Darkness Unfolding

Title: Into the Darkness
Author: JoeHundredaire (joehundredaire@tthfanfic.com)
Rating: R/FR18.
Pairings: None
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is the dictator of all things Harry Potter. Never quite figured out who owns the Buffyverse, but I know for a fact that it's not me…
Joe's Note: Dunno how many Cordelia YAHFs are out there that don't turn her into the girlfriend of Xander's YAHF persona, but here's something completely different…

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     Cordelia Chase scowled as she surveyed the crowd wandering around the interior of Ethan's. It was a bizarre mix of finely-made costumes and the kind of stuff she expected to find in cheaper stores: wigs, make-up both mundane and exotic, and props for those who just wanted to finish off a costume. Like she was planning to.

     Thankfully while she'd agreed meet her friends at the Bronze to party, nobody knew what anybody else's costume was going to be. She'd passed it off as a game: each of them had a little card with everyone's name and a blank to fill in what costume they were wearing. Assuming you could figure out who was under which costume, of course. Cordelia had made abstract promises of a prize to encourage them… which was a small price to pay for getting to let her hair down for the night.
     Not that anyone would be seeing her hair… which made her stop for a minute and wonder why she had picked up that box of wash-out black hair dye. She'd already had a nice black robe tailored for her by one of her mother's friends, who didn't at all understand why she'd want such a thing but had come through anyways. Likewise, a sculptor who'd produced a few of her mother's favorite vases had created an amazing skull mask for her. Ordering a pair of violet contacts as part of her monthly shipment hadn't raised any eyebrows with her parents either. Now she just needed a wand and she'd be ready for Halloween.

     Yes, for all her high fashion obsessions and expensive tastes, Cordelia Chase was a Harry Potter fan.

     Although she felt a bit like she was tempting fate by dressing up as Bellatrix Lestrange on the Hellmouth, it was the only costume she could come up with that wouldn't get her laughed off the face of the earth by her friends. As much fun as it would have been to go all Lohan-esque on a Hogwarts uniform and make the guys drool, it wasn't worth dealing with the shit she'd catch from her friends for weeks after.

     Elbowing her way through the crowd, she made a beeline for what appeared to be a Harry Potter-centric area of the store. There were a few student outfits each for boys and girls left, along with colorful student scarves and ties wrapped in clear plastic. And suspended on chains linked to a hook jutting out of the wall, a large cauldron full of wands swung back and forth gently as people passed by.

     Cordelia looked around to see if anyone had noticed her before approaching the cauldron. Digging through a pile of ordinary brown wands that ran from light tan to dark chocolate, Cordelia finally uncovered a nice wand that was so dark it was nearly black. She pulled it out and rolled it between her fingers, examining it closely. "Twelve inches," she whispered. "African blackwood, with a hippogriff claw core. Perfect."

     Sliding the wand up her sleeve, she locked eyes with the man behind the front counter. He raised one eyebrow and she looked around before sneering and returning her gaze to him. He nodded, and the message was passed. No theft was taking place, just a bit of discretion.

     She made a show of looking at a few of the complete costumes, then a few of the wigs. A glance and a nod were exchanged with Aura as she entered the store, and she went back to 'shopping'. Finally, after a slow walk around the store, she approached the counter. "I love the store," she said conversationally. "Much better than Party Town. I was looking at this totally cute cat costume, but someone told me that your store was better so I decided to come take a peek. Definitely worth it."

     The man grinned at her. "I am quite proud of my establishment," he replied. Cordelia was a bit surprised to hear that he was British and idly wondered if he knew Mr. Giles. There couldn't be too many Brits in Sunnydale, right? He looked down at her left arm, where she'd hidden the wand. "Took the business over from my father when I was only a little older than you. Why, I'd say I've been in the business for… THIRTY years…"

     "That's so cool," Cordelia commented, reaching into her purse and withdrawing a pair of twenties. She slid them across the counter to him. "I suppose you must have known where you were going from an early age. I wish I had that kind of certainty in my life." The shopkeeper palmed the money and nodded before passing a ten dollar bill back to her. "Well, I've got lots to do and I'm sure you're very busy. Sorry to waste your time."

     Waving one hand, the man gestured to the store. "Not at all, not at all," he replied. "I'm always glad to talk to a friendly face. Just keep my humble operation in mind when you finally make a choice for your costume. We'll be open until sunset tonight."

     Transaction completed, Cordelia let the wand drop out of her sleeve and into her purse. Giving the shopkeeper a bright smile, she spun and began wading back through the crowd towards the door. She spared Buffy and Willow a sneer as she passed them, but the pair was too busy looking at costumes to notice her. She pulled out her cell phone and glanced at it as she pushed the door open. Two hours until she had to be at the Bronze. Unless she wanted to be fashionably late… which was probably going to be the case even if she was done with plenty of time to spare.

     'Places to go, things to do, hair to dye,' she reminded herself. 'Boy, tonight's going to be great…'

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     Bellatrix Lestrange glared at her surroundings as her mind raced. She'd been on the boat for Azkaban, sentenced to life in that Dementor-infested hellhole for her torture of the Longbottoms… and now she was somewhere else. Somewhere warmer, less ocean-like, and far more Muggle. The houses were of Muggle construction, those obnoxiously smelly Muggle vehicles were rolling up and down the street, and said streets were filled with… actually, all kinds of odd things.

     She recognized a few species of demons, some vampires… and all kinds of beings her mind couldn't explain. A rather angry-looking furred beast caught sight of her and roared before charging her. With barely a thought, her wand (hadn't they confiscated that?) was in her hand and she shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

     A familiar burst of green light erupted from her wand's tip and slammed into the creature, causing it to slump to the ground. She paused, waiting for some sign that her magic had been noticed. After a few minutes without the telltale crack of apparition, she grinned. Leveling her wand at a green-skinned demon that was ambling by, she fired off the curse again. "Avada Kedavra!"

     Another corpse hit the ground and Bellatrix giggled. She didn't know where she was, but she was free and had her wand. And there appeared to be no magical authorities in the area. Pausing, she removed her mask and lowered her hood. Chances were, an area with no magical oversight would have no knowledge of Death Eaters in general or her in specific. And it might be easier to talk to whatever wizards were around when she looked normal.

     "Point Me nearest wizard," Bellatrix incanted. Her wand floated up off her hand and spun like a compass's needle before pointing off to her left. Half her attention on the wand and the other half on her surroundings, Bellatrix stalked off into the night.

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     Ducking behind the corner of a brick building, Bellatrix scowled. She'd been shocked when a strange James Potter-esque person had appeared and shouted something about her cousin Sirius at her before attacking. She'd pondered the oddness for a few seconds, dodging badly-aimed Stupefys and other mundane spells, before unleashing her third Avada Kedavra of the night. After that, she'd taken up her journey again but had only gotten a few hundred feet before being confronted with a similar-looking figure. And then a third a few minutes later, and now a fourth.

     Another stunning spell hit the wall right after she turned the corner, showering her with red dust and fragments of bricks. "Bloody lunatics," she muttered. "How many of these guys are there?" She'd never heard of anything more than magical twins in the last century of the British magical world, much less quadruplets. Having offspring in… litters… like this was a Muggle thing.

     There was a pause in the spellcasting and a male voice shouting something obscene at her. Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix popped back out from behind her cover and shouted, "CRUCIO!"

     The brilliant red spell struck her target and he collapsing screaming to the ground. Focusing her anger at her conviction and attempted imprisonment, Bellatrix held the spell as she talked towards him. "You fools are wasting my time," she growled, before kicking the prone figure in the head. "Avada Kedavra!"

     Smirking as the figure went still, Bellatrix held out her hand again. "Point Me nearest wizard." The wand spun a few times before dropping back onto her palm. Before she could ponder what that meant, the world spun and dissolved to black.

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     Cordelia smirked as she stalked through the hallways of Sunnydale High, black hair trailing after her like a comet's tail. She passed the Three Musketeers, who gaped at her like the idiots they were, before stopping in front of her locker and the friends assembled there. "Good morning, girls," she said with a smile. "How was your evening?"

     Her assembled minions looked at each other before one of them finally gathered the courage to say anything. "Cordy?" Harmony asked. "What… what are you wearing? Since when is cheap goth in?"

     "Since I said it was," Cordelia snapped, violet eyes flashing. She looked down at her outfit. She'd chosen a pair of black leather pants and a simple black tanktop, with a fishnet shirt over it. Bellatrix had gone for black and covering, Cordelia preferred a bit more flash and skin… and this was the best compromise her mind could settle on that morning. It'd taken an emergency run to the mall (and a favor called in with a shift manager at the local Hot Topic), but at least she was feeling comfortable in her own skin again. "I like it. Let's just say I've had… a change of opinion. About a number of things."

     Aura was the next one to grow a spine. "I'm sorry," she dissented, "but black does nothing for my complexion. You can look like a freak if you want, but I'm not going to…"

     "Follow me," Cordelia barked, cutting her off. She set a brisk pace down the hall, before opening the door to a classroom she knew was empty first period. "In." Her minions looked at each other but filed into the room sedately. Harmony, Aura, Theresa, Jenny, Li, and Cassandra. Everyone was there, which meant she could take care of them all at once. "Good girls."

     Reaching back, Cordelia drew her wand from where she had tucked it into the back of her pants. Flicking it at the door, she incanted, "Colloportus." There was a weird squelching noise, and the doorframe glowed a bright blue for a second. Turning her attention back to the girls, she pointed her wand at Harmony. "Imperio." Harmony's eyes glazed over and Cordelia smirked. "You will follow the commands I give you from now on, and will not question my orders. After school, you will come with me to the mall to replace most or all of your wardrobe with clothes I pick for you. And you'll enroll in some form of martial arts classes. You may be a pitiful muggle, but that doesn't mean I can't make a useful minion out of you anyways…"

     Cordelia went around the room, putting the other five girls under Imperius as well. After a moment of thought she circled back through the girls again, quickly transfiguring their clothes into outfits that would allow her to blend in a bit better. While Transfiguration hadn't been Bellatrix's strongest subject at Hogwarts, she was pretty sure the spells would hold for the day. "Much better," she announced.

     The bell rang to announce first period and Cordelia winced. Now they were late. "Well, time to be fashionably late," she told her minions, who nodded mechanically. She sighed. "Try to act naturally. Actually, scratch that. Act smarter than you normally do. I'm tired of having to hide my smarts to avoid making you all look like slightly-retarded squirrels."

     "Yes, Mistress," they said in perfect sync.

     Cordelia perked up a bit. "You know, I kinda like the sound of that. But that's going to be kinda creepy in public. I don't need the entire school thinking I get together with you guys to wear leather and break out whips. Call me Cordelia in public."

     The girls looked at each other and nodded slowly. "Yes, Cordelia."

     Clucking her tongue, Cordelia shook her head. "No, that's for in public. Your fellow minions don't count. When it's just me and you guys, I'm your mistress."

     "Yes, Mistress."

     "I really don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing that…"