New World War
by Erin Griffin
Fandm: Murder in Suburbia/Harry Potter (Crossover, slightly AU)
Pairing: Eventual Ash/Scribbs
Summary: When Ash starts acting weird and leaves Middleford CID, Scribbs is confronted with her collegue's biggest secret. Afraid of losing her friend in a magical war, she follows Ash to Hogwart's where she finds her family has its own hidden history...
Author's Note: From the episode "Witches" to rereading the first book over again and reading McGonagall's description in the first couple of chapters, I knew that I needed to write this crossover. It has been in my head and the notes in many different stages for five or six years now. Hopefully, I will keep up with this one, but it might take a lot of time to get it all out.
This story partially rewrites the seventh book in the Hogwarts POV. All characters you don't recognize belong to me, and all storylines or events in wrong order are Alternate Universe. This may seem a little wonky for avid Harry Potter fans because I tweak so much of book seven to make this story work.
Also, I am American. I realize that both of these fandoms are not. All Americanisms are my mistake, as I do not have a betareader, and so let's hope it doesn't ruin the rest of the story for you.
Emma Scribbins was a Muggle. Not a bad person, as far as Muggles go. She drank a little too much and cleaned too little, but even for someone without magical ability, she had her own adventures as a detective. Every day wasn't the same, as it seemed to be for a lot of Muggle born people. Each case needed a new perspective and in some cases, a new toy for her collection at work, and so her mind had to remain active. It helped that she had her best friend Kate Ashurst there with her.
When Emma Scribbins (or Scribbs as she liked to be called) woke up one morning, she didn't feel much like a Muggle, although she didn't know this. All she knew was that she saw green behind her eyelids and what felt like her collegue's name echoing in her head. Scribbs was aware of a small burning on her right ankle, but a quick rub around the jewelry there soothed it, and she was able to then turn over. Scribbs couldn't sleep, and as much as she tried to conjure up the rest of the dream from the night before, all she could recall was the flash of green light and the shout of 'Ash!' There was a heaviness in her chest, a chill up her spine, but being a Muggle, Scribbs couldn't understand why.
Something important had happened, this was a feeling she had all morning. When her alarm clock had finally gone off, and with a heavy heart, she went about her day. She knew for certain that something was wrong when she went to her car on her way into work. There were a lot more people out this time of morning. She was used to morning traffic, with every other person also trying to get in to work on time, or to open their shops that morning, but there were a lot more pedestrians than usual. More than once she was forced to slam on her breaks as one of these people ran across the street before her in order to speak with someone on the other side of the road. Each person wore a long robe around skirts or strangely colored pants, however, most wore a pointed hat of some kind. Scribbs observed many of these people, all of who seemed to feel what she felt, only a lot more. Scribbs wondered if perhaps there was a convention in town, one she didn't know about, and hoped that she wouldn't hear about whatever it was that made these peoples ad when she went into work.
Another thing she noticed: the animals. They were everywhere. It wasn't as if Scribbs was a stranger to the strays of the neighborhood, but where there were these robed people, there were also animals not to far away. Cats on the boot of cars, owls overhead, dogs off of their leads... Scribbs didn't like to listen to the new in the morning (usually because she had Ash with her and she would always have something to say about it all), but she was almost willing to switch it on that morning to see what had happened. Because of this, Scribbs' commute was slower by about ten minutes, making her late for work, not that anyone seemed to notice. As Scribbs walked into the Middleford CID, she was greeted by a few DS' she would go to drink with, and for a moment, Scribbs felt like this would be any normal day. And then she bumped into someone. She hadn't seen them on her way in, and he seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
"So sorry," he said quickly, taking a step back. Scribbs looked this man over. He too looked as if he was on his way to the strange meet up or convention all of those other people were headed to. He stood shorter than Scribbs, with a short bear speckled with white. His top hair was long, however. His eyes were green and sad. His robes were grey and almost to his feet, but closed at the navel. "Sullivan in?" he asked a moment later.
"I'm about to check," Scribbs admitted to him. She was about to ask the man about the convention in town, when he nodded and stepped past her. She hurried after him. Maybe she would hear first hand what was happening. The man knocked on the door to Sullivan's office. the door opened to him, and Scribbs was surprised to find not only Sullivan inside, but Ash and a couple of men that Scribbs had never seen before. All four faces looked between the stranger and Scribbs, and the blonde woman was surprised when the shocked expression was towards her, not the man. "Hello," Scribbs offered.
"Em-Emma," Sullivan said uneasily. His eyes darted to Ash, and then to the man at her side. "Yes well... Scribbs could you wait at your desk? I'm uh- I'm sure Kate will be by to speak with you shortly."
"Is something the matter?" Scribbs asked, looking to her friend for a clue of some kind. Her friend couldn't meet her eye, and Scribbs saw the evidence of recent tears on the skin of her face that she could see.
"Well... Kate will fill you in," Sullivan replied. He then looked to the man beside the blonde woman and gestured him inside. "We've been waiting for you." Scribbs watched as the man went into the room, and the door slowly closed behind him. Scribbs frowned. She swallowed. She wanted to bang on the door and allow herself in, but she didn't. Instead she leaned in to see if she could hear anything, but there was nothing. Complete silence. This was also odd. Normally, she and Ash could hear Sullivan talking to whoever was inside with him, which had proven useful in breaking the news of one of their (okay, mostly Scribbs') cock only added to the uneasiness she had been feeling that morning. What was going on that Ash knew about but she didn't?
Scribbs went to her desk and finally shed her brown jacket, placing it on the back of her chair as she replayed the morning in her mind for more clues. Her day was just bizarre from the very beginning of it, and she still couldn't shake the dream she'd had. This added to the small anxiety Scribbs was feeling that morning. What was going on that Ash knew about but she didn't?
Scribbs went to her desk and finally shed her brown jacket, placing it on the back of her chair as she replayed the morning in her mind for more clues. Her day was just bizarre from the very beginning of it, and she still couldn't shake the dream she'd had. This added to the small anxiety Scribbs was feeling. She didn't know what to expect now. And so she did the only thing she could do: wait. She played with the zipper of her brown jacket, and only looked up when she heard her collegue's voice. "Tea. Canteen." With that, Scribbs was on her feet, seeing as Ash wasn't going to wait for her. She ran a couple of steps behind her and no matter what she said, she got no response.
Finally, after the two women sat down with untouched paper cups of tea in front of them, Scribbs asked, "Did someone die?"
Ash's mouth twisted, but she nodded. "I cannot discuss details, Scribbs, but yes. And... I have to tell you that I'm leaving the CID. And Middleford. I thought you should be the first to know."
"What? Why?"
"I can't say," Ash said. Though there was nothing else in the cup but the hot water and tea bag, Ash wrapped her hands around it and looked away from the blonde.
"I don't understand. Are you in trouble?"
"No. I can't- I can't talk about this, but I can't just up and leave without-"
"But you are leaving. And I don't get to know why? Are you even going to tell me where?" Scribbs asked, her eyes sad, as she knew the answer to this already.
"No."
"I didn't think so," the younger woman admitted. She stared down at her tea. "So, you knowing me, how did you expect for this conversation to play out, Ash? You just... stand up and leave to god knows where and I just sit here and go about things?"
"I didn't want for you to hear it from someone else."
"Well, considering how little I am actually hearing from you, I say maybe it was better I did. Maybe they'd tell me something- anything."
"They wouldn't know what to tell you, Scribbs," Ash said quietly. "If I could, I'd tell you everything."
This made Scribbs look at up at her friend and collegue. There was something there in her friend's voice that made her heart beat faster, as it always did when Scribbs least wanted it to. For a moment, Scribbs was certain Ash saw her true feelings, and she fought to hide them under her anger. What good were they if Ash was about to leave her forever? "Well then..." Scribbs said bitterly, "as long as there is that." She closed her eyes, and saw green again. Opening them to Ash again she wondered which image was worse, the dream, or the foreshadowing of the day it seemed to bring her.
