Disclaimer: I do not own nor use for profit the Stargate Characters or the Harry Potter Characters who will soon appear.
The Fifth Marauder
Chapter 1: The Nightmares
Lost in thought, Major Samantha Carter walked at a cadenced pace beside her team mates, under the burning sun of P3X565, small hostile planet entirely blanketed in ashen dunes.
She gave a start as she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. They had reached the gate.
"All right people, let's go home and take a good long cold shower."
She smiled at herself as she dialed the SG-1 code. Colonel Jack O'Neill. They had slowly grown closer, working day after day in concert, both confronted numerous times to death in the never-ending fight against the Goa'ulds. But they were part of the US military and any relationship beyond friendship was firmly prohibited. She sighed. She had long ago rationalized that the tingling in her chest every time she looked at him or her eagerness to have him near as often as possible had a high mathematical percentage of change of translating deep inner feelings of tenderness and longing. In short, Samantha loved him. There was no revealing her feelings if she wanted to preserve her career or his. Jack seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Working each day by his side, being able to protect him - this was her own way of sharing his life and she had to content herself with it at the moment.
She took a deep breath as she stepped through the gate behind her CO.
They had been off-world most of the week, but their enemies were not the main cause of her anxiety. It was on Earth that she felt most unsafe.
Two weeks ago, her nightmares had come back.
--
Sam woke up covered in sweat. She turned on the lights and looked at her clock on the bedside table. One o'clock. Still panting, she headed to the bathroom. The officer took a quick shower then decided to go for a walk in the deserted base. The room suddenly felt like a stifling cell. There was no point in going back to bed. Once again, she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyway.
The cold laugh echoed in her head. She would hear his mad frenetic voice again and again as she dreamed. And the woman, the terrified woman, crying before falling dead on the floor in a flash of green light.
She had unconsciously reached her lab.
Nights of insomnia followed one another. She would find herself crying hysterically, unable to stop the tears or calm her distress. Her heart pounded until her chest ached and her body trembled as if from the trauma of some past torture. The recurring dreams did not give her a moment's rest. She wished they were nightmares without more cause than stress due to work. She wished they were just that – nightmares. That was what scared her the most. According to Jolinar, they were memories.
Jolinar of Malkshur had been a Tok'ra, the powerful rebels now allies of the earthlings. She had taken control over Sam the previous year. She had been under the threat of a Goa'uld assassin sent by their common enemy. Luckily for Jolinar, she had found Sam, but she also made the final choice of giving her life for the Major. Sam still thought of that day as one of her worse experience, and as the day that had turned her mind upside down.
She stepped into the room and wiped a few tears angrily, hating her lack of control over her own emotions. She turned the computer on for the sake of hearing the whistle of the fan in the silence of the room.
The pain she had felt from the lethal weapon was still fresh in her memory. Her flesh was burning, her head exploding, the feeling of Jolinar's mind being torn from her own and disappearing forever in the blackness of death. She had thought she would die. But Jolinar, that new unexpected friend had chosen otherwise. Through Jolinar, Sam had experienced death in a way none of her friends had.
They had helped her immensely afterwards to overcome her trauma. Jack, Daniel, Cassandra, Janet, her father, and even faithful Teal'c had been there for her.
But Jolinar had not only given the power of her friendship and knowledge to Sam. She had also given her a "gift" with her last strengths, which on her advice Sam had never spoken of, not even to her father. A poisonous gift.
Truth.
--
"Samantha Carter, a barrier has been set on your mind. I have the power to break it. I was not aware your kind had come to this stage of control."
"A 'barrier' on my mind?"
"A shield, holding back feelings and memories. They have been replaced by others."
"Holding memories…like amnesia?"
"Yes, Samantha Carter. But the block is artificial."
"Could it be…the Goa'ulds?"
"Their technology allows them to interfere with the human mind. However, it is not their work, for theirs leaves its mark."
"Why would my memory be modified then?"
"This, I can not answer."
The murderer raised his fatal hand to Sam's forehead. Then came the blinding pain, the nothingness. Her mind howled.
"Jolinar, I feel myself…dying."
"Yet your time has not come, Samantha. Not while I live. If circumstances had been else, I wish you would have considered being my host on your own free will… I feel… We would have gotten along for many more years to come… Samantha… Now, accept my gift. Accept your truth. For all you have endured for me, I will now free your soul with my end."
"What do you-"
"Farewell Samantha Carter. I will live through you as your strength. Samantha. My friend. Do not speak of this… do not let them temper with your mind again."
"What…no… Jolinar, NO!"
The cold laugh. The woman. The light.
--
Sam could not concentrate. After some forty minutes, she fell in an agitated sleep in front of her screen, the scene replaying over and over in her buzzing head.
It was already past eight in the morning when she found herself in her lab, her body tired and aching from having slept on her chair. A glance at her wristwatch told her she could still be on time for the debriefing in General Hammond's office. She got up to leave just as the alarm resounded with a loud 'incoming travelers'.
She broke into a run towards the supervision post. General Hammond and the rest of her team were already there.
"Ah. Finally Major."
"General Hammond."
"I was going to send someone for you. It's the Tok'ra. Be ready to welcome our guests. Your father might well be one of them."
Her father Jacob it was indeed, followed by two of his companions. She hugged him close.
"How is my big girl doing?"
"Fine Dad, always fine. How have you been?"
"Never felt better. But I miss you too much."
The Tok'ra frowned and touched her cheek gently.
"You look tired, Sam. Always working too hard, aren't you?"
She shrugged and gave him a faint smile as she led him out of the crowded room.
--
The Tok'ra were on their monthly visit to take stock of the current situation, which promised three days of diplomatic meetings for SG-1 and allowed Sam to spend some time with Jacob.
It was hard to hide her tension from her father. He would be leaving soon again and it saddened her greatly. She had only been fourteen when her mother had passed away, and Jacob had brought her up by himself. They had always been quite close, but never as much as since Jacob had given his life and body for the fight against the Goa'ulds. She remembered well all the times he had been there for her when she was still a teen, whispering soft words of cheers, or sheltering her in a reassuring father embrace.
Yes, he was the one to whom she could speak, she thought, as she walked to his quarters. She could not keep it to herself any longer. And even if he did not know what was happening any more than she did, her father might be able to calm down her fears, like he always had.
It was driving her mad. She had taken sleeping pills for the last two nights in order to recover, but Dr. Janet Fraiser, more as her friend than her doctor, wouldn't give her more without a good explanation. More than once in the past months she had been about to tell Daniel, Teal'c or Janet. But every time Jolinar's orders to keep it secret had resounded in her head and made her back off from sharing what was ailing her. The strength of Jolinar's mind and persuasion echoed through her long after her death. So strong had been her warning... So loud…
She knew it was insensible, yet she did not talk. But the nightmares had never been so insistent. She felt a change now. She felt them worsening until she would not be able to work properly anymore.
After a year of confusion, despite Jolinar's warning, Sam would tell her father.
She desperately needed to sort things out if she wanted to go back to a normal life. Well, as normal as life could be when you were a SG-1 team member…
She knocked.
"Enter."
She stepped in, a pleased smile playing across her lips as she saw her father dressed in civil clothing.
"Were you going somewhere, Dad?"
"Ah, Sam. Yeah, I was planning to drive downtown. I invited your brother and his family to spend the afternoon with me. I might not be able to see them for a while after I go back, so…"
He laid his jacket on the nearby chair. Apophis was gaining power and a new attack was alas to be foreseen. Jacob hated seeing his daughter in the focal point of peril but he knew she liked her job, and most of all, he knew their side could certainly not loose such a skilled officer.
"Want to join us? I'm sure good old George will let you if I ask him myself. You need a day off anyway."
"I would love to," she agreed with an honest smile. Her features soon tensed again though. She swallowed and took a step forward to finally tackle the issue of her visit.
"I've come to talk about something important, Dad".
He made a motion toward the chair. "Go ahead, Sammie"
"Don't…just don't interrupt me before I finish, okay?"
He nodded, waiting with a frown of worry at her nervousness.
Samantha struggled to find the right first words, but as soon as she started her tale, the words flew out of her mouth with ease. Some relief spread through her as she lightened her heart with her confessions. Everything, she told him everything, from the very first realization of Jolinar inside her head to her irregular spasms of nightmares.
Jacob listened, his eyes unreadable, his face impassive, but visibly paling. Sam felt the tears burn her eyes once more.
"I don't understand…the woman…it hurts…every time the pain increases…here." She pointed at her heart. "As if I knew her…as if I was so close to her…" She fought not to break into sobs.
"But I can't remember who she is… and the…the laugh full of cold disgust, madness, disdain…"
He took her in his arms and stroked her back gently as she pressed her cheek against his chest.
"Sam…I'm so sorry you've dealt with this on your own so far. You should have told me. You'll be fine. Everything will be fine. Yes, shush. Better."
He dried her face with the lapel of his sleeve.
"You are sure you can't recognize the woman, right?"
"No. But I think it gets clearer with the time. I have been able to discern the color of her hair after a couple of months, but her face is still well hidden."
"Her hair?" It was now hard for him to keep all anxiety from his voice. Sam looked up questionably.
"Dark red hair."
Jacob took a slow intake of breath and Sam wondered if she had made the good decision by telling him.
"I'll…I don't really know what to advise you on the spot. Don't tell anyone else for the moment. I swear I'll do my best to help you."
"Thank you for listening to me."
"Any time. Now go and get ready for this afternoon. What about having lunch together before meeting your bro?"
She left his side and walked up to the door.
"Sounds great to me. Dad…"
"Yes?"
"I've missed you too."
She slipped out of his room, more at peace than she had all week.
--
Jacob sat on his bed, eyes fixed on the wall across the room. He was trying to remain calm and was once again grateful to have Selmak's support to appease him.
It couldn't be… They had made sure long ago she wouldn't remember… To protect her, they had sealed this memory…
He knew that Jolinar had not known any better. Selmak would have probably acted the same way in such situation. It had not been easy to take that decision. It had not been easy to do this to Sam. But they had had no other choice. It had been for the best. She should have never remembered the dreadful event. And Jacob would once again do all it took to make sure Sam's life was not broken by what had happened so long ago.
Sam would not remember Lily Potter.
--
--
Author's Note:
Hello Everyone!
Here's my first fanfiction! A Stargate/Harry Potter crossover fic!! After reading so many good ones on our favorite site, I've decided to try. Wow…
I hope you'll enjoy it.
Warning: You may find mistakes in this text for I am French, and it is still difficult for me to write perfectly in English. But it's much more fun!! So, feel free to let me know if something is bad.
REVIEW!!
Chap 2 coming soon!
Jaina
P.S: to Jenny aka Lara; hoping to see you this summer :'P
New author's note (4/10/2008):
Dear readers,
You have just read a revised version of the first chapter of The Fifth Marauder.
The story line has not been altered, and the style very little.
I've merely corrected the worst of the language mistakes.
I have received many reviews since I stopped writing this fic inquiring whether I would ever finish this story.
It has been many years now since I first wrote the following chapters, and so far I do not think I have the time or patience to end this project, especially with both HP and SG-1 having come to an end.
However, I will be trying to edit the ten first chapters to make them more readable. Who knows, maybe doing this correction work will renew my interest in the project…
Please remember I am not a native speaker and that I wrote this when I was fifteen. I am happy enough with my English level of the time, but hopefully I have improved now and can correct –some- of the mistakes.
PS: I forgot how much the formatting tools of this site -sucked-. So I apologize for the crappy format. If anyone knows how to have it allow spacing and paragraphs, do tell me please D:
Peace,
Jaina x