Sorry it's been so long again, hopefully you haven't given up on me! Here's chapter 14- and I'm afraid to say that you won't find out Lana's secret just yet... you'll just have to be patient!

The end of my fourth year at Hogwarts flew towards me as if carried by an invisible broomstick and I soon found myself saying goodbye to the friends I hadn't been separated from for an entire year. An emotional time, the end of the school year brought about two feelings in me: one- a distinct, melancholy sadness that I knew would stay within me until the start of autumn, and the second- a dread of returning home to normality and no magic. Although I knew I would only be at home for little more than a month, I felt the weight of the time pushing down on me like a boulder that could not be removed...

"Our last year as OWL students," Emily observed as we sat, the four of us, in one of the private carriages on the train.

"Will you all return to do your NEWTs?" I asked, "Or will you leave school?"

Rosa and Emily replied almost immediately, saying that they would definitely be staying to further their studies- if their grades allowed it.

Raven, however, did not answer straight away, instead pausing for a moment to consider her options.

"I'm not sure," she sighed, "I was offered a place in a small Quidditch team over the summer, and I think I might accept. I know it's not practical or sensible, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't pursue my dream."

I nodded. Raven had been accepted onto the Slytherin team in her second year as a Chaser, and was selected to be the captain after her third. If anyone could make a career out of Quidditch, it was her.

I eyed my three friends carefully. All of them had a plan in life- even if it was just a rough idea of what to do next. I had nothing. All I wanted was to stay at Hogwarts, it was the only place I knew to associate with magic, and even though I knew it would be with me forever, I felt that if I ever left this school, the magic in me would disappear.

"Well I'd better go," I said, excited but reluctant, "I need to meet with the other prefects, see you at school."

I waved goodbye and quickly made my way down the corridor of the train to the prefects carriage, praying I would not be the last to arrive...

I was. I slid the door nervously and slipped inside, noting the seven other students who were to be my fellow prefects. Two from each house and no-one unexpected- the usual suck-ups and swats with outstanding grades and/or athletic talent. Then my eyes found the boy from Slytherin who would be my partner for three years.

He didn't look at me, or even acknowledge that I had just entered, and I remembered with a sharp, icy stab that to the outside world we didn't know each other; we were only classmates and fellow-Slytherins. The only time we were ever seen together was at Slughorn's party. Apart from that single event, we could not be connected.

"Ah, Miss Tyller! How good of you to join us. I was beginning to wonder if you would turn up." Amanda Brigget, the head girl, called sarcastically to me from her seat at the head of the carriage, "Do take a seat and try to catch up, won't you?"

I blushed deep crimson and sat in the nearest space, next to a wide-eyed Hufflepuff with plaits that fell to her waist. Tom glared at Amanda, before glancing quickly at me and pursing his lips. It was the smallest of gestures; the tiniest hint that he was displeased with the transaction, and it was gone in a split second. He returned his attention to the speaker, and did not look at me again.

The meeting was over before long, and we departed to patrol the corridors and keep the peace on the train. Tom was the first to stand and leave, his bag already on his shoulder before the head boy and girl had even dismissed us. I flinched away form him, hurt, as he pushed roughly past me on his way to the door, and watched with confusion as he stormed down the long body of the Hogwarts Express.

"Evening Tyller,"

I whirled around to see Riddle leaning easily against the doorframe to my dorm as if nothing had happened between us earlier.

"Good summer I trust?"

I nodded slowly and blushed, "You know you aren't supposed to be in here; get out before someone sees you!"

"Are you trying to get rid of me Lana?" He joked, faking puppy eyes and a pout.

I laughed without thinking- he looked ridiculous.

"No..." I replied awkwardly, still unsure how to react in this situation.

Tom chuckled, oddly unembarrassed by the tension in the room, if he could even sense it.

It was odd, I thought to myself, that he could laugh and joke so easily around me now, when he never so much as smiled at me when we first met. Does he trust me now? I wondered. Surely not- there must still be pockets in his brain hiding secrets too dark even for me to hear. I had my own private thoughts after all, it would only be natural for him to be hiding truths as well.

"Care to join me on the rooftop tonight prefect?"

"Indeed," I replied, mimicking his overly formal tone.

He reached out casually and ruffled my hair, letting the last few strands trail behind in his fingers as he pulled away. I watched the dull, brown locks fall down, piece by piece, until only a few fragments were left. Tom's fingers closed around these remaining strands, holding them tight in his grip. Then he tugged on them, plucking them harshly from my head before letting them drop emotionlessly to the floor, staring curiously into my eyes the entire time.

I winced as the hairs twanged from my scalp, and frowned as I followed their path to the wooden floorboards. What had that been about? I thought, returning my gaze to Tom.

He smirked knowingly, as if he knew something I didn't, or as if I was an experiment of some kind that he loved to observe and test at random points in the day.

For a moment we held each other's stare, not awkwardly but not comfortably, then he tilted his head on one side and turned to go, muttering, "See you tonight," over his shoulder.