VII
By: JA_Japster
Copyright Notice: Harry Potter is copyrighted to J.K Rowling. All manga/anime that served as the inspiration/basis for this fanfiction is the property of their respective authors and publishing companies. Black Cat is copyrighted to Jump Comics and Yabuki Kentaro. The fanfiction itself was written by me and should not be reproduced in any shape or form without prior consent.
Summary:
AU- He was VII, one of the best in a deadly organization of assassins known as the Thirteen, until the day he failed to complete an assignment by refusing to murder her -a brilliant young witch who he had made the mistake of befriending. Now he must protect her while running from his past and a league of the most proficient killers in the world…all for a reason he can not begin to explain. (Inspired by the manga series Black Cat)
Prologue
The air in the chamber was artificial, thin and stale, the product of the magic that protected it against any poison that a saboteur might think to slip in. It had a displeasing smell and its sterilized nature only accentuated the idea that the room was a morgue and its inhabitants, the men sitting across the middle on their raised thrones, were slowly rotting away into nothingness.
They looked like corpses, shrunken, pale visages of what used to be the most powerful men in the world. Covered in their black cloaks that obscured their faces from sight, it was as if the protection of anonymity was the only thing preserving them from decaying into dust like the fossils they were. Hints of withered flesh could be vaguely seen under their robes, alluding to the ancient human that resided beneath the shroud of secrecy. They talked amongst each other in inaudible whispers, adding to the illusion of mystery that the entirety of the room entertained.
"Lilith the Prophet," One of the men called loudly.
Their eyes all turned to a thin, young woman who was kneeled respectfully before them. She was young, far too young in the minds of all the men to have the privilege of an audience before them, but there was something about the stoic passiveness on her face that relayed a maturity far greater than her years. They were used to the apparent distaste of those who beheld them, the revulsion at the sight of their aged bodies, but this woman portrayed none of these things.
At the sound of her name, she looked up. She was beautiful with deep blue eyes and long blonde hair that spilled down the back of her robes and ended at her waist. One eye, however, was covered by a black eye patch with the Roman numeral I emblazoned onto it. None of them knew what lay behind the patch. While they knew everything else about her, the eye was the only thing a mystery to them. It was a secret she insisted on keeping, and the men respected this.
The respect was mutual between the woman and the group of men. The men knew that while she was young, she was also intelligent, powerful, and above all, extremely capable. In return, she knew the same to be true about them despite their feeble appearance. They were the Council of the Elders, an assembly of the seven most powerful wizards in the entire world.
"Yes, my lords?" She said quietly.
"We have an assignment for your Thirteen."
Lilith nodded.
"A man by the name of Gregory Winslow has ignored our warnings about dealing in illegal trade to the Americas and Asia. We can not allow his disobedience of the Council's orders to continue. Our wishes are for your Thirteen to remove him."
A flash of mild surprise lit up in Lilith's visible eye. "Excuse me, my lords, but I was under the impression that Minister Fudge requested him to be protected."
A flurry of whispers was the response to that. It sounded almost like a chant as one conversation overlapped with the other, creating an incoherent mess indecipherable to anyone but them.
"Minister Fudge, it seems, has been profiting from Winslow's illicit dealings in the past," said one of Elders. "Do not worry about his desires. We shall speak with him shortly."
"Yes, my lords."
"This mission will not be easy. Winslow's security is not to be underestimated. Bearing that in mind, who do you wish to use?" asked one of the Elders.
Lilith thought for a moment and then said, "Team Gryffindor led by Harry the Slayer."
A cruel, scornful laughter was the response to Lilith's answer, but it did not come from the Council of the Elders. Instead, it came from the man who was kneeled beside Lilith.
"Voldemort the Serpent, do you have something to add?" asked one of the Elders irritably.
Voldemort smiled. He was obviously older than Lilith and had long brown hair that draped messily over his pale, emaciated face. Tattooed into the middle of his forehead was the Roman numeral II.
"Indeed I do." He said. "I question Lilith's decision to use the Slayer yet again. I believe she has used him now seven times over the last month alone."
"You are correct," Said the Council. "And he has succeeded in all seven occasions. What of it?"
"Do I detect a faint hint of favoritism? There are many more individuals far more appropriate for this job than the Slayer. Is it not the purpose of the Thirteen to focus on the goals of the Council and not individual achievement?"
"Again, you are correct, but we see no problem with Lilith's decision. And before you say another word, Voldemort, must we remind you that Lilith is your superior and leader?"
A few of the Elders smiled beneath the hoods of their robes. Despite her subordinate's impudence, Lilith had not so much as frowned. It would have been completely in her right to rebuke Voldemort or to pull rank and silence him, but they all knew she would sooner die than cause a scene.
Voldemort scowled menacingly. "Of course you do not, my lords." He snapped. "I just wanted to point out that perhaps it is time for utilize the skills of the rest of the Thirteen."
"Who do you propose Lilith choose then?"
Voldemort smiled again, a wicked gesture that reduced his nostrils to thin, snake-like slits. "Team Slytherin led by Draco the Masochist."
Lilith visibly stirred at those words, but she refrained from speaking.
"Lilith, do you wish to comment?" asked the Council.
"Yes, my lords. I stand by my decision to utilize team Gryffindor. They have the highest success rate without unnecessary casualties…something that young Draco should consider long and hard before he decides to execute muggles for fun again."
"The evidence you presented on that matter wasn't enough to determine any guilt." replied Voldemort with a shrug. "And don't you think the three month suspension and imprisonment has taught him his lesson anyway, Lilith?"
"No, I do not. I petitioned for six months incarceration and expulsion from the Thirteen," said Lilith coldly, "but I abide by the Council's wishes."
"The Council of the Elders decided that Draco's talents would serve us better outside of a prison cell, Lilith." clarified one of the Elders. "The three month sentence was to remind him that he is obedient to us and us alone."
A prolonged, uncomfortable silence dragged throughout the room. Finally, the Council said, "Lilith, we shall leave the team selection up to you. You are dismissed."
Lilith bowed respectfully, rose and turned to leave, but Voldemort was not finished.
"What?" Voldemort yelled at the old men. "Elders, I request you to reconsider!"
The Council did not respond for a long moment, and then answered, "Denied."
"Fools!" screamed Voldemort. He started towards the Elders, but suddenly Lilith had moved to bar his path. While a full head shorter than him, the aura of power that radiated from the woman made even Voldemort hesitate. Their eyes locked and it was impossible to determine which contained more fury.
"We're leaving." She said tersely. With that, she brushed past her subordinate and stormed angrily from the chamber. A second later, Voldemort scowled, and with a rude swish of his black robes, he followed her. The chamber doors slammed shut with an echoing bang, and then there was silence.
"Well that went better than usual." commented one of the Elders.
-------
It took several elevators and staircases before they reached the rest of the Ministry of Magic. For security reasons, the chamber of the Elders was located deep underground the primary compound, and a long trek through sunless corridors was invariably the price for meeting with them. It was still mid-morning by the time they surfaced, and the flow of traffic was at is peak as wizards and witches streamed into work.
Lilith and Voldemort made their way to a nearby security room where a team of Aurors guarded the passage leading down to the Council from behind a magically protected sheet of glass. A large sign written in several different languages declared that wands and weapons were strictly prohibited past that point.
"Good day," Lilith said politely to the wizard behind the desk. She slid him a small token which he inspected briefly. He disappeared into a back room for a moment, and then reappeared holding an elongated metal rod with a wicked looking crescent shaped blade attached to it. Carefully, he passed it to Lilith who thanked him, and placed the blade in a protective sheath across her back.
Voldemort's lip curled as he tossed his token to the man. It was not unusual for magic casters in the Thirteen to use magically enhanced muggle weapons in place of wands, but the idea still seemed distasteful to him. To him, anything muggle was an abomination and warranted destroying. The wizard came back with Voldemort's wand and passed it to him. He took it without a word of thanks and stowed it away into his robes.
"So you still insist on using Harry for this assignment?" asked Voldemort. Lilith began walking down the corridor and he fell into step beside her.
Lilith nodded, but said nothing more.
"He's too passive if you ask me; too emotional. He doesn't have the composition of a true killer, a man who does his job not because he has to, but because he wants to."
The leader of the Thirteen ignored him and continued walking.
"What is it with you anyway, Lilith?" Voldemort snarled. "Who cares if we go a bit overboard when it comes to muggles? The Elders don't give a damn if a few die on a raid; neither should you."
Again, Lilith said nothing.
"You can't protect them from us forever," The wizard leered quietly. "Harry Potter is one man. You can't use him and those other muggle lovers all the time, and you know it. It's only a matter of time before the Elders let us loose."
Lilith abruptly turned so that she was looking straight into the face of her subordinate. "Know this, Voldemort. You may be my Second in Command, but cross me again in front of the Elders and I will kill you."
"You will, will you?" Voldemort hissed. His hand involuntarily fell to his wand, but he paused when he noticed Lilith's hand too inching towards the handle of her scythe. He had never seen the leader of the Thirteen in combat before, but there were rumors about how fast she was with her weapon. He was dying to find out how fast, but that would have to wait.
His hand fell to his side.
"Some other time, Lilith," He whispered. Before his superior could respond, he turned and strolled away down the corridor, a murderous look of hatred on his face.
----
Author's Notes:
Well, I'm back with a new story that hopefully this time will get completed. This time around I'm following rather loosely the characters of the anime/manga Black Cat, an unlicensed series that finished its run in Japan but is still being subbed online, with liberal dashes of Bleach and tons of other anime influences. Do you need to have seen any of those mentioned anime to appreciate the story? Absolutely not. If you were a fan of Trust and Betrayal (my last story) then this will be more of the same. Lots of action with a H/HR relationship to keep the story moving.
If anyone is confused at the prologue, it'll make more sense next chapter. Basically it's a hierarchical structure of assassins with an Illuminati like council governing them. Definitely AU, but hopefully not OOC.
Thanks for reading. Please drop a review if you've gotten this far because then I would be happy. And I like being happy. Being happy is pretty cool.