As the Leaves Change Color So Does Your Love

“MERRY CHRISTMAS! I mean… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

I fell out of bed, scared out of my wits. My family stood, surrounding me. Oh thank God I wasn’t with the psychopath in my nightmare that had just been interrupted. Saving the scraps of the dignity I had left, I got up and yawned, stretching to get the tiredness out of my body.

“Thanks, guys,” I mumbled, sleepily. I looked at my mom and dad, standing there with huge grins on their faces. My mom’s sister’s family was here as well, with her husband and two sons, one who went to Durmstrang and one who had already graduated from there.

“AUNTIE! UNCLE! Oh, Ryder... how are you? So happy to see you, Viktor!” I jumped at the sight of them.

The Krum family was the closest of relatives to us. The Krum boys, especially, were my only and most favorite cousins. I could not wait to share my experience at Hogwarts with them. Viktor never had time for Ryder or me because he was so lost in the Quidditch world all the time.

We all chatted around the dining table as my mom and aunt cooked us a Christmas breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, sausages, French toast, and pancakes. After we were done eating, everyone bounded towards the presents. Victor, Ryder, and I leaped on the pile of presents under the twelve-foot tree decorated with live fairies, jumping at the ones that had our names written on it.

“Ouch, Viktor, that’s mine!” Ryder snatched something that looked like a broomstick from Viktor’s grip.

“No way! It has to be mine!” Viktor looked in shock, grabbing at the package to see whose name was written on the tag hanging off of it.

Everyone continued laughing at them as I remembered the present for Johan sitting upstairs waiting to be delivered. I quickly ran upstairs, tying it to Ferte and helping her take flight.

***

The entire day passed as the family enjoyed Christmas. Soon enough, the stars were twinkling in the sky and the crescent moon shone brightly. When my aunt’s family was sound asleep in the guest bedrooms, my parents approached me.

“Dear, we have something to show you, but I’m sure it no big deal. Just take care and follow it.”

“What are you going on about?”

My mom didn’t reply, but instead gave my dad a look. Then she handed me a rather shabby looking diary. At least it looked like a diary. The edges were worn and the color was so yellow it could’ve passed for hundreds of years old. I took the book from her and opened the front cover, afraid of it falling right off. It read:

Rowena Ravenclaw. December 2, 1027

I gasped, looking up at my parents. “Mom? What is this?” I asked slowly.

“A possession of yours that we had to keep until you were of age. Until your seventeenth birthday. The time has come that you found out. Of course, your father found out when he was your age and now it’s your turn. It’s your family history. I- it’s better if your father tells you.”

I turned to look at my dad, waiting for him to start talking.

“Dear, I know it’s strange and you won’t want to believe it. But, you’re Rowena Ravenclaw’s descendant.”

“How is that possible?”

“Well, the myth is that Rowena Ravenclaw had just one daughter and she was her heir. Her name was Helena Ravenclaw. But she was killed. In the woods by the Bloody Baron, the man that is now the Slytherin ghost.

“However, before she was killed, she had a child. She was pregnant, although she never got married. No one knew about this because Rowena sent her away. Her ghost is still at Hogwarts. It’s the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw tower. Helena’s child is our ancestor and our family line carried on.

“Shocking and all, there’s more. That was just our family history. But there’s something that can threaten our lives even today. Of the four Hogwarts founders, Ravenclaw and Slytherin had a thing for each other. Salazar Slytherin loved Rowena but she betrayed him. That night was a night of great horror. Salazar left Hogwarts, never to be found again. But before he left, he put a curse on Ravenclaw.

“He cursed her that no Ravenclaw descendant could ever be with a Slytherin. No matter how much they loved each other, if they dared have sexual interactions, the outcome would be disastrous. One by one, the family line would start to die off.”

I fell, clutching at my stomach. It was so much to take in. Draco’s image flooded into my mind. A Slytherin. Then Johan flashed through my thoughts. He was a Slytherin as well. I could never be with either of them.

“Dear, are you okay?” Both my parents huddled around me.

“Yeah.” I pulled myself together, realizing something. There was nothing between Draco and me to begin with. He would never want anything to do with me anyways. And as for Johan, we were already a lost cause. No, it was alright. I hadn’t even been sexually active with either of them. Not yet, anyways. But I’d just stay away from them from now on. It wasn’t so bad. Right?

“Dad?” I looked up to mirror his expression of curiosity. He waited for me to go on.

“What’s in this book?”

“Rowena Ravenclaw’s diary, my dear. The one she kept with her at all times. It’s been passed through generations of Ravenclaws.”

“Is this why you were so hesitant to send me to Hogwarts?” Suddenly, everything fell into place. Especially what the Sorting Hat had told me.

“Yes. But just stay away from the Slytherin boys,” he chuckled nervously.

“The Sorting Hat told me something, dad. It said that it hadn’t seen a true Ravenclaw in a thousand years and that time would tell what was hidden.”

“That’s one incredible hat, Rahenna.”

“Rahenna.” I whispered my own name. “So much like Rowena.”

My father made a move to hug me and his figure enveloped mine. His comforting arms helped ease the tension in my head. It was like a thousand daggers were constantly attacking the inside of my skull.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. And I’m sorry we had to tell you on your birthday. But it’s been that way for hundreds of years and I couldn’t be the one to change it all.”

“I understand.” And truth was, I did. His entire life, my father had kept this secret to himself. He could’ve faced something like I did but he overcame it. “I’m just going to go to my room. I need some time to sort out some things in my head. Not to mention, get a head start on reading this diary.”

“Of course, dear, it’s our turn to understand,” my mom spoke up.

I started walking past the giant Christmas tree at the foot of the staircase. I walked up a couple of steps, and then stopped in the middle of the stairs, looking back down at my parents. “We’re famous, dad. Or at least, secretly famous. Why doesn’t the world know the Ravenclaw family line is still going?”

“The world can’t know, Rahenna. I don’t know why. It’s sort of tradition. I’m sure you’ll start to grasp more of it when you read that diary in your hands.”

I looked down at the book, it’s worn cover just about ready to fall out. It wasn’t my imagination earlier; this diary was hundreds of years old.