Disclaimer: I own Nothing

Please no Flames. Go write your own if you're going to be that way.

I have random little things written out, scenes and so forth, but trying to write the story makes my mind feel like I'm dragging it through mud. Sorry, constant classes for my online courses are killing me. Assignment after assignment after assignment. I'm closer to graduating with my degree though! 2018 will be the year I graduate and I'm extremely excited. Seven more months of homework!

Please read and review! I feel like I could have done the meeting a whole lot more justice, but I wanted to get something out. If I decide to redo it, I'll make sure to inform everyone.

Smoldering Ferocity

Chapter Two

Harriet Potter accepted death. She did not fear it, not like how her enemy scrounged around like a parasite, trying to avoid it. Hell, she had even walked to her own death. How could that coward have been the Master of Death when he himself feared death? Fucking imbecile.

She stalked down the narrow road, head held high and giving no room for hesitance. She didn't need to be targeted because they thought of her as easy pickings. Too many times she had seen kids of different ages be snagged, kicking and screaming before disappearing for good. Of course no one reported anything either, too pissed off at the authorities for keeping them locked down here like cattle to even care to inform them of children being taken. She had also seen kids ruthlessly fighting one another over scraps of food, blood flying and bones breaking. Sometimes throats were slit, and Harriet would cringe, looking away as the life flickered out of the eyes of a kid. Harriet avoided those situations at all costs. Pausing near a vendor, Harriet scanned the items, her eyes landing on the fine jewelry that didn't belong down here of all places. Taking a step closer, she instantly realized what she was seeing.

'Where in the bloody hell did they get these?' she mentally questioned, unable to look away from the very fine and expensive wares. Usually she would see these inside a shop up top through the window panes as she walked by. One doesn't see this kind of stall down here unless they're asking to be robbed-

Harriet pulled away, heart hammering in her chest as her magic stretched, searching, winding through the air and permeating everything within reach. There. Along the walls. On the roofs. Around the corners.

Military Police.

Were they after someone in specific, or were they looking for some poor sap to go after? Had they finally decided on dragging her into custody to interrogate her on her odd ability to get past them? Harriet swore she had been careful with not doing anything suspicious with them in her presence as of late. With Isabel having informed her a good couple months ago on who was guarding the entrance, she had started paying more attention to their shifts.

Harriet simply backed away and turned on her heel, heading in a different direction that she could tell was free of tension, instincts willing her in that direction. Her magic coiled tight within her, wild and ready to lash out at anything that may try to harm her. It was a defense mechanism so that she could get out of any possible situation. (Probably not every situation, but it better try to high hell damn it. She didn't feel like waking up as a baby once again anytime soon.) There was absolutely no way she was falling for that shit.

She needed to practice her magic, strengthen it and will it to work with her because she couldn't take chances down here.

A rift in the air caught her attention, followed by hissing and wires shooting not too high above her head. The red-head flinched at the sudden movement and noise, ducking low and twisting away in response. Feet hit the ground and shouts filled the air from all directions.

"Oh! Harriet!"

"Get them!"

"Move!"

"Isabel! Fucking get your shit together and grab everything you can!"

"Stop!"

"Sorry Harriet! Catch ya later!"

Harriet blinked. Eyes taking in the table that had nothing left on it and the scattered Military Police moving after three blurs, one that happened to be Isabel. With a heavy sigh and trying to keep her brain in one piece, Harriet decided she had had enough for today.

Oooo

Laying on the flimsy bed that she had been able to put together, Harriet glared at the ragged looking broom. She willed it to clean, to sweep the floor with as much magic that she could muster up. She was a witch damnit, and witches had cleaning spells! It shuddered once.

A simple cleaning spell was all she needed because she was tired of cleaning this room all the time and why not abuse magic this way? Besides, cleaning supplies sucked down here. She had to learn how to cast wandless magic in any case, so what better way to start strengthening her magical core than with a cleaning spell. Not that it'll truly help, her mind supplied, seeing that their magical cores don't exactly fully develop for use until age eleven. Well, that's when they could purchase their first wand, so it must be the 'too young to handle a dangerous weapon' train of thought for the adults and thus, they spewed on about how children couldn't comprehend the responsibilities that came with controlling their magic and wands until that age.

Tom Riddle had been able to use wandless magic with intent alone before he bought his first wand. Harriet twitched at that thought. Nope, she's going to get wandless magic down before she even turned eleven. Damned vile Dark Lord being able to use wandless magic so early in life.

God, why did she have to be so young?

The broom twitched again before haphazardly slamming itself into the wall opposite of it.

"Ugh! Work, you shitty straw and wood concoction!"

There was a whine, magic crackling wildly in the air and the broom shattered, splinters and straw flying everywhere. Harriet picked at the straw and splinters in her hair, scowling. She hated magic sometimes.

"I just got that stupid broom too…"

Oooo

Harriet outright stared, viridian eyes taking in the sight that was bound to stick with her for years. There was a man, stumbling around and begging for help. The disgusting part was the blood seeping heavily into his shirt and between his fingers as he tried to hold his slit throat closed.

The problem with this picture?

"Are you fucking serious?" Harriet blurted, getting a nasty glare sent her way from the stall owner that she stood off to the side of. "When the hell did ghosts start appearing?"

She didn't need this crap. It was already hard enough dealing with her life right now. She didn't need no ghosts skirting around and finding out that she had the ability to see them. Oh, they would flock like flies on horseshit if they knew she could communicate with them.

God damnit! She wanted another reroll on her abilities, get rid of the ghost seeing ability and all.

"Help! Kenny the Ripper is here! Help!" and she turned on her heel, ignoring the desperation filling the man's voice. Kenny the Ripper has been quiet for a while now, having gone off somewhere else for a bit, at least that's what Harriet could recall from the gossip a while ago. He was someone that she never wanted to cross. Power hungry fool. He'll fall, just like Tom Riddle did. Some way or another, that man will end up dead.

"You're dead already." She snarled under her breath, not wanting to look at the man because she knew her resolve to not help would wither and die as soon as she decided on helping. Curse her need to help others.

"He's going to kill us all!" he wailed, gurgling and coughing blood up as people walked past him, oblivious to the bloody ghost. She scrunched up her nose in disgust at the ghostly sight of blood splattering upon the dirt ground before a couple of babbling hags.

Harriet turned the corner intending to teach herself how to make a purse with an extension charm for it. God knows the amount of things she could learn to summon to her and place within that bag without drawing any attention to herself. Though, she doubted that she would actually be able to get it correct for a couple years yet.

Ooo

Isabel sat on the ledge of her friend's windowsill, feet swinging back and forth as she stared out across the underground city. Harriet was mulling over a stolen journal, ripping used pages out and muttering under her breath about possible spells that would wipe them clean of ink. Maybe a spell that could syphon the ink off the page for reuse? Harriet had been able to swipe a journal from one of the visitors heading for the brothels, intending to write as many spells as she could in it. It was mostly just to get her thoughts sorted and organized before delving deeper within her mind to find any more useful information, specifically spells that she may have read about or dealing with Hermione's obsessive ways of explaining everything new to her. The perks of being able to look into memories and all that lovely stuff. Maybe she could try getting information from the authorities through the use of legilimens and figure out a way to get out of this place without necessary papers.

She wondered how much of a toll it would take on her small magic reserves right now. Being a kid seriously tampered with her abilities. Something fluttered at the edge of her vision.

Isabel jolted on her perch as Harriet screeched, her chair toppling over and her eyes wide and focused on something off to the side of her that she couldn't see herself.

"Um…" Isabel began but Harriet sent a wave towards her, indicating that the girl should stop talking. A faint rush of annoyance went through the girl, but she watched as her friend suddenly scowled, looking pissed.

"You show up now? After almost eight years in this world!?" The red head scoffed, scrawny arms crossing over her chest before turning her head in the opposite direction.

Death stood before her, looking peachy as always. She hadn't seen him in this world yet and having called upon him multiple times and getting no response, she honestly didn't expect to see him at all.

"Sorry Mistress. There's a copious amount of deaths within this world. I've been extremely busy." He responded and Harriet twitched.

"Oh…Oh, the Titans, right?" she questioned and Death inclined his head while Isabel straightened up at the mention of the beasts outside the walls. Death shifted, tugging and the pulling something out of its many folds of wispy black fabric. Harriet suddenly felt herself going pale, her hands getting clammy at the object being held out to her.

"You've earned this one back…Mistress."

"And the…wand?" Harriet asked, breathless as she took hold of silky fabric.

"When you reach the age of eleven, like all witches and wizards."

Harriet blinked, her mind taking in the information before she visibly wilted. "Ugh!" All her problems could have been solved! A home far away from here, no humans to bother her, but no! (Maybe she'll take Isabel with her though, get the girl out of the underground city for her own safety).

Isabel suddenly appeared next to Harriet, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in the silky fabric, albeit, quite a bit dirty looking.

"Where…Where did that come from!?" she gasped, having seen it shimmer into existence when Harriet had reached forward into thin air. Harriet blinked before a smile fell over her face. Without there being a law in place for secrecy, Harriet was free to use magic whenever. Isabel has been around for a good couple of months now and has seen odd stuff happen around Harriet, but this was sure to entertain the girl for hours.

"Would you like to try it?"

The girl looked skeptical, nose scrunching up in disgust at the tatty looking fabric. "Big brother will have my head if I touched that filthy thing."

It did need a good cleaning.

Harriet snorted before throwing it over her shoulders, body disappearing from sight. It took Isabel mere seconds to realize what just happened, her face going blank before her mouth dropped.

"Whaaaat!?" and the thought of filthy fabric and getting in trouble with her brother went right out the door. (Window in this case since Harriet has taken the time to literally nail a board over it while also warding it the best she could on the other side). "I want to try!"

Harriet let the girl amuse herself for the rest of the day, death floating around in a corner sulking, and Harriet trying to figure out how she could afford or make ink to write in her new (stolen) journal. She would have to experiment in making ink for now, until she figured out a way to syphon ink from pages. She knew berries would be a good source for the color. Maybe asking some of the elderly women may give her answers. If they decide on talking to her that is. It has been a unanimous decision with many of the towns people that Harriet was not something to be messed with, not with all those odd things that happened to her tormenters in any case.

Isabel launched herself over Harriet's bed, head and feet the only thing visible before she tucked and rolled, disappearing into the invisible fabric.

Right, and she'll have to ask death how to create a basic invisibility cloak just for her friend.

Oooo

Sirius came bounding into the room through the hidden doggie door that she had built specifically for him. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and Harriet scowled at his scruffy looking fur. He hadn't had a bath in over a month and she could tell by just looking at him, never mind his smell. She hissed as she jabbed her finger with the sewing needle, blood instantly welling up to the surface of her pointer. Of course that would happen to her. Placing the fabric and sewing needle down, she stood up and walked over to her small kitchen counter, washing her finger before building up the magic in her body and willing the small pinprick to close. It took a minute before a tingling sensation went through her body and her finger was left with a small pink dot, the skin now healed. Taking a deep breath in to steady herself from the sudden dizziness that hit her, Harriet scrunched her eyes shut. It was getting easier to use wandless magic, but it still left her breathless at times.

With a sigh, she reached across the counter and pulled a loaf of bread towards herself, having picked it up from the market that morning. Nodding to herself, Harriet broke off a large piece and gave it to Sirius, nibbling on a smaller portion before wrapping it in a clean cloth, because, who's heard of saran wrap in this world? She then slid it back to its original spot. Away from Sirius's reach, because she's come home to all her food on the counter being gone and Sirius in a food induced coma. She's learned from that mistake after the second time.

She went about the rest of the morning cleaning, magic occasionally lifting objects up for her so that she could sweep under it. At least she had been able to sneak in large furniture through the window, god knew how terrible she probably was at transfiguration without a wand right now.

The sound of gas being released hit her ears suddenly and Harriet ducked as blurs shot through her open window. Instincts kicked in and Harriet was already pushing her small table over and huddling behind it because it was seriously the only cover offered within her open room.

She also swore that the window had been warded the best she could do with her current skills and lack of a wand. So who the hell was able to make it past an illusion of a wall that made up her window to the public eye outside?

Her magic thrummed beneath her skin, telling her to strike with all she's got to protect herself and her home. Stupefy was on the tip of her tongue before she faltered. Messy brown-red hair appeared above her, looking down at her from over the table in-between them.

"Harriet, you're hilarious! Why are you hiding?"

She wanted to give a snappy retort, telling the girl that flying through her window with that god damned gear always scared the shit out of her, especially with the hissing it gave. Memories of a huge basilisk slipping through pipes flashed through her mind, the hissing always causing her to flinch as she waited for words to come from those hisses. Luckily it looked like understanding snakes didn't happen in this world. (So far, oh god she didn't want to understand snakes again.)

Her reaction was also mostly due to the war in her past life, but as she finally peeked over the table, she caught sight of two figures that were looking around her small home.

When the bloody hell did they come in?

Isabel glanced back at the two Harriet was blatantly staring at, her jaw clenched tightly together. Isabel hadn't warned her that she was bringing friends over.

"Oh! Meet Big brother and Farlan!" Isabel gushed, excited in introducing her family figures to her friend.

Right. More god damned people invading her space. She seriously needed that house in the middle of nowhere, right now if this were the case. Harriet blinked. Big brother wasn't exactly a name, so she would have to wait for one.

Sirius had been passed out on his bed, and Harriet threw a glance towards the dog as he snorted. He was still sprawled out on his bed in the corner of the room and she scowled in his direction. Great guard dog he'd make.

"Guys, this is Harriet! The one I said did strange things!"

Harriet gave Isabel a blank look, her brain trying to follow the energetic girl before her. Right, she should have realized that Isabel may talk about her magic with those closest to her. Hopefully the girl knew not to say anything to other people because Harriet didn't want everyone in the damn world to know about her abilities.

The Military Police would be on her within seconds.

"That mutt needs a fucking bath."

Harriet's eyes shifted to the one that had spoken. He had an undercut hairdo, clothes in impeccable condition with not a spot of dirt on them. Half lidded dull blue eyes were taking in her room, almost like he was searching for anything that was remotely dirty. Her messy sheets caused his mouth to turn down at the corners and she felt annoyance well in her.

"Yah, he needs a fucking bath. Never mind the fuss those two jack asses outside the showers will give me with trying to bathe him." She snarled. "I do it every couple months. Had to make a deal with them in getting four coins instead of two just to get him free of grime."

His piercing eyes rested on her, taking in scarlet red messy hair and green eyes that almost looked like they were glowing. He opened his mouth and Isabel suddenly jumped between them.

"Big brother! Harriet takes very good care of Sirius!" and she shifted nervously at the glower sent her way. She didn't back down though, stubborn as hell and Harriet sent a wolfish grin towards the scowling teen.

"Right…Sorry for the intrusion Harriet was it? We um, ran into trouble and Isabel beelined it straight here, saying your place was safe." Farlan, the blond that Harriet hadn't really took in, stated.

Harriet's mouth went dry, her fingers twitching for a wand that wasn't there.

"You…" she licked her lips. "You didn't lead them here, did you?"

Isabel suddenly went silent, looking worriedly at the window they had come through. Harriet's wards could only do so much, being young and all. If someone were to actually focus intently on her window, or were they to see three figures disappear through a 'wall', they would see right through it.

"We made sure that they lost sight of us before coming through…the window?" Farlan's brows furrowed.

"Ah…" Harriet hummed watched the three people before her. She ignored the lurking shadow that hunkered down in the corner of her room, the chilling feel of death so close sending a freezing breeze whispering across the floor.

Isabel instantly shifted away from that corner, knowing it was Harriet's invisible friend.

"Right…um…Tea, anyone?" Harriet finally managed to get out.

It had been extremely expensive for her to get it, but she had always loved her tea.

It felt awkward to be offering people drinks in her home after being on her own for so long.

Death shifted again, breath leaving him and causing Harriet to glance towards him out of the corner of her eye. He was always watching Isabel and Harriet stamped down on that heart wrenching feeling as she jerked her gaze away from him. Her eyes settled on the girl she had befriended months ago and she wondered how much longer it would be with death constantly watching her.

She missed the cautious looks being sent her way from both boys sitting at her table.