A Dance with the Devil Chapter 1
A short-story crossover between Suicide Squad and Harry Potter. These are the events that take place before Octavia Granger becomes Harley Quinn and Hermione Granger becomes Catwoman.
Warnings: Very Alternate Universe, No Magic, Violence, Non-Canon, Serious Character Identity Swaps, Horror, Stockholm Syndrome.
A chilly breeze ran over her as she stood on the balcony, high up in the sky-scraper of Gotham City. The celebrations carried on inside of the ballroom, but Octavia paid it no mind. Instead, she found herself staring out onto the grimy and gloomy city, not even the bright stars able to penetrate the thick smog of pollution and corruption.
Octavia had only attended the Awards Ceremony due to Hermione's insistence. Her sister was, needless to say, the bossy type, and had persisted in pushing Octavia and Harry together romantically speaking. Octavia adored Harry, but his double-life was unappealing to her. Harry Potter was Gotham's very own Batman, saving the day and warding off crime to the best of his abilities. Call her selfish, but Octavia preferred to remain safe in her romantic liaisons, not willingly putting herself in danger.
If the criminals of Gotham discovered her romantic affiliation with Harry Potter (therefore, Batman), she would undoubtedly become a target. It was already dangerous enough being the sister of Hermione Granger; Azkaban's resident psychiatrist, and long-time girlfriend of Batman's sidekick, Ronald Weasley.
Octavia had grown up on the suburban outskirts of Gotham City, safe in her residential bubble, surrounded by white-picket fences and Labradors. It was only because her sister had relocated to Gotham City for work, that Octavia had followed.
The wailing of police sirens boomed through the foggy city, but Octavia paid it no mind. It was a constant song of the city, never ending, for the crime never ended. Particularly when there was a mass prisoner escape at Azkaban only two weeks ago, Gotham's most dangerous criminals now on the loose. Batman – or Harry – had already located and reimprisoned a few of the criminals, with the help of Ronald Weasley, otherwise known as Robin. But the Joker and Riddler were still on the loose, concealed by the vermin of the city.
"Hey, O!" Hermione shouted, standing at the open glass door of the balcony. "The speeches are about to start."
Octavia grimaced before tossing the rest of her wine down her throat and following her sister into the ballroom- the room filled with superheros and political figures. Some corrupt, some weak-minded. It didn't matter. They were all as boring as each other, in Octavia's opinion.
The Granger sisters entered into the grand room, decorated by chandeliers above and swarmed by Gotham's elite. It was a nightmare. Octavia sighed as she shut the door behind her, walking over to the wall to take her place for the speeches to begin.
Away from the most boring people she had ever encountered.
"I'll get us some drinks," Hermione smiled, patting her sister condescendingly on her arm before dispersing into the crowd.
Albus Dumbledore, the city's mayor, stepped onto the podium ahead and glanced around the room with a small smile before he cleared his throat. Gotham's finest and wealthiest all turned their attention to the wise man on the podium, watching patiently as he waited for the chatter to simmer.
"Greeti-" Mayor Dumbledore was barely able to start the opening to his speech, let alone finish it.
For the grand entrance to the ballroom blasted open, the shattered ruins of the doors tearing through the air and injuring several attendees. No one heard the screams of the already-injured, however. All that was heard was one cruel and evil laugh. A cackle.
Gotham's evillest and craziest prisoner; the Joker. Aka: Draco Malfoy.
All hell broke loose.
People screamed and cried, some trying to escape and others trying to fight. Impossible amounts of henchmen poured into the room through the smoke of the bombed entrance, immediately setting to hunting the fleeing rich and stealing their jewels.
It was chaos. Anarchy. Terrifying.
Women were screaming and running as the masked villains flooded the room, chasing them gleefully and robbing them of their pearls. Necklaces, rings, watches, everything- everything was taken by the despicable criminals.
Octavia pressed her back against the wall, as though it would allow her to become invisible. In a sense, it had. The villains that swarmed the room had failed to notice her, allowing her enough time to remove her diamond ring – her mother's ring – and stuff it into her bra.
Octavia wouldn't hand over her mother's ring if she could help it.
Henchmen darted by her, but seemingly never noticed her. Perhaps because she was pretending to be a statue? Hoping that it would get her out of the chaos alive.
The villains were of the most frightening and unnerving variety; mostly henchmen with their faces painted either with question marks or as clowns. Either way, they were terrifying. But there were two villains amongst the henchmen, both excruciatingly terrifying and mad. The Joker and The Riddler.
The Joker.
Octavia had never seen anyone like him in her life. Hermione had told her stories of the wicked lunatic, having been his primary psychiatrist at Azkaban. But no amount of tales and assessments could have prepared Octavia.
He wore an unbuttoned purple silk shirt, revealing the amateur and rough tattoos on his lean chest. His hair fell over his forehead, the colour of emerald green, and his eyes mercurial silver. There was a red tinge to his eyelids, only emphasising his insanity. His pale skin would be flawless, if it weren't for the scribblings in permanent ink that decorated his body. Had the man not have been completely insane, one could have considered him attractive.
Of course, Octavia didn't. He was a psychotic freak, twirling a long purple cane as he spun around in circles, laughing like a madman.
Her alarmed hazel eyes darted around the shambles of the grand room, desperately trying to locate her sister. But she dared not move from the wall, lest a henchman or villain notice her. It would not do to be noticed by these depraved monsters. They fed on fear, and Octavia suspected that she was the most frightened person in the room.
Her body trembled, her chest rising and falling, as she breathed harshly, her lips parted and eyes wide with terror. Even if she wanted to move from the safety of the wall, she doubted that she could. The fear had her frozen in place.
For her eyes had locked onto another's. Onto sinister silver eyes, alight with mischief, from across the room. Octavia felt a lump form in her throat as the Joker observed her, a wide grin slowly spreading across his painted face.
The grin remained on his face as he released the neck of a woman he had been 'playing' with, and jumped off the podium, headed right toward a terrified Octavia.
She should have run. She should have screamed and sprinted away from the nearing maniac. But the fear had her frozen in place, only allowing her to shrink further back into the wall, wishing that it would swallow her whole. It didn't.
As he neared, his body seemed to grow wider and longer. Taller and musclier. Perhaps her fear was merely playing tricks on her? Regardless, he continued to approach, his grin in place and eyes alight with malicious intent.
Octavia inhaled sharply as he closed the distance between them with a twirl and curtsy. Slowly, he raised his upper body, straightening himself, that fucking grin still plastered on his painted face.
The Joker threw his head back at laughed manically, Octavia's eyes widening impossibly as she watched the lunatic in front of her. Suddenly, he stopped laughing, meeting her terrified gaze once more as his grin remained. If it weren't for the painted face, he would perhaps resemble a Cheshire cat that caught the canary. Perhaps that is exactly what he was.
But that would make her the canary.
"Pretty, pretty," the Joker cooed, tapping his purple cane against her forehead.
A squeal escaped her lips as he abruptly slammed his hands on the wall at either side of her head, his body swiftly pressed against hers. His nose ran from her chin, all the way up to her hair as he inhaled deeply, his chest rising from the intake of air and her scent.
The Joker breathed a deep 'Ahh-ing' sound as he exhaled, his eyes meeting hers again and striking terror into her soul.
A mad grin twisted at his lips, his shiny white teeth glinting savagely. Dropping his cane, the Joker slowly removed two guns from the back of his trousers, raising them in the air as Octavia gasped, his intense stare never tearing away from her.
"Does pretty want to play?"
This was it. This was how she would die. Octavia had barely even lived her life yet, but it wasn't due to her young age of twenty-four. No, it was due to her inability to connect with the world. She mooched off her sister's income and stayed rent-free at her apartment deep in the city. She had no job, nor dreams. Others around her had their careers and purposes. What did Octavia have?
Nothing. And now she would have nothing for all eternity.
Slowly, the barrels of the two guns pressed against her temples, trailing down her tear-stained face as manic silver eyes held her watery gaze. The cold gun barrels ran down the streams of her tears, down her throat and rested against her collarbone. The Joker ground his teeth together, a sinister grin on face as he craned his neck and hissed.
"Does pretty want to play?" The Joker repeated, his impatient tone sending shivers down her spine.
Unable to find her voice, Octavia whimpered before shaking her head, her terrified gaze locked into his fierce silver eyes.
A sinister and mad laugh escaped his painted red lips, the eerie cackle sending jolts of agonising terror through her veins as she shuddered. The gun barrels pressed against her collarbone, his glowing silver eyes raking down her face and neck, resting on the replica pearls above the guns.
The guns nudged against and lifted her pearls as he inspected them, his tongue darting out and dampening his red lips.
"They're fake," Octavia whispered, her voice cracking as his grin widened.
Again, his head threw back and he laughed manically, Octavia watching him with palpable terror, praying to Batman that she would be rescued before her insides decorated the wall. There was no doubt in her mind that Harry and Ron would have fled the ballroom in favour for acquiring their alter-egos and saving the day. She just hoped that they weren't too late to save her.
The Joker rotated his head, as though he was cracking his neck, but Octavia quickly learned that it was a habit of his. Her breath hitched as he chattered his teeth together deliberately, the guns moving and pushing against the underside of her chin.
"I want to play," the Joker sang in the most dangerously teasing tone she had ever heard. A voice that belonged in the scariest horror movie of all time; not real life.
"Pick one." The Joker grinned, practically giddy with excitement.
Octavia's eyes widened and watered, her face scrunching up at the realisation. Pick a gun. She shook her head violently, a whine escaping her pink lips as she shut her eyes, knowing that both guns would end her life, no matter which one she picked.
"Which one is a toy?" The Joker laughed, spinning around full-circle and stopping a foot away from her.
He grinned widely, aiming the guns at her petrified face as she wept. Her eyes darted between the two guns, attempting to identify the fake gun from the two.
"Play by the rules, pretty." The Joker clucked, inhaling the scent of her fear deeply. "Tick-tock, tick-tock."
Raising her trembling hand, Octavia opened her eyes slowly, meeting his manic stare as she sobbed, her fingertips hesitantly touching the left gun. There was no perceptible difference between the two weapons, so she just hoped that luck was on her side.
He laughed madly as he pulled the trigger, a terrible high-pitched scream ripping through the terrified girl at the sound of the loud bang!
Octavia began to hyperventilate as the gun remained aimed at her face, a stick protruding from the barrel. A white piece of cloth dangled from the stick, written on with one word in bold red letters, bordered with green; BANG!
Her hands shot to her chest, attempting to soothe the rapidly beating heart inside of her as she cried tears of trauma and relief, having selected the toy gun.
"Both it is!" The Joker declared, tossing the toy gun to the floor and aiming the other at her head.
"No, no, no, no!" Octavia blubbered, her hands raised as though it would prevent the bullet from killing her. "I PICKED! I PLAYED BY THE RULES!"
Her legs gave out beneath her entirely, Octavia falling down the wall and dropping to her bottom. She pleaded up at him with terrified hazel eyes, the Joker laughing at her pathetic blubbering.
"Come now, pretty." The Joker purred, grinning down at her. "You can't spell slaughter without laughter, can you?"
"AGH!" Octavia screamed as the gun went off with a deafening bang! right at her wet and blotchy face.
Her breaths were rapid and hoarse, hitching frequently as no pain or death came for her. Slowly, her eyes opened and gazed up at the gun, realising that it was a toy as well.
The Joker was laughing manically at her sobs of relief and terror, the madman throwing away the gun before picking up his cane.
"Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" He asked teasingly, grabbing her arm and hauling the shaky girl to her feet as she whined.
Octavia cried loudly, the sobs of a child escaping her, as he dragged her over to the chaos of the dancefloor, yanking her through the screaming party-goers as they were attacked by henchmen.
A whimper escaped her lips as he pulled her chest against his, his arm snaking around her waist and swaying her to the sounds of terrified screams. Octavia's body shook and trembled as she moved with him, the fear preventing her from denying the devil a dance. The longer he kept her alive, the more time she had to be rescued by Batman and Robin.
The madness of the man was evident in the way he danced with the sobbing girl, his head lolling back as though he was perfectly at peace. He hummed perfectly out of tune with the screams that tore through the ballroom, his grin always in place. His dancing was exaggerated and pantomime as he twirled her around, spinning with her before bowing and curtseying frequently. All Octavia could do was dance with him, following his lead in a desperate act of self-preservation.
He spun around her shaky body, pressing his chest against her back as he gripped the cane with both hands and pulled it against her throat. Octavia's face scrunched up in agonising fear, stumbling back as he – and the cane – guided her backwards and in circles.
"What do you want?" Octavia whispered, her voice thick with the tears she shed.
The Joker laughed, the cruel and crazy sound sending shivers through her bones.
His painted lips brushed against the shell of her ear as he moved them to the beat of the shrieks around them, his tongue darting out and tasting her skin.
"All I've ever wanted is to have a good time," he sang dreadfully, in time with harmony of the horror. "To annoy the Bat, whenever possible. To murder the Batman and defile his carcass."
Octavia groaned as he stepped away from her, twirling her around before catching her in his arms. His devious grin flashed down at her, his sinister eyes alight with wicked intent.
"And a pony." He added before laughing hysterically.
Octavia flinched as he suddenly lurched his face to hers, their lips touching as he licked his teeth leisurely. Her wide horrified eyes gazed up at him, watching as he snapped his teeth together, imitating a feral dog bite as she winced.
He grinned widely as he growled before releasing his hold on her and bowing deeply.
Swiftly, he straightened himself and pressed the tip of his cane underneath her chin, the grin wiped from his face, his expression now foreboding and ominous. The cane slowly pulled her toward him, Octavia's steps reluctant and uneven as they closed the distance between them.
"We will meet again, pretty." The Joker whispered threateningly, his teeth bared, but not in a grin. "When you awake."
The humour was gone from his expression, the madman twitching as he hissed like snake. His tongue flicked out and tasted her tears mockingly before he stepped away and applauded.
It was the last thing she remembered before his cane connected with the side of her head, knocking her out cold and sending her reeling to the floor. But she remembered the echoes of his manic laugh as darkness consumed her.