Chapter 2
Diana awoke with a jolt. She saw Fred and George, who had apparently been trying to wake her up for a while. She saw that it was morning, Not only was it morning. It was the first morning Diana could get something at Diagon Alley. She was not allowed to access her vault until she was accepted at Hogwarts.
Fred grabbed Diana's arm and helped her to stand. He took her downstairs to the table, following George. He sat in his usual seat and got his breakfast, which was indeed very small, from his mother. Diana stood next to him. Fred gave her some of his portions. He drank half of his pumpkin juice, then gave it to Diana to finish off.
Ron rolled his eyes. He had the same thoughtful look he'd had the night before, as if he was going to make a lewd comment. He decided against it, but Ginny giggled as if having read his mind.
No words were said over the table this morning. Everyone had eaten their breakfast quickly, eager to go to Diagon Alley. One place in Diagon Alley this family wasn't too fond of was Gringotts Bank. This family was exceedingly poor, and Diana knew she would be embarrassed with all the money the Riddles had left behind. She felt she would have to hurry there, so it wouldn't calculate in the Weasleys' minds that she had so much more than they did.
Mr. Weasley got out a bowl of Floo Powder, and everyone gathered around the fireplace. Diana was first to go, as always. "Diagon Alley!" and she was there almost instantly.
She walked out and waited for the Weasleys outside of Flourish and Blotts. She saw a boy with white blond hair who had just been parting with his parents. His father had his same hair, only longer. His mother did, too, along with a look on her face as if a Dungbomb had been thrown at her.
Without thinking, Diana followed this boy with her eyes. Judging by his expression and his gait, this boy had all the makings of a Slytherin. Diana grinned slightly at this thought. He looked over at her, and she looked away. The Weasleys finally came by, and Diana joined them as they went to Gringotts. She decided to go after they did.
"There is a rather large group of you," but what she meant was, "I don't want you to know how rich I am."
When she got to her vault, she gave a goblin the key which Percy had given her earlier that morning. She got out of the cart and looked at the green smoke that emitted from the vault as it was unlocked. She walked in and was nearly surrounded by mountains of Galleons and sizable hills of Sickles and Knuts. She filled her money bag and left. She rode the cart back to the main lobby.
She was rather quick about all of this. She met back up with the Weasleys. They left, looking a bit glum. Diana blushed. She had no reason to be glum after leaving a bank. It was kind of depressing, walking with them. They went to a secondhand store for supplies. Diana was far from needing a secondhand store for anything, so she went to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions.
"Hogwarts?" Madam Malkin asked.
"Yes," Diana responded with a slight grin.
Diana stood on a stool as her robes were fitted for her. She looked around the shop. She couldn't say it was the most exciting place. She saw the blond boy come in. He looked at her, almost smiling. He stood on a stool next to her.
"Hullo. Hogwarts, too?" He had a drawling voice that gave him an odd sort of charm.
"Yes, and Slytherin if I can help it," Diana told him.
"Me too," he said with a smirk. Then it hit Diana.
"You must be Draco Malfoy!" she said.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Diana Riddle."
"Riddle. That name rings a bell."
"It shouldn't. My parents weren't exactly famous."
"Oh, I see...What do you mean weren't?"
"They're no longer...living."
"That's terrible. Who do you live with?"
"The Weasleys."
"That's worse. They're too poor to raise their own children. It must be horrible there."
"It's not the best, I suppose," said Diana, looking away.
Her robe had just finished being tailored, so she got off the stool and waved goodbye to Draco as she left. He waved back, looking a bit disappointed that he no longer had someone to talk to. Diana met up with the Weasleys in front of Ollivander's, where Ron was trying out wands. Fred was carrying a cauldron with all the first year supplies except for a wand. he put it in Diana's arms.
She carefully got a few Galleons out of her bag and handed them to Fred, considering all of it was bought firsthand and in perfect condition. Fred blushed, but he took the money without putting up a fight.
Mrs. Weasley went in the shop, trying to haggle the price of Ron's new wand. After a good ten minutes, she sighed and apologized. Ron would be getting one of Percy's old wands. Diana went into the store, a bit nervous.
"Miss Riddle. It has been many years since I've seen someone from your family. I can only hope you won't turn out like your father," Mr. Ollivander said as Diana walked in.
"Looking for some good in the Slytherin family?" Diana asked a bit spitefully.
Mr. Ollivander said nothing. He started Diana off with Mahogany and Unicorn Hair, nine inches, very firm. It didn't work. Neither did many of the wands he tried. The one that did work was "Dragon Heartstring and Mahogany, eleven inches, nice and supple." Diana didn't take that into high regard. All she cared about was that it worked. She paid for her wand and left.
As Diana walked out of the store, she saw Mrs. Weasley whisper something into her husband's ear. She was sure it was something nasty about her family. Diana just smirked, for she had a few things she could say about the Weasley family that would really hurt.
Diana did a few simple spells on the way back to the fireplace that the Weasleys used to get to the Alley. Diana was first to get back home. She stepped out of the fireplace and ran up to her room with her supplies. She got her trunk and packed in everything except her wand. She levitated a quill that was on the desk.
When Fred and George came in, they looked slightly less gleeful than usual. They didn't even make a playful comment as they walked in the door.
"You guys ok?" Diana asked with concern.
"Yes," they both said shortly.
"Malfoy son --"
"-- Draco --'
"-- going to Hogwarts --"
"-- sure to--"
"-- give Ron hell," the two of them said quickly.
"Why him in particular?" Diana asked.
"You hear how Dad talks about Lucius," said Fred.
"Like father, like son," George continued.
Diana thought of her own father. She only knew what he was like prior to the night he opened the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. Diana had a journal with his memory that had been sent to her with a few other things left at the Riddle Manor. It was rather late, so Diana decided to at least try to go to sleep. She had a bit of trouble, though, so she decided to read Standard Book of Spells, Volume 1. She fell asleep just as she finished reading the last page. She dreamt of the boy again.
The next few weeks were full of excitement as everyone was really anxious to go to Hogwarts. Diana looked forward to going to Hogwarts, but she worried about the Weasleys' reaction to her being sorted into Slytherin. Everyone in this family had been in Gryffindor.
Mrs. Weasley would use Diana's house as yet another excuse to hate Diana. Slytherin in general was actually a big part of the reason she did hate her so. Mr. Weasley, on the other hand, was afraid of Diana's dark powers.