A/N: Okay, it appears I have screwed up the timeline I've created. Hermione and Ron have finished school and are in their first year in the big wide world meaning Harry is eighteen FROM NOW ON! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT OTHERWISE THE TIMELINE WILL BE SCREWED!!

--

"Hello Ginny," Luna said in her dreamy voice as the redhead came up to her in one of the corridors of Hogwarts. "You haven't been to see me in a while – the humperdixes seem to have been avoiding you as well."

"Sorry, Luna," Ginny apologised. "I've…been busy lately."

For a moment Luna's eyes cleared up as she focused on her fully, before they became distant and grey again. "Sit down beside me, Ginny, and we'll talk."

As Ginny sat down, she sighed deeply. "It's my dad…he…he was wounded in an attack on the Ministry."

Luna turned to her in surprise. "Is he alright?"
Ginny's eyes went dark. "He'll live, but they're not sure of what state his mind is in."

"Ginny…" Luna leaned in and held her tightly, which surprised the redhead as her friend had never shown this kind of affection, but returned it as she needed the comfort.

Ginny sighed. "It could have been worse. He could have died… If it hadn't been for the Executioner…"

--

Flashback

Arthur Weasley gave off a scream of pain as two Death Eaters held him simultaneously in a Cruciatus curse.

"How do you like that, muggle-lover?" One of them spat. "Don't worry, we've got more planned for you…"
As Arthur was being tortured by the two Death Eaters, the Ministry around them was in total havoc. This was the biggest Death Eater attack yet – and Lord Voldemort himself was leading it.

"Stand aside, Death Eaters!" Voldemort hissed as he aimed his wand at a strongly warded door. "Attero!"

Many of his dark-robed servants scrambled to get away as the gold beam shattered whatever wards were in place around the door.

"Alohomora." As the door unlocked and Voldemort strode in, his red eyes widened as he leapt out of the way of a well-aimed rifle blast.

One of the Death Eaters cringed. "The Executioner!"
"It's a delightfully poetic name, isn't it?" The Executioner walked out powerfully, holding a short rifle in one hand, and a pistol in the other. "Just the perfect way to sum me up."
Voldemort growled as he pointed his wand at the dark warrior. "At last, we meet. I will kill you myself."

"Not exactly like anyone else wants to do it for you," the Executioner stated.

The Dark Lord whirled around to see his Death Eaters starting to slowly back away. "You cowards!" he roared as they jumped. "He's only a man!"

The Executioner walked up menacingly to the Dark Lord, raising his pistol to his left and shooting down a Death Eater about to kill a lady before sticking his masked face into Voldemort's own. "No," he said harshly. "I'm your worst nightmare!"

He deftly flicked his hand, making a knife appear and stabbing it into the stomach of the Dark Lord.

"That's just a taste," he said grimly as he kicked him down, knocking him out with the butt of his rifle. "Next time we meet, I'll kill you." He raised his rifle and pistol combination, pulling the triggers of both as he leapt out of the way of several killing curses.

Once he had cleared an opening, the Executioner looked around and growled viciously when he saw several people being tortured.

Walking forward, the warrior unconsciously drew a throwing knife and flicked it behind him, not even acknowledging it as it found its mark in the sneaky Death Eater.

He pulled out a slim remote, looked around to see if they were still in place around the Ministry and pressed it.

Immediately a massive, blinding flash and several loud ear-deafening explosions sounded.

As soon as it was over, smoke began pouring into the building, soon obscuring everything and making it impossible to see.

Except for the Executioner, of course.

His vision mode changed to thermal as he sorted out what he needed to do, then apparated away.

As reinforcements filed in, they found all the Death Eaters burning away in a massive pyre, while those of the Light still alive were strayed throughout the Ministry.

--

"He apparated to St. Mungos, with my dad." Ginny said. "The healers said that he was lucky to get there so quickly. If he hadn't…"

Luna didn't need her to continue as she kept holding her.

--

As Harry apparated back to his headquarters from a reconnaissance mission, he bypassed all his magical and muggle security and went in, taking off his coat and deactivating his suit as per custom.

Bellatrix was there, sitting at the table and leafing through an old book. "Potter," she acknowledged, somewhat stiffly.

Since Bellatrix had proven that she was essentially harmless, Harry had eventually let her loose in his headquarters. Even if she did escape, a charm that had been placed on his headquarters meant that there was no way she could tell anyone what his headquarters looked like, much less his location or who the Executioner really was. There was no point either way – the door was unlocked, Bellatrix could leave at anytime but she'd either be captured by the Ministry or tortured and killed by Death Eaters for giving out information.

Thus she stuck around. At first Harry was slightly annoyed that someone else was here, especially an Inner Circle Death Eater, but gradually got used to the idea.

"Found anything interesting in my library?" Harry asked as he grabbed a small pack from a cabinet, throwing it into the microwave and setting it for a minute.

Bellatrix glared at him as he did that. "I thought you'd be above such muggle things, Potter."

Harry raised the pistol he always carried. "Things like these, Bella?"

She scowled before raising the tattered black book again and continuing to read.

An awkward minute fell before Harry removed the pack from the microwave, peeling it off and taking a spoon.

The former Death Eater lowered her book and looked at the strange grey substance in shock. "What is that filth you're eating?" she snarled.

Harry shrugged. "Rations. You eat it every day you're out marching; you learn to appreciate how useful eating it is."

Another awkward silence passed before Bellatrix asked hesitantly, "Can I inspect your…pistol?"

Harry shrugged again, sliding it across the table.

She picked it up in surprise, turning it over and marveling at its condition before asking him incredulously, "Why did you just give me your weapon which I could easily use to kill you?"
Harry didn't even look up. "You asked, and it's not like you can use it."

As she attempted to pull the trigger, an invisible force prevented her from doing so. "What is this? Is it charmed to prevent me from firing?"

Harry looked at her like she was stupid. "No. The safety's on."

"Safety?"

"The switch on the left side."
As Bellatrix flicked it and tried to fire it at him again, she growled. "The bloody thing still doesn't work!"
"Oh yeah, and I charmed it so only I can use it," Harry added casually, smirking as she became even more furious.

As he finished his rations and threw them into the bin, he decided to make some casual conversation as Bellatrix gave his weapon back as she could obviously not use the weapon to harm him in any way. "Met Voldemort a while ago. Sent him packing with a little gift – Executioner style." He smirked. "Stabbed him with a knife."

She snorted. "The Dark Lord's undergone many rituals. Such petty wounds heal immediately."

"I thank you for slipping me that little piece of information; it shall surely come in useful. You should know by now my weapons are far from normal, of course?"

Bellatrix's eyes widened slightly. "You charmed your knife?"

"Plus adding a few other little things. That scar is gonna hurt like hell whenever any magic is used on it – plus it's going to take months before it even starts to heal properly. Oh Bella, I'm ashamed. You should know by now I always finish what I start."

"Is that so, Potter?" Bellatrix sneered. "So does that mean you will eventually kill me?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't waste my time."

Bellatrix went red. "Are you saying I'm not good enough to be killed by you, when all the other Death Eaters are?"

"I'm not, but you are," Harry stated pointedly. "The Ministry, Voldie and time are gonna get you eventually. Even if I give you back your wand, I doubt you'd have the magical strength to – that interrogation chair takes a lot of magical energy to use – so it'll take a while to be as strong as you were before I captured you."

She visibly deflated as he said that. "So I have no use to anyone."

"None at all," Harry said rather cheerfully as he poured a glass of gin. "None at all."

--

"We must stop this Executioner," Dumbledore declared firmly to the Order. "He must be stopped at once."

"I don't exactly see why he needs to be stopped," Kingsley said. "He's taking down Death Eater numbers greatly. It'll make it easier to execute You-Know-Who!"

Several Order members nodded in agreement.

"I do not agree quite with his methods," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "They still have a chance to come back to the Light…"

"They've made their choice!" Moody roared angrily as he stood up, stamping his wooden leg.

Several people were shocked – Moody rarely lost his cool.

"Alastor," Albus said in a warning tone.

"They made their choice when they took the Dark Mark! Let them pay for their own decisions!"

"You can't make everyone's decisions, Albus," Molly said sadly. "Don't forget about Harry Potter."

Several people winced slightly at that name – the 'traitor' as he had been labeled, was just as bad as Peter Pettigrew.

"We've been taking heavy losses," Remus said as he also stood up. "If we don't change our tactics now, we'll end up losing this war."

Snape also stood up. As far as he saw it, the quicker the war ended the higher his chances of survival would be. "The Dark Lord is, for lack of a better word – afraid. He fears the Executioner. For the Order of the Phoenix to start shooting to kill, this would severely cut down on the Death Eater forces. This is war, after all."

"No!" Albus said a little too quickly before sighing once more. "Let us not speak of this now…to other matters."

--

"Incarcerous," Hermione said as quietly as she could.

She smiled when thick ropes appeared around the wooden dummy she had conjured up to practise with.

With a flick of her wand, she canceled the spell. I swear I will find out who the Executioner really is. He won't be able to hold out forever.