Echoes of Destiny: Harry and Bellatrix's Second Chance

Though lingering with you would be very enjoyable," Orion announced to Romulus and Harry, "I must go, or else my wife will be very irate with me. " He stood, nodded very formally to Romulus, and then spoke to Harry directly. "We will meet from time to time to discuss your observations. If you discover anything… malignant, contact us immediately. Otherwise, wait, and we'll contact you when we determine it to be best."

To be polite, Harry also stood. He then replied in what he hoped was a respectful tone of voice. "Yes, of course."

Orion made to turn and leave the room, but he hesitated. "If anyone's life were to be in immediate danger, you of course would need to notify the headmaster and proper authorities, but otherwise, we'd prefer that you don't mention anything to anyone. If you do discover something amiss, we'd rather have the luxury of considering our options before anyone takes… drastic action."

"I understand," Harry said slowly, turning Orion's request over in hid mind. He reminded himself that he could always notify Professor Dumbledore later if there was something serious that Black and Malfoy weren't going to handle appropriately.

Malfoy, who was still sitting in his chair and not looking at either Harry or Orion, spoke as Orion exited the room. "Should we have Ashworth coordinate with your niece at all?"

Orion turned around a final time and looked at Romulus with an unreadable facial expression on his face before responding. "I would hope that Harry is skilled enough to do what we ask without help."

There was silence as Orion made his way to the main fireplace. Harry began to wonder if he ought to also excuse himself and leave Malfoy Manor. Unfortunately, the elder Malfoy didn't seem to be providing any cues for Harry. He sat in his chair ignoring both Harry and the departing Orion in favor of studying the small tumbler that had contained his drink. However, as soon as the crackling of the fire announced Orion's departure, Malfoy started to laugh loudly.

"Is there something funny?" Harry asked, afraid that he'd become the butt of a joke.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Malfoy said expansively, waving his hand for Harry to sit down again. "I was just having a little fun with Orion."

"I see…" Harry said, even though he didn't. He sat down and tried to think of something to say, but was coming up empty. Fortunately, Romulus spared him the task by starting the conversation.

"Definitely do keep an eye on those Lestrange morons," Romulus instructed. "They're just the sorts that are stupid and belligerent enough to cause trouble-even if it has nothing to do with anything of consequence."

Harry nodded. After all, he was familiar with the Lestranges. "I reckon I can handle any trouble from that quarter," he said confidently. In the future, he had been able to hold his own against the above-average Death Eater. Dealing with them while they were still students didn't seem especially daunting.

"Maybe you can and maybe you can't," Romulus said. "You certainly seem powerful, but you're too young to have become a master dueler. If I were you, I'd be sharpening up my skills. It never hurts to add new spells to your repertoire. One of the best magic libraries in the world is at Hogwarts. You should make use of it."

"You're probably right," Harry said, feeling strange to be receiving such advice from a Malfoy. It seemed the sort of thing a fellow member of the Order would have said, but not someone from a family he considered dark. Harry committed to himself that he would visit the library as soon as possible and see if he couldn't start learning a couple of new spells a week.

Romulus made an extra effort to put a broad smile on his face to counter the somber mood that the subject matter had invoked. "Enough of this serious stuff. There's no point in thinking about anything until it happens. Now tell me Harry, have you heard of the Chudley Cannons?"

Harry groaned silently, but was resolved to remain polite. "An old friend of mine supported them," he admitted cautiously. "I'm afraid that I haven't really kept up."

"With your friend or the team?" Romulus asked, smiling knowingly.

"Err… both," Harry said, feeling a pang of sorrow for his separation from his friends. Though Harry had never really been that enthusiastic about Ron's team, talking about the Canons reminded him of Ron. Thus, Harry could hardly resist the opportunity. "How are the Cannons this season? Do you think they have good prospects?"

Happily for Harry, Romulus's wife had eventually returned home and had politely excused Harry-or at least had provided Harry with an excuse to leave-but not before Romulus had mentioned his season Quidditch tickets and any free time Harry might have in the near future. Harry departed, arrived back at Hogwarts late and went to bed, vaguely wondering if anyone had noticed his absence from the castle.

Saturday and Sunday involved Harry grading the homework of his students and attempting to concoct his lesson plans for the coming week or so. Unfortunately for the students, Harry was forced to conclude that the best way to teach them about certain properties of potion brewing involved assigning them essays.

Harry, however, did not know enough about Potions to structure the most effective essay prompts for each of his classes. This necessitated library research, and Harry added that to his list of things to do in the library. The first opportunity for Harry to visit the Hogwarts library came on Monday night.

As soon as Harry had finished with his evening meal, he made his way to the library debating with himself on the way as to whether he'd prefer to do the necessary potions research first or find a couple of new spells to learn. Pragmatically, he realized that the potions effort might be very time consuming and thus resolved to get the spells out of the way first.

Upon entering the library, Harry came face to face with a much younger version of Madame Pince. He couldn't help but stop and stare. Younger she was, but her countenance and composure were no different than they had been in the future.

"Did you want something?" she asked, eyeing Harry suspiciously.

"Err… I thought I'd just come on in and look up a few things," Harry replied, having a very hard time remembering that he was, in fact, a professor.

"Right. You're the new professor aren't you?" the librarian said before launching into a detailed explanation of where everything was located in the library.

Harry supposed that she was trying to be helpful, but his previous knowledge of the library made the librarian's extended speech seem to last an eternity. Consequently, he didn't pay it close attention. Eventually, Harry was free to wander. He did so, trying to avoid eye contact with the students present. He wasn't entirely sure what the proper protocol was for teachers and students interacting in the library.

Maybe I ought to ask Bellatrix, Harry snickered to himself. I'm sure that's just the sort of thing she wants to help me out with.

Finding the literature and wand movements for two new defensive spells proved to be quite simple. Harry wrote down the information on a small sheet of parchment and tucked it away in his robes. He would practice the spells before going to bed. With any luck, he'd be ready to return to the library for two more before the week ended.

Harry was quietly thumbing through a NEWT preparation guide when he saw two girls approach Madame Pince. They produced a piece of parchment and the sour looking librarian reluctantly left the desk and retrieved a book from the Restricted Section. It was at this point that Harry realized that as a professor, he had access to the Restricted Section of the library.

Hermione would have killed for that privilege, Harry reminisced. Ron and I would have just used the books to get into trouble. Harry was soon fondly thinking of all the things that students would have been able to do with the knowledge in the Restricted Section. It only took a few moments before his thoughts settled on his situation and he realized that he did have a valid need to access the Restricted Section.

Harry soon decided that assigning his students essays could wait a day or two, or even a week. It wasn't as if they were going to complain about Harry being lazy in that department. They wouldn't do the essays until the last minute no matter how early he assigned them. He tossed the book back onto a return shelf and approached the librarian again. "Uh… excuse me. I was wondering if I could browse the Restricted Section."

Madame Pince looked annoyed. "Yes, you may. I already told you that. The school's magic recognizes your status as a professor. Thus, you may go into the Restricted Section anytime."

"Right, just double checking," Harry said, trying to save face.

He strolled over to the shelves and was soon looking for books on time travel while self-consciously pretending that he was only browsing casually. Eventually, he realized that not only did no one care, but also that no one was even paying attention to him. Further, the books were charmed to return to their places on the shelf. Even if Harry left time travel books strewn all over the place, no one would notice because no one would actually be shelving them.

With his newfound courage, Harry strode over to the card catalog, looked up time travel, and soon had a list of books to check. Not long after that, he had a broad collection of books having to do with time travel spread all across a table he had successfully commandeered from a retiring study group. Unfortunately, Harry's anonymity and privacy was destroyed by the arrival of someone who did care about what topics he was researching and what he was doing in the library.

"Decision time, eh?" Bellatrix said by way of greeting. She picked up ones of the books and flipped through the pages before dropping it back on the table. "I wouldn't bother with that author. Even if he did know something about time travel, I doubt he'd be able to explain it in coherent sentences."

Harry grabbed the book and flipped to the back to check the author's biographical information. "How do you know anything about him?"

"He's written all sorts of books about the Dark Arts," Bellatrix replied, shoving Harry's books to one side of the table and setting her satchel down. "They're all utterly useless. My mother and aunt spend a lot of time reading and critiquing stuff like that. I don't see why she wastes her time. Learning the Dark Arts requires having someone to perform them on."

"Whatever," Harry muttered, wondering if he ought to figure out if there was an established authority in the field of time travel was. Unfortunately, it was probably some anonymous Unspeakable.

Bellatrix sat down and started sorting through Harry's selection. "Wow, you really raided the Restricted Section! I bet we can figure out what we're doing in no time."

"No," Harry declared. "I'll figure out what I am doing."

Bellatrix pouted, "I bet you don't even know what you should be researching."

"Of course I know what I'm researching," Harry defended. "My major concern is preventing a rift in the space-time continuum," Harry explained.

Bellatrix began to laugh quietly, though uncontrollably. "Space-time continuum? Someone watches plenty of the telly."

Harry wasn't amused-especially because he realized she was probably right. Quickly, he cast about and found something clever to say. "Sounds like you watch plenty of television yourself," he retorted.

That stopped Bellatrix dead. "No I don't."

"Could have fooled me," Harry pressed.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Shut up."

"Okay," Harry agreed, not even trying to hide his triumph.

Bellatrix glared at him and began to produce her textbooks and some parchment from her satchel. Soon, she was doing her homework as Harry perused his collection of time travel books. Frustratingly, most of them seemed to deal with how time travel might occur. Harry was more interested in the theory and consequences of it. It seemed that no one really had thought or written about anything beyond making it happen in the first place.

"Are you a Muggleborn?" Bellatrix finally asked.

"No," Harry replied.

Silence resumed and eventually, Bella had nearly finished her homework and Harry had concluded that there were approximately three books he was actually interested in checking out and taking back to his quarters.

"Did you find anything?" Bellatrix asked.

"Maybe," Harry replied.

"We could talk about it," Bellatrix asked, almost pleading. "You need someone to sound your ideas off on. It's not as if you have anyone else."

Harry looked around and smiled, "Even if I wanted to, do you think it would be such a great idea to talk about it in the middle of the Hogwarts library?" He gathered up all of the books, left Bellatrix sitting at the table, and returned them to an empty shelf in the Restricted Section. He picked out the three books he was interested in and took them to Madame Pince who perfunctorily checked them out to him.

He made to exit the library, but found Bellatrix waiting at the door for him. It seemed that she intended to continue making her case. "The halls aren't any better than the library," Harry told her in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Look, Harry. What you're doing is big. I want to be in on it. Surely there's something useful I can do." Bellatrix said.

"I'm not sure it's the best idea," Harry commented as they proceeded down the corridor.

"I already know enough to cause you and your plans trouble," Bellatrix retorted, beginning to get angry.

Harry stopped short and looked at her coldly. Bellatrix was startled enough by the expression in his eyes to step back. However, before Harry could say anything, the sound of raised voices came from around the corridor. They were intelligible, but soon, one of them was loud and annunciated enough for Harry and Bellatrix to make out what was being said.

"Leave him alone, Potter!" Lily Evans shrieked.

Laughter that Harry instantly recognized as belonging to James and Sirius followed. "Just great," Harry muttered with disgust. "Come on, let's break this up," he said to Bellatrix. Harry shifted his books and discreetly drew his wand.

When they rounded the corner, they discovered Lily, Severus, James, and Sirius alone in the corridor. James and Sirius had their wands drawn and were looking far too gleeful for their own good. Lily was standing between them and Snape, a look of fury painted on her face. Snape's expression, as often was the case, was unreadable.

Harry didn't need an explanation to understand what was going on. He knew about the dynamics that existed between the four too well. With a quick snap of his wand, James and Sirius were disarmed and their wands summoned to Harry's hand.

"Would you care to tell me what you've been doing this evening?" Harry asked James and Sirius coolly.

James and Sirius were spared formulating an answer. Lily took it upon herself to explain. "Professor, they were teasing Severus!" She then launched into an explanation of how she had decided to walk toward the library and how she had discovered James and Sirius harassing Snape. By the time Lily was through, Harry himself was beginning to feel slightly guilty, even though he had done nothing.

"I think you should take fifty points from Gryffindor!" Bellatrix declared with relish.

James and Sirius glared at Sirius's cousin. Sirius then quickly retorted, "How fortunate that you're not the professor here!"

"You're just jealous," Bellatrix cooed, further infuriating Sirius.

Harry let out a disgusted sigh. Now that Bellatrix had suggested it, he simply couldn't take points from Gryffindor-and there was the fact that Lily, a Gryffindor, had stepped in and tried to protect Snape. "You know what?" Harry said, "Detention for both of you."

"Fine," James retorted, glaring at Snape and trying to avoid Lily's eyes. "What time?"

Harry cursed silently. The problem with assigning detentions was that one had to supervise them. That took time. He quickly tried to think of his weekly schedule and also attempted to anticipate when he would next need to visit the library before deciding. "Thursday evening, at eight o'clock," he decided aloud. "Both of you. In my office."

There was a short silence. Snape was giving James and Sirius a dirty look while Lily looked triumphant. Bellatrix had a thoughtful expression on her face. Harry ended up breaking the silence first. "You will all have to excuse me, I have things to do." He stalked away and made his way to his office, trying to figure out how he was supposed to carry out a detention for his own father and godfather.

Harry did not have to see his parents or Bellatrix until Wednesday. He had expected James and Sirius to be rather angry with him and consequently cause problems, but when the day arrived, they had treated him casually in class. This caused Harry to realize that they probably were quite accustomed to getting detentions and probably didn't take it personally. This sort of attitude fondly reminded Harry of the Weasley twins. Surprisingly, the trouble he had been expecting arrived with Bellatrix, instead of the Marauders, during a student presentation.

A group of rather dull students wanting the extra credit Harry had promised were explaining to the class how to brew one of the NEWT level potions. Harry had optimistically told himself that this was a good opportunity to learn more about potions, but very shortly after the presentation began, he found himself drowsing.

"When the mixture begins to boil, it is safe to add the scorpion tongue powder and stir clockwise," droned Ned Willardby.

Bellatrix, leaning back in her chair spoke up. "Nobody adds scorpion tongue powder to a boiling mixture, dimwit!" she drawled loudly. The class gasped and Harry sat up in his chair trying to ascertain whether he had heard her correctly.

The girl who appeared to be Ned's girlfriend and study partner quickly retorted in a high-pitched voice. "What do you know about scorpion tongue powder?"

"So the dimwit has a dimwit friend," Bellatrix said snidely.

"Miss Black," Harry spoke up, "it is not appropriate to refer to people as dimwits… in the classroom."

"What? Are you a dimwit too?"

Harry glared at her. "Five points from Slytherin."

Bellatrix smirked at Harry and he felt his ire rising. "All right, Ashworth. Prove that you're not a dimwit. Tell us what happens when one puts scorpion tongue powder into a cauldron full of a boiling potion. You have heard of this powder, have you not?"

"Of course I've heard of it," Harry growled, wondering why Bellatrix felt that it was necessary to embarrass him in front of the class. "Now why don't we let Ned finish presenting his group's project?"

"Dimwit."

"Detention! Thursday night."

The gleam of triumph in Bellatrix's eyes instantly caused Harry to realize that she had wanted detention and he cursed quietly, annoyed at his letting a teenager manipulate him like that. He scowled fiercely at her before motioning for Ned to resume. Something told him that there wouldn't be any further disruptions from her now that she had what she wanted.

Thursday evening found Harry in his office, sitting at his desk with one of the library's time travel books propped open. Thus far, his search had not yielded a large amount of information about time travel, but he had learned a few things-perhaps enough to make some firm decisions about just what he would attempt to do in the past. He now realized that he probably should have done this research earlier rather than wasting time treading around softly. He was spared any further thought by the arrival of James Potter and Sirius Black who stepped into his office through the open door.

"Hey Professor Ashworth, how are you this fine evening?" Sirius cheekily inquired.

"I'm doing well. Please sit down," Harry said, gesturing toward a pair of chairs on the other side of his desk.

"So what is on the menu tonight?" James asked, sharing a smirk with Sirius and trying to not laugh too openly.

Harry slowly closed the book he had been studying and set it aside before studying James and Sirius for several moments. Seeing his father and godfather this close and interacting with them personally was going to be harder than he anticipated-not only for the sheer fact that he was interacting with two persons that he had lost, but also for the fact that they were displaying very shameful behavior.

"Tell me Mr. Potter, Mr. Black. Why is it that you see fit to give Mr. Snape so much grief? What has he done to deserve it?" Harry inquired, trying to sound calm and dispassionate.

"Call me James," Harry's father muttered rather than providing a very good answer.

"Fine," Harry replied. "James, what is your bone against Severus?"

There was some awkward silence, but it didn't bother Harry. He wasn't the one in the hot seat. Harry looked from James to Sirius waiting for an answer. Neither of the boys seemed to be able to think of anything remarkable to say.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"He's a git!" Sirius declared hotly.

"A git?" Harry repeated coldly, implying that he wanted an explanation.

"He just thinks he's so amazing!" James declared angrily.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Everyone likes to think they're amazing, especially you. Why does Severus's doing so bother you especially?"

"Well…" James vaguely said. "It's just that he's especially annoying."

Harry knew enough from the future, and from his observations in class to produce the answer himself. "There's also the minor fact that he likes Lily."

The look on James's face told Harry that he'd hit home. James didn't seem to have anything to say, so Harry took the opportunity to continue. "If you like Lily Evans, then you're going to have to impress her. How do you suppose you're doing so far by tormenting her childhood friend?"

James muttered something that Harry couldn't hear.

"If you want Lily to like you, you'd better shape up. She doesn't care who you parents are or how much money you have," Harry declared, wondering idly just who James's parents were and whether they were prominent fixtures in the magical world. "I'm not telling you this because I'm your enemy," Harry continued. "I want to see you become a good, decent person. I wish you well in your ambitions. However, I won't tolerate your pride like this. So, will you agree, at the very least, to treat Snape neutrally?"

"I guess," James said, not making eye contact with Harry.

"Mr. Black? You as well?" Harry asked.

"Call me Sirius," he answered, also nodding that he'd try to do what Harry asked. He didn't seem to be quiet as emotionally vested in Snape-hate… yet. Maybe Harry's efforts would prevent it.

"Great," Harry said, "now on to the real part of your detention. Come out to the classroom with me." Harry led them to the Potions classroom and gestured to the room at large. "The years have not been kind to this room. I would use magic to clean it, but one never knows what the stuff dirtying everything up actually is. I'm sure Filch has plenty of materials in that broom closet down the hall, so why don't you gather some and get to work."

James and Sirius didn't seem too thrilled by this, but Harry didn't really care. He'd served far worse detentions for the Potions professor, and really, the blame for some of them could be traced back to James and Sirius. Further, Harry reckoned that the two needed to build some character. As long as Harry wasn't the one who needed character building, he reckoned it was a marvelous thing.

The two had just returned with supplies and were getting started when Bellatrix made her appearance. "I'm here for my detention, Professor Ashworth," she said in a perfectly innocent, girl-next-door sort of voice. The unnaturalness of it fazed Harry for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

Harry glared at her before pointing to his office. "I'll be in momentarily." Bellatrix went into the office and Harry proceeded to give James and Sirius specific instructions for their cleaning tasks. He concluded his instructions with a warning. "I won't be keeping an eye on you the whole time, but you won't be leaving until I'm satisfied the job is done."

"What is she going to be doing?" Sirius asked, outraged at the potential that Bellatrix might be getting off easier for whatever it was she had done.

"That has yet to be determined," Harry growled before entering his office and shutting the door.

He found Bellatrix sitting at the desk and flipping through one of the time travel books he had borrowed from the library. "Cheeky, aren't you?"

"Whatever do you mean, Professor?" Bellatrix asked innocently.

"Don't you mean Professor Dimwit?" Harry retorted, resuming his seat.

"If you would prefer…" Bellatrix responded absently. "Have you made any interesting discoveries yet?"

Harry studied her for a moment before responding. "Yes, I have. But at this moment, I'm more interested in discovering why you felt it was necessary to brat me into giving you a detention."

"You were trying to claim that we couldn't talk about your unique situation in any public place, and I'm smart enough to realize that you would avoid being alone with me. Now, you don't really have any choice." Bellatrix said smugly.

"What if I sent you out into the Forbidden Forest to collect unicorn dung?" Harry asked.

Bellatrix didn't seem to be very amused. "I suppose I'd have to write my father and complain."

"Don't even try playing that card with me," Harry said drily, reminding himself that as long as he had Orion and Romulus batting for him, he didn't have to worry too much about Cygnus. Even if Cygnus swayed Orion, it was Romulus who had influence on the Hogwarts Board, and he would think sending a student to collect unicorn dung in the forest hilarious.

"All right then, were you going to send me out to the forest?" Bellatrix inquired.

Harry smiled. I wish he thought to himself. "No. It so happens that I did need to see you about the time travel situation. If there's extra time remaining for your detention after that, I'll just send you out to help Mr. Potter and Mr. Black."

Bellatrix beamed at him, thrilled that she was going to get in on a bigger part of Harry's secrets, though she wasn't terribly happy with the prospect of helping James and Sirius scrub the floors and benches. "I can stay around and talk about your time travelling for hours."

"I'm sure," Harry said blandly, "but I'd get sick of it awfully quick." He pulled one of the library books from his drawer and opened it to a marked spot. "My chief concern has been the long-term effects of what I may do here in the past-or even just my simple presence here. When one hears about time-travel stories, the immediate concern is that the travelers are at risk of endangering their very existence by changing the past."

"Obviously," Bellatrix commented, not overly impressed at Harry's logic. "How risky is that for you? Are you parents around here anywhere?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Harry said silkily, hiding a smirk for the fact that his father was just outside the door scrubbing the potions classroom. With that thought, Harry realized that he should probably put a silencing charm on the door so that he didn't have to worry about being overheard. He drew his wand, flicked it with a small mutter, and returned it to its holster.

"Now, down to business. I want to see your hair ornament." Harry announced.

"Why?"

"I need to perform a couple of tests on it to determine the magic by which it functions," Harry explained, holding the book up. "Once I know that, I can figure out how everything else affects the timeline."

"I don't have it with me," Bellatrix replied, looking Harry in the eyes and daring him to contradict her.

Harry set the book down and accepted the dare. "Based on my experience, I'd have to disagree. I think you have it concealed on your person somewhere."

"Prove it," Bellatrix retorted, folding her arms and looking the other way.

Harry sighed before deciding that two could play this game. "Well all right, I suppose if you don't have it, you don't. Why don't you head out, fetch an extra scrub pad from Filch's supplies, and get to work. I'm sure James and Sirius will be grateful for the help."

Bellatrix wasn't pleased, but Harry nevertheless had the upper hand. "Turn your back," she demanded.

Remembering that the original Bellatrix had made this demand in the last moments of her life, Harry complied, knowing that he wasn't putting his life in danger by doing so. Harry heard the cloth of her garments rustle as she muttered to herself angrily.

"You may turn back," Bellatrix said after a few moments.

Harry turned and was pleased to see her holding the hair ornament that had served as older Bellatrix's method of suicide. A chill went through Harry as he looked at it in her hands and the feeling only increased when she handed it over to him. Harry held it gingerly, as if it was a spider that might bite him if he moved the wrong way.

"Don't you dare try to activate it here," Bellatrix hissed, looking him in the eyes again, but this time looking sort of… desperate. "I'm your partner in this and I won't have you running out on me."

Harry rolled his eyes. His partner? What did she expect to get out of it? "I don't think either of us is willing to do what it takes to activate this thing," Harry commented. Unless stabbing other people counts, Harry amended silently.

"Would you care to shed some light on what you mean?" Bellatrix asked. The fact that Harry knew how her magical artifact functioned while she didn't have a clue galled her.

"No, I don't care to," Harry said calmly, setting down the ornament and beginning to flip to some marked pages in the library book. He finally found what he was looking for and performed a number of charms on the hair pin. Eventually, he was satisfied and handed the ornament back to Bellatrix.

"Well?" Bellatrix asked.

Harry sighed and leaned back in the chair, studying the wall and ceiling behind Bellatrix.

"Is it good news or bad news?" Bellatrix asked impatiently, the ornament clutched in her hand.

"It's just plain news," Harry said quietly. "It's hard to say whether it's good or bad… at least in general."

Bellatrix could see that Harry was struggling with whatever he had learned. Realizing that they had arrived at a crucial point in Harry's destiny, she quietly decided that badgering Harry wouldn't be very nice. Casually, she rearranged her hair, placed her ornament in it, and sat back silently-waiting for Harry to gather his wits.

Finally, Harry spoke in a monotone. "When the artifact was activated in my future… it changed things."

Bellatrix was tempted to reply, but remembered her father once telling her that sometimes it was better to just endure the silence and let the person speak at their own speed.

"My future is gone," Harry announced, trying to harden himself by admitting the fact aloud. "It has been cut away as one would prune a branch from a tree. For all intents in purposes, I'm in an… alternate reality… except I no longer have my own reality to return to."

Bellatrix nodded slowly, doing her best not to come off as cold as she would usually. "So even if your parents were to get killed off right now, you'd still continue existing, even though you'll never be born?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "That's the gist of it. I have me and everything else I may have brought with me, tangible or not, and I'm independent of anything negative that might normally cause ripples in the structure of reality. I'm simply someone who has landed in the middle of this reality. I don't have to worry about getting wrinkled up with myself or anything like that."

"Everything you brought with you? Is that significant?" Bellatrix asked slowly, doing her best to hide mercenary thoughts. Why would he mention that?

Harry restrained himself from letting his hand touch the scar on his forehead. "It may be…"

"Knowing this, what are we going to do?" Bellatrix asked. "I mean, you still know how things are likely to turn out. You'll still want to do something."

Harry nodded. "Basically, I'll just have to do what I can to ensure a better future for everyone."

"Everyone?" Bellatrix asked carefully. "You were in a… dispute with someone. That means two sides. You want to manipulate it so your side wins."

"That is true," Harry admitted, "but the more complete the victory of my side, the fewer people there will be to lose on the other side."

Bellatrix did her best to interpret Harry's cryptic comment, but came up short. "What's your first step then?"

Harry thought carefully. "I haven't entirely decided."

"You must have some clue," Bellatrix retorted, the acidity returning to her demeanor now that Harry's emotion had moved a little further toward the back of his mind.

A small smile crossed Harry's face as he looked at Bellatrix. "Your friends the Lestranges may be cognizant of information that I would find… useful."

Bellatrix got the hint. "And if I help you obtain that information, what do I get out of it?"

"My undying gratitude?" Harry offered.

"You'll have to do better than that," Bellatrix replied, crossing her arms and sitting back in the chair.

Harry frowned. He wasn't ready to develop a habit of paying Bellatrix for every last thing she did for him. After thinking it over quickly, he settled on something that would probably satisfy her but wouldn't tax him too hard. "I'll let you officially be my partner-but on the condition that I tell you information only on a need to know basis."

"How does that help me?"

"Dividends," Harry said.

Bellatrix thought it over carefully. Even if Harry failed to manipulate events in such a way that he profited greatly, she could still take advantage of things on her own. Despite this positive thought, there was the issue that dividends probably weren't immediate. "How about benefits also?"

"What about them?"

"I can't just do stuff with a vague promise of profits in the future. If I'm your alleged partner, I want to feel like it," Bellatrix explained.

"Well… you may come to my… office and talk to me without bratting a detention whenever you feel the need," Harry said. "I'll even let you off this detention." Harry offered.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. Harry wasn't offering a whole lot, but Bellatrix wasn't sure just what there was to demand from him. Thus, she found herself agreeing without further negotiation. "I guess that's good enough for now, but I reserve the right to amend this agreement later."

"Whatever," Harry said. Even if he didn't promise to allow her to amend the terms later, she'd make his life miserable until he did.

"All right then."

Harry stood. "You may leave and get back to whatever you need to do."

Bellatrix also stood and stuck out her hand, her violet eyes boring into Harry's eyes. There was a great deal she wanted to discuss, but she figured it might be better to let it wait until Harry had thought things over more and was less likely to become emotional. She didn't want to find herself adjusting her demeanor for his emotions more than necessary.

Harry looked at her hand as if it was a venomous snake. Finally, he reached out and took it, shaking with her on their new partnership. He could hardly believe that he had just established a partnership with the teenage version of Bellatrix Black.

She opened the door and left Harry's office, leaving Harry to mourn the loss of his reality. He only became more depressed when he realized that Bellatrix was really the only person in the entire world that he could call friend-and that only because he was more acquainted and had shared more secrets with her than with anyone else.

The next week or so passed uneventfully for Harry. He had been able to shelve the time travel question now that he knew that his actions would not endanger his own existence. This had left him plenty of time to research the subjects of potential essays to assign to his classes. When he had free time he did his best to get out and be around the castle so that he might be able to detect any sign of Voldemort's influence among the older students. Thus far, he had discovered nothing that he could really take back to Orion or even anything that he could use in his own personal quest against the rising Dark lord.

The highlight of his days was practicing new spells. He had been surprised to discover that most spells didn't take much more than reading up on the wand movements and a little bit of theory before he could effectively and powerfully cast it. The struggle came when trying to readily have them come to mind-or in other words, it was difficult to incorporate them into his fighting style. Despite this, Harry was confident that he was improving as far as his ability to duel.

He was in the process of grading essays one night when a knock sounded from the door of his office. "Come in," Harry called, already feeling happy for the distraction from reading essay after essay.

Lily Evans opened the door and entered. "Professor Ashworth, how are you?"

"Oh, fine," Harry replied, sitting back and trying to think of what could have possibly prompted her to pay him another visit. He sincerely hoped that she had not returned to interrogate him about his past again.

Lily set her book bag down, helped herself to a chair, and crossed her legs. "Professor, I'm here to make a proposition."

"A what?" Harry asked, staring at her quizzically.

"I have an idea," Lily continued excitedly, but with a semi-serious tone of voice.

Harry glanced back at his stack of essays. Perhaps grading his students' homework had been a better activity. "What is it?"

"You've seen for yourself that Severus has a problem with bullies," Lily said.

"Have Potter and Black still been giving him trouble?" Harry asked, already exasperated.

"No," Lily replied, "not since you gave them detention, but they're not the only ones who don't like Severus."

"You can say that again," Harry mumbled.

"Sorry?"

"Um, I was just happy Potter and Black weren't bothering him again," Harry said, covering up his slip.

"Right," Lily continued. "I was thinking that if Severus could learn to defend himself better, he might not be bullied so much."

Harry shrugged. It had never seemed to Harry that Snape lacked in his fighting skills, but how was he supposed to tell Lily that? Thus, he found himself responding in the only possible way he could given the circumstances. "I suppose you're right."

"So maybe you could take some time to teach him a little bit," Lily suggested.

Harry stared at her. Teach Snape how to defend himself? Never, Harry thought. The Snape that Harry had known was more than proficient enough with magic. Perhaps too proficient. "I'm a potions professor, Lily," Harry said, carefully, trying not to insult Lily's idea.

"You're also a powerful fighter," Lily snapped, becoming quickly outraged at Harry's attempt to avoid being saddled with teaching Snape. "I would ask our Defense professor, but she's practically senile."

"Still, I don't know that I'm the best choice," Harry pushed.

"Do people bully you?" Lily demanded.

"Well… sure. All the time." Harry said, thinking of Draco Malfoy and even technically, Voldemort.

"Name the last time it happened."

"Uh… well, not recently," Harry admitted. He couldn't exactly bring up anything from his past. At this rate, even if he spoke in vague terms, she would start demanding names and details.

"Obviously, you have the skills necessary to help Severus," Lily said, transitioning from her sharp voice into a more pleading one.

Harry still did not want to do it. "I wouldn't even know what to teach him that would be useful."

"Just a couple of disarming or shield spells," Lily wheedled. "It wouldn't take much time out of your schedule. Only an hour or two every few weeks."

"I just don't know," Harry said, seeing that he was quickly losing ground.

Lily pouted and looked at him with her big green eyes. "Couldn't you just do it as a favor to me?"

Harry began to silently curse. He did not want to tutor Snape on Defense. He did not want to teach the greasy git anything about being a good dueler-but his mother had never asked him for a favor in his entire life. "I'll do it," he ground out, trying to sound casual. "Only a few defensive charms though."

Lily beamed at him. "Thank you! There's just one other thing…"

"What?" Harry asked resignedly.

"Would you mind terribly if I participated?"

"Fine." That actually did make Harry feel better. Maybe he'd be able to ensure that Lily and James didn't die. The prospect cheered Harry a little.

"Thank you, professor! When shall Severus and I come for our first lesson?"

"Perhaps Saturday," Harry said, "but check with me in class later this week to confirm."

The ecstatic Lily left Harry office after grabbing her book bag. She was soon replaced by Bellatrix Black who entered the office and slammed the door before sitting down and making herself comfortable.

"What was she doing here?" Bellatrix demanded.

Harry looked at Bellatrix with a faint, teasing smile on his lips. "Jealous?"

"Of what?" Bellatrix demanded, slightly embarrassed.

"Nothing," Harry said, returning to the stack of essays that needed marking. "She seems to think that Mr. Snape would benefit from me tutoring him with regard to defensive spells."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes. "He would benefit by buying a large bottle of shampoo. The arrogant little snot is already competent enough with magic to get by."

"I was thinking more along the lines of an attitude adjustment," Harry said idly. Snape did indeed have greasy hair, but it was only because he was so annoying that anyone ever bothered criticizing it.

There was silence for a few moments save the scratching of Harry's quill as he proceeded with his work. Bellatrix folded her arms and watched him. She felt silly for visiting him without anything specific to discuss, but he had finally officially admitted that they were partners and she felt that she needed to reinforce the idea. Eventually she made an attempt to continue the conversation. "Are you going to be helping him?"

"A little bit," Harry informed her.

"Why don't you help me?" Bellatrix asked petulantly.

Harry looked up at her, an unreadable expression on his face as he spoke, "Something tells me you don't need very much help."

"Maybe we'll have to find out one of these days," Bellatrix indirectly offered.

"That's an idea," Harry commented thoughtfully.

"All right, when?"

Harry wasn't in the mood to duel with Bellatrix, so he changed the subject. "Have you found out anything about the Lestranges yet?"

"It's hard to cozy up to them after you told me at that party that I ought to avoid Rodolphus," Bellatrix said defensively. "Why do you need to know what he knows? You're from the future. You ought to know more than he does."

Harry set down his quill with a sigh. "But I don't know some of the more precise details. I also need to know who has the information so that I can carry out some of my more important plans. I have to be able to point fingers or make implications. Accurate implications."

Bellatrix wasn't pleased, but she could see where Harry was coming from. "I'll try harder."

"Good," Harry said, picking his quill up and returning to his work.

"Do you even have plans yet?"

"Yes."

"Would you care to share?" Bellatrix asked, trying to hide her ardent curiosity and make her question seem casual. If she didn't act like she was desperate, maybe he'd be more willing to share.

"No," Harry smirked, knowing full well that he was going to irritate Bellatrix. The look on her face at this juncture was very satisfying.

"I thought we were partners."

"We are. But I only tell you what you need to know."

"What if I start only telling you what I think you need to know?" Bellatrix demanded.

"Then I won't tell you anything at all and there will be no benefits or dividends."

Bellatrix wasn't happy. "That's not fair."

"When have you ever cared for fair?" Harry asked dryly, setting down his quill. He was truly sick of grading essays. Since they were on the same subject, they all pretty much said the same things-over and over again. Bellatrix had opened her mouth to retort, but Harry moved on, ignoring her. "Seeing that you're in a mood to share information, I want you to share some with me."

"I don't have anything about Lestrange yet."

"Well, work harder and get it. Meanwhile, you can start to tell me about the pureblood balance of power in the Wizengamot and detail the factions that can bring influence to bear. Who is allied to who? Who is swayed by rhetoric or money? Who follows the lead of who?"

Bellatrix was pleased to see that Harry was now making consequential plans, but also very nervous. What he chose to do with her information could have large effects. She wet her lips nervously and began to speak. "The first person you need to know about is… ."