Look Upon my Work, And Despair
Chapter 1
An ATS/HP crossover by Minor WMD +2
Author's Warning: Beware mortals this is not for the faint of heart or the weak of mind. Madness this way leads. Another words don't read this kiddies. The violence is much dialed back in this chapter. Obviously you can't expect gore galore every time. It wouldn't be special anymore.
Disclaimer: I don't own Angel the Series or Harry Potter. I don't own any characters there in. All characters are properties of their respective authors. Weldon and Rowling. Respectively.
Note: After much, much rewrite I present to you the final(ish)
version of Chapter 1. Much of the grammar problems should be gone (I
hope). Moreover, I believe I got Hermione's characterization and
speech pattern right this time around.
Sweat rolled down her brow. Her muscles burned. Her breathing quickened. She was constantly made aware of her pulse by the throbbing of her veins.
"Breathe," Hermione told herself.
Hermione felt her lungs strained to provide oxygen. It hurt when she breathed.
"This is nothing!" she barked at herself like some drill instructor.
She ran by the O'Brian's house, Mrs. O'Brian waved at her from the kitchen window. With a smile Hermione waved back as she went past.
Her endurance was approaching the breaking point. Hermione knew wouldn't be able to keep this pace up much longer and was already soaking in sweat from head to toe. Some of the perspiration got into her eye, she shocked it away.
A red sedan drive passed her and she ignored the happy couple inside.
Hermione's legs protested and she knew she was at her limit. But she did not stop. "Suck it up, Hermione. Keep going." Again her mental drill sergeant drove her on. She ran past the Harris property, a large elegant home with a green front yard. Hermione used to play with their kids back before she received her Hogwarts letter. They have a girl about her age named Jessica, she and Hermione were friends back then too. That wasn't exactly accurate, she let Jessica copy her homework and Jessica let Hermione hung around while they were out. Hermione thought the cycle would end once she got to Hogwarts; apparently Jessica was just replaced by Ron and Harry. She lost touched with Jessica though. Hermione wondered if she should pay them a visit later, catch up on old times and all, a little gossip about the people they used to know. She crushed those thoughts.
Her legs, they felt so heavy. Finally, she collapsed on someone's lawn.
"Good morning, Hermione," she heard someone called out her name.
Hermione sat up. Colin Kensington waved at her as he got out of his red sedan. He was in his late twenties, dashing and a fairly successful architect. Hermione returned the gesture. "Good morning, Mr. Kensington, Sir. What are you doing out so early, if I may ask, Sir?" she asked out of politeness.
Mrs. Kensington got out the other side of the car. She went to the back seat and opened the door. Someone stepped out. Mrs. Kensington came around the back with the other person in tow. It was a little boy with dirty blonde hair. The boy, he obviously was not directly related to the Kensingtons whom both had very dark hair. Mrs. Kensington kneeled down and pointed Hermione out to the boy.
"That's Hermione," Mrs. Kensington told the boy who just shied away.
Mr. Kensington patted the boy on the head. "This is our new son. His name is Brian. We just picked him up from the orphanage today."
"He's just a little shy, love." Mrs. Kensington told Hermione.
"He's a… he's adorable, Ma'am." Hermione smiled uncomfortably. If only these people knew what's out there, she lamented. Would they still laugh and smile if they know there's a group of psychopaths out there, out to kill every happy family with powers they could not imagine? Hermione forced the smile because she wasn't capable of genuinely smiling anymore, not unless it's over the grave of Draco Malfoy. She turned away; this little happy new family was too much for her. These people reminded her too much of her own parents. They disgusted her.
"Oh Hermione," Mrs. Kensington quickly added before Hermione could run off. "Why don't you come over for dinner sometime? And bring your parents too. I'm sure they'll enjoy meeting Brian." Mrs. Kensington ruffled the boy's hair.
"My parents are still… that is… they're away in the Caribbean somewhere." Hermione lied. It was a well-rehearsed story and she hadn't had trouble telling it after so much practice.
"You mean to tell me that it's just you living in that house?" Mr. Kensington sounded alarmed.
They were good people and Hermione berated herself for hating them. "No, of course not," Hermione said truthfully. "My Yank of a cousin is staying with me for the summer. She's older so my parents trust her to look after me, I would think. B-But I can look after myself perfectly fine – thank you very much." She had started to tell people Illyria was her cousin when the neighbors asked about her. So far it kept them from poking their noises into their business.
"Well bring her over. I'm sure you two girls would appreciate a home cook meal. How about next Saturday? Don't be late because there're two seats with your names on them." Mrs. Kensington didn't leave much room for argument.
Grudgingly Hermione agreed. She wondered how she's going to get Illyria to come along or making an ass of herself if she does. Sometimes that girl could be so arrogant that Hermione couldn't stand to be in the same room. Other times she could make Hermione's skin crawl with just a look. Then there are the times that the older girl just simply terrified her. Or made her feel like an insignificant insect with a few simple words.. "I mean honestly… who does that girl thinks she is - some kind of Goddess?" Hermione grumbled. Speaking of dinner, Hermione couldn't recall the last time the older girl ate anything. "Or sleep for that matter." Though admittedly, Hermione had always been the one to sleep first having passed out every night from exhaustion.
Having returned from her morning run, Hermione went to shower. She stank and not in a good way. After the grooming she ate, simple eggs, no salt and milk from a carton she remembered shopping for with her mother. The house was quiet now, Hermione noticed. It was dead - the heart had been cut out - just like her.
Illyria returned around nine, a package in her hand. Hermione saw the girl stowed the package away.
"For later," she said.
They began Hermione's morning training session around ten. For the last two weeks, Illyria had tried to teach Hermione the basics of sword fighting.
The first few days infuriated the former God-King. The pupil whines too much. Illyria had contemplated whether or not to snap the young girl's neck many times during the course of their lesions. It was a light punishment for wasting her time. For some inexplicable reason the goddess endured this urge. The girl was pathetic, barely able to hold a sword. It took the girl many hours just to repeat the most basic techniques and longer still to understand their purpose. Worse yet, when they first started the girl required rest every few minutes. Still, Illyria did observe some progress. After two weeks of intense training the girl could manage thirty minutes without pause. Yet her form was still far from acceptable.
Hermione faltered and overextended her stroke.
"In my time if a warrior among my armies was as weak and pathetic as you are, it would have been put out of its misery."
"I'm really, really sorry. I lost concentration for a second." Hermione breathed heavily and leaned on the sword.
"Such a costly mistake will quickly cost you your life in a battle," Illyria allowed the girl a moment of rest then ordered her to continue. "Visualize your foe before you then strike with intention."
They continued to train until lunch time at which point Illyria dismissed her student.
Illyria brought out the package she stowed away earlier. She unwrapped the brown package in front of the Gryffindor, who promptly squealed like a little girl. The thing twitched despite being cut out from its owner's chest hours ago. It was a heart, too large to be that of a human.
"The still beating heart of a Colibari demon, the butcher claims the quality of its protein exceeds that of a new born infant and it goes great with a little tobacco sauce." Illyria recounted what she had been told. "Eat, and grow strong." She shoved the organ, still fresh and bloody, to Hermione.
It was almost a week later before Hermione got up the courage to talk to Illyria about the dinner party they were invited to by the Kensingtons. Dinner was the Kensingtons were set for the next night by the way. Hermione took a deep breath and waited, usually Illyria showed up around this time for their afternoon training session.
The bushy haired girl waited for her trainer, fully prepped in spandex and sports bra, only now her hair wasn't out of control. Hermione had taken to bind her once wild hair with a rubber band. She waited around twenty minutes but there was no sign of the older girl. This was very unlike Illyria who was always punctual.
"That's the trouble with that girl. If she shows up and I'm not here then it's my fault," Hermione grumbled angrily. "I mean, come on – just lay off that God complex at least once in awhile." She clamped her mouth shut, fearful that the other girl could hear her. "She's probably in the house somewhere, just mopping around and doing weird stuff like usual."
Nevertheless, Hermione went through her house to look for the older girl. She searched every room and turned up nothing. None of the rooms seemed like they had been slept in, except for Hermione's own room. In fact, everything had collected a fine layer of dust. Hermione searched her parents' bedroom and almost broke down. She shut the door and didn't look back.
"I can't avoid it forever," she mumbled. Hermione's shuddered, her tears barely held back but then her resolve hardened. "I'll… I'll mount their heads in your room." Hermione declared then angrily kicked an innocent Chinese takeout bag that got in her way. The older girl must be rubbing off on her, Hermione mused. She felt a lot better but she still had the urge to hit something.
She found her way to the stairs leading to the attic, the only place she hadn't checked. The Gryffindor climbed up the steps and casually flipped the light switch on the left wall. There was someone up in the attic, just not the person she had expected. A Death Eater, Hermione was sure because he was still wearing their black robs and his mask lay broken at his feet.
The Death Eater stirred but Hermione wasn't afraid, it seemed Illyria had him beaten pretty well and secured by chains to the wall. Hermione saw a good deal of blood both on him and on the darkly stained wood. The Gryffindor approached him boldly. Closer to the moaning man, she saw his face was bloodied and the forehead was carved up but obviously he was still alive. The carvings were symbols, Hermione realized. Some she knew to be variants of ancient runes, some arithmancy far beyond her understanding and others seemed like plan gibberish.
The Death Eater abruptly stared Hermione in the eye. He violently struggled against his bonds but it was no use. "Come here, mudblood!" he screamed out. "Come here and release me." When he saw Hermione wasn't cooperating he struggled much more violently to no avail. "I swear, when I get out of this you're dead. DEAD! You'll suffer a thousand times what has been done to me. RELEASE ME! You filthy whore! I'll stick my cock so far up your arse that I'll come out the other end. When I'm through with you, you'll beg me to kill you."
SLAP
He stopped struggling and smiled evilly. "I remember you," he chuckled. "You're the little bitch the Dark Lord played with. Your parents' screams were quite lovely."
Hermione's lips trembled. Her hands balled up into fists. With everything she got Hermione delivered a right hook into the Death Eater in the gut.
The Death Eater choked and coughed. He lost his balance and curled around the fist. Breathing heavily he stared Hermione in the eye and was about to say something like "Was that all you got…" but he never had the chance. His jaw met the girl's knee and he got the bad end of the deal. If he wasn't groaning in pain he would have realized the girl had taken out a couple of his teeth and he is now bleeding profusely from the wounded gums.
Hermione ran out of the room crying. She ran out of the house and ran into the suburban streets. She didn't know where she was going and just knew she needed to be somewhere else. As she took off, small drops of her tear hit the pavement leaving a small trail. The pitiless streets did not care for the pain of one girl and in the day of the summer's heat, the trail of tears quickly evaporated.
The Gryffindor girl ran with no destination only the hurtful words of an evil man driving her on. Hermione didn't know how long she ran but by the time she took notice of her surrounds the Kensingtons were just getting out of their house. They were in a panic.
Mr. Kensington had Brian in his arms. The boy was unconscious. There was a look of terror in Colin Kensington's eyes, he rushed the boy into the Sedan and saw Hermione as he went past. Hermione tried to ask what was going on but Mr. Kensington either didn't realize she was there or ignored her. A hasty Colin Kensington gently laid his son on the back of the sedan then got into the driver seat. He drove off, his tires screeched and burned. The red sedan pulled out of reverse than accelerated down the street. He drove like a mad man, leaving Hermione to wonder what was going on.
The next day Hermione phoned the Kensington home to see if the dinner was still on. There was no answer. She tried calling back every now and then over the next two days but it wasn't until the 3rd day that someone picked up.
"Hello, Mr. Kensington, Sir." Hermione greeted the man on the other end.
"Oh, Hermione, it's you. What can I do for you?" He sounded worn Hermione noted.
"I was just wondering if there was anything wrong. I saw you rushed Brian out of the house pretty fast a few days ago."
"It's Brian…" Was he crying? "He suddenly fell ill last Friday… We rushed him to the Doctor but they didn't know what's wrong with him. They couldn't do anything for him… he just sort of…." He was crying.
Hermione didn't know what to say. She knew what it's like to lose someone. Brain had only been with them a few days but she was sure the Kensingtons cared for him a great deal. At least when her parents were murdered she had someone to blame, people to get revenge on, but the Kensingtons got nothing.
It was Wednesday and the girls were training as usual. Hermione wielded her sword clumsily but still better than last week. Her breathing was even, she was focused, everything was good. Suddenly broke into a frenzy of hack and slashes totally forgetting everything she had learned in the past three weeks. She screamed and hacked away at nothing.
Illyria stopped her sword arm with a grip like iron.
"Perhaps this world is indeed void of warriors. I had thought there would be others like the half-breeds. It seems they were nothing more than an aberration." The goddess pondered aloud.
Hermione didn't know what the other girl was talking about but she knew she was being insulted again. There was anger still in her and she let it get the best of her. "I hope you're pleased with yourself, you ruined a perfect good exercise. Besides weren't you the one that said I should imagine fighting my enemy? Well, that's what I'm doing." Hermione shot back and immediately regretted it. For a moment she saw the look in Illyria's eyes and it chilled her.
Illyria raged internally. "I should kill you for such insolence," she said dangerously. Her grip tightened. If she wanted the bones in Hermione's arm would turn to powder.
But the moment passed and Illyria resisted the urge to finish the job the magician started earlier. "But he would not appreciate it if I broke my promise." She released Hermione and was satisfied to see the girl wince in pain.
"A true warrior is the master of her emotions. Anger, rage, pain, sorrow they are nothing more than tools to be use and discard at will."
The adrenaline passed and Hermione was totally exhausted after her outburst, however, before there could be further discussion they were interrupted by door bell.
Hermione quickly hid her sword under the coach and went to check on the door. She found Mrs. Kensington outside with a most far away expression, like she wasn't all there.
"Hello, Ma'am, is there something I can do for you?" She felt sorry for the woman, the black rings under her eyes told Hermione that she hasn't slept for days. The woman's hair was a mess.
"Oh Hermione, I have such wonderful news. Brian is coming home, his coming home. Why don't you come over later and we can make up for that dinner we missed?" The woman ignored Hermione's attempt to talk to her. She bounced off to the next house to spread the good news.
"Didn't Mr. Kensington say that Brian was dead?"
Around nine that night, Illyria came to Hermione's room. She had Hermione's sword and instructed her to follow. The only elaboration she gave was "There is work to do". No further discourse, she walked out the room and expected Hermione not to be far behind.
Hermione followed Illyria out of the house and into the suburban streets. They walked down the block to a large house with a green lawn.
"This is the Kensingtons," Hermione recognized it at once.
Illyria ignored her and instead kicked in the door with a swift motion that met no resistance.
Hermione gasped. "What are you doing?"
Then she realized something was wrong in the Kensington house. A trail of blood led deeper into the house and Mr. Kensington's red sedan was still in the drive way. She swallowed nervously. "D-Death Eaters" she thought timidly. "But where is the dark mark, unless… unless they're still here." She gripped her sword tightly and wished she still had her wand.
Illyria strolled in fearlessly. Hermione followed and nervously glanced around looking for Death Eaters in the shadows. The two girls followed the trail of blood. It led from the door to the main living room. Everything in the living room looked fine, nothing was disturbed, no signs of a struggle. They continued to follow the trail into the kitchen.
Blood was everywhere and in the middle was Mr. Kensington. Hermione held back a scream. Mr. Kensington had been carved up and his stomach opened from belly to groin, his intestines spilled out from the wound. It looked like he was still alive when that happened. The trail of blood was very likely left behind when Mr. Kensington crawled from the door to the kitchen. His hands were inches from the phone. He tried to reach for help but it was not meant to be.
There was a scream and Hermione realized it was did not come from her. It was from somewhere on the second floor. They rush to investigate. Eventually they ended in the little boy's room. Hermione was shocked. Mrs. Kensington was there, tied to the little boy's bed post by ropes. She was covered in blood and deep gashes. Her eyes were like Liz Granger's, just before she died. What was terrifying, however, was the boy, Brian.
Only he wasn't a boy. Hermione didn't know what he is. He had four legs the odd pair attached above the hip, and he loomed over Mrs. Kensington like a spider. His skin was rubbery like leather, pale white and stretched tightly over his body.
The boy-creature appeared fully exposed before the two girls. Hermione blushed; the Brian demon had a rather large endowment. It was erect and throbbing. A layer of clear liquid was over the organ and it glistened in the light. Its head was posed dangerously close to Mrs. Kensington.
The Brian creature noticed their presence and hissed angrily at them. It brought the bloody kitchen knife he used on Mrs. Kensington to face Hermione and Illyria. Without warning he attacked the two women. His four powerful legs allowed him to leap at Illyria, who he intended to finish quickly with a stab to the heart.
Illyria casually snatched the Brian creature in mid-leap. The creature quickly found itself suspended by his wrist completely impotent in Illyria's grasp. It kicked futilely unable to make use of the weapon in his hand.
Illyria tossed him aside.
The creature got back up slowly and regarded Illyria with fear.
"I'm not your opponent." Illyria's menacing presence terrified the creature. It cowered in fear as she spoke. "She is," and pointed at Hermione.
Hermione swallowed hard and brought up her guard. And in was just in time too, the Brian creature rushed Hermione like a rampaging spider and slashed hard from right to left. Hermione parried the first blow by means of sheer survival instinct. The creature slashed again and again. He came at Hermione with a frenzy of slashes and stabs but Hermione deflected it every time. The Gryffindor back paddled into the wall, pushed back by the sheer voracity of the creature and her own fear.
Though Brian was a demon, he had no more strength than the 10-year-old boy he disguised as. His kind usually relied on voracity and surprise to subdue its victims. It only confronts its would-be parents after much psychological torture. The creature was not used to its victim putting up a fight.
The creature swung his knife a little too hard and it went flying out of its grasp. With no weapon resorted to tackle the girl. Hermione wasn't prepared for the sudden change in tactics and let down her guard. The Brian creature managed spear Hermione's mid section and succeeded in knocking the wind out of her.
Hermione recovered almost instantly, the creature saw this and quickly scurried away before Hermione could bring her sword to bear. Brian managed to get back his knife and kept it between himself and Hermione defensively. It panted like a dog. It had put everything into an all-out attack hoping he could overwhelm the girl. But it didn't do any good. It knew it had only one chance now but the thin woman by the door guarded the only means of escape. In desperation it lunged at Illyria hoping to take her by surprise.
The goddess backhanded the creature and sends it crashing to the wall. It slumped forward, dazed. Its bloody kitchen knife fell loose.
"Finish it," Illyria told the girl coldly.
Hermione approached the demon child ready but uncertain.
The creature looked at Hermione with fear. But it had one last trick.
"Hermione. Help me," the demon pleaded. "It hurts honey. Make it stop. Make it stop."
"Mommy?" it was her mother's voice and it was coming from the creature. Hermione froze.
In that split second while Hermione was distracted the creature found its knife and without warning plunged it at Hermione's gut. The creature howled in pain. Before it could stab the Gryffindor, a flying piece of glass lobbed its arm off at the elbow.
Illyria had realized the creature's intentions. A piece of broken glass spun out from Illyria's hands and sliced off the creature's forearm like it was cutting hot butter. The goddess smiled cruelly.
Hermione watched the creature held the bleeding stump of its arm. Something in her exploded. "You insensitive little creep! I'll 'make it stop'. Honestly…" with everything she had she drove the sword into the creature and through the wall.
It was over and Hermione breathed a sign of relief.
"Never hesitate to finish off an enemy. That is your first lesson."
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