Ethereal

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man or Harry Potter. If I did do you seriously think I would waste my time Job Hunting? Hell no! I would already be filthy rich!

CHAPTER ONE

Floating in her aqueous prison, a certain supposedly failed experiment waited.

And as she waited, she slept. She dreamed. She remembered.

Memories of her life before she had been forced to become a test subject in the Second Exorcist Project resurfaced. Like broken fragments of pottery piecing themselves back together, she started to recall everything.

Her unfortunate childhood with the Dursleys. Meeting Hagrid and discovering her true heritage. Her adventurous years at Hogwarts. The Triwizard Tournament. Voldemort's resurrection. Being labeled a liar by the Ministry. Umbridge. Sneaking into the Department of Mysteries with her friends in an attempt to save her supposedly captured Godfather as well as stealing the Prophesy. Fighting against the Death Eaters. Pushing Sirius out of the way of his insane cousin's curse and falling through the Veil. Waking up in a new world where she took on the name Alma Karma. Becoming an Exorcist for the Black Order and meeting Yuu for the first time when they were both just Trainees under General Yeegar. Falling in love with him and having her feelings returned. The confrontation with an exceptionally powerful Akuma. Nearly dying while trying to buy time for him to escape, which he didn't, that stupid lovable Idiot. He fought the Akuma and was willing to die right alongside her.

Her dreams ceased when the sensation of being lifted out of water brought her into semi-awareness. Cold air brushed against her wet skin, as her body was laid on something hard and metallic.

Voices. She could hear voices. They were faint but undeniably there.

"Akuma... Orders from Leverrier... Begin the experiment..."

Pain. She felt pain while something was being implanted inside her currently paralyzed body. Something foreign that did not belong. She allowed it in simply because she knew she couldn't move to stop them. Perhaps this would be her repentance for allowing the presence inside her to slaughter all those people.

Discomfort shot through her body as her flesh mutated to accommodate whatever substance those people implanted inside her. She endured through the experience with a little effort. She continued to sleep even as the sharp discomfort faded into a dull throbbing sensation.

She felt something sharp cut away some of her mutated flesh. Her Regenerative Core pulsed inside her chest as it replaced the stolen flesh, healing the injury as if it had never occurred in the first place.

She continued to sleep. Then after a long while more voices reached her.

"Experiment successful... Contact Central... Place him back into the Chamber..."

Strong muscled arms lifted her off of the cold metal. Her disfigured body was jostled a bit as once again she was submerged in water, floating in a state of nothingness.

She continued to rest, only now she at least somewhat more aware of her surroundings. Her eyes had opened. Half lidded pale eyes looked around the world for the first time in nearly a decade.

She now had a worm's eye view of her current surroundings. The images were blurry but she was able to make out several figures in white lab coats walking in and out of her dark prison chamber. These figures only came in to see her one at a time and at different intervals and they were obviously Scientists. Probably ones from the Black Order. Sometimes, when they came, her mind flashed back to the Laboratory Technicians from the Second Exorcist Project. Usually when this happened she mentally pushed those flashbacks aside, burying those painful memories deep into her subconscious. She knew it probably wasn't all that healthy but she was far beyond the point of caring.

Now there was a large group of Scientists gathered around her tank. Morbidly curious as to the reason for this sudden increase in staff personnel, she strained her ears in an effort to hear any snippets of their discussion, already near certain that it would be centered around her in some way.

"... is the only womb that successfully assimilated with the nucleus of Akuma."

Momentarily distracted by the familiarity of the voice currently speaking over her head, it had taken a few seconds for the actual words to process into her understanding.

An Akuma's nucleus... is inside of me?

"It's an unsuccessful artificial disciple that the Order made nine years ago."

So... nine years have already passed? Have I really been asleep for that long?

"...bodies will die immediately because they can't stand the energy of the nucleus. The Second, which has a high ability of regeneration, can endure much longer..."

My regeneration... of course the Black Order would use that to their advantage. Why am I not surprised?

A face appeared in her field of vision, somewhat less murky since it was up close. Startled at the sudden arrival, she was only just able to catch the jumble of words that escaped his lips in a breathy disbelieving whisper.

"Alma... I couldn't believe this... is it really you? Kept in a place like this..."

Realisation dawned. She knew that lined, aged face.

It was Zhu Mei Chang and he was... crying?

He was.

Tears dripped onto the glass above her as his face contorted in heartbreaking devastation and grief.

"I didn't know... that you were still kept in this world..."

Right in that moment, she wished so much to speak with him. Tell the old man that she was alive. Apologize to him for losing control. Try to make amends. Perhaps even ask after Yuu.

Another voice cut in sharply, interrupting the rather poignant reunion.

"...won't reply to you. He's been unconscious all these years."

Just because I can't talk right now doesn't mean I can't hear you, Bastard.

"Why didn't you tell me immediately about Alma being alive...!"

"I wasn't intending to ever tell you if there wasn't an opportunity like this. Would you people have accepted it if I told you 'It has been decided that he'll be kept alive as our tool'?"

A surge of unbridled fury coursed through her. Had she been able to even move her facial muscles, she would have snarled at the speaker.

I AM NOT A FUCKING TOOL!

"...murdered the then-head using Alma. Naturally I was concerned."

"At the very least... couldn't you have had the empathy... to tell Kanda Yuu?"

Hearing the name of her Beloved caused her outrage to halt in its tracks as a strange mix of confusion and wonder washed through her system instead.

Kanda Yuu... I don't recognize the family name but... it can't be anyone else.

And apparently he doesn't know I'm alive.

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

Yes.

"Weren't they supposed to be friends?"

We were but...

"Wouldn't telling him have made it only more painful?"

Bitter self loathing clawed at her Akuma infested insides. As much as she hated to admit it... part of her knew that Bastard speaker was right. Informing Yuu of her continued existence in this world would only hurt him.

She didn't want to hurt him any more than she already had.

Zhu Mei Chang's expression cracked further into searing guilt and emotional agony.

"WE MADE THEM FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"

An abrupt commotion among the Scientists happened just after the declaration had been made. At the angle she was facing and the shock that had shot through her at Zhu Mei's unappreciated reminder made her both blind and deaf to whatever was going on up there.

Distracted by whatever had happened, nobody noticed when she closed her eyes and decided to return to Morpheus' embrace. Only this time she knew she would have no dreams, only blissful darkness.

Pity she didn't get the chance to do so.

Crashing noises and something metallic in texture coiled around her arms. The sound of shattering glass and the sensation of water pouring off her skin brought her into semi-awareness once again. The coils that bound her limbs had pulled her out of her tank, cold wind bit at her wet skin as her body was hung up by her arms mid-air. She heard more voices even as she felt more metallic coils slither up to restrain her legs. These voices were a tad clearer than the ones before so she didn't need to strain her hearing this time.

"Who the hell... The failure... dead... survived... barely alive... 'Sacred War'... CALM DOWN KANDA!"

She felt the mental intrusion. Memories of being with Yuu during their time as ignorant 'Chosen Apostles' were forced to the forefront of her mind. Feelings of nostalgia filled her as she allowed herself to reminisce on those simpler times. Her mental Avatar appeared alongside a young man with white hair, but he could not see her, neither could the little lady who had arrived with him. She hid her presence from them and watched the scenes play out in front of her.

She smiled when Memory!Alma greeted Memory!Yuu.

She laughed at the brawls they used to get into.

She cried seeing the Synchronizing tests that they had been forced to go through.

She smiled through her tears as she witnessed the moment they had become friends.

She watched their friendship grow and flourish with warm fondness.

She relived the fear she had felt back then when her dear friend and past lover collapsed from his painful hallucinations.

Fear twisted into suffocating horror as the memory of overhearing the Scientist's decision to kill off Yuu played out in front of her Avatar's eyes.

Then the desperate escape, getting caught by those CROW bastards, kicking Yuu into the irrigation canal hoping it would be enough to save him. Finding out that Yuu had gotten captured, escaping again and using the Innocence to fight back. Finding out the terrible truth and becoming possessed by something that had been resting inside her. Something vile and cruel that took advantage of her fragile mental and emotional state and stole control of her body. Killing both the Laboratory Technicians and the unawakened Second Exorcists. Attempting to kill Yuu as well. Memory!Yuu cutting Memory!Alma down, unknowingly helping Memory!Alma regain control of his/her body.

She could feel old hatred arise in her heart as that strange presence awakened inside her and proceeded to make an attempt at consuming her regained sanity - trying to take over her body once again.

She rebelled and tried to suppress it. In the emotional struggle her mental Avatar accidentally intercepted the connection. Information flooded through her mind. She somehow managed to make sense of it all despite the fact that she currently had to focus a concentrated amount of effort to subdue the presence.

Plans to turn her into an Akuma thereby turning other innocent people into monsters as well. Plans of using Yuu to awaken the Fourteenth. Plans to harm Yuu in retaliation to his murder of a man named Skinn Bolic, the most recent reincarnation of the Noah of Wrath.

The Noahs are planning to hurt Yuu.

The thought resonated in her head just once before her reaction came a split second later.

OH. FUCK. NO. Not while she still had a sane foothold in this world!

The being known as Alma Karma fought back.

With her focus on protecting Yuu, her love for him overcame her hatred for the Black Order, somehow conquering over the presence inside her as well. Preventing the tragedy needed for the Akuma transformation.

Her mind, remembering her lessons on Occlemency with Professor Snape, practically threw Wisely across the room with how hard she pushed him out of her mind. Meanwhile freeing Yuu, Road, and Allen from his power at the same time.

Alma's Parasitic Innocence, sentient in it's own right for reasons unknown to it's chosen Accommodator, reacted to her desperate need to protect her precious person, and started the process of expunging the Dark Matter from inside her body thereby stopping it from turning her into an Akuma. Also providing Alma the knowledge and spell-casting prowess she needed for her fight. The reincarnated witch didn't notice as she called upon the power within her.

Her Magic, which has lied dormant for all these years, rose to her command. Refilling the energy inside her Regenerative Core and reapplying the Om symbol seal on her chest as she transfigured her body into her original countenance as a woman - back to being Harriet Lillian Potter. The Magic even spread towards the cells in Tokusa's body, regenerating his arms in a flash of silver light. All this happened within the span of just a few moments. Before anyone could react to these shocking events, glowing emerald green eyes snapped open and Harriet, no longer just Alma, cried out the name of the man she loved most in this God forsaken world.

"YUU!"

Activating her innocence, Harriet felt the sensation of warm feathers spreading along her right arm and across her bare chest. The feathers spread across her outer arm morphed into a blade and with it Harriet slashed her way free. Before anyone could stop her, the woman lunged towards the Millennium Earl fully intending to slice him apart. She had to protect Yuu. Even if it cost her what life she had left she would protect him!

Intercepted by one of the other Noah, Harriet leaped backwards before the man was able to retaliate. Landing, she finally noticed the Hostages, lifting her arms and palms faced towards the captured Scientists on both sides, she willed her magic to free them.

"Finite Incantatem!"

Her Wandless Magic potential must have sky rocketed because it worked. Harriet decided to think on this later when the fight was over. She ignored their shocked expressions and raised her right arm skywards.

"Protego Horribilis Maxima! Fianto Duri! Repello Inimicum!"

Her magic created a blueish-white barrier around everyone that wasn't a Noah or an Akuma before Harriet proceeded to continue her assault on the grey-skinned bastards.

000

AN: Hope you enjoyed reading this! Because my brain is pretty much fried from just writing this bad boy!

Edit: Forgive me, I messed up the wording a bit. I'm still new to this whole writing Fanfiction thing. *Winces at her own grammatical errors*

Edit number 2: I wanted to expand and rewrite part of this in order for my story to make more sense. Also read the manga chapter 188. It's where I got the dialogue from.

Edit 3: reworded due to request