A couple of days went by without Diana speaking to Harry. It had not been fun.
Harry was her friend, and she was genuinely upset at him. She couldn't understand why he didn't see that the minor was dangerous. Anything that shows the dead is bad news.
Diana always hated the idea of the dead coming back. Even the ghosts that hung around the school made her skin crawl. She also didn't like thinking of the implications that came with it.
Diana had a hard time trying to find the right words when it came to trying to talk with Harry about the events of Christmas night.
Lucky, Harry was the one who ended up starting the conversation.
"Sorry about yelling at you the other night."
"I'm… I'm sorry too." Diana said while fiddling with the edge of her skirt. "I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."
"Yeah, you were kinda right about the mirror too," Harry said. "Thinking about it has been giving me nightmares."
Diana thought about saying 'I told you so' for a second but fortunately didn't. Instead, she asked Harry if he was alright.
"I think I'm okay," Harry said while fiddling with a strand of his hair. "I just couldn't stop thinking of my parents."
"Your parents?" Diana asked.
"Yeah, I saw them in the mirror."
"Oh… OH," Diana said suddenly. "I'm sorry, Harry, I should have realised!"
Harry paused for a second.
"Dumbledore told me how the mirror works. He said that it shows us what we want more than anything."
Diana felt her heart stop for a second, and her palms suddenly got really sweaty.
"Diana, what did you see that freaked you out so much?"
Diana thought about how to answer for a second. On the one hand, she's never talked to anyone (besides her dad and uncle) about her mother. On the other hand, Harry was being honest about his parents. Maybe she should do the same.
That, and she was having a hard time saying no to the damn sincere look on his face.
"It was my mum," Diana said quietly. "She was murdered when I was a kid."
Harry just looked at her with a shocked look on his face.
"I saw her with my Dad and uncle, it was if she never died," Diana continued. "I don't like the idea of dead people coming back to life, Harry. Makes me want to throw up.
"I'm really sorry."
"Don't be," Diana said as she moved to place a hand on Harry's shoulder. "It kinda helps… knowing that someone understands."
Harry gave her a nod.
The rest of the holidays went by in a flash. They got back to looking for Nicolas Flamel and continued getting disappointing results.
Diana and Harry never said anything to Tilly about the mirror when she got back to school. It was like a silent agreement between the two of them.
The search for Flamel felt like it was getting harder and harder. It got even worse when their schoolwork and Harry's Quidditch practise started to get heavier with each passing day.
Diana knew that Wood could be an absolute madman when it came to Quidditch. Seriously, there was committed, then there was Wood, who was in a completely different ballpark.
One night after practice the trio were sitting in their secret hideout (that's what Harry had started to call it, and honestly Diana liked it a lot more than 'club room'). Harry was complaining about Snape being the ref for the next match.
"Don't play," Tilly said immediately when the words referee and Snape were used.
"Say you're ill," Diana said without looking up from the Bromus game she was playing with Tilly.
"Pretend to break your leg," Tilly suggested.
"Or really break your leg," Diana said.
"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."
Diana opened her mouth to respond only to get interrupted by Neville hopping into the room. After the night with the dog, Neville had been pretty shaken up. As a result, Diana gave him the option to come to the hideout if he wanted to get away from people.
Diana wasn't sure how Neville reacted to the invite at first. She could tell if he was happy or upset. Diana was good at reading people, but for some reason, it was hard for her to understand what Neville was thinking at any given time.
The first thing Diana noticed was the fact that Neville's legs had been stuck together, with what must have been a Leg-Locker Curse.
"Did you bunny hop the whole way up here, Nev?" Diana asked, trying not to let out a laugh.
"What happened?" Tilly asked as she moved to remove the spell for Neville.
"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."
"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Tilly said.
"Give him a taste of his own medicine!" Diana said at the same time.
Neville and Tilly both shook their heads at Diana.
"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.
"You've got to stand up to him, Nev!" Diana shouted. "If you fight back, Malfoy will think twice about attacking you!"
"Are you crazy?!" Neville shouted with tears in his eyes.
Harry pulled a chocolate frog out of his pocket and handed it to Neville.
"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "He couldn't even show up for a dual, but you faced off against a great three-headed dog. What does that tell you?"
Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog. Of course 'faced off' is a bit of an overstatement, but the point still stands that Neville was much better than Malfoy in so many ways.
"Thanks, Harry... I think I'll go to bed... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"
As Neville walked out of the room, Harry looked at the card.
"Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever- "
Harry stopped, and his eyes went wide.
"I've found him!" he gasped.
"What?" Tilly and Diana said in unison.
"I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here! Listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood,
and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"
"Are you serious?!" Diana said. Half excited, half annoyed at the fact that the answer was basically right in front of them the whole time.
"Wait a second!" Tilly said as she started digging through her book bag.
She pulled out an old book and explained how she was planning on reading it when she ran out of school work and the books she had brought from home.
"What kind of superhuman are you?" Diana asked Tilly. She never could understand how Tilly managed to enjoy reading so much.
"Nicolas Flamel," she said dramatically. "Is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"
"What's the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry asked with a confused look on his face.
Tilly continued reading to herself.
"I think it's kinda like a magic rock that can turn anything into gold. It can also make this stuff called the Elixir of Life, that makes people immortal."
"Oh wow, apparently Flamel turned six hundred and sixty-five last year. And has a wife named Perenelle."
"Love, you're starting to ramble," Diana said in an affectionate tone.
"Sorry," Tilly said with a giggle and slight blush in her face.
"So the dog must be guarding Flamel's magic rock?" Harry asked.
"He must have wanted it moved out of Gringotts when he heard that someone was after it," Tilly said.
"It kinda makes sense that Snape would want it," Diana continued. "Someone with a power like that could do whatever they wanted."
Diana continued to think about the implications that came with owning something like a Philosopher Stone while she walked back to the common room.
She wasn't sure if she would want to live forever. It felt like it would get boring after a while. She realised that the gold option felt a lot more useful in her mind.
As she walked down one of the many hallways, Diana noticed Fred and George peeking around a corner.
"Whatever it is that you're planning, I wouldn't recommend it." Diana started. "I can get Harry to help me sneak into Gryffindor Tower."
"And revenge is at its best when it's in the middle of the night, and you least expect it." Diana finished while narrowing her eyes at them.
"Well, when you put it like that-" Fred said before tossing a water balloon in Diana's direction. She was able to jump out of the way before it hit her.
"You Jerks!" Diana laughed while running over to them.
"Just blame a guy for trying?" George said to his brother.
"Oh, really now?" Diana asked with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"Listen." Fred started "Just because you're our friend, doesn't mean you're not gonna get your fair share of pranks."
"Think of how unfair it would be to everyone else." George finished.
"Oh yeah, absolutely," Diana said.
"So, what's going on with that secret project of yours?" George asked.
"I mean, there was a pretty big breakthrough today," Diana said. "But other than that it's been kinda boring, to be honest."
Diana had told Fred and George that she had been working on something big recently with a couple of friends (she had refused to give any names).
Diana knew that if she tried keeping the whole thing a secret from the twins, they would dig until they found out what was going on. She let them know the basics to satisfy them but refused to tell them anything else.
"What about you two?" Diana asked. "How do you guys feel about the whole Snape being a ref thing?"
"Oh, we're livid," Fred said with a forced smile.
The boys continued to rant about the upcoming match. While they did so, Diana kept trying to think of a reason why Snape would volunteer to referee the upcoming game.
It could be to try and pull the same trick he did last time. But that didn't make any sense. People would see him mess with the broom if he was in the middle of the field.
The more she thought about it, the less it made sense. Unless Snape really was doing to give his own team an advantage, but Diana felt like that wasn't the answer.
Something was going, dammit!
The next morning Diana could practically feel the bad moods coming off the Gryffindor team. Which is why the first thing Harry said that morning was certainly a surprise.
"I'm going to play."
"You can't be serious," Tilly said, looking up from her book.
"If I don't, Draco and his friends will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."
"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Tilly.
As the upcoming match got closer and closer, Diana felt her paranoia grow bigger and bigger. Diana considered herself a pretty clam, but ever since they found out about Flamel, she felt like they were being watched.
Maybe she was going crazy, but she also swore that they had been running into Snape more often. Perhaps he found out what they were up to, but that was impossible. Snape couldn't possibly have known they'd found out about the Philosopher's Stone?
Maybe he could read minds? God, she hoped not.
Despite all this, Diana remained supportive of Harry's decision to play. Diana was a stern believer in taking risks and not waiting until you thought everything was in place. Sometimes you have to jump right at the problem to solve it.
Before the match started, Diana and Tilly were standing with Harry outside the locker rooms. Wishing him luck and assuring him that everything would work out.
The two girls had decided to prepare if anything happened. Diana originally wanted to use the Dancing Feet Spell if Snape tried anything. Mainly because the thought of Snape's legs waving around in the air was hilarious to her.
But Tilly had insisted that it was better to use a simple Leg Lock curse. She made the point that they didn't need to bring unwanted attention to themselves.
"Just cast the curse and then take it off as quickly as you can," Tilly said as they made their way up to the stands. "People will think he's tripped over his feet that way."
They found a spot near Neville and watched as Snape walked onto the field.
"You know that thing some parents say about your face sticking if you keep giving them ugly looks?" Diana asked Tilly.
Tilly gave her a smile.
"You think Snape is proof of that?" Tilly asked.
While the two girls were laughing at their silly joke, Diana felt something hit her in the back of the head.
"What the he-"
"Oh, sorry, Beatrix, didn't see you there."
Diana gave Malfoy an annoyed look, while he giggled to his friends. Tilly simply turned Diana's head back to the field.
"Remember, we're supposed to be keeping an eye out," Tilly said with a forced smile. She was clearly annoyed by Malfoy as well but decided that there were more important things going on.
"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Beatrix?" Malfoy said as he poked her in the back of the head with his foot again.
"I'll bet a gallon that you'll be the one taking a fall if you back off!" Diana yelled while trying to keep her eyes on Harry.
Snape had just given Hufflepuff a penalty when George hit a Bludger in his direction. Diana's eyes drifted over to Tilly for a second. She was nervously biting on her thumbnail. Malfoy poked her a third time.
"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly as Snape awarded Hufflepuff yet another penalty.
"It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money, you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."
Neville suddenly turned around and got up in Malfoy's face.
"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy!"
Malfoy and Diana both went quiet for a second. Even she was a bit shocked by Neville's sudden outburst. Malfoy blinked but then started laughing.
"Longbottom, if brains were gold, you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something." Crabbe, and Goyle both laughed along as Malfoy poked Diana with his foot again.
"Malfoy, I'm serious. Back off!"
"Diana!" blurted Tilly, "Harry!"
"What? Where?"
Diana looked over to the field to see Harry speeding towards the ground at record speed.
"The Weasleys' are in luck! Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy. Diana had a bad feeling that he was going to poke her again. She tried to move but unfortunately was a bit too slow.
The bottom of Malfoy's shoe touched the back of Diana's neck. She felt something wet and let out a surprised shout.
"THAT'S IT, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
Diana stood up and hopped over the seat, but before she could do anything, she was grabbed by Crabbe. Neville looked a bit hesitant for a second but then jumped in to help Diana.
"Go Harry!" Tilly shouted. Failing to notice the ruckus going on behind her. Tilly jumped up in excitement when she saw Harry proudly waving the Snitch above his head.
"He did it! Diana! Diana?"
All of the other students started running off the stands giving Diana a chance to slip out of Crabbe's headlock. She grabbed Neville and Tilly by the hands and rushed down the stairs.
By the time the three of them made it to the field, Harry was already surrounded by other Gryffindors. While Neville went over to join the crowd, Diana and Tilly happily cheered for Harry from a distance. This short-lived, however, due to Draco and company giving Diana pissed off looks.
"I think we should go," Tilly said.
Typically Diana would want to stay and stand up for herself, but with the way Tilly was looking at her, she decided against it. Diana nodded her head, and the two of them started heading towards the broom shed.
The two of them sat around for a little while. Diana ended up looking over the school brooms. She wondered how long some of the brooms had been there. Tilly was sitting a little further away. Picking bits of grass and tieing them into knots. She squeaked when she saw the boy approaching them.
Diana turned around and rushed towards Harry.
You won!" she shouted, patting Harry on the shoulder. "And Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed!"
Harry couldn't help but smile at Neville's sudden confidence but shook it off.
"I need to tell you something."
"What happened?" Tilly asked while sitting up from the ground.
Harry explained how he saw Snape threatening Quirrell. Harry swore that they were talking about the Stone and how to get past the dog.
"I don't really get what Snape wanted from Quirrell," Harry said.
"Is Quirrell one of the people in charge of making sure no one gets past Fluffy?" Tilly said.
"I think we're doomed then."