Moving On
"Ew, this is disgusting!" Hermione exclaimed, picking up an inch-thick layer of dust from the desk she was cleaning.
"If that elf would just do his job, we wouldn't be doing any of this," said Ron as he tried swatting a couple of dust-bunnies with a broom.
Hermione's glare was mostly hidden by a handkerchief on her face, "He's old, Ron, he can't do the things he once could."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Diana were all in an upstairs drawing room, which seemed to have turned into a storage room as it was filled with boxes of silver. Hermione was dusting, Diana and Ron were sweeping and Harry was polishing any of the silver that can be used in the house.
As Ron and Hermione got into yet another argument over the house-elf, Diana was off to the side of the room, sweeping the worn wood floor. Since the night that she and Harry arrived, she had thrown herself into helping to clean the house and thinking up ways to help Harry with his hearing. On the outside, she was polite and often-times friendly to the Order members, though she still felt resentful that they would exclude her from their meetings. After all, she was far older than anyone in the house with her.
As she continued sweeping, she looked up to see Harry polishing the same silver goblet that he had been working on for the past ten minutes.
"Hey, Harry," said Diana, causing him to look up, "What's on your mind," she walked over and sat down next to him. He set the goblet down with a sigh.
"I was just thinking about the hearing tomorrow," he said, not looking up.
"And?" Diana asked expectantly.
"What if I'm expelled? What if I'm sent to Azkaban?"
"For starters, the popular opinion in this house is that you have a long shot of being expelled. There's absolutely no way that you're going to prison." He looked at Ron and Hermione with a sad look on his face. They were both working in irritated silence.
Harry finally looked up, "Hogwarts was the first real home I ever had. I was wanted, I was accepted. What can I do if I can't go back?"
Diana followed his gaze before turning back to him, "I'll tell you what you'll do. You'll live. You'll pull through," he looked at her in confusion, "Right now you may think that being expelled is the worst possible thing in the world, but it would have been way more terrible if those dementors had gotten to you."
"It's true that you could be expelled. If you are though, you'll move on; you'll keep going. That's all there is to do. But you won't do it alone. You'll still have Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, Remus, Sirius and me. We'll all be with you every step of the way, no matter what happens."
Harry smiled at her and nodded slightly. He then turned away, removed his glasses and began whipping his eyes, "There's a lot of dust in this room."
Diana smiled and gave him a pat on his shoulder.
"Hey, guys," everyone in the room looked to see Sirius standing in the open doorway. He had been tending to Buckbeak and clearing out the attic for most of the day, "Molly says you can take a break and come down for some lunch."
Diana and Harry stood up and began following the others out of the room.
"Diana," both Harry and Diana stopped to look toward Sirius, who had hung back from the group, "Might I have a word?"
Diana turned to Harry and gave him a nod to let him know to go ahead without her.
"What about?" she asked.
He gestured for her to walk with him, though they began walking at a slower pace than they normally would have.
"I just haven't had a chance to speak with you since you got here; I wanted to know how you were enjoying your stay here."
Diana knew there was more to this conversation than that, but answered anyway, "I've been quite comfortable here, thank you. Though I can't say I share your mother's taste in decoration," she said, causing Sirius to laugh loudly, before becoming serious.
"I overheard what you said to Harry in there," he said, "I've also heard of how kind you've been to him since Dumbledore took you to Privet Drive. I wanted to thank you for that."
"There's no need…" Diana began, but Sirius cut her off.
"There is every need," he held up a hand to stop her from talking, "You see, being his godfather, it pains me that I haven't been there for him for most of his life. The Weasley's have been wonderful to him, but they have their own family to tend to. I don't think Harry has ever had anyone that can give him the love and attention he needs and deserves."
Diana nodded, "He's a good kid. It's tragic how things have been for him."
Sirius thought for a moment before continuing, "But then you came along and though no one asked it of you or expected it, you stepped in and became the person he needed. And you've looked out for him. For all this, I am grateful to you."
Diana smiled, "I really don't know what to say, except that I just want what's best for Harry."
Sirius smiled back before speaking again, "I'd also like to apologize for the other night. It's unfair that you should be dragged into this war and be left in the dark. But I would ask you to understand our point of view. Though it is obvious you are a good person with a wonderful soul, we still don't know you that well. These are dangerous times and we're up against our own government as well as death eaters."
"Are things really that bad with the Ministry?" asked Diana.
"Yes I'm afraid they are," said Sirius, stopping and looking at Diana.
"It's ridiculous that they should be so stubborn that they put the fate of their people on the line," said Diana, slightly angry.
Sirius nodded in agreement, "We don't know who we trust, which is why we have to be careful with newcomers."
Diana nodded, "I understand. Thank you for explaining that to me. Things are much clearer to me now."
"I'm glad. Now why don't we head down for lunch," he gestured toward the stairs and they walked down to the kitchen together in companionable silence.
=w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w=
The morning of Harry's hearing, Diana woke up at daybreak. She lay on her back staring at the ceiling for a few minutes until consciousness returned to her fully. Pushing back the covers, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and sat up, thinking of what was to come later that day.
She stood up and opened the dresser. After dressing in a black blouse, light grey skirt and jacket and matching pumps, she grabbed a handbag and left the room and went downstairs. On the way down, she was stopped by a sound like a moose being strangled inside of a wind tunnel.
Walking into the kitchen, she saw that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Harry were up already. They were all sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee, the adults drinking coffee and Harry eating toast.
"Ah, good morning, Diana," said Mr. Weasley brightly. Everyone else greeted her good morning as well.
"Good morning," said Diana, smiling brightly, "You know, you should really get Ron's sinuses checked. That sound could wake up a bear in dead winter." There was a round of chuckles from everyone at the table, except for Harry. He looked as though he was about to be sick from nerves.
"Did you sleep well?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, yes, thank you," said Diana. She crossed the room and grabbed a mug, pouring herself some coffee.
"What're you all dressed up for?" asked Sirius, noticing her clothes.
"I'm going with Harry to his hearing," she said simply, taking a sip from her coffee.
Harry looked up, surprised, "Really?"
"But they don't allow anyone in with him, except a guardian," said Mr. Weasley.
"But his guardians won't come, Sirius can't come, and he's a minor," said Diana, "Besides, I'm a witness."
"But what if you get recognized by some death eater? And what reason will you give for being there anyway?" asked Tonks.
"I've got it all figured out, trust me," said Diana, sitting down next to Harry. Diana reached in her bag for something before pulling back the sides of her hair and securing it at the back of her head with a clip, and then put on a pair of glasses, "See?"
Sirius hummed in thought, "Subtle but effective, I like it."
"Well, in that case, we'd best be going," said Mr. Weasley, checking his pocket watch.
"Alright," Diana quickly downed the rest of her coffee. As they were readying to head out the door, everyone lined up to wish Harry farewell and luck with his hearing, as well as words of advice. Mrs. Weasley began fussing over Harry's hair and clothes before hugging him goodbye.
Then she turned to Diana, taking both of Diana's hands into her own, "I'm not entirely sure if this is safe for you, but I'm glad he'll have someone there with him that he trusts."
Diana smiled and pulled the woman into a hug. Then she turned to Sirius.
"Thank you," he said simply. Diana smiled at him and stepped out the door. =w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w==w=
I really hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I liked writing that moment toward the beginning with Harry and Diana. I think that what she says is a piece of advice he always could have used, and I like trying to convey the sort of mother/son relationship I've got in mind for them.