Everyone was gathered in the great hall, sat at their respective house tables with the professors and the headmaster, Orlon, arranged at the front.
Dorian, sitting on the Ravenclaw table, was back to back with Chaol who sat at the Gryffindor table next to him.
He watched as the new first years shuffled in. Some of them had a swagger they didn't yet deserve but most just surveyed their surroundings with a mixture of awe and fear. One of those sure Slytherins with the swagger was Dorian's brother, Hollin, and Chaol's brother, who displayed nothing but awe, was Terrin.
They reached the front of the hall and the first person went up to have the rugged sorting hat placed upon their head. After a few names were called, it was Hollin's turn.
Barely a second later, the hat announced that he would be in Slytherin. Even though it was no surprise, it was confirmation of his true nature. At Dorian's face of dismay, Nehemia turned around and assured him that there are some decent people in Slytherin and that they're not all necessarily evil but Dorian knew better when it came to his brother and a look at Chaol told him that he did too.
Hollin sat at the Slytherin table and appeared to be completely at home as he relished the applause he received from his new house and his smile turned grim as it met Aelin's neutral face. They had met when she had stayed at his house for a couple of days on Christmas break while her parents were away. He had instantly hated her likability and energetic aura and even though she had tried to be nice to him, it made no difference.
A long while later, it was Terrin's turn. Chaol and his brother were much closer than Dorian and Hollin were and Chaol had expressed his hope of having him in Gryffindor with him. Terrin sat on the stool and shot a smile at Dorian, then at Chaol and then it made its way around to Aelin, who he had met when they were together and who he had taken an immediate liking to, and each of them gave him a warm grin in return.
"Ravenclaw."
The hat had made its decision and Chaol turned around to Dorian and said over the applause, "look after him for me."
Dorian gave an earnest nod while Terrin came and sat nearby him and Dorian allowed himself to think about how much he would have preferred to have Terrin as a brother instead of Hollin but Chaol was closer to him than his brother so that extended to Terrin. In that moment, Dorian vowed to guide him the right way and to treat him as the brother he never had.