Diara woke with a start as a yowl filled the room, claws dug into her legs painfully and a large weight crashing onto her mattress (complete with a Cloud Soft charm). There was no mistaking the cause, even in Diara's groggy sleep-deprived mind: "Gerroff James, gerroff!" the girl hollered at her older brother.
A laugh, then a sharp hiss of pain came from James. "Stupid bloody cat! Merlin, you just had to listen to Sirius? Fiend, really? Argh." As Diara put her circular gold framed glasses onto her nose she saw her brother sucking a scratched finger, courtesy of her kitten. Fiend had shown to be very smart. Diara had, of course, known the kitten was magical—most Wizards' pets were (even if only given longer lives or color-changing fur) either through charms or cross-breeding with magical animals. Diara didn't doubt her new friend was capable of anything.
"Ugh, anyways, up!" Today's the day," the boy called as he clambered off of his sister's bed and slipped out of her bedroom. Today, today was the day Diara started at Hogwarts! This was very exciting for the young witch as she had little contact with others her age, due to living on the outskirts of a Welsh Muggle Village. Yes, there were a few other Wizarding families around in the nearby Godric's Hollow but none had children Diara's age. Her parents' age was part of the reason she had few friends: Harald and Charise had given birth to James, and then adopted Diara late in life. Most Wizards married and started families young but the Potters had not conceived a child for many years. Of the Potter's acquaintances, only Augusta Longbottom, (James' friend Frank's mum) also had her child late in life—yet even she was in actuality the younger sister of Mrs. Potter's friend Madrigal who had long ago married a foreign wizard.
Diara, with her justifiable excitement, jumped up and ran to the armoire pulling out a nicer outfit she'd set out for the day when she'd packed for Hogwarts two days before. On went the green-and-yellow plaid shirtdress, and a pair of yellow socks. A brush went through her hair, and, even as she tossed the brush into the top of her open trunk her messy shoulder length hair sprang back into disarray curling out whichever way it chose at the ends, and struggling against the barrette Diara fondly placed into her hair.
Diara and her family had spent one last day together at a Quidditch match only the day before. The match had been between the Chudley Cannons and the Wimbourne Wasps. The family had cheered for the Wasps, and when a beater for the Wasps had been knocked unconscious a reserve player by the name of Ludo Bagman had come out onto the field and been absolutely fantastic. Yet even his performance hadn't tempted Diara to select a different souvenir—the snitch barrette that fluttered its wings as if hovering, had called to the girl.
Ready to go downstairs at last, Snitch fluttering madly in her hair, the girl turned to Fiend. Instead of asking her cat if she wished to accompany her to breakfast she found that the kitten had curled up on Diara's pillow. "At least you get your sleep," the girl yawned as she bounced out of the room.
The Hogwarts Express glistened through the steam, that made Platform 9 ¾ seem like it was in a whole other world from the rest of King's Cross. Diara, who had seen the Station many times before, was nevertheless more excited than ever to see the train. Her hazel-flecked bright green eyes looked around excitedly as Charise despaired over James' hair, and moaning about the swarm of letters home she was sure to receive, as was Mrs. Potter's tradition.
"Now you be sure to keep out of trouble Diara! And do mind your brother…" Mr. Potter looked at his wife as she fretted, and shook his head. "Diara has a good head on her shoulder, but even so James is three years older than her—she can't manage that Charise. She may not even be in Gryffindor with James. Just make sure you study hard honey, and write home lots. And James—do keep an eye out for her, help her settle in."
James looked as his father and saluted cheekily. "Sure thing Pops!" Diara glared at her brother as he smirked at her. "I'll be sure to watch the little tyke!" With a huff (and a frown on Mrs. Potter's face as her two children sniped at each other) Diara turned away from the boy who'd woken her up. "Mum, not even Dumbledore stops the Marauders, I'm sure that I can't manage that."
Mrs. Potter looked between her two children, as did her husband with a resigned look. It was Mrs. Potter who dared to find out, however, "Marauders…? James is that…" But what Mrs. Potter was going to ask James cleverly managed to avoid, as his glower at Diara faded in to a grin and he promptly pulled away from his family, calling out, "Hey mate!" A family of four was slipping through the crowd and had gotten his attention.
The Potters turned around. Harald bending down to whisper in his daughter's ear: "And so we meet Mr. Black's parents. Walburga and Adalbert Black. They're not people your mother and I would regularly socialize with, but as Sirius is a friend…" Straightening, Harald nodded gravely as his wife addressed the woman who she had met several times years before. "Morning Walburga, I've missed seeing you the last few years, but James has told me a lot of your son Sirius," she smiled at the Slytherin.
"Mmm, yes, the son who spends time with blood traitors…and this is our other son, Regulus," answered Adalbert as Walburga fingered her wand and cast a scathing look upon the family. The Black family, Diara noticed was of two sons—Sirius charmingly handsome with thick glossy black hair tidily ending just below his ears, a good complexion, and bright excited eyes. Regulus, who appeared to be a year or two older than her was smaller, and built on much slighter lines than his brother, although he also had black hair. He had a haughty look on his sallow face, and dispirited grey eyes. Adalbert looked stern and unforgiving—Diara knew him to be involved in anti-vampire legislation, thanks to an article in the Daily Prophet. He had also appeared in the newspaper in support of Voldemort's politics. Walburga, who had refused so far to speak, looked cruel. Diara couldn't look at the woman without wanting to shudder. Perhaps that impression was due to having received letters from James in the past years, commenting on Sirius receiving Howlers full of Dark profanities. Diara did not envy Sirius for where he grew up.
As her eyes lit on the younger boy (who she absently thought was scrawny, though who was she to complain as she was much smaller still) her vision fizzled away from the present for a moment, looking at the boy, and several facts flitted into her mind, one of them concerning the family in front of her. Within a moment she had shook her head and cleared her mind and vision. Yet only Sirius still stood before the Potter's, happily chatting with Mr. Potter and James. Mrs. Potter's spare hand (the other rested on a cane) was resting on her daughter's shoulder. "You drifted off for a moment…"
"It's nothing mum. Don't worry," Diara smiled. It troubled her, but Diara couldn't change what the Wizarding world already guessed: times were getting Darker. "Oh look, Remus and Peter are here, just in time too!"
Diara offered Mrs. Pettigrew a smile as she pushed Peter's luggage up—at fourteen the boy was still small and chubby, and not very strong. Remus too pushed his trunk up, though he was not with his father. "Hello Remus, are you excited for the sweets trolley? And you Mrs. Pettigrew, how are you doing today?"
Remus grinned at the thought of the train's sweets, and then looked curiously at Diara, before glancing at James who smirked at him. "How did you know who was who?" Remus asked as the elder Potters engaged in conversation with Mrs. Pettigrew, a middle-aged woman whose muggle husband had divorced her when Peter was small. James and Sirius chuckled and then laughed riotously at their friend's reaction to Diara.
Diara calmly grinned and reached down to pet Fiend, who had poked a head up over the edge of the cauldron she'd set him in. "Oh I see you quite clearly, you go gray young, and Peter," she said the as to the mousy-brown haired boy, "I'd stop pulling my hair if I were you. " Sirius had ceased laughing and glared at the cat when it had poked his head up, and looked at him with bright eyes. James had laughed all the harder, choking out, "She named him Fiend you know," he said causing the other black-haired boy to yelp. Soon Remus and Peter joined in the laughter as James explained the name.
A few moments later Mrs. Pettigrew turned to her son, to say her goodbyes and Diara and James found their parents next to them again. After hugs, and a few more admonitions about behavior Diara found herself standing on the train, her father having lifted the luggage up after her with a simple charm, and searching for an open compartment. She had soon discovered one occupied only by the girl she'd met at Ollivander's. "Hi Courtney, how do you like the Wizarding World so far? Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Diara Potter, I didn't get to introduce myself when we were getting our wands."
The blonde, whose hair was again in pigtails, grinned, "Oh yeah! I remember you. Were those your grandparents that day?"
"Nah, those were my parents. I've got an older brother too. He's around her somewhere—just look for messy hair like mine," Diara laughed.
"A brother? What's he like? I can't wait to meet everyone. I've always known I was different and now I get to meet other people like me!"
"Oh well, don't trust James or his friend Sirius. They're real pranksters, and if you're friends with me you'll be a target. But I've a secret weapon…." Diara winked and proceeded to inform her new friend how she handled her brother.