Warning: Contains psychological disturbances such as self-injury, insanity and murder.

Harry had never seen the headmaster look more tired and old as he did now. He and Hermione were busy calming down the hysterical students but he took away some time to observe the mentioned professor as he conversed with Tom Egan. Ron Weasley, whose face was shadowed by a blended expression of worry and tension, broke his scrutiny away.

"Harry, have you seen Ginny? She's not in the hall, I could not seem to find her anywhere."

Harry frowned.

"Ginny? Have you tried the library? The last time I saw her, she was at the library with Dean. They were doing a project together...on Astronomy, I think."

Harry put an arm around his best friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry Ron. She's big enough to take care of herself."

Ron gave a soft sigh as he nodded.

"I guess so Harry. Can you believe it? Lisa Turpin and Morag Macdougal dead? Wasn't it just two days ago that you had a date with Mor-" Ron stopped when he saw Harry's expression. "Uh... sorry Harry. That was pretty insensitive of me."

Harry's _expression softened. It was a couple of moments later before he spoke.

"That's okay Ron." Harry whispered finally, his voice hoarse from the pain that was tightening his throat. Only certain students knew about the date between him and Morag at Hogsmeade. He liked Morag, she was a very gentle, soft spoken and beautiful girl, but the relationship between them was purely platonic. He could still picture her big brown eyes as it filled with tears, gazing softly at him as he told her he liked her only as a friend. There is someone else, he said as her heart broke. He was crushed to see her so sad and he tried very hard to be extra nice to her that day. I'm sorry Morag, I'm sorry things have to end up that way. He became determined to find her murderer and bring him to justice.

His reverie was broken by the announcement at the front of the hall. He looked up and saw Professor McGonagal wearing a stern expression.

"Students, today's classes shall continue as usual. Please behave yourselves and nobody is allowed to go anywhere on their own. All of you must be in groups of three to four students and make sure before you go, you announce your whereabouts to a teacher or a prefect. Please do not be scared. The security around Hogwarts will be tightened and all of you are safe here." She took a deep breath and continued. "I promise."

She sat down looking exhausted as Professor Sprout leaned over to talk with her. All the students began to pile out of the halls to their respective classes accompanied by prefects. Harry was leading a group of second years from his house when he caught sight of Blaise Zabini. Blaise's eyes were red as he glanced over Harry.

"Potter. Can I talk to you for awhile?" He glanced at the tearful faces of Harry's group. "Alone." He continued.

Harry motioned his group to wait for him outside while he conversed with Blaise.

"What can I do to help you, Zabini?"

"Potter, have you seen Draco lately? I haven't seen him anywhere since yesterday."

Harry was incredulous.

"Malfoy? No, I have not seen him for a while too. Um...why are you asking me for his whereabouts? I mean, how am I supposed to know? We are not... um... exactly friends..."

Blaise's nostrils flared.

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter. I was only asking because you are a prefect and so is he. Damn it! He wasn't even in bed yesterday. I was so worried, Potter and am still worrying now." Blaise gritted his teeth as he tried to keep himself in control.

Harry was beginning to worry himself. I wonder what had happened to him. All sorts of thoughts were beginning to form inside his head.

He looked up and saw Blaise staring at him in a most complex manner. He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry Zabini, but I am sure Malfoy is fine. Don't worry too much. I will make sure that he's okay." He managed to give Blaise a small smile. Blaise just nodded his head, acknowledging his reasoning. His mouth was pursued towards the group of students who were waiting for Harry to lead them to class. The students were looking none too happy with the delay and most of them had an anxious look on their faces. Harry gave a swift nod and walked away.

"Potter?"

Harry turned.

Blaise smiled at him. "Thank you."

Harry smiled back. "You're welcome." He walked away from the hall and began to lead his group out to their classroom.

***

Nobody is going to catch us.

Nobody is going to live.

We will make sure they suffer.

The way I am suffering now.

The pain.

The anger.

The rage.

All swirling like a river of blood in my head.

I love you my sinister Prince.

The way I loved him.

I love the way you coalesce with the dark.

I love your eyes, your mouth, and your intelligence.

You have a face of an angel.

They will never catch you for sure.

She gave a half mad laugh as she drew the razor down her arm.

***

A day after that chaotic day, Harry was walking down along the corridors to his Potions class alone. He was allowed to travel alone because he was a prefect and prefects were given the advantage to be independent. He took out his special prefect's parchment and looked at the contents. Ever since the day Professor McGonagal had made the rule for the students to report to the prefects for their whereabouts, his parchment was filled with lots of names of students from his house. Some girls were even bold enough to ask him to accompany them to their bedrooms; especially the ones with their own rooms. He politely declined, stating the fact that he did not want to take advantage of the situation and he saw those pretty faces fall with disappointment. Those tasks were given to Hermione, who seriously accompanied the girls to their respected dorms. He knew Ron would have jumped at the suggestions and for that reason alone, a part of him was glad that Ron did not make it as a prefect. Ron had one weakness and it was beautiful girls. It was his only Achilles' heel, the only one thing that could make him stutter and foam at the mouth. Well, beside Quidditch that is. But loving Quidditch and loving women are two different things. Even Professor Dumbledore noticed Ron's blatant obsession. He wisely advised Harry to look after his best friend, making him sure that he keep his infatuation at bay so that it would not be the thing that would destroy him later. He remembered seeing Dumbledore's eyes twinkling as he told him his own weakness. It was sweets and chocolates, he informed Harry with a wink. Harry laughed remembering. Not a big surprise then, he thought. The passwords to his office were always made up from the name of the candies found in Honeydukes.

He walked slowly down the dungeon as he thought about his own weakness. What could his weakness be? He frowned. He was already at the entrance to his class when he heard his name being shout out. He turned and saw his friends, Hermione and Ron catching up with him. He smiled at them and all of them went inside to begin their lesson.

Inside the class, most of the students were already in their seats whilst some were standing, having a chat at their friend's table. Harry glanced sideways at the Slytherin group and saw Blaise Zabini giving him a look. He smiled at him and raised his eyebrows. Blaise nodded and mouthed the word fine. Harry smiled appreciatively. So, Malfoy has not disappeared after all. He mouthed at Blaise, where is he? Blaise made a combing motion with his hands. Late, he mouthed back. Harry laughed. Ron and Hermione were watching the exchange with interest. As Harry quietly took his place beside Ron and Hermione, both of them gave him a weird look.

"Since when did you become friends with Zabini?" Ron asked him, frowning.

Harry grinned and told him about yesterday's incident. Ron wrinkled his nose in distaste while Hermione just gazed at him, a pensive look on her face.

"I bet I know where Malfoy went the two days he disappeared. He must have joined the Death Eaters and helped them kill..." Ron gulped. Bloody hell! I keep forgetting the fact that Hermione and me have promised to not mention the deaths in front of Harry. It would hurt him too much. He looked over at Hermione and saw her giving him the sharpest of her glares. If looks could kill, I would probably join Morag and Lisa by now! Okay, bad joke, bad joke! He scolded himself. He turned and looked at Harry. Harry gave him a small smile.

"That's okay Ron. You don't have to protect me you know. I am fine now. But I don't think you should quickly jump to conclusions. He could be occupied somewhere or maybe he was spending more time with his mother."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, I can imagine that. Such a family man, that Malfoy is." Harry opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by the sight of Draco Malfoy as he entered the class.

"Speak of the devil." Ron murmured.

He ignored Ron and went on observing the blond boy in front of him. He noticed most of the girls in his class had their eyes fixed at Malfoy; some of them were giggling and some of them blushing. Draco calmly walked to his desk, greeted warmly by his clique of Slytherins. Blaise Zabini immediately took Draco's arm and pulled him next to him. Harry frowned.

"Malfoy is certainly looking hotter every day, don't you think?" Lavender Brown mused wistfully behind them. "Look at his hair, so soft and elegant, look how it frames his face, accentuating his sharp cheekbones."

Ron was looking a bit sick as he heard this and his face turned a greenish colour. Harry's frown deepened.

Lavender continued, clearly encouraged by her group of giggling girls. "His eyes. That colour is so unique, silver grey highlighted by a tinge of light blue. Oh and how could you forget that body?" Her remark was greeted by a couple of loud giggles and catcalls. "So slim and lithe, must have been all those Quidditch trainings. I wonder if he could rip his shirt off for..." She didn't get to finish her sentence as Harry interrupted it.

"Will you girls be quiet? Some people are trying to concentrate here." He gestured to Hermione, who was busy studying her Potions textbook. She glared back at Lavender.

Ron joined. "Yeah, some of us have just taken our breakfast you know."

Lavender shook her head and pouted,

"Spoilsports." She grumbled loudly to them and turned to face Parvati, her partner in class. She continued her conversation but with a visible quietness.

Professor Snape strode into the classroom, his face painted with a serious _expression. He apologized for his tardiness and continued with the lesson. Throughout the class, he did not even call up on Harry or bully him like he used to do before. Except once when Harry found his eyes straying to where Draco Malfoy was sitting.

"Mister Potter."

Harry was startled. "Yes, sir?"

"Kindly I remind you that the lesson is taken place in front of the class and not where Mister Malfoy is sitting."

The whole class was laughing as Harry felt the blood rushing to his face. From the corner of his eyes he could see Draco turning to look at him, his mouth curled into a sneer. Hermione and Ron were patting at his back, covering his humiliation. Blaise Zabini gave Harry a wide smile.

But after that the flow of the class was smooth without Snape making his life miserable. Harry was glad. He had never felt so normal in his life.

When class ended, Harry stood up to gather his things and pack. He glanced over the Slytherins table to look for Zabini. He noticed that Zabini was still there packing his things but not Malfoy. Malfoy has gone.

***

She was still busy cutting herself when she noticed him appearing at her front door. She gave a sweet smile at her guest; the bright smile lighting up her beautiful face, concealing the madness that was lurking beneath it.

"Where were you? I was so worried." She said softly whilst her right hand wiped at the blood that were trailing down her left arm. The dark red colour soiled her white dress on her body. She felt his arm wrapped tightly around her upper body. She put the razor down on her bedside table and proudly showed him the cuts on her arms.

"I had some business to take care of. Lovely patterns, maybe you should try them on someone else's arms after this." He murmured beside her ears. She looked at him and beamed.

"You are so pretty." She whispered sadly whilst her eyes travelled all over his beautiful face.

She was too preoccupied with the boy that she was not aware of the girl who had stepped into her room. It was her loud gasp that made her turn.

"Y-you were not at breakfast...I was w-worried." The girl, identified as Rachel Holst, trembled. She was looking really scared.

"Ooh... I'm perfectly fine here. I have him now." She said softly before calmly reaching for her wand and pointing it at Rachel. "I'm sorry to see you go, Rachel. You were a good friend. But you have seen him now and I cannot bear to have him be taken away from me."

"Avada Kedavra."

Rachel gave a strangled scream before she fell down the floor with a loud thud.

"Goodbye Rachel. It must suck to be you now." She said grinning. She turned to him and hugged him hard, reassuring him. "She's a loner, she will never be missed. Nobody will notice her disappearance. I will take care of her body today, don't you worry. We will be safe, we will never get caught."

***

Hermione rushed into their common room, her face red and full of tears. Harry immediately felt terrified concern for his friend as he hugged her close. "Why 'Mione, why? Whatever happened?"

Hermione sobbed into his shoulder as she told her horrific discovery.

She was walking down the empty corridors beside the empty, disused classrooms in the third floor, relieved by her prefect duties, when she noticed Mrs. Norris mewing for her attention. She followed the feline into one of the abandoned classes and smelled something funny. She traced the smell and found it to lead her towards one of the empty cupboards. It was in the cupboard that she discovered the mutilated body of Rachel Holst, her mouth severed to a great extent. Hermione threw up outside the classroom and immediately reported the grotesque discovery to Professor McGonagal, who quickly rushed to the scene.

Ron's face turned a couple of shades paler. He could see Seamus and Neville holding onto each other, looking grief struck and Dean calming down a sobbing Ginny.

Harry rubbed Hermione's back, calming her. She straightened up and blinked a few times before wiping her tears and turned to face the Gryffindors.

"I think I need to go to the library."

Harry and the others stared at her in disbelief.

Ron was the first to speak.

"But…but you can't. After what you had seen…"

Hermione frowned at Ron. "I need to investigate the murders. I have to read up on some books. Anyway, the library could calm me down anytime." She turned to Harry and thanking him before she left.

"I think I'll go and accompany her."

Harry nodded. "You do that, Ron"

***

Avada Kedavra.

Small in number but very powerful in usage. Such a nice and lovely spell.

She moaned softly as she felt the words on the tip of her tongue. How many times has she used that spell to attack others? Five? Six? She had lost count. Never had she felt so powerful as she had when she used it to kill the students. Those filthy, muddle some plebeians. Gone were the vulnerable days, the days where everywhere she looked; she saw faces full of pity, full of sympathy, all directed towards her. Gone too were the days when she was happy, when she was one of the popular girls, when she dated him and when he died leaving her cold and half mad. She loved him and he was gone. She loved her parents; her little sister and they left her. How dare they! How dare they leave her lonely and scared! How dare they die!

Her breath came out ragged and heavy as she sobbed.

They gave her, her own room, they left her alone, stating that she needs some space but they never did care for her. They were all superficial, they were all pretentious bastards and they all should die. It should not be them but they.

She calmed down when she thought about her secret prince. She had been obsessed with him ever since the day she found out about the death of his father. She was always dreaming of him, at night, during the day, in classes and in bed. She was infatuated. He was one of the brightest, most handsome boys in her school. She knew he would understand her pain. She caught him crying once at the lake. He never knew she was there, watching him. She crouched near the rose bushes and spied on him for five hours. She did not care about the cold. She did not care about the ants biting at her heels, leaving mountains of red marks on her skin. She did not care about anything else but him. Never in her wildest dreams would she imagine that he felt the same way. That he would spend some time around her. That he would love her and think the same thoughts as she did. Both of them loved the dark arts. She secretly learned them the day she found out her family was killed by the Death Eaters. She did not want to be with the weak. She wanted power. Just like her prince. She knew they were perfect together. Her life was perfect now.

Ever since that dark, stormy night when Draco Malfoy stepped into her room...

Next Installment: Will be the second last chapter (epilogue is the last). The killer will be revealed and so will the motives behind those attacks. I'll try to post it ASAP.