This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while: a High School DxD crossover, pairing Harry with Raynare. Raynare, for all the impact she has on the story, is basically the Raditz of High School DxD, only more of a looker. She basically serves as a catalyst for the story to change direction and for the stakes to be raised, but ultimately, serves little purpose beyond that. Plenty of fanfics either give her added complexity, or else have her undertake a heel-face turn. After writing her in my previous crossovers Fall to Zenith, Black Mage of Kuoh, and Cambion, I feel confident enough to make her a secondary protagonist for this story. Someone who will gradually move away from the sadistic and delusional psychopathic Fallen Angel from High School DxD canon, and who might end up becoming more.

Also, much of this first chapter is a homage to one of my favourite Doctor Who stories, The Daemons.

EDIT: Okay, I messed up. I decided to go back to the ending of the chapter I originally considered, because it helps the story go a bit smoother (and is more badass). Hopefully, there'll be no more cack-ups...

AZRAEL RISING (ORIGINAL)

CHAPTER 1:

DANGEROUS LIAISONS IN DEVIL'S END

He stared up at the one who killed him in shocked betrayal, and anger. "…Why? Why do this?"

"Why? Because I've always despised you. Even after you Fell, Father favoured you, out of all of us Fallen. Besides, given what you did to Trihexa, I don't think I can let a threat to my existence lie."

He laughed bitterly, despite the pain, despite the gobs of blood that were ejected from his mouth. "…You always were hungry for battle. And yet, you stabbed me and our Father in the back, when we were at our weakest. You may live for battle, but only when you can stand proudly on a pile of corpses afterwards. You are worse than most of the Devils, you absolute scum."

"Scum, am I? And yet, here I am, standing over your dying frame. I'm better than you, rising above you. What do you have to say to that?"

"…Well, as the humans say, scum rises to the top…GURK!"

This last strangled noise came about because a spear, seemingly made from light, had impaled him once more in the chest. "Pathetic. All you have left is your wagging tongue. Prepare for oblivion, Azrael. And know that I sent you there…"

Emerald eyes snapped open, and a brief gasp escaped the lips of their owner. It took him a moment to remember the particulars. Firstly, the where. He was currently in a wizarding tent near the Wiltshire village of Devil's End. The village had gotten its epithet because, according to one legend, King Arthur had slain a demon here, though it had taken on some sinister connotations. It seemed like Devil's End's sinister reputation was, lately, becoming more real, with a rash of disappearances and even gruesome murders lately.

Which was why he was here. Harry had tried to join the ranks of the Aurors, but the blatant nepotism and the mixture of hero-worship and resentment for his reputation repulsed him, and he eventually resigned, mere months into his time in the DMLE. Thankfully, Kingsley Shacklebolt had given him a way to do what he did, without having to deal with the DMLE as often, effectively making Harry a freelance Hit-Wizard. In effect, he would be commissioned to deal with the most dangerous jobs (albeit with his consent) that would involve some exposure of the supernatural.

Devil's End was his latest assignment. Rumour had it that Guy Leopold, a rather unscrupulous businessman who was also apparently a Squib, had founded a cult here, similar to one said to have been founded in the 70s by the supposed Reverend Magister. Said cult was a demon-worshipping one…only, it was more than just some idiots in dark robes sacrificing poultry and thumbing their noses at God. The local Auror had disappeared. Whether she was suborned or killed, they didn't know.

The village had a rather patronising or even suspicious attitude towards outsiders who weren't tourists. Harry had decided to pose as a rambler camping away from the village (the pub and any local B&B was full anyway), using the pseudonym of 'James Black', and be careful about his questions. He doubted many of the villagers were in on this, and the impression he got from their gossip was that most of Leopold's followers were from outside the village. But, concerningly, there was some real evidence of supernatural involvement.

He was going to make a move soon. He got a lucky break last night, and overheard a couple of drunken idiots going on about how something would be happening tonight at the Devil's Hump, an old barrow near the village. However, he got to talking with a fellow tourist, a dark-haired woman who called herself Angela Mercury(1). She was a beautiful young woman, with her eyes being a curious shade of violet. Apparently she was on a business trip mandated by her boss, and was complaining about having to go around the various villages of Wiltshire.

She'd come onto him, but he was somewhat wary of having a one-night stand with someone he'd only just met, beautiful though she was. He'd explained this, and while she seemed a little miffed, she let it go. Besides, he had this odd feeling about her, as if she was more than she seemed.

He'd set the alarm to wake him up before the time that this ceremony would take place, though it seemed he'd pre-empted it. He'd set up his wizarding tent and layered it with a shitload of anti-detection charms and wards. And now, here he was, about to enter the lion's den.

Draping the Invisibility Cloak around himself, he exited the tent, before packing it up as quietly as he could manage. Once that was done, he readied himself to head to the Devil's Hump. Already, he could see furtive figures in robes making their way through the darkness. But as he made to follow them, he heard a noise from a nearby tree. He looked, and saw, perched on a branch, what looked like Angela…except…there were quite a few things different about her.

Like her clothing. When he met, she'd been wearing a jumper and trousers that were clearly meant for warmth, even if they accentuated her figure. But now, she was wearing something that belonged in some weird BDSM shop. Leather and latex barely covered her nipples and groin, she had spiked pauldrons on her shoulders, to say nothing of long gloves and thigh-high boots.

And then, there was the pair of pitch black wings, like a raven's, protruding from her back.

She put a hand to her ear, and a small magic circle faded into existence above it. "I'm in position," she said, her voice husky and sultry. "I've seen little sign of the Strays, but their peons are going in. Seriously, you'd think it was a fucking Hammer Horror film shoot, not a serious cult. Got it. And what of the victims? Okay, got it. I'll deal with them once these pests are dealt with."

With that, she waited until the last of the cultists went in, before she flew over to the barrow. Harry was soon in pursuit, coming to a halt as she landed. "Fuck, I'm not a dustman, Azazel," she muttered to herself. "I'd hunt Strays for fun, but doing this sort of thing sucks the joy out of it. Can't play with my victims with missions like this."

Harry wondered what she meant by this. True, if she was targeting the cultists, that was only a good thing. And yet…something about her cruel and dark expression had her on edge. Plus, that outfit she wore just screamed 'evil dominatrix'. To say nothing of those dark wings.

As he followed her into the barrow, he soon realised that the barrow was leading down deep into the ground. Eventually, they came into a chamber, where he heard the cultists chanting down the bottom of the stairs they had been travelling down. About a dozen cultists were gathered, while there were about half as many people in varying degrees of undress and rather less varying degrees of distress. Gargoyles lined the chamber.

"…So, where's the Strays?" 'Angela' remarked quietly. "…Fuck it, no better way to get their attention…" And with that, she flew down into the chamber.

"It's a Fallen!" yelled one of the cultists.

"Wow, points for stating the obvious. So…where's the two Strays you lot have been sucking up to?"

In a blast of fire, a massive figure appeared. Harry's eyes widened. The figure that appeared was a stereotypical image of a devil, horns, glowing red eyes, gangs, cloven hooves on the feet…and he was glaring down at 'Angela'. "Pitiful little Fallen!" he bellowed. "You come before Azal with such impertinence?!"

"…Wow. You're really going for the whole classical Devil appearance, huh? Even though you were just a Pawn in the service of one of the more pathetic scions of the Bael family. Where's your fellow Pawn? Where's Bok?"

A snarl as one of the gargoyles came to life, firing a blast of flame at 'Angela', who promptly whirled, formed a spear seemingly made from blood-coloured light, and hurled it into the gargoyle. As it screeched in agony, and collapsed, disintegrating, 'Angela' sneered. "I guess that answers that questyaaaaaaAAAAAGGGGHHHH!"

The reason why 'Angela' was screaming was because Azal was pointing at her, what looked like electricity crackling from his fingertips and hitting her. "Foolish Fallen!" Azal roared. "You think your single pair of wings intimidates me?! I could strike down even Azazel himself if I wished!"

Now, Harry wasn't sure what he could do about the situation. Trying to take on that thing seemed like suicide. And yet, he couldn't help it. Despite 'Angela's deception, and her darker attitude, she was also in pain, being attacked by a demonic figure. So, he charged up a Piercing Hex, and aimed it right at Azal's eye. He wasn't expecting said eye to be pulped.

"WHO DARES?!" screamed Azal. But that was all the opportunity 'Angela' needed. She formed more of those spears of crimson light, and hurled them into him. The creature, the devil, screamed in pain, before disintegrating.

Harry cast a sleeping spell on the entire chamber, and save for 'Angela', the people were soon asleep. "…Okay, show yourself. I know you're there…Harry Potter."

Harry grimaced. Had 'Angela' discerned who he was when they first met? He did use a charm to disguise his features, in case one of the locals was a magical who recognised him. Eventually, he shucked off the Invisibility Cloak, not knowing whether this was a good idea. "…So, as you know my name, what about yours? Angela Mercury is an alias, right?"

She chuckled. "So you do have some brains. I guess beating Voldemort wasn't just all luck. No, you're right. Angela Mercury is an alias I use in European countries. Don't worry, I won't bite. I've achieved the most important part of the mission, aside from saving these humans who got captured by these fools."

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Harry said, keeping his wand ready and pointed at her. "And you still haven't given me a name."

"If you must know, my name is Raynare. And put that thing away. I don't like men wiggling their pointy thing in my direction like that."

"Says the woman dressed up like a stripper into BDSM," Harry said finally, before he reached the bottom of the chamber. Muttering in annoyance, he cast a Patronus, and said, "This is Potter. Mission is complete, but there have been complications. Leopold and his cultists have been summoning real demons. I received assistance from an unknown party. About a dozen cultists and half a dozen Muggles need debriefing and processing. I'm sending them via Portkey to the DMLE holding cells shortly. Cultists will be marked with red dye, victims with blue."

As he went to work marking them, Raynare rolled her eyes. "You should kill these idiots. It'll save you trouble later."

"As much as I wholeheartedly agree, there are set procedures and regulations in place, and while I'm no Auror, I do need to follow the rulebook to the degree I need to. Though I have to ask, what the hell were those things? Demons?"

"Devils, actually, Stray Devils," Raynare said, folding her arms underneath her impressive bust. "Devils who have fled the servitude of their masters. Most of them feed directly off humans, and that turns them monstrous as you saw. Seriously, they looked like rejects from a Hammer Horror film. What is this, The Devil Rides Out? I've seen Stray Devils that look more interesting than that."

"I'm guessing you mean 'interesting' in the cursed sense of the word?" Harry asked wryly. "So these Stray Devils…they were getting these idiots to feed them in exchange for power?"

"Probably promises of power. Devils can get power from deals with humans, though they don't do that whole Faustian schtick that much these days. They just siphon small amounts of life force. Harmless by comparison to what they used to do. Still scum, though."

"And you are? I mean, I can make a good guess, given that Azal called you a Fallen…so does that mean you're a Fallen Angel?"

"Gold star for the Boy Who Lived," Raynare snarked. "Still, that was actually quite impressive, the amount of power you channelled into that spell. That damned Stray surprised me, but I doubt he could kill me, so it wasn't necessary. But it's kind of sweet you did that to help me. I guess chivalry isn't dead after all."

There was a strange undercurrent of sincerity in Raynare's voice when she said those last two sentences. She was giving him a backhanded compliment. "So, how come I wasn't told about the existence of the Fallen or Stray Devils?"

"Your bosses probably didn't know about Strays being involved. Besides, your kind of wizards haven't been on the best of terms with any of the Three Biblical Factions. The Vatican and the Church of England haven't exactly treated witches and wizards well in the past, even if Heaven is indifferent to most of you, caring only whether you sin or not. Devils have made pacts with wizards in the past, but those morons usually have to hide that because of the stigma of such deals in your society. Ditto any alliance with the Grigori, to which most Fallen belong. Anyway, I'll have to go and notify my boss of how this little clusterfuck ended. No doubt you'll have to do the same." With that, she rose into the air on her wings. "Be seeing you, Harry Potter," she said, before she shot up into a dark, rippling portal in the air, which soon closed.

Harry was somewhat annoyed at her attitude, but he knew he would probably be seeing her again. It was a bit of a hunch he had. Trouble seemed to find him, after all, and this woman seemed to be nothing but…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, this chapter probably could have been called When Harry Met Raynare. But the one I did choose is good too, right?

Doctor Who fans will notice that this chapter is pretty much a homage to the classic Jon Pertwee story The Daemons. The location of Devil's End (which was filmed in the Wiltshire village of Aldbourne) and the Devil's Hump, the characters Reverend Magister, Azal and Bok, all come from that story (though Magister was the Master in disguise, Azal wasn't a devil but a powerful alien species that looked like them, and Bok was a psychokinetically-animated gargoyle). Even the head cultist, Guy Leopold, is taken from the name of the 'author' of the story, which was actually a pseudonym for Robert Sloman and then-producer Barry Letts, the writers of that story. It's easily one of the best Jon Pertwee stories, and if you're a Doctor Who fan who hasn't watched it, fix that.

A shame I didn't manage to slip in a reference to local white witch Miss Hawthorne. Oh well.

1. Raynare's chosen alias was meant to be an oblique one to her alias as Yuuma Amano, which means 'Heaven's Evening Daze' in Japanese. Mercury is the Evening Star in some traditions, thus fulfilling the evening part, and Angela should be obvious.