of his contact with me before now has been done on purpose. He can't always control it. Besides, in this reality, he's not supposed to have a connection with me at all. There's a chance this message was only meant for Neville," Harry said, looking across the room at their sleeping classmate. "If it was meant for anyone at all. More likely, something significant was happening with him at that moment and the connection was opened through that."

"Significant like what?" McGonagall asked.

"Like he's getting closer to what I want to prevent," Harry responded. "Whatever happened today, I think his supporters have put him in a much stronger position to come back. When that happens, I don't know who'll be able to stop him. After I heard part of the prophecy, I thought it would be me, but--"

McGonagall interrupted him. "The prophecy? Is there one that connects you and Voldemort?"

"There was," Harry corrected. "I never got to hear all of it. Just 'The Dark Lord shall mark him as equal,' and then 'He will have power the Dark Lord knows not.' Fourth year, he mentioned that people said I would be his downfall and I think the prophecy is connected to that somehow. It's why he wanted me in the Department of Mysteries. That's how I ended up in the fight that led to me coming here," he said. "I brought the prophecy with me, but after I changed my past, it won't show me anything anymore. It hasn't changed since last Sunday," he said. "I guess I rendered whatever power I had to fight him useless."

"Maybe not," Hermione said. "Right now you know more about him than anyone, including Death Eaters. Your connection to him is still there. All of that gives you the power to help prevent him coming back where no one else can guess what's going on. If Neville took your place as a child, I'd wager he took your place in the prophecy as well. If that's the case, you'll also be the best person to help him live through it if he has to fight. Together, the two of you can destroy the Dark Lord for good."

"Hermione, it sounds great when you say it like that, but it's not that easy. I don't know what's happening any more than anyone else and I've been dealing with this for years. That's one of the reasons I wanted to go through my memories," Harry said to Professor McGonagall. "Dumbledore told me it helped him remember things he'd forgotten. If there's some weakness, some clue in my memories, I want to find it. There's got to be something we can use."

"Have you extracted any of your memories yet?" McGonagall asked.

Harry shook his head. "I was too tired last night. From going over this stuff with Hermione," he added. "I got a chance to read a little of the book Dumbledore gave me during morning break, and I was going to try during lunch but..." He shrugged. "I wonder if Madam Pomfrey will clear me to leave so I can try now."

The Headmistress stood from the side of the bed. "While you were asleep, she said you could leave if you felt up to it once you woke up. You do feel well now?"

"Yes," Harry said. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, waiting in case his body proved him wrong. "I'm ready whenever you two are."

"I need to go to the dorm and get all of the papers. And the Pensieve," Hermione said.

"Would you mind grabbing the bag under my bed too?" Harry asked. "I want to check the prophecy again." Hermione nodded. Harry looked around the bed and patted the pockets of his robes before saying, "I don't have my wand. I need to go back to the dungeons to look for it. Where are our books?"

"I had them delivered to my office," Professor McGonagall said. "While you'll be doing the rest of your research during the day, you will still have to turn in homework assignments regularly to keep up appearances. You may remain in my office all day, except for sleep and breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be provided. You may use any of the books in my office. Ask if you need access to the Restricted Section of the library." At Hermione's surprised expression, she added, "I want this resolved as much as you Miss Granger. The fewer distractions and greater resources you have, the better chance you have of being successful."

"Thank you," Harry said.

Professor McGonagall nodded and turned to leave.

"What do you make of that?"

Hermione shrugged. "She knew what your mother went through when your dad died. She and the Minister were both there. Plus, there's the way he came after you at King's Cross. I think she wants to see him punished almost as much as you."

Harry stood from the bed and Hermione jumped to put her arm around him. "I doubt anyone wants to see him suffer anywhere near as much as I do, but it's good to know she won't get in the way. Right now, I'm not in the mood to deal with anyone who'll get in our way."