Dahlia didn't know how long it had been since she had been at the grave, but the sky had darkened more and the stars were clearer than before. She felt a slight chill in the air and she was sure she would be cold if it wasn't for the thick princess dress she was wearing. She was enjoying the silence as it gave her time to think but she obviously wasn't allowed that pleasure for long. A twig snapped behind her and she heard the sounds of footsteps on the grass, so she shot up and her hand went to her waist where her dagger and wand were just in case.

"Is it my turn now?" Dahlia sighed as it was just her sister and moved her hand to the grass to lean on while she looked back to the headstone. She heard a hum as Hela got closer, "'the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'. Lily would find that funny, probably joke with Falcon about it. Papa has gone back to Niflheim with yours and Lily's belongings, he's putting them somewhere safe until we get back then we can look through them all. I took the boys back to the camp. So, is it my turn?"

"Turn for what?"

"To be yelled at. Told I'm a monster, that I abandoned you, that I hate you for your existence. The boys explained what happened when they went after you. We thought we might give you time to calm down, being here clearly brings out your anger towards us. Trying to get the Knight Bus though, sister, you know that's unwise. Anyone could have seen you and taken you".

Dahlia shrugged, "it's my life".

"A life that you continually put in danger. What's this talk about you not taking the apple of Idunn?"

Dahlia shrugged again, "it's my life".

"STOP SYAING THAT!" Hela shouted and kneeled quickly to rip Dahlia's arm off the floor she was leaning on, so she was forced to look at her. Hela said, "this isn't about what outfit you're wearing for a ball, this is about your life, so look at me when I'm talking to you, this is important".

"Would you kill me?" Dahlia asked with no emotion as she looked into her sister's eyes.

"What?" Hela gasped.

Dahlia ripped her arm out of her sister's grip and stood facing her as she asked again, "would you kill me?"

"Never," Hela answered with a shake of her head.

"What if this war becomes a choice of Voldemort living if I don't die? What if we can't get rid of the Horcrux? What if he takes over and there's no way to get me back? What if the child of two worlds you claim to love goes mad with power?"

"You won't," Hela said as she reached to touch her sister's arm, "you have good in you, good that outweighs any bad inside. I would never let anyone harm you".

A moment of silence passed between the sisters before Dahlia asked, "and if I asked you to kill me, would you?"

Dahlia didn't expect Hela to pull her close, to cup her jaw with both hands but with some force as she sneered, "never ask me that, never ask anyone to kill you or else I will show you and them why I am feared across the universe. I will show you what it means to be the goddess of death, do you understand?"

Dahlia remembered seeing her sister torturing the Asgardian that snuck into Niflheim at her birthday ball, she remembered his screams, his skin turning pale and wrinkled. She remembered running back to her room, her sister following her and her holding her close on the bed, as if she feared her baby sister would leave her. Dahlia wasn't scared of her sister then, but now, Hela was staring at her as if she was a monster who had threatened the life of her precious sister, not said sister.

The half-Midgardian witch shrunk back slightly as her sister still had hold of her and Hela seemed to realise just how much she scared her and let go. She then said, "Dahlia, I'm sorry".

"Can you take me back?" Dahlia asked as she took a step away from her, "I want to go back to Hogwarts now".

"Dahlia-"

"Just take me back, please".

Hela nodded with regret, "okay". With a slight raise of her hand a portal opened but the hand remained raised towards Dahlia as they both knew she had to hold onto her sister to travel through. Dahlia took her hand and almost pulled Hela through the portal which only pained Hela more that her sister wanted to get away from her so quickly.

When they left the portal, Dahlia immediately let go of her sister's hand and noticed she was in the royal tent and quickly left. She walked out and saw her brothers beside the fire looking quite glum and as they looked to her, she walked away, finding Tonks, and told her, "I'm going back to the castle," and she didn't even wait for a reply and just left.

Dahlia heard Tonks following her and she knew when she walked past the boarder of the camp that Akio would begin following her too. They made their way to the castle and Dahlia wished it was curfew so there weren't any students in the corridors, however, it wasn't quite there yet so there were students still walking around, some just going to their dorms as curfew wasn't too far away. She made her way to McGonagall's office and entered without knocking, seeing the witch at her desk marking work.

She quickly walked to the painting as McGonagall said, "Miss Lokidottir". The professor looked surprised by how quickly the young princess ran inside the living quarters and the professor looked to her office door, it still being open as Dahlia didn't close it and she asked, "what happened?"

Akio refused to answer as he didn't know, and he wouldn't say if he did while Tonks shrugged, "don't know. She was with her sister then wanted to leave pretty quickly, she didn't say a word on the way here". Professor McGonagall nodded and sighed, and Tonks closed the office door as the professor made her way through to her quarters.

"Miss Lokidottir...Dahlia, open the door please," Professor McGonagall said as she knocked on Dahlia's bedroom door, but no answer came from inside.

On the inside, Dahlia lay on her bed, a few tears streaming down her cheeks not out of fear of her sister but at how she treated her family. She told them she loved them and that they weren't the monsters many in the universe believe them to be and she used that as a way of hurting them. She wanted to push them away, she just hated that she had to feed on their insecurities to do that.

"Dahlia, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it, I promise I'd never hurt you, you know that...sister, please".

Dahlia heard her sister's voice in her head and she reached for her necklace and immediately took it off. The voice disappeared instantly but the locket opened, and she got a glance of her family before she threw the locket behind her, it landed on the floor still open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the camp, Fenrir and Jörmungandr entered the tent to see Hela sat on the couch, her head in her hands and her shoulder shaking as the tears fell. The boys glanced to one another before looking back to their sister and Jörmungandr said, "Dahlia has gone back to the castle, Akio is surely with her".

"What happened?" Fenrir asked as they walked closer.

Jörmungandr sat on the table in front of her while Fenrir kneeled by her side. She took a moment to gather her breathing and stop crying and she looked at them, eyes red as she said, "I said I would never scare her, when she was born I said I would protect her, I wouldn't be someone to fear..."

"What happened?" Fenrir asked again.

"She was talking about dying, asking would I kill her. I told her no, but she began to talk about Voldemort and if it came to stopping him, would I kill her. She talked about being a child of two worlds and would I kill her if she goes mad like the others".

"She wouldn't," Jörmungandr said, "we wouldn't let her".

Hela let out a small sob, "that's what I said, that there's good in her and we wouldn't let others harm her. Then she asked me would I kill her if she asked me to..." Hela put her head back in her hands.

The brothers looked at one another confused as Fenrir asked, "why would she want that?"

Jörmungandr shrugged then looked back to his sister and asked, "and what did you say, Hela?"

She took a deep breath before she looked back and said, "I got angry, I gripped her jaw and said if she ever asked me or anyone to kill her, I would show them why I am feared, what it means to be me..." both boys sighed. "I didn't mean to scare her, but I did. I saw it in her eyes. I said sorry, but she wanted to come back here".

She looked down and Fenrir put a hand on her arm while Jörmungandr reached for her hand and the eldest said, "it'll be okay".

She shook her head rapidly, "no, it won't".

"It will, she will come around".

Hela kept on shaking, "no she won't. She has seen me use my powers, yet she never looked at me in fear until now. She will never trust me the same. Oh gods, how am I going to tell papa?" Both boys moved to her sides and held her, neither one knowing what to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After McGonagall heard the quiet sobs coming from Dahlia's room, she left the young witch alone. Working with young witches and wizards for decades, she knew that they were less likely to open up and would only give out anger when in the middle of being upset and that it was best to leave them alone and come back to ask what the cause was. So that is what the elderly witch did. When she returned, she couldn't hear the young princess crying any longer, so she knocked on the door and asked, "Dahlia, are you okay?" she didn't answer so the professor took a different approach, "Dahlia, I'm coming in".

The professor opened the door to see her still awake and laying on the bed. She couldn't see her face as her back was to the door, but she saw how she quickly wiped at her face and McGonagall suspected she was wiping away any remaining tears or evidence of them. McGonagall walked towards the bed but stepped on something which made her stop. She looked down to find the locket that she knew was Dahlia's and noticed that the young witch never took it off since the reveal of who she was and probably hid it under her clothes beforehand. She reached down and picked it up to see the pictures and smiled sadly at her old student and how happy she looked with her family and felt such sorrow at how she died protecting the child now in tears.

McGonagall walked to the bed and sat down, Dahlia still having her back to her as the professor reached over and placed the open locket in front of Dahlia, so she could see the pictures. She said, "I believe you may have dropped that...what happened?"

"I'm staying here," was all Dahlia said.

Surprised McGonagall asked, "they're leaving without you? I find that very hard to believe".

"I told them to leave without me".

"Why?" the professor gasped in disbelief, "you love your family, you love your home". Dahlia didn't answer but a sob did break through her lips as she began to cry again, and McGonagall shushed her and put a hand on her arm and said, "tell me what happened, I can't help if you don't tell me".

"No one can help," Dahlia cried as she turned onto her back to look at her professor. McGonagall saw her eyes bright red, tears streaming down her cheeks and with every word spoken, her voice creaked like it had been damaged from all the crying. Dahlia continued to cry, "I have darkness inside of me".

McGonagall scoffed, "nonsense. Now sit up before you choke". Dahlia did as she said and sat her pillows up behind her for her to lean on before she sat up and brought her legs to her chest to hold again. McGonagall then said, "now, start from the beginning".

Dahlia took a slow breath to calm herself before she said, "everyone I love dies, leaves me, gets hurt or the people that are supposed to protect me hurt me. They should leave now before I become too much of a bother".

Wide eyed in shock the professor said, "Miss Lokitdottir, your family love you. If one thing has been made clear since them being here is their love for you".

Dahlia shook her head quickly, "their love for me will get them killed or hurt, I know it".

"How?"

"Because they won't kill me if they have to," Dahlia said the most surprising thing McGonagall had possibly ever heard.

Gaping, McGonagall began to open and close her mouth, the professor was hardly ever speechless and confused together so she shook her head and put a hand to her head as if she was getting a headache and said, "I'm sorry, kill you? Why would they do that?"

Dahlia hesitated in telling her but said, "there's a darkness inside of me, something that connects me to Voldemort, allows him to get into my head, he can try to possess me and while it's in there, he can't die. The only sure way of destroying the darkness is by killing me. I can block him from seeing anything important in my mind but it's still there". Dahlia hoped by not using the word Horcrux that the professor wouldn't put it all together. She knew the professor was smart but hoped that because a Horcrux was dark magic, not commonly known and was now only used twice in history, she wouldn't be aware of it.

It seemed she didn't as she frowned, "a darkness? That's why Dumbledore wants you dead".

Dahlia nodded, "it's the only way to make sure Voldemort dies once and for all. The darkness was formed the same night he killed mum, that's why he didn't die. You can't tell anyone. Dumbledore may be wrong in his tactics but if people found out, they might try to use the same methods to escape death".

McGonagall nodded seeing how frantic the young girl was and said, "I won't. However, You-Know-Who is one man. How will this harm your family that have the power of gods?"

Dahlia sniffled, "with Voldemort it won't, but they won't kill me if it comes to it. If it comes to this world or my life, they would rather see this world burn than sacrifice me".

"As any family would," McGonagall said.

"But my life is not worth everyone here".

McGonagall sighed and replied, "no one determines how valuable a life is, not even if that life is matched against thousands".

"But it's not just the darkness, it's me. A child of two worlds".

McGonagall gave a slight tilt of her head as she said, "you told me about this. How rare they are, how other realms don't like mixing, the risk of strengths and weakness and that people would come after you".

Dahlia nodded, "my magic is a little unpredictable, even at the best of times. Look at what I did in the classroom, I shattered the windows because of what Thor was saying about my sister and I had no control. My magic is growing every day that I practise and there could come a day that I lose control and hurt my family. Odin, King of Asgard, has given me an Apple of Idunn, meaning that I will begin to age like the rest of my family. I already have access to Aesir magic now but if I was to take the apple, who knows if I am to receive any more powers. I could go mad from the magic just like other children of two worlds".

McGonagall tried to calm her, "I'm sure your father will have everything under control".

Dahlia shook her head rapidly, "no he won't because there's no one else like me since they've been killed. I could go mad and crave more power. I could turn around and suddenly desire the power to transform for long periods like my brothers or have power over death like my sister. The reason they don't have a mother is because she tried to cut out their hearts as babies and devour them for their powers, I won't become like that. I could kill them if they tried to stop me because they've already made it clear they won't kill me".

McGonagall gasped at the story, but it only added to the mystery of when Dahlia told her that her siblings had suffered in ways worse than she could imagine.

Dahlia continued, "not only that, word will get around about what I am. I will be surprised if whispers haven't already begun to travel. Now that Odin and his family have signed a soul contract, that means that Asgard cannot come after me without its people going against the crown and Odin has to hand them over to us for punishment. Odin will not fight the other realms for us, so they may come after us because of what I am, fearing the power they don't understand. The power even I don't understand or fully control as it looks normal, but I know deep inside it isn't. They will come after me even though Asgard won't. My family will fight a war for me, they could die for me...just like mum. I won't have that happen, I would rather never see them again than let that happen. I've told them I won't take the apple and I will be staying here. Maybe if I do that, others won't go after my family and they'll leave me alone if they believe I'll die in the next century".

McGonagall tutted, "your family will not leave you, that is not the way families work".

Dahlia sighed, "but if I keep pushing them away, they'll learn to hate me, everyone else does it so easily, so should they".

McGonagall reached for her hand that was still wrapped around her legs and placed a hand on hers and said, "Dahlia Lokidottir, you listen to me. People do not hate you, they just fear what they do not understand. Quite frankly, I am still struggling to understand everything that has been revealed this year and not just about you, the nine realms itself is something that is still a mystery to me".

Dahlia gave a sad small smile then sighed, "I have to push them away. I told my dad I didn't need him, that he should just leave and that he should just be used to it. I told my brothers they should be glad I'm leaving, I could tell they were lying when I asked them when we met if they hated me. Course they hated me, but I know they grew to love me in the short time, I just wanted to hurt them. I called them monsters, prying on their insecurities because of that stupid prophecy. I knew my sister would be the hardest to affect so I kept talking about my death, about others killing me knowing it would get to her and I knew asking her if she would kill me, it would get to her...that has to drive them away, it has to," tears pooled in her eyes once again in regret.

McGonagall gave a small smile and said, "I have two younger brothers, Malcolm and Robert. When we were children, we called each other every name we could think of, fought till it drove our parents mad, used everything we knew about each other to upset the other. I dare say I disowned them numerous times while we were students in these very halls".

Dahlia smiled a bit more, "really?"

McGonagall nodded, "they had a tendency to cause trouble for me, I think they liked doing it especially because I was the oldest and the only girl," McGonagall then let off a small laugh thinking back to her younger brothers when they were children. She added, "however, in everything we ever said to one another, however many times we wished each other dead or playfully disowned them, we always came back to each other. When I had my first heartbreak, my brothers were my only source of comfort and helped with the boy's punishment and when my youngest brother Robert was being bullied, I took care of them before they even knew they were messing with the wrong witch".

"What did you do?" Dahlia asked curiously.

McGonagall hummed, "I think that's best kept between all parties involved".

"Come on!" Dahlia complained and dropped her legs, so they were straight on the bed.