Connections

Author's Note: This is for Punky's Valentine's Day Exchange. I was given Willowezra and her request: Crossover with Harry Potter must have Miranda/Andy pairing everything else up to writer. Can involve any other characters from either fandom. Bonus points if include Minerva/Hermione pairing. Allrighty then! I also was given an idea by a wonderful reader. I do not remember who, unfortunately. If you are reading this, please let me know so I can give proper credit. The idea is to base a story off of the movie In Your Eyes. Check it out.

Author's Note, too: I have taken some liberties: The timelines for HP and DWP do not sync easily, so I may have bent them to suit the story's needs. That said, I tried to stay as true to those timelines as much as possible. Also, Andy never worked for Miranda, and Miranda was not the EIC for Runway. Miranda is twice divorced, and she has no children (sorry Caroline and Cassidy lovers!).

Betas are awesome! Please spare a moment or three to give silent thanks and praise to some wonderful individuals— akasarahsmom (GinStan), shesgottaread, and peetsden for their support and kind words while I pulled out my hair and worried about writing this crossover. Let me know what you think of it if you are so inclined.

Disclaimers: I was going to write a really technical, legal version here about how I am not earning any money off of this story and am merely offering it for entertainment value, protected by the fair use doctrine (in a much more impressive format, of course); forget that—you all know. Plus, I'm a real piss-ant, so if you are the owner of the characters, books, movies—whatever—and want to sue me, go ahead and try. Bring it on. I have a law degree, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Oh yeah—I do not own Harry Potter, any of the characters associated with the books, movies, audiotapes, video games, theme park, knick-knacks, assorted sundry, or wands (except for the one I bought at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this summer—oddly, it doesn't work). Same applies for The Devil Wears Prada.

Pairing: Miranda Priestly and Andrea Sachs; Minerva McGonagall and Hermione Granger

Rating: M/NC-17

1995

Prologue

Andy sat at her desk, staring at her English teacher as she lectured about proper sentence structure. She could hardly wait until class ended so she could meet her friends for lunch. School food of course sucked, but she didn't care since she had money to buy a Philly cheesesteak after school. Not that she lived in Philadelphia. Nope. She lived in suburban Ohio, but it was okay. Safe enough. Fun enough. She had good friends, interesting teachers, parents who weren't divorced. And, even though she was only in middle school, her parents trusted her to walk home after school by a certain time or to call them if she was going to be really late. They gave her enough time to stop at the local sub shop or to stay at school for extra help from her teachers, not that she needed it. She was a smart girl, and she did not abuse their trust. Much.

She shot a smile toward her best friend, Lily, when she heard her name whispered. Looking down, she saw Lily kick a note over to her. As it slid to a stop near her feet, she bent to retrieve it, stopping suddenly as a feeling of fear washed over her. Sitting back up quickly, note forgotten, Andy swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She gripped the far corners of her desk to brace herself for ...something. Squeezing so hard that her fingers turned white, Andy stared sightlessly straight ahead, seeing a large black phantom form in front of her eyes. It hovered before her, black holes for eyes and a wide open maw. Andy felt cold, terribly cold, and she held on even more tightly, causing her desk to shake as the phantom came closer. And closer. The coldness overwhelmed her, and she screamed, feeling her soul being sucked out of her, swallowed into that horrible, gaping, toothless mouth. She could vaguely hear people shouting in the background, but all she could see was black. All black. And she fell and fell and fell into those awful, bottomless eyes until she reached aching, blessed nothingness.