Merging With Traffic

Disclaimer: All things Ats, BtVS, and Harry Potter belong to their respective owners, Joss Whedon and JK Rowling. However, the plot is mine as far as I can tell, so please ask if you want to use it.

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Harry stopped in his tracks and turned slowly to face Cordelia. "Excuse me?"

"I'm dead. I've been dead for about six months now."

"How desperate are you Chase? No one is going to believe that rubbish."

"It's true. I can prove it. Give me Veritaserum."

Hermione was looking at Cordelia with an odd expression on her face, and after a moment she said, "What can it hurt to listen to what she has to say?"

"Hermione! What's changed? Earlier this afternoon you were ready to have her thrown in Azkaban just because she was part demon!" Harry cried.

"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore asked, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

Cordelia was getting irritated. While everyone argued and tried to make things make sense, Harry was staring at her, his face a mixture of sadness and revulsion. All she wanted to do was make that look go away. She stomped her feet to get everyone's attention and then yelled, "Look, I'll tell everybody everything. I'll let you do the mind invasion thing again, I'll take Veritaserum, I'll do whatever the hell it takes! You just have to listen to me. You'll regret it if you don't."

"Is that a threat, Chase?" Snape sneered.

"No, it was not a threat, you stupid Grease fan-boy!" Cordelia snapped. "It's just the truth. Look, whether you want to believe me or not, I was sent here for a reason. James and Lily said. . ."

Harry's head snapped up and his eyes flashed with anger. "You're sick. Do not try to use my parents to get me to trust you."

"Oh, good grief. I am not! They were there with me in White World; they're the ones who told me why I needed to come here. They're watching over you, and they said I had to protect you, that when the Wizarding World found out only you can defeat Voldemort, it would try to make you its tool. They said my visions would help you." Suddenly Cordelia's eyes got impossibly wide and she turned away from Harry to speak to Dumbledore. "The vision! Dumbledore, it's a trap. Remus is going to be killed. And Percy Weasley is with him!"

Dumbledore was shocked. "How do you know about Remus' mission?"

"I could've sworn I covered that with the whole 'I get visions thing.' Just send someone to go save Remus and the Weasley kid. If I'm right, you'll know I'm telling the truth. Please, there isn't much time."

Dumbledore stared at Cordelia for a long moment with narrowed eyes and at last turned to Professor Snape. "Severus, please go to Headquarters and assemble a rescue team. Do not let them take any Weasleys, in case Percy Weasley truly is with Remus. Wait for them to return, and then bring everyone here. I will stay and hear Ms. Chase's story."

Snape sighed heavily and nodded. He turned and swept from the room, stopping only for a moment to taunt Cordelia. "I look forward to hearing how you attempted to wriggle out of this situation," he said, and then he was gone.

"I really hate that man," Cordelia said with a venomous look at the doorway from which he had just departed.

"Maybe you should slit his throat," Harry said, coldly.

"Harry, that was uncalled for," Dumbledore said. "Now, everyone, please sit down. We are going to listen to Ms. Chase's story." Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Dumbledore did not give him a chance to speak. "Yes, Harry, you as well. I know you are upset, but as Miss Granger said, what can it hurt to listen?"

Harry clinched his jaw stubbornly, but made no move to leave the room. He sat on a hospital bed with his arms folded and glared defiantly at Cordelia. "Well, let's have it then. Tell me some more lies."

Cordelia took a deep breath and somehow managed to control the intense urge she suddenly felt to haul off and slap that attitude right out of Harry. She gave a shaky smile and said, "No lies. The truth. I didn't tell you about your parents, or that I was dead because I wasn't allowed to. Doyle said if I did, the PTB's would take me away from you."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Who is Doyle, really Ms. Chase? Obviously he didn't tell the truth about himself at the Dursley's."

Cordelia smiled. "Actually, he did. Not the whole truth, but most of it. He's. . .wait a minute. Aren't you going to give me Veritaserum?"

"Not at the moment. The very fact that you are willing to take it speaks to the truth of what you say. However, if, at the end of this tale, my questions have not been answered, I will require you to allow me to question you under its influence."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. It would be so much easier to just do it now, but Wizard Mr. Rogers had to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. "Whatever. Okay, I think I should start at the beginning, just so you won't get confused by anything. It all started about nine years ago, when a girl named Buffy Summers moved to Sunnydale. . . ."

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Jenny paced the length of the little white office she and Doyle shared. He had been gone for nearly three hours and she hadn't heard anything. In her line of work, one of the first things she had learned was that when dealing with angry Higher Powers no news was not good news. Finally, just as she was about to lose what little grip she had on her temper, the door opened and a pale Doyle stepped into the room. "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed. "I was getting really worried. What did they do to you?"

He flopped into a chair and rested his chin on his hand. "They're not pulling her out, but I'm on restriction for taking the demon out."

"No!" she gasped. Then, "What level?"

"Five."

"Five! You lost your powers? Damn it, Doyle! Well, who's taking over the project? Joyce? Tara? Please tell me I'm not going to have to deal with Quinten again." Then her eyes grew wide as a new thought occurred to her. "Or is it cancelled because you decided to be an idiot? Again."

Doyle's spirits seemed to lift at that for some odd reason, and he gave her a mischievous grin. "Actually, I think you'll be happy with my replacement."

"What are you talking about? I don't want to work with anyone else, I. . ." However, whatever Jenny was going to say was cut off when a cold wind rushed through the room and a she began to glow with a pale blue light. She looked at Doyle incredulously and then frowned. "I hate you, you know that right?" she said.

He just smirked at her and said, "So, did I miss anything?"

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"So that's everything. How I got the visions, how I became a demon, why I did not kill those people, how I died, how I ended up here, and how I'm not a demon any more," she finished, with a quick glare at the ceiling. I promise, I've told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Do you believe me?"

"Yes," said Hermione, Luna, and Neville immediately, earning them all a smile from Cordelia.

"I suppose so. There are still some things I would like to clear up, though I don't think Veritaserum will be needed. Could you perhaps stop by my office after dinner?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Sure, Headmaster. Whatever." Then, she turned slowly to face Harry, who had not said a word since she began to speak. "Harry? Do you, do you believe me now? You know I would never hurt you right."

Harry swallowed hard and when he spoke his voice was thick was tears that Cordelia could tell he was trying not to shed. "I guess so. It's just so hard to believe. My parents. I can't, I mean, I don't. . .understand." Cordelia stepped forward to wrap him in a hug, but he pushed her away. "I can't. Not, not right now. I'm sorry, Cordy, I just need some time to think about all of this." With that, Harry turned and ran from the room. Cordelia moved to go after him, but Hermione grabbed her arm and shook her head.

"Don't. Just give him some time alone. He'll be okay. He was like this at the end of last year, when Sirius died."

"I know," Cordelia answered, sadly. "It's just, he was just starting to be better about Sirius, and now. . .I just want to help."

"You will Ms. Chase, when he is ready." Dumbledore broke in. "However, I suggest that for the moment your efforts might be better spent readying the hospital wing. It may soon be needed. I am going to go now, and see if I can reach Madam Pomfrey through the Floo Network."

With one last longing look at the door Harry had departed through, Cordelia turned and began to help the others set up the hospital wing. She was making up a bed when Ron and Ginny appeared at her elbow.

"Cordelia," Ginny began hesitantly. "You said, in your vision that Percy was with Remus. . ." she trailed off, unable to voice her fear.

"Is he hurt?" Ron finished for her. "He may be a complete prat, but I don't want him to die. Most of the time."

"He might," Cordelia said simply. "He was hit by the Killing Curse in my vision." She turned then, and seeing the shocked looks on the kid's faces she smiled comfortingly. "Look guys, I don't believe in treating you like babies. I know your parents say you're too young to hear this sort of thing, but I disagree. You guys are going to be right in the middle of a war in just a few years, months, maybe even days. Coddling won't do anything but get you killed. So, if you ask me if your brother is going to die, I'm going to tell you the truth: he might."

Ginny looked like she was on the verge of tears, so Ron wrapped his arm protectively around her and tried to look strong.

"But I don't think he will."

Ginny's head came up "You don't?" she asked.

"No, I don't. In the vision it seemed like there was lot's of time before they were attacked."

Ron seemed deflate at those words. "But that was hours ago. "You were out for at least forty-five minutes before you woke up, and then there were at least another fifteen before you even remembered having the vision. Then you add on the time it would take Snape to assemble a rescue team, and however long it would take them to get to wherever Professor Lupin and Percy were. They could still die."

Cordelia frowned. She had meant to comfort them, but apparently it wasn't working. "They could, but I really think they're going to be okay. C'mon now, help me get these beds made up so they'll have a place to sleep when they get here.

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To the readers and reviewers: Whew! So glad to have that chapter out! I've been trying so hard to get a draft out for almost a month, but I just couldn't get one I was happy with. Thanks to Kat for her beta services, they were much apppreciated. Anyway, I wish I could tell you all, "I'll have another chapter out tomorrow," but I can't. I'm in school 'til the end of June and the stress just keeps piling up. So, while there might be another chapter tomorrow, you may also have to wait until July. Take heart though, once I have been freed for the summer, I plan to write up a storm and have my baby here finished by the time school starts again. Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed, it was GREATLY appreciated. Do it again! Please.