crossoverfic | Harry Potter/X-men Movie Verse

Title: Dame Fortuna
Fandom(s): Harry Potter and X-men Movies
Warning: Set after the events of Deathly Hollows and before the events of X1
Character(s): Ginny Weasley and Irene Adler
Pairing(s): Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, (implied) Raven Darkholme and Irene Adler
Summary: On her way into London, Ginny meets a blind woman on the tube with incredible insights about the nature of choice and destiny.
Disclaimers: I don't own these characters, nor do I own the fandoms from which they come. Ginny belongs to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic Publishing, Irene belongs to Marvel Comics. This is for entertainment purposes only, and as such I don't make any money off of this story.

Ginny just stared mutely at the woman in front of her in the tube. The woman was wearing thick black glasses, just slightly unusual to see in London at this time of year. The woman was also gripping a white cane tightly. Ginny knew just enough about Muggle culture to know what that meant. The woman was blind. Yet, Ginny had her doubts. The woman had gotten into the tube with much more ease than Ginny had, and Ginny could see the crowds of people swarming around the doors of the train compartment. Then again, most of these people probably parted ways for the blind woman. However, Ginny couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being stared at from beneath the black glasses. There was just a feeling that she was being observed; yet this was neutral ground. Few dark wizards would be stupid enough to start a confrontation in a highly public place like this.

The train came to a stop and Ginny got up. She had turned to face the now opening door, not bothering to face the woman behind her. She walked off into the tube station, content to leave all thoughts of the blind woman behind. That was until a hand shot out and caught her wrist. Ginny’s blood ran cold; of course the hand had caught her wand arm. She had to spin around, anger swiftly rising in her until she saw the face of the blind woman. Now much closer she could see that the blind woman had short brown hair with streaks of white, a few wrinkles beginning to show on otherwise smooth skin, and a soft, apologetic smile on her lips.

“Excuse me, young miss, I was wondering if you might be able to help me,” the blind woman asked. Ginny relented slightly; her mother wouldn’t have forgiven her if she didn’t help.

“What can I do for you?” Ginny inquired politely.

“I’ve promised I’d meet a few…friends of mine near here. Issue is, even though they gave me an address, I don’t happen to know where that is,” the blind woman explained. Ginny knew by her accent that the woman wasn’t English, but her English didn’t contain a standard American accent either. If Ginny had to guess, the woman was born somewhere in Europe, but had spent a lot of time in America.

“Where did you say you’d meet them?”

The blind woman released Ginny’s wrist and Ginny felt oddly cold. She hadn’t noticed the subtle warmth until it was gone. The blind woman held her cane in one hand, with her other she dug in her coat pocket. Silence passed between the two women for a moment until the blind one of the pair withdrew a card with brail markers on the top and an address written in a smooth flowing hand on the bottom. Ginny looked over the card for a moment. It wasn’t far from where she herself was going.

“Alright then, give me your hand,” Ginny said. As soon as the blind woman’s hand was in her own, Ginny felt warmth course through her veins again. She only knew it because of a slight numb sensation that had been pestering her ever since the other woman had let go before was now gone.

“Thank you much Ms…?” The other woman asked.

“Weasley, Ginny Weasley. How did you know I was a girl?”

“Your scent. No man I know would use lavender and rose shampoo.”

“Oh, right enough. You are?”

“Irene Adler,” the blind woman stated. There was something in Irene’s voice that told Ginny that the time for talking was over, at least for the moment. Ginny just left Irene to her thoughts, Ginny herself was busy over thinking her plans with Harry at Indian restaurant later that evening.

As they came into the open air, Irene seemed to loosen her grip just slightly. Ginny paused for a moment, as Irene seemed to stand, as if she was in her own little world of a second. On her wrist, Ginny felt an intense heat and a strong pressure, even though Irene’s fingertips were brushing only slightly. Ginny was tempted to pull away; there was pain in this touch, although it was slight. However as quickly as the heat and the pressure had come, they left. Irene seemed to shiver just slightly.

“Are you alright?” Ginny asked.

“I’ll be fine. From time to time I suffer from…attacks,” Irene explained.

“Attacks?”

“I suffer from a very rare disease, it is what took my sight. Through treatment, I am able to keep the disease in check, but from time to time, things like that happen.”

Ginny just nodded. That explanation was logical enough for anyone who had seen what had happened, but not for one who had felt the intense heat and pressure. Ginny remembered the sensation the first time she had touched the wand, the power that had coursed through her. For a second, Ginny wondered if Irene had just felt something of that power. That was quite unlikely though, Ginny’s mind was far removed from all thoughts magical when the heat and pressure had come. Ginny felt that way until she tried to cross the street and Irene’s grip tightened, preventing her. Ginny turned towards the blind woman, and then felt the air of a speeding motorcyclist. She turned to see the cyclist speeding away and then she turned back to Irene.

“How did you…” Ginny began.

“I am blind, not deaf,” Irene stated simply, almost as if anticipating the question. Ginny just nodded and the two women crossed the street, all the while questions formed in Ginny’s mind.

“So if you’re meeting friends here, you’re here for pleasure?” Ginny asked in an innocent tone of voice.

“More of a business arrangement really. One of my friends is an entrepreneur after a fashion. He wants to know if I’m willing to make an investment,” Irene replied calmly.

“You couldn’t have taken care of it over the phone or something?”

“He thought it would be best if we discussed it in person.”

“He sounds like he has an awfully high opinion of himself.”

“He deserves to have one, he’s not your average man.”

“No pleasure then?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Looking forward to the visit?”

“Not really, I have a general outline of what he will say, but not the specifics. Also, there won’t be enough time to catch up with my former colleague. I think I already know my answer anyway.”

“Just came to hear the details?”

“Amongst other things. No matter how much one might try to plan, the future can always change. I’m rather good at planning, but even all my plans don’t always follow through. He most likely thinks that my ability to plan will guide him to his ‘glorious future’. I doubt the future he wants is possible. Perhaps I just came to hear how he envisions the future versus my perception of it. He may yet persuade me. However, I think that he fails to realize that there are indeed few things that are set in stone.” Irene’s tone was sad and just slightly distant. Ginny just reflected on what Irene said. Irene had a great deal of insight about the future, much more so than Trelawney, but then again, Ginny thought to herself, a cactus had more insight about the future.

Again the two women walked in silence for a time. Irene stopped suddenly again, but this time Ginny didn’t feel the heat or the pressure. She turned to face the other woman, and there was a small smile on Irene’s lips.

“Don’t worry yourself, we are near where I am supposed to meet them, right?” Irene asked. Ginny looked up, around for the name of the street and for a number. Irene was correct. If Ginny had to guess, they were all of a block away. How Irene had known that, Ginny wasn’t able to explain, at least, not easily.

“Thank you very much Ginny Weasley, it was a pleasure meeting you,” Irene expressed.

“I hope you enjoy your dinner this evening, and…prepare for a pleasant surprise,” Irene stated calmly as she walked away. She didn’t even use her cane.

For the rest of the day, Ginny was in a sort of a trance. She paid attention to little and there were questions constantly dancing on the back of her mind. How had Irene known about her dinner plans? Ginny hadn’t felt the magic of a legimens, even with the intense heat and pressure of Irene’s grasp that one time. All her errands were just hollow motions, and all of her interactions were almost terse. What had Irene meant by a ‘pleasant surprise?’ This stupor lasted until Ginny saw Harry, and even then it was only broken just barely. Her kiss with him was brief and she didn’t pay attention to Harry constantly rubbing his hands together.

The dinner itself was quite pleasant, and Ginny wondered if that’s what Irene had meant. Then Ginny questioned herself, why was she attributing an extremely rare power, one she didn’t even believe in, to a woman that she hardly knew? She sat through the meal, not really tasting the food and making only the minimum amount of small talk. What was it about Irene that was intriguing, so beguiling, so infuriating?

“Is something up Ginny?” Harry eventually asked.

"Sorry if I seem out of it Harry, but I met this woman today..." Ginny began.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't then..."

"Shouldn't what?"

"I was going to...you know..." a flush crept across the dark haired man’s face and all of Ginny’s focus suddenly shifted.

“Harry, are you proposing?” Ginny all but demanded.

“I was going to, yeah, but you met that woman…” there was a resigned look on Harry’s face as his voice trailed off.

“You stupid git,” Ginny voiced. With that she got up from her seat and walked over to Harry. She pushed his chair back and kissed him long and hard. There were a few murmurs in the restaurant from some of the other patrons around them, but the two lovers didn’t notice. Ginny pulled back, really smiling for the first time that night.

“Does that answer your question?” Ginny asked.

“Didn’t have a chance to ask it properly, did I?” Harry replied with a smirk in his voice.

“Well…”

Harry got out of his chair and down on one knee. The other patrons stopped murmuring for a moment. With a fluid gesture, Harry pulled out a black box from his coat pocket. He opened it slowly, showing Ginny a beautiful ring of white gold. The band held a sizable diamond, trailed by three diamonds of decreasingly smaller sizes on the right side. The metal itself was wider at the large diamond and as it round around narrowed until it came to the larger diamond again. It reminded her vaguely of a Basilisk, a reference to when they had first really gotten to know each other. It silently stated that he had loved her since then. She couldn’t help but smile largely as Harry voiced: “Ginny Weasley, will you marry me?”

“Yes Harry Potter, I will marry you,” she responded, sliding the ring onto her finger and pulling him up from his one-kneed stance. Again they kissed, and this time, there was a round of applause.

In a small flat a few miles away, Erik Lehnsherr looked at a book given to him by the blind-woman. The book had been written by someone with a fluid, graceful hand, someone who had spent years writing. He was fascinated by two lines written under a heading bearing today’s date:

The serpent shall bind the lions together,
And in so doing, shall end the isolation of he who lived.

“What does this line mean Irene?” Erik asked. Normally, when Irene wrote of those things that were going to come into being, she wrote directly, she avoided prophecies that could be vague and easily misinterpreted.

“What line Erik?” Irene asked, She hadn’t seen this coming. Erik read the line and Irene smiled gently at the line.

“Even I can’t see all ends Erik. I don’t rightly know,” Irene responded, knowing that the prophecy had already been fulfilled.