CHAPTER II

Legilimency.

Captain Kathryn Janeway once again paused at the sweep of the open door, caught between hallway and room, trapped between one road or another, stuck in a crossroads of decisions and repercussions. The girl that had nearly ripped Voyager apart by Q's actions was perched on the edge of a crisp med-bay bed.

She was looking better. The dirt, ash and dried blood had been cleansed away. Her torn clothing had been exchanged to a powder blue dress and beige tights that had obviously been borrowed from Kes. Her hair was free of tangles, knots and debris, wild and untamed curls nearly swallowing the girl whole as it cascaded down her back, leaving the red brighter than what Janeway had previously thought could be natural.

Nevertheless. The girl's stone-esque stance, blank eyes that stared bottomlessly at the far wall, legs still, arms taught and tight, hands clasping the edge of the bed until her digits bled white, left Janeway with the rancid aftertaste of apprehension.

Doc was circling the bed, tricorder aimed at the stationary girl, mumbled words garbled under his breath as he read the scans, only to shake his head and start his circuit all again. Janeway felt his pain. She too felt like she was trapped in a neverending cycle.

After the girl had demanded where she was, she had tried to follow through with a step towards Janeway. Only, the transporter process must have shaken her up more than first thought as her legs wobbled, she wavered, stumbled, fruitlessly trying to balance herself against a nearby wall with a reaching hand before her legs gave out completely, unconsciousness blanketing her like a solar proton event.

The girl, or Red as Janeway had come to mentally nickname her, had been unconscious for four and a half hours, only in the last thirty minutes managing to stir from the clutch her own mind had on her. According to Doc and his own subordinates, Red had not uttered a single word to any of them, even when Doc had tried to directly communicate with her, trying to ease any apparent worry that she was in danger or garner any information. So far they had nothing. No name. No age. No planet of origin. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

After Doc had realized his efforts were wasted and would continue to be so, he had reluctantly comm'd through to Janeway, asking for assistance and her presence in med-bay. So here she was, watching again, lost on what exactly to do once more. This was becoming a habit and Janeway did not like that, or this feeling, one bit.

Janeway shook her head, squared her shoulders, tugged on the bottom of her shirt and strolled into med-bay with sure, precise steps. She was captain. She had a crew to look after. A ship to sail. Unsurety was not something she could afford, even if the circumstances were out of her comfort zone. Stopping at the edge of the bed, directly in front of Red, blocking the girl's view of the wall, she introduced herself. "I am Captain Janeway of the Starship-"

"I want to see your right forearm." The girl's voice was rough, deeper than expected, strained and damaged. However, her words were frigid, detached, placid on the surface but leaving no room for argument. Janeway's brows puckered slightly in the middle, a twitch in her cheek the only indication of her confusion of the request. She was expecting questions. Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here? But to see her forearm, her right one to be precise?

That took her by surprise and by now, nothing hardly did anymore. Perhaps it was a custom of her people? She was human, from Earth for sure, but she was a sub-species, maybe they had their own culture, their own societal structure. Perhaps the reason she was not talking was that this was how one said hello in her society... Or it was an offer of battle.

"Excuse me?" The girl finally stopped looking through her and Red's pupils locked onto Janeway's own. Startlingly, for a split second, with how guarded, glacial and... Vacant the girl's eyes were, Janeway wanted Red to go back to staring at the wall. Still, Janeway held her gaze strong and true, cut emerald meeting clear skies.

"Your right forearm. I want to see it." Well, she had definitely not misheard. Red did really want to see her right forearm of all things. Of all the things to ask for... There could have been worse. A lot worse if the girl was related to Q, no matter how distant that relation was. Leisurely, Janeway complied with the odd request, not seeing the harm. As soon as the skin of her right forearm was exposed, the girl's eyes were glued to it before she snapped her gaze back up, jerking her head in Doc's direction.

"I want to see his too." Doc finally tore his attention away from his tricorder, brows arched like a stretching cat as he looked towards Janeway for either confirmation to follow through or to decline. Yet again, Janeway saw no harm and gave a minute nod. Wearily, Doc flashed his own forearm.

The reaction was instant and surprise, surprise, not what Janeway had been expecting... Again. Red seemed full of surprises. Her shoulders sagged in undiluted relief. Her head flopped, neck rolling, a deep breath expanding her chest as she puffed it back out. Before Janeway could retry to introduce herself, Red was back to looking at her, less guarded this time, more... Apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were all deathea-... They, the ones I stunned back in that... Room, they're not hurt, are they?" Janeway bit down harshly on the bubble of shock that swelled in her throat. When Q had said he had a niece, she had pictured many, many things, a horned devil being but one example. Yet, she had never pictured this. Red looked for all she was worth as if she really and truly did care, even when she obviously did not know who they were, what they wanted or anything of the like. While Janeway stumbled for her words, Doc swooped in to save the moment with a warm, easy smile.

"They are fine. A bit dizzy and nauseous, but nothing a good meal won't fix. Whatever it was you had done, there seem to be no permanent or lasting effects." Red shook her head, curls bouncing, gazing down at her tightened hands. One by one, she pried the fingers free from their grasp on the edge of the bed, bringing them together in front of her, idly rubbing her sore knuckles.

"I only stunned them but I saw one had hit their head pretty hard on the wall... You're Muggles, aren't you? I'm going to be in so much shit when I get back." Janeway politely but pointedly ignored the 'when I get back'. She was highly dubious Red would ever get back to wherever Q had unceremoniously plucked her from. In that matter, they had a similarity. The girl would likely never get back to where she came from and with each passing month, doubt, black and oily like a parasite, ate away the hope Janeway had that Voyager and her crew would make it back to their own part of the galaxy, their own stars, let alone Earth.

Instead, Janeway tried to divert the line of questioning. The fact was simple, they had questions about Red that needed answering and without those answers, Janeway very well couldn't let the girl loose on her ship and among the lives she had sworn to protect.

"Muggles?" Red bit her lip, obviously debating on what she should or shouldn't say before she threw caution to the wind. It wasn't likely she could talk her way out of what they had all witnessed. Good choice. If she had tried to lie, Janeway would lose the little trust and respect, Red's care for the people she had thrown across a room she had gained, would shrivel and die.

"Ah... Uh, Muggles are humans without magic. You're that, aren't you? Apart from the doctor... He's not human, is he? He doesn't feel it..." Janeway once again chose to outwardly ignore how the girl could 'feel' what something was, filing it away to ponder over later, and went straight into the deep. She wouldn't risk dancing around the important issue any longer.

"Yes. And you're a witch, correct?" The tactic worked. Red's eyes slanted, tightening around the edges as her chin defiantly turned up a fraction. By this action alone, she knew the girl had not expected her to know about her and her kind as they did. Even if that knowledge had only come hours ago. They, these witches and wizards, were a secretive bunch then. That could pose problems, especially if the girl followed this path.

"You know about witches? about wizards?" The guard was back up, slammed, shut, locked. Her hands stalled in their rubbing, her head cocking to the side just a fraction. Secretive, but curious and seemingly friendly over the matter due to her lack of explosive reaction to the idea of them knowing. Janeway could work with that. However, the girl hit back with her own heavy observations and hefty question.

"Your clothes... The computers you use... The woman with ridges on her face and the man that looked like a really tall fairy... Where am I?" Doc frowned and tutted, rubbing a hand over his chin as he pondered the girl's words, mumbling along with his train of thought, a spark of generous humor glittering in the back of his eyes.

"Really tall fairy?... Oh, you mean Ensign Vorik!" Doc laughed heartily.

"Calling a Vulcan a fairy... Oh, I like this girl, Captain." Janeway gave him a disparaging look but fought down the smile. When she had first met a Vulcan, the very same thoughts had crossed her mind, but never her lips. It was refreshing to know others thought the same sometimes. However, Janeway had a job to do, joking aside, she needed answers and she needed them now.

"What is the last thing you remember? You are human, partly, and from Earth. We can tell that by your British accent but you were wearing a material... Denim I believe it used to be called, that we haven't worn since the 21st century." The slight healthy blush the girl had drained from her face, her fingers clicked as they clenched and she bleached white. That wasn't a good sign, for any of them.

"21st century?... What... What year is this?" The girl licked her lips as if her throat had gone dry, her voice cracked slightly, and although Janeway could tell Red was trying to keep her poker mask strapped on tight, it slipped just a bit, enough for her to know Red was worried. Anxious. Disturbed. Janeway squinted. Why did she look so worried over the date? Edging for her own answer, Janeway answered Red's.

"It is stardate 2371." Red breathed in a jagged, rasping breath as she slid off the med-bed with a shaky push of her arms. Doc tried to graciously steady her but she pulled away, edging around the bed, backing away from them as if they had just declared themselves to be Romulans. Doc tried to placate her worryingly abrupt change in attitude.

"Gir-... May I know your name? I'm Doc, you know Captain Janeway. Now, why does the date disturb you so much?" Red looked at them with wide, slightly panicked eyes, though she hid it rather well behind stone and smooth features. With a harsh swallow, she answered them and opened up a flood of new questions.

"My name's Harry... Harry Potter and yesterday, the year was 1996." Janeway must give credit where it was due, the girl was stronger than she looked. If it had been her in Harry's place, she wasn't sure she would still be conscious. Nethertheless, now she had more answers to find. Reaching up to her chest, Janeway tapped her comm button.

"Captain Janeway to Lieutenant Tuvok, please report to med-bay two as soon as possible. Janeway out."

It had been two hours since the shock of Harry's declaration had rang out loudly. Since then, Janeway, Doc, her first officer, Chakotay and head of security, Lieutenant Tuvok had all convened to go over what little they knew and what their next course of action should be. They, if Janeway was to have this Harry aboard her ship, needed verification of what she had said.

Problem was, her species had no records, they had searched the database extensively for them, and no one on board Voyager knew anything of these 'wizards and witches', apart from Q but like he so often did, he caused the problem only to disappear and leave it to Janeway to fix. So, they needed to know if she was telling the truth, and more than what she had already given them.

Hence Officer Tuvok's suggestion of a mind-meld that had taken them an hour to debate over before finally realizing it was their only tentative option, before bringing it to Harry who was still in med-bay, confined. Harry... After telling her exactly what a mind-meld was, had not taken the suggestion of riffling through her mind as easy as she had her sudden appearance on board. In truth, Janeway couldn't blame her, she would react the same too if someone wanted to go digging through her deepest thoughts, but they had no other option and so Janeway had reluctantly asked for her compliance.

"You want to... You want to invade my mind?!" This time, Harry was sat on a highback chair, plush and comfortable, the little peace offering Janeway could give when demanding so much, around Doc's main desk that had been temporarily transformed into a meeting room. Tuvok sat next to her in preparation that she accepted and the mind-meld would be carried out. Chakotay and Doc stood by her sides, right and left respectively, as she sat on the other side of the desk, facing the indignant and irate redhead. Janeway tried to debunk her accusatory tone. However, when she said it like that... It wasn't really far from the truth.

"Miss. Potter... Harry, if I may? Harry, If there was another option, believe me, I would take it. However, at the moment, we do not have the resources nor skills available to us to do so and time is a sensitive matter when the safety of my crew is at stake. We will not be invading your mind. It is a simple connection that will allow us to give proof to your claims and identity. My security officer, Mr. Tuvok, assures me it will leave no after effects to suffer from." Harry looked down to her fisted hands laying on her lap, forcing them to open and rub the top of her thighs, a nervous tick Janeway would presume. It was a welcome sight, another thing that made the girl more human in her eyes, rather than closer to the being called Q. In that alone, perhaps they could have more trust built between them in time... If Harry went through with the high demand Janeway was asking of her. Harry's tone was biting when she spoke, all sharp consonants and heavy vowels.

"You... You want him to go into my mind and flick through my memories and private thoughts as if it was a bloody pop-up book! What if I said no? What would you do then?" Janeway momentarily closed her eyes, trying to breathe evenly through her nose, out her mouth. She wasn't angry, far from it, she was upset with the circumstances. Normally, she would never demand something like this from a relative stranger, a young one at that, but she had too much balanced on a tightrope and this could be the tilting factor. The girl was powerful, her act of knocking six of her crewmen unconscious with a flick of her wrist and a stick had proven that. What else could she do if the fancy took? Destroy her ship? On the same had, a flip of the coin, if the girl did have good intentions, if Q had been right and she was just a lost girl and Janeway managed to integrate her into her ship and crew, give her a home and a family Harry so obviously needed, then how much help could she offer? Too much to turn away from. She only hoped Harry took her offer. She wouldn't, couldn't force the girl into it. It wasn't right to do so, but she could ask.

"Unfortunately, without proof that what you say is true, our own files lacking in your species, you could be anyone... Be anything. I cannot risk my ship or the crew on your word alone, even if my gut is telling me to do so. I know this is... Invasive. More than I should ask, but it is the only solution we have been able to think of. If you do not comply, I fear you will have to be detained until we reach Earth where your story can be verified and investigated then." Harry scoffed, her arms coming up to fold across her chest. Janeway batted down the wince. Harry knew what that meant, Janeway had told her the very basics of what they were, where they were and an approximation of how far from Earth they had wondered. In this, her resentment was warranted.

"So, I'd be a prisoner for seventy years. That is how long it will take to get back to earth, you said, was it not? And then I'll be nothing more than a guinea pig to poke and prod." Guinea pig? Was that why her people had hidden for so long, in fear of being test subjects like those extinct rodents? Then again, could Janeway very well blame them? Humanity did have a history of fearing the unknown, and from the time Harry claims she was from, Janeway wasn't sure if humanity wouldn't have fallen into that trap once more. But that was in the past. They had come so far from those dark times and if Harry was to live here, in this century, she needed to know not to fear them.

"I can assure you I will not let you be turned into a testing-" Harry straightened in her seat, her spine locking into place as she bored her eyes into Janeway's. Her face gave nothing away and Janeway would have found it disconcerting if she had no previous experience working with Vulcan's and their completely blank state.

"Just do it. If it shows you I mean no harm... If it brings you peace and stops me from being in a box room for seventy years, just do it. Just for the record... I understand. If the places were swapped and I thought my people were at risk... Just... I understand. But can we get it over with?" Janeway breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing over to Tuvok, she gave a sharp jolt of her head, a nod.

"Officer Tuvok... Please proceed." Tuvok gave his own nod, primly swiveled in his chair to face Harry and waited for her to do the same. Harry was slower to react, eyeing Janeway up and down before she grasped the arms of her chair and slowly turned to face Tuvok, arms braced on the chair as if to ground her and stop her running out the room. Although, she did sit as far back in her seat as possible, showing her apprehension at what was to come. Tuvok raised his hand, fingers splayed foreignly, about to touch her face but stalled millimeters away.

"This will not be an entirely comfortable experience. I apologize for any distress it may cause in advance. Please know I will try to accomplish this task in a time frame acceptable with minimal invasion necessary." Harry's jaw clenched but she tilted her head in the affirmative, not daring to speak. Then his fingerpads brushed her face, stilling around her eyes, forehead, and cheek in a weird pattern, eyes locking onto hers. Warm. His fingers were too warm. Or, perhaps, the heat came from knowing what was to come. She didn't like this. She wanted to rip her face away. She wanted to tell them to fuck off. She wanted to be back in Hogwarts, mourning the loss and celebrating the life she thought she would never get to have. For all intents and purpouses, she should be dead right now. Instead, she was here, seconds away from having her memories invaded by some stranger.

"My thoughts, to your thoughts. My mind, to your mind." For a second or two nothing happened, just eyes looking into eyes and fingers on skin... Then it all happened at once. She was a little girl again, cowering in her cupboard, counting Uncle Vernon's steps in fear he was heading her way. One, two, three, four, five. Sigh. He was passed her cupboard. She was safe for another hour or two.

She was jumping in the air, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's angry shouts doing nothing to quieten her enthusiasm and glee for once, trying to grab her acceptance letter before they could burn them all again. It was okay. She had a place to fit in. She belonged somewhere.

Hagrid, smiling at her as he handed her a cake, her first present ever, on her eleventh birthday. She didn't want to eat it, she wanted to keep it forever, that pink, squashed cake. She had a friend.

She was on the Hogwarts Express, vibrating in her seat. Ron. Hermione. Neville. She was in Diagon Alley, rowing on the boat across an onyx river, stars twinkling above her head, gaping in awe at the lofty turrets and regal castle that faded in from the fog. She was being sorted, scoffing at Malfoy, fighting a troll, her scar was burning, she was facing Professor Quirrell with a stone digging into the palm of her hand, hidden in her torn trouser pockets. Scared. Terrified. Her parent's murderer, feet away from her.

The memories came faster, too fast for her to lock onto. They took a turn for the worse, dark now, her life bathed in blackened smoke and cloying death. The basilisk, her heart thumping.

Hermione frozen, enemies of the heir beware, everyone weary of her, ostracized once more. Alone. Scared. Determined. Time traveling, the grim, saving Buckbeak, Sirius Black. Hate. Anger. Disgust. Traitor.

The shrieking shake, the whomping willow. No hate. No anger. No disgust. Family. A promise of a warm home. She wasn't alone anymore. Godfather.

The goblet, her name, swimming, flying, the heat of dragons fire scorching her clothes. The frantic running of bodies as they all tried to escape from the Quidditch game. The skull in the sky. More burning.

The Weasleys, the prophecy, Sirius's death, the anguish, the pain... The anger. Draco, bathroom, blood, the fear... For once of herself and what she was becoming. She hated herself. Loathed who she was. Monsters in human faces.

Dumbledores death, the hopelessness, too heavy, too young, why her?

Running, hiding, trying to find the things even Dumbledore could not find. The deathly hallows. The Horcruxes.

Capture, death, cradling dobby as she sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until there was no more noise left in her, just silence. The silence that faded to war and cries and crimson blood.

Screams. Battles. Death. Lavender's broken and torn body illuminated by the broken window archway. Remus and Tonk ashen, holding each other's hands. Dead. Gone. Sirius. Teddy. Just another war orphan. Just like her. George huddled, broken over Fred's death. Snape's bloody neck. Regret. Anguish. Guilt.

Then peace. Airy. Light. The strange numbness that came with knowing one must die to protect those they love. Determination. It was over. Her lonely walk through the forest, silence once more. Voldemorts taunts, the flash of putrid green.

Nothing. The train station bleached in white. Voldemorts Horcrux that she had housed since she was one, shriveled and decayed. Just because it's inside your head Harry, doesn't mean it's not real.

Breath. Wonder. Pain. Life. The fight. Voldemort going up in ashes. She had won. Victory. Safe...

A strange man in the crowd of her friends in Hogwarts courtyard. The smile. An exaggerated wink. A sucking feeling. Her stumbling. The world dissolving, Hermione crying out, Ron trying to reach for her. Too late. Too far away. Gone. Faded. Janeway's face.

Tuvok snapped back, hand leaving her face as if she had burned him, scarred him and Harry heaved in a breath, her lungs stinging. He skidded back in his chair an inch or two, the legs obnoxiously squeaking against the floor, blinking.

All was eerily silent as he gathered himself, the only sound was Harry's heavy breaths as she tried to get her heart to beat normally. Something was off though. Something was wrong. Harry could feel it. It took her a while to be able to get her eyes to focus properly, everything fuzzy. Doc noticed, so did the Captain, it was only as Tuvok gingerly reached up to wipe away a single drop of water that Harry noticed too. He was crying.

"Captain. I request a few hours off duty to... Regain myself. By that time I will have a full and thorough report of my findings ready for you. Until then, I can say with surety this being... Miss. Potter is of no harm or risk to the crew in any sense and has not been untruthful, neither will she be so in the future. May I be dismissed?" Janeway was frowning deeply, the creases deep and dark, cutting across her pleasant face. Doc, however, simply looked astonished. Janeway slowly nodded, as if unsure of herself.

"Of course, Tuvok. Take as much time as you need." Tuvok was up and out of his chair, out of the room before Harry could fully blink, like a strong gust of wind had carried him away. However, with all the strange behavior, Harry would have to think it over later, she was still having trouble trying to get her mind back in the present and not lost in the dank, dark depths of her memories. In times of distress and need, Harry fell back onto what she was comfortable with. Sarcasm.

"So, should I put my wrists out for the cuffs or start deciding on how I'm going to decorate my cell?" It seemed to have worked as Harry had wanted it to, breaking the large bubble of tension around them. Janeway smiled, the first time Harry had seen her do such a thing, beaming, warm, something that reminded Harry of a cup of hot tea and a cozy chair after a harrowing day. Janeway strolled towards her, holding out something Harry had missed since she had awoken, something that had left her feeling naked without it in her hand or on her person... Her wand. Harry beamed back just as brightly as she took it.

"Welcome aboard Voyager Miss. Potter."

NEXT CHAPTER: Harry's P.O.V, Star-maps, A dubious Klingon dish from an overly affectionate cheif and Vorik...

A.N: I know, no Vorik this chapter, but he should be in the next and I'm super excited to start writing out their interactions. I hope you guys are enjoying this, the front has been a bit quiet, so I'm giving it a chapter or two to slide into things before I hold my hands up and call it a lost cause. I also know nothing really exciting happened this chapter, but this sort of needed to happen. I just didn't see Janeway accepting Harry onto Voyager without at least some form of proof, and lets face it, you can never take what Q says for face value. XD

I have no Beta, so all mistakes are mine. I try to fix them but no doubt some slip through, they always do. If this bothers you too much, I'm sorry.

THANK YOU to all those who followed and favourited. I hope you are enjoying this and want to see what's up next. And a huge THANK YOU to thunder18 who reviewed, this chapters for you and I really do hope you liked it!

As always, if you have the spare time, please drop a review. Not only do they let me know if I'm on the right track and give me a chance to answer questions, they also give me inspiration to add things in, create new twists, tweak plot or to even carry on. So, be a dear and fead the muse ;)

Until next time, I'm out ~carelessdodger