AN: For the Hogwarts Competition. Theme- deal with the outcome of shattered security. Prompt [dialogue] - "I love you and always have." 539 words.

Martha Steward looked into the face of her sister's. A storm was on the horizon, or so she thought. Her twin, Rionach, stood beside her. Her expression was stoic. Her austere face reflected that of their ancestor Slytherin so many years ago. Her eyes looked out to over the granite walls of Ilvermorny.

Everything had changed, it seemed. Martha and Rionach knew not of their heritage except to the good witch Morrigan. Yet tonight it had all come tumbling out. It started with Isolt receiving a letter from a Rowan Smith.

It had been earlier in the evening when the two girls had come back from another adventure in the woods. Isolt was standing at the kitchen, preparing James a cranberry pie while he worked on the other foods, when the owl had flown in through the window.

That was not strange in and of itself, but what was stranger was the contents.

To Isolt Sayre,

I am Rowan Smith. I am the new Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I consider it my duty to find the other descendants of the Founders. I have come to discover you are one of the many descendants of Salazar Slytherin. The others have turned me down because they believe this school is a disgrace to their ancestor. Rumor has it that Ilvermorny is run by you. Congratulations, Madam Sayre. I would like to propose a meeting between us and our prospective schools.

Sincerely,

Headmaster Smith

Isolt had turned pale as a sheet and she sat down. James placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ice, what could possibly be the matter?" he asked.

"If a stranger has found me, the rest of the Gaunts could," Isolt said.

"Who are the Gaunts?" Martha asked.

"My mother's family," Isolt admitted. "They're not good people."

"But who is the stranger?" Martha asked.

Rionach simply pulled the paper out of her mother's hand, her blue eyes scanning over the document.

"Slytherin?" Rionach asked. "We're descended from that evil loon you told us about?"

"I meant to tell you," Isolt said helplessly.

Martha could see the wheels turning in her brain. "Slytherin? That's how I can talk to snakes, isn't it? That's why I can hear the Snakewood Tree whispering. . ."

"Salazar Slytherin and my aunt were Parselmouths like you," Isolt admitted. "That doesn't mean anything-"

"Merlin's beard it does!" Rionach shouted. Martha could see the fear behind the anger, could sense it. "What if it means that I'm like them? What if the gift came to be because it knew what I would become?"

"I-"

Rionach ran out to the woods.

Martha helped her mother finish the dinner, and then waited atop Rionach's favorite tower, where she eventually arrived.

"I know you can't be bad, Rionach," Martha said, taking her sister's hand.

Rionach turned her face to Martha's, and she could see the tears. "How could you possibly know? What if the magic somehow knows what none of us can?"

"Because you're my sister and my twin," Martha said. "I know you like I know my own heart."

Rionach managed a smile as the tears fell.

"I love you, and I always have," Martha said. "Always will. That's why I'd kill you myself if you became like them."