Chapter 5
A Slytherin prefect led the Slytherin first years into the dungeons. He said the password, which opened the trapdoor that led to the Slytherin common room. When all the first years were in the common room, he showed the boys to one door and the girls to another. Draco and Diana waved to each other before going up the staircases behind the doors. Diana had to run to catch up to the other Slytherin girls.
Pansy saw that her stuff was around one of the four-poster beds closest to the door. Millicent Bullstrode's was just across from it. Diana was delighted to see that her bed was farthest from the door, therefore farthest from Pansy. Pansy came by Diana's four-poster to just stand and glare at her.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Diana asked pleasantly.
"Can't I have Draco?" Pansy asked.
"Draco doesn't like you."
"I know. He likes you, and you like him."
"As a friend, yes."
"You don't miss a thing, do you Riddle?"
"Of course not. I know what you're saying, and I know that it is not true."
"Hear that, Millie? Riddle doesn't like Draco."
"Great," said Millicent. "So she wouldn't mind you being his girlfriend."
"No, I wouldn't," Diana said honestly.
"Maybe I will, then," said Pansy with a malicious glint in her eye.
"Fine. Have fun," said Diana, closing the curtains of her four-poster.
Lessons started the next day. Most of them were very interesting. An exception was History of Magic, the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns droned on and on as the class took notes as quickly as they could. Diana corrected Draco's mixing up of Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball.
The best class didn't start until Friday. It was Double Potions with Professor Snape, who did indeed favor his own house, Slytherin. He, like Draco, instantly detested Harry Potter.
Potions was taught in a dungeon classroom. It was quite cold, and it seemed to creep the Gryffindors out a bit. It may have been the pickled animals floating in jars around the walls that set them off. Diana found them amusing.
Professor Snape started the class by doing attendance. He called the names of all the students, but paused at
"Ah yes, Harry Potter. Our new -- celebrity."
Draco, Crabbe and Goyle snickered. Diana expected Professor Snape to have this kind of reaction after the hell James Potter put him through during his years at Hogwarts. Harry looked every bit like James, other than his eyes and lightning scar. She had seen pictures of Lily Evans and James Potter at the Burrow.
Professor Snape made a speech about the beauty of potions and the making of them. At the end of this speech, he basically called all of the students he'd ever had dunderheads.
"Potter!" said Professor Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Tut, tut. Fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Diana noticed that Hermione Granger was next to Harry, and she was standing up and raising her hand as high as she possibly could. Diana wondered if Hermione was aware that this was a lost cause.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" A few people laughed, most of them Gryffindors.
"Sit down," Professor Snape snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping powder so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Death. A beazor is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying this down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Diana was in the middle of writing "aconite" when a point was taken from Gryffindor. As the class went on, Diana was partnered with Draco, who received many compliments from Professor Snape.
Neville Longbottom, as always, managed to mess things up. He spilled the potion on himself and started getting boils. The whole point of the potion was to cure boils. Another point was taken from Gryffindor as Neville went with Seamus Finnigan to the Hospital Wing.
Draco went to the common room, but Diana wanted to look around the castle. She walked up and down many staircases and talked to a few of the paintings on the walls as she passed them. After awhile, she went to the main corridor, where Fred and George were going over Transfiguration homework. When they saw her, they smiled.
"Congrats on making Slytherin," Fred told her with playful sarcasm. Some people looked over at him quizzically. Why in bloody hell....
"Congrats on not killing me for being in Slytherin," Diana said with the same playful sarcasm.
People looked at her oddly, too. Diana sat down next to Fred, and talked to him and George about her first week at Hogwarts. They seemed a bit surprised that she had stayed awake during History of Magic and that she had taken a bit of a liking to Professor McGonagall. The topic slowly shifted to Professor Snape, and the twins shuddered.
"He's a great professor, even if he is a bit biased," Diana said.
"It would seem like more than a bit if you were in Gryffindor," said George.
"If Snape is a bit biased, then we're a bit determined to beat your house in Quidditch," said Fred, grinning.
"We need a Seeker, though," said George.
"What do you play?" Diana asked.
"I'm a beater," said George.
"I'm a better beater," said Fred, grinning, "but no matter how good you are, Diana, chances are, you'll never be on the Slytherin team."
"Yeah, they rarely have a girl on the team," George said in agreement.
"I wouldn't mind just watching," Diana said pointedly.
"I must admit, I look rather --"
" -- like me, only less charming," said George, interrupting Fred.
"What do you think, Diana?" asked Fred with a grin identical to George's.
"I..I think you're both gorgeous," said Diana, blushing slightly.
"Thank you," the twins said at once, beaming.
The three of them talked until it was too dark for them to see one another. Diana felt Fred's hand in hers. How would she know what Fred's hand felt like? Wow, you're so suspicious of her.
"Remember that forest Dumbledore told us about?" he asked.
"What time is it?" Diana asked quickly.
"Ten o' clock," George replied, "The night is young."
"I need to be back by eleven," said Diana.
"We can do that," said Fred, gripping her hand tighter and walking quickly to take her to the forest.
When they reached the forest, they walked slowly and silently. Diana was a bit scared, so she stayed as close to Fred as she could. As they walked, a unicorn came into view. It was pure white. It saw Diana and galloped over to her. It seemed to want to be pet. Diana stroked its back slowly. It trotted away, looking content.
Diana looked at Fred and George, who were smiling. The three continued walking, and they met many magical creatures. George saw Hagrid, and they ran out of the forest. They hurried up the stone path, and got back to the castle before anyone saw. Diana looked back and saw that Hagrid was looking around, confused.
"Diana," George said in an unsure voice. "It's eleven thirty."