"Ravenclaw!"

September 1966, 3 months later

The Great Hall was humming with the excitable chatter of friends discussing their Summer break. Serenity and Lakita were paying no mind to the Slytherins pulling faces at them as they flicked through a photo album Julia had given them. It was square, leather-bound, and small enough to sit snuggly in the pockets of their yellow-lined robes. Each page was an image of Julia from her Hogwarts years.

As it turned out, their mother had been in Slytherin whereas their father had been in Hufflepuff- as per tradition. Every picture they had together pictured them as laughing, the image morphing as Julia pressed her face against Christian's shoulder while they both chuckled in front of the camera. There were group photos as well. A few pictured them at a Slug Club dance, one group photo had them on either side of Professor Slughorn as the corners of his eyes creased with genuine happiness.

The large oak doors opened with a bang to reveal the new gaggle of first years. They made their way up to where the sorting hat was sat on a stool, some wary, some confidence and others shaking with fear. Serenity remembered her sorting the year before and couldn't help but sympathise with them.

She paid little attention as McGonagall read out names and the sorting hat began announcing houses. 'Narcissa Black' followed by 'SLYTHERIN'. 'Ruby Buckby' followed by 'RAVENCLAW'. 'Oliver Baker' followed by 'RAVENCLAW'. 'Georgia Baker' followed by 'SLYTHERIN'. 'Phillip Devine' followed by 'GRYFFINDOR'. 'Alfie Nugent' followed by 'GRYFFINDOR'. 'Erin Rier' followed by 'HUFFLEPUFF'.

As the students around her erupted into applause, Serenity brought herself back to reality to see who had joined her house. Not too far away, Serenity recognised the long blonde hair of her cousin. The breath caught in her throat as she craned her neck to see her, she had completely forgotten that not only Erin, but Dexter and Merritt also, was joining Hogwarts this year.

"Dexter Rier." McGonagall announced. Serenity was nearly standing as she strained to see the skinny face of her dear cousin. As he sat down, a messy mop of near-black hair bounced happily while he himself grinned in anticipation. Of course, he'd always been so sure of himself. The grin did nothing but widen as the sorting hat quickly announced 'HUFFLEPUFF' as was expected of a Rier.

When McGonagall finally announced "Merritt Rier" the attention of the students dwindled. There were mutterings of Hufflepuff and how it was obvious that she would be yet another one. So when the sorting hat hesitated and yelled 'RAVENCLAW' the room fell silent.

Merritt's face fell.

Serenity gaped as her little sister gripped the edge of the stool with an iron grip, frozen in place. The terror was obvious. As she sat there in front of the entirety of Hogwarts, Merritt was shaking and all she could think was 'oh no'. If she wasn't Hufflepuff then she wasn't a true Rier.

Her Great Grandfather would shun her, shut her out and strip her of her powers as he tried with Serenity; her sister is stronger than her, she wouldn't stand a chance. What of her father? How would he react to having two daughters defect?

"Merritt," McGonagall was crouching beside her, a gentle hand on her bicep. The Professor knew very well how this sorting would affect Merritt and, yet, the sorting must continue. Nodding, Merritt stood with shaking legs as she took steady steps towards the Ravenclaw table. She fell onto the bench beside Oliver Baker who gave her a sad look yet did not speak as a silent tear ran down her cheek.

***

The Rier Estate, later that night

"Dishonourable!" Chadwick's fist slammed down on the desk in his study, the impact forcing the official Hogwarts letter to flutter slightly. Irene jumped at the unexpected noise it made, slapping her hand over her chest and bracing her hand against Lucia's shoulder. Her sister shrugged her away.

Reglin is shocked awake after dozing off and tiredly mutters, "turn it down, Dad, some of us are trying to sleep." After all, Cormac, Winston and Marjorie were all fast asleep in their beds.

Christian had his head in his hands forcing back the frustration, anger and immense sadness that was pulling his thoughts every which way. He felt his father shift on the couch next to him but the room remained relatively silent.

"You told us there was usually only one defect per generation," Dara whispered into the room from where she sat beside the fire in an old armchair. She was watching the fire flicker and dance, its movements were gentle and smooth yet a ruthless weapon. Her fist curled where it rested against her cheek.

Chadwick's gaze flickered between his Grandchildren and his son who was once again fast asleep. His anger fluttered at the sight of Irene and Lucia bickering like schoolchildren, again at Christian slumped over in a state of unmanly despair and again when Dara matched his stare.

"There is." His voice silenced the two sisters into moving away from each other and made Christian raise his head in disbelief. "There was my own brother, then there was your aunt, and then your brother-"

"Anton." Christian snapped, unwilling to hear his Grandfather speak as though he had never existed. "His name was Anton and he never defected. He died before he could even get to Hogwarts." Chadwick glowered down at him during the interruption.

"And therefore he never truly was a Rier." This seemed to anger not just Christian, but Lucia as well considering he had been her twin. "And let us not forget your newly departed daughters, Christian. The Ravenclaw will be smart if she stays away."

Standing abruptly from his seat, Christian approaches his Grandfather quickly. His advances were hindered as Lucia rushed to his side and tugged his arm backwards.

"My daughters," Christian began in a dangerously low voice, "did nothing wrong. It was you who made me split from Julia, you lost me one daughter. Because of that, I lost the other since she wasn't allowed to know? Why couldn't she know? It's her mother! Her sister! And Merritt, for Merlin's sake, she's a child with no control over who she is. You and father taught her to be the strong-willed girl she is, everything she knows is because of you. So how is it that she deserves to lose her only family for being sorted into a Hogwarts House?" Chadwick pushed himself to his feet. When he stumbled ever-so-slightly he sat back down but continued to maintain eye contact with his Grandson. His moment of weakness forced Dara to her feet, eyes blazing and an air about her that was simply not Dara.

"Your daughters," she spat at her brother, poking his chest sharply, "are very clearly traitors to our family. They may have learnt that but it was from none of us. Unless you had something to do with it?" Everything had changed in Dara, it scared the rest of them to an extent that Lucia and Christian both stepped away from her without question.

"Dara, you need to calm down." Irene stepped forward with her hands out and a nervous smile on her face. "It's no one's fault. They're not traitors either, they're simply different. We can't just banish them from seeing the people they love for not thinking like is, that's ridiculous!" Christian stepped up towards her.

"They're my daughters." Irene's face drops at the quiver of his voice. "Yours is fine. She's fucking perfect. You don't get a say here. Neither does mother or father or you, Lucy. None of you does because this shouldn't be a discussion!" Dara clicks her tongue and crosses her arms.

"But it is." He turns to stare at her incredulously but now Chadwick had risen and was standing strong. This was a warning in itself, so, instead, Christian shook his head and left the room muttering beneath his breath.

As Reglin's faint snores filled the silence, Dara scoffed and sat back down. Suddenly upset by the whole ordeal, Lucia ran after her brother with tears in her eyes that only he had a reason to spill.

A/N

Yikes, this was longer than I thought it would be.