Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) own none of the characters from either Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Harry Potter series. They belong to the geniuses, Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling. I am not trying to take credit for their works, I am just a poor college student amusing herself by writing some fan fiction! For the timeline and changes I made to both the Buffy and HP fandoms, see Chapter 1! The line about walking over Bellatrix's corpse for free gum isn't mine. It's taken from the brilliant mind of Rob Thomas, creator of Veronica Mars.
Sorry for taking so long to update! I've been more concentrated on my other fics, but after watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I was inspired to write a chapter of this... Hope it won't take as long to get the next chapter out!
Aria DeLoncray: Thanks for the review! Glad you're liking it!
Diamonds098: Glad you think it's brilliant! That's a huge compliment! I'm not quite sure what pairing it will be yet, but I'm open for suggestions!
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Which reminds me, keep casting your votes for Buffy/Harry, Buffy/Draco, Buffy/Angel, or Buffy/Spike! I'm pretty sure which one I'll be using, but I'd love to hear all of your opinions! Drop me a review letting me know!
Enough with my ramblings, on with the story!
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A humorless laugh tumbled from Buffy's mouth before her breath caught in her throat, causing her to duck her head as she started to cough, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground. Pushing herself up off of the dirt and to her feet, she looked Bellatrix straight in the eye, giving her a cocky smile.
"Come now, Bellatrix. Think I haven't felt pain before? Boy, you're in for a surprise." She laughed again, bringing her hand to her hair to tuck a loose strand behind her ear. Seeing Hermione, Harry, and Ron draw their wands from beneath their coats, she held up a hand without looking at them, gesturing for them to stand down.
"He may trust you, but I don't," snarled Bellatrix, her dark eyes glistening and her wand still pointed at Buffy's chest. "He will reward me once he finds out your true intentions." Buffy's gaze flickered to the trio.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Bellatrix narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath, sending a green beam toward Buffy. The blond jumped to the side the second it was fired, and it missed her by inches. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really want to do this on a crowded street, full of witches and wizards that would walk over your corpse for free gum?" Bellatrix looked at her, clearly confused, but Buffy smiled at her little joke none the less. Turning her head back toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione, she waved her hand again in an attempt to get them to step back, seeing that they hadn't obeyed her the first time. "Guys, get back."
"No! She killed Sirius!" Harry yelled, taking a step forward with his want pointed at Bellatrix's head, dodging Ron's arm as he tried to pull his best friend back. Buffy gave a relieved sigh as she heard that he had said the word "killed." She couldn't let Bellatrix, or Voldemort, know that Sirius was once again inhabiting the world of the living. "I'll kill her!"
"Ahhhh, cousin Sirius." Bellatrix let out a cackling laugh, her gaze flickering toward Harry. "He was weak. He was always weak. He was a disgrace to our family. Even before he died. That boy didn't deserve to die an honorable death. It was only fitting that I did it. Killed by his own cousin." She laughed, causing Harry to tighten his grip on his wand.
"Harry. Don't!" yelled Buffy, but before she could take so much as a step toward her friend, Bellatrix turned her wand on her.
"Crucio!" Once again, Buffy fell to her knees as pain coursed through her, leaving her panting and gasping for breath. Looking up, she saw that the brunette had already turned back to Harry. "Your precious Sirius all but begged me for his life. Filthy muggle lover. Just like your father," she spat, giving him a disdainful look.
"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about them like that!" he yelled, taking another step toward her. Hermione grabbed his arm in an attempt to calm him, but he snatched it back, continuing to stare at the woman that had killed his godfather. Buffy grimaced and stumbled to her feet, starting toward Harry, yelling at him to stop before he got himself killed.
"Dammit! Harry! Get back!" But it was too late, he had already made up his mind.
"Expelliarmus!" Bellatrix once again let loose a high-pitched laugh, easily flinging his spell aside with a wave of her wand.
"Silly boy, you think that anything that you do will be able to harm me? Crucio!" Running at him full speed, Buffy tackled him to the ground, landing on top of him, shielding him from any harm and causing the curse to miss him by inches. "The Dark Lord may not want me to kill you, but he never said anything about playing a little first..."
"If you so much as touch him, I will kill you," snarled Buffy, getting to her feet and glaring at the brunette.
"Get aside, blondie," Bellatrix said in a low voice, waving her want to the side and sending Buffy crashing into a bunch of people behind her. She then turned her attention to Harry, pointing her wand at him and smiling. "You'd better learn some manners, Potter." But as her attention was concentrated on the brown-haired Gryffindor, Buffy scrambled to her feet and ran at her, throwing her to the ground mid-curse. This seemed to be exactly what Bellatrix was hoping for; the second she made contact, she felt the familiar feeling of all of the air rushing out of her lungs as she was apparated away from Hogsmeade and to some unknown location.
Landing on the hard ground with Bellatrix at her side, Buffy felt her lungs fill with air, causing her to gasp at the sudden change. Quickly coming to her senses, Buffy punched a still recovering brunette in the face before jumping to her feet. The taller woman took a few seconds to get up, but once she did, she set loose a series of curses that had Buffy ducking and dodging to avoid. Kicking off the wall for leverage, she lunged at Bellatrix, aiming a spinning kick at her head and sending her sprawling to the floor. Landing in a low fighting stance, Buffy grabbed her leg, letting out a grunt as she sent her crashing into a wall on the opposite side of the room. Bellatrix looked up at her through her wild hair and raised her wand, giving it a small swish and muttering something under her breath. The next thing she knew, Buffy was flying through the air, whacking her head against the corner of a table and landing face down on the floor, struggling to fight the blackness that threatened to obscure her vision. However, it was no use, and her head fell to the floor with a thump as she lost consciousness.
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Buffy opened her eyes, squinting through the darkness to try and figure out where she was. Looking around as her eyes adjusted to the dim candlelight, she saw that she was seated in the center of a small room with stone walls. There was a small metal table next to her with various instruments on top of it, and Buffy sighed in frustration. Feeling cold stickiness on the side of her face, she tried to raise her hand to her face to assess the extent of her wound, but she was unable to move her hand from her side. Glancing down, she noticed that both her hands and her legs were chained to a small chair, preventing her from escaping.
"Aw, dammit," she swore under her breath. Trying to break the chains, she swore again when they didn't budge, even under her Slayer strength. Apparently they were magically enhanced or something. Trying to tip over the chair, she groaned, as it refused to break as well. Her head snapped up as there was a loud clank and the metal door in front of her opened. Buffy sighed, clearly annoyed, and shook her head when Bellatrix walked through the door. "Well, there's my lovely hostess," she said sarcastically, glaring slightly as the older woman swept toward her, her long black dress dragging on the ground behind her. "How're ya doing?"
"Slayer," Bellatrix greeted, narrowing her eyes at the girl's blatant disrespect. "You will learn to show respect toward your superiors."
"Actually, if I'm not mistaken, I am your superior. Guess that means that Voldemort likes me better than you." She gave Bellatrix a condescending smile. "Looks like he's moved onto someone younger and hotter." Buffy smirked as she saw the fury flashing behind the brunette's eyes but winced as her head snapped to the side as a result of a hard slap to her face.
"Hold your tongue, child," Bellatrix snarled before stepping past her prisoner and picking up a long, slender knife off of the table. Buffy rolled her eyes exasperatedly and gave her a bored look.
"Please. A knife. Really?" She jerked her head in the direction of the knife. "Oh,honey, I'm no stranger to pain. You know that. Plus, I'm sure that your ex wouldn't be to happy if you killed me." Bellatrix curled her lip into a angry snarl and brought her hand back before swiping the knife at Buffy's face, leaving a small gash in it's wake. Buffy flinched slightly but showed no other indication that the wound stung slightly, not wanting to give the other woman the satisfaction. Smiling, Bellatrix shoved the knife into Buffy's jean-covered thigh, eliciting a loud gasp from the blond Slayer.
"Maybe not," ‒ she pressed the cool blade to Buffy's collar bone and traced it down, Buffy narrowing her eyes as she felt her tanned skin part beneath the knife, panting slightly from the pain in her leg ‒ "but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun. Besides, what he doesn't know won't hurt him. It might hurt you, though." Grabbing Buffy's arm, she made a series of shallow cuts on her lower arm, and Buffy let out a short, emotionless laugh.
"I don't really get your plan here. If your master plan is to have me bleed to death, then you're well on your way. But what you're doing isn't hurting me." Bellatrix gave a dark smile before abandoning Buffy's arm and plunging the silver blade into her stomach, causing her to gasp once again and closed her eyes in pain.
"I don't have a plan, girl." She twisted the knife slightly, and Buffy clenched her teeth to prevent herself from crying out in pain. "I don't trust you. I know he does, but he will be ordering me to kill you once he finds out the truth." She wrenched the knife from Buffy's torso and slashed it across her chest, causing the Slayer to wince as the blood flowed freely from the wound, before dropping it back onto the table. Bellatrix smiled sadistically, watching as small droplets of blood slid off the blade, staining the white cloth beneath it.
"Is that it?" asked Buffy, panting slightly, trying not to move and knowing that she was in danger of bleeding to death. "Is that all you've got?" Bellatrix whirled around and wrapped her hand around Buffy's neck, her long fingernails cutting into the soft flesh of her neck, effectively cutting off her air supply. However, just before Buffy felt herself teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, she felt the hand let go of her neck, and her chin dropped to her chest as she drew in one ragged breath after another. Finally catching her breath, she looked up to see Bellatrix's wand pointed at her face. "Oh God, what now?"
"Crucio!" Buffy once again felt the now familiar feeling of several thousand, white hot knives piercing her skin, and bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and Buffy turned her head to the side, spitting out a mouthful of blood before turning back and looking up at Bellatrix defiantly.
"All of this because you're jealous of little old me?" asked Buffy, smiling, showing the blood coating the front of her teeth. She spat out another mouthful before continuing in a mock-mothering tone. "I'm flattered, but you know violence doesn't solve anything. Surely we can figure something else out."
"Crucio!" Buffy flung her head back, clenching her teeth together, as pain once again flooded through her body.
"Dammit, woman!" she shouted as the pain subsided, leaving her gasping and panting. "Learn a new spell, why don't you?"
"Crucio!" Buffy thrashed against the chains binding her, trying to get away, but only succeeding in digging them into her skin. "Crucio!" She started to shake as the pain became constant, not starting and stopping as it had before. "Crucio!" A loud, shrill scream ripped itself from her throat, but she barely heard it, unable to concentrate on anything but the searing pain. "Crucio!" She felt a large pulse of energy leave shoot out of her body, and the sensation of thousands of knives piercing her skin suddenly stopped. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Buffy looked up to see that Bellatrix had been sent flying into the opposite wall. Furrowing her brows in confusion, she tilted her head to the side, ignoring the blood dripping out of her mouth and down her chin.
"What the hell?" Did she do that? Without a wand? She continued to stare at Bellatrix, watching as she grabbed onto the wall for leverage.
"You little bitch!" Bellatrix snarled, picking herself up from the floor, wiping a small stream of blood from her forehead where she had smacked her head against the wall. She raised her wand so that it was pointed at Buffy's head. The Slayer did nothing and continued to stare at the older woman with a blank expression. "I don't know how you did that, but-..." She was cut off as the metal door creaked open, revealing the tall, pale figure of Lord Voldemort.
"That's enough!" he yelled in his high pitched voice, waving his hand and causing Bellatrix's wand to fly across the room. "Get out."
"But my lord," she pleaded softly, "I-..."
"Out." She seemed to sense the finality in his tone of voice because she swept out of the room, giving Buffy a glare before disappearing around the corner. "Buffy." He appeared at her side, the chains dropping to the ground and freeing her as he waved a hand in their direction. Standing up, Buffy stumbled, both because of the the loss of blood and the wound in her thigh, and she felt a pair of strong arms grab her and hold her up.
'Ew, ew, ew,' she thought to herself, but quickly closed off her mind, not wanting Voldemort to find out any of her secrets, knowing that she had to keep him out even though she was seriously wounded. He led her up a flight, supporting most of her wait, and Buffy realized that she had been in the basement, or dungeon, of the Malfoy Manor.
"My lord!" Buffy looked up to see Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running toward them, both looking confused at what was happening. "What happened?" asked Lucius. Narcissa rushed to Buffy's side, taking her away from Voldemort, and Buffy inwardly cocked an eyebrow, wondering what bizzaro world she had fallen into to have Death Eaters helping her. "We heard screaming. Bellatrix ran up from the basement. She ran to her room. Wouldn't tell us what had happened." The pretty blond led Buffy to the dining room, setting her down in one of the plush chairs and fussing over he wounds. Buffy gently pushed her away, wanting to know what Voldemort would tell them.
"It seems that Bellatrix has been abusing the newest member of our family." His eyes flashed angrily for a second before settling on Buffy, giving her a soft smile, a terrifying sight in Buffy's opinion. He didn't say anything more about the incident, but quickly moved on. "Narcissa. Please make up a room for our guest. She'll be staying the night."
"Uh, my lord?" Buffy asked softly, and he turned to look at her. "I should probably be getting back from Hogwarts." She felt her strength waning due to blood loss, but she ignored it, wanting to get back to the castle as soon as possible. "If I stay the night, they'll probably get worried and send a search party out for me or something." He continued to look at her but didn't say anything. "I don't want them to suspect that anything's up." After a moment, he nodded, seeming to buy her suggestion.
"Of course. We wouldn't want Dumbledore to find out about our... arrangement." He gave her a small bow, Buffy let out a small gasp at this, as it was completely unheard of for him to show respect to anyone. What the hell was going on. If he actually had a thing for her, ew. If he was just doing it to make her lower her guard, she was going to kick his ass. She looked up, seeing that Lucius and Narcissa were giving him a curious look as well. Walking over to her, he helped her out of the chair, pointing his wand toward a fresh rose in a vase on the table. "Portus." The rose glowed blue for a second before returning to its natural state. "Send us word of your condition as soon as possible?" Buffy was once again surprised by his concern for her but tried not to let it show. Narcissa handed Buffy the wand Bellatrix had taken from her, and the Slayer gave her a soft smile, nodding in gratitude.
"Of course." She took the offered rose and let go of Voldemort's hand, grabbing onto the table next to her to keep her balance. A second later, Buffy felt the familiar sensation of a hood behind her navel, and the room and its occupants disappeared in a blur, sending her hurtling through space. Closing her eyes to quell the nausea bubbling up inside of her, she reopened her eyes a second before her feet landed on the ground, the pressure on her injured thigh sending her tumbling to the ground.
Wincing as the gravel below her scrapped against her already existing wounds, as well as causing a few fresh cuts and scrapes, she made no move to get up, about to pass out at any moment. However, thoughts of Harry and his safety bombarded her, and she stumbled to her feet, needing to get to him, needing to see if he was okay. Dropping the rose she had been clutching in her hand to the ground, she turned toward the castle, staggering slightly as her leg started to give out. Pushing the intense pain of her wounds and the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse, she sprinted up the path toward the castle, bringing a hand to her mouth to wipe some of the blood away. Taking the front steps two at a time, she wrenched the front door open, pushing various students out of her way as she made her way toward the Gryffindor common room. Forgetting about the vanishing step on one of the staircases, her left leg slipped into the vacant spot, and a small scream escaped her lips as the wounds to her thigh and her stomach smashed against the hard stone. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed the banister for leverage, and pulled herself up, slipping slightly on the pool of blood she left behind. Quickly making her way up the remaining staircases, she skid to a halt in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, taking a moment to catch her breath before wheezing out the password.
"Aurora Borealis!" She stood hunched over, her hands on her knees as she tried to stay upright.
"Oh my! Dear, you look awful! What happened to you?" asked the Fat Lady, clearly concerned about the fact that she was bloody and barely-conscious.
"Aurora Borealis!" Buffy shouted again, getting impatient, and the Fat Lady gave her a look before swinging forward to reveal the Gryffindor common room. Stumbling forward, Buffy scrambled through the portrait hole, stopping as the entire room turned to look at her, some of the girls screaming as they took in her appearance. A few boys rushed forward to help her, but she pushed them away, looking around wildly for Harry. "Harry!" she saw someone run up the staircase to the boy's dorm, and a few seconds later, he appeared, running toward her as soon as he saw her.
"Buffy!" As soon as he reached her side, her legs collapsed beneath her, and she toppled to the floor. He wrapped his arms around his waist and stopped her before she hit the ground, dropping to his knees and gently lowering her down onto the carpet. "Buffy, what happened?"
"Are you... are you okay?" she managed, bringing a hand to his face to cup his cheek. His eyes widened as he took in her various wounds and blood-soaked clothes, yelling at Ron to get Dumbledore. "Harry..."
"I'm fine," he said, holding her to him so that her rested against his shoulder, her legs curled up underneath her. "What happened?"
"Bellatrix... she... didn't hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine." He used one of his hands to tip her head toward him, his brilliant green eyes locking with hers, blatant concern showing behind them.
"Good..." with that, she let herself succumb to the pain. He was safe. They didn't take him. Unable to keep her focus on his face any longer, Buffy felt her head slide further down his chest and closed her eyes, welcoming the darkness that swiftly overtook her.
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Sorry it took so long to post this, but I'm pretty happy with it, even though I didn't cover a lot of time at all. If you like it, drop me a review to give me encouragement. If you didn't, drop me a review to provide some constructive criticism! Either way, any feedback is greatly appreciated!
I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! Hopefully before the end of Winter Break so that you don't have to wait that long. )