It had been far too long since she had done this. The stretches made her wince with pain, until she started to remember the potions she had bought at the apothecary just for this purpose.

The clerk had given her a slightly surprised look at the ones she had gotten, but it wasn't until she was halfway to the really cheap apartment she had gotten near the dance studio that she realized why.

Muscle relaxant potions could be used for other...activities... than keeping the pains of remembering the stretches she hadn't done in over three years. Thankfully she had been in her new home when she light up like a Christmas tree realizing how it had looked to the clerk.

He probably thought she planned to have a long couple of days with her boyfriend with the looks he had shot her. It wasn't like physical activity such as what she planned was a big thing among the magicals.

Still, the potions did the trick as it kept her from being more sore than she would like once she started to remember all those lessons she had taken.

And it allowed her to quickly return to something she had sorely missed since learning she was a witch.

She loved the ballet. It was one of the very rare things that her aunt actually liked about her niece. Lily hadn't enjoyed going to the performances with their mother, but Petunia had been an avid fan of the arts. Learning her niece was not only talented at it, but actually enjoyed it had been the sole reason she had paid for lessons.

So yes, the first thing she did once she was on her own was find a dance studio to regain a hobby she had been forced to drop because of magic.

The girl, who had abandoned her name along with her wand and now went by simply Jade, went into class without a care in the world.

It was of great amusement that she had seen her former friends and teachers walk by the studio repeatedly without once glancing in to see if she was there. It was a testament to how little they knew about her.

Jade walked into the studio, ready for another day of bending in ways no human should be able to when the instructor stopped her.

"Jade, you are by far the most promising pupil I've ever had the pleasure to have. But you're wasted here in this tiny studio."

"Sir?"

"How would you like to learn dance in New York?"

Jade's eyes lit up. If she went to New York the muggle way, those idiots would never find her. She would be free!

"I would of course need your legal guardian's permission..."

"Would a verbal agreement work?" she asked. Better not tempt her luck just yet.

"She would have to send the money too..."

"I already have my passport and my part time job would pay for the ticket," interrupted Jade.

She didn't have a job, but she did have a habit of hanging around a certain cafe during lunch for several hours. It had dark windows so no one could tell them she wasn't an employee.

Also, free internet.

The instructor had an odd look on his face. He knew Jade lived alone, but the fact she had enough money and a passport ready spoke volumes about her home life. The fact she was absolutely positive her aunt would give permission to leave for New York, despite the fact she wasn't even sixteen yet meant she had been ready for this for quite some time.

Still, once the woman gave her permission, and she sounded just as excited as her niece was, there was nothing to do but to get Jade ready for the transition.


Jade both loved and hated New York. She loved being far from England and living on her own for the foreseeable future, but hated the smell of the place.

There was something about the smog of London she had grown used to. New York was ten times worse. And their accent was appalling.

Jade quickly grew used to being called old fashioned, both for her speech patterns and beliefs. She could care less if the girls in her dorm disliked her because she was a Brit, dammit, and happened to love the classics. Or that she could eat pizza and ice cream almost every day and not gain a pound.

They just didn't understand that Jade didn't give a damn about her weight. So long as she could dance and do the moves right, the teachers didn't care about anything else she did within reason. The others might be worried about their appearance and their weight, but Jade was the most sensible girl on the planet.

Starving herself wasn't going to make her a better dancer. Being miserable was never worth the headaches that came of it later.

"Non! Non! Non! You are to bend your legs like so!" said the woman with the worst French accent Jade had the misfortune to hear. And having being around the Beauxbatons girls, she knew a bad accent.

The Madam had one that was most assuredly faked. Jade just had the tact not to call her on it.

"Look at Jade! She had the position down perfectly!" continued the oblivious woman.

Jade ignored the glares from the other girls. Just like she ignored the fact they often put tacks into her dance shoes. She took great pleasure in using a switching spell to place the sharp metal objects back into the shoes of the ones who had done the deed while she slipped on her spare set.

A set that got far more use than the ones in her locker.

For the past six months, she had been learning the art of ballet in one of the biggest studios in New York.

And she had become bored with it.

Thanks to her natural grace, long limbs and ability to stay in positions without falling over, ballet was far too easy for her. And the other girls hated it. Hated her because she was a natural.

And Jade noticed that it was easier than before for some reason. Sore muscles healed within minutes without potions, instead of the hours they used to take. And then there was the fact she was seeing things. Things she should by all rights not be able to see.

The look on the man's face when she had tapped his shoulder one day at Grand Central park when some poor bastard had a heart attack... it hadn't been until later that she found out she could now see Reapers.

That had been a shock, for both sides of the equation. So if she happened to chat a few up in between classes, they said nothing.

They seemed to know something she didn't. And she was perfectly content to wait until someone started talking. She was nothing if not patient.

Tonight she was planning to see a play. Call her old fashioned, but she wasn't that big a fan of the modern movies. Too many special effects.


Jade was disgusted. The lead actress was atrocious, and she knew without being told that half the lines had to be modified for the girl because she had a crappy memory for them. Nerves were no excuse for not memorizing such a simple play!

Then she saw the advert for the next month's series of plays. Apparently they were going back to the great bard's work. It was a long line of the more popular Shakespearean plays.

The very thought of that girl mangling such classics was an affront to her inner performer. She had to try her luck, if only to keep some chit of a girl from ruining them.

Jade got in for one reason, and one reason only.

She could do a genuine Scottish accent needed for Lady Macbeth.

Looking at the reviews later for the play, she was surprised when she found that the critics liked her the best. Considering the play was supposed to be about a lord who allowed himself to be persuaded by his wife to kill his royal cousin and become king by default, despite having just been given new titles and lands, only to be taken out by the others, Jade was very surprised that out of everyone in the play they had said she was the most convincing version of Lady Macbeth, accent notwithstanding.

According to even the most cynical of critics, men who had torn down many a rookie actress, Jade Night (her new name) was like a living noblewoman from olden times, one who could give life to a part that so many failed to recreate like it had been written. The fact she could do a real Scottish accent without making it sound forced had been icing on the cake.

They had liked her so much that the director had requested she come in to do the others.

She played Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream, and her impish smile made her an instant hit with the critics.

According to one, it was like they were witnessing a living fairy come down to Earth just to mess with the mortals, and her delivery was flawless.

Jade felt like she had found a new hobby. Ballet had been fun for a time, but acting was so much more entertaining.

She almost felt disappointed when they quit doing Shakespeare's best plays.


Crowley was in a good mood. He had heard about this new girl on Broadway with the natural talent of acting, and he wanted to get his claws into her before some other idiot did. Anyone with that much ability would net him quite a bit of extra deals on the side, as people tried to ride her coattails.

It was a miracle she hadn't tried for Hollywood yet.

So he took his time to find her, in the hopes she would be foolish enough to sign a deal without thinking too hard about it. What he got was something he never anticipated, yet so much more rewarding on his end.

Pity he never did snag her soul in the process.


Jade looked up when she felt the foul energy heading straight for her. She had heard of demonkin from the reapers, who were surprisingly informative once they learned she had no interest in interfering with their duty, just in having a chat. They admitted she was a breath of fresh air for one of her kind.

Seeing the man approach her after a performance, she waited for him to say his piece. She could be polite when she wanted, and she was in a good mood for the moment.

"Hello," he said pleasantly, leaning against the wall.

Her good mood vanished in an instant.

"So did they send you?"

Seeing his confusion, she elaborated.

"The imbeciles at that damnable Ministry? Or was it the Order of the Over-fried Chicken who finally got off their arses to get something done?" she clarified. Her accent, which she did her best to hide had come back in full force because she was just that irritated.

His surprise doubled at the accent, and she could sense he was taking a much closer look at her. His eyes jumped in open shock and delight.

"A witch! A natural one! Haven't seen one of your kind this deep in the normal territory without a wand nearby in a while," he said in delight.

"I snapped that useless twig two years ago. Why are you here and what do you want? If you're here to bring me back to that thrice-damned England I warn you now, I won't go quietly," she growled.

"Hardly. I came to offer a deal," he said pleasantly.

"A demon deal? How big of a fool do you take me for?" she countered.

"Oh good, you're not entirely stupid like the rest of your kind. That makes corrupting you so much more fun," said Crowley pleasantly.

"Just get it out demon, I don't have all day and I'm going to be late for class as it is," said Jade irritably. Hearing that accent sent her on downward spiral towards her darker emotions. It just brought back all the worst memories.

Being around the Yanks made things so much easier. Easy to forget who she had been and all the pain she had gone through until this point.

"How would you like me to turn you into a successful movie star?" he asked with a smirk. He had little doubt she would accept.

Jade rolled her eyes.

"This? This is a hobby, same for dancing. I might be good, but it's not the thing I would sell my soul for just to get. And the one thing I would sell me soul for is something you could never give me," said Jade flatly.

The pain of falling from heaven, kept from the only place she had ever been at peace...there was no way in hell the demon could pull that off. And even if he did, her soul would just be thrown into hell anyway. So no, there was nothing she would give her soul for.

"Are you sure? Any fool can tell your a natural actress, and it wouldn't be too shocking if you went to Hollywood and became an instant hit," he said smoothly.

That was how demons operated. They used gilded tongues and honeyed words.

Too bad she wouldn't fall for such tactics. She had chosen the name Jade for a reason, and it wasn't because her eyes were close to that shade of green.

"No. I'm not interested in making any deals for something I could care less about," said Jade flatly.

She hid the pain of that night well with years of practice. She had never let anyone in before, and she wasn't going to bare her soul to some demon now.

Crowley gave her a long look.

"Really? What would it take for you to sell your soul?" he asked, out of curiosity more than anything.

Jade would later kick herself for telling him what she actually wanted. It wasn't like a demon gave a damn about heaven, let alone had the authority to override one.

"Heaven letting me die and actually stay dead without throwing me out just because of some crappy prophecy I never even heard of, let alone care about," she said snappishly. She looked at her watch, a cheap little thing she had gotten because she didn't trust digital ones. She let loose an irritated sigh, realizing there was almost no way she would make it to class in time at this rate.

She brushed past the demon without giving a damn whether he followed or not, racing to try and get to class on time.

She didn't.


Crowley was...befuddled. Yes, that was what he was feeling.

The encounter with the girl he had planned to corrupt and use to get into Hollywood had been nothing like he expected.

She was empty, for lack of a better word.

Jade Night was a talented ballerina and actress, but she considered them hobbies. And from the way she had mentioned heaven it was clear she had already died and been sent back because of some prophecy.

The thing was, there were no active prophecies he could find in England that had the taint of angel interference outside... no, that was impossible. Potter was still firmly in Hogwarts under Dumbledore's thumb. He would have heard if she had left.