I'm dreadful at spelling so I wont use spell names, but you'll get the picture.

Hope you enjoy, it's been a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Firefly. If I owned Harry Potter or Firefly I would be a very rich person indeed.

A Dangerous Game

Chapter One

He sat in the centre of the room, his large oak desk stretching far to the sides. He still had on yesterday's robes and every so often would peek a look out the stain glass windows to behold the beauty of the beginning day. He had so much to do and it was at this moment that he wished there was a spell to double him, and then he would really get some work done. Maybe if he had the time, he would create such a spell but thought perhaps it was not such a good idea anyway.

The sudden clomp of footsteps echoed from below and he waited as the approaching person made their way to him, their feet picking up pace as they got closer. As the door burst open he was relieved to see that it was only Kingsley Shacklebolt, most likely here to tell him to get to bed. He forgot to do that sometimes and he his age, he had to confess, he couldn't really miss much sleep.

"Albus, I've come with some disturbing news." He huffed out, trying to catching his breath. Intrigued Albus leaned forward, waiting for him to continue.

"As you know I routinely do thorough security checks within the muggle government. I grew suspicious of the activities of a young Mr. Triskin who had been hired as part of their government's new strategic planning operations. When I finally managed to douse his drink with the truth potion he said several things which alarmed me."

Albus raised his hands so Kingsley could again catch his breath. "Let me guess, he likes men. I've told you again and again, you need to find a wife." All this he managed to say with a straight face and was glad to see the tiny smile appear momentarily before quickly shaking it off.

"Albus, several months ago the separate faction hidden within the muggle government kidnapped a wizard."

Albus let this unusual shocking piece of information sink in. Had he heard right?

"It appears there are more muggles then we realized who are aware of us but that is not all, they are trying use his energy!" Kingsley paced the room, trying to judge the older man's reaction. Albus was, as usual, stone faced.

"Do you mean to say, if I understand you correctly, that there are muggles who are trying to harness a wizards inner core magic?" Albus asked to which Kingsley nodded rigorously.

"No such a thing can be done." Albus stated matter of factly.

"Mr. Triskin admitted otherwise." Kingsley replied

"Do you also mean to say that they can indeed do such a thing?"

"There was little else he could tell me. He did not know the full situation but it would seem so."

Kingsley couldn't help but stare at the ground feeling as though he had failed the older wizard. He had let this slip through the cracks.

"I knew no indication of this, thank you Kingsley for bringing this to me; we must deal with this matter urgently." Albus praised, knowing how Kingsley felt.

"Do you wish me to summon the Order?"

"Yes. Have them meet at Sirius's; I must make an urgent errand." And with that he elegantly rose to his feet and followed Kingsley out the door.

***** THREE MONTHS PREVIOUS *****

River Tam had awoken from a restless sleep, her head tossing and turning as if to the beat of drums. Fire, she dreamt of an inferno, twisting and licking at her skin, digging into her mind and burning her.
Gasping she shot upright, mentally touching the hum of the ship, Serenity. It gave her peace where she could not otherwise find any. Knowing she would be unable to get back to sleep she pushed her feet over her bed, sneaking past her brothers room effortlessly. She moved down the ships corridors with ease and grace, her arms moving in a fluid motion as if treading water. It didn't matter to her where she went; just to walk around uninterrupted was a gift. But it never lasted, and interrupted she was.

The tingle of energy fizzed in her mouth and she turned her head sharply, knowing instantly the source. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. Energy, living but machine. Forced and flowing. But it was weak and getting weaker.

Not wanting it to leave she reached out her hand if only to touch it before it died away, instead it engulfed her and suddenly she was fighting for air. It was suffocating her! It tingled and buzzed up her arms, ripping through her shoulders and chest until she could no longer draw breath, until she was no longer there.

"What the hell happened?" Brendan yelled trying to be heard over the screeching of the alarm systems. "And can somebody turn that dam sound off!"

People zipped and zapped all over the place, running for instrument to instrument, not that they could tell you much. They were in undiscovered territory, either that or all documentation on witches and wizards had been destroyed.

Brendan huffed to himself. Just the thought that witches and wizards were real was enough for anyone to pull a face and shake their head.

One of the medical staff came hurrying over, a grim look plastered on his young features. "It's Mr. Magical, he's dead."

Brendan's head snapped around to the large glass double doors to the right of the white sterile room they were currently in. Mr. Magical was the name given to the wizard they had managed to captures more than 2 months back. It hadn't been easy. A specialized team had been set up to monitor activities that may hit someone from the public could be, ohhh, less than normal. When they'd found a target, Mr. Magical, he had been in the process of picking various herbs in his back garden and seeing their opportunity, had wasted no time. He had been drugged and a thorough search of is house hand gone underway. The only suspicious item they had found had been a perfectly carved stick in his pocket. This had confirmed what they suspected he was. They, of course, couldn't be sure that items in his house had been magically charmed to look like simple everyday normal objects so that had been a bust. Never the less, they had what they wanted, him.

When they'd first brought him to the underground testing facility, he was given a square room adjacent to where they were making their energy converter. If they could get it working, it was going to make ordinary people, or as they were called them, muggles, into witches and wizards. A vital plan, they had been told, if the wizards wanted to start a war or a power play, what could us ordinary people do to defend ourselves? And so this project had been awoken and here Brendan was, making sure everything was going to schedule.
"Sir, what should we do?"

Brendan had forgotten the medic was still there. "Put him in the morgue." He waved his hand, shooing the man away. "Wait, how did he die?"

"It was that machine. We don't know what it did, but it killed him." The medic sounded angry.
Brendan turned his gaze to the man, his look steely and cool. "This machine is why we are here, never forget that."

A sudden flicker of electricity flashed in the corner of his eyes. Brendan's head shot around to see a blue crescendo of light dancing in the centre of the room. It was beautiful and he had no doubt to its cause. The machine was working.

The energy continued to grow filling the space and the works looked on backing away a few inches at a time. Brendan watched transfixed as the space shuddered and the body of a young women dropped to the ground.

Her hair was long and black, framing her now extremely pale fragile face. She couldn't have been more then 18. She wore a blue flowing dress which went, oddly enough, with combat boots. She didn't stir from her spot.

"What are you all waiting for? Get to work." Brendan ordered, unable to take his eyes away. "And someone tell me why there is a girl in the middle of the room."