Chapter 6
Fred hugged Diana as if never wanting to let her go. She tried to feel differently than he did on this matter. She hugged him back for a moment, then said,
"I must," almost in a whisper.
"Be careful," he said, like a father would to his child.
He loosened his grip until she was free. Diana gulped and quickly kissed Fred goodbye before walking away to the dungeons. She said the password so quickly it was barely intelligible, and went into the Slytherin common room.
Draco was sitting on the couch, looking relieved that she had finally come. He didn't look the least bit upset with her. She got out two dolls. Mrs. Weasley had handed them down to her on two different Christmases so she didn't have to feel like she'd never given Diana anything.
Both of the dolls were asleep. Diana got out her wand, pointed it at one of them, and said, "Rictumsempra!" It woke up, rolling around in silent laughter. Draco did, too, but his doll woke up looking annoyed.
Diana taught him a few other simple spells until he perfected them. It took a good hour or so, but Diana had to live up to her word. When it was over, Draco walked up to Diana and said,
"I'm not really going to duel Potter." He grinned as Diana glared at him, shocked. She smirked and walked up the staircase to the girls' dormitory. She was as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake anyone on the way to her four-poster.
To her surprise, however, everyone in the dormitory was wide awake. They waited for her to speak. After a minute or two of silence, Pansy asked,
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Potions class."
"I've been walking around the castle. Minding my own business. Looks like someone here doesn't know how," Diana replied.
"I saw her with the Weasley twins," Millicent said matter-of-factly. There was a collective "Ooh."
"So I'm not allowed to have friends outside of Slytherin?" Diana asked pointedly.
"Why would you want them?" Pansy asked.
"I've lived with the Weasleys since I was a year old," Diana told her.
"What happened when you were one?" Blaise asked curiously.
"My parents died," Diana said without thinking.
"Oh," said Blaise with a slight tone of sadness.
No one questioned Diana further. The torches in the dormitory went out as everyone went straight to sleep. The next morning in the common room, Diana couldn't help but notice that the malicious aura was stronger than usual. It turned out flying lessons were starting the following Thursday. They were going to be with Gryffindor.
Draco immediately started bragging about how great he was on a broomstick. He told stories, most of which ended in him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. A few Slytherin girls listened in adoration. Diana listened sometimes, but only because she was bored and could find nothing better to do.
She talked to Fred and George about it, and they were almost positive he was bluffing. Between the three of them, Diana also thought Draco's stories were a bit faulty. How many times would a helicopter fly over a manor and almost get hit by a kid on a broomstick?
That Thursday came all too soon. Draco got more candy than usual from his father. He shared it with Diana, but he almost always did. He knew she liked candy, and he hated to see how much she didn't eat. She gave Draco back all the Bertie Bott's that didn't look good. For the most part, her instincts were correct. After getting dirt, earwax, vomit, pepper, wood, mold, and hair, he started giving them to Crabbe and Goyle.
They walked onto the grounds, and the Gryffindors weren't there yet. Diana and Draco talked about flying, as did most of the Slytherins. They were all purebloods, so most had a lot of practice. All of them claimed to be experts, but it was obvious that not all of them were truthful.
Draco told everyone in the group about Neville's new Remembrall. They all laughed as the Gryffindors came out onto the grounds. Some of the Gryffindors glared, and a few Slytherins glared back.
Madam Hooch finally arrived. She had grey hair and yellow hawk-like eyes.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Diana looked at her broom with distaste. Draco whispered something about the poor condition of them, and Diana nodded. They looked back to Madam Hooch, who said,
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'"
"UP!" shouted the class.
Diana's broom jumped into her hand. She saw that Harry Potter's did too. Most of the class was having trouble. Diana smiled when she saw that Hermione Granger was having trouble. Flying was not something that could be learned out of a book, but Diana was sure Granger had tried.
Madam Hooch showed the class how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and she tutted when she came to Draco.
"You've been doing it wrong for years. Look at the way Miss Riddle's doing it."
"Should I look at the way she's breathing, too, while I'm at it?" Draco asked with sarcasm.
"She may be able to teach you that," Madam Hooch said with a wink.
Diana and Draco weren't exactly listening, but suddenly Neville went up in the air and WHAM! Neville had a crash landing, his broom flying. Diana assumed that he had a broken wrist, mostly because Madam Hooch said so. She told the class not to move while she was taking Neville to the Hospital Wing. She threatened that if anyone was in the air, they would be out of Hogwarts before they could say "Quidditch".
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch. He was very neurotic, which didn't help the situation.
Draco burst into laughter.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?"
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Parvati Patil.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little crying babies, Parvati.'
Draco went to pick up Neville's Remembrall. Diana watched as him and Harry fought over it, partly on broomsticks. Draco threw the Remembrall, and Harry...caught it! Later that day, Harry became Gryffindor's new Seeker.
This caused an uproar among the Slytherins. Draco was begging Marcus Flint to put him on the team. Flint kept telling him that he was too young and that Harry had only gotten on the team because of his own good fortune.
Diana figured it was really Draco's fault Harry was Seeker for Gryffindor. If he hadn't thrown Neville's Remembrall, Harry wouldn't have caught it. Harry probably didn't even know what Quidditch was prior to coming to Hogwarts, living with Muggles all his life.
Fred and George told Diana that Oliver Wood had to explain what Quidditch was to Harry, and that they were sure Harry'd gotten a great explanation. They happened to mention quite a few times that Oliver was a bit obsessed with the sport. The Gryffindor team spent most of their free time practicing, while Slytherin barely practiced at all.
Slytherin was very persistent on winning, just as they were about everything else. They had won the House Cup seven years in a row. Diana wasn't so sure they would this year. Harry seemed to be an excellent Seeker. Of course, she didn't tell anyone she thought that.
Fred and George bragged day and night about having Harry on the team. Diana started talking to Draco more, as the constant bragging from the twins got rather annoying. One day, Fred gave an apology. Just after, however, he chanted,
"We've got a new Seeker! We've got a new Seeker!"
"Hey, you promised," said Diana, pretending to be upset. Fred always made her smile, no matter how much he pestered her.
"No, I just promised I wouldn't brag about our new Seeker being --" then he shouted, "Harry Potter!"
"That was supposed to be a secret," Harry said from behind them.
"You have to know, Harry, secrets don't last long at Hogwarts," said George.
"But you can trust us with anything," said Fred.
"I bet," Harry said with obvious sarcasm.
"At least we're not in Slytherin," Fred added.
"Thanks for that insinuation," Diana retorted.
"Never met a Slytherin who made friends with Gryffindors," said Harry.
"Never met a Gryffindor with such a closed mind," said Diana.
"Sorry," said Harry.
"It's okay," said Diana halfheartedly. "I best be going. Bye."
"Good-bye," all three Gryffindors said.