"Sister Like Sister"

A/N
As of December 2019 the narrative of this book has been changed to chronological rather than non-linear. There are no new chapters before this one

April 1967, 3 months later

Despite being in the same house, Erin and Dexter hardly see Serenity anymore. The Hufflepuff common had become an unusual habitat for her to the point that Lakita would scarcely see the girl in her own bed. No one knew where she went.

When the door to her dorm room flew open, Lakita knew in that fleeting moment it would be unnecessary to hope to see her sister around so early in the day. So the sight of Erin and her unkempt blonde hair was a much more welcome sight. Putting down her quill on the scrap piece of parchment she had been scribbling on, Lakita sits up to welcome her newly found cousin. Ever since the discovery the Rier cousins had made at the start of the year, Lakita had been seeing Erin more and more. Dexter would often wait for them in the common area and eventually they would bump into Merritt- although the Ravenclaw seemed to be more absent by the day.

"We're going to lunch, do you want to come?" Smiling, Lakita spared a helpless glance to the bed that had yet to be touched in the last two days. Nodding, the second year pulled on her shoes and robes before following her cousin from the room, tie hanging undone around her neck. When they exited the common room, Dexter stood away from the barrels in the corridor to welcome them into the Hogwarts halls. The three of them walked in silence, neither of them had much to say other than their most recent misfortunes. Of course, as per usual, the silence didn't last long. "Do you think the Friar has noticed her absence?" Erin wrung her hands as they approached the Great Hall. "I mean, she'll get in trouble, right?" As they walked through the entryway a familiar young Ravenclaw bumped into them. Merritt yelped and uttered a small 'sorry!' before running away without acknowledging any of them. "What is happening to us?" Sharing a worried look with Dexter, Erin wrapped her hand around his in a desperate attempt to find comfort as darkness overwhelmed her thoughts.

"They have toast!" Lakita sat at the nearest seat on the Hufflepuff table and helped herself to some toast smothered with jam. As her cousins joined her she smiled at them. "Come on, can't you just be happy about something just once? You're really putting a dampener on the day." Dexter, in his unwillingness to continue the pity party that seemed to constantly creep upon him during the day, forced a crooked smile onto his face which scrunched up his nose and forced a stray piece of brown hair to fall into his face.

"It's not raining." Lakita pointed her toast to him with a grin.

"You're darn right, my friend!" As the two cousins finally relaxed and began their lunch with lighthearted small talk Erin dropped her chin onto the heel of her hand. Looking around the hall her heart dropped at the smiles and laughter of her classmates. None of these people knew what it was like to be her, especially now that she was the eldest of her cousins and constantly under her great-grandfather's watchful eye.

At the entrance of the hall came a shrill laugh that raked at every nerve in Lakita's body. With a shiver, she looked up and saw Juliet run into the hall, bumping into a Gryffindor as she went. She squealed as a dark-skinned Slytherin grabbed her around the waist and threw her over their shoulder. She reached out to the small group that followed behind them as she kicked her legs while laughing uncontrollably.

"Serenity!" She wheezed and grasped at the air in front of her friend. Laughing from where she walked beside Lucius, Serenity held her arm out limply just out of Juliet's reach and shook her head with an exaggerated pouch.

Erin, despite the other two Hufflepuffs, couldn't help but watch the group from afar. The group was predominantly Slytherins: the Black sisters, the Senate twins, Juliet Law, Lucius Malfoy and Vaughn Floyd. The only other member was Serenity, the Hufflepuff girl with a single name and infamous among professors for using her wandless magic commonly in her lessons. Erin watched the girl who had once been her best friend, and the most put-together person she knew, disregard everything. Her shirt was untucked; one sock sitting above her knee and the other bunched around her mid-calf; her tie non-existent and the Hufflepuff badge on her breast fraying and singed.

A Gryffindor prefect sauntered over to the group as they all sat down noisily and inquired about Serenity's tie.

"You must wear your tie, it's dress code!" Sitting up from where she was leaning on Lucius' arm, Serenity's smile dropped as she held out her palm to the prefect. Without blinking, the red and gold tie disappeared from the elder student's neck and appeared in Serenity's hand. Seconds later the surrounding students who were not familiar with Serenity screamed in surprise as the tie burst into flames in the second year's hand. She watched the prefect through the flame without so much as a hint of enjoyment or remorse on her face until the tie was a pile of ash. The Great Hall sat in stunned silence. Dexter, Erin and Lakita gawked from their seats as the scene played out. Serenity raised her hand and blew the pile of ash towards the prefect and clapped away the remains.

"Put your tie on!" Pulling a face as she mimicked the prefect, Serenity turned her back to them and helped herself to the ham sandwiches in front of her.

The prefect huffed and ran off, no doubt to fetch a professor. Bellatrix snorted into her pumpkin juice as her cackle forced its way out of her throat. As the only noise in the hall remained Bellatrix Black's laughter, Juliet tugged at Lucius' arm.

"We should go." Without a word the two of them stood and began to pull Serenity from the hall, the Hufflepuff holding a sandwich in each hand as she complied. Looking around as she chewed on her food, Serenity caught Lakita's eye and winked at her sister with a small smirk forming on her lips.