He glanced out the window sullenly, scanning the area for trouble. The lady downstairs had told him about the police's visit. He took the warning as a sign that it was time to move on. He had been doing this for a year now. Move to a town, clean up the streets, move to the next one when thing got to hot. Life was good this way; free from the Ministry, free from any responsibility. He could deal with his problems on his own time. There was nothing holding him back from giving the scum of the earth what they deserved.

"You will be…" That is what Johannes had told him. Even as he died, Johannes won. Now he himself was no more than another Johannes Outrider. An outlaw from both worlds, cursed and alone.

He stroked the stock of his rifle. The cold metal was painfully refreshing. Somewhere on the block, a woman screamed. Judging by the direction of the voice, it was a street robbery. He looked down at the magazine resting in his hand. Thirty-one bullets, thirty-one messengers of death and vengeance.

It was time to kill.

Hermione's words about Megan being trouble proved prophetic.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Megan were walking back to the Gryffindor common-room after the Dark Arts class, none in the mood to talk. Seeing Neville that shaken had unnerved Harry, and he saw just from glancing at Ron and Hermione that it had upset them too. Megan's face was harder to read. She kept her thoughts hidden behind an impassive mask.

"He should not have done that," Hermione finally said. "That was wrong, especially with Neville. Did you see-"

"We all saw it Hermione." Ron's face had an ashen hue to it. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. "That was pretty sick."

"Why do you think it bothered Neville so much? I mean, it was horrible, but he took it really hard." Harry looked up at Megan, hoping to get an answer.

"Neville's a gentle kid." Megan straightened the hem of her robe as she walked, avoiding their curious looks. "He knows more about those curses than you'd guess. Seeing suffering and pain like that frightens him; can't bring himself to face it. He's a little naïve that way."

"Naïve?" Hermione glared at Megan and shook her head. "You didn't seem bothered by it at all. Why is that?"

"Yeah, well, we learned that stuff back in the States." Before they could respond she quickened her pace. Harry had to break into a run to catch up with her.

"You already learned it?"

"Yeah. Three years ago."

"Three years? That was your first year, right?"

"Second," she corrected him with a grim smile. "We start earlier than you do. We were shown that and a whole lot more in the Auror Training Course. It was one of the first things we did. Judd… my dad thought that it would be best to show us what we were facing up front. I remember how he used it to weed out the kids who didn't really want to be there. In my class we had fifty kids going into that day. The next day there were only two dozen."

"Did he use the spells on you? Like Moody did?"

"Yes. We weren't graded or anything. He just did it to give us a taste of what we'd be fighting."

"And that many dropped out because they failed to fight the Imperius curse?"

"It wasn't the Imperius curse that made them drop out." Megan shuddered slightly and brushed her hair back to show a thin scar on the side of her neck. "I got this when I hit a table edge. I was spasming so hard I couldn't even feel it slice the muscle. You saw what it did to the spider. Be glad you don't know what that feels like."

Harry froze mid-step, horrified. "They used the Cruciatus curse on you?"

"On every single one of us."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yes and no. The instructors of the Auror Training Course are authorized to do anything as long as it does not threaten our lives. Sometimes they get a little carried away, but no ones ever died from it. Got hurt, yes, but never killed."

"Who…" Harry shut his mouth when he saw the pained expression she had. Thinking it better to let it go, he only nodded his head. "Must have been harsh."

"You have no idea." She swallowed hard, keeping her head down.

Harry placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She tensed as it touched her, but she did not brush it off. Hermione and Ron caught up as they rounded the corner to the grand staircase. They both seemed to have recovered completely. Ron's face had returned to its normal color. Hermione frowned when she saw Harry's hand, but she kept her mouth shut. Harry could already see a lecture coming his way once they got into the common room.

"Well, well, it looks like Potter's taken Longbottom's girl."

Harry bristled and turned to face the speaker. Draco was behind them, with Crabbe and Goyle at his side. Draco sneered at them and crossed his arms.

"You have really bad taste," he said to Megan. "Why hang out with those losers? Did they pay you or something?"

Megan cast Harry a curious look. "Who's the a-hole?" She whispered loudly enough for Draco to hear. Draco's face flushed in anger.

"He's just a Slytherin." Ron suppressed a laugh and started for the staircase. "Anybody up for a game of Exploding Snaps?"

Draco's eyes widened in shock as Megan gave him a rude hand gesture. Even Hermione smiled at that one. It was funny to see Draco put in his place. Especially by someone new.

"How's Longbottom?" Draco called out after them. "Still bawling his eyes out? Is that why you ditched him so fast?"

Megan froze on the stairs, jerking Harry to a halt. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to face Draco, who gave them a smug grin. Thinking he had won, he decided to press it further.

"Does he do that at his home too? You'd think a kid like him wouldn't be such a crybaby."

"Say one more word and you'll regret it," she hissed. Her lips were trembling with anger. Harry instinctively reached inside his cloak for his wand. The last thing he wanted was a fight on the second day back.

"What'll you do? We're not allowed to cast spells in the halls. You'd be expelled before it even hits me. Besides, You're outnumbered three to two."

Harry glanced back in surprise, checking the math. Ron and Hermione had continued down the stairs. Evidently they had missed the last exchange. They were outnumbered. Megan, however, did not even flinch at his words. She held her hands out wide, showing herself to be unarmed.

"You want a fight?" She spoke slowly. "I'll take you down without my wand."

Draco howled with laughter at this. Crabbe and Goyle, taking his cue, guffawed stupidly. They looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. That was all the break she needed.

She took three quick steps forward and punched Crabbe in the stomach. His laughter turned into a grunt of pain and he stumbled backwards, clutching his gut. She rounded on Goyle before Crabbe hit the ground. His laughter was still dieing on his lips when she raised her foot to waist level and slammed it down just above his knee. He collapsed like a sack of potatoes, groaning in agony and holding his knee.

Draco's face paled rapidly as she advanced on him next. His mouth opened and closed several times. Finally he drew his wand with a shaking hand and pointed it at her. He tried to say something threatening, but it died in his throat. She knocked his wand aside with a backhanded slap. Draco whimpered in fear as she grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall.

"You can insult me all you want, dirtbag. I'm used to it." She snarled. "But if I hear you say one word about Neville, I'll break you legs. Got it?"

Draco nodded quickly, his eyes avoiding hers. His gaze was fixed on Crabbe and Goyle, who were picking themselves slowly off the ground. Both looked dazed and in pain. Harry thought he saw tears forming in Draco's eyes.

"Do you understand?" she demanded. With each syllable she pounded his body against the wall. Now Draco really was crying. He nodded again and let out a wheeze that sounded kind of like a 'yes.'

"How did you do that?" Harry asked as they hurried down the staircase. He glanced nervously behind them as they went, expecting Snape or some other teacher to appear at any moment.

"They left themselves open, so I attacked." She shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"But you, I mean… Crabbe and Goyle! With one hit each."

"They're not that tough." She shrugged again. This time she looked a little embarrassed. "They might look tough and all, but they're mostly flab. You just have to know where to hit them."

"Did you learn that in the Auror Training Course?"

"Just call it the ATC, it's shorter. And no, I did not. We learn hand-to-hand in our third year. It's a core class."

"Looks like you took it to heart."

"I was one of the better ones, yeah. At the end of the year we had a competition that ranked us all. I was in the top five."

"Out of how many?"

"One hundred."

Harry whistled. They approached the Pink Lady's portrait and Harry gave the password.

"You're probably going to get in trouble for that, you know."

"I doubt it."

"Why?"

"Can you see that arrogant prick admitting that he and his pals got beaten by one girl."

Harry mulled over the thought. "Good point."

"Yeah. I have nothing to worry about."

"He'll spread rumors about you."

"Probably." She did not sound bothered by the prospect. "Anyway, I've got more immediate stuff to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Like your friend there looks pretty steamed."

Harry looked up and saw Hermione glaring at him from across the room. Her homework was already out and she was writing so furiously that Harry thought she would set the parchment on fire.

"Steamed?"

"Jealous. You two dating?"

"No." Harry blushed as she looked at him. "We're just friends."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

She nodded, but her face had a mischievous look on it. "Let's start on the homework."

"Yeah."

Ron beckoned them over to the table where he and Hermione were sitting.

"What took you so long? You guys were right behind us."

"We… um," Harry tried to think of a way to describe what had happened.

"The Malfoy prick needed to be taught some manners."

Ron's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really! What did you do? Weren't Crabbe and Goyle there?"

"She took down Crabbe and Goyle like that." Harry snapped his fingers to show his point. "Then she grabbed Draco and chewed him out."

Ron's mouth dropped open. He regarded Megan with a mixture of awe and admiration.

"And none of the teacher's have come running yet?" Hermione paid Megan little more than a glance, but instead buried her face in a book on Arithmancy. Harry was not too surprised, neither was Megan.

"Draco's too proud to go report it."

"You'd better hope you are right. Otherwise, you could get in serious trouble."

"Coming from the girl who last year cleaned his clock in one hit, I'd take that as a compliment."

Hermione gave Megan an icy stare. Megan returned the gaze with equal intensity. Neither of them backed down an inch. Ron and Harry exchanged nervous looks. Hermione seemed to be wanting a fight, and after seeing Megan in action, Harry was sure she would lose.

The tension broke when the common room door opened and Neville strode in. His face was still pale and he looked weak, but he did not look as bad as he had when they spoke with him outside of the classroom earlier. Megan turned away from Hermione with a sneer and rushed over to Neville, who greeted her warmly. She hugged him and whispered something in his ear that made him laugh. Harry looked from Megan to Hermione. Hermione's face was red with anger as she watched her.

"Slut!"

She whispered the words with such venom that Harry dropped his books in shock.

"What?"

"You heard me right." Hermione was anything but apologetic as she looked him in the eye.

"What's eating you?" Ron shook his head in exasperation. "For goodness sake, what's she done to make you so mad? She's only been here for a day."

"And yet she's already got all of the Gryffindor boys ogling her and she's gotten into a fight. What did Draco say to make her mad? Did he insult her makeup?"

"He started making fun of Neville. He was calling him a crybaby and other crap because of Moody's class." Harry frowned at Hermione, hoping to break her angry gaze. It hurt to see her looking at him like that, whether her anger was directed at him or not. It felt like she was blaming him for Megan.

Hermione's eyes softened a little and she looked away from Harry. "Oh, then I guess she's not a total… never mind."

She started picking up her books, mumbling something about going to the girl's dorm, but Harry grabbed her arm and held her in her seat.

"Hermione, calm down." She struggled a little against his arm, but she did not stand up. "What is your problem with her?"

"I…" This time she could not meet his eyes. She stared miserably at her Arithmancy book. For once she did not seem to have an answer ready . She chewed on her lip as she thought about the question. Her hesitation gave him a guess at what the problem was, but he dismissed the idea quickly.

"It's complicated," she finally said. She hung her head glumly and started flipping through the pages of her book.

"We've got time." He lowered his voice and took the seat next to her. Ron did the same, though he looked uncomfortable. "Can you tell us about it?"

"Not… not really."

"What, is it a girl thing?"

"Yeah."

"Is there anything at all that you can tell us?"

"Not right now."

"Alright," Harry squeezed her hand comfortingly. She squeezed back, although weakly. "You have to promise to cool down a bit though. If you can't tell us about it, don't make us suffer through it. It isn't fair to me and Ron."

"I'll try." She wiped her sleeve across her eyes. Harry could not tell if there were tears or not, but it seemed to have a soothing effect on her. She looked at them both and managed to crack a smile.

"Let's start on the homework."

Harry grinned halfheartedly and opened his Potions book. Snape's homework-load had not diminished since the last year. It was going to be a long night.