The Puppet Master (By Invitation Only)

The day after Christmas Armen slipt silently from bed, ensuring the blankets held Sarah closely he tended the fire, walking into the kitchen he pulled a box from top cabinet and set it on the table.

Opening the box he took out a ring with the seal from the ancient house of black on it. It was purely a knock off but it served him well, using his wand he performed the experimental spells he had written on the ring.

The ring glowed a faint sickly green then died down, placing it carefully in a box he wrapped it up tight in bright christmas paper. Walking outside he gave it to a school owl and sent it to the dorm of Sirius Black.

He watched as the bird departed towards the castle and smirked darkly, time to see his new toy in action.

Marvolo left her dorm, a small bag hanging from her hip along with the gifts she had for her friends. Heading down to grounds she found a spot by the lake to wait for everyone, smiling she conjured a fire and couldn't help but laugh with excitement.

Luna wanders to the lake and see's a fire, also hearing the laughter of her friend. She runs over with her bag, hitting against her hip and she stops next to Marvolo. ''You seem very happy, today Marvolo! What ya doing here?'' She asks with a large smile. In her bag was presents for all of her friends and she couldn't wait to give Marvolo her's.

Morgan pulled her winter cloak tight around her neck as she walked to towards the owl tower. She carried with her a small bag of presents for her friends for the owls to get a workout delivering for her. She wanted to be sure they all got to their prospected houses and such before the Holiday actually arrived. As she walked through the snow, Morgan smiled. She loved the winter! She approached the lake and spotted Marvolo and Luna. "Marvolo! Luna!" she called brightly to her and jogged up to them. "Happy early Christmas," she said brightly, hugging them both.

"I'm waiting for sirius but I'm glad you two are here" she said handing them both boxes from her bag.

For Luna:




For Morgan:

Luna hugs Morgan back and grins. ''Hey Morgan. Merry Christmas!'' She says with happiness filling her voice. She turns to Marvolo and takes the box with a tilted head. She then goes through her bag, pulling out two boxes. Marvolo had two; a serpant necklace and a dragon necklace that had a hidden blade. For Morgan; a simple sapphire bracelet that once belonged to her great aunt. ''here you go...I hope you like 'em.'' She opens her gift from Marvolo and gasps at it. She placed the gauntlet on and the blade popped out. Her eyes widen even more at this and she moves her arm, causing the blade to go back in. She hugs Marvolo tightly and smiles at her when she pulled away. ''It's perfect! Thank you so much!'' She opens the second one and gasps louder, smiling at the beauty of it. A moon necklace that seemed so perfect. ''It's beautiful...I love it!'' She says with tears filling her electric eyes.

Morgan smiled as she took the gifts from Luna and Marvolo. Before opening them, she reached into her bag and handed a box to MARVOLO and one to LUNA. Then she opened her gifts and smiled brightly. "Oh my! Thank you! Thank you both, so much!" she said brightly and hugs them both again. She looked over the sapphire bracelet from Luna and the silver and purple bracelet from Marvolo. "I love them both! Thank you, again!" she said smiling brightly.

Marvolo opened her gifts and gasped, they were all so beautiful, placing the gems away carefully she put the dragon necklace on and hugged the girls "thank you" she said her words muffled by hugging them

Sirius woke up, still not feeling like waking up. Marvolo had given him quite the exercise the other day, and he was still exhausted. Although he still had a big grin on his face. He had fun. As always. But, something had to make sure he woke up. An owl entered his room, somehow, it seemed to know where it was. Surely, it was directed to him. No one else was there, so he was glad. The hell... Sirius thought, narrowing his eyes.

The owl landed in his bed, and let down a box wrapped in christmas paper. Someone had a present for Sirius. He got up, still only with his underwear on, and took hold of his wand. He sent a gust of wind towards his face, followed by water. His vision became clear, as he rubbed his eyes. He grabbed the present, looking around. Surely not from James. He opened it, trashing the paper. He opened the box, and lifted an eyebrow. "Oh good, a present with my family's seal on it. This should be rich." He joked.

He picked up the ring, and inspected it. It seemed normal enough, so Sirius slowly put it on his ring finger. His eyes flashed the same sickly green that had come from the ring when it was still with Salander. Sirius shook his head, and held his hand in his forehead. He tried to shrug off a strange new feeling, as the sickly green color dissipated in the air. Both from Sirius's eyes, and from the ring. The gryffindor cracked his back, and put on his clothes. Trousers, shoes, and a shirt, with a coat over it. Nothing else. He didn't care if it was cold or not.

He picked up a bag, and exited his dorm. While making his way to the grounds, he felt a bit sick. Not as if he was about to throw up, but close enough. His stomach seemed to be twisting around, as his heart beat fast. He ran a bit, and caught sight of Marvolo, Luna and...Morgan. His heart skipped a beat, before Sirius breathed heavily. The sight of Marvolo seemed to calm him down a notch, so he focused on her. From a small distance, he greeted the three, "Hey Luna, Morgan. Hey beautiful." He said, turning his attention back to Marvolo only.

Marvolo jumped to her feet holding the long package with excitement" Sirius!" she ran up to him throwing her arms around his neck she hugged him tightly and kissed him.

Letting him go she handed him the package shifting from one foot to the other excitedly.

Sirius let the bag slowly fall on the floor as Marvolo ran to him. He hugged her, pulling her close, and kissed her, surprised at her excitement. Sirius grabbed the package after Marvolo let go. Rectangular, so it wasn't something too small. He opened the package, taking out something interesting. He shred the paper with his hands, and let out an awe. He unsheathed the sword immediately, cutting the air. "Holy shit. Babe I love you." He said, contemplating his new sword.

Marvolo grinned happily "I Love you too" she said watching him play with the new sword "I thought you'd like it"

Armen watched the children gather from the safety of his front yard, he watched as they exchanged gifts, nodding in approval at the Gaunt girl's choice for the little hufflepuff.

He grinned sadistically as Sirius appeared, the twin to his cursed ring hung from a chain and he touched it gently; as he opened his own gift he paused. Black was holding a sword...

He laughed darkly and gripped the ring tightly sending a thought to influence Black's next move;

STAB HER

"I absolutely love it. You know me too well." He laughed, hiding a strange strain in his stomach. He was about to sheath his sword, when his head began hurting. His eyes flashed the same green color, as his ring did the same. STAB HER With a quick turn, Sirius thrust the sword at Marvolo. His eyes still flashed the green, as he looked down on his action. His face...emotionless for the moment.

Marvolo smiled happily "I'm so gl-"her words were cut off as she felt pain rip through her abdomen, doubling over her hands covered a wound where blood was pulsing from it, right below her belly button the sword tip portruded and she looked up at him her eyes full of shock and betrayal "..Why"

With sick enjoyment he laughed happily as the blade struck her "So it works" he said to Kurama, the wolf looked on and shook his large head as if to say "humans and there toys"

Sirius thrust the blade deeper inside Marvolo, before pulling it back. Her blood dripped from the sword, as Sirius turned away. "I...I..." He couldn't talk, as the blood poured down into the grass. What have I done? Sirius wasn't in control. He couldn't have been. Why would he do that? Was the love for Marvolo just an opportunity to strike her down? Was Sirius simply trying to kill her? But, why was he just finding out now. "It's not..." He couldn't say anything believable, so refrained from talking.

She screamed loudly as she felt herself being torn apart, falling to her knees she held her stomach, choking she coughed up blood she wished she could take her wand and defend herself but she had left it in her bag that was feet away "No more" she wheezed.

No more he could hear her plead with him and he shook his head grasping the ring he sent another command.

BEAT HER

Sirius threw the sword onto the ground, but turned back to Marvolo. His fists clenched, he approached her, and his eyes flashed again. He got on one knee, and lifted her head, pulling it up, using her chin. His fingers pressed against her chin hard, as then, his fist went against her face. Was Sirius insane? What the hell? Why was he doing such things. The hand he used had the ring, somehow, a way of hurting Marvolo even more.

She cried out as his fists fell on her she struggled to protect herself but the rapid blood loss made it impossible.

"Sirius!" she yelled "Sirius stop!"

Armen laughed and shook his head "they've had enough" he said to the wolf before putting the ring in his pocket he allowed the dark influence to reseed completely..the boy would be normal...for now.

"You can still yell Storm?" He asked, as his eyes slowly flashed less. Suddenly he snapped back, and fell backwards onto the floor. "What the..." What the heck was that? How did...the stabbing, the punch. Why? He looked at Marvolo, with his eyes widened. He breathed heavily, and a smirk formed. He hid it, and slapped himself. He got up, and took a step towards Marvolo. He wasn't sure if he should even do so, but he did it anyway.

Her eyes widened as he took a step towards her "Don't come near me.." she said struggling to stand.

Sirius ignored Marvolo's voice, as if he didn't hear it. He got next to her, and looked down. "That wasn't my fault." He was able to let out. He couldn't cry, and he couldn't smile. He was simply stupefied by the situation. "Let me help..." He said, trying to help Marvolo get to her feet. He didn't care if she pushed him away. He wanted to help. Now, he really did want to.