These characters aren't mine, sadly, and I make no profit from (insert story the particular fic of mine you are reading is based on here). I cry out to the stars, "If only, if only."

By the by, watch out, a few of the characters may be ooc. (out of character for those of you who don't know what that stands for.)

Chapter 17: Christmas

Diina heaved another sigh of relief. She had finished taking her O.W.L.s that morning. It was Christmas Eve, and Diina was headed for the Great Hall for dinner.

"BONZAI!" Sue yelled, leaping off the suit of armor she was perched on top of and knocking Diina to the ground. A muffled 'yip' sounded from between Diina and Sue. "Mince! Are you okay?" Sue scrambled off Diina and grabbed the puppy off of Diina's stomach.

"Oh, sure, ask the dog is he's okay, but don't worry about Diina," Diina muttered. "That's the first time you've bonzaied with Mince, isn't it?"

"Yup."

"I'd say she did pretty well for a first-timer," Diina joked. "What're you doing out of the kitchen? It's almost dinner time, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but the elves said I should eat with you and take Mince with me."

"Think it might have to do with the fact that Mince keeps breaking things?"

"Nah, they just want her to get out and have some fun."

Diina and Sue entered the Great Hall, Mince trotting along behind. Diina went to the Slytherin table, even though she was the only one there. Sue followed, thoroughly puzzled.

"Don'tcha wanna sit with Harry?" Sue asked.

"No, I don't."

"Why not?"

"It's none of your business."

"Why not?"

"I'm not telling you."

"I'll scream at the top of my lungs."

"Fine," Diina snapped. "I don't want to sit with him because things are complicated and I don't know how I feel."

"I can help," Sue proclaimed, pulling out a copy of some paper. "See, it's the horoscopes. Read yours and you'll find the answer."

Diina read hers thoroughly, then thought about what it said. It told her that there were two people in her life vying for her affection. The one she met first was the best match for her and she should detach herself from the second before the shadow lurking over that person fell on her. So the stars think Draco's the one for me? Ridiculous. Those stars should take a closer look at things before they align themselves and predict this nonsense. "Sue, I don't need this right now. Get it out of my sight," Diina sighed.

"Okay," Sue said, putting it back in her pocket. "But just remember to trust your horoscope. It'll come back to haunt you if you don't. It may seem like nonsense right now, but"-

"Sue, I get the point," Diina interrupted. Silence reigned for a few minutes.

"Diina, we'll always be together, right?"

"Sadly, it is my curse to be with you," Diina replied. "Unfortunately for me, I can never—and I stress the 'never'—get away from you. So yes, we'll always be together."

"Hurroo," Sue crowed happily, hugging Mince. "Hear that, Mince? We're gonna be with Diina forever and ever and ever and ever...."

"I think I'm gonna be an alcoholic," Diina mumbled. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Yeah, whaddya want?" she sighed, turning around to see who desired her attention. "Oh. Hi Ron."

"Hi. Uh, can I sit?"

"Sure, go ahead. It'll be worth it when I tell all the Slytherins that a Gryffindor sat at our table and defiled it. Then they won't eat here and I'll get some peace and quiet during mealtime," Diina replied. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well...I know something happened between you and Harry. I'm not asking for any details or anything"-

"They were kissing and Draco saw it," Sue supplied.

"I hate you with a passion," Diina told Sue.

"My point is"- Ron began.

"I know you hate me. But I love you," Sue interrupted.

"My point"- Ron tried again.

"You don't love me. You love annoying me," Diina retorted.

"My poi"- Ron said.

"Same thing," Sue said.

"My"- Ron attempted.

"No, it's not! If you loved me, you wouldn't annoy me," Diina contradicted Sue.

"Like I was saying"- Ron said through gritted teeth, frustrated with the lack of attention on what he was trying to say.

"You were saying something?" Sue asked. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, I never heard a word," Diina added.

"Well, you can't just ignore Harry. He's all depressed and thinks he's done something wrong. We can't have a conversation without him analyzing the situation, where he went wrong, and how to fix it," Ron explained.

"First, I can ignore him I want to. Second, he shouldn't be depressed because he's done nothing wrong. And third, if you two can't have a conversation, that's not my problem," Diina answered. "Lastly, since he did nothing wrong, there is nothing to fix. My reason for 'ignoring him' is that I'm confused and am not sure I'm ready for a relationship. It has nothing to do with him, it has everything to do with me and my insecurities."

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how insecure Diina can be," Sue said, cuddling Mince. "Like in the hotel room with Draco, she"-

"One more word and I'll kill you," Diina threatened.

"But"-

"Listen. It's none of Ron's business. Should you choose to make it his business, that's all fine and well. Just don't do it in front of me. Then I can assume it's all Draco's fault and be mad at him instead of you."

"But I like it when you're mad at me."

"I don't. Besides, if you want to see me beat up Draco, then you should do everything you can to make me think that he's spreading rumors about me," Diina said.

"You're mad at me right now."

"Yes, I am."

Sue leaned over and gave Diina a hug and a kiss. "I'm sorry. There. Now we've kissed and made up."

"I'm still mad at you."

"Yay!" Sue cheered.

"Go away."

-

Ron heaved a sigh as he returned to Gryffindor table.

"What did you say?" Harry asked.

"I thought you were going to kill me for going over there," Ron replied, recalling Harry's threats and Ginny's pleadings not to talk to Diina.

"Just tell me what happened," Harry said.

"Well, you know how girls are. She said bunches of pointless dribble drabble."

"What were the contents of the 'pointless dribble drabble'?"

"She started off by offering me a seat so she could tell Malfoy and the others that the table was defiled by a Gryffindor. Then she and Sue got into a fight about whether or not Sue loved her and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. When I finally managed to say something, they told me that they hadn't heard me saying anything before. Then I told Diina she can't ignore you, that you're all depressed because you think you've done something wrong, and that we can't have a conversation without you trying to figure out how to fix it," Ron said.

"I can't believe you told her that," Harry mumbled angrily.

"Well, she said she'll ignore you if she wants to, you shouldn't be depressed because you've done nothing wrong, if we can't have a conversation it's not her problem, and there's nothing to be fixed between you two. She's ignoring you because she's confused and insecure," Ron finished.

"Is that it?" Ginny asked from her seat across the table.

"The rest really isn't relevant."

"Tell me," Harry demanded.

"Okay. Sue said Diina was very insecure and tried to give me an example with Diina and Malfoy in a hotel room, but Diina threatened to kill her. Then she said a bunch of nonsense about how it wasn't my business and what Sue should do to make it my business. They started arguing again, so I left."

"I'm really starting to regret buying her a Christmas gift," Harry sighed.

"I think it's really sweet that you got her a gift," Ginny said supportively. "What did you get her?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what to get her, so I took Sue with me and"-

"That's doomed to failure," Ron interrupted.

"Ron, don't interrupt," Ginny scolded. "You were saying?" she asked Harry.

"Sue said that Diina likes roses and diamonds. So we went to one of the jewelry shops in Hogsmeade," Harry said. "I got her a necklace with a tear-drop diamond."

The Gryffindor table suddenly exploded. Everyone except Neville was thrown back against the walls. As a result, Neville was the only one who saw Peeves slip away, laughing hysterically, obviously guilty of the explosion. The students turned to look for the source of the explosion.

"Neville!" they declared simultaneously. The professors grumbled about 'that Longbottom' except for Snape, who glared. Throughout all of that, Neville cowered.

"Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed, feeling something poking into his back. He twisted around and picked up the object. "What's this?" Harry looked over to see what Ron was talking about.

"Ron, that's mine," Harry said urgently. "Give it back."

"A ring box?" Ron inquired. He opened up the little box and saw a ring with a ruby rose-shaped stone. "Wait a minute! Is this for Diina? Were you going to...propose?"

"No," Harry snapped, snatching the box. "Maybe. I don't know."

"Bloody hell! You've known her for only three months and you're ready to propose? She's been avoiding you and says she's confused about her feelings for you. And you want to propose! Are you mad?"

-

"Sue! Leave the tree alone!" Diina reprimanded. "Mince, stop eating the tinsel!"

"It's Christmas Eve. Let me have some fun," Sue said, giving the tree a gentle push so it swayed back and forth a bit.

"It's eleven o'clock, for heaven's sake. Leave so I can get some rest."

"I brought Sake."

"Stay. Let us partake of the Sake and share the Christmas spirit."

"Which one? Past, present, or future?"

"All of them. Just give me some Sake!" Diina said.

Half an hour later, Snape walked into the Slytherin common room and saw Sue asleep, draped over the back of the couch. Diina was asleep on the front of the couch with Mince on her feet. She was shivering ever so slightly, so Snape covered her with a blanket.

-

Draco stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Within the next twelve hours, Diina would open his gift. He tried to picture her face when she opened the box, but he failed miserably. His mind was preoccupied with what his father had told him concerning Diina.

-

"Wake up, sleepyhead! It's Christmas morning!" Sue screeched happily.

"Yip!" Mince added.

Diina opened her eyes. It was almost eight, according to her watch. A small pile of gifts were stacked under the tree.

"Here, this is my gift to you. Open it first," Sue commanded, handing Diina one of the gifts. Diina sat up, kicking the blanket off of her legs. She paused a moment, wondering where the blanket had come from. Deciding it didn't matter, she opened Sue's gift.

"A box of chocolates. How sweet of you!" Diina exclaimed.

"I made the chocolate myself," Sue boasted.

"I'll have some after breakfast. Now open my gift to you."

Sue ripped off the wrapping paper to discover a framed picture of a wolf howling at the moon as well as an individually wrapped bone for Mince. "See, Mince? I told you Diina loves you."

"Which one should I open next?" Diina asked. She had received five presents, including Sue's.

Sue scrutinized the pile, then made her decision. "This one! It's the biggest." She handed Diina the package, observing something odd. "Hey, it doesn't say who it's from. Hurry up and open it. Come on, rip the paper off!"

Diina complied with Sue's wishes and pulled a cloak out of the shreds of wrapping paper. It shimmered and sparkled in the light. Diina's first thought was that it was an Invisibility Cloak, but that idea was crushed when she felt the texture. She knew from the touch that it was snakeskin. "Whoever bought me this has a lot of money. You'd think they'd put their name on it, so they can brag about how much money they can spend," Diina said, standing up and putting it on.

"Something's wrong! Take it off!" Sue yelled. She was struggling to hold on to Mince, whose fur was standing straight up. Mince raised her hackles and let out a low, menacing growl. Diina hurriedly took off the cloak and tossed it into her room, shutting the door so Mince couldn't get to it. "I don't know what got into her. The second you put it on, she went berserk."

"Let's...move on," Diina replied. Continuing through the gifts, Diina discovered she had received a poppy tincture from Professor Snape (with his advice not to get caught with it), a book from Hermione (with a list of possible topics to discuss that would/should arise from reading the book), and a tear-drop diamond necklace from Harry.

"I helped him pick it out," Sue bragged. "Okay, last gift. It's from...Draco."

"In that case, I'm not opening it," Diina said, handing it back to Sue.

"Aww, c'mon. It can't hurt."

"Then you can open it."

"No, it's your gift."

"I don't want it."

"Fine. I'll just follow you all day and bug you about it until you open it to shut me up," Sue said.

"Fine. It won't bother me," Diina lied, fastening Harry's necklace around her neck.

"You really like that, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's gorgeous."

"So, what'd you get Harry?"

"I didn't send him my gift because I didn't think I was getting one from him," Diina confessed.

"You know, you could hand deliver it to him at breakfast."

-

Harry was surprised that Diina hadn't gotten him a gift for Christmas. He was sitting with Ron and Ginny at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, moping.

"I'd take this as a sign that proposal isn't a good idea," Ron said.

"Maybe she didn't have any money to buy a gift," Ginny suggested.

"She's a Slytherin. She has to have loads of money," Ron argued.

"Maybe she didn't have a chance to go shopping," Ginny tried again.

"You girls always find time to shop," Ron contradicted.

"Maybe she was too shy to give it to you," Ginny said.

"Like that would ever happen," Ron retorted.

Diina came over just then. "Here, this is for you," she told Harry, handing him a gold pocket watch with a Snitch engraved on the cover. "I...uh...didn't wrap it or anything because...oh, I don't know. Merry Christmas." She turned and left, blushing profusely.

"You were saying?" Ginny smugly asked Ron.

-

"I made an idiot of myself," Diina whined.

"That's okay. I'm sure he still loves you," Sue said. "Now, why don't you open Draco's present?"

"No."

"C'mon."

"No."

"You know you want to know what's in this box."

"No."

"Should I shake it for you?"

"No."

"Open it."

"No."

"Diina! Open it!"

"Alright," Diina snapped. "Hold the box still." While Sue held the box, Diina lifted the lid and pulled out a little card. She read over it, then dropped it, trembling. "Get that box out of my sight. I don't ever want to see it again. Is that clear?"

"Diina, what is it? What did the note say?" Sue asked curiously.

"He knows," Diina whispered.

"Knows what?"

Diina got up and left the Great Hall, leaving Sue behind, puzzling. With a shrug, Sue got up and headed for the kitchen, taking the box with her. When she got there, she set the box on a shelf and vowed not to be curious about it. Despite that vow, she constantly found herself staring at the box, wondering what was in it.

-

Diina opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Where am I? Oh crap! I'm in the Forbidden Forest! But how did I get here? And how long have I been here? The last thing Diina remembered was leaving the Great Hall and putting on her new cloak in Slytherin. What happened after that? I...can't...seem to remember anything. She looked at her watch. Ten forty-three p.m.? I've been here for over twelve hours?

She quickly decided that she was catching the flu. Every part of her seemed to ache. All her muscles screamed in protest as she sat up and pulled out her wand. Someone had to be looking for her by now. She shot sparks up into the air, then leaned back against a tree to wait. Heavy footfalls and frantic voices approached.

"The sparks came from here," McGonagall was saying. Diina found her throat was parched and began attempting to call out.

"I don't see anyone, Minerva," Snape replied.

"A monster could've pulled her farther in," McGonagall insisted.

"If we don't find her here soon, we move on," Snape said.

"I'm over here," Diina finally managed to yell. Moments later, McGonagall and Snape were crouched in front of her asking if she was alright and trying to help her up.

"Professors, I don't know how I got here," Diina defended herself immediately. "The last thing I knew, I was in Slytherin putting on this cloak. It was right after breakfast. Now it's almost eleven o'clock at night. I've lost more then twelve hours of memory," Diina said.

"You've been missing for two days," McGonagall said quietly.

"That's impossible," Diina said in shock.

"It's true," Snape replied.

"But...I...it...."

Snape and McGonagall helped Diina up to Hogwarts and left her in the Hospital wing. After she'd been laying in bed and staring at the ceiling for a good five minutes, Dumbledore came in.

"So, the lost lamb has been found," he remarked. "Why did you go into the Forest?"

"I don't know," Diina replied honestly. "My mind's a complete blank. I have no idea what I did for the past two days. You have to believe me. I really can't remember."

"I believe you Diina," Dumbledore said quietly, pulling out the Daily Prophet. "I think you'll find both front page articles...interesting." He handed the paper to Diina.

Evil Child at Hogwarts

An anonymous source has recently revealed that

Diina Michelle Riddle, the niece and only surviving

relative of You-Know-Who, is attending Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

Diina tossed the paper down. Why bother reading the rest of the article? She knew what it would say. Many of the parents are outraged that their children are in school with that dangerous girl, she is a menace to society, blah blah blah. She remembered Dumbledore mentioning two articles, so she picked up the paper and took another look.

The second article was about the murder of two Aurors on December 26. Skimming through the article, she found her name listed as one of the suspects. The supporting evidence (other than the fact that she was related to Voldemort) was that she had "conveniently" gone missing the day before.

"How can they accuse me of that?" Diina whispered, dropping the paper. She was holding back tears.

"Can you remember anything from the last two days?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, I can't. I didn't even know it had been two days until McGonagall told me. Well, I guess that makes me a suspect."

"I think you did it," Harry said from the shadows on her left. "I had a dream where I saw you kill them."

"You should remember if you murder someone. I suppose I could've done it and then suppressed my memory, but why would I go out and kill two people I don't even know?" Diina asked.

"It could be the Imperius Curse," Harry reasoned.

"So someone got into my head, forced me to kill those Aurors, and then wiped my memory of it? That has to be one powerful wizard," Diina mumbled.

"Voldemort is," Harry replied.