Summary:
Krista Evans grew up with Jasper Whitlock, and was separated when Jasper joined the Confederate army. They never met again until after Jasper was turned. In the midst of escaping Maria with Peter and Charlotte, he received some unexpected help from a certain person with green eyes. "I told you that we'd meet again." Fem!Harry. Extreme AU.
I swear that I must have rewritten this story at least three times by now! Urgh! Let's hope that this is the last rewrite! I've received several complaints from my last version of Out of the Ashes, and that it gets confusing.
Anyway, like what was stated in the old version, the idea for this story kinda came out of the blue during a time when I was pretty much on a Harry Potter + Twilight crossover craze, and I found that nearly every single crossover story that I've read is always nearly the same: Harry has enough after the war; he went to Forks either alone or with his friends; he met the Cullens there, blah blah blah.
You get the picture.
So the idea for Out of the Ashes came about because I want to attempt writing a different type of crossover story that I'm pretty sure no one had attempted yet, or if they did, I hadn't came across it.
In this version, Krista (female Harry, and I kinda ran out of ideas for names that starts with 'H', so don't sue me!) never attended Hogwarts School at all. And if you had been a frequent reader of mine, you will know that I never like rushing into things and I liked taking things slow—especially romance. Everything in this story happens for a reason, and it will all be explained in due time.
There will be slight references from games and other stories—especially Soul Sacrifice. This story will also be extreme AU. In this story, there are two opposing factions of magicals—the Wiccan sect and the Salem sect. Again, I've tried to research about witch burnings in history, but I couldn't find much, so it will be entirely up to my imagination how the story goes.
Krista is a half-vampire in this story—half Wiccan witch from her mother and half vampire from her father (and by the way, I'm still wondering if I should still stick to James Potter as her father or use someone else—like for example, a member of the Volturi?)
The two opposing magical sects have been at war for eons—ever since the time of Arthur Pendragon, Merlin and Morgana le Fey. Salem (Merlin) is pretty much Magical Britain's beliefs and teachings in this AU whilst the Wiccan sect that Krista belongs to is generally more open-minded and follows the teachings of Morgana le Fey and Hecate—that magic is simply intent, and there is no good or evil about it.
As this is extreme AU, it means no Horcruxes!
Much like the previous version, instead of attending Hogwarts, Krista attends a school called Nightshades that taught part-humans or non-humans like dhampirs to control their abilities. Upon graduation, Nightshades' alumni has the choice to either pick their own career paths or to join an agency/militia of sorts that belongs to Nightshades – with their sole duty being to make sure that the normal humans don't find out about their world, and to also keep the magical creatures in line.
Unlike the previous version however, I'll be delving more about Krista and Jasper's past before the appearance of the Cullen coven. Fear not—they will also be appearing way earlier. There will be more characters from the Harry Potter cast appearing in this story, though their roles will be different, as it's extreme AU. As unlike my previous version where there are more OCs than I cared to remember, I think it might be a better idea if I just use canon Harry Potter characters in this extreme AU.
The 'present time' of the story will take place sometime during the events of Eclipse—this will be several chapters from here, as I'll also be delving into Jasper's time in the southern wars.
However, there will be no Bella in this story, as I honestly can't come up with a proper role for her without pushing her into the background after her introduction. I'm already having problems coming up with major roles for the Cullen coven and the wolves in this story! Hence, the relationships for the Cullen coven will have slight differences, as I want Jasper to be Krista's mate. Additionally, if you're interested to know, Jasper is about three years older than Krista.
And I have no idea why so many writers like to bash Edward or Bella so much, but whatever the reason is, there will be no Edward bashing in this story. I absolutely hate it whenever someone bash a character so much that there is hardly anything left of the original character's personality in canon.
And another thing, please do not go after me, basically threatening me to engage a beta reader like what I've already experienced in so many of my stories, despite my horrible grammar and usage of tenses. If I want another person to get their hands on my story, I'll say so. The point is that I have pretty bad experiences with beta readers, so no; I'm not letting my story go to a beta reader. The only person who'll get to edit my stories is myself. Besides, I don't think that my story is that bad (language wise) that it is entirely unreadable.
Anyway, enough with the rant, and I apologise if this offends anyone. But on with the story!
Pairings: Jasper/Krista. Edward/Alice. Neville/Luna. Ethan/Susan.
Warnings: Extreme AU. OC characters. Some character bashing. Mature scenes. Violence.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and Twilight or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me
Chapter One: Wiccans
"We Nightshades are the very shadows itself. We are the Night. And we'll always watch over our own people." - Ethan Nightray
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~1861; Houston, Texas~
Light giggles and low chuckles could be heard coming from the front garden of the Whitlock mansion where two figures—a well-built young man with honey blonde hair and warm brown eyes gave a low chuckle as he rested warm eyes on his companion opposite him—both who were seated on the white swing seat in the front gardens of the Whitlock mansion.
Unlike the young man, his female companion is petite, almost slender. She is also his opposite in terms of colouring, with dark auburn locks falling down to a little below her shoulders and emerald green eyes. And unlike the young man's slightly tanned complexion that told tales of long hours toiling under the sun, the young woman's skin is fair, with slender hands that had slight signs of calluses visible on the palms—unusual for a young lady of this day and age.
From the window of the sitting room in the Whitlock mansion, Jason and Anna Whitlock both smiled wistfully at the young couple that they could see from the window—the Lord and Lady of the house both currently having their afternoon tea.
"They make such a sweet couple, don't they?" Anna Whitlock sighed wistfully, smiling at the gentle visage in her son's eyes even as he laid eyes on his childhood friend—the little girl whom her husband had taken in at the mere tender age of four after discovering that one of the merchant families in his town had abused their own niece to the point of almost killing her.
If Anna hadn't been around to restrain her husband, along with the rest of Jason's retainers, then he most likely would have killed those Dursleys, as he condones child abusers and rapists most of all. As it is, Jason had evicted them from their house the very same day, confiscating everything, and had then exiled the Dursley family from his town. The Whitlock lord had also sent out missives to every single lord in the nearby provinces, informing them of that family's crimes, and that they are not to give them service or shelter if they don't wish to lose the friendship and patronage of the Whitlock family.
Jasper who was only seven at that time had been a great help to his mother by helping to calm the traumatised child, much to his father's pride. Of course, it didn't take long for the Whitlock family to find out what had led to the abuse, but it didn't deter the Lord and Lady any. Neither did it deter Jasper.
Anna Whitlock who had always wanted a little girl to spoil but couldn't have more than one child had dotted on the child who was so sweet and innocent that she simply couldn't comprehend anyone wanting to harm her.
Now, more than ten years since they'd taken the little girl in, Krista Evans had grown out of her shell, and both Whitlock parents were proud to say that their son's growth as a man is also because of the young girl.
Due to being the Whitlock heir, Jason had also been receiving several marriage proposals from noblemen and wealthy families with eligible daughters of marriageable age ever since his son and heir had turned fifteen, but he had been putting them off for as long as he could, as he wanted his son to find love the same way he did with his wife—not trap his son into a loveless marriage just for the sake of producing an heir.
Besides, Lord Whitlock isn't as feared as he is without having some sharp eyes and senses. He could see from a mile away that his son had been crushing on the girl that is as good as a daughter to him.
"And if I know Jasper at all, he will most likely begin the courting process once he's back from the Confederate army, and once Krista is of marriageable age." Jason noted absently, smiling as Jasper bent down to pick up the brown leather bound book that had slipped from Krista's slender fingers, handing it back to her with the air and grace of a gentleman like how Jason had taught Jasper since early boyhood.
The smile on Anna's face disappeared immediately, and she turned to her husband with a fearful look. "Darling, must Jasper really go?" she pleaded, fear visible in her eyes. "He's still so young."
"He's seventeen. He's a man now, Anna." Jason said solemnly, wrapping an arm around his wife's shaking shoulders, "and he must do his duty. Besides, Jasper volunteered." He added. "But he has something to return to, so I don't believe that my son will die that easily."
Anna managed a weak smile, wishing that she could believe her husband's words as easily as he could. "I guess so," she said at last. Her brown eyes then shifted to Krista who seems to be reading something out of the book in her hands, and Jasper seems to be paying more attention to the girl herself than what she's saying, much to Anna's amusement. "I just wished that we knew who Krista's father is, and that you've gotten more out of those horrible Dursleys before we've exiled them from the town." Anna's visage turned angry, recalling the state that Krista had been in when Jason had carried the little girl in on that day so many years ago—so seriously abused that Anna is honestly surprised at that time that the little girl is still alive.
She was bedridden for nearly a month, and even after that, Jasper and Anna have to teach her how to walk and even use her muscles again. The doctors that have seen her had almost feared that she would be paralysed for life due to how many bones that she'd gotten broken by her 'relatives', and her organs were also extremely weak at that point in time due to severe malnutrition. Due to the lack of nutrition during the most important developing years of a child's life, the Whitlock family doctor had even told his Lord and Lady gravely that Krista Evans would likely always stay small and petite.
Jason sighed. "…Salem and Wiccan," he murmured. "I understand their fear for anything…magical, but you don't treat a child like that!" His gray eyes were angry.
It had been common knowledge for generations—ever since Jason's boyhood, and probably even beyond that. Two opposing magical sects—the Wiccan and the Salem. One that believes in harmony and that magic is just pure intent—believing in co-existence and the Balance of power. The other that sees the world in black and white, and that anyone who does not follow their ways are evil. Unfortunately, unlike the other faction, the Salem faction does not see the mundanes, the non-magicals, as anything worth protecting or interacting with.
Three guesses which faction that some of the more open-minded mundanes preferred?
Unfortunately however, for every mundane that has nothing against a Witch, there are five who abhors them and would rather see them burned at the stake. Thus, by the time that Jason is a boy, all the Witches and anything supernatural have all long gone into hiding.
Jason, Anna and Jasper have found out very quickly that Krista is one of them, and from what little that Jason knew of the two magical factions, he could only conclude that Krista is a Wiccan—most probably from her mother who had been childhood friends with Anna when they were girls before she had somehow died mysteriously after a long period of absence, leaving behind a child whose father that no one even knew the identity of.
Thus, Jason wasn't really surprised when one day when Krista was seven, a mysterious man with dark hair and crimson eyes clad in a black cloak had appeared at the Whitlock mansion to invite Krista to the Nightshades Academy.
Even Jason had heard whispers that the so-called elite school is actually a school for witches and the supernatural. The strange thing is that no human had ever found the school before, no matter how hard they have searched.
Even Krista is always strangely tight-lipped whenever she returned for the holidays from her school, but she had always made sure not to exhibit stranger things than normal. For the past year or so however, even Jason had heard whispers about how both the Wiccan and Salem sects were gearing up for a war once more—and it is also around that time when Krista seems unusually worried about something, but refused to say anything about it—even to Jasper.
"Darling, at least you had the sense to keep Krista's…uh…heritage hidden." Anna said hesitantly. "Though I wonder what is going to happen. Even I could tell that something's going on." She added worriedly, looking at her son and the girl who is as good as a daughter to her.
"I can tell that you're not listening, you know?" Krista said, annoyed, closing her book. Opposite her in the white swing seat that they've both used ever since they were small children, Jasper Whitlock smiled that crooked smile at her that always sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Krista was silent for several moments, her mind wandering to her mission for the umpteenth time before she quickly banished it from her thoughts. She only had a few precious days left with the Whitlock family for normalcy before she has to return to the front lines. "I heard about it from Aunt Anna." She looked at Jasper who looked surprised before he smiled sadly. "You're going to join the Confederate army, aren't you?"
Jasper nodded. "My apologies," he said smoothly, taking Krista's hand into his and bringing her knuckles to his lips. "But it's something that I have to do. I'll come back alive. There's something that I have to tell you after that." He said mysteriously.
Krista frowned. "Can't you tell me now?" she asked. There are no guarantees that she will come back alive from her war as well after all.
Jasper smiled and shook his head. "I promise to come back alive. So wait for me," he said earnestly.
Krista is silent for several moments even as she stared at their entwined hands. How is she going to tell her best friend that her vampire gene is going to wake in just two more years once she reaches maturity and she will then stay immortal? As a dhampir—a Half Blood.
She always knew that she's a Half Blood ever since Xatis Nightray—the head of Nightshades had brought her to the Academy when she was seven. But it's not until three years ago when the Salem sect started acting up again when she found out just what creature gene that she had inherited from her unknown father.
Now she understood why she was christened with her mother's maiden name and not her father's. Evans might be a relatively famous name amongst the Wiccan and Salem communities—with her mother being the last of the famous Evans' Wiccan line before her birth, but the name isn't that well known to the mundanes.
Krista managed a small smile. "…Yeah," she agreed. "We'll meet again." She promised.
There were the sounds of light footsteps just then before both teens turned only to see one of the Whitlock maids approaching them, an apologetic look on her face. "'cuse me, Young Master, Miss Krista, there is a man wishing to speak with Miss Krista." The maid squeaked timidly, her eyes flickering towards the gates of the Whitlock mansion.
Both Jasper and Krista's eyes followed the direction of the maid's gaze only to see a young man with dark brown hair and amber eyes dressed in a simple beige tunic and dark green pants with boots. Even with the distance between them, Jasper could tell at one glance that this man is from Krista's 'school', and he frowned to himself.
Throughout the years ever since Krista was sent to that mysterious school of hers (and here, Jasper ignored that when he was first informed of it by his mother, he was obviously upset that he'll be without his best friend for nearly three-quarters of the year, though Krista had kept her promise when she'd first gone away to write weekly)—and it is only in the last three years that whenever someone whom he could somehow sense is from her kind came to visit, it always puts Krista in a bad mood.
The maids and cooks have all learned by now that whenever one of those 'mysterious visitors' came to visit Miss Krista, to prepare some desserts at teatime or at dinnertime to soothe her bad mood.
Jasper is getting curious however.
Much like his father, he knew that Nightshades Academy is not a normal school, even without listening to the whispers. He is more curious about what they actually taught there, as when Krista had came back after her first year, she had carried herself with more confidence, and wouldn't jump at her own shadow like how she did after his parents have taken her in after the abuse was discovered. Then year after year only seems to improve Krista's self confidence and the way that she carried herself—something that had pleased both his parents, though Jasper wasn't so amused when several of the boys in town suddenly seemed to have grown eyes and had realised that Krista is a girl.
"I can send him away if you wish?" Jasper looked at Krista who looked resigned—almost like she had been expecting the strange man's presence.
Krista shook her head, getting to her feet and adjusting the garments of her white summer dress. "No, it's okay. I'll speak to him." Krista managed a small smile at Jasper before heading towards the gates where the man is standing. Both exchanged low words before leaving the vicinity of the Whitlock Mansion.
Jasper frowned.
He had a bad feeling about this.
XXXXXX
Both of them stopped when they're not too far away from the Whitlock Orchard—standing beneath one of the magnolia trees.
Krista then turned to face the young man with her before her eyes flickered around, making sure to stretch her senses out to check that there isn't anyone around before she snapped her fingers, and a faint ripple of magic swept the area around them—putting up a silencing and disguising ward. Any mundanes that chanced upon them would only see and hear the two having a harmless 'normal' conversation about the next school year until Krista chose to bring down the wards.
"All right." Krista sighed, her once warm green eyes now turning hard as she laid eyes on the brunette across her that hadn't said a single word since leaving the Whitlock mansion. "Drop the glamour, Ethan."
The brunette smirked slightly before a faint ripple swept across his body—almost like ripples across a pond's surface, and the image of the brunette melted away to reveal a well-built young man with short midnight black hair that reaches a little below his earlobes and crimson red eyes. His skin is fair, and his lean muscles were just visible beneath the black shirt and combat pants that he is wearing, with a black cloak worn over it. A sword is also visible by his hip, and he wore black gloves on his hands, with a black choker around his neck—with the pendant being that of the infamous Hecate's Wheel—a labyrinth-like symbol with a six pinwheel symbol in the middle. And a crest is also visible on the black cloak that he's wearing—a symbol of a pair of criss-crossed swords with a pair of weighing scales.
"I didn't have a choice but to come here." Ethan Nightray said before Krista could say anything, the pureblood vampire raising his hands up to show that he meant no harm. He knew that Krista could easily kill a human or a creature with just her bare hands alone. She isn't his field partner for nothing, after all. "Uncle Xatis sent me here. Luna and Nev have gone to the other two."
Krista sighed. "…I sent my report the other day," she said seriously. "We already said what is needed to be said in the report. You shouldn't have come here! You could have easily blown my cover! Though at least you put on a glamour."
"We didn't have a choice!" Ethan hissed. "War is about to break out, Krista. You know that! It's only a matter of time. We're here to call the three of you home from your undercover assignment."
"We need just a little more time." Krista pleaded. "Please! Just a little longer!"
"You don't have that time!" Ethan said harshly. "You're a Half Blood, Kris! That's the reason why the Wiccan Council and my uncle even have sent you into the heart of Salem to begin with—they won't be able to resist your allure. And you will come into your vampire inheritance in just two more years! The other two will reach full maturity around that timeframe too. All three of you will be ousted as Wiccans! We can't take that risk! You're the last living Evans' heir—Lady Evans' sole heir and child. The Salem system—Merlin's system is defective and riddled with corruption. It's only a matter of time before the Salem sect dies out completely—with how they've been rejecting Magic and Her ways for eons. It's been three years since the three of you were sent into the heart of the Salem community. Isn't it enough?" Ethan pleaded.
Krista closed her eyes briefly before opening them again, a look of pleading visible in those green orbs. "Two years! Just…two more years!" she pleaded. "I'll just ask for two more years, Ethan! Please! We're so close to finding out more! We're so close to figuring out how to shut down the Salem system completely, and how Albus more-titles-than-I-care-to-remember Dumbledore had been manipulating the Salem affairs! Blaise and Theo both agreed with me! We can handle ourselves! We're so close, Ethan! Just a little more!"
"That's not the point here!" Ethan growled in frustration. He knew that it is going to take a miracle to convince Krista to change her mind—that is why he is even sent here—having been Krista's mentor when she had been a Nightshades' student, and then her field partner after graduation. "I know the three of you can handle yourselves, you especially. You broke all records by being recruited by the Enforcers straight after graduation—unheard of in all of Nightshades' history! But this isn't the point here! You're taking an unnecessary risk—all three of you! We need every able bodied fighter out on the front lines once Salem takes the fight to us—and you know they will! It is how they work! It is what had happened during the past wars that we had with them!"
"Just a little longer!" Krista pleaded. "Ethan, we're so close to reaching our goal! I owed it to them at least—"
"You don't owe them shit!" Ethan exploded. "Just because your maman used to serve on the Wiccan Council before she decided to go and take matters into her own hands when Salem started going too far by leaking the identities of Wiccans to the mundanes who burned them at the stake, it doesn't mean you have to go and do the same thing!" His chest is heaving heavily. "You're my cousin—no matter how distantly related we are! And you know how corrupted the Salems are, and even how distorted that Merlin's system had became after more than 8000 years by being run by fools, now with that fool Albus Dumbledore in charge! He's the reason why Salem Magic is dying! Merlin and Arthur Pendragon would both be rolling in their graves if they knew what the world that they have created had become. And meanwhile, the Wiccan system that the Lady Morgana had established is still running strong. Shouldn't that be a sign of what Magic herself has decided? Which that she'd chosen as Her Heir?"
"…I have my own reasons, Ethan." Krista said after a long pause. "It's true that as a Nightshades' Enforcer, and as one of the Wiccans, I never had a need to interfere in the affairs of the Salems. But let me do it for my mother. I need to know why a member of the Wiccan Council of Seven had chosen to interfere in the Salem affairs that actually ended up in her death." Krista's eyes showed that she wouldn't be backing down. "…Two more years, Ethan." She pleaded. "Please…"
Ethan groaned out loud, wiping his hand down his face, mumbling several incoherent foul words in fluent Italian. He knows his partner well, and knows that she wouldn't back down. And what with the mundane war going on at the same time as well, it will only be a matter of time before it breaks out into a world war.
"You, Zabini and Nott." Ethan said at last. "All three of you will get back to Nightshades six months before you come into your inheritance. If you are ever ousted as Wiccans in the heart of the Salem community, you won't be leaving alive! A year and a half. That's as much as I could give you. No more." He said harshly, and Krista nodded—she knew that that is the best that she could have from Ethan. "The Eye is always watching, Krista. Remember that. We Nightshades are the very shadows itself. We are the Night. And we'll always watch over our own people. As long as you believed and walk the path of the Night, Lady Hecate will always be right beside you to show you the path."
"This war between Salem and Wiccan will probably be the last." Krista stated heavily at last. "Whether they want to admit it or not, the Salem community is on their last legs. They're dying out. It's the same with Atlantis' destruction. It's as you said: Magic has decided on Her Heir. Lady Hecate has chosen whom to bestow her protection. And after that…" Krista grimaced—she knew what is going to happen after that. "…We might as well get ready for the fight of our lives—the mundanes isn't going to take it lying down. There is going to be a repeat of the witch hunts from the 1600s. And this time, they aren't going to stop until we're all wiped out."
A/N: Like I said, it's going to be vastly different from past versions. For one, I will be delving more into Jasper and Krista's past history before actually getting to where we'll have the events in the books. The canon characters from Harry Potter are going to play several different roles in this AU. Also, once more, will you like James Potter as Krista's father still or someone else—or maybe that 'someone else' shall be her grandfather instead?
Anyway, I hope that you like this story and chapter, and please read and review!