There was a long, drawn out silence in which Camellia stared at her older brother, her world falling to pieces. Vaughn had been her best friend ever since she was two and he was five. And now he was telling her this? "What do you mean by that?" she asked, her voice a mixture of hurt and anger. He couldn't just walk away like this; they were family and family was forever. At least it was in her mind; apparently Vaughn thought differently.

Camellia gripped her wand tightly as he glared at her. She knew she couldn't use magic, but she sure as hell could keep a grip on her wand. Holding it was somehow the only reason she hadn't convinced herself the whole thing was a dream. "Cam put your wand down," he instructed.

"Don't call me that," she hissed. "My family calls me that, not those who are abandoning me,"

"I'm not-"

"It's the same damn thing! You're choosing that prejudiced maniac over your family-over me!"

"I'm trying to help you all, Camellia! If I join he won't target you and Max!"

"You're joining Voldemort! That's only going to make us targets, Vaughn, and you know it. And what are you going to tell Max, huh?"

"I'll tell him to try for Slytherin when he gets sorted, and when he's older he can join up as well,"

"You've got to be kidding me. Max? A Death Eater? They would ruin him, Vaughn!"

"It's my decision,"

"It's his life,"

"I'm the head of this family now, Camellia, and I won't stand for your behavior,"

"You are not my father,"

"No, but I could make you join as well. You'll make a lovely, silently obedient bride to whoever claims you first. You'll be married in; there will be no getting out of that,"

"You wouldn't dare,"

"Don't test me,"

Camellia bit back a reply as she heard the sound of Max's large feet running toward the dining room. He'd turned eleven early in the summer and he would be starting his first year at Hogwarts while Camellia entered her sixth. She knew how excited he was and she knew how much he wanted to follow after the rest of their family and go into Slytherin. But he was by far the kindest out of all of them, so Camellia was secretly hoping for Hufflepuff to come out of the Sorting Hat's mouth. Before she knew her older brother would have laughed at the outcome; now she wasn't so sure.

"Cam are there waffles?" Max asked excitedly as he ran into the room and sat in the chair next to hers.

"Not yet, but there will be," she said, her tone clipped and her voice still angry.

"What's going on?" he asked, finally realizing the tension that was overtaking the room.

"Cam's just being silly," Vaughn said, offering Max a smile. "She wasn't happy with my big news,"

Max's face lit up immediately. "What's your big news?"

"Do you remember what happened to our parents?" Vaughn asked bluntly. Max nodded solemnly and Camellia fought to keep herself from letting tears escape at the thought. "Well I've found a way to protect us so that never happens again,"

"How?"

"I've become a follower of the Dark Lord," he explained, showing off the tattoo like imagine on his arm. He grinned proudly, but Max's face took on a look of confusion.

"Aren't-Aren't they bad?" Max asked. "Cam says they're bad,"

"Cam doesn't know what she's talking about,"

"But Cam's the smartest-"

"Not when it comes to things like this. Don't you want our family to stay safe?"

"I-Yes, but-"

"This is the only way, Max. Maybe when you're older you'll understand and you'll join too,"

Max looked between Camellia and Vaughn with wide eyes before he nodded once. Vaughn seemed pleased with himself and began eating while Camellia and Max sat in silence, waiting for their house elf Mina to bring them their special off to Hogwarts breakfast. Mina seemed to sense that something was wrong when she walked into the room because she looked at Camellia with concerned eyes, but Camellia dismissed her with a quiet, "Thank you,"

The remainder of the meal passed in silence, Vaughn reading the Daily Prophet, Camellia glaring at the table, and Max throwing them each worried glances. Once she'd finished eating, Camellia pushed her chair away from the table. "I need to finish packing," she stated. Which was true; she had yet to put her books in her trunk and they had to leave for the train in an hour. At the same time the words got her away from her brother, who's arm was making her feel sick. He'd left his Dark Mark out in the open and Camellia couldn't handle looking at it.

She sighed as she got to her room, seeing the silver and green she'd decorated it with six years ago. Slytherin, her house, had meant something amazing then. It meant that she had ambition, that she would always persevere, and that she was smart enough to get herself out of sticky situations. But now it had pretty much been transformed into the house of evil. Which didn't mean that all from Slytherin were evil, but that was the reputation brought on by the sheer number of evil people that had come from the house. As much as she wanted Max to be in the same house as her, she knew no good would come to him in Slytherin. He didn't value ambition enough, for starters, and he was kinder and braver than anyone else in her house. The Slytherins would despise him for that.

After a brief fifteen minutes of getting herself ready for the long train ride, Camellia focused all of her attention on organizing her trunk and getting her textbooks to fit in perfectly. She knew that avoiding Vaughn for so long would only anger him, but Camellia couldn't face him at the moment. She had no idea how her sweet, playful brother had been turned into what he was now, but she suspected the fact that he worshipped Lucius Malfoy played a part in it.

At exactly ten o'clock, Mina appeared in her room and grabbed hold of her trunk. "Masters Vaughn and Maxwell are waiting downstairs, Miss," Mina said. "Are you ready as well?"

"Yes, I-Thank you Mina," she said, following the little elf out of the room and down to the front door.

"Are you both ready?" Vaughn asked, frowning when he saw Camellia. "Couldn't you put a little more effort into your appearance, Cam? I was serious before; we will have to find you a-"

"I think you should worry about your own marital status before mine, Vaughn," she said coldly. "It's a bloody train ride, Vaughn. I'm going to be sitting with Regulus Black and he doesn't give a damn about what I look like,"

Her brother scowled at her and Camellia tried to ignore the pain in her chest at the look. Only a day ago that same conversation would have been said in a joking manner. But now Camellia was furious with her brother and Vaughn was suddenly acting like a power-hungry dictator that she barely even recognized. "Cam can I sit with you?" Max asked.

"Of course," Camellia said without a second thought. She knew that Regulus, her best friend despite the two year age gap, wouldn't mind because he'd always been kind to Max on the few occasions they'd met. "Unless, of course, you've any qualms about that, Vaughn?"

His scowl deepened. "You know I don't," he said. "In fact I fully expect you to watch out for him these next two years,"

Max made a face and looked like he was about to launch into a speech about how he was old enough to look out for himself, but Camellia shook her head to make him stop. "If we don't leave we're going to be late," she muttered. "And as I currently have no desire to see you I'd like to leave," she added, knowing the words would infuriate her brother and taking pleasure in that fact.

Vaughn threw her an irritated glance before ruffling Max's hair and grabbing each of their arms. "Are you holding on to your trunks?" At their nods he smiled and waited a second before disapparating. When Camellia opened her eyes she was pleased to see they were on the platform. She wrenched her arm out of Vaughn's grip and turned to walk away before his hand found her shoulder. "Cam?"

"What?" she snapped.

"I trust you know well enough not to mention what I told you this morning to anyone?"

"I'm not an idiot. And it's not like I want to go advertising the fact that you're an idiot and-"

"Max? Will you keep this secret as well?"

"I will," he said, nodding and glancing at Camellia. "I'll see you at Christmas, Vaughn," Max quickly hugged their older brother before Camellia grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the train. A small crack was her evidence that Vaughn had left, so she quickly stopped and put her hands on Max's cheeks.

"I need you to listen to me," she said, watching his face fill with concern.

"Okay?"

"I want you to try for Hufflepuff,"

"For-But don't you want me to be in the same house as you?"

"Of course I do," Camellia said, looking at him with sad eyes. "And if it were a different time I would be happy for you to be in Slytherin. But half the people there are going to turn out to be like Vaughn; do you want to be like him?" Max hesitated before he slowly shook his head. "You're perfect for Hufflepuff; you should try to get in there,"

"But Vaughn says only useless witches and wizards go into Hufflepuff," Max whispered.

"And I say Vaughn is an idiot. It's for loyal people, Max, like you. Vaughn couldn't belong there so he thinks he has to hate it,"

"But if we're in different houses then you won't talk to me,"

"What gave you that idea?"

"You stopped talking to me a lot when you started Hogwarts," he mumbled.

Camellia frowned and quickly hugged her younger brother. "Well that's not going to happen,"

"Promise?"

"Prom-"

"Well isn't this touching," an amused voice said, making Camellia pull away and turn around quickly.

"Reg," she breathed, a smile forming on her face before she noticed that his parents were standing behind him. "Mr. and Mrs. Black," she said, using a much more formal voice than she was used to. "It's a pleasure to see you again,"

"What's this I hear about different houses?" Mrs. Black asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked between Camellia and Max.

"Max is just worried what will happen if he's not put in Slytherin," she lied easily. "I told him not to worry, Mrs. Black, because-"

"There's no way a Norewood could be anything else," Mrs. Black said, still frowning. "You do want to be in Slytherin, don't you Maxwell?"

He seemed surprised that she knew his actual first name, so he just stared at her with his mouth hanging open. Camellia quickly elbowed him and he nodded quickly. "Um, yes, Mrs. Black, I do,"

"Then there's nothing to worry about," she said, her frown finally disappearing. She turned to her son then, and patted his shoulder in a surprising show of affection. "I fully expect you back for Christmas," she said.

"Of course, Mother," he said.

She stepped away from him then and her frown returned. "Make sure to keep my Regulus and your brother away from that trash," she sniffed, glaring at something over Camellia's shoulder. Camellia turned around only to see Sirius Black about twenty feet away with his three friends, laughing loudly. There was pure joy on his face, an expression that would never be seen in the group Camellia was standing in. "You are the oldest; you're responsible for the both of them,"

Camellia fought the urge to roll her eyes at the woman because she knew if she did than Mrs. Black would never let her near Regulus again. And he'd been her best friend since her third year, because they'd both been on the receiving end of a prank by his brother. The action had bonded them and Camellia thought of Regulus as another younger brother. She didn't get along well with many of the other Slytherins, mainly because she didn't like to take the time to deal with their mind games. Her other friends resided in Ravenclaw, though Julie Andrews, the Hufflepuff prefect in her year, had finally gained her trust and they spoke every now and then.

"Study hard this year, Regulus," his father encouraged. There seemed to be an underlying meaning to the words because Regulus cringed slightly before he nodded. Camellia made a mental note to ask about the cringing, and a moment later his parents had disappeared into thin air.

"Sorry about them," he apologized quietly. "Mother can be a menace,"

Camellia laughed and shrugged. "Trust me, Vaughn was worse this morning," she said, watching Max's eyes go wide at the words. "He was, um, upset about having us both out of the house,"

Max seemed to relax slightly as she lied, though Camellia felt awful about it. She hated keeping secrets from Regulus, but she also did not want to broadcast what her brother was doing. "So are you sitting with us today, Max?" Regulus asked politely.

"Cam said I could,"

"Well at least I won't be the youngest then," Regulus said, glancing at Camellia. "That title goes to you now,"

After a few more minutes of standing on the platform Camellia convinced the two boys to climb on to the train so they could get a decent compartment. At that time there was still a half hour before the train left for Hogwarts so most compartments were still empty.

For a while Regulus appeased Max by asking about which classes he was most looking forward to and whether or not he wanted to get into quidditch when he was a second year. It was amusing to listen to for Camellia because Regulus was obviously trying to act more mature than he really was and Max was excitedly babbling about how much he was looking forward to his Potions class. It was her favorite class as well and she was looking forward to when he would come to her for help. And she knew he would; he'd already asked if he could come to her for help.

Once the train had started to move the conversation shifted to which sweets Cam would be buying for them all; Regulus promised to fund their chocolate needs for the Hogsmeade trip and Camellia thought that was fair. They were so caught up in their debate of which kind of candy was best that they hardly noticed the door to the compartment slide open. Camellia only looked up when Max tugged on her arm and what she saw definitely didn't please her. Cam glared at the three boys standing in the entry as Regulus stiffened beside her. After realizing that neither Regulus nor Max were going to say anything Camellia cleared her throat. "I didn't realize the three of you were friends," she said coldly, looking at Sirius Black and James Potter. They each had an arm on Severus Snape, who simply looked defeated. "Let him go; no one needs this today,"

"Quite the contrary, actually," Sirius said, smirking. "See Snivellus here wouldn't leave poor Evans alone so James and I were looking for the trash so we could put him there and he would feel at home. I saw brother dearest here and knew we'd found it,"

Camellia's eyes narrowed as Max's chin began to tremble. No one had ever said something remotely mean to him before and then Sirius Black had to go and ruin that. She was very prepared to tell them off, but Max opened his mouth before she could. "You don't have to be so mean," he said boldly. "If he really was bothering someone then tell him to go away and be done. You don't have to drag him around and embarrass him,"

Camellia lost the glare and grinned proudly at her brother, who was looking at her for reassurance. "Hufflepuff," she muttered, smiling widely.

Sirius and James seemed to have a silent argument with each other before they released Severus' arms and shoved him into the compartment. "Stay away from Lily," James muttered.

With that they left and Severus took the opportunity to glare at Max and Camellia. "I don't need-" he began.

"He saved your ass, Severus, just sit down and shut up,"

"Don't tell me what to do, Norewood,"

"Then don't be an idiot," she muttered. "Go back out and chase after Evans if you want, but those two will grab hold of you again and I'm positive they wouldn't bring you back here again,"

He seemed to want to walk away, but after a few seconds he lowered himself into the seat next to Max. Who, of course, took it upon himself to get Severus to talk. "So, what's your favorite subject? Are you friends with Cam too?"

"No," he muttered. After a few seconds and a furious look from Camellia he added, "Potions,"

Regulus laughed at the excitement that stole Max's features. For the rest of the train ride Severus actually talked to Max about Potions, which surprised both Camellia and Regulus. They took the opportunity to talk in whispers about their summers. Regulus seemed to be holding some things back, though Camellia did the same so she wasn't mad. With Regulus' parents there were things he definitely wanted to hide, and now that Camellia's brother had gone off and become a Death Eater she had things to hide as well.

The train ride passed quickly after that. Camellia was content in her compartment, and she was actually still surprised that Severus was willing talking to anyone who wasn't Lily Evans. Though she should have known if anyone could get that kind of response from the angry boy then it would be her brother; Max had a talent for bringing out the best in people. She admired her younger brother for that fact alone as what Camellia usually brought out was sarcastic comments. She took more after Vaughn than Max did, not in the Death Eater way, but most of their personality traits were similar. They were both fairly rough around the edges; Max was the opposite. Camellia was half sure that was why she liked him so much.

Soon enough she was hugging Max tightly before he left her to go to the boats that would bring him up to the castle. She was left with Severus and Regulus then, who were quietly trying to figure out how Remus Lupin became a prefect. It had happened the previous year so Camellia was sure the only reason they were still talking about it was because neither liked the other boy. Camellia didn't really have a preference on him. She wasn't a fan of James or Sirius, as they were both rude to many of the other students. Peter Pettigrew was annoying in her opinion because he just followed blindly after the other two. The main redeeming factor for Remus Lupin was the fact that she'd never heard him say something hurtful; if she'd heard that she'd probably dislike him about as much as she disliked the other three.

"Must you insist on talking about one of those boys every second?" she muttered, narrowing her eyes at Severus. He glared right back at her and continued talking without acknowledging her words in any other way. Camellia leaned her head against the side of their carriage with an overdramatic sigh to show her irritation; the two boys obviously didn't care.

When they reached the great hall Regulus wandered off to find some of his friends in his own year. Which meant, of course, that Camellia was stuck with a suddenly silent Severus Snape, who was taking every opportunity to glare at people from other houses as they passed. She bit back an irritated remark and watched the teacher's table with fake interest as they sat in silence.

Camellia was relieved to see the first years walk in, because she saw Max talking to a brown-haired girl standing next to him. She was especially relieved to see that he seemed to be over the nerves he'd had earlier. She waited patiently for his name to be called, and once it was she smiled as he walked up and sat on the stool. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, set the hat on his head and Max looked nervous once again. For a few seconds there was silence in the great hall before the hat proudly called out, "Gryffindor!"

Her mouth fell open at the same time as Max's, and he quickly looked to her with a panicked expression on his face. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to form some sort of response, but Camellia could only nod slightly as Professor McGonagall pulled the hat off his head and gave him a small push toward the cheering table. "Shame," Severus muttered.

"What?" Camellia asked stupidly.

"Your brother is in a house full of idiots; and to think I thought he was halfway decent,"

"He's amazing," Camellia said defensively. "His house does not define him,"

With that she turned her attention away from him and watched the rest of the sorting, all the while wondering how on earth she could have been wrong about which house her brother would end up in. He was sweet and loyal; she'd been sure it would be Hufflepuff. But Gryffindor? The house that was supposed to be her rival? She hadn't expected that at all. Camellia threw a worried glance at the Gryffindor table before food appeared in front of her and she began to eat.