The mid-April weather was warm and sunny outside as Hermione sat in the library, a heavy, hardback book in her hands, propped up on the table. Anyone passing by might have thought she was just reading a book, but if anyone were looking closer, they would realise they were wrong. Hermione was in fact using the book as a cover up. Inside the book she was not reading the pages, but was holding the note about Darquesse on one side, and several muggle Irish newspaper clippings on the other. She was comparing the two, scouring over every sentence and pulling apart every word. The article she was at that moment surveying on the left, was of the destruction of a street called O'Connell street, which had been almost completely destroyed overnight, cars, shops, buildings and roads all mangled and ravaged. The muggle media had put it down to a large car accident, but Hermione thought otherwise. If it had been wizards, there would have been something about it in the Daily Prophet, but there wasn't, which left sorcerers, and Hermione was almost positive it was the work of Darquesse. Who else could it have been? Who else had the power or motive do destroy a whole street other than Darquesse?

Hermione closed the book, notes inside, and stood. She had to tell Harry and Ron about her findings. She had already checked out the book, before she had begun using it as a diversion, and left the library quickly. Hermione was certain that if they could find out everything they possibly could about Darquesse, then they could discover her taken name, change her back, and put a stop to the end of the world. It would be nice for her to stop the end of the world for a change. She had said it herself in first year 'books and cleverness' – that was all she was. How could she call herself a true Gryffindor? Harry was a true Gryffindor, after all that's why they were using him as their leader for Dumbledore's Army, and Ron had faced his worst fear (Aaragog the spider and his children) to put a stop to the chamber of secrets and save Ginny, while she had been petrified in the hospital wing, unable to do anything. They were true Gryffindors. Hermione couldn't, wouldn't, feel the same way until she had proven herself. If she could help save the world, then maybe she wouldn't be just books and cleverness, maybe she would be able to prove the hat wrong for wanting to put her in Ravenclaw. Maybe.

Hermione walked through the corridors towards the Transfiguration room. She had spent all of that lunch time researching, but it would soon be time for fourth lesson. If she caught Harry and Ron early, before everyone started lining up outside McGonagall's room, then maybe she could talk to them.

She didn't get that far. On the next turn around the corridor, she spotted them, talking with Fred, George and Valkyrie. Hermione bristled slightly. She had thought she was beginning to get used to Valkyrie's sarcastic and slightly violent ways, because she wasn't as perfect as she seemed – she still had problems, with magic and with her home life, and that made her seem like a better person. But then she had arrested and beaten up Umbridge, which under any other circumstances would have been perfectly acceptable, but Valkyrie had just snapped, with no real motive save for a silly prank. And that, was not called for.

As Hermione walked up to them, Fred and George left, chuckling and laughing at a joke Hermione must have missed. She tried to smile slightly, as if she had been included.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said in welcome.

"Hi. Can I talk to you two," she glanced to Valkyrie "in private?" Harry frowned and looked to Valkyrie.

"Um, we were just-"

"It's ok, Harry. I'll see you all in Combat Class this after-"

"Well well well." A voice stopped Valkyrie mid-sentence. She seemed to freeze, eyes widening slightly before whipping her head around to the source of the thick, American accent. The trio turned along with her as the voice spoke again.

"Hello there lil' darlin'. How've you been?" Harry's eyes rested on the man, leant casually on the wall at the end of the corridor, less than 4 meters away. She was flicking an old fashioned cut-throat razor in one hand, the other hand tucked away by the other elbow. His darkly shaded sunglasses showed nothing of his eyes beneath, but Harry could tell from the cocky smirk plastered on his face, and the way Valkyrie was trembling slightly, that this man was bad news. That was when he recognised him.

"You're that guy from the poster!" He exclaimed. The man's smiled widened.

"I'm on posters now? Oh boy, ain't I got a good deal on this job, eh. Murderin' and bein' famous, now that's what I call a life."

"Sanguine," Valkyrie's voice began shaky before turning anger filled "how did you get here?"

"How do I get anywhere darlin'? You look good, b'n workin' out much?"

"Yes as a matter of fact: training to kick your sorry butt."

"I'm shakin' in my boots over here." He said mockingly, still flicking the razor blade in one hand.

"Harry," Valkyrie whispered, barely moving her lips, leaning ever so slightly towards Harry so he could hear her, but Billy-ray couldn't. "Get of here. Get McGonagall. Tell her to get everyone back to their common rooms and tell Skulduggery that Sanguine's here, otherwise more people might get hurt. Don't argue. Go, now, run, and for the love of god don't look back." She ended her whisper with a quick, but very serious glance. Harry nodded sharply, face going pale and took one last look at Sanguine, leant casually on the wall, grinning madly, before he turned, grabbing Hermione and Ron by the arm, and ran.


"Where are we going!?"

"Who was that!?"

"We can't just leave her!" Ron protested, knowing full well who the man was. Wanted: Dead. Harry had almost forgotten Hermione hadn't been there when they saw the posters as the three of them ran towards the Transfiguration room. They were late for their lesson, and under normal circumstances this would have scared Harry out of his wits, but now that all seemed trivial.

"We have to get McGonagall. Sanguine is dangerous, and if a first year runs into him…" Harry left the sentence hanging, guilt gnawing away at his insides as he thought of Valkyrie fighting him by herself. They burst into the room as McGonagall was mid-sentence.

"Professor!" Harry yelled, as she looked over to them. At first glance she looked angry of their tardiness, but when she saw their expressions, her own became that of sheer worry.

"Professor, you need to get everyone back to their common rooms, now! There's a criminal on the grounds."

"Potter's finally cracked." Malfoy snickered.

"It's true. Billy-ray Sanguine, a mass murderer. Valkyrie's fighting him now, but she told us we have to get everyone back to their common rooms in case they run into him on the grounds." Ron said quickly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I can assure you-" The sound of gunshots interrupted McGonagall, as her face paled. She glanced to the trio and then strode to the window, and upon looking, her face went even paler, with a slightly horrified expression.

"Mr Potter, alert the other teachers that all students are to go to their common rooms immediately and all teachers are to go to the courtyard. Everyone, go to your common rooms, now. Do not take shortcuts, other routes and stay inside your common rooms. Go, now. Quickly." There was silence for a moment as another gunshot was heard before the room burst into life, people moving, limbs flailing, as Harry, Hermione and Ron ran from the room to the next room along, passing the message from lesson to lesson, teacher to teacher. Students filed into the corridors, each moving singularly in the direction of their common room, prefects directing them with sharp orders as gunshots resounded into the air continuously.

Harry ran for the combat room to find Skulduggery was already gone. He turned and faced Ron and Hermione.

"Harry, we can't let her deal with him on her own." Ron said stubbornly. Harry nodded.

"I know. Come on." Harry ran past them before Hermione could protest. They ran through the corridors before stopping mid track at the sight of three large men. The men were at least 6 ft tall each, all stockily built, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. They had their backs to the trio. That was, until three first years ran into the back of Harry in their panic. There was a large squeal as Harry turned to look at them quickly. They were small, with wide eyes. Ron nudged him.

"H-Harry?" He stammered. Harry turned his head back to see the three men facing them, all with sneers on their scarred faces. They were beyond ugly, with noses that appeared to have been broken several times, chapped lips and sagging eyes that still glinted with malice. A smile crept over one of their faces, but a cruel hard smile. The first years ran back the way they had come as Harry took a step backwards. They very height of the men seemed to make Harry all the more insignificant under their shadow. That was, until a gunshot sounded painfully close and one of the men recoiled, clutching his arm with a low scream. Before Harry could even blink, Valkyrie was there, in front of him, gun poised and firing. The sound echoed in his ears as each of the men staggered back and disappeared around the corridor. Valkyrie stopped firing, but didn't lower the gun.

"I thought I told you to get to the common room." Valkyrie said harshly.

"We couldn't just leave you." Harry said quickly.

"Well I'm telling you to. These people are dangerous and they won't hesitate to kill you. You need to go before you get hurt."

"I thought it was just Sanguine." Hermione protested.

"He brought friends." Valkyrie snarled "At least 15 others."

"Actually 16." A feminine voice corrected her. Valkyrie turned, face even paler, near ghost-white.

"Tanith." She whispered. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her old friend stood next to a bench, running her fingers along the wood.

"Long time no see Val." Tanith smiled, black veins seeping into her lips and across her cheeks. Valkyrie's hand begun to shake as she aimed the gun, pushing the trio behind her.

"Tanith, come quietly. I don't want to hurt you. We can get the remnant out, and you can come home." Tanith grinned, veins pulsing.

"I am the remnant, now Val. I don't want to be parted with it. And you won't hurt me. We're sisters, remember Val? You wouldn't hurt a sister, would you?" Valkyrie's bottom lip trembled as she tried to steady her arm. Her finger was poised on the trigger. She didn't get the chance to fire. There was a short scream from behind her. She instinctively turned her head to see Sanguine stood in front of the wall, holding Hermione in front of him, his razor pressed to her throat. Valkyrie didn't get the chance to fire at him either as Ron and Harry simultaneously fired a curse at Sanguine's head. The wall smashed as Sanguine was propelled through it, not tunnelling, but as if being thrown by an invisible hand. Hermione was released and fell to her knees. Ron and Harry quickly picked her up as she trembled. Valkyrie turned back to the bench, but Tanith was gone.

"Now you know why I told you to get to the common room. Go now, make sure no one else gets out. Leave these guys to me."

"Valkyrie-"

"Harry, this is what I do, this is my job. I've dealt with them before, I know what to do. I don't need your help. Go. Now." She didn't give them the option to continue the conversation, but instead began running towards the Black Lake across the fields. Harry turned back to Hermione.

"Hermione, are you ok?" he asked as she stood.

"Yes, I'm fine." She muttered shakily, trying to keep her voice steady. Ron looked to Harry, who met his gaze. There was a silent agreement. Valkyrie was a friend. They wouldn't leave a friend behind. They began to run through the corridors again, towards the easiest route to the Black Lake – not the one Valkyrie had taken across the fields.

Running around a corner, they almost collided with Fred and George, their simultaneous smiles now non-existent. Before the twins could ask, Harry answered.

"We're helping Valkyrie. Don't try and stop us." Fred and George, if surprised, didn't show it.

"Really? That's just what we were going to do."

"Come on, she's heading for the Black Lake." Harry said, restarting his run. The five of them raced down the steps across the grass. Harry thought he could see Skulduggery fighting Sanguine and Tanith at the same time, but he couldn't be sure. They fired curses at any stranger they saw, mostly large, burly men with disfigured faces. A few tried to fight back, but not very successfully. The five Hogwarts residents were too far away for combat, their curses from the DA finally proving useful.

The moment the edge of the BlackLake came into view, they knew Valkyrie was in trouble. She was facing three men, each similar in stature, and losing. When she punched one, she was struck down by another. Kicking one to fall into another, the third came up behind her with a blow to the head that sent her to the floor. The five students ran towards them as one man grabbed Valkyrie's arm as she thrashed, about to flip him when she was grabbed on the other arm by the second man. The third pulled a gun from its holster at his hip and stood about two meters away. From where the wind was rushing through Harry's ears, he could hear a gruff voice talking quickly.

"Take the jacket off – it's bullet proof." There was a struggle as Valkyrie kicked out her legs and thrashed her arms as the men tore off her jacket, revealing a white t-shirt underneath. They threw it aside as she thrashed, one smacking her over the back of the head with the butt of another gun.

"Valkyrie!" Fred called out, running at his utmost speed as the man raised the gun with a steady arm and cruel smirk on his face. Harry prepared to curse, knowing there was no way it would reach them, when the gun fired. There was a sickening silence as the trio and twins halted in their tracks. Red began to blossom from Valkyrie's heart through the white shirt. The men let go of her arms and she collapsed on the ground. Harry stared, almost emotionless. There was nothing over the shock that mirrored on each of their five faces.

The men could be heard cheering.

"We killed Cain!" They cheered, laughing and bellowing. Harry felt anger seep from deep inside of him, encouraged by the nightmares of Voldemort's voice in his head. He began to stride without realising it, and the four followed him, each with clenched fists, and snarls on their faces. As if acting on instinct, he yelled.

"Hey!" The men turned their heads towards him. His arm flew up and the air rocketed away from him down the hillside, visibly rippling like an oversized invisible bullet. Two of the men dodged it, but the wave took the third man off his feet and flung him into the water of the Lake. Harry could feel a snarl as his palm grew warm as there was a slight exclamation from Ron beside him, but he didn't pay attention to that. He wanted to hurt them. He wanted to hurt them badly. That was when Hermione stopped them, flinging her arms out to block them from going forward before pointing to the heap that was Valkyrie's body.

"Wait." She whispered "Look." They halted and looked to her pointed finger as the two men still standing seemed to prepare themselves to fight while the third man dragged himself from the water, cursing and growling.

Valkyrie's left arm snapped upwards, hand pressing to the ground, fingers curling. Her other arm mirrored it. Valkyrie's torso was lifted from the ground, as if she were about to do a press up. Her head was lowered, dark hair falling over her face as her legs moved underneath her, pushing her upwards slowly. Her hands left the ground as she stood, and then her head was tilted upwards, so she was facing forwards. The men noticed as they stood – one dripping wet – and a look of utter shock crossed their faces.

She strode forwards as one of the men cursed and aimed his gun again. The sound of repeated gunfire echoed in Harry's ears as the sickening feeling returned, overlapping the anger. The bullets hit Valkyrie full on, her body visibly twisting with the impact, but she didn't stop striding. The man threw away his gun and began to run forwards as if to tackle her to the ground and physically rip her limb from limb. He didn't get the chance.

He managed to take four strides before his head exploded, sending blood and brain across the grass and into the lake. The headless body sank to its knees and collapsed to the ground,

"Er, guys?" Ron whimpered from beside Harry, whose tongue seemed to have grown large, thick and dry in his mouth as they stared in horror. She hadn't even touched him, nor made any gesture towards him in the moment before he died, and even now she was still striding. The second man was seemingly debating what to do whilst comprehending the last few seconds' events. Then he moved forwards and ducked low, lunging out with his arms to swing her legs out from under her. She stepped up, striking his bicep and flung herself over his shoulder, grabbing his head and twisting. There was a loud 'crack' as his neck snapped, and the moment her feet rejoined the ground, the head came away in her hands, flesh tearing from flesh. Again, the headless body fell, and as the torso impacted on the ground, the last man ran in the opposite direction. She curved her arm back and swung, the head flying from her grasp like a baseball from the pitcher and struck the joint at the back of the man's legs. He tumbled to the ground, scrabbling and clawing at the grass and mud. He managed to get to his knees as he turned. She was in front of him, still and quiet. He clasped his hand together.

"Please don't kill me, plea-" His plea was cut off halfway as she swung her leg, the tip of her boot connecting with the base of his jaw and continuing upwards. There was an even louder crack as the skull split and the brain rocketed into the air, disappearing amongst the clouds as a pinkish blob. Valkyrie turned back, standing tall and straight, and picked up her jacket from the blood-soaked ground.

Hermione jolted as her hands began to shake. She felt like vomiting, bile rising in her throat that was then pushed down by a mixture of shock and fear.

"V-Valkyrie?" Fred's voice was barley above a whisper, so how she heard them, Hermione couldn't be sure, but Valkyrie's head turned towards them, and she started across the hill. Hermione couldn't help but tremble. The very aura surrounding the dark haired teen coming towards them seemed to have completely changed from that of a joking slightly badass detective, to a cold blooded killer.

"V-Valkyrie?" George repeated Fred's words as Valkyrie was no further than 10 metres away. She stopped and looked at them, before a small, sarcastic and even slightly cruel smile slipped onto her face.

"That's your first guess gone. Try again. Two left." Hermione's brain reeked of confusion as she tried to scan through everything in her head, the voices around her almost becoming a blur of nonsense.

"Why does she want another name?"

"Isn't she Valkyrie anymore?"

"Um, um, what was the other name?"

"Sarah? Sally? Oh! Stephanie!" Her grin went wider, her eyes dark.

"Nope. Last chance." We all felt her presence…

Hermione's hands shook

Her hair was blacker than black…

Ron was glancing to Harry, eyes wide, face pale.

The cruel grin haunts me still…

Fred and George conversed quickly, looking to each other.

She could have killed us all…

Hermione's eyes widened.

She has no mercy, no fear, she is death, the Death Bringer, the World Breaker, she is…

"Darquesse."