Prologue

"Avada Kedavra"

Green light flashed and shot over the girl's head. The tree in front of her was blasted to pieces, sending her off to the side. But she did not stumble nor did she fall. She kept running because if she stopped, she would not live to see another day.

The forest stretched out before her. The evergreen trees were tall and imposing, stubbornly thwarting any light that the full moon offered. A bone-chilling howl could be heard in the distance but the girl did not pay it any mind. She was being chased by something worse than werewolves.

Celeste Desmarais was running for her life. If she survived, Celeste had no doubt that today would rank as one of the worst days in her centuries long lifespan. There was no questioning this fact. It had started out as such a nice night too.

Jack was planning to turn in for the night. Celeste looked forward to helping him settle into bed. He had always liked a little romp after a good day's at work. Causing murder and mayhem was not an easy job, after all. And she had always been glad to give him the time of day.

The explosion came just as things started to heat up. The house rocked for a few seconds. Cracks formed on the ceiling. Then everything went silent.

"FUCK! What now?" Jack moaned in annoyance. He bolted from the room without bothering to button his shirt, racing down the stairs. Celeste heard a gasp. After a moment of hesitation, she followed to see the damage. When she did, she could barely believe her eyes.

The front door had been blasted to pieces.

This normally would not have been too strange. Jack had lived in a town called Der Gehängte, a pretty shady area, even by wizarding standards. It was home to smugglers, murderers, ex-Aurors who had been dishonorably discharged for "going too far." The more prominent members were descendants of those who fought in The Old War, the terms the locals used for Grindewald's last bid for power. When Grindewald fell, those who followed him were forced underground. One legion of dark wizards in particular came here. The seedy town was a safe haven for them. The criminal factions were always at war with one another. It was not unusual to for the inhabitants to wake up and find the streets littered with corpses from a violent skirmish the night before. Of course, such corpses will have mysteriously disappeared by noon. This lawless corner of wizarding civilization would have been hell for any auror or police force to hold.

Dumbledore's allies learned this lesson the hard way. Spies had tracked the wounded legion to Der Gehängte. Seeing as the town was completely undefended, the Minister of Magic ordered a task force to seize control of region. Indeed, the troops that arrived met with little resistance initially. But then, crime lords rarely attacked in broad daylight. Guerilla tactics picked off the soldiers one by one while the enemy simply hid in plain sight, weathering out the storm. After four months and casualties in the 60th percentile, the Minister was forced to order a retreat or else risk losing the entire force. The mission was scrubbed and erased from ministry records. A humiliating defeat at this point in time must not be publicized, especially since they were supposed to be the victors.

With the greatest opposition to the dark wizards now gone, the legion was free to do as it please. Called The Veterans by the local populace, these men and women were the cream of the crop in Grindelwald's army. A few even served as the former Dark Lord's lieutenants. Their displine and experience gave them a distinct advantage over their competitors who sought to control the area. It was not long before they secured their place as the apex predator in the magical underworld, violently casting down those who dared to challenge them.

And Jack made a name for himself as a bounty hunter, hunting those that might potentially threaten The Veterans. He carved out a living by being more ruthless than those he killed. And he was rewarded generously for it. That was how Celeste first met him. Her kind had always been drawn to power. And among the veterans, she found power in spades. Posing as a courtesan, she delighted in seducing both men and women. But none, however were worth binding herself too. Until she met Jack. He was a brave and relentless murderer with a body to die for. As an outsider with no blood relation to a Veteran, he would never be fully accepted into their ranks. But he did prove himself as a valuable asset to have around. As he rose in favor, his payment and rewards for his services grew more prestigious. One such reward came in the form of Celeste. One night with The Veteran's most desired whore, a position that Celeste embraced with a passion. She had found him…delectable. He would suit her purposes just fine. And so she approached him with a proposition of sorts. With the promise of unworldly pleasures and some physical persuasion, he could not have agreed fast enough.

Of course, being with a man of that kind of reputation meant dealing the various dangers that it entailed. A bounty hunter who went after The Veterans' enemies was sure to make himself a target.

So when the house shook, they had merely assumed it was another pissed off customer having a go at the wards. Usually, they didn't get further than the front gate. Sometimes, they succeeded in blowing down the door before the house's protection spells violently evicted them from the premises.

But they did not expect to see the entire front wall torn away. It was lying 20 feet away from the house, held together by lingering protective enchantments Jack had placed on it, powerful enchantments which, even as they watched, could be seen fizzling out into nothingness. Jack was furious.

"Who's the motherfucker that did this?" Jack said through gritted teeth.

Celeste ignored him in favor of examining the damage. She was puzzled. She had a hand in constructing the wards around the house. The magic of her kind was not so easily breached. No ordinary witch or wizard could have done this. She reached out with her senses and frowned when she felt...she didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Ran off, did you?" Jack said to the room. "No balls to face me in person, ya little bastard?"

"Hush." Celeste soothed. Were it any other woman, Jack would have slapped her for giving him an order. But that single word had carried the insidious power of her race that allowed them to lie hidden within a society that sought their deaths. Her voice was like a soft but firm caress of the most passionate of lovers. It demanded unquestioned obedience but laden with sultry undertones that promised unending bliss to those who submitted. And it continued to whisper far after she was done speaking, its effects lingering in the minds of those it touched.

Jack shuddered involuntarily. He looked at her in pure unadulterated lust but did little else, heeding her command like a well-trained hound.

Celeste walked slowly and examined the wreckage. Whatever spell was cast had ripped the wall right off the building. She felt the magic that had torn the house. It was raw and unbridled power that even Muggles would have taken noticed.

Blood magic. Celeste concluded. It was hardly a subtle thing, yet no other magic existed to generate that kind of power in so short of time. Any other ritual would have drawn far too much attention and would have likely left the caster vulnerable. Then again, if he or she had aimed to tear a dragon sized hole out of the house, subtlety was a moot point.

Something was still amiss though. Blood magic left distinct traces of the caster's signature, or at the very least, traces whichever poor sod the blood mage had chosen to sacrifice for the spell. It was how the Ministry was so easily able to enforce its laws prohibiting its use. But every time she had tried to identify the source, it would...again words escaped her. It was likened to hearing the squeaking of a mouse behind a glass pane. Not only was the sound muffled, but it never stayed still. Celeste reached out again and her frown deepened. It was almost as if…

A shadow moved out of the corner of her eye. She whirled around and tried to yell out a warning. But it came a second too late.

A sickly green light cut through the air and smashed into Jack's chest, the force of the spell sending him careening into the wall. Green flames enveloped him, snuffing out his life. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Celeste felt her heart being torn from her, the bond she had with her host violently severed. She threw her head back in pain, her mouth open in a silent scream. But before she had time to recover, a pale hand reached out and grabbed her by the throat. She stumbled forward only for her head to be jerked upwards. She paled in abject terror when her stare met glowing red eyes. She very nearly lost consciousness at that moment.

"Why is it" Voldemort drawled almost lazily, "That no matter how many of you I kill, there's always one that slips my notice?" His grip tightened before flinging her ten feet across the room. She landed beside Jack's body and cried out in pain. But quickly realizing where she had fallen, she crawled over to cover her host's body…and the small crystal pendant that had started materializing out of his chest, shielding it from Voldemort's gaze.

Seeing her clutch the body, Voldemort smiled.

"It's no use, my dear," Voldemort said. "The Killing Curse drains a victim of his life. There is no energy residing in that body for you to feed on…no magic for you to grasp and use against me."

But he was wrong. There was still some life, some magic, meager as it may be. That which tied her to her chosen was millennia old, a connection that lingered even in death. A connection that was bound to the physical realm.

Celeste's hand tightened around just that, a small sapphire crystal. Through this crystal, she felt life through the wizards who accepted it. It was still glowing with a faint light, but dimming quickly its energy faded into the void with her host. She had to play this just right. If she tipped Voldemort off in anyway, it would all be for nothing.

Voldemort continued. "You would do well to submit. Your struggles buy you nothing but suffering. Do you truly prefer to spend your last moments in agony? Surrender now."

"Never!" Celeste spat out. She was almost there. Power was slowly filling her veins. It wasn't much. But it should be enough…at least so she hoped. Either way, she had to draw out the confrontation just a little longer.

"No? Then perhaps you prefer to serve. Your kind requires a host to taste existence, do they not? Offer me the link which ties you to this world and pledge your…"

"We still remember the last girl that took you as a host. I don't see her around anymore, do I?"

"Nothing more than a series of unfortunate events." Voldemort replied.

"The poor girl." Celeste continued as if uninterrupted. "We felt her emotions from across the continent. She was so sad. Considering who she was sleeping with, guess we know why." She felt the primeval magic filtering through her body as she took what the trinket had to offer. It would not be long now.

"If you seek to provoke me, know that you are failing most admirably." Voldemort said.

"I, mean, it can't be easy waking up to your face every morning." Celeste said as flippantly as she could manage. "Look at you. Glow in the dark eyes. No nose. Hell, cunnilingus must been a real chore for her. You don't even have lips to eat her out properly." Almost there…

"I see we have a natural comedian in our midst." Voldemort smiled. "Perhaps we could find…"

"Or maybe she thought your cock's too small." Celeste interrupted. She needed only a few more seconds. She would only get one shot at this. She had to make it count. "Was that it? Did old Tommy boy fall short? Is little Riddle shriveled?"

Hearing his muggle name, the smile vanished from Voldemort's expression. His red eyes flared. Dark magic saturated the air. The shadows in the room seemed to elongate, taking on a life of their own. Celeste shivered despite herself. The Dark Lord was not amused.

"If it is death that you seek," Voldemort whispered quietly. "Then I shall oblige. AVADA…"

Celeste acted, throwing her hand outwards.

"Exuro" she shouted. Violet flames erupted from her palm. She didn't wait to see if she scored a hit. Celeste ran out of the house and into the nearby woods.

Celeste didn't know how long she had been running but it felt like hours since she had first made her escape. Her thin gown offered little protection against the wintry air. Cuts and scrapes, courtesy of low-lying vegetation and shrubbery, decorated her petite form.

The girl took a risk and looked back. She couldn't see anyone but that didn't mean he wasn't there.

The air rippled. Celeste cursed and ducked, narrowly avoiding the spell that would have separated her head from the rest of her body. She knew that she could not keep this up. That burning curse she had thrown at Voldemort back at Jack's home had cost her what little magic she had. But casting it without a focus had come at a steep price. Her left hand, which was once a soft, creamy texture had been seared to a crisp.

There goes my sex appeal Celeste thought bitterly. But her beauty was the last thing on her mind. Her injuries were superficial. She tightened her grip on the pendant that she had taken from Jack's body, holding it to her chest with her remaining hand. She would heal herself. She would go back into hiding and find another host. All she had to do was to escape her pursuer.

As if to remind her just how tall an order that thought was, the forest in front of her spontaneously combusted. It was a raging inferno that rose as tall as the trees in the area, eagerly seeking fuel to burn. Trees, dead leaves, small panicked mammals…all were consumed in a moment's notice. For a split second, the flames cast the environment in a blazing orange glow.

The flames vanished just as suddenly as they appeared. Celeste would have thought she had imagined the entire thing had not the aftermath of the spell been so apparent.

Flash Fire thought Celeste. The wizarding world's solution to controlling Fiendfyre. Not quite as powerful but no less potent to those caught in it. Another one of her kind's famed gifts to their magical hosts.

A sharp pain raced up her leg. Celeste hissed and glanced down to see that fire had not missed her completely. A few flickers had gotten close enough to burn off a nasty bit of skin. Not life threatening, but it would take weeks to heal at the very least.

On the bright side, the fire had cleared away quite a bit of the forest. Celeste saw light further up ahead where the trees thinned out. Moonlight streamed through the thick canopy. Even the air felt lighter. Observing this, she started to limp her way as fast as possible towards. For the first time that night, Celeste felt a bit of hope.

No sooner had those treacherous thoughts run across her mind, Voldemort sought to prove her wrong. The ground exploded beneath her. She experienced a brief feeling of weightless freedom. She knew it would not last though. She clenched her eyes shut in anticipation for the inevitable impact. What she did not expect, was for a cold yet firm tentacle to wrap itself around her ankle. Before she could look to see what it was, it yanked her down ferociously. Celeste crashed into the ground with frightening speed. But she didn't stop there. Her body continued to tumble and bounce, carried forward by momentum. After a full minute, she slid to a halt.

She groaned painfully and reluctantly opened her eyes. A sea of stars twinkling in the night sky greeted her. She briefly identified a bright cluster of them as a constellation before forcing herself to move. The explosion had done her the benefit of carrying her straight out of the forest and into a clearing. This was good.

However, once she took stock of her new surroundings, her heart sunk.

She was standing on the edge of a foreboding cliff. The dark waves crashed violently against the sharp rocks below. There was a thick layer of sea foam at the point of impact.

She would not survive the fall. Not by a long shot.

Celeste turned quickly back towards the forest but stopped short.

Voldemort stood calmly between her and her escape, twirling his wand casually. He tilted his head upwards gazing at the dark blue sky.

"A rather beautiful night, no?" Voldemort whispered. Celeste had no clue how his voice carried above the roaring ocean behind her but it scared her out of her wits. She would have preferred it if he yelled…preferred it if he screamed, threw curses, anything but stand there like nothing was wrong. She had dealt with her share of inebriated and raging men. But cool, collected and almost flippant manner that Voldemort seemed to treat the situation unnerved her.

"See that constellation?" He continued. "That is Orion, the Hunter. Ancient legends maintain that he hunted all the beasts on Earth to claim his place among the gods. And never once did he fail. I find it a rather auspicious sign to see on this night, don't you?"

"Shut up, damn it!" Celeste shouted hoarsely. "Fuck the mind games and fuck you!"

Silence filled the air briefly. Voldemort turned and considered her, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Celeste wondered if her life was about to end there and then.

"Even at death's door, you remain defiant." Voldemort said with a hint of approval. "But you fight inevitability, Celeste. You are a dying breed. There is no denying that fact. The winds of change have swept away the old and obsolete and your species along with them. Only the strong survive to shape the world as they deem fit."

"Save it for someone who gives a fuck Riddle." Celeste snarled. "There's no way in hell I'm bonding with you so you might as well kill me and get it over with."

"And what would killing you gain me?" Voldemort asked. "It is true that you can be a threat but only if you find a wizard capable enough in the first place. And as tonight has proven, they are few and far between. And of those that do exist, do you truly believe the likes of Dumbledore would ever turn to creatures like yourself for power?

"No, killing you is a waste and that is only a last resort. There is so much more to be gained. I know that the death of your host pains you still. But I can change that. I can help. I have more than enough power to last you ten lifetimes. I can protect you. Together, we will show the Ministry the error of their ways…of labeling such potential as a dark. Together, we will avenge the ancient genocide of your people. Give me that pendant you so desperately are hiding from me and I will give you and the others my protection."

Celeste hesitated. He could not possibly know about the others. They had been careful to cover their tracks. Voldemort sensed it immediately and latched on to it.

"Yes, Celeste." Voldemort said patronizingly. "I know of the others you hide. They, too, resisted and they have paid the price for it."

"Liar!"

"No? Then the late U.S. senator from Nevada died by herself, did she? I suppose it's possible her death could have been a suicide. It was certainly ruled as such. Or Giselle and Imelda, the well received and high-paid courtesans based in Amsterdam? Aurors announced that they had died at the hands of a rather jealous lover. Or how about Tess Eloise, the pornography actress? I admit she indeed provided me endless entertainment in the final moments of her life so I suppose it was a well chosen profession..."

Celeste closed her eyes as Voldemort continued to list off the names of her sisters. They had been betrayed. Someone inside their little circle sold them out to this bastard. There was no other way they could have been found otherwise. And Voldemort had picked them off one by one. He probably did it himself. He would not trust another to the task.

"Give me the stone, Celeste." Voldemort encouraged softly.

A single tear traced down her cheek. It was so tempting to accept. It would be so easy just to accept the man before her as a new host. All she had to do was give him the crystal. She bit her lip and said a silent prayer. She hoped she would be forgiven for what she was about to do. She lifted her hand and let the pendant dangle in front of her eyes.

Voldemort's lips curved upwards into a smirk, his red eyes glinting in triumph. Fixing his gaze on his prize, he reached out slowly as if savoring the moment. But before he could summon it, Celeste smashed it into the ground, shattering it into thousands of glittering fragments. A bright violet beam shot into the sky, illuminating the land for miles around. The light grew in brilliance and began reshaping itself. It took the form of a large dove before flying off, disappearing into the night.

The Dark Lord's expression shifted from horror, to outrage, to cold fury in an instant before settling into a blank expression.

Celeste knew he would never have kept his promise. He had been slaughtering her kind like animals ever since he found out they had survived the Great Genocide. He would never allow a potential threat, no matter how small, to live unchallenged. No, she was dead the moment Voldemort had tracked her down to Jack's home.

"So be it." Voldemort said with cold certainty. She smiled mockingly in response at the man in front of her knowing that she had both denied him and warned her sisters of the lurking danger in one single act.

She watched Voldemort whisper the curse that would kill her. Flickers energy gathered at the tip of his wand before ejaculating in a torrent of green.

Celeste gazed in wonder at the night sky as the curse took her. The smile never left her face.

Disclaimer: Credit for Harry Potter goes to JKR

A/N: This chapter is a beta to get a feel for people's tastes and will be edited and added to as time goes by or as I see fit. There isn't a planned plot at this stage yet, just a lot of ideas floating around. That said, once I'm done revising and rewriting this prologue, I'll get started on the actual storyline. For now though, enjoy this little snippet.

EDIT May 25th, 2012: The chapter has been expanded and a few grammatical errors have been corrected.

EDIT May 28, 2012: This chapter has been edited yet again for my own purposes. The prologue is almost done. Just to let you know, Chapter One is well underway for any who are interested and will be considerably longer.

Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.