Disclaimer: I don't own Dollhouse, Echo, Laurence, or any of the characters. They are the property of Fox, Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku, etc. I also don't own Harry Potter, etc. He and company belong to JK Rowling.
Story: Who is Echo really? Is Echo really Caroline Farrell? Or is she someone completely different? How did she really get into the Dollhouse? What a laugh. Echo knew all of that. Who is she really? Harry Potter, former savior of the Wizarding World. Now? A broken Doll. But she refused to stay broken.
Set after and AU episode S1.9 ("A Spy in the House of Love") and after and AU during HP book 7.
Spoilers: Definitely, all vague now but there's specific mentions of things that happened in episodes. Major spoilers coming up. EDIT: watch for spoilers up to season finale "Omega" (S1.12).
Warnings: Violence, language, sexual situations, etc.
Pairings: Laurence/Echo (Harry Potter), Topher/Claire, slight Paul/Mellie, slight Paul/Echo, and slight Boyd/Claire.
A/n: Okay, here HP and Dollhouse problems are going to be totally entwined. This is entirely Dollhouse universe with HP problems. The other one is HP characters in DH world, before HP problems start coming in. I'm confusing myself trying to explain, so just read.
Memories That Haunt
Chapter One: Divinity in Haunted Eyes
"One day, Harry Potter just disappeared."
"Disappeared, Daddy? How?" a little red-headed girl asked with wide-eyed horror.
The weary red-headed man smiled grimly, "One day, she just disappeared."
"But why?" his son asked instead.
Ronald Bilius Weasley felt his heart clench.
"When you have the whole world against you, it's best to disappear without a trace. And back then, people feared Harry to the point they wanted her execution. To them, Harry Potter was the next Merlin…or the next Voldemort. With so much power, fear is always the first reaction. Now, it's time to sleep, Hugo, Rose."
Both children whined, but eventually conceded defeat and went to sleep. Ron sighed as he went to the kitchen and poured himself a shot of Firewhiskey.
There was a noise at the entrance to the kitchen and he looked up, seeing his wife Hermione. Her eyes looked at him with slight guilt, but were overshadowed with sorrow and determination.
Ron loved his wife. But he couldn't help staring back with blame in his eyes.
Several years before…
Harry stared at the dogs, breathing slightly labored. She ignored her boyfriend going around frantically, as she let herself start automatically ranting about the cruelty to the animals. She saw the signs of human experimentation too, but if she focused on them she knew she would go ballistic. With the animals, she could at least grasp some semblance at control.
"Humans are pathetic. But they're useful guinea pigs, aren't they Harry?"
She ignored the echoing of past voices in her head, eyes tearing up as she forced herself to keep staring at the caged animals and put all of her focus on them.
"Well, this one's not so human. But he's human enough. I wanted to see the effects of muggle silver nitrate on a werewolf. Beautiful, isn't it?"
Harry's hand shot out and hit the metal, alarming Leo.
"Caroline?" he asked warily.
"I'm sorry, Leo," she whispered. "I had a lot on my mind. Rossum is evil. To do such things to animals."
"I don't think they're just experimenting on animals, babe. You won't believe what else it looks like they're doing."
"Don't call Remus an animal. He's a person!"
"Put down the mutt, Harry. Put it to sleep."
"No."
"Then let it suffer."
Amber eyes stared at her in pain, silver seeping into gold like poison.
There were shouts near where they were and they fled.
Two years later…
"Well, well. I've finally caught up to you," Adelle DeWitt smiled shark-like at her prey.
Harry scowled. "What do you want?"
Adelle smirked, "It's about what you want, Caroline. Or should I say Harry?"
She stiffened up, glaring heatedly at the older woman.
"I don't want anything to do with you."
"But a friend of yours insisted. A…Hermione."
Harry briefly had a look of shock and confusion before masking it and staring impassively at Adelle.
"You ran from the Wizarding World when they were getting ready to get rid of you, disappeared into Freemont college as a student, changed your name to Caroline Farrell, and pretended to be an ordinary person. But you can't really. Not with the memories. I can give you a new life, Harry. A better life. You just need to follow me, and we'll talk details."
Harry clenched her jaw.
Memories. They were all she had. She didn't want them.
"Fine," she gritted out.
Shortly after Harry's disappearance…
"You know, everyone's always said that Harry was the most powerful witch since the time of the Founders. But a lot of us are in denial. Harry's more like Morgan le Fey, the female sorceress strong enough to match Merlin," Hermione sighed, lecturing her own aunt.
"And you want me…to take your friend?"
"Yes, Aunt Adelle. Because they'll find her sooner than later, and they'll kill her. I'd rather you take care of her…and at least she'll never have to deal with those memories again," Hermione forced herself to say.
This was all for Harry's own good.
Even if it killed her to have to let go of her sister in all but blood.
Adelle shook her head. "Alright, Hermione. If you insist."
"Please, Aunt Adelle. Harry needs this. She just doesn't know it."
Current time…
"Amazing, isn't it, Biz," Adelle solemnly said, uncharacteristically downing her glass of scotch.
"I had no idea Echo had such a sordid past. No wonder she looked so familiar to me," Bill 'Biz' Zarella, manager of the pop singer Reyna, murmured, echoing his long time friend's action. The scotch easily passed through his throat.
"Of course, our dear Echo being the illustrious Harry Potter is nothing to laugh at. Imagine the consequences and the problems that came and will come. And almost even better, do you know who Karl William Craft, our beloved Alpha, really is?" resigned sarcasm bled into her words.
"Who?" Biz raised an eyebrow at her in wary amusement.
"Bartemius Crouch Jr."
Biz coughed harshly, having swallowed his liquor wrongly when he heard that.
"Are you serious? I thought his soul was sucked out by a Dementor?"
Adelle's lips curled into a sneer, "You can't really trust the Ministry. You know that, Biz. They'll lie their way through anything."
"But at least we won't ever have to be directly involved with Wizarding matters," Biz toasted to that.
Adelle toasted to that as well, "Well, I do have Harry Potter as an Active. Things will no doubt fall apart in the end. Thank heavens for being muggles, right my dear friend?"
Biz rolled his eyes, "Says you, Adelle. I'm a bloody squib."
"Well, we're in touch with a world we'll never really be a part of. I find it very satisfying that I, a mere muggle, has their Ace in the hole firmly in my pocket."
"Congratulations," he said sarcastically.
They parted ways not too long after that, and Adelle decided she should call her niece –and consequently the only link she had to a world she could only dream of. If it weren't for her niece, she would never have known about the Wizarding World, and all that it could've offered her. There were times where bitterness laced her mind.
"Hermione?"
"Aunt Adelle! How are you?" her niece's voice greeted her happily.
"I'm fine, dear. How's married life treating you?"
There was a pause on the other line. "It's great, Aunty." Her voice was strained.
Adelle pretended that she didn't notice it, "Well, I called to see if you wanted an update on Echo?"
"Is Harry alright? Please, Aunty. I want to know what has been going on," Hermione pleaded.
"Well, just two days ago, Echo was imprinted to be a spy hunter, but she'd asked to be imprinted. She was able to save the Dollhouse and pick out the spy. Laurence is a bit disgruntled by it, but I think the experience has endeared Echo to him a bit."
"That's good to hear. And spy? Who was it?"
"One of Topher's assistants. Ivy, I think her name was."
"I see. So she's doing well then?"
"Of course, Hermione. You know I'm taking excellent care of her."
"I know, Aunt Adelle. I just…Harry means the world to me."
And she heard the absolute sincerity and anguish in those simple words.
"Don't worry, Hermione. Echo will be just fine. Harry will be just fine."
She hung up after they chatted a bit more, and she went to the window in her office that allowed her to see into the foyer of the Dollhouse. She caught sight of Echo wandering around, staring blankly with an empty smile.
Sometimes, Adelle wondered if she imagines the hidden attentiveness in her eyes, despite the numerous times Echo's shown her awareness.
"Miss DeWitt?" Laurence entered, standing in attention and waiting for her to acknowledge him. "You wanted to see me?"
She turned slowly. "Have Echo prepped. You and she shall be traveling to London to meet with Wesley Charles, my counterpart there."
"Ma'am?" Laurence sounded wary.
"I merely want you to meet with Wesley…and apparently we'll be hosting a higher up from the House, so you'll have to pick her up there."
"Higher than you?"
Adelle smiled grimly, "Beyond my power. You remember that lovely show called Firefly and its movie?"
"Uh yes, ma'am," he hesitantly answered.
"Think a bit like Operative standard."
"Oh."
"Oh, indeed. Now go on and start getting ready."
She also wondered if she should warn her niece that her beloved Harry was going to give a visit.
You see, Adelle had a theory. A theory she hadn't discussed with anyone. It was about the level of awareness in her Dolls.
She knew that Alpha and Echo were different from the others, their level of awareness, Echo's still growing, completely alarming because of their ability to retain residue from imprints and for the simple fact that they were able to adapt, step out of the box of parameters they put them in, and even more alarming was their alertness to their surroundings and of the situations they were put in.
The other Dolls weren't to their level, even Whiskey who now lived in the House as Dr. Claire Saunders –and who was putting things together because of the little clues Topher kept leaving behind. But just because Whiskey knew what she was, didn't mean the Doll was aware of who she was and what was really going on. At least, not without clues and not from her own pretty little head.
And why was that?
The difference was magic. Alpha and Echo were both magic users, as opposed to her muggle Dolls. The innate magic in them was able to protect them in some way, so that it protected everything from their memories to their personalities. It was like the magic shielded them from the muggle technology that was supposed to wipe them, but the magic also created a block so that while they retained their memories and personalities, they were on the surface wiped enough to be considered blank slates. And their level of awareness, that was growing, was due to the magic slowly allowing their memories and personalities to seep back in and the block was deteriorating.
As long as the two had magic, the wipes would never really work on them.
That led to the conclusion that it was inevitable that Echo would become that which her niece was trying to keep away.
It was inevitable that Harry Potter would return.
"I'm going to explain something to you, Topher, so that you may create an imprint specific to Echo. Your level of clearance has just been upped once again."
Topher nodded anxiously, watching her cautiously.
"Echo was never really Caroline Farrell, as her records state. She had always been and always will be Henrietta Jamie Potter."
And she explained the significance of that fact and of that name.
When it was all over and done with, she was standing with Laurence as they watched Topher imprint Echo with her original personality, minus the original memories. Granted, she understood that there was a very likely chance that Harry's powers would definitely start to come out now, but it was a risk she was completely willing to take.
It was a risk she actually wanted to happen.
"Do you know who we're meeting, or will Mr. Charles be informing us?" Laurence asked her quietly.
She pressed her lips into a thin line, letting her displeasure at the situation be briefly shown.
"Her name is Evangeline Charleston. That's all I could find out about her."
And knowing how Adelle was, if Laurence could not find out about it then she could. And if she couldn't, then that would make this entirely disquieting.
"I'm counting on you and Echo, Laurence. The two of you should try to find out as much about her as you can. I don't like higher ups nosing in on our business."
"Understood, ma'am. What…is Echo's name in this mission?" he asked hesitantly.
"…Henrietta. She prefers Henrietta."
She liked Harry's formal name better, even though she knew that the Girl Who Lived preferred Harry and that was what everyone else called her. But Henrietta was such a pretty name. And it meant 'leader of the home' in German. Which was fitting, she would think.
Harry had been a leader for the light.
"This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?" Echo asked cheerfully, a bit playfully resigned.
It took a second for Laurence to answer, considering this personality of Echo's was completely different from the usual imprints. It made him a little unsure of her and how to act around her.
"Yes. It'll approximately be around 10 hours minimum flight duration," he answered curtly, still avoiding looking at her.
She looked at him weirdly, and he ignored her following mutterings to herself. "How the hell does he know that? Did he freakin' calculate it himself or something?"
"Come on, Henrietta. We'll be late," he ushered her along.
"Alright, alright, Laurence! I'm coming," Echo pouted, and again Laurence was reminded of how strangely naïve and innocent this version of Echo seemed to be.
Echo caught up to him and hooked her arm around his, grinning as she held onto him.
"Henrietta…" he said stiffly, tensing up.
"Yes?" she drew out the word, grin growing bigger.
"Never mind," he muttered, refusing to make a big deal out of it.
"Come on. We'll be late," she taunted mischievously, echoing his words right back at him.
He couldn't help rolling his eyes.
Started 6/7/09 –Completed 6/7/09
A/n: Okay. First chapters of both fics are out, so you can see a sample and go to the poll. If you want to recast your vote, just leave a review saying so and which ones you had originally voted for and then which one you want to vote for now.
Original characters will be in all fics with the same name, because it's too much of a hassle having the same character and having to give them different names when they're the same person.
Evangeline Charleston is my idea of what role Summer Glau should play second season, which I've created and kept in mind since Dollhouse first started and the idea of borrowing Summer from TSCC (before it was canceled) occasionally for Dollhouse entered my mind. She was originally going to appear first in Happiness in Misery, but you know…
And yes, I've made them AU, because I already dealt with the problem in Happiness, don't want to deal with again with my crossovers. I'm being lazy.
Summarized Timeline for this fic (subject to change):
1998 –Harry's disappearance.
*Hermione approached her Aunt Adelle into coercing Harry into the Dollhouse.
*Harry enters Freemont College and introduces herself as Caroline Farrell.
*Enters into a relationship with Leo.
(-2000)
2000 –Breaks into Rossum lab with boyfriend Leo.
*Flees and goes on the run.
2002 –Adelle catches up to Harry and convinces her to join the Dollhouse.
*Becomes Echo.
2003 –Alpha incident.
*(three months later) the series start.
*(mid-year)the story starts, after "A Spy in the House of Love"