Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapters a little late I had a million things going on yesterday so I couldn't get it out! But it's here now and I really hope you enjoy.

Chapter 8

Midnight, September 7, 2030

I wake to see Anica is not in her bed.

Quietly leaving my dormitory, I go to see if she is in the Common Room. The room is empty, however, so I sit in one of the armchairs in front of the fire, knowing I won't be able to get back to sleep. I watch the flames for a little bit, thinking about the argument.

Why didn't I step in? Ciena was out of line, I should've been defending us with Anica and Xinia. God, why am I such an idiot?

Suddenly, with renewed dedication, I decide to find the girls.

Anica didn't return which most likely means she's still with Xinia. I wonder if they'll be in Ravenclaw Tower, but then quickly dismiss the idea. Ciena would be there, plus, Anica wouldn't be allowed. I highly doubt they would be in the Library, considering it's not exactly Anica's favourite place, so that left the Quidditch pitch or the Community Hall as the two most likely options. The Quidditch pitch is unlikely because that's where the argument started, plus, it's outside and nighttime and Xinia's afraid of the dark. Figuring it's better than nothing, I decide to head to the Community Hall.

I'm about to head for the door when I remember the trapdoor. That way is definitely quicker, and it would also mean there's much less chance of me getting caught.

The only problem is, how do I open it? As I stand under where the stairs appeared, I notice the snake mantlepiece over the fireplace isn't too far away. I walk closer, laying my hand on the snake. I pet it, watching the ceiling.

Yes. It worked.

I move out of the way of the stairs, then ascend them. I move fast, finding the trapdoor to the Community Hall quickly. I enter the code and pull myself up.

I see the girls sitting on the couch, leaning against each other. For a moment, I think they're sleeping, but then I hear quiet talking. I walk over to them, standing awkwardly in front of the glass table in the middle of the three couches. I know they notice me, but they don't say anything.

"Can we please try to sort this out?" I ask quietly.

They share a look before sitting up and eyeing the chair in front of them.

"I'm sorry," I apologise, my hair instantly turning blue.

As the moonlight shines on them through the window behind us, I can see dried tear tracks on their faces.

"It's not all your fault," Anica mutters.

"We're sorry too," Xinia sighs.

I realise they're willing to fix this as well, so I take that as an invitation to sit down next to Xinia. I lean against her, not speaking for a bit.

Finally, I break the silence.

"I should have defended you," I say quietly. "I shouldn't have stayed quiet."

"Yes, you should've," Xinia agrees, "But it's okay."

I wrap my arms around her, and she falls into the hug. We stay like that for a bit before I pull away. I'm almost afraid to speak again, knowing I could ruin it.

"But what you said," I trail off.

"She knows she was out of line," Anica speaks up. "She's just too stubborn to admit it."

Xinia punches her softly. I smile.

"She's going to apologise tomorrow. She just wanted time to cool down."

"Me? I ain't apologising to no one," Xinia complains.

"Yes you are," I say firmly. "You hurt her and you know it."

"Only if she does first," Xinia argues. "Goodnight!"

She moves to get up, but I pull her back down. She turns away from me and tries again to leave.

"Xinia!" I yell.

She continues to struggle.

"Xin," I say, softer this time. "At least say you know you were wrong in saying what you did."

"I know what I said was wrong, but she has to back off. I was so happy to have a chance to be on the team and she shot me down," she fights.

"I know. And she will."

Xinia struggles in my grip, but this time I let go. She storms to the trapdoor, beginning to climb down.

"I suggest you two head to bed soon, you don't want to be caught missing, or here after curfew," she advises as she closes the trapdoor.

I turn to Anica, not knowing what to say.

"She's not mad at you," she says, walking to the trapdoor. "Not anymore at least. She's just…"

"Stubborn?" I finish.

She laughs.

"Yeah."

She crouches down to open the door, then moves aside to let me down first. I do, and a second later she drops down beside me, closing the door.

"Are we okay?" I ask.

Anica considers me for a moment.

"Yeah, we're good."

I sigh with relief, letting out a small laugh.

"Good. I was really worried."

"It'd take more than that to break us apart," Anica smiles, throwing her arm over my shoulders.

As we slowly walk down the passage we discuss what we'll do tomorrow.

"We should probably let Xin drag us to the library," I laugh.

Anica groans.

"You mean you should. I've done nothing wrong. I don't have to suffer through that."

I laugh, shrugging her arm off me.

"Come on, you don't even mind reading too much."

"When have I ever said that."

I roll my eyes.

Just then we reach the trapdoor leading down to the common room.

"How do we get through?" Anica asks.

"Same way we get into the common room," I say.

I say the password, waiting while the stairs appear. We descend them, quickly slipping into our dormitory.

"Night," I whisper before we get in bed.

"Night."

September 8, 2030

The next morning, Anica and I don't wake up until around 10 am.

Eventually, we're ready to head to the Great Hall. Luckily, on weekends there's food almost all day. Just before we head in, however, we hear someone calling our names. We turn around. Xinia. She smiles at us, all evidence of yesterday gone.

"Sleep in, did you?" she asks as the three of us walk over to the Ravenclaw table.

"'Course we did," I yawn. "You know how late we were up last night?"

Xin laughs as she reaches for a plate of waffles. We talk for a little bit until suddenly Xinia tenses up, looking at something behind me. Without turning, I know it's Ciena and most likely Kimmy as well.

Xinia stands up, and I give her a warning look. I stand behind her, making sure not to leave her and Anica alone in this. I ignore the scathing look Kimmy gives me.

"I don't want us to fight," Xinia starts.

"Neither do I," Ciena says.

I notice her normally pretty blue eyes are bloodshot, probably from crying. Her hair looks a little messy as well like she didn't brush it.

"But school isn't the only thing I care about, Ciena," Xinia continues. "You have to know that."

Ciena looks at Kimmy, and I catch a guilty look on the former's face.

"I know," Ciena says quietly. "I was rude to all of you. I know that."

I notice she doesn't directly say sorry. I try not to roll my eyes at the girls' stubbornness.

"But what you said really hurt me," Ciena continues. "You don't think that do you?"

Xinia sighs, fiddling with her necklace.

"No," she says finally. "Of course I don't. I was just mad, and I said the first thing that came to my mind. You know I don't say true stuff when I'm mad."

The corners of Ciena's lips twitch, but they fall a moment later.

"It still hurt."

"I know," Xinia says. "And I'm -" she hesitates. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

I can tell Ciena is still hurt, so I decide to say something.

"Look," I start softly. "We know that we haven't been hanging out with you as much. But we didn't mean anything by it. We thought you wouldn't want to. We thought you wanted to stay with Kimmy and do extra work. We realise that maybe you thought that meant we didn't want to hang out with you. But that's not true. We care about you, Ciena. We love you. We'll always want to be your friend. And sister," I add, looking at the other two.

Xinia tries to smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Ciena looks at her for a long time, almost long enough that I think she'll just walk away, but eventually, she speaks.

"Thank you," she says quietly.

Xinia smiles, a genuine one this time.

"Does that mean you're not mad or upset anymore?" she asks.

Ciena nods.

"And you?" she asks.

"Not anymore," Xinia replies.

They both smile, and hug each other. When they pull back, Kimmy lets out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good," she says. "You're quite a scene when you're mad," she adds, looking at me.

I glare at her.

"With your eyes and all."

I don't say anything.

"Do you know that they went grey? When you were yelling at me. Your hair was red as well. You should really learn to control your temper better."

I clench my jaw, trying not to rise to her bait.

"I can control my temper just fine thanks," I say stonily.

"Yes, I'm sure you can," she says mockingly. "I really got that feeling yesterday."

"That was nothing," I smirk. "You'll know when I'm mad. Trust me."

"You're all talk aren't you?" Kimmy taunts, stepping closer to me.

She stands at least 10 inches, probably a foot, taller than me, but I don't let it bother me.

"You make all those jokes and threats," she continues. "But you never actually do anything."

"You should be glad I don't do anything," my voice turns icy. "You really don't want to get on my bad side."

Suddenly, I realise that without noticing, I had made myself taller. We were now eye to eye. Kimmy notices as well and takes a small step back.

"Your abilities are ludicrous," she insults. "They make you weird. Almost...a freak."

Several things happen at once.

Around me, Xinia, Anica and Ciena all let out more than a few choice words.

This time I fully control my hair as it turns flaming red and I make my eyes stormy grey. Then, before I can process anything, Kimmy is sent back several metres, and she stumbles into the Gryffindor table, landing on the ground.

At the same time, I hear someone, a teacher I think, trying to break the argument up. I don't pay attention, my gaze focused on Kimmy. She gets up - not looking too hurt I notice - and glares at me.

"Don't. Call. Me. A freak," I snarl.

"I'll call you whatever I want," she snaps back.

Just as I go to pull my wand out, I feel a hand on my arm. I whirl around, ready to yell at whoever it is. I stop short when I realise it's Professor Lupin.

"Both of you, in my office, now," he orders.

He turns around and walks out of the Great Hall, not checking to see if we're following. I stare after him for a few seconds, then grab Kimmy before she can get away - none too gently - and storm out after him.

"You're not getting out of this," I hiss at Kimmy, releasing her once we're outside.

I continue walking after Lupin, then realise her footsteps aren't following me. I turn around, noticing she's stopped.

"What are you doing?" I snap. "Hurry up."

She looks ready to run, but then she seems to realise that will only cause her more trouble. She starts walking and I continue.

Finally, we reach Lupin's office. He's already in the room when I get there, and Kimmy enters a few seconds later.

"Miss Dinnick, Miss Jones, I am disappointed in how you acted. You are very promising students and I expected more from both of you," Lupin starts.

"Sorry Professor," Kimmy immediately apologises.

"I hope you have a very good explanation for your behaviour?" Lupin asks.

"She called me a freak," I blurt. "Because I'm a Metamorphmagus. Something one of your teachers is also," I add, glaring at Kimmy.

"Miss Jones, we do not call people freaks. Miss Dinnick has a special ability, not something to be mocked," he admonishes. "Twenty points will be taken from Ravenclaw."

Kimmys face drops, knowing that will place her house in third place. I smirk.

"You will also receive detention tonight, 7 o'clock in here, and a letter will be sent home," he continues.

Then, he turns to me.

"Miss Dinnick, the way you responded was very inappropriate. As I said, you have a special gift, but that does not give you the right to hurt someone else. You will also get twenty points taken from Slytherin, detention and a letter home."

I don't care so much about the punishments, however, I can't stop my mouth from dropping open.

"But I didn't do anything!" I protest.

"How do you call sending someone back twenty feet not doing anything?" Kimmy shrieks.

I'm about to say something back when Lupin interrupts.

"You two better stop before I take more points or give you extra detention. I would like for you to apologise to each other," Lupin says, becoming impatient.

"Fine. I'm sorry," Kimmy says, not particularly meaning it.

"I will not apologise for something I didn't do," I say, crossing my arms. "I don't know how you got sent back, but it wasn't me."

"Miss Jones, thank you for your cooperation, you may leave," Lupin dismisses her. "Miss Dinnick, you are out of line. Ten more points will be taken from Slytherin, another detention and at this rate a meeting with the Head Mistress."

I hear the door shut, signalling Kimmy's leave.

"I'm not being uncooperative," I fight. "I'm telling you, it wasn't me."

Lupin sighs.

"Gena," he says, and I'm taken aback at the change in demeanour. "It was you."

I open my mouth in protest, but he holds his hand up.

"It was. You performed an act of accidental magic. In your anger, you lost control of yourself. You threatened a fellow student, however, and yes, she did insult you, but that was not the way to respond."

"But you just said it yourself! It was accidental. How can I be held responsible?"

"Even if it was accidental magic, it was threatening, which is not how you treat your peers."

"She called me a - " I try a different tactic.

"I don't care what she called you," he interrupts, not looking completely honest. "Your actions were just as inappropriate."

"Are you telling me if someone called you a freak you would have just stood there and taken it, not doing anything about it?"

"Miss Dinnick, you heard the students in my class insulting me, so yes, nothing is exactly what I do," Lupin pauses, looking pleadingly at me. "Now please go apologise to Miss Jones. Your parents will receive a letter this afternoon."

He nods towards the door and I sigh, trying not to storm out.

"Tonight, 7 o'clock," Lupin calls before I leave.

Only once I'm out of the room do I realise I just fought with a teacher. A teacher who has been nothing but kind to me, and I just lashed out at him. I groan, leaning my head against the nearest wall. I notice my hair is still red, so I change it back to normal. My eyes must have changed back already.

"What happened?" I hear.

I look up, surprised to see the 'triplets' walking up to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"What, you think we wouldn't be here?" Anica asks. "So what happened?"

I sigh.

"Thirty points from Slytherin, two detentions and a letter home."

"Wow," Xinia comments.

"Oh, and also possibly a meeting with McGonagall," I add. "What a joy," I mutter sarcastically.

"But you didn't do anything!" Ciena cries.

I smile grimly.

"I was the one who caused her to fly back. Lupin said it was accidental magic."

"But you didn't do it on purpose!" Anica says.

"'Inappropriate behaviour nonetheless'" I retort.

I sigh again, pushing off the wall to walk down the corridor.

"It doesn't matter," I say. "What's done is done."

"What did Kimmy get?" Xinia asks.

"Twenty points, detention and a letter."

"What?!" Anica shouts. "She's the one who started it. She insulted you. Lupin of all people should understand that!"

"He understands, yes," I agree. "But that doesn't mean he can do anything about how I acted. Besides, I made it worse for myself."

"What did you do?" Ciena questions.

"I might have fought with him," I mutter.

"Gena!" Xinia groans. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm an idiot?" I cringe.

I stop walking and turn to face the girls.

"Look, just forget about it, alright? I don't care about my punishment."

Xinia and Ciena look at me in disbelief.

"If anything," I smirk, "I'm actually quite happy. My first detention? This is going to be awesome!"

I high five Anica, hearing groans from the other two.

"So where do you want to go?" Anica asks, moving the subject on.

"Library?" I suggest. "We can show Ciena what we found," I add in an attempt to get in her good graces again.

Xinia smiles at me, understanding.

"Aw man, do we have to?" Anica complains.

"Show me what?" Ciena asks, ignoring her sister.

"Come on," Xinia says, leading us to the portrait of the Golden Trio.

When we get there, Ciena questions what we're doing here.

"Hush," Xinia says.

"Moony," she calls to the portrait.

The Trio look down at us, Hermione looking amused.

"You think we would keep the password the same?" she chides us.

"What?" Ciena asks in confusion.

"Damnit," Xinia mutters, ignoring Ciena.

"Hang on," I say. "There was a clue in the portrait last time. Maybe it'll be there again?"

Xinia and Anica nod, studying the portrait. Ciena watches them in confusion. I scan the scene depicted, looking for any oddities.

"Here," Anica exclaims suddenly. "There's a bunch of students in the background. Mostly Gryffindor, I think, and they're all holding their wands. Right there."

She points at the spot, and I realise she's right. Above the students, there is a phoenix flying over them.

"That's Dumbledore's bird," I say.

"Oh, of course," Xinia says. "Dumbledore's Army."

The portrait swings open, and the four of us crowd inside. Ciena asks questions about the passage the whole way, and we patiently answer them.

Finally, we come to the door. I find the button on the wall and press it. The door moves forward, sliding to the left. Xinia peeks through the opening, then signals for us to go through. We do, Xinia closing the door behind us, where it disappears into a shelve of books.

I look around the library, taking in the huge amount of books. Anica whistles under her breath.

"How do we get back out?" Ciena asks.

I turn around to face her.

"Well, you could just use the door," I laugh.

"Or you could pull this book," Xinia says from the shelf.

We crowd around her, looking at the books she's pointing to.

"Secret Passages," Anica reads, pushing her glasses up. "Creative."

"Makes it easier to remember," I shrug.

"Just keep quiet will you?" Xinia warns before disappearing into the shelves.

Ciena follows her, leaving Anica and me alone.

"You going to look for anything?" I ask.

She snorts.

"'Course not."

I roll my eyes.

"Come on then."

I lead us to an empty booth. We sit down opposite each other, talking quietly.

Ciena eventually comes back to us with a book on Herbology.

"Where'd Xinia go?" she questions looking around.

"I'm right here," she says, coming round the corner with a huge book.

"Merlin, what are you reading?" I cry.

"The World of Magic," she responds, showing us the cover.

"I've never heard of it," Ciena frowns.

Anica looks at her in confusion.

"Don't you know, like, every book in the world?" she asks.

"Yes!" Ciena answers. "Where'd you get that?" she turns to Xinia.

"Just found it on a shelf," Xinia shrugs nonchalantly.

"Well, what's it about?" Ciena asks excitedly, going over to Xinia.

"Magic," Anica says bluntly.

Ciena glares at her but doesn't say anything.

Xinia opens the book, her and Ciena looking through the pages. Suddenly, they reach a page about Hogwarts.

"In the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's first year, they are sorted into four houses; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. A magical Hat, see; the Sorting Hat, is placed on their head and performs extraordinary Legilimency magic to determine which House the students will be most suited to," Xinia reads.

She continues, reading about classes and Quidditch and whatnot, but I find myself focusing on her first words. The Sorting Hat. I remember what I had been thinking about yesterday, how Wyrene and I were the only recent Slytherins in our family, yet the Hat said I was like my predecessors.

"Hey did the Sorting Hat say anything weird to you guys?" I suddenly blurt out.

Xinia pauses mid-sentence.

"What do you mean?" Ciena inquires.

"Like, did it say anything about your families?"

"What are you talking about Gean?" Anica asks.

I sigh, deciding to just voice all my thoughts.

"While I was getting Sorted," I start. "The Hat said something that's got me thinking. It said I had 'a mind like my predecessors.' It implied that my family was in Slytherin as well. But the thing is, Wyrene and I are the first Slytherins in four generations in my family. It just -. It's been on my mind recently," I finish.

The girls look at me with interest.

"Are you sure there's no other Slytherin's in your family?" Ciena asks.

"Positive."

"The Hat definitely said that?" Xinia purses her lips. "You didn't mix up what it said with something else?"

I shake my head.

"No, it definitely said that. It also...found something? One of the first things it said was 'Very interesting. What do we have here?' Then it paused for a bit and said it was 'better left untouched.'"

I watch the reactions of the others, hoping they believe me. Xinia shuts the book in front of her, and sits down next to Anica, across from me.

"Have you spoken to Wyrene? Or Bailey?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Maybe they might know something. Maybe the Hat said something similar to them when they were Sorted."

"If it did they would have brought it up by now."

"Why don't you just ask the Hat?" Anica suddenly says.

I give her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, presumably, the Hat is somewhere in McGonagall's office. Why don't you just go in there and ask the Hat what it meant?"

"That's a great plan, you're just forgetting one tiny detail. I can't just waltz into the Headmistress' office saying, 'Would you mind if I spoke to your Hat for a minute, please?"

Anica's face falls.

"I hadn't thought about that."

"You said you have a meeting with McGonagall though didn't you?" Xinia remembers.

"I highly doubt that I actually will," I say. "Presumably Lupin would have sent me there straight away if I did."

"But you could have?" she presses.

"I'm not sure I like where this is going," I frown.

She rolls her eyes.

"Come on, ten minutes ago you were elated for your first detention. What's a little more trouble going to do?"

"It's one thing to get reprimanded by a teacher Xinia," I exclaim. "It's another entirely to get yourself a meeting with the Headmistress. On purpose."

"Right. I'm sorry. You're right. It was a silly idea," she sighs.

"Look, just forget about it. I'm sure the Hat didn't -"

"You don't have to get in trouble," Ciena suddenly says.

I look over at her, where she's still standing behind the book. She moves closer to me.

"You could just ask for a meeting with her," she continues.

"How would I go about that?" I ask.

"I haven't figured that out yet. Just tell her you, I dunno, want to ask about how to join the Quidditch team."

I stare at her in shock.

"That's -"

"That's brilliant!" Xinia cries. "Just tell her you're really passionate about Quidditch and you want to know if it would be possible for you to bring your own broomstick to tryouts. Then we can cause a disturbance or something that will get her to leave the room and you talk to the Hat."

"That's crazy!" I say.

"That's perfect," Anica says at the same time.

I stare at her.

"You actually think that will work?" I ask. "You know first years aren't allowed their own brooms unless they're actually on the team, which is unlikely. I would never be able to bring it in just for tryouts!"

"You don't have to be successful," Xinia points out. "You just have to have an excuse for being in her office. Once she gets back and says no, all you have to do is act upset then walk out. Just as long as you don't go overboard and get yourself in even more trouble."

"How would I even get her attention in the first place?"

"Just wait outside her office and when she comes by, tell her you have something important to ask her. Just make sure you actually get in her office."

I rub my hand over my face in hesitance.

"I don't know," I trail off.

"Come on, you want to figure this out don't you?" Anica says. "Besides, as long as you don't go crazy, you won't even get in trouble. Maybe make her annoyed, yeah, but not in trouble."

I sigh, looking down for a minute. When I look back up, I see three sets of eyes on me.

"So when are we gonna do this?" I ask with another sigh.

Ok, so I really hope you guys are still enjoying this story. Finally, we're getting somewhere. I promise in the future there will be a lot more content, but we're still getting there for now. Anyways, as normal, please leave a review and I will update soon!