Al was at the other side of the room, waving his arm and pointing to where, presumably, the Order was waiting. "Hey, Lupin, get over here! There's six of them; these kids don't have a chance!"
Before Sam could get to the Order, he tripped over his robe. He moved to stand as quickly as he could. The blond man got to him before he could and kicked the wand out of Sam's hand and placed his boot on Sam's throat, a cold smile on his face. "Stay right where you are, Potter. My Lord should be here any minute."
Sam looked up at him, thinking that relying on any one kind of weapon could be dangerous. As one part of his brain was analyzing the adrenaline and testosterone rush, his body was executing a series of martial arts moves that the Death Eater was clearly not expecting. Sam swung his leg up, knocking the other man's wand out of his hand and across room. Before he could react, Sam had jumped up and punched him twice, once in the belly and once in his jaw. He grabbed for Harry's wand and held it on the older man. While he tried to remember the spell to knock somebody out, Hermione cast Stupefy.
Sam looked over his shoulder. "Thanks, Hermione." It wasn't until he'd turned around to look for more trouble that her expression registered; she'd looked stunned. He didn't have time to address, though, since the battle was now truly underway.
Sam wished he knew who was on which side; unfortunately, the different sides weren't labeled. The fight wasn't staying contained in the one room, either; people were beginning to leave the area to get away from pursuers. Ron was being protected by an older man with a peg leg and what appeared to be a false eye. Although his depth perception had to be bad, his aim appeared deadly. A large bald black man with an earring had thrust Hermione behind him and was moving toward the entrance. Both of them looked relieved rather than frightened; Sam decided he didn't need to worry about them.
He was trying to decide if he should leave, when Al came running towards him. "Sam, the moron's going to do it again. You have to save Black! This way!" He waved his arm and started walking deeper into the chamber.
Lupin looked up quickly when he heard Al and turned to Hermione and the black man. "Kingsley, you and Alastor get them out of here. I'll take Harry and get Sirius out." He took Sam by the arm and said, "Come on, Harry. We'll get Sirius and get to safety."
Once they were moving in the right direction, Al said, "In the original history, Black got involved in the fight as well, even though he wasn't supposed to. Stir crazy, I guess." Lupin nodded. "Anyway, he was dueling with a Bellatrix Lestrange, she hit him with something nonfatal and he fell through a curtain. Not sure how, but it killed him."
Lupin went white. "The Veil?" Swearing under his breath, he started running, paying no attention to Al.
Sam looked at Al. "Follow him, Sam. He's going in the right direction." Muttering to himself, he followed Lupin as well.
The room Black was dueling in looked like a lecture hall with rows and rows of seats. It was rectangular, with the middle of the room sunken and a raised dais in the middle. Instead of a blackboard or a podium, at the bottom was a ragged curtain. As Sam walked into the room, he could hear voices just behind it. "Who's there?"
"Sirius!" Lupin was shouting. "Be careful! Watch the Veil!"
Black wasn't paying much attention. He was grinning as he and a woman with a strong family resemblance were dueling, throwing different colored spells at each other. He threw one at her that she ducked. When she stood, Al was shouting about this being it, Lupin was throwing his own spells at her and Sam decided to try what had been working so far. He jumped down and knocked Bellatrix down. She pushed him off of her and smiled sweetly at Sam. "Is--?" she started to say before she broke off. "Who are you?" she asked. "You're not Potter?"
Black and Lupin were above them as Sam tried to disentangle himself from Bellatrix. This close, it was clear that she had once been beautiful, but insanity and a hard life had stolen her beauty just as years of prison had stolen Black's. Unable to get her off of him, Sam gave Lupin a pleading look. He seemed to understand it; a moment later, he had cast Stupefy on them both.
When Sam opened his eyes, he was looking up at Black, who was shaking his head. "Thanks, Beckett, I owe you one." He held out a hand to help Sam up. "Go see what we can do for the others?"
Lupin nodded. He'd been casting rope spells on Bellatrix; she looked like a rather odd mummy at the moment. "Beckett, you might want to try to get out of here—"
Sam didn't hear the rest of the suggestion as his head felt like it exploded. For a moment, his world was nothing but excruciating pain. After a moment, the pain eased enough that Sam could see. Lupin and Black both looked pale and Al was hitting his handlink. "Al, what does Ziggy say?" Sam asked.
"He's here," Al snarled. "That Voldemort character. In the lobby."
"You shouldn't go anywhere near that room," Lupin said as Al nodded.
"No," Sam said. "I have to do this." He looked at Al, hoping his friend would understand.
Although he clearly didn't like it, Al sighed and pointed. "That way. Be careful!"
With Lupin and Black on his heels, Sam followed Al's directions. Although the rest of the Death Eaters appeared to be captured or have escaped, there was clearly still a battle in the lobby. Sam poked his head around the doorway, hoping not to get caught in the line of fire.
Headmaster Dumbledore had appeared, the one time Sam had met him, to be a kindly, grandfatherly type. Eccentric, interested in everything, but obviously advanced in years; Sam thought he might be nearing the century mark. Certainly the last person you would want in a battle.
The last thing Sam would have expected to see was that kindly, elderly gentleman casting what were clearly powerful spells with calm fury. He didn't seem to be trying to kill his opponent, but Sam thought that, if he'd wanted to, he could have done so easily. The amount of power radiating off the wizard was chilling.
Sam wasn't entirely sure that his opponent was human. He was tall and thin, inhumanly pale, with red eyes and slits instead of a nose. The overall effect was rather snake-like. Voldemort looked at Sam and smiled, a cold smile that made Sam shudder, and cast a shield around himself. As he looked at Sam, the pain in Sam's head grew to an almost unbearable amount. He could hear Voldemort taunting Dumbledore, something about how he'd have to kill Harry in order to kill him now. Sam tried to look at Dumbledore, to make him understand that, if by killing Sam he could stop Voldemort, it was OK. Sam wasn't fifteen, he'd had a good life and had done some good, both before and after Project Quantum Leap. He didn't much want to die, but there were things that were so much worse. Holding onto the memories of his family, of Al, of all the people he'd Leaped into over the years, he looked straight at Voldemort and, with his last bit of energy, grinned and said, "Sure you want to do that?"
Sam could hear Al yelling at him, but then he heard Voldemort snarl and the worst of the pain ended. As he collapsed, he watched Voldemort vanish with a clap of sound. As he did so, a number of people begin to pour out of the fireplaces around the room. Hoping the fighting was over, Sam allowed himself to faint.
He didn't think he'd been out that long when he opened his eyes. Most of the pain was gone and he found himself looking up at Black and Lupin, with Al moving in and out of them. All three men looked worried. "Sam, are you all right?" Al took a deep breath and checked his handlink. "Don't know why you haven't Leaped yet. Harry's still alive, so's Black, Voldemort's gone. What else do you have to do?"
Before anyone could say anything, Dumbledore walked over. "And how are you feeling, my boy?" he asked.
Sam shrugged. "I'll be all right once I get rid of this headache."
"Of course." Dumbledore smiled at him and turned to a man who'd followed him, saying something about all the rules that had been broken. "Cornelius, I will explain everything that I can once Harry is back at the school. I think I'll send Sirius back with him. You do know he's Harry's godfather, don't you?" Cornelius's eyes were huge and he was sputtering something. Dumbledore ignored him and picked up a piece of debris from the floor. He tapped it and said, "Portus!” "Take this, both of you."
Before they could, Al said, "Lupin, too."
Lupin looked up at Al and nodded, saying, "Albus, I think I'd better go along and help out at the school."
Dumbledore nodded and the three of them took the debris. Sam once again felt that awful hook behind his navel; a moment later, he was standing in an office.
"If you're wondering," Lupin said, "this is Albus's office. I think we should stay put until he gets back. Unless you have another idea?" he asked Al.
Al nodded. "Get Snape up here. And cast that spell that'll let him and Black see me."
Sam couldn't quite tell what Lupin's expression was; it looked like a mixture of confusion and understanding. He cast a spell that sent a silvery something out of his wand that flew out the window.
"Why do we need Snivellus up here, anyway?" Black asked, sneering. "He's no help."
Al didn't say anything, but opened the Imaging Chamber door. "I'll be back in a minute. Be good."
Sam sat down in a comfortable chair in front of the desk and leaned his head back. He was happily dozing when the door opened. "What is going on?" Snape sounded angry. "Oh. Potter or Beckett?"
Sam grinned and looked up at Snape. "Beckett."
"Good. And the answer to my question?"
"And why should we tell you anything?" Black asked with a nasty grin. "After all, Snivellus . . ."
As Lupin said, "Sirius, please, at least try to stay civil," Snape pulled out his wand and leveled it at Black.
Black pulled his own wand out with a feral grin. "Sounds like a great idea."
Before Sam or Lupin could try to separate the two men, Sam heard the Imaging Chamber door open again. "Lupin, now!" snapped Al. Lupin cast the spell, probably before he'd even thought about it. When Sam looked over at him, Al had brought Harry into the Imaging Chamber again.
"Sit down and shut up, both of you!" Al ordered. Although he wasn't in uniform, his voice held all of his years as a Naval officer. Both men obeyed before they thought about it. It only lasted a moment before they were back on their feet, yelling at each other and Al.
Sam looked over at Lupin, who had a rather bemused look on his face. Then he slowly grinned as he sat down in his own chair, leaned back, crossed his legs and looked as if he were about to observe the best entertainment in the world.
Harry, on the other hand, was alternately glaring at Al and Snape. He didn't really look happy with his godfather either, but it was clear where his loyalty lay.
Al let the yelling go on for a moment. As he drew in a breath for another bellow, Dumbledore arrived in the office with another piece of debris in his hand. He looked around at the moment and smiled. Sitting in the chair behind his desk, he looked up at Al and, eyes twinkling, said, "Please, go right ahead."
Al nodded and turned to the others. "If you want to hand the war to Voldemort, go right ahead. I'll wash my hands of all of you. If you want to win the war, STOP FIGHTING EACH OTHER! You're spending so much time fighting with each other that you don't have time to fight the war!"
Al pointed a finger at Black. "You! Grow up! You don't have to like your allies, but you know damn good and well that you can't win this war without good intelligence. It may not have crossed your mind, but getting that intelligence is dangerous. If you hold courage that high as a virtue, you should be sitting at the feet of the master, and if you haven't figured it out, Severus Snape has more guts in his pinky than most have ever thought about!" Black had gone pale, and looked rather sulky, but he nodded.
Rounding on a very smug Snape, Al snapped, "And you! Twelve years in prison is plenty of punishment for a stupid murderous prank! Hate him, but work with him! There's nobody better at coming up with ways to throw monkey wrenches into plans; use it! There's no guarantee you'll get out of this war if you don't use some of that brain of yours. And Harry is not his father, and you have to teach him, not just attack him over and over again! I got a description of that excuse for Occlumency lessons; he needs them, so teach him!" Snape was now pale and scowling; Sam couldn't tell if Al's lecture was making a difference.
Al now spun Harry around and, lowering the volume of his voice a little, said, "And you need to start trusting the adults around you. These guys aren't those nozzles you call relatives; start asking for help! If they're giving you extra lessons, pay attention. And if no one will tell you what you need to know, be a pain in the ass until they do. I'll bet one of these guys knows that prophecy, or knows who does; find out what it said. Do what you gotta do so you can start having fun and making girls' dads nuts."
He turned to Dumbledore and snapped, "If you want Harry here to work with you, start treating him as an intelligent person. Letting him be a kid is fine, but you have to tell him what he needs to know up front, instead of after the fact."
Al took a deep breath and looked around the room. Sam watched him take satisfaction in all the stunned faces around him. He'd been subjected to several patented Al Calavicci dressing-downs; this one was comparatively mild.
After several moments of silence, Harry looked over at Sam. "What about the two of you?" he asked. "Do you ever ask anyone for help?" He looked back at Al. "You're always going on about how no one succeeds on their own; do you listen to your own advice?"
Al smirked. "Why do you think Sam has an Observer?"
Sam nodded. "There's been more than once that he's the only reason I've been able to succeed. Or even to continue. It's also why I created Ziggy."
Before he could continue on that line, Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh. Is that why she has so much, erm, personality?"
The others laughed, except for Snape, who did smirk. Before anyone could say anything else, Sam could feel himself Leaping again. He wished he'd been able to ask Al what happened to everyone; there was a pretty good chance that he wouldn't remember when he landed next. The last sight he saw was Black saying, "Thank you."
Epilogue
The next morning, Al walked into the Project. While they waited for Sam, he had a report on this Leap to write out, three personnel issues to straighten out and a missing load of materials to find. He smiled; he'd had Ziggy give him everything she had on Harry and what had happened to him since Sam had Leaped into him. He was having a good life—still a young man, with a wife and child and a profession that Al bet he was terrific at. Sam had saved a lot of lives on this Leap. Al didn't add up the numbers any more; Sam was doing what he was meant to do. Still, it would be nice to have his best friend back home, where they could just go and hang out for a while.
Before he could get to the elevators that would take him to his office, Gooshie stopped him. "Admiral Calavicci, you have some guests in your office. They're rather . . . strange."
"What, like New Age strange?" Al asked, wondering what aspect of the Project was triggering the nuts this time.
"No." Gooshie didn't say anything for a minute, obviously trying to put the feeling into words. He finally shrugged. "Just strange."
Al rolled his eyes and hoped they wouldn't take up too much of his day. He walked into his office, which was filled to capacity. It took him a moment to make sense of the crowd in his office, but it finally clicked when he saw the young man who was obviously in charge. Several inches taller than he'd been just yesterday, but he still had that messy black hair and round glasses. When he was sure that Al knew who he was, Harry grinned. "Hi, Al. We're here to see if we can't help you bring Sam back home."