One of One

by zArkham

As the USS Voyager becomes embroiled in the war between the Borg & Species 8472, a strange anomaly is detected on the Borg Cube where Captain Janeway is negotiating for the life of her crew and maybe for all life in the Delta Quadrant. Within that anomaly hides a centuries old secret. A being who found that resistance was not futile and will continue to resist till the end.

7. Brig

PRIME DIRECTIVE: S pace may be the final frontier, but I'll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc...except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used that content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

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CHAPTER NOTES: This is an EXTENSIVELY exposition heavy chapter. You've been warned…but there will be lots of death by knives next chapter, I promise. Also, if you have Janeway on a pedestal…well you just might be a tad disappointed in this chapter.

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CHAPTER SEVEN – BRIG

(Episode: No comparable episode; loosely based on the ST:VOY Season 5 episode 30 Days)

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PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER: "You have to find out who you are aside from what the media say you are. If you've become reliant on them for kind of a sense of self, then you're really screwed." Daniel Radcliffe – English actor and producer – 1989-Present

LAST UPDATED ON: 04-27-2021

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Captain's Log; Supplemental, Star Date 51120.6. Crew morale has dropped dramatically in the last few weeks as the news of the goings-on in the Alpha Quadrant have spread throughout the ship. The Maquis crew have been especially hard hit. There even was a rough patch where many of the Maquis felt that if they had not been trapped in the Delta Quadrant that they may have made a difference. This ignited resentment against my decision to save the Ocampa. Luckily, this was diffused by V'Lana and the Maquis she rescued. As Thomas Riker told me, "Chakotay's people would have been as helpful as a few more shuttles up against a Borg Cube."

Added to this was the incident between Tom and Harry. No one is happy with my decision and that includes myself. However, I have to weigh not only the now of ship operations but the future. Harry Kim represents the future and needs to be molded properly if he can be the officer I believe he can grow into. As for Paris, my heart goes out to him that he had to take the fall. However, given previous reprimands, to say nothing of what Harry Potter threatened him with, I feel Tom's actions were generally poor.

Sadly, I can't tell the crew any of this. I wish I could but transparency in this case would wreck the delicate balance of the now and the future I'm trying to maintain.

OoOoO

Tom Paris, Personal Log, Star Date 51120.2. What do you know? I'm in prison again! I guess few will be shocked by this. Have to say, though, that for all the juvenile reeducation facilities, detention centers and outright prison, Voyager's brig is the worst. Nothing to do but stare at the walls. Do they expect me to stare at the lights and come to enlightenment? So far, I'm on Day 5 with 25 more days of this torture prettied up as discipline. What else can you call this? I haven't been given any tasks to keep me busy. No sims to help me 'work through my feelings' and the like. Maybe the Captain just up and forgot we don't have a counselor on board who'd be making this time more productive. All I have is this room with no doors, no windows or screens. Just a bed and fresher unit. I can't even control the lights. I get 15 hours of light and I'm in darkness for the rest. You'd think they'd at least program the lights to respond to my movement! I'm literally being kept in the dark here!

All I can do is think. Ever since they beamed me into the secure brig, I've run my mind over what happened. Okay, hanging out with Treana as much as I did was probably a bad call. But Orion pheromones be damned, she was fun! So many of the crew still have their Starfleet approved broomstick up their ass. Hell, that's what attracted me to B'Elanna in the first place. She, at least, saw a lot of the Starfleet crap for the bullshit it is. But put some lieutenant commander dots on her collar and she turned into a good little ranker.

Not that I'm blaming her. She's been looking for acceptance her whole life. I wish I could get the same. Treana made me laugh. Sure, she laughed at my stuff but I'm not stupid. While I don't believe the bullshit myth that Orion women can mold themselves into whatever they need to find the best mate they can, I do know they are very good at being who they think they need to be to survive. It's one of the reasons that Orion slave girls was such a thing. That and their pheromones made them great house prostitutes given the marks got beguiled and were easy to take for everything the house could squeeze out of them.

I have served with Orions before so it's not like I'm a newbie like Harry. He's lucky he was dealing with me and not an Orion male. One of them would have totally fucked Harry up. People who talk about how ruthless and cunning Ferengi are haven't served with Orions before. Of course, it's not like many of them ever go into Starfleet. Most would fit in as fanatical troops of Chaotica.

I wonder how Harry's taking all this? He's such a wreck when it comes to women! Potter told me that I chase after women I can't have. As much as I hate to admit how true that may be, at least I go after real women. If we had a counselor, Harry would be in big trouble over falling for a holodeck character. I, at least, knew to keep boundaries with Treana. Give an Orion an inch and they will take a mile. Poor Harry gave up a lot of miles.

Of course, I will get him back at some point. Nobody breaks Tom Paris' nose and gets away with it. Right now, I'm more pissed about that then getting demoted.

HIGH SECURITY BRIG, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 386, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51121.1

Tom rolled over when he heard a pop and felt a slight breeze brush over him. Something that should be impossible in a cell built directly into one of the main bulkheads that held Voyager together. He looked around his cell for any hint of what made the noise which was impossible given it was completely dark.

A darkness which abruptly ended as patch of blue flames appeared in the left hand of Harry Potter.

Tom was rather proud that he didn't yelp in surprise over this.

Harry took the few steps to the fresher and with a wave of his right hand, created a vase which he transferred the blue flame into. He gestured again and a plush chair appeared into which he promptly sat down in. "You want a chair, Tom? Or you okay with the bed?" Harry asked.

"Can the chair come with a beer?" Tom asked a bit sarcastically.

Harry chuckled, "I don't see why not." Another gesture and another chair appeared along with a small table with two full pint glasses filled with an amber liquid.

Tom got up and sat down as well. He took a drink of the beer. It was cool and hoppy. "I thought you couldn't create food?"

Harry shrugged, "I didn't create it. I summoned it. I've become quite the bartender for Voyager. So I have been busy transfiguring various things. Sadly, it may taste like beer but until hydroponics starts growing something we can make into an alcoholic, beer-like liquid, all I can do is simulate the taste unless I use a replicated alcohol first. I'm sure you're well aware of how often that is allowed to happen. I find it ironic that synthehol is harder to replicate as the real thing."

Tom scowled, "Yeah. I can't believe after all this time we haven't done that. I mean I know we always had other things we needed to grow and replicator rations were always tight. Still you figure it would be easier to do some home-brewing, no matter how bad and then feed that into the replicator. A lot less energy to replicate when your base material is similar to what you're trying to make."

Harry laughed at this. "I find it ironic that your replicators sort of have the same restrictions as magic. Sure, you can't create a beer from scratch, but transfiguring one alcohol into another isn't too power intensive. I'll talk to Neelix about it. I'm sure we can stash a still around here somewhere."

Tom took another sip from his beer, "Of course Janeway and Tuvok would space themselves before they let us drink real alcohol. I was shocked they allowed it after our sims with all the new crew. But I doubt you popped in here to discuss Voyager's lack of a pub. So, what gives?"

Harry drank deeply from his own glass, "Well I wanted to check up on you. My visit here is unsanctioned and nobody, not even the main computer knows I'm here. Any review of the security logs will have you tossing and turning a bit before finally sleeping. So we can chat for as long as we like without anyone the wiser."

Tom raised an eyebrow at that, "Why do you feel the need to check up on me. I'm bad boy Paris who needs to be locked away from the impressionable young officers lest I corrupt them."

Harry gave Tom a flat look, "I know you're joking but just stop. I'm fully aware you got railroaded by Janeway. She had a choice and it seems to me that she felt that you were worth scapegoating over really putting the screws to Kim. You've been around the block, Tom. I'm sure you picked up on that."

Tom sighed and finished his beer. "Can I get another? And maybe some food that isn't bland as hell?"

Harry waved his hand and Tom's drink refilled and two baskets of fish and chips appeared.

"How come you don't use your wand?" Tom asked as he gleefully began to dig into the food.

Harry shrugged, "I used it at first because I was unused to using my body again. However, I don't really need to do it. I am the Wand and the Wand is me now. In fact, I learned quite early that the last bit of magic of Earth lives on in me. Maybe someday it will fade and I'll finally be able to age and die. Till then, I'm stuck being immortal unless something tough and nasty enough kills me."

"So why are you here?" Tom asked after the pair had fallen into a silence as they ate.

"I figured you and I could help each out," Harry said after swallowing some chips.

Tom laughed, "Well first off, I can't see how I can help a wizard like you. Plus, I'm sort of busy rotting in the brig here."

Harry smiled, "Well it's because I'm a wizard that I need your help. I happened to be browsing through the holodeck options and was surprised that your garage sim is private but still publicly viewable."

Tom blinked at this, "Well sure, it's only private because I didn't want people using it without knowing what they were doing. Safety protocols are great and all but Starfleet has a long history of issues with holodeck technology. I figured if anyone wanted to play grease monkey, I'd want to show them the ropes first."

Harry swiped a chip in some ketchup, "Sounds prudent. Especially given Voyager is sort of a test ship that never got a full check after the maiden voyage." Harry popped the chip in his mouth.

"Any reason why you were interested in my garage sim? Don't you wizards fly around on broomsticks?" Tom asked.

"Yes we do. But some of us wizards had access to a motorcycle that was charmed to fly. My godfather Sirius created it and I tinkered with it a lot after the war. I don't know about you, but I found the simple work on the engines and the like soothing. I even got into working on rotary airplane engines when I found out my paternal grandfather flew Spitfires during World War II."

Tom blinked in surprise, "Really? I've actually flown a sim of one of those. Of course, I've flown pretty much everything with wings. I love to fly."

Harry nodded, "I know. As much as everyone loved me for my skills at being a Quidditch seeker, I simply loved to fly."

"Okay, so we both like to fly and tinker. How am I supposed to help you with that?" Tom asked.

"Because I want you to adapt your garage sim so I can work on things as well," Harry said.

OoOoO

"So what's it going to be today, Mr. Wizard?" Tom asked as the pair appeared into the holodeck on the Phoenix. Of course, it was more appropriately a holoroom since it was only about the size of the mess hall on Voyager.

"As much as working on the planes has been fun this last week, I figured today we could do something a bit different," Harry said as the bracer around his right wrist morphed into a full armored glove. From his index finger, a computer interface formed and Harry jacked into the system.

Tom laughed, "I find it funny how you just don't tell the computer what to do."

Harry shrugged, "Perhaps I don't like to announce what I'm doing. Plus, I can do a lot while jacked in like this. I'm not only calling up the programming but getting an update on a lot of things. I like to multi-task.

Tom looked around curiously as the room changed around him. To Tom, the room didn't look like it would be out of place in Utopia Planitia. Tom had been there a few times to know. "Want some help on the Phoenix? Or wanting to upgrade the Marianne? Oh! Are we going to look at what we can do to turbo-charge the Equinox?"

"None of the above!" Harry said with a grin. "I think you'll like what I've got planned for today. Remember last time we got to talking about the captain's gig?"

"The Aeroshuttle? Now there is a sweet ride. I wish the Captain would let us use it more. Of course, we rarely need something to cruise around inside a planetary atmosphere for," Tom replied.

"Well I said something to Ensign Kim the other day about it and he brought up your desire to design a more robust shuttle. Given that the Phoenix is pretty much an over-sized runabout, we still need something better than the Class 2 shuttles. They just aren't capable enough in the Delta Quadrant," Harry explained.

"Thank you! I've been saying that for almost a year now!" Tom said enthusiastically. "So, I take it we're going to work on my Delta Flyer design?"

"That we are, Tom!' Harry said with a grin.

OoOoO

Tom leaned back in his chair as he watched the screen begin to run a simulation related to changes to the hull to allow for more stress to be handled by the hull itself instead of hull integrity fields. Tom felt that Starfleet ships relied on them too much. They were fine on most ships, but a deep-space exploration vessel like Voyager? No. He'd rather not worry about hull breaches simply because there wasn't enough power to go around during an emergency. If Tom had learned one thing doing all the sims with Commander Tahl was there was way more useful things to do with energy than having to shore up one's hull integrity fields.

He swiveled his chair towards where Harry was standing and manipulating hard light simulating parts of the ship. He recognized it as coming from the same vintage movie Harry's armor came from. Tom had to wonder why this technique hadn't been used before. He felt it would be another in a long line of life imitating art. Of course, on various things like this, Harry had told him it probably was due to World War III. Earth had been devastated and before they'd barely began to bootstrap themselves back up; they were thrown into the galactic civilization. Why develop your own tech when there was so much proven technology just lying around?

Still watching Harry move the simulation around and having the computer make real time adjustments seemed such a better way of doing things. Tom wondered if this was another example of the 'nerfing' that Harry had talked to the Doctor about. The Doctor had done a lot of thinking after his talk with Harry and Tom was often a sounding board for those thoughts. Well he had been before the fight with Harry Kim over Treana. That reminded Tom of something Harry had said.

"So, Harry. You mentioned you were talking to Harry the other day. How is Janeway's pet project?" Tom asked.

Harry chuckled, "Gee Tom, why don't you tell me how you really feel?"

Tom simply scowled in reply.

Harry chuckled again, "Just yanking your chain, Tom. As to Ensign Kim, he's not doing too well. You're a popular guy and I think quite a few people feel that you were the one that got demoted and tossed into the brig because you had the rank to lose. So there's been a bit of a push-back on him. Personally, while I see Janeway's reasoning, I feel she had ample cause to just give you two a warning and some extra duty and loss of replicator rations for a month and call it good. Besides, Treana has been moved permanently to Astrometrics with Seven."

Tom rolled his eyes, "I'm not sure that's any better."

Harry shrugged as he guided the two simulated pieces of the warp nacelles into place before making a face at the numbers generated and pulled them back again. "Seven is still plenty Borg enough not to have Treana's pheromones affect her. Given that we are still far from Starfleet, I'm sort of surprised she's not forced into using a suppressor like the Deltans have to use."

Tom shook his head, "Deltans sexuality aura is an esper trait. It can be suppressed without interfering with all other cognitive functions. After some initial discomfort, Deltans can wear them without any issues. Pheromone suppressors Starfleet tried ended up causing some long-term health issues for the Orions using them. Today, if you have any Orion crew-members, they are assigned to ships with Federation races which aren't affected."

"Well given that a good chunk of the original Orion Empire fleet mutinied to formed the basis for the Orion pirate clans, I could see why Starfleet might be a bit leery of having an all Orion crew even after all this time," Harry said as he began to rearrange the aft section of the Delta Flyer sim.

"Exactly," Tom agreed. "Still, to many people don't realize that the pheromones aren't as powerful as the stories say. You can focus through it. I certainly was doing just that although no one believes me."

"I believe you, Tom," Harry said.

Tom was about to continue his rant before Harry's words penetrated, "You...you do?"

Harry nodded as he waved his left hand and the engine nacelles disappeared and a different configuration appeared. "Tom...look I know we didn't get off on the right foot at first."

"Having one's nuts and throat held at knife-point is a bit of a downer, true," Tom deadpanned.

"True. But look, I think the last fortnight would at least made you realize that I'm not holding a grudge. I'll also freely admit that coming after you so soon after me being 'me' again wasn't right and I'll apologize, again, for it. So yes, Tom. I do believe you especially I know from personal experience why you can do what you did."

Tom blinked at this. Belatedly he realized that he and Harry had bonded pretty well over the last 10 days. At first it was mostly just silently working on their different engines or vehicles while the radio play old time music. But over time, Tom had opened up and the two had started talking. Tom had found that Harry actually could relate to a lot of the issues Tom had growing up. Not that Harry had an admiral for a father, but having people working to force him to be something he wasn't.

"Okay, so I'll bite. How come you aren't blowing me off like everyone, even the Doc?" Tom asked.

"Well back on Old Earth, there was a race of magical beings called Veela. They are the basis for a lot of the myths of sirens. Veela had a magical aura not too dissimilar to what Deltans have. The difference was the Veela's aura was enough to turn most men into love-obsessed idiots. However, depending on certain meditative aides or just a strong will, one could ignore the Veela's alure," Harry explained.

"Okay, that sounds good, but how does that relate to me?" Tom asked.

Harry sighed and stopped working on the sim for a moment. "If there is one thing we both share is a love of flying. And flying the way we do takes discipline. You have to be very aware of everything around you and at the same time be able to tune it out and focus on where you're going and where you need to be and how not to crash while getting there. That takes a kind of focus most people just don't have. It's also why I'm with you and your push to have more tactile navigation controls. You fly better when you can feel the ship. You can't get that pushing buttons."

Tom nodded with a fierce grin, "Damn straight!"

Harry gave a grin in return, "So yes, I do believe that you were very much aware that Treana's pheromones were in play but you didn't let them affect you too badly. Kim? That boy took one whiff and let his dick do the thinking. It's sad. After three years in the Delta Quadrant, I would have expected better from someone in his position."

Tom huffed, "Harry has always had relationship issues. If we had a counselor on board, he'd be in therapy right now. So would I...but then again, I've got you."

"Well you can't live for over a hundred years and fight in two wars without learning a few things," Harry said as he started working on the ship design again. Left unsaid was two century exile on the Borg Cube.

The computer behind him beeped so Tom turned back to see what the sim he had been running said. The two worked in silence on their various projects as music from the 80's and 90's played. Tom still preferred the era of classic 50's rock but he had to admit Harry's music was growing on him.

"You know Tom…" Harry said before stopping himself.

Tom swiveled around again, "Yes?"

Harry had an unsure look on his face. Not something Tom was used to seeing. Finally the seemingly young wizard continued. "Look, I am not a counselor but I think that maybe on this you might want to continue being a bit defiant. Maybe wait till after we link up with the Equinox. That should be a few days after you get out of here anyway. For all she's the captain, I don't think Janeway is handling certain things well. I've been talking a lot with Neelix and I think that too often your captain is making decisions which might be good for Voyager but not for the Delta Quadrant. That and I think what some of the crew says is true. You folks are still acting like you could be home in time for Christmas. She can't keep running the ship like she has been."

Tom leaned back in his chair, "So what mutinous actions are you expecting me to keep doing?"

Harry smirked, "I'm wanting you to do what is right over what is easy. Plus, it will save the damsel. As Captain Proton, you should like that."

Tom laughed bitterly at that, "Now wait a minute. You went on and on about how all those serials were filled with terrible, old fashioned ideals that have no place in the world of today."

Harry nodded, "I did. And I still feel that way. It would be nice if Penelope Pureheart or whatever she's called in your serial would save your miserable butt for a change. However, what I'm talking about is one aspect of Captain Proton I can empathize with. It's all about saving people. Doing the right thing for the right reason can be hard. Believe me I know. I used to save people for all the wrong reasons. I got away with it because I was saving people."

Tom looked confused, "You're losing me, Harry."

Harry chuckled, "Look, we humans are complicated people. And we're still a young race. For all we like to think we're not that bad, the Vulcans are right. We suck. We humans get away with it because we still manage to get shit done. But the truth is, under the veneer of progress, the humans of 24th Century really aren't that different from those back in my time. And that's sad. But what I'm trying to say in our case is we're both adrenaline junkies."

Tom smirked, "Okay I'll agree with that."

Harry laughed, "I figured you would. See I used to save people because I was primed to be the hero. But worst, underneath all that was the underlying belief that I was a freak and a burden. So I could risk my life because to me, my life wasn't worth that much. I ended up doing so many things I thought were right for all the wrong reasons. It took me a long time to begin to realize that the life I'd been taught to believe I wanted wasn't what I wanted all along. Unlike you, though, I didn't rebel."

Tom was about to deny that last bit but bit his tongue. It didn't take my introspection for Tom to realize a lot of his action were taken because he had been called a bad boy so often that he had embraced it.

Harry smirked at that, "I guess being in the brig has helped. Yes Tom, most of your bad boy personae is just you pushing back on all the ways your family, Starfleet and society wanted to mold you. Your problem is that for too long, you've kept focusing on what they're doing to you and not thinking about what who you are supposed to be. It's like what I told B'Elanna and Seven, it's hard to be yourself when you don't know who you want to be. You and B'Elanna might actually have made a good couple because you might have been able to help each work on similar problems you have."

Tom frowned at this but finally nodded, "Yeah...I guess you're right about that. I've been thinking about B'Elanna a lot and I realized that you were right. I was chasing the B'Elanna I had in my head. The B'Elanna who did a lot of things I liked. But she is a lot more than those things and if she worked her issues through...well she wouldn't be that B'Elanna anymore, right? I think in the long run, I would have simply been trying to mold her into the B'Elanna I wanted and not the B'Elanna she needed to find for herself.""

Harry nodded, "Exactly. I'll tell you something I've never told anyone before. Before the end, I really started to resent my family. Don't get me wrong; I loved my children. I even loved my wife Ginny. The truth, however, is that after the war, I let forces push me into this supposed fairy tale wedding. Ginny wasn't emotionally ready for it and neither was I. Worse is we all felt Ginny would make it in professional Quidditch and I'd fight corruption as an auror. None of that happened."

"What did happen?" Tom asked quietly. He didn't want to spook Harry given the wizard was a gold mine of information, but almost never talked about his past in other than very general ways.

"Well one day I woke up like it was any other day. I showered and shaved and had breakfast with my family like always. For some reason that day, while reading the Daily Prophet I realized I had turned into my uncle," Harry said sadly. "Oh, I wasn't abusive or anything, but I was just going through the motions. Day in and day out, the same thing over and over again. I wasn't fighting corruption; I was just another auror doing a job that's long on boredom and thin on exciting crime fighting. I lost more blood to paper-cuts filling out forms then I ever did fighting bad guys after the war. And Ginny? After a disastrous single season in Quidditch, she just sort of gave up and turned into her mum. It's like she just stopped being her own person. She went from the feisty gal I went to school with to her being Mrs. Potter. She stopped being Ginevra and became almost an extension of me. She existed only relative to me being her husband and her being the mother to my kids. Life was peaceful, filled with family and friends and I was utterly bored to death."

Tom chuckled softly, "Well they always say a lifetime of service is 19 years and 11 months of boredom and one month of sheer terror."

Harry gave a wan smile, "And I had gotten all of the sheer terror knocked out in my school years." Harry looked away, a sad look on his face. "The truth I didn't want to face for the longest time was deep, deep down, I was happy that the world was ending. I had a quest again. Me against terrible odds and at the end, the day is saved just like in a Captain Proton adventure. And what's even worse than that? Ginny finally got a clue. She finally realized I didn't love her and probably would have divorced her years before, even with the kids. I didn't because that's not what something society would have allowed me to do. The Hero does not divorce from the Damsel he saved."

Tom gave a small grunt of agreement, "But we don't live in a Captain Proton episode."

Harry turned back with a haunted look in his eyes, "No. They say we live in the hells of our own making. I walked into mine because I didn't question the path I'd been put on. I went to my death being guided, some might say artfully manipulated, doing what I thought I was supposed to do. So what did I do after returning from the other side? When finally my strings were cut and I was free? I meekly put my chains back on and did what I was expected to. I didn't know enough to have the courage to do what I should have done."

Tom realized that, in a way, he'd been doing the same thing all his life. His father wanted him to do something and Tom always worked to do the opposite. For all his rebellion against his father, he wasn't doing it for himself, but in response to his Dad's action. He'd been allowing his father's actions to dictate everything he did. He wasn't being a rebel; he was just doing whatever would piss his dad off the most. For all those years he thought he'd been sticking it to the old man, Tom had always been reacting to something his Dad had done. Had he ever truly done anything because he wanted to do it?

Tom watched Harry. It was obvious the wizard was lost in thought. Lost in memories over three centuries old. Thoughts which had been buried before Starfleet or the Federation existed. He also realized what Harry had been trying to tell him. Until Tom could figure out who Tom Paris really was, he was still just the rebellious son to Admiral Paris...and he always would be. It explained why the captain felt it so easy to punish him. He'd practically dared her to do so when Tuvok brought him in for the official dressing down. Giving her the finger probably hadn't helped.

Finally, Harry looked up, his green eyes almost glowing, "To get back to the question at hand, I think you need to defy Janeway in regard to Treana. I'm not saying she is going to be your true love or anything. Maybe it'll just be a lot of sweaty sex and that's it. My point is you were in control and you are one of the few on the ship who can actually handle her. You should be allowed that chance. The fact that Kim got himself infatuated to the point of fighting you and breaking your nose is beside the point. Sure, you were breaking a direct order from your captain. But it was an order she shouldn't have made in the first place. Voyager needs to be less of a ship with a captain with complete power and more like a mobile city. You and Treana are both adults and she's a civilian. In fact, everyone who didn't graduate Starfleet are civilians no matter what rank you toss their way. You shouldn't have to suffer for Janeway trying to protect one of her junior ensigns she's trying to mentor up the ranks."

Tom was silent for a moment. "Fine. But I feel there is a personal reason on your end that's driving this. Just because I like your advice, I think you're pushing some of your past faults into your advice. So what gives?"

Harry looked startled before Tom's point dawned on him. Then Harry's face broke into a lop-sided grin, "Good catch Tom. I guess our talks have helped. You're right though. I am trying to keep you from doing something which happened to me."

"Let me guess, a woman is involved?" Tom said with a smirk.

"Isn't there always? Yes there was. Two in fact. I was getting interested in the first when things started to go to hell in the war. To this day I have my suspicions that some love potions were involved as that relationship suddenly went from developing to forgotten in the span of about a month. The second was with a friend that had been by my side since the beginning. When things were darkest, when Ron bailed leaving us as two against everyone, she was there. Neither of us had been very good at going with what we wanted. She ended up with Ron because she felt she wasn't good enough for me; the Hero, the Chosen One. So she settled on my friend as the next best thing. Me? I didn't go after her even as I didn't think Ron wasn't good for her because I felt it was a terrible thing to do to them. Looking back, everything would have been a lot better if I'd done what was best for the both of us and told everyone else to bloody well fuck off," Harry said sadly.

Harry looked away, "I miss my kids but in looking back, they really weren't my kids. They were Ginny's and by extension, the greater Weasleys. No matter how hard I tried to create my own family traditions, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny always put a stop to it. In a sense, for all that Ginny became my wife, I might as well have been Mr. Weasley given how little of the Potter family I was able to interject. I was cheated out of trying to rediscover what the War had taken from my family. For all Mrs. Weasley meant well, she pretty much finished what Voldemort started. My kids were Weasleys no matter what their last name was."

Tom shook his head. Harry had told him a bit about the Magical Houses and that his own family had roots back before the Romans had invaded Britain. "That's some top-level bullshit, Harry."

Harry laughed weakly but still kept staring at the wall, "I know, right? And I just meekly went along with it. Just like Mr. Weasley, I just did what I was told. Face a Dark Lord? Not a problem. Stand up to my mother-in-law and wife? Nope, I folded like a bad hand in poker. The thing is while I do miss my kids and even Ginny, I know a lot of it is I feel like I'm supposed to feel that way. Because not too proves I'm a terrible person."

Harry looked back at Tom, "Yet I know that if I had them back and a call came in to go fly off and play the hero? I'd be on the first transport to the front lines. No matter how much they are truly my family, they came to feel to me like a prop. Just another part of the scenery in a Chosen One serial episode. Not real at all."

Tom threw up his hands, "Well all this sort of kills the innovative mood. How about you magic up some serious drinks, we kill some liver cells to the point where even the Doc can't revive them and we toast to fucking our lives up? Then we can talk about women, tell lies about what we did with said women and forget about everyone's expectations of us for a few hours?"

Harry made a gestured which saved and exited the sims that had been on standby the whole time, "Mr. Paris, I am proud to be a part of this plan!"

XxXxX

CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 384, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51142.4

Harry took note of the suspicious looks the bridge crew gave him as he was escorted by two security personnel to the captain's ready room. The door swished open to reveal Captain Janeway looking stern behind her desk, her elbows on her desk with fingers interlaced before her.

"That will be all," Janeway said to the security types who nodded and left. The door swished closed behind them.

Harry tried hard not to smirk. A lecture was coming. It was written all over Janeway's face. He wondered if she'd trot out the "I expected better from you" or maybe McGonagall's old favorite, "Your behavior is deeply disappointing." Still, Harry thought it prudent to help remind Janeway of who she was dealing with before the dance began. So with a wave of his hand, he conjured a chair and sat down without asking. "So, you wanted to see me, Captain?"

The stern look turned into a scowl, "Yes I did. I wanted to give you a chance to explain your actions."

Harry crossed his legs, grabbed his chin with his right hand and leaned his right elbow onto the armrest, "Can you be a bit more specific? I've got quite a few irons in the fire."

Janeway's eyebrows knotted as her scowl intensified, "You damn well know what I'm talking about! There is only one person who could get Ensign Paris out of the secure brig cell and that's you."

Harry shook his head, "Actually if she put her mind to it, I'm betting Seven of Nine could do it. Actually a few of the former drones might be able to do it. Of course, I think only Seven would be able to cover it up. Come to think of it, V'Lana probably could as well. So, I take it Tom wasn't where he was supposed to be as needed? Did he miss one of the ping-pong matches?"

Janeway stood up, leaning forward with her palms on her desk, "I don't have time to play 20 questions, Mr. Potter. Paris was not in his cell for at least 3 hours today. Computer records can account for everyone on the ship and on the Marianne except for you."

"Never mind you can't track me when I'm on the Phoenix. Or you can't track me if I'm onboard Voyager if I don't want you knowing I'm here. That little fact aside, how about you ask me a question first before just accusing me, hmmm?" Harry said with a slight smirk.

"You're the one answering questions, Mr. Potter. It is you who are interfering in ship's business," Janeway pointed out.

Harry leaned back in his chair, "Ah, so I'm interfering supposedly by sneaking Tom out of the brig. That's what you're saying, right?"

"Mr. Potter, we don't have to play this game. Tuvok was able to sense Paris; discomfort when asked whether or not he was with you. I want to know why," Janeway said tightly.

"Ah...alright then! Now we're getting somewhere!" Harry said with a predatory smile. "So remind me again on the legality of self-incrimination using telepathic races against non-telepathic races against their consent and without legal counsel? I seem to recall seeing something like that while reviewing info the Borg had assimilated after the battle of Wolf 359."

Janeway seemed startled by this but she recovered quickly, "That is not the issue here. It is not your place to be removing Paris from his confinement. Plus, it is a gross violation of trust on your part and I'm deeply disappointed in your actions."

Harry couldn't help but break up laughing, "Wow! Under five minutes and you're already channeling my old transfiguration teacher. Well, Kathy, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I've been told that life is full of disappointments. That and they build character whatever that's supposed to mean."

Janeway blinked at this before recovering, "Mr. Potter, you are a guest on my ship…"

"WRONG!" Harry bellowed as he suddenly jumped to his feet. This startled Janeway enough that she fell back into her chair.

Harry thrust out his arm and pointed an accusing finger at the captain, "Voyager is not YOUR ship! You keep acting like it's your personal yacht and everyone else is just along for the ride. But that's a bunch of bloody bullshit! Everyone on this ship owns a part of it because they've earned it. They've been earning it every day they fight to stay alive here in the Delta Quadrant. Maybe it's easy to forget how many people it takes to make your orders happen but you bloody well better start realizing that the crew still accepts the whole command structure out of inertia! At some point they are going to wonder why are they playing by Starfleet rules when they are half a galaxy away? I don't care what your rank says. They won't take it forever."

Janeway moved to get up but found somehow she was stuck to the chair, "I'm the captain of this ship! It's my responsibility to maintain order for the good of all the crew."

Harry threw up his hands and did a little jig in place, "Ewww! Look at me! I'm the CaaAAAptain!" he said in a mocking, falsetto voice.

Harry's arms dropped to his side and his whole body went so still as to be chilling. His eyes seemed to gleam with menace. "I don't give a bloody fuck-all about what Starfleet says about who is in charge on this ship because it's almost meaningless. Neelix tried to point this out to you but none of your senior staff can see outside the box either. You keep acting like Voyager is just a ship, a ship that you can run by fiat. The truth is, Voyager is now a mobile city like I recently told Tom. And yes, I have been taking Tom out of his cell. Instead of letting him brood for 30 days, I've been bonding with him, teaching him and learning from him. Oh and we got a really snazzy design of the Delta Flyer ready that's really going to knock everyone's socks off. So forgive me if I don't give a rat's ass how you feel about me doing so."

Janeway continued to try and get up even as she was wondering how long Harry Potter had been stealing Paris away from his confinement.

Ignoring her, Harry began to pace, "I'm telling you Kathy, you and your senior staff need to get better at facing up to the issues on board. You can't keep running this ship under military discipline, telling people who they can or can't sleep with and expect to get anywhere. I get you were trying to protect Ensign Kim but why did you have to punish Tom? Was it because you felt you had to do something? Or are you starting to realize the reality of things and felt you needed to crush any semblance of rebellion against your rule?"

"What are you talking about? You make me sound like some barbaric 20th Century despot!" Janeway said hotly.

Harry laughed again, "There you go again! Please check your 24th Century egotism please! Let me tell you something, Captain Kathryn Janeway, but you, Starfleet, and most of the humans in the Federation are laboring under this delusion that you have advanced past the dark ages of our collective human past. Let me tell you, as someone from that dark past, that you haven't. Humanity has barely changed at all. V'Lana tells me that the Federation Council, made up mostly of humans, is violating rights with abandon, spying on people with a secret police even! Oh yes, there are those pesky shapeshifters to deal with. Yet when the chips are down, wow, did the supposedly advanced Federation go right for what was easy rather than what was right. You just up and said that Tuvok used his Vulcan powers on Paris! Let me guess, Tom wouldn't answer your questions, you couldn't take no for an answer and Tuvok, bless his Vulcan heart, has been around us corruptive humans long enough not to tell you to blow yourself out the airlock for asking him to violate law, custom and his morals."

"You are a dangerous unknown! You're proving it right now! I needed to know!" Janeway said.

Harry rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in disgust, "Listen to yourself! You're proving my point! You just can't see the danger, can you? Of course, not because you're too stupid to see it. And you know what? I am too! So is most of humanity! Because we're barely out of the cradle! You 24th Century people forget that humans have only got off the ground in the last 500 years! That's a blip to the rest of the galaxy! That's not even three generations of Vulcans! Most races have been civilized for longer than humans have known how to make fire! And yet there you sit, with your Starfleet rank and boldly go wherever the hell you want because you won't admit that at its core, Starfleet is run by a bunch of smart monkeys who can't wait to see what's over the horizon and poke it with a stick! I should know because I've been one of those types since I was 11 and I got on my first broomstick."

Janeway tried to speak but no sound came out. Worse, while she wasn't completely paralyzed by whatever Harry had done to her, she couldn't move her hands enough to press the emergency button.

Harry stared at her for a moment before making an airy gesture, "Let me ask you something Kathy. You're having a typical day at Starfleet Academy. You and a few of your classmates are on the grounds just taking in the sun and worrying over the upcoming warp field dynamics test when there is a loud explosion from a nearby building. What do you do?"

"What do you mean?" Janeway asked.

Harry leaned closer to her, "There's been an explosion on campus, you can see the smoke billowing out of the building? What. Do. You. Do?"

Janeway scowled, "Well of course I'm going to go and assist in any way I can!"

Harry eyes glinted and his mouth quirked into a tight smile, "Oh really? Are you sure? It could be dangerous!"

Janeway scoffed, "And there could be people hurt and in need of help!"

"So you're just going to dash into an unknown situation, one you KNOW is perilous without any thought that maybe there are procedures in place to deal with it. That maybe even as you rush into danger, that people with the skills and tools to properly deal with the situation are even now moving into the area. No, you see a situation and you just react and go! I think the Sorting Hat would have sorted you into Gryffindor before it even touched your head!"

Janeway gave Harry a flat look, "You make trying to save lives sound as if it's the wrong choice."

Harry shook his head, "No Captain Janeway. I'm trying to point out that we humans are still at the 'we're lucky they let us off our planet' stage. Maybe back in the bad old days, the days way older than me, that behavior might be alright. But now? All your 'courage' in throwing yourself into a dangerous situation just shows how we humans haven't done much in the way of evolving. Think Kathy! Starfleet Academy and the rest of San Francisco has the latest fire-fighting and lifesaving technology available! Injured people can be beamed out by their comm-badges! All you and your fellow smart monkeys are doing is rushing in and potentially creating more people who need to be saved."

Janeway made a face but didn't say anything.

Harry nodded to show he knew he'd made his point, "You know what other major race does crap like that? The Klingons. That doesn't surprise me because they were a subject race of another race. They really haven't had the time to learn how to do things other than the way it mostly was when the Old Kings were still around. Just like humans. We were developing our own tech, thinking up new things. But then we let our toys get ahead of our capacity to use them. What the bio-weapons didn't kill, the nukes mostly finished off. Think about that Kathy. What would you, the Captain of Voyager, think of such a world as Earth even 100 years after the War if you discovered it? You'd probably look down your nose at them. Being proud that you, as a human, had transcended that sort of squalor and pain. I'm betting you'd be all, 'Captain's log, blah blah blah. Encountered a race that stupidly nuked themselves back into a dark age. We'll go down and preach the Federation gospel and raise up those poor pitiful savages.' 600 years later and we're still convinced we know what's best for people. I wonder if Chakotay ever sees the irony given our ancestors did the same thing to his."

Janeway continued to glare at Harry but the wizard could tell his words were getting through. They had better. Harry had immersed himself in Voyager's logs since he barely slept anymore. He knew a lot of Starfleet captains over its history had done pretty much just as Harry had said.

"I'm just saying, Kathy, is that we humans got let out of our crib too soon. The Vulcans made a mistake by pulling back and now most of the Alpha Quadrant is living with that mistake. Humans really need to cook a lot more before we can be trusted to help run our little bit of the galaxy. We've managed to get away with it because we are too stupid to know when we're beat. So we keep trying, and somehow, we manage to do the impossible. And that's great. I got away with doing the impossible quite a few times because I was too stubborn to quit. But the point is, I shouldn't have been put into that position in the first place. You shouldn't be in the position of being here, messing up the Delta Quadrant like you have been. But you've been getting away with it because the crew, also mostly human, are more focused on you getting them home and less on about how badly you keep disregarding your Prime Directive."

"I've done what I have done to save this crew and to save the lives of people like the Ocampa who couldn't save themselves," Janeway said tightly. It was obvious that she was not liking having the tables turned and being the one lectured to.

"I wonder if Starfleet will feel the same way," Harry said shaking his head. "I wonder how many races in the Delta Quadrant were cheering Species 8472 on. How they felt a savior had come that would wash away the creeping threat of the Borg. You took that hope away from them."

"Species 8472 was a threat to the entire quadrant! I had to act!" Janeway snarled.

Harry smashed his fists onto the table and snarled right back into Janeway's face, "YOU DID ALMOST NOTHING TO CONFIRM THAT THREAT!" Harry glared into Janeway's defiant eyes till the captain looked away. "Kes gets some garbled telepathic feelings and you just up and decide that's good enough for you? Don't deny it! I've already gone through your logs. You did almost nothing when it came to trying to communicate with Species 8472. You didn't try and get Tuvok to boost Kes' abilities and send your own message out to confirm things. I've looked at your sensor logs so I know what you did or in this case didn't do."

Harry stood back up and walked over and leaned against his conjured chair and stared at her for a bit. "Don't get me wrong, it's easy to paint Species 8472 as the villains. They were scary and different and what happened to Kim didn't help. But come on Kathy! You've dealt with beings like the Q. Starfleet has often run into beings or races which are more advanced or just different than we are! One of the stated goals of your own Starfleet is to engage them in the spirit of exploration and not give into fear. One attack on an ensign, a garbled message to an Ocampan you know little about and you're ready to throw in with a known enemy of the Federation and quite frankly, life everywhere."

Janeway made to speak but Harry cut her off again, "There wasn't a single non-Borg planet destroyed. Worse, I was piggy-backing via the Collective at the time. Species 8472 only attacked Borg vessels and planets. But you didn't take the time to check that, did you? Of course you didn't! You're the captain and you have to act! I wonder how many sentients have been assimilated since you decided to interfere in a war you had no business being in."

"I did what I thought was best," Janeway finally said.

"Well I'm sure that the people of the Delta Quadrant will forgive you then," Harry said sarcastically. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that Starfleet seems to teach you that being the Captain of a ship is some magical, mystical, position where you have a responsibility to uphold truth, justice and the American way...or something like that. It's all a bunch of old school, human crap! Voyager is just a bunch of stuff cobble together so a bunch of cobbled together organics can get from place to place. Having a starship doesn't give you any right to stick your nose into other races business! But you do it because Starfleet has been promoting the myth of The Captain for a long time. Personally, I blame Jim Kirk for helping this along. Now there was a human who kept kicking anthills and getting away with it. The Enterprise logs from that time read like a bad TV show at times."

As much as she wanted to disagree with the wizard, she had to admit that Kirk had made a career of breaking the rules and instead of being tossed into prison, kept getting promoted for his often very illegal actions. Which did little to refute Harry's point.

"Let's circle back to you being the captain, shall we?" Harry said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You keep saying you're the captain and you have to do this or that. Well that's good for you but except for Chakotay, it's rare than anyone has the moxie to tell you that you're wrong. Everyone genuflects to the holy chain of command. I'm betting, however, a lot of the crew would love to give you the finger from time to time like Tom did. Let me ask you something, did you tell Chakotay or Tuvok you were going to drag me in here and give me a stern talking to about Paris?"

"I let them know, yes," Janeway said carefully.

Harry made a face, "And did Mr. Tattoo and Mr. Frowns-A-Lot agree with your plan?"

Janeway nodded, "They had some concerns but they both finally agreed that it was necessary."

Harry snorted at that, "I bet they did. So, here's the deal, Captain. I know I'm an unknown. I threatened Mr. Paris and you know that I've killed a lot of people back in the day. Still, I've tried to go out of my way to show that I have no intention of harming the crew. In fact, without my help, you'd be lucky if you came within a parsec or two of the Equinox. So why did you think it was a good idea to jeopardize that mission and antagonize me?"

Janeway started to speak but Harry cut her off, "If you say, 'because I'm the captain and I have a duty to protect my crew' I will turn you into a newt."

Janeway quickly shut her mouth as that was pretty much what she almost said.

Harry nodded, "I thought so. Can't you see? Everything you do, you justify it because you're the captain and so it's all on you. You, you, you! I'm surprised you had enough extra space in the shuttle bay for Neelix's ship given it's the only place big enough to park your ego! You know what's worst? Is Starfleet feeds of that sort of ego, breeds it at the Academy. Oh sure, it's all supposed to be about boldly going where no one has gone before (which is a different level of conceit) but they certainly feed you stories about the likes of Federov, Drexler, Pike, Kirk, Sulu, Arendelle, T'Baku and Nguyen don't they? Notice a trend with those captains? Human all the way! Which fits given it's like the first hit is free as they said back in the day. They spoon feed you these ideas of human-centric heroism to young, idealistic cadets and you eat it up. Then, puffed up and wanting to put your mark into the history books, off you go with your shiny new captain's rank on your collar. The galaxy is your sand-box to root around in."

"Wanting to explore is not a sin, Mr. Potter!" Janeway said in what she hoped was a dry voice given she was seething at being stuck to her chair.

"It can be when you have the wrong attitude attached to it. Ever wonder why the Federation isn't crawling with exploration ships from other parts of the galaxy? It's because most races realize that poking around in a dangerous universe is often a bad bet. Stare into the abyss and it stares back at you. While it's not your fault for being out here, think about how now Species 8472 knows about humans and Starfleet. I wonder how they will react to Voyager's part in their war with the Borg? Does distance work the same in Fluidic Space? Are bioships even now destroying Starfleet and trashing Federation planets?" Harry said with a gesture towards the window.

Janeway had to admit she'd worried about that on a few restless nights when sleep refused to come.

The wizard obviously saw something of this in her face as Harry nodded, "You're not seeing that being the captain doesn't mean being anointed by God to go out and fight the good fight and smite the wicked. Starfleet's entire mission could be seen as nothing more than the old Manifest Destiny writ large. If you don't know what I'm referring to, ask Chakotay; he'll know."

Janeway scowled. She knew what Harry was talking about and it irritated her. Even so, she also knew quite a few human critics of Starfleet had made the very same point. Many in the Maquis certainly had.

Harry began to pace again, "Look Kathy, you've done some fine work keeping things together. But you're not any more special than anyone else on this ship. You're just the highest-ranking person. And more to the point, you are in charge because the folks beneath you respect you and the system enough to go along with it. Now is a good time to remind you that this is your first major posting as Captain. Even everyone's favorite poster-boy of how to be a proper captain, Jean-Luc Picard, had two major postings as captain before he got to the Enterprise. A posting which allowed him the chance to really screw shit up if he wasn't careful. You? You're only on your first major captaincy and there is nobody but those below you to critique your work. If you were honest with yourself, how do you think your old mentor Admiral Patterson would think of everything you've done out here?"

Janeway looked away, her face burning. She didn't know how Harry knew of her link to Admiral Patterson and right now she didn't care. Janeway hated to admit it but she knew that the Admiral would be very unhappy with many of the calls she felt she had had to make.

Harry saw this and stopped pacing before sighing, "Alright Captain, I'm getting a bit tired of lecturing you, especially since it is very much the kettle calling the pot black. So how about we get to the part where I point out how monumentally stupid you've been today?" He made a flippant gesture and Janeway found she could move again. "Just like you didn't do any due diligence regarding Species 8472, did you really think through what would have happened if you royally pissed me off today?"

"Mr. Potter, with one touch of a button, you could be hit by a security phaser on a setting that would vaporize you. Or I could put up a level 10 force-field going up around you to which you couldn't escape from. As royally pissed off, as you say, as you might get, I wasn't too worried. Besides, Tuvok and security have been monitoring this entire conversation," Janeway said in an even tone. She was happy she had finally gotten her finger onto the emergency button and thus could initiate the actions she'd just described.

Harry laughed. "Wow again. What do they teach you in Starfleet? Because it's really making me wonder why any of the other Federation races let us humans have any power at all." Harry gestured to the room around him, "Voyager is a great bit of engineering. I'm sure you're immensely proud of it. But let's put some things in perspective. I spent 200 or so years hiding from the Borg on one of their own ships. I stole drones and slowly created the Wart. During this time, I was privy to the Collective's knowledge. You know the Borg have assimilated their fair share of Starfleet captains, right? I've got even more interesting bits of knowledge backed-up on the Phoenix. You've already seen how I can manipulate Borg technology in a way the Federation could only dream of doing. Without bringing up my magic, did it never occur to you that Voyager is only your ship because I allow it? That maybe I wasn't content to just assume you and the crew would always be cool with me? One of the reasons the Magicals enacted the Statute of Secrecy was to keep from being caught and used by the Muggles. So did it ever occur to you that I might put things in place to keep you and your crew from doing the same to me?"

Janeway couldn't help but stand up in anger, "What do you mean? You will allow it? I am the captain and with my command codes, I can cripple Voyager with a quick series of commands."

Harry laughed before going on in a deeper voice, "I find your faith in your technology disturbing." Harry chuckled before continuing in his normal voice, "It would be quite charming if it wasn't obviously just bravado. Computer, locate Commander Tuvok and all locations of currently active security teams."

Janeway couldn't help but gasp as the computer replied, "Commander Tuvok is on Deck 6, education room 5. There are currently no active security teams formed." The computer shouldn't have responded to that question as it pertained to ship security and senior officers.

"Computer, what is the security status of the captain's ready room?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"The captain's ready room is operating under standard security protocols," The computer replied.

"Computer! Disregard all voice commands from Harry Potter, authorization Janeway Pi One One Zero!" Janeway barked out.

"Command code invalid, please restate command with the proper authorization code," the computer replied.

Janeway turned to Harry who shrugged as he threw up his hands with a smirk, "What can I say? I'm just that good!"

Janeway's glare was icy enough that one could be forgiven for thinking the room should have gotten colder, "How did you get my command codes?"

Harry smirk turned into a lop-sided grin, "Maybe the more pertinent question is 'did he steal my codes' or 'he didn't need my codes'? You see? You don't know either way. Which goes to proving my point. You don't know much about me and what I'm capable of. But instead of treading lightly and inviting me around for dinner where you could politely say something like, 'So, I noticed that Paris has been missing from confinement. I'm surprised you'd want to share his company' or something like that. Then we could chat about all my time with the good Mr. Paris. At some point you could just let the matter drop or maybe point out that I could have just asked to do what I did. All very nice and polite. But instead you poked the dragon. And you know what they say about dragons?"

Janeway shook her head, "No, I can't say that I do."

"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus," Harry said with a slight sheepish look. "My old magical school's motto. I wish I were kidding."

Janeway bit back a chuckle. There really wasn't anything funny about the situation even if that motto was humorous.

"So you went and decided that I somehow bruised your Captain's authority. And so, over something incredibly trivial, you tickled the dragon. Let me show you what dragons can do." Harry made a gesture with his hand and the Elder Wand grew out of his palm. With another flick, he said in a deadly serious voice, "Imperio!"

Janeway found herself in a happy fog. She also found herself mimicking things her dog Mollie would do even to the point of pretending to pee on the couch. Then she stood up and recited a code Harry gave her that reinstated her previous command code to her. Then, abruptly, the fog was lifted. "What was that?"

"Something I really don't like doing. They don't call them Unforgivable Curses for nothing. However, I've learned that when it's me against the Universe, I can be rather forgiving to myself. It's just a taste of what I can do. I can also not be an asshole. Computer! Delete all security files with a level 10 security wipe for all footage starting with me saying 'Imperio' up to this command itself," Harry commanded.

"Security footage wiped to level 10 security standards," the computer replied.

Harry made a gesture and the Elder Wand disappeared, "I don't mind putting the verbal smack down on you, Kathy, but nobody needs to see your Mollie act. I did it just to show you how complete the control I had over you was. A control, even though you're supposedly a 24th Century advanced human taught by Starfleet how to protect your mind. Oh and for the record, a level 10 force-field won't hold me and if I ever allowed any security phaser to shoot me, I can spoof those as well. Frankly, I could break out my knives and kill everyone on this ship with little to no chance of anyone even getting close to stopping me. I was the Reaper, for Merlin's sake! Why did you think someone with a name like that was going to be anything but insulted that you frog-marched me here with only two normal Joe's with phasers? Tell me Kathy, where was the logic in this? Because right now, this whole thing has been a shit show from the beginning. You didn't just tickled dragon, Kathy, you might as well have rammed your captain's gig into it!"

Before Janeway could say anything, Harry smiled and his face got a childlike look of glee on it. "Oh, I hope you don't mind but the first chance we get, me and Tom are totally stealing your gig and taking it for a spin. If you're a good girl, you can come with us. I've read you're a mighty fine pilot when you have to be."

Janeway's brain sort of hiccupped and she collapsed into her chair, "What are you talking about? You lecture me, you insult me, you force me to do things, you tell me that you have control of my ship and now you want to go out on a lark in my captain's gig?"

Harry beamed, "Pretty much. Just because you tickle a dragon doesn't mean it has to breathe fire on you. I just wanted to clear the air between us." Harry's face grew serious again, "I'm not kidding, Kathy. I could easily instigate events which would have you put in the brig due to the many violations of the Prime Directive under your watch. Oh, Chakotay and Tuvok would bitch and moan but at the end of the day? It would stick. Hell, I'm betting the crew would even be okay with putting Tahl in charge. But you know what? Neelix was right about another thing. The crew loves you and does expect you'll somehow get them home. The problem is that loyalty works great when you have rampaging Borg on the horizon, Kazon in your shuttle-bay and macro-viruses roaming the corridors. It's the day in and day out stuff you're losing them on. This ship may still need a captain, but right now it needs a mayor more than anything else. If you and whoever you end up having to share power with can make it work, well then everyone wins. Till then, you really need to check your human arrogance because you're playing in a poker game with a pair of threes and you can only bluff so far."

Janeway just stared at Harry in silence. Harry stared back. Finally, Harry asked, "So...why were you checking up on Tom? He's got another 3 days on his sentence."

Janeway blinked at the non sequitur before giving her head a small shake, "We've detected the Equinox but long-range sensors show signs it may be under some sort of hit and run attack."

"Show me," Harry said, suddenly all business.

Janeway brought up the data on her screen and swiveled the monitor so he could see, "V'Lana says while she's a damn fine pilot, she thought Tom would be better at the helm of the Marianne."

Harry shook his head, "It's not ready for combat. Not that the Phoenix is but I'm my own weapons array. I'll head out and run interference. I'm the best one suited. Not only does it keep Voyager away from the risk, look at this. See that? That's a warp signature from Species 1876, the Hirogen."

Janeway's face hardened, "The hunter species we were told about on Talaska IV."

Harry nodded, "Exactly. Small ships but nasty. However, I can stealth my way in. They're going to want to board the Equinox and hunt. From the looks of it, they're still in the cat and mouse stage. If I push it a bit, I can get there and get onto the Equinox before they sally in for the hand-to-hand hunt."

"Do you think you can take so many hunters?" Janeway asked, concern obvious in her voice.

Harry suddenly brandished his knives that seemingly popped out of nowhere, "I almost guarantee it. Like I keep telling people, I wasn't called the Reaper for my Quidditch skills. Time for the Hirogen to get a taste of their own medicine!"

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

Quite a few reviewers got their knickers in a twist over me have Harry get down on Tom. Well, like I tell a lot of reviewers that MAYBE you should have some patience before freaking out. Sure, Harry felt there was a lot of Ron in Tom but Ron still was Harry's friend till the end when things got nasty.

Also, think about it, Janeway can be an awesome captain BUT just like every Starfleet captain, she picks and chooses when she wants to apply the rules. None of the major captains really give a crap about the Prime Directive if they don't want to. Kirk really should have ended up on a penal colony no matter how many versions of awesome he was as well.

In a way, I sort of see Harry here being like David Tennant's Doctor in that you really don't want to push him and find out why some races call him the Oncoming Storm.

Shout Outs: The whole bit about humans running towards danger is adapted from David Brin's Uplift series (specifically The Uplift War) as well as a lot inspired by the internet bit about Vulcan Science Academy trying to explain to Klingons about humans. If you do a search for that, you'll find it on Pinterest. It's hilarious and true. For all the seriousness of Picard and the like, humans of the Federation are still at the "Hold my beer; watch this!" stage compared to most of the other races of the Federation. Also, the little bit about the Delta Quadrant races cheering on Species 8472 is almost a direct lift from what Arturis says to Janeway and Seven in the episode Hope & Fear.