Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter Eight

Farewell

Once they got home, Petunia sent Dudley and Harry to their room. Once they were there, Petunia screamed, "DIANA LILY DURSLEY YOU ARE NOT GOING!"

Diana stared at her mother, unfazed.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to convince me," Diana said. "I am going to Hogwarts and nobody is going to stop me."

"I am your mother and I will stop you," hissed Petunia.

"No you won't," replied Diana calmly. "Hogwarts is a dream come true. You always told me to follow my dreams. That would mean going to Hogwarts."

"Diana, I have said it once and I will say it again: you are not a witch, you are not going to Hogwarts. Now enough of this nonsense," Petunia said.

"I thought you'd changed," Diana whispered, her voice trembling with anger. "I actually thought you'd changed! But now I know what you are. A freak! It's not me, not Harry, it's you! You always hated Harry for who he was, and you dragged Dad into it. I know he's not the best man, but you are the reason my father hates me! You let him abuse Harry without a second thought! I bet you didn't even loose any sleep over seeing Harry curled up in pain, his arms covered in bruises and blood! I ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU'D CHANGED!"

Petunia looked shocked, then a flicker of hurt crossed her face, but then it turned to anger. "Young lady, you are so ungrateful for everything I-"

"No Mum, you're ungrateful!" Diana yelled, tears of anger in her eyes. "Have you ever wondered where Harry got the bandages he covered his arms with after Dad beat him? Have you ever wondered why he didn't get starve to death in the cupboard? Have you ever wondered why he didn't DIE after Dad beat him? It's me. I did all those things. I tended to him after he was beaten. I waited and tended to him. Without me, he would have died! I threw my childhood away so Harry wouldn't go insane or die! You would have been in a lot of trouble if I wasn't there, so don't you talk to me about being ungrateful!"

"Diana, I love you," Petunia whispered. "You just can't go to Hogwarts. I'm your mother, I took you in. Listen to me." She put her hand on Diana's cheek.

Diana slapped her hand away. "If you're my mother than you need to start accepting me for who I am: a witch!"

She walked up to her room. Dudley and Harry obviously couldn't hear them, they were tearing each other apart in their room. Diana slammed the door on her room.

This place isn't working, Diana thought. I thought it would be my home, but it seems more like a museum.

Sometimes Diana wished she had an relative that wasn't horrible and could take her in, because right now she would prefer to live with anyone except Petunia.

Over the next month, things were tense. Petunia found a new primary school for Diana, and had to send Dudley to Stonewall High, as Smeltings was a private school and would be too expensive.

Luckily, she and Diana didn't come into contact with each other much, because Petunia was working a full time job. Sometimes Diana had to go around selling cookies, brownies or other homemade goods just to make some money for lunch.

While Petunia was gone, Diana looked after the house. She was like the mother, but she was youngest. Some days Diana found herself wishing Dudley could do all of the work and she could rest.

Things did not improve for Harry and Dudley. Petunia ended up selling Dudley's bed for some money to pay off taxes, so Harry and Dudley had to share a single bed meant for a teenage girl. Diana eventually moved Dudley out and set up a bed on the floor for him.

"I don't wanna sleep there!" Dudley whined. "Who put you in charge?"

"Dudley, if you want to be in charge, you can," Diana said patiently. "However, you would have to cook and clean and sell cookies or something else."

Dudley didn't ask to be in charge after that.

Diana often found herself reading more of Lily Evans' letters. There wasn't much in them, except for James Potter and Sirius Black, the classic Petunia I need you come back!, Quidditch and worrying about exams.

One night when Diana was reading Lily's letter about how her exams went, Harry came in.

"Hi Diana," he said. "You seem stressed. Do you want to talk?"

Diana gestured for Harry to sit down, so he sat on the bed.

"It's hard being the mother of the house," Diana said. "I have to walk around the neighbourhood selling cookies like a Girl Scout twice a day, plus I need to either walk three miles to get some food or cook something Dudley will refuse to eat. Don't even get started on Dudley. Handling him is a nightmare. And I'll be doing all on my own when you leave. I'll be doing this for a year."

"Actually, Diana, you have school," Harry reminded her. "You do have something to look forward to. It'll be you first and last year at your school. I won't be there to hold you back from making friends."

"You never held me back from making friends, Harry," Diana said. "You were my friend, and that was all I needed."

And tomorrow you'll be gone.

The 1 September was a rather dull morning. The sky was grey and there was a light drizzle - the perfect way to describe Diana's mood.

She sighed. It was Monday, which meant that Diana would have to take the train with Harry and Dudley.

To her surprise, Harry was already up.

"Can't wait to get out of here," Harry said. "I'm all packed up and ready to leave."

Diana smiled. "Well, I hope you havefun." But as she walked out, Diana's smile disappeared.

She knocked on Dudley's door. Dudley had taken to setting up a bed in the bathtub. Diana hoped that she was finally humbling him.

"Dudley, we need to go soon! We're going to be late for the train!"

Diana heard Dudley growl.

"Ok, I'm going to give you five minutes to get ready, Dudley."

Diana walked away.

Five minutes later Dudley was ready. Diana took some of her savings out and waited at the door.

"Come on, let's go," Diana said.

The train station was packed, to put it lightly. It took Diana a while to book the tickets and get on the train.

"Just about half an hour until we get there," Harry said. "Then I'll be off to Hogwarts!"

Diana tried to ignore him.

After half an hour of Harry talking about Hogwarts, Dudley complaining and Diana ignoring both of them, they reached King's Cross Station.

"Ok, now where does your ticket say to get on, Harry?" asked Diana.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters," Harry said. "But that can't be right."

"Well, let's go to Platforms Nine and Ten," Diana decided.

As it turned out, there was no Platform Nine and Three Quarters in sight.

"Where is it?" Harry asked.

Petunia must've forgotten to tell them, Diana decided. Or she might've forgotten herself.

"It's useless," Diana sighed. "Our situation is futile."

Wait. Diana lifted her head. She realised something. It wasn't just Harry's first day to Hogwarts, but Ron's as well. All Diana could hope for was that the Weasleys were not yet at King's Cross Station.

"-packed with Muggles, of course-"

Diana turned around and to her relief saw Mrs Weasley, Ginny's mother. She grabbed Harry, Dudley and pulled them both over.

"Ginny!" called Diana. "I didn't think I'd see you again!"

"Hi Diana!" Ginny called back. "Of course you'd see me again, I gave you my address. But where have you been?"

"I've been rather busy this month," Diana admitted. "Maybe if Dudley helped a little, I'd be done sooner."

Dudley did not blush.

"So, Ginny, how do you get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters?" asked Diana.

"You just run through the barrier," explained Ginny.

Diana repeated this to Harry, and he ran through the barrier.

"So, Ginny, do you think you'd be allowed to come to my house later today?" Diana asked.

"As long as my mum's there," Ginny answered. "Honestly, she's so protective of me. If only I was a boy. Then she wouldn't dote on me."

"Why does your gender-" Diana began, but decided to stay silent. "Never mind."

She and Ginny walked through the barrier with Mrs Weasley.

"So you must be Diana," Mrs Weasley said.

Diana nodded. "And you're Ginny's mum."

"Of course we were delighted to hear that Ginny had made a friend, though the circumstances weren't our favourite... Arthur is very excited to meet you, he is obsessed with Muggles after all," Mrs Weasley rambled.

"I'm not actually a Muggle," Diana told her. "I'm Muggle-born."

"Oh!" Mrs Weasley looked very surprised. "Ginny, you didn't tell us she was a witch."

"Guess I forgot," Ginny muttered, though Diana could tell she probably didn't, seeing as they made such a big deal about being in the same year at Hogwarts.

Ginny pulled Diana away from her mother and the girls disappeared into the crowd.

"I'm sorry I told my family you were Muggle," she said. "I just didn't want my parents harassing you. My only friend is a strange girl named Luna, and I'm not sure they're too keen on her, so whenever I could potentially make a friend, they get excited. When I accidentally joined that Death Eater gang, my parents got excited because they thought I'd made real friends, not joined the Death Eaters."

Death Eaters. The term sounded familiar. Diana remembered reading about them in Lily's letters: they were Voldemort's old followers.

"How'd you get mixed up with Death Eaters?" asked Diana.

"I was only four, and it had been my dream since forever to go to Hogwarts," Ginny admitted. "I wandered away, trying to find the wand shop, but I accidentally went down Knockturn Alley. The wizards and witches creeped me out, and the Death Eaters comforted me. I told them I was lost, and I wanted to get back to my family. I told them about my dream to go to Hogwarts, and they said they could help me if I joined their cause. I was only four years old, and I was scared and confused. I agreed to join them. They led me into a building, and I got a horrible feeling in my gut, so I ran away before they could really persuade me to join Voldemort's cause. Mum and Dad found me at the wand shop. That night they told me the story of Harry Potter, and how he heroically defeated the Dark Lord. He's been my idol ever since."

Diana was taken aback. "You like... Harry?"

"Yeah, I do," Ginny said. "You speak as if you know him."

"He's my cousin," Diana told her. "I grew up with him."

Ginny's jaw dropped. "That boy you were with, is that him?"

"Which boy?"

"The one with the glasses."

"That's him."

Ginny ran back to her family. "Mum! Guess what! The black-haired boy Diana was with, he's Harry Potter!"

"We know, we helped him with his trunk," a red-headed boy said.

Diana looked at the family, and out of nowhere realised that she was a little jealous of the Weasleys. They were the perfect family. Mrs Weasley was a way better Mum than Petunia, and Mr Weasley ought to be better than Vernon. All Ginny's brothers were kind to her, and they were all treated equally. Diana realised that a fully functional family was a bit of an alien concept to her, due to how dysfunctional and torn apart her family was, just from one single letter.

"Your family looks brilliant," Diana told Ginny.

"Eh, they're alright," Ginny said. "What your family like."

"I don't think that's a topic for today," said Diana, not trusting herself to speak without breaking down and sobbing in front her.

Diana found Harry's compartment.

"Hi Harry," she said. "Nod if you can hear me."

Harry nodded.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck at Hogwarts, and I'll miss you," Diana said. "It won't be the same with only Dudley and Mum, but we'll get by. Do you promise to write everyday?"

"I will," Harry promised. "And you promise?"

"I promise," Diana said.

The train started to move. Diana waved, and watched as the train moved away and away and away, until she could barely see it any more.

Well this is it. You're on your own now.

Diana couldn't help but despair as her only good family member was whisked away to his dream, while she was left in the dust.