Chapter 13

Diana looked at Myrtle uncomfortably. She couldn't tell what Myrtle might be thinking, so she didn't say anything about this Tom Riddle character who happened to be her father. She looked at Myrtle still. Myrtle didn't say anything more. She went back to her bathroom stall, moaning as if everything that existed was miserable to her. Diana decided it was time for her to leave, so that she did. She snuck past Myrtle to lessen the risk of being shouted at on her way out. She went to the Slytherin common room, though reluctant. Draco was sitting on the couch, talking to Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. Diana walked up to them and faked a smile in greeting.

Draco could tell something was wrong, but he could also tell Diana didn't want to talk about it. Blaise could also tell something was wrong.

"Diana," Blaise asked, "Is something bothering you?"

"Um, no. Not really," was Diana's response.

No one objected. They engaged in conversation about Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Diana told them that she had fairly good luck with them, other than a soap-flavored bean on the Hogwarts Express. Draco reminded the group of the time Diana and Blaise threw bad-smelling Bertie Botts at him. Blaise giggled, remembering this only too well. Diana smiled, also remembering. Crabbe and Goyle laughed hysterically as if they knew what was going on. They got the slightest bit annoying sometimes. Diana wondered if they ate the Bertie Botts after they were thrown at Draco. They would eat just about anything. They would be some of the easiest people to poison. Not that Diana had ever considered it or anything.

The three of them continued talking about random things that made people look at them as if they were weird or something as they passed by. Somehow, money came up. Diana found out that she was just as financially gifted as Draco, which surprised her slightly. She didn't talk about money much, since she lived with the Weasleys, who still didn't know about the fortune she had at Gringotts Bank. She didn't intend to tell them, but she was sure it would happen to slip from Draco's lips while either fighting with Fred or insulting Ron. Money came up a lot when Malfoys and Weasleys conversed. Diana found this quite pathetic.

Draco, Blaise, and Diana decided to leave the common room and wander around the grounds. Diana went to the main corridor, where many others were congregated. Draco and Blaise followed. They then went out onto the grounds a bit. They sat on the grass in a triangle of sorts. Draco told Diana and Blaise about Quidditch plans. Blaise wasn't all that interested in Quidditch plans, so she started asking him dirty questions, one to which the answer was twenty-seven centimeters. Blaise had tons of fun harassing Draco. Diana finally put an end to it by starting a game of the random word game. It didn't quite work, though. Blaise named many things that made Draco wonder about her. The three of them walked to the main corridor, where they played hangman. The hangman person looked quite like Harry Potter, which was quite inconvenient when he came by with Ron and Hermione.

"Oh, look who it is. Grain, Pot, and Wheeze," said Draco.

"Shut it, Malfoy," said Harry.

"Should he, though?" Blaise asked.

"Your girlfriend is standing up for you, is she?" Hermione asked, finding this amusing.

"I'm not his girlfriend," said Blaise, blushing as if wishing that wasn't true.

"Diana, I thought you liked Fred," said Ron.

"What is my personal life to you, Ron?" Diana asked him.

"He's jealous because he can't afford one," said Draco.

Ron's face went as red as his hair, and he ran away. Harry ran after him, Hermione following. Draco laughed. Blaise was still blushing, and Diana had lived with the Weasleys for too long to find their lack of money the least bit funny. She actually found it quite sad. She looked at Draco, who started a new conversation about the complexity of the Dark Arts. Diana had to correct him many a time, and he nodded as if he'd known what she was saying before. Diana wandered off as Draco went into the common room. Blaise had been long gone.

Diana went to the library, where she looked for a book about her father. There were quite a few, most of which said he was a terrible brute. She wondered why even the maddest of men seemed to hate him. Finally, she came across a book called The Great Dark Lord, which contained information about his life before taking over the wizarding world with his dark powers. It talked about how he was the heir of Slytherin. However, not even the writer of this book knew that his name had been Tom Marvolo Riddle. Diana had only found out by writing in the diary.

Diana checked out this book, and the librarian looked at her with suspicion. She said nothing, other than "Here's your book," and "It will be due back April 12th. Diana nodded and walked out of the library with this book in her bag. Her bag was green plaid, and it had a large silver pin with the Slytherin crest on it. She looked around as she walked through the halls. She saw Fred and George, who were talking casually in the entrance hall. She walked over to them, and they started talking about her as if she weren't there. She blinked. She said, "Hello," and they looked at her, but it felt more like they were looking through her.

"Hi," said Fred after staring at her for what seemed like an hour.

"Hi," said George.

"Is something bothering you?" asked Diana.

"No," said Fred, suddenly smiling very widely. He hugged me very firmly.

"That's good," Diana said with the little breath she could muster.

Fred let go of Diana, and the three of them went out onto the grounds. They stopped people as they walked around, saying "Konnichiwa. Como estas?" Some of them answered in French, which amused Diana greatly. They let all of the Snitches free with one spell, and they were flying around the school. Harry Potter caught one of them when it flew in front of his face. Eventually, they were all caught by people they flew in arm range of. There were only five, or so Diana thought. Some people must have brought them from home, because there were 23 people who caught them. The spell also put numbers in the sky that showed how many were caught.

McGonagall somehow knew Fred and George were behind this, so she brought them into her office. She also took Diana, because she happened to be with them at the time. Diana looked around the office, which was much different from Professor Snape's office. There was Gryffindor memorabilia all around the office. Diana looked to the Professor as she sat down in one of three seats in front of her desk.

"Miss Riddle, has anyone ever told you that you and Mister Frederick Weasley would make a cute couple?" asked Professor McGonagall as if talking to an old school friend.

"Yes, actually," said Diana, wondering if she was being punished for looking good with Fred.

"Well, that's beside the point. Do you three realize what you have done?" she inquired.

"Simple spell, if you know what you're doing. All you have to do is --"

"That's enough, Mister Weasley," the professor said, as if not bothering to figure out which Mister Weasley she was talking about. There were a lot of Mister Weasleys. Diana wondered why professors had to address students as Mister and Miss. She thought of Professor Snape, who typically referred to Harry Potter as "Potter". Draco did that, too. She also thought of how he called Vincent and Gregory "Crabbe" and "Goyle". She wondered if it bothered Professor Dumbledore that --

"Miss Riddle, are you listening?"

"Hm?" Diana asked.