The Diary

By: Astral Fou-lu

Part Seven: In Which The Diary Falls Into The Wrong Hands or Oh, Shit

Zinfandel Slytherin sauntered over to the Headmaster's office, hugging the large toy dog plushie. Passing students, especially girls, remarked how cute the doll was, and where she had gotten it.

"Someone special gave it to me," Zinfandel told a Hufflepuff first year, who petted the toy dog and cooed over it.

"Really? Who?"

Zinfandel's smile reached her ears. "Sirius Black."

The Hufflepuff girl pouted. "Oh come on, it won't hurt if you told me who gave you this pretty thing."

Zinfandel smiled genially for the little girl who had taken a liking to her. "Well, Hazel, it's a bit personal for me to say." Then she patted the girl's back and said "It's almost time for your curfew…now get to your common rooms," Slytherin said, and looked at the other students nearby. "That goes the same for all of you too."

As she was nearing Dumbledore's office she couldn't help but think about what Sirius would do as she would transform him back into his normal self. No doubt he would try to kill me, she thought sourly. But not before Dumbledore talks some sense into him, hopefully. I wonder what happened…?

"Skittles," she told the gargoyle. He promptly stepped aside and let her pass.

As she entered the office she was slightly surprised to see the Headmaster resting in his chair with his eyes closed. Zinfandel snapped into her full professional mode. "Sir, I hope this is not a wrong time…"

"Assuming that it is Sirius that's you're hugging my dear, this time is the right time I suppose. Could you undo…?"

"Oh! Of course," Zinfandel put the toy on the chair and swiftly turned it back into Sirius.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!"

"Now, now, Sirius, watch your language," Dumbledore said tiredly but with steel lacing his voice.

"Sorry Headmaster," Sirius muttered.

"I found him flying out of the fourth floor of the Infirmary, and into the Whomping Willow," Zinfandel reported. "And before that I heard a lot of commotion."

"And what was that all about Sirius?"

"I-I heard Snape quarrelling with Harry, and Remus was restraining them both. I'm positive that Snape was hurting Harry—"

"Nonsense. Snape would not go so far as to hurt a student," Zinfandel cut in, but quietly.

"Then how could you explain his injuries!" Sirius hissed. "There are no other reasons!"

As Zinfandel coolly stared at Sirius, she noted that he looked as bad as he did when he was still on the run from the Dementors when he was completely incensed. While she understood that he was on a bad mood out of his protectiveness over Potter, she decided that his arrogance was very much uncalled-for. Not to mention his pure bias against her and her House. "Forty years of life, Sirius Black, and yet you still do not use your brain in thinking." She wanted to add where she presumed he did his thinking but she decided that it would be too rude of her to say something of the kind in front of the Headmaster.

"Why you—little whore…"

"SILENCE!"

Zinfandel and Sirius ceased bickering and had the decency to bow their heads, looking ashamed of the childish actions.

"Both Severus and Harry are coming to terms with something that should have been dealt before earlier on," Dumbledore said tiredly. It worried Zinfandel so much that she decided to resign the matter. "You look unwell, Sir. I think we should leave you be…" she tentatively said, all the while signaling with her eyes to Sirius to follow her lead. Dumbledore did look tired, and it worried Sirius enough to concede with Zinfandel. "I-I agree, sir…maybe another day?"

"Yes, yes. But, Sirius, I think that it would be best that you would have this discussion with Severus and Harry themselves." Dumbledore waved them away.

As they had closed the door behind them, Sirius forgot all animosity he had towards the Slytherin heir and asked her, "What the hell is happening?"


Remus once again sat at Harry's bedside. Harry had just finished crying his eyes out and slept again. Lupin sighed. He was beginning to agree with Severus that it was foolish of him to tell Harry, that showing him the Diary was—wait, where was the Diary?

Mentally cursing, he called for Madame Pomfrey to take over his charge. As he went out of the Infirmary, he immediately recalled that Harry threw the book away at the Shrieking Shack. Yes.

As his speed-walking turned into a full run, he berated himself for mindlessly telling Harry of the truth so quickly. He remembered how Harry had looked when he stripped off the Invisibility Cloak that night…he looked like he was ready to kill somebody. Whether that somebody was Severus or Harry himself was a tad obscure.

When he finally found the Diary lying in the midst of dust bunnies that littered the floor of what once housed his own lose of control, Remus sighed to himself, and contemplated whether he should destroy the Diary or keep it for later.

Funny how life turns out.

He was about to exit the Shack when he was greeted by the scowl of Sirius Black.

"I demand what happened while I was gone, now."

"Why should I tell you?" Discreetly, Lupin hid the Diary in his robes, but Sirius caught it in his sight anyway.

"Because Harry is my godson, damnit! And what is that thing that you are hiding from me?" Sirius quickly lunged towards Remus, who futilely tried to shake off the animagus. "Let. Me. Get. That!" He quickly took possession of the Diary.

Remus resigned to the idea that somebody in the dungeons was going to get hurt. Badly. "Sirius—whatever you do, don't hurt anybody," he said resignedly, though Remus knew he might as well talk to the Whomping Willow. "it all works out in reasoning. It all does."

"Whatever are you talking about, Remus?" Sirius said irritably. "Could you just tell me what's happening instead of making me read this damn—oh." He started to leaf through the pages and it shut him up. "Lily's Diary…"

After a few minutes of reading, Sirius Black was crying out for blood.


Severus did not feel when Sirius threw him off his own bed. He did not even know.

Sirius' strength was enough to kill him.

"You're going to go to hell, Slytherin shit!" Sirius growled, raising his fist, about to strike Severus' unresponsive face.

"Oh no you bloody hell won't!" A green blast sent him reeling into the nearby shelves filled with jars of pickled somethings no one would ever bother contemplating about. Sirius slammed squarely across it, making one of the bigger jars from the upper shelves falling onto his head upside down, making him appear to be wearing a helmet. In which a pickled grindylow had been inhabiting.

"You better thank the gods that grindylow is already dead, Black," Zinfandel drawled, only to have her cool visage broken when she found her Dueling master's present state. "Oh…oh my god…" Without even pausing to think Zinfandel Summoned the blankets and folded them in order to serve he purpose of propping Severus' head with it. As she assessed his health she assumed that he was somewhat alright, only that there was one slight glitch:

"Shit, he was already unconscious before Black got here," she muttered, knowing that one person was not breathing deeply if we has only knocked out unconscious. Seeing that the only people down in the dungeons were the three of them, Zinfandel had no choice. "Black, since I bloody well know that you won't be trusted to call Madame Pomfrey for his well-being, I'll just have to do this," and with that, she transfigured him into a roll of toilet paper, whose only downfalling was its black coloring.

Now there was a roll of black toilet paper covered in an upside down jar with a pickled grindlylow inside.

"That's how I perceive you. Too bad if someone comes along while I am here and decides to use you to wipe off their ass."

She quickly went through the door, shouting for Madame Pomfrey as she went.

Harry looked up as he heard urgent footsteps come up the Infirmary. A loud bang of the opened door revealed Zinfandel huffing and puffing with sweat beads running down her face.

"Madame Pomfrey? Madame Pomfrey?"

"I would appreciate it, dear, if you could respect the other's need for peace here, especially when they are sick." Pomfrey frostily remarked, but she went on to ask "What is the matter?"

"P-Professor Severus, Ma'am," Zinfandel said between breaths, "I found him unconscious down in the dungeons." Then she looked pointedly at Harry. "Not to mention that Sirius was pummeling him when I got there."

Pomfrey's hands went to her mouth and gasped. "Oh no he didn't!"

"Yes, he did," Zinfandel said matter-of-factly, finally regaining her composure. "I need your help."

Pomfrey hurriedly grabbed things and set out to the dungeons. Zinfandel however grabbed the chance to talk with Harry privately. "Are those Gryffindor traits you and your godfather had been exhibiting, hmm?" she sniped. "You were right when you said you wanted to be in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin."

"G'way, Don't need you." He mumbled, hiding his face in his hands. Irritated, Zinfandel grabbed his hands and tore them away from his face, grabbing his chin for him to face her. "No, you listen to me, Potter. We've been working our asses off to save your ass—"

"Because I'm the bloody Boy Who Lived!"

Zinfandel snarled. "Yes, we admit that we are only using you, Potter. We use you because only you have the abilities that could obliterate Tom Riddle completely. Well, I've already taken back what was solely mine," she said, referring to being the Heir of Slytherin, "but not without any sacrifices. If you, Potter-boy, are going to turn selfish on the whole wizarding world, then we might as well die now. Remember that." With that, she threw Harry's face to the side and went out the Infirmary, closing the door with a loud bang.