The change among their year group was obvious over the next day. A lot more of the older years paid attention to Aurora now, many of them nodding to acknowledge her when she made her way around the school. It was a nice feeling, to be recognised and appreciated by the other students. Even though she was exhausted all through her classes the next day, she couldn't help but be proud of what she'd achieved at the initiation.

At dawn on Saturday morning, they all traipsed back to the common room. Sally-Anne Perks and Apollo Jones sat, pale and tired-looking, on the sofa. "Your peers," Ursula Flint said as the last boys trickled in, "have now completed their initiation, witnessed by myself. It is now time for this group to complete your bonding ritual to one another.

"This ritual is an age-old tradition. From now on you are a family. You will not turn your backs on one another. You will support, defend, and protect one another. No matter what happens within these walls, to the rest of the school you are one entity, one family, and you will come to the defense of one another in any situation, should it be required. Gather into a circle, wet your fingertips in the basin in the middle here, and then join hands."

From the looks on everyone else's faces, they all felt a bit foolish, but nevertheless they all dipped their fingers in the same water basin and joined hands in a circle like children, Aurora between Draco and Daphne. "From this day forth," said Ursula, "I proclaim you Slytherins. Say these words together. Et mare magnum et callidus anguis. Et intellectivum sunt diversa saecula, quod sumus."

"Et mare magnum et callidus anguis," Aurora repeated in a murmur. "Et intellectivum sunt diversa saecula, quod sumus."

Ursula smiled at them. "Participes nos autem in nomine Slytherin vinculum, quod nulla oblivione rumpitur."

"Participes nos autem in nomine Slytherin vinculum, quod nulla oblivione rumpitur."

"Release your hands."

Aurora could already feel the magic pulsing between them, passing from one Slytherin to another. A bond that could not be broken. "Congratulations," Ursula Flint said, a proud gleam in her eyes. "For anyone wondering, you just swore yourselves bonded under Slytherin. The first part is the Slytherin motto: Be great as the sea and sly as the snake. Forever they are united, as we are. The second part is your bonding oath. We share a bond in the name of Slytherin, never to be broken." Ursula smiled at them. "You join a legacy of thousands before you, and you join yourselves in spirit, magic, and friendship. Well done. I hope you will do Salazar proud."

In the week or so after the bonding and initiation, it became clear that the Slytherins had all, whether they liked it or not, grown much closer, while also quickly creating their own heirarchy. Aurora noticed she was more often invited to conversation, and the year group seemed to naturally gravitate to new positions on the first year sofas, with her or Theodore often claiming the favoured spot on the comfiest sofa next to the most ornate coffee table. She didn't know if the other students had noticed their new dynamic, or if the other houses had undergone similar ceremonies, but she was glad she had been through it and come out of it the way she did.

Their bonding, too, could not have come at a better time. The second Saturday of November would see Slytherin playing Gryffindor, and rumour had it that Potter would be playing Seeker. "It's ridiculous," Draco declared, pacing up and down with his robes swishing behind him. "Utterly ridiculous! Wait until my father hears about this, we weren't even allowed to try out! I bet this is why he got his broom! Stupid — stupid scarhead Potter!"

Aurora shared his sentiments quite fully. She dearly hoped that Slytherin destroyed Gryffindor as they had reportedly done last year, for she didn't think she could take Potter being victorious in his first match as Seeker. Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, seemed entirely at ease. "Have you seen the size of him?" he sneered. "A faint wind'll blow him off his broom, and he's a first year. I'm not worried about Potter."

They all woke early and excited on the day of the match. "Here's to Slytherin's seven year streak," the Quidditch Captain, Marcus Flint, said at the breakfast table, raising his glass of pumpkin juice.

"Here, here!" they all cried in response, beaming.

By eleven o'clock, the whole school had traipsed down to the Quidditch Pitch. Crabbe elbowed a second year out of the way so they could squeeze into the front of the stands and get the best view, both Aurora and Draco leaning excitedly over the railings. "Even if Potter is Seeker," Draco was saying, "which would be ridiculous, Higgs has him beat in every way."

"Potter has a Nimbus Two Thousand though," Aurora pointed out with a scowl. "When I'm on the team next year, I'm going to get a better broom and then he'll see."

"You think you're going to be on the team?" Draco asked with a laugh.

"Well," she said, "Higgs will be leaving next year, which leaves Seeker open, and that would be my best position. Course, Andrews leaving means there'll be a Chaser spot open, too." She smirked at Draco. "Maybe you could get a reserve spot."

Draco scoffed. "Flint wouldn't even give you a reserve spot, Aurora."

"Why not? I'm better than you are, aren't I?"

Draco glared at her. "Sod off, Aurora." He stomped over to stand by Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, leaving Aurora with Theodore and Daphne.

"He's right. Girls don't get on the team," Theodore said, and Daphne jabbed him in the stomach with her wand. "Ouch!"

"And that isn't our fault," Daphne told him. "Is it?"

They were saved from any further argument by a great cheer going up around them. The two teams had just come out of the changing rooms, Gryffindor in long scarlet robes and Slytherin in a classic emerald, all of them bearing their brooms. Aurora could see Potter just behind Oliver Wood, looking pale and nervous as he clutched his Nimbus Two Thousand.

She smirked as they mounted their brooms and the captains shook hands. Madam Hooch counted down and then blew sharply on her whistle. The two teams took to the air. "Come on, Slytherin!" Aurora yelled out enthusiastically with the roar of her classmates behind her.

It was a dirty game, but that was no surprise. Lee Jordan, the commentator, was a Gryffindor — which Aurora thought entirely unfair -a and as such he made a great deal out of Flint almost knocking Potter off of his broom in what Aurora thought was a completely fair tackle, and said nothing when Terrence Higgs had a Bludger swung at him by a Weasley and very nearly had his head taken off. "Rotten commentating," Theodore muttered under his breath. "Why'd they get a Gryffindor to do it?"

But they were stopped from their anger soon. Potter's broom had started behaving very strangely, like it was trying to buck him off. "What's happening?" Aurora asked, staring around.

"I don't know," Daphne said, staring. "I thought you said it was a Nimbus Two Thousand he had."

"It is," Aurora told her. "Draco!" Draco had a pair of binoculars, which he turned on her, looking quite silly. "Put those down. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Draco said, stowing the binoculars away. He looked slightly pink. "Looks like Potter's got himself a cursed broom."

"Who did it?"

"I don't know," Draco said, looking up gleefully as Potter was swung off of the broom, dangling by its handle. "But whoever it is, they're my idol."

"He's going to fall off!" Theodore sounded unexpectedly alarmed. "Merlin's beard!"

Aurora watched as Potter's broom bucked, as she swung wildly in the air. The whole game appeared to have been unofficially suspended, as she and all the others watched. Then there was a cry from the staff box, and as suddenly as it had begun, Potter's broom stopped bucking. Aurora stared at him, and then her gaze went to the staff box, where Snape was slightly smoking. That was the cause of the disturbance there, and it had stopped right at the same time.

She looked back to Potter, who was white in the face but had regained his position on his broom. And then it wasn't long before the game started to end. The two Seekers had both gone into deep dives, and Potter and Higgs plummeted neck and neck down towards the Snitch. Aurora's heart was in her throat. "Come on, Higgs!" she yelled over the din of the crowd. "Come on now! You can beat Potter! Come on, Higgs!"

But Potter was slipping past Higgs. He was gaining further towards the Snitch, racing towards the ground. "Someone hit a Bludger!" Draco shrieked. "Get him!"

No one did. About five feet from the ground, Potter reared up, stumbling to stand. "He looks like he's going to be sick!"

Aurora stared, transfixed, as Potter seemed to retch and then, heaving, a tiny speck of gold fell from his mouth. The Snitch. "That can't be allowed!" Draco howled. "He didn't catch it, he near swallowed it!"

But it didn't seem to matter. The Gryffindors were swarming the pitch in delight as the official score was announced, Gryffindor winning by over a hundred points, and Aurora trooped sadly back to the dungeons with her housemate. "Load of rubbish," she muttered. "They shouldn't have a first year playing in the first place! Absolute rubbish!"

They all went to bed in a mood that night.

Aurora woke unexpectedly in the middle of the night from a dream she could hardly remember. Something with a flying motorbike and a dancing stag. She shook her head, checking the time of her watch, which lay on her bedside table. It was half past three. Groaning, she rolled over and tried to shut her eyes again, but she could hear someone sniffling. No, not just sniffling. Crying.

"Tearston?" she asked the darkness. The crying stopped momentarily and then resumed louder. Irritation prickled at her. Aurora wanted to get her to stop crying, but didn't think that simply telling her to cut it out would be helpful. She got up, turning the light in, and looked over at Gwendolyn's curled up form. "Why are you crying?"

Gwendolyn let out a sob. "It doesn't matter. Go away, Black."

"This is my room," she reminded her, prickling. "I'm not going to go away. I want to know why you're crying." That just made Gwendolyn cry harder. Aurora switched tack, but she wasn't very used to girls crying in front of her. She hated crying. She tried not to let her tired irritation show in her voice. "Gwendolyn? It's alright. You can tell me, or I can get Tracey or Clarissa for you."

Gwendolyn let out a loud sob and sat up, covering her face with her hands. "You can't!" she cried. "They don't even like me!"

Aurora was taken aback by this. "I thought the three of you were friends?"

Gwendolyn shook her head vigorously. "No! I thought so but — but they ditched me after a couple of weeks and they've been friends for the longest time. I don't know how to make friends. Everyone here seems to have known each other forever!"

"But—" Aurora spluttered, confused. "Then where have you been going if you're not in their room?"

Gwendolyn buried her head in her hands. "I've been sleeping in the common room some nights. Or I get up early and come in late." She looked at Aurora and burst into a wet sob, shaking her head again.

"You really hate me that much?" Her stomach felt sour at the realisation.

"You hate me!" Gwendolyn cried, and Aurora blinked. "You — you — they said your father's a murderer! He killed all those people and more, and he hated Muggleborns and you're the same!"

"Who said that?" Aurora demanded furiously. "Davis and Drought?" She got to her feet abruptly and swept over to Gwendolyn, who trembled. "Look at me," she said. "Look at me!"

She shouted the command, and Gwendolyn looked at her with wide, scared eyes. "Listen here, Gwendolyn. I am not my father, alright? I hate him. My family hates him; not for the reasons most people do, but they still do. I'm a lot of things and I don't care what people think of me for what I do, but don't judge me on my father. I'm not a murderer. I don't hate you, and I have no intentions of hurting you, either." She looked down nervously, feeling guilt in her stomach. "I didn't know you had nowhere to go," she admitted quietly. "I thought everytime you weren't here you were with Davis and Drought, so I never really questioned it. Perhaps I should have — but you shouldn't have assumed my personality based on what Davis and Drought told you."

Gwendolyn swallowed and shook her head. "I just — I didn't want to share a room with — with you." That stung. It really did. "The people here don't like people like me. They don't like Muggleborns, and I know you're the same."

Aurora blinked in surprise. "Wait, you're a Muggleborn?" She hadn't even known. Had never thought she was a Muggleborn, just that she was a half blood whose family name she didn't know.

"Yes," Gwendolyn told her tearfully. "And you all hate me for it and it isn't my fault! I didn't know anything about the Wizarding World! I had no idea! Everyone judges me! Even — even Tracey and Clarissa do, I know they do!" She breathed in deeply, lip wobbling.

"I didn't know," Aurora said, taking a step back. This whole time she'd been sharing a room with a Muggleborn girl and she hadn't even known. She didn't like Gwendolyn, though she didn't hate her, but... If she'd known she was a Muggleborn, would that have made a difference?

"So you think people judge you because of your parents," she said, keeping her voice as even as she could. "People judge me because of my father every day. All of them. Some because he's a murderer, and a Death Eater, and they're not in the wrong to hate him. Some people, like my grandmother, hate him because he was a blood traitor. Because he liked Muggles and Muggleborns, and he turned his back on his family and betrayed them and joined Gryffindor." She clenched his fists. "I... I don't know if they're right there or not. I've never really been able to reconcile the two. I know it — it isn't the same thing. But the point is we both get judged by things we can't help. I don't judge you for being a Muggleborn — I didn't even know you were, that's how non-judgmental I am — so you shouldn't judge me for my father being a murder."

"Those are two very different things."

"I know." Aurora bit her lip. "I really am sorry for making you not have anywhere to go. I didn't realise."

Gwendolyn looked at her fearful but must have realised the sincerity in her voice. "And I'm sorry for ass-assuming you were like your father," she said very quickly. "Tracey and Clarissa told me that first night and... Well, it was scary to share a room with the daughter of a mass murderer!" Aurora smiled wryly. "But you were decent a couple of times. There were times I even thought you might be friendly, in the first few weeks."

"Then I yelled at you," Aurora said, remembering. "I'm sorry." It took a lot for her to say that, but she was glad that she did.

"I shouldn't have believed what they said, and been so frightened. It was a bit pathetic of me. This is all just... So strange." Gwendolyn held out her hand, pinkie extended. "Friends?"

Aurora stared at her for a moment. Be friends with a Muggleborn? It was the kind of thing her father got in trouble for. Did it count as blood betrayal? Maybe not quite, not if it was only one. And if she didn't know Gwendolyn was a Muggleborn then maybe the others didn't either. She was still a Slytherin after all. And her roommate — her family would surely understand the logistics of being on friendly terms with her roommate of seven years. Just for practical reasons, she kind of had to make amends with Gwendolyn. She couldn't well let this go on and end up getting her in trouble.

So that was why she smiled. She reached out her own pinkie and hooked it with Gwendolyn's, a little nervous, but also kind of hopeful. "Yeah," she said, grinning. "Friends."