This Is It

"I can't believe I'm really going back. I'm not expelled! I get to keep my wand!" Harry was in good spirits as he and Diana left the Ministry. "Are you really coming with us?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore arranged it."

Harry took his seat next to her. There weren't many people on board as it was still early in the day and most of them had just arrived at work for the day.

Another thought struck him, "How did you know that the time and place had been changed?"

"I took the lift to Mr. Weasley's floor and found his office, and Mr. Perkins told me. He was kind enough to tell me a rarely used shortcut so that it wouldn't take too long for me to get there."

Harry nodded, "What did you go off to do?"

"Oh, I saw someone that I recognized." She recounted what happened after she left them in the atrium. Harry frowned when he heard of her run-in with Malfoy.

"He was in the graveyard the night Voldemort came back."

"Believe me, he doesn't rate high in my book either, considering the fact that he and his friends kidnapped me and stole one of my most prized possessions." She checked her watch, "It's too early for a celebratory lunch, so why don't we stop and get some ice-cream. And then you can explain to me how you managed to blow up your aunt?"

Harry grinned and agreed. "I know a good place."

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"… that was around the time that Sirius escaped, so I didn't even get a letter or a warning. They were just happy I was alright." Harry finished his story as he and Diana entered Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry was holding a chocolate ice-cream cone; Diana carried her own strawberry cone in one hand and her purse and a bag of ice-cream for everyone else in the other.

"It seems ridiculous to me that Marge would hate you just because Vernon and Petunia do," said Diana as she hung her purse up on the hat stand next to the front door.

"Uncle Vernon told her I'm a hopeless delinquent."

Diana shook her head, frowning. "Here, take this to the kitchen while I go find everyone." She handed him the bag of ice-cream.

"Okay," he walked toward the kitchen as Diana headed up the stairs. Diana was licking her ice-cream as she walked down the hall, and didn't see a door opening on her right.

"Whoa!" said Sirius as he ran into her. He caught her by the arms to keep her from falling over.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sirius."

"No, it's- um- no harm done," said Sirius, obviously trying to hold in his laughter.

"What's funny?" asked Diana, looking at him curiously.

"You've got," he gestured with a finger, making a circular motion around his mouth and jaw, "… ice-cream on your…"

"Oh my gosh!" Diana quickly made to wipe her face off. "Did I get it all?" she asked, embarrassed.

"You've still got some; here, let me." He reached a hand up and swiped at a spot at the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

"There you are," said Sirius as he slowly pulled his hand away.

They stared at each other for a second before Diana cleared her throat and said, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "You're back early."

Diana nodded, "The time of his hearing was moved up. It seemed more like a trial to me though. You weren't joking when you said that they had it in for him."

"How did it turn out though?" he asked, concerned.

"He was cleared," said Diana, though she was frowning again. "The Minister put up a fight, but in the end we convinced the majority."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Well that's excellent. That's the more important thing really."

"Yes, but it's disappointing that they're still so set in their views."

Suddenly there was the sound of someone running up the stairs.

"Sirius!" Harry ran up and hugged his godfather. "Did you hear?"

"Yeah, Diana was just telling me." Sirius grinned and ruffled Harry's hair.

He dodged under Sirius's arm and turned to Diana. "I came to see what was taking so long."

"Oh, yeah, we got ice-cream for everyone. It's down in the kitchen," said Diana.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place? We must tell everyone immediately and repair to the kitchen." Diana laughed as Sirius made a grand show of leading Harry into the room he had just exited.

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Over the next couple of weeks, they all settled back into the routine of cleaning the house, sorting through rubbish and getting rid of cursed objects. Eventually the morning came when Harry and his friends got their letters from Hogwarts, along with the announcements that Ron and Hermione had been made prefects. Diana realized that she should probably prepare for her new job.

"Hermione," she said, knocking on the open door.

"Hi, Diana, do you need something?" Hermione was sitting on her bed packing for school.

"Yes, I figured you'd be the one to ask. First, do you have a pen and some paper I could borrow?"

"Hold on," she began rummaging in her trunk. "Here you go," she held out a scroll of parchment, a quill and a jar of ink.

"Are you serious?" said Diana, eyeing the objects. Hermione nodded. "Okay, thank you."

She took the items and said, "Also, even though this counselor thing is more of a cover than an actual job, I intend to take it seriously. So I was wondering if you could help me get ready."

"Really?" asked Hermione, slightly surprised.

"Yes, Harry tells me that you're the smartest girl at school and you're better in tune with people's emotions. I thought maybe you could tell me some things about the ones that may have been affected most by Cedric Diggory's death, so I can talk to them when I get to Hogwarts."

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"Is it always this hectic?" asked Diana.

"I hate to admit it, but yes," said Mrs. Weasley as they watched everyone scrambling to locate their things.

"BOYS, NO!" Screamed Mrs. Weasley as the twins knocked Ginny over with the trunks they were levitating. She began yelling at them, which caused Mrs. Black's portrait to begin screeching again.

As the screeching, yelling and scrambling went on, Diana helped Ginny up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thank you." Ginny answered as she dusted herself off. She walked past the twins with a huff to finish getting ready.

"Sirius, Dumbledore said no!" Diana turned to see Mrs. Weasley scolding a large black dog that was coming down the stairs. "Well on your own head be it!"

The dog came up to her, "Sirius, is that really you?" The dog just barked and began wagging its tail.

"He's an animagus," said Harry, walking up. "That's someone who can change into a specific animal."

"That's quite a talent to have," said Diana, playfully scratching behind the dog's ear, and laughing when his paw started tapping.

The rest of the trip to King's Cross station was uneventful, apart from Fred and George's wet-start fireworks going off due to the rain. Once they got to the station, they hurried through the building to the barrier. Diana did her best to navigate through the crowded station without bumping into anyone.

"Alright, here we are. Go on through," said Mrs. Weasley when they stopped at the brick wall between platforms 9 and 10.

"Go through where?" asked Diana. Her question was immediately answered, however, when Ron, Fred and George all ran straight through the wall.

"I had that exact same look on my face my first time finding the platform," said Harry, noticing the look of amazement on Diana's face.

"Hurry up. The train will be leaving before long," said Mrs. Weasley.

Diana stared at the brick wall for a minute, until Sirius nudged her leg with his head.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," she glared down at the dog. He growled back playfully.

Diana stepped up to the wall with her bag that she was bringing. Slowly, she brought her hand up to the wall. It slipped right through as though the wall weren't there.

"Quickly, Diana, before someone sees," Mrs. Weasley urged.

Diana took a deep breath and closed her eyes before stepping through.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the bright scarlett engine labeled the Hogwarts Express. "I guess this is it."

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It took me awhile to finish this chapter because of my new job. But I finally finished it. I hope everyone likes it.

Also, what does everyone think of the cover image I made for this story? I'd really like to know.