Faith Alexander woke early on July 26, her eleventh birthday. For a moment she lay in bed, savoring the fact that she was one year older, watching the sunlight cast dancing rainbows on her light yellow walls with her warm blankets pulled up to her chin. Finally she rolled out of bed and strolled over to her small closet, searching for the perfect outfit to wear on her special day. Eleven was a very important age for her. Finally, after years and years of waiting, she was old enough to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Faith studied every piece of clothing in her closet critically. Yellow? Too bright. Blue? Fine normally, but... just too plain for today. Purple? Probably not, it usually made her look pale. Green? No, she didn't want to look like a plant on her eleventh birthday. Orange? No. Just... no. Red? Absolutely not!

Finally, a pale pink sleeve caught her eye, and she pulled a shirt she'd never seen before out of the closet. It was lovely, with flared sleeves, a low neckline layered underneath with lace, and a black sash. Paired with a pair of dark jeans, it would be perfect.

"Thanks, Mum," Faith whispered happily, before wriggling out of her nightgown and into her chosen outfit. The new shirt fit perfectly. She surveyed herself in the mirror. With the new shirt on, she could almost make herself believe she was pretty, when in reality she knew she wasn't. Her hair wasn't what could be called blond, but it wasn't brown either, and it was more frizzy than curly. She was a little more chubby than she should be, and her face was round and a bit fat. Her only pretty feature were her eyes, which were large, thick-lashed, and dark blue. But today, Faith could look like Medusa and not care; the day was too special. With a little skip, she raced out of her room and down the hall.

---

"KAICI! UP! NOW!!"

Kaici Golden moaned loudly and pulled her pillow over her head. "NO, MUM!!"

"KAICI, I'M WARNING YOU!"

"FINE! FINE! I'M GETTING UP! ARE YOU HAPPY??" Kaici roared, before rolling out of bed, muttering to herself. She surveyed the mess of clothing on her floor for a moment, then grabbed a wrinkled black shirt and a pair of jeans and threw them on carelessly. What did it matter that today was her eleventh birthday? Nothing, apparently, judging by her mother's attitude.

Kaici ran a brush through her long hair and peered into her mirror. Even dressed the way she was, no one could deny that Kaici was very pretty. Her skin was tan, her eyes were a deep green, and her hair was silky and strawberry-blond. She was thin and willowy, and moved with a natural grace. The overall look made her seem as if she should have been born royalty, not living in this tiny room with one tiny, dim light, no windows, and rotting wood-panel walls and flooring.

"KAICI!"

"COMING!" Kaici dropped the hairbrush to the floor and raced out of the room, slamming the door behind her and causing dust and mold to fall to the floor from the derelict ceiling.

She reached the little kitchen quickly, where her mother was making breakfast. Edith Golden had once been as pretty as her daughter, but now she looked frazzled and much older than she really was. The woman shoved a plate of eggs and bacon into her daughter's hands and ushered her over to the wobbly table.

"I'm sorry I was so sharp with you, Kaici, but I want to get you out of the house before your father comes out," Mrs. Golden whispered. "Your owl came and we'll be going to get your Hogwarts things today. We'll celebrate your birthday while we're out."

So she hadn't forgotten. Kaici nodded, a smile playing on her lips, and began shoveling eggs into her mouth. Just as she was done, her father came banging out of her parent's room. She froze. Her mother looked at her in terror.

---

Caya McKinnon yawned, pushing her glasses up her nose as she read the last few sentences of her favorite book, Hogwarts, a History. Finally finishing it, she glanced over at her clock and suppressed a moan. 7:35. She was five minutes late for breakfast already, and she still had to get dressed. Her mother would be furious. Caya clambered out of bed and straightened her bedsheets desperately before racing to her closet and haphazardly tugging on a dark blue sweater and a pair of pants.

Caya stared into her mirror sleepily, pulling her mousy brown hair into a quick ponytail. She wasn't ugly or pretty; in fact, the word most apt to describe her would be average. Average height, average weight, average hair color, average eye color (brown). The only thing un-average about her was her intelligence; she was very smart for her age and had learned to read at a very early age. She loved learning new things.

Satisfied with her ponytail, Caya clattered out of her room and down the hall. She sprinted down the stairs and skidded, panting, to a halt inside the dining room, where her mother and elder sister were currently assembled.

Hildegarde McKinnon looked up from her breakfast, a stern look on her face. "Caya, you're late. Breakfast started seven minutes ago."

"I'm sorry, Mother," Caya said politely, settling down at the table and placing her napkin in her lap. She pulled the platter of pancakes toward her and put two on her plate, then drizzled syrup over them and tucked in.

"Sorry is no excuse," Mrs. McKinnon said sharply. "Marlene is never late."

Caya could think of no reply to this, so instead she continued to eat. Mrs. McKinnon, however, wasn't finished with her younger daughter. "I suppose you were wasting your time reading one of those novels of yours," she said scathingly. "Most of them are Muggle trash. Marlene never reads novels."

"I was reading, Mother," Caya began composedly. "but it wasn't a novel, it was Hogwarts, a History. And just because a novel is written by a Muggle doesn't make it trash."

Mrs. McKinnon snorted. "You are a pure-blood, Caya!" she scolded. "You should not be associating yourself with Muggles."

"Can I ask you a question, Mother?" Caya asked, voice honey-sweet even though she was furious. "Are you sure that you were a Gryffindor? Your pure-blood mania seems to be something a Slytherin would have."

Mrs. McKinnon swelled with anger, all thoughts of breakfast forgotten. "Do not be smart with me, Caya! Honestly, I don't understand where you get your cheek. Marlene is never smart."

Before Caya could respond, thirteen-year-old Marlene herself, the picture of prettiness with her honey-blond ringlets and blue eyes, interrupted quickly. "Please don't be angry with her, Mother; it's her birthday."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Mrs. McKinnon acknowledged condescendingly. "Though I had hoped she would be more mature by now. After all, she will be starting at Hogwarts in September. You were already so grown up by age eleven, Marlene."

Caya rolled her eyes and continued to eat, more quickly.

"You should eat slower, Caya," Mrs. McKinnon reprimanded. "Marlene always eats so slowly."

Caya put her bites in a fraction more slowly.

"Sit up straight, Caya," Mrs. McKinnon snapped. "Marlene always sits like a lady."

And so it went, on and on and on. "Marlene never slurps her milk." "Marlene always takes lady-like bites." Marlene never gets second helpings." "Marlene never has to use her napkin." "Caya, why can't you be more like Marlene?"

Finally, Caya couldn't take it anymore. She leaped up from the table, sending her chair clattering to the floor, and, with tears streaming down her face, she screamed, "Well, if Marlene is so perfect, why did you have another kid?" Then, before anyone could say anything else, she raced out of the room.

---

Oleander Snape woke suddenly to a pillow in the face.

"Olli! Happy birthday!"

Oleander moaned and opened her eyes blearily to see her twin brother Severus's face inches from her own. She pushed him away and moaned, "Sev!"

"Good morning to you too," Severus said cheekily.

"What time is it?" she asked, sitting up. Somehow, even after just waking up, her silky black hair managed to fall prettily about her shoulders and her black eyes were shining. She was the kind that wasn't exactly pretty, but made you look twice at her. Everything in her manner, from the tilt of her head to the small sneer playing on her lips, showed that she was sly, proud, and not one to cross. The look her onyx eyes were currently giving her brother would have made any other person run for their lives, but Severus seemed quite unfazed.

"Oh, about six-thirty," Severus replied, rather brightly.

"Six thirty?? What possessed you?" Oleander wailed, though secretly pleased.

"Shhhh!!!" Severus whispered frantically. "You'll wake Mum and Dad."

Oleander's face sobered immediately. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"Well, first of all, to give you this," Severus said, shoving a tiny and crudely wrapped package into her hands, "But Lily invited us to her house for a special birthday celebration. She said you don't have to come if you don't want to, and I know you don't really like her, so you don't have to come."

"No, no, I'll come," Oleander said quickly, not wanting to upset Severus on their eleventh birthday. "What time?"

"We're meeting her at seven thirty," Severus responded. He looked supremely happy at being able to spend a full day with Lily Evans and Oleander had to suppress an eye roll.

"Fine," Oleander snapped, before digging under her bed, pulling out a package, and lobbing it playfully at her brother's face. "Happy birthday. Now get out so I can get dressed."

Severus winked and exited the room. Oleander transferred her attention to the little box in her hands and pulled the paper off. She lifted the lid off curiously, and gasped at the necklace resting inside. It was gorgeous. A golden locket in the shape of a heart, suspended from an amazingly fine chain. Pressed into the heart was an engraving of a small oleander flower. Oleander smiled softly and turned the locket over. There was an inscription on the back that read: Happy eleventh birthday, Olli. Love, Sev.

Oleander flicked the locket open. There weren't any pictures in it, but a small folded piece of paper fluttered out of it and she snatched it up.

I figured you'd want to put your own pictures in, it read in Severus's cramped, tiny handwriting. I hope you like it.

Oleander grinned, snapped the locket shut, and clasped it around her neck. It was turning out to be a great day.

Faith walked into the kitchen with the smell of fresh muffins filling her nose.

"Morning, Daddy," she said, smiling and settling down at the kitchen table, where a large platter of chocolate chip muffins sat waiting for her alongside a tall glass of milk.

Her father peered over the top of his morning Daily Prophet and smiled benignly at his daughter. "Happy birthday, sweetie. You look pretty today."

Faith bit into a muffin and felt the sweet taste of the partly melted chocolate rush into her mouth. An automatic flicker of a grin crossed her face and she closed her eyes, savoring the taste. Finally she chewed, swallowed, and said, "Thanks. It's a new shirt, I found it in my closet this morning."

Mr. Alexander nodded. "Your mother put it there last night. She knew you'd like it."

Faith raised her eyebrows. "She was in my room last night? I figured... I mean, I thought... that is..."

"Don't worry, I was in there too," Mr. Alexander said quickly, saving his daughter from her frantic stammering. "She was okay, nothing could have happened."

There was a bit of an awkward silence; finally Faith broke it. "Are you going into work today?"

Mr. Alexander set down his paper, picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and nodded. "Only for a few hours. I've got a report to finish about a recent upscale in Dark magic."

"Recent Dark magic? What kind of Dark magic?" Faith asked quickly, scanning her father's face. Mr. Alexander looked regretful that he had mentioned anything.

"It's nothing, really," he said hastily. "Just a few nasty accidents happening in a few old Muggle towns. It may not even be Dark magic, our Head is just being cautious. Faith, would you like to go into Diagon Alley today when I get home?"

"Yes!" Faith exclaimed, all thoughts of faraway Dark magic forgotten as she imagined Hogwarts. Then she remembered something that had been on her mind for a while. "Dad, what House were you in?"

"Me? I was a Gryffindor," Mr. Alexander said, looking quite proud of himself.

"Oh," Faith said. Would her father expect her to get into Gryffindor? She didn't exactly think that Gryffindor would be right for her. But if she didn't get in, what would her father think? Faith was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she barely heard her father say he'd be back by lunch. Suddenly Hogwarts didn't seem as great as she had first thought.

---

"Edith! Where's my coffee?" Kaici's father shouted, pushing roughly past his daughter as though she was just a piece of furniture and settling down at the kitchen table.

"It's coming, Ben. Just a moment," Mrs. Golden said sweetly, while making frantic motions at Kaici to leave the kitchen. Kaici set her dishes in the sink and tried to stroll nonchalantly out of the room, but Ben Golden, a formidable and angry-looking man, looked up from his paper and snarled, "And where are you going, then?"

Kaici turned slowly, swallowing down the sudden fear that had washed over her. "I'm just about to brush my teeth, Daddy," she said.

Ben Golden snorted. "I'm surprised you even feel the need to," he snapped. "I didn't think witches cared about their appearance." He put as much contempt as possible into the word witches, as though being a witch was the worst possible thing anyone could be.

Mrs. Golden was mouthing Don't rise, Kaici, just go, looking terrified, but a wave of anger had replaced Kaici's fear and she crossed her arms, a frightening glare forming on her face.

"That's a stereotype. Most witches care very much about their appearances. I know I care about mine more than you do about yours," she added scathingly, her gaze raking over her father's clothes, which were stained, ripped, and looked as though they hadn't been washed in a month.

Mr. Golden stood up and stepped forward until he was right in front of Kaici, towering over his daughter. "I don't like your cheek, girl," he bellowed, spraying everything in the vicinity with spit.

"I don't like your attitude," Kaici replied calmly. "I am a witch and there is nothing you can do about it. And what's more, I'm proud of being one."

Mr. Golden grabbed his daughter's arm and shook her hard. "Proud? Proud, are you? What about your brother, then, are you proud about that, huh, missy?" he roared, a half- crazed look in his eyes.

"Ben, you let her go right now," Mrs. Golden snapped firmly, one hand going to her pocket.

"Don't you take that thing out," Ben warned, squeezing Kaici's arm tighter, so that she had to bite her lip to keep from whimpering in pain. "I want her to answer my question. Well?"

"That- wasn't- my- fault!" Kaici cried, struggling furiously against her father's grip. With an inarticulate roar, Mr. Golden flung Kaici from him. She flew backward several feet and plowed into the table, sending splintered wood and her father's breakfast things crashing into the wall. Her mother's screech of rage was the last thing she heard.

---

Caya sobbed brokenly into her pillow, glasses askew on her face. Before, no matter how much her mother loved Marlene, she had always had time for Caya's birthday. But now...

"Caya?"

Caya raised her tear-streaked face and looked at her sister. "What?"

Marlene sat down on the end of the bed, leaned forward, and straightened her sister's glasses. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Caya replied shortly.

"No, you're not," Marlene said, annoyingly. "You're upset. And you have every right to be. Caya, I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's not your fault," Caya said quickly.

"Yes, it is," Marlene protested. "If I wasn't so perfect..."

"No, it's not that," Caya began slowly, voicing something that she had been thinking for a while. "Mother's the kind of person who thinks her first-born can do no wrong. It's not your fault you're the oldest."

"Whatever the case, I'm still sorry," Marlene said. "And I've got a surprise for your birthday."

Caya perked up immediately. "What is it?"

"Mother said you and I can go to Diagon Alley alone to get your school things. We'll go out for ice cream at Fortescue's and I'll help you pick out a good owl. How does that sound?"

Caya grinned and hugged her older sister tightly. "Thanks, Marlene."

Marlene got up to leave; Caya stopped her. "Marlene?"

"Yes?"

"What if I end up like Uncle Dilius? What do you think'll happen?"

"You won't end up like Uncle Dilius," Marlene said firmly. "You aren't Slytherin material."

"But what if I end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?" Caya persisted. "Will I get kicked out like he did?"

"No, Caya," Marlene snapped testily. "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are perfectly good and noble Houses to be in. You have nothing to worry about."

But Caya saw a look of unease and worry on her older sister's face as Marlene left the room, and wasn't altogether sure she believed her.

---

"Happy birthday, Sev, Oleander!"

Oleander resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Lily Evan's early morning cheerfulness. She had been competing with Lily for Sev's attention for years and so far was losing. Ever since Severus had become close friends with Lily, Oleander had hated the red-headed Muggleborn with a bitter hatred. She had desperately hoped, despite the constant evidence to the contrary, that Lily was pure Muggle like her older sister, but the hopes that Lily would not be joining them at Hogwarts had been dashed the week earlier when the Hogwarts letters had been sent out.

"Thanks, Lil," Severus said, grinning. He nudged Oleander pointedly.

"Oh- er- thanks, Lily," Oleander said absently, looking around at the decorations covering Lily's kitchen. Streamers hung from the ceiling, confetti was all over the table, and a huge banner over the refrigerator read, "HAPPY ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY TO SEVERUS AND OLEANDER!" Overdone, exactly the way Oleander hated things. She didn't like attention. She liked to be left alone. Unfortunately, Lily Evans enjoyed going all out. And therefore, so did Severus. Oleander was only restrained from placing her head in her hands and screaming by the fact that she had promised herself not to upset Severus today.

"Let's see... oh, cake!" Lily said brightly. She bustled over to the table and busied herself with cutting a large chocolate cake into lavish slices.

"And... how long are we going to be here?" Oleander muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"I thinks she wants us here all day," Severus whispered back.

"Correction, she wants you here all day," Oleander flashed back. She wouldn't have me here if she could help it."

Severus opened his mouth to respond heatedly, but Lily turned back and came over with the slices of cake and he contented himself with a glare. Oleander accepted her slice with a large and very false smile and tucked in. It was surprisingly good and she found she didn't have to act as if she enjoyed it. Lily and Severus began a spirited conversation about Hogwarts, and Oleander left them to it, pretending to be listening politely while really letting her mind wander.

"Oleander!"

Oleander jerked. "What?"

"I've said your name three times," Lily said, giggling. "You don't listen very well, do you?"

Oleander readied herself to fling something back, but Severus interrupted hastily. "Lily wanted to know what House you think you'll be in, Olli."

"I- I'm not sure..." Oleander stammered, caught off-guard by the question. She had never taken any serious thought on the matter. "I haven't really-"

"Mum was a Slytherin," Severus said, coming to her rescue. "It usually goes in families."

Lily nodded. "Well, since no one in my family's magic at all, I'll have to wait and be surprised, won't I?"

Oleander heard Severus say something in agreement, but once again wasn't paying much attention. She was too wound up in thoughts about Houses to pay attention to them. Which House would she be in? Would she be Slytherin, like her mother, or would she be placed in a different House? Would she be put in the same House as her brother, or would they be separated? Oleander couldn't stand the thought. She made up her mind that she would never let that happen, ever.