I have grown used to wearing the ring and necklace I was given for Christmas. For me it is a reminder of what it is like to be loved. Ginny seams more and more interested in everything I do and Harry has become less interested. There is something going on there. I keep my knives close to me at all times and although I don't know why I was given them I think it was something to do with honour.

Lucrius Next

Hogwarts Great hall, 10:00 AM 28th December

Lucrius walked out into the Great Hall, it was still fairly quiet and he put down his pieces and chessboard and sat down. He slid his hands inside his robe and removed a set of three knives. He laid them out on the table and looked at them he then realised something. The knives were not only in sets of three's they were also in sets of sixes. He lent over to the other side and pulled out the three in the corresponding container. His mind was gradually becoming used to the shapes of the different blades. But they all seamed to have the same basic design. They were all curved, some more than others, with a long sharp edge on one side and a flat edge with a square rod coming from the underside. This rod was placed at different points along the shaft of the blade. Lucrius could not quite see why this was important and without someone to help him he didn't think he would ever understand why. He continued to stare at the six blades and think.

A quiet fifth former, called Lucy Betts, entered the hall. As she walked in her new shoes clicked on the stone floor and echoed around the room. She looked around and seeing Lucrius staring at the table with a chessboard next to him she quickly blushed and took off her shoes. Lucy was the daughter of two muggle parents and so knew all about both sides of the world, she was in fact the most knowledgeable person in the whole school about muggle music bands and a whole lot of other muggle related issues. She was also fairly good at deciding which wizards to act normally around and which required a special act. She learnt this after her first year in which Draco had become repeatedly annoyed with her and taken it apon himself to show her what a real wizard looked like. She was known in the Hufflepuff common room as the one who keeps her self to her self.

She began to walk again this time without her shoes.

"I am not royalty!" The words echoed around the room and gave a god like sound to them, Lucrius continued, "Besides I heard you coming down the hall."

"Uh well…" Lucy stumbled.

"Seams like it's only us in here." Said Lucrius without turning his head at all, "Why don't you come and sit over here?" Lucy moved slowly and deliberately over to the table

"Don't worry I don't bite," Lucrius thought, "well often anyway." he then smiled to himself. Lucy sat down and slightly nervously wondered the best thing to say.

"Why are you so nervous around celebrities." Lucrius said simply although he knew the answer was not easy.

"Not celebrities," She replied back with a slight quiver in her voice, "any powerful wizard in my experience they seam to have short fuses."

"Hmm," said Lucrius, " I see you've met Malfoy then. He had a go at me a few weeks ago." Lucy let out a little laugh "After all," she thought "who would have a duel with the son of one of the greatest aurors of the time." It was after this just as she was starting to relax when she noticed the collection of knives on the table. Panicking a little she asked with a slight quiver in her voice "Whose are those?"

"There mine, I have a lot more of them." Lucrius replied truthfully, "There is some puzzle to how to use them and I can't crack it."

"Hmm, lets see them." Said Lucy, still slightly anxious. She moved round and sat next to Lucrius, she looked at them for a few minutes and then said "You have them in the wrong places. They should be more like this." She arranged them. Suddenly Lucrius who was a master of weaponry saw how to use them. He picked up the two thickest and most curved blades and placed them in the curved fingers of his grip and then took the thinner, longer and less curved blade and placed it so it pointed towards his elbow. He then extended his forefinger and his little finger and placed them on the thickest blades to give extra support.

"I wonder if this is how there meant to be used." Then he smiled and laughed. Lucy was about to say something when Lucrius got up jumped on the table and ran its full length, when he reached the end he jumped off did a front flip and struck out with his hand.

Lucy stood still. She had met many boys who tried to impress girls by doing stupid things, but somehow she did not believe that Lucrius was one of them. When he walked over and retrieved his other knives he said only,

"Thank you, see you around." As he walked past she felt herself blush and she checked to see if anyone was around to see her, there was not it was still to early for people to be congregating in the great hall. Well one person saw them; Harry was standing in the shadows of the balcony and had been watching Lucrius and his activities. He suspected that Lucrius was more than he seamed and the more Harry saw him with Ginny the more angry he got. This was something Harry could not explain; his only wish was to bring down Lucrius.

"Hey Harry, what are you doing here?" Harry span round on guard, and to his horror saw Lucrius standing in the doorway.

"Well never mind I wanted to show you these knives I got for Christmas. I think they might interest you." Harry calmed a little it seamed that Lucrius did not suspect anything, and so Harry sat with Lucrius and they examined the knives.

When they left the balcony Harry said goodbye and then walked off towards the library.

"Hope Hermionie doesn't see me." He said under his breath. And then turned into the library, in his mind Lucrius had given him a great clue to what he was and Harry was going to sue it to his full advantage. Suddenly Draco burst into the library and walked over to a table and Crabbe and Goyle moved around and place books and scrolls on his desk. Draco started to read them and for the first time since Harry could remember Draco was silent.

Gryffindor boys dormitory 3:45 AM 19th December

Again the window cracked open and as the first burst of cold air all the boys rolled over and groped for extra bedding, and some began to shiver. The figure moved silently over to the bed of Lucrius. And then he brought out a fang of a wolf and placing a piece of paper on one of the posts of the bed took his hand and hammered the fang through the paper holding it in place. As he turned and walked towards the window blood started to drip out of the bedpost. And all through out the castle a dark laugh was heard.

"I can see you Lucrius."