Chapter II
"That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered."
Ecclesiastes 1:15
The Great Hall was teeming with people, and the Shadow siblings were struggling to stay together as they progressed through the crowd. Wolfbane was holding onto the back of Belldonna's cloak like it was a lifeline, and Atropa was gripping Wolfbane's hand, and they walked in a line towards the head of their respective tables.
As they reached the front of the room, Belladonna turned to the twins and said, "Don't you dare hesitate to come to me if something is wrong, you hear me?"
Wolfbane knew that the comment had been directed towards the both of them, but he felt as if Belladonna was directing more towards him then Atropa.
Wolfbane did a sort of mock salute and said, "Yes, ma'am!"
Atropa elbowed him lightly in the side and giggled. Belladonna gave them both a stern look and hugged them, her ink black hair tickling Wolfbane's nose.
She pulled back and swished her hair over her shoulder, saying, "You should get to your tables. McGonnagal is going to start the Sorting Ceremony soon."
With that being said, Belladonna scurried over to the Slytherin table, her green eyes glinting as she started an animated conversation with someone beside her. Wolfbane turned to Atropa then, hugging her tighter than Belldonna had. Atropa hugged back, and Wolfbane could feel a wet patch forming on his shoulder from Atropa, who had started crying.
Wolfbane pulled back slightly to look his twin in the face. Her eyes were red rimmed, even though she had just started crying.
"'Tropa, what's wrong?" Wolfbane asked, his voice wavering slightly.
Atropa looked at him, hugged him one last time, and then scurried off to the Hufflepuff table. Wolfbane started to slightly panic. He had hurt her, Wolfbane was sure of it. He stiffened and slowly walked over to the Ravenclaw table, sitting away from the other Ravenclaws.
He watched with a faux interest as McGonnagal lead the tiny first years to the front of the room and set the Sorting Hat on the stool. The first years were so excited about being sorted, and Wolfbane almost wished that he could be that young again. He wished he could go back to being a happy child who didn't have to deal with the stress and anxiety of the secret that he kept on his shoulders .McGonnagal unrolled the parchment and read the first name.
"Arion, Mordecai." She said loud and clear.
A small boy with a mop of technicolor blue hair and large circular glasses walked up to the stool and sat down. He was bouncing so much that the hat fell off of his head. With a sigh, McGonnagal placed the hat back on the boy's head and the room fell into a quiet trance, waiting for the hat to make its decision.
The hat opened up the huge ripped seam that served as its mouth and shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaws, being who they were, didn't yell and cheer to incredibly loud, but they did cheer nonetheless as the young boy with the technicolor blue hair came over and sat down next to Wolfbane.
"Hallo! My name's Mordecai Arion! What's yours?" The boy, Mordecai, said, extending his arm forward so that Wolfbane could shake his hand.
Wolfbane looked at Mordecai warily and decided that he would give the boy a chance. He remembered being so lonely in his House for the first couple of months of his first year. To be completely honest, Wolfbane was still lonely, he just talked to people a little bit more after those first few months.
"Wolfbane Foxglove Shadow." He said, taking Mordecai's small, frail, hand in his own and giving it a small shake. "How d'you do?"
Mordecai's purple eyes seemed to sparkle underneath his glasses as he said, "Your last name is Shadow? That is so cool!"
In this moment, Mordecai reminded Wolfbane of an excited puppy. He smirked and ruffled Mordecai's blue hair, making it messier than it was before. Wolfbane pushed his glasses up on his narrow nose, and Mordecai did the same. He realized that this little first year was like the little brother that Wolfbane never had. He loved his siblings to pieces, but he had always wanted to be a big brother.
McGonnagal, who had just finished sorting the First years, clanked her fork against her goblet in order to get everyone's attention.
"Welcome, to those of you returning to Hogwarts, and welcome to our first years." She said, beginning her speech just like she did every year.
Wolfbane tuned her out and look across the Great Hall at his sisters, and found two pairs of eyes looking right back at him. Belladonna's green ones looking worried, and Atropa's brown ones looking sorrowful. He felt a pang of guilt when he looked at Atropa. Wolfbane made a mental note to speak to her later.
Wolfbane jumped slightly when the food appeared on the table. He wasn't hungry in the slightest, so he didn't pay it any mind.
Wolfbane felt a tug at the sleeve of his robes and looked down. Mordecai's purple eyes were still sparkling like a wildfire.
"Who is that?" asked Mordecai, pointing at Belladonna across the room.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to know because she is bloody gorgeous!"
"One, watch your language. Two, that's my older sister, Belladonna." Wolfbane said, slightly uncomfortable with that fact that a first year was hitting on his fourth year sister.
"Oh this is great! D'you think you could introduce me?" Mordecai said. The young boy had so much hope in his eyes that Wolfbane just couldn't say no.
"Fine. But you have to promise me that I won't catch you snogging in the broom cupboard or something like that." Wolfbane said jokingly. He knew his sister would just coo at Mordecai and tell him something like you are way to handsome for me or I could never take such a stunning lad off the market. His sister was weird like that.
Wolfbane caught Belladonna's eyes and motioned for her to come over to the Ravenclaw table. She stood gracefully and walked over quickly. She sat down in an empty seat across from Wolfbane and looked at him.
"What's wrong?" Belladonna said, worry written on her face.
"Nothing's wrong, Belle, I just wanted to introduce you to someone I just m-"
A flash of auburn red caught Wolfbane's eye, startling him. He looked over his sister's' shoulder to get a better look and saw the most incredible sight.
A tall boy stood up at the Gryffindor table, his auburn hair shaved on the left side, his golden eyes devious. The boy was wearing tight black jeans and a bright colored Hawaiian shirt. A bit contradictory, if you ask Wolfbane, but it looked bloody great on this boy, so Wolfbane wasn't complaining.
The boy caught Wolfbane's eye from across the room and dropped a wink. His smile widened when he saw how much Wolfbane blushed. Belladonna waved her hand in front of Wolfbane's face to get his attention.
"Wolfy, what's up?" Said Belladonna, looking more concerned than before.
Wolfbane looked away from the Gryffindor boy and shook his head. "Sorry. Anyway, this is Mordecai Arion. I thought you might want to meet him."
"You're bloody gorgeous!" Said Mordecai, who then covered his mouth with his hand and blushed so bad that Wolfbane grew concerned.
Belladonna's eyes widened as she looked at this small boy who had just called her 'bloody gorgeous'. Then, she smiled.
"Well, Mordecai, you're a good looking bloke yourself." She said. Wolfbane almost burst into laughter at the look of Mordecai's face. The boy looked like he was about to pass out from shock.
Wolfbane cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. "Like I said, Mordecai. No snogging in the broom closet. She is my sister, you know. I've got to look out for her."
Belladonna hit him lightly upside the head and laughed.
"Also, tell Atropa that I need to talk to her in the morning. It's important." Wolfbane said. Belladonna nodded and walked off towards the Slytherin table.
"I do believe that it's time to turn in for now. Prefects, please lead the first years to their dormitories." Mcgonnagal said, standing herself to return to her room.
Mordecai stood, waved to Wolfbane, and scurried off after the other first years. Wolfbane stood and started his trek to Ravenclaw common room.
After walking up staircase after staircase, Wolfbane finally made it to the common room, and therefore he made it to the dormitories. He climbed up yet another staircase to his dormitory and walked inside, not surprised to see that there was already someone in there.
"Hallo." Wolfbane said to the boy who was digging through his trunk looking for something.
The boy looked over at Wolfbane, tried to stammer a reply, blushed, and then got into his bed and closed the curtains. Wolfbane just shrugged and laid down in his bed. He thought about how he was going to have to plead forgiveness of his twin for making her cry tomorrow. He thought about how he had gained a new best friend today, without even trying. He thought about the boy who was sleeping in the bed across the room from him, and how the boy had been uncomfortable around him. He thought about how little Mordecai had more confidence that Wolfbane would ever have, even at such a young age.
Wolfbane closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. When he found that he couldn't sleep, he turned onto his back and stared at the top of his four poster bed. Again he started thinking about Mordecai. Even though Wolfbane was older than Mordecai, he wished that he could have Mordecai's personality. The little boy was so confident in himself.
Wolfbane thought, I could be like that, too.
He scrunched up his face. No, you can't.
His mind had other ideas. Yes, you can, if you just stop being so scared of yourself all of the time.
Wolfbane put a pillow over his face. No no no no no no no no no NO!
He started thinking about that boy in the Great Hall that had winked at him. His mind whispered to him that he could date that boy, if he wasn't such a wimp.
Shut up, shut up, shut up! Oh, but you could. You could be happy, and your sisters wouldn't have to worry about you all the time.
SHUT. UP. He thought. I need to stop thinking like this. Those things will never happen, so you need to stop now, before you get hurt. Wolfbane sighed and wiped the tears that were falling steadily from his eyes.
I'm just going to get hurt.
