[A/N: WOW 85 favorites and 121 subscribers~! I'm glad that so many of you like it! I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! To those who just subscribed to my story or 'favorite' my story, thank you all at the bottom of my heart! I'm glad that so many of you are still following me even though things in the story are progressing slowly. I have taken direct quotes from the movie and books, so credits to JK Rowling. As usual, the foreign languages in this story are translated from Google Translate so, please let me know if something seems off. If any of you have a fanfiction request, hit me up on PM! As always, please, comment, subscribe and favorite my story and stay tuned for the next chapter~!]
Chapter 13
June 1st, Tuesday
"Can I be taken out of bed-stay now, father?" Diana whined a little. She had been on mandatory bed-stay since she had arrived back in the manor and she was incredibly bored just laying there with her books to keep her company. Tom rolled his eyes as he leaned over to pull the covers closer to her chin. "You're still experiencing some soreness in your muscles. Be a good girl and just stay in bed for a few more days." Diana glared at her father and was about to say something when a gentle rap on her bedroom door interrupted her. "Enter," Tom said without even looking over his shoulder at the door. Severus stepped in and closed the door behind him with a gentle snap. "Excuse me for the interruption. I have some news." He said while bowing his head in a sign of respect.
"Finally." Diana groaned with relief, causing the Potions master to chuckle as she slowly sat up. Tom sighed softly in defeat as he helped her lean back against her pillow. At least she wasn't getting out of bed. "Proceed." He commanded and Severus bowed his head again before speaking. "All the victims have been unpetrified. Dumbledore even tried to question them to get more answers but they can't remember anything past the part when they saw the basilisk's eyes. The aurors and The Daily Prophet reporters have been relentless about asking Dumbledore about Lockhart and if he had known that Lockhart was a fraud and was going to be like this." Tom looked amused while Diana smirked evilly. "What did the old coot say?" She inquired.
Severus smirked slightly. "He outright denied that he knew such things. He even says that Lockhart had been acting strange the last few weeks after the aurors uncovered all of the fraudulent things in his office." Both Tom and Diana cursed out loud at this news.
June 3rd, Thursday
"What was it like down there in the chamber?" Theo inquired, excitement lighting up his eyes. Pansy tutted at his words, shooting him a little glare. "Of course it going to be absolutely horrid down there. Right, Diana?" Diana was about to about to say something but apparently, the two decided to get into their own little argument, causing the rest of the gang in her room laugh softly. Their laughter masked the sound of knocking on her door and Christopher stepped inside with his hands stuffed in his pant pockets, a smile on his face. "What are you squirts doing? You better not be bothering her too much. Severus still wants you to rest as much as you can." Diana let out a low groan before pointing a finger at her brother, a face on her face as the gang laughed at her expression, all except for Hermione who was blushing a little when he came in.
"You better not bring him in here. My room is off limits to him."Christopher chuckled as he turned around, nodding his head. "Alright." no one noticed Hermione biting her lower lip gently, deep in thought before she quickly got off the bed. "I'll be right back, guys," Hermione said quickly before leaving the room, causing everyone to look curiously at her back. "I wonder where she is going off to." Pansy wondered before shrugging her shoulders and getting back to the conversation she was having with Theo, Draco popping in the conversation to put his side of the story about being down in the chamber every now and then, none of them noticing Diana was silent for a just a minute before a knowing smirk appeared on her lips. She saw the blush appear on the brunette's face just now and she could guess where the girl was right now.
June 20th, Sunday
"I don't see why we have to learn this muggle crap." Yaxley scowled angrily as he tossed the folded sheet of parchment haphazardly onto the granite table. "It serves us no purpose." Christopher sighed annoyingly as he massaged his forehead. He was taking his father's throne for today because Tom had a meeting with Durmstrang's headmaster and the gang was standing right behind the throne with Diana sitting next to him. "I don't care if you don't feel like it is useful to you, Yaxley. I suggest you learn it like the rest of your colleagues." He hissed at the man. Yaxley looked like he wanted to object but he thought better of it and he folded his arms across his chest. "Yes, my Lord."
Diana noticed the Death Eater was silent mumbling something, and as she read his lips, she knew whatever he was saying wasn't nice at all. She was about to say something when out of the corner of her eye, she sees a wand drew a pattern in the air so fast that it was all a blur. All the sudden, Yaxley let out a muffled yelp of surprise and starts frantically touching his mouth, causing the other Death Eaters' eyes widen when they realized what was happening. Diana frowned and was about to say something to Yaxley when the man quickly turned to face them to reveal that his lips were stitched shut with black yarn. The gang quickly whipped their head over to Hermione, who had a satisfied smirk on her face while still keeping her wand pointed at him before turning their attention back to the clearly freaked out Yaxley.
"Bloody hell, Mione. What did you do?" Draco said in bewilderment while some of the gang were cracking up in hilarity. Yaxley glared furiously at them, they would have been burned to crisp. Christopher chuckled lowly as he turned to look over at Hermione who was at this time standing next to him. "Nicely done, Mione. Even better, wordless." Hermione flushed bright pink at her comment, a shy smile on her lips for him. "However, I think he has learned his lesson. Release the spell, Mione." He said, holding back a smile when he saw her pout at the lost of the fun and with a final swish of her wand, the stitch disappeared and Yaxley could finally open his mouth.
"Do that again Yaxley and I'll let Hermione here practice more spells on you," Christopher said with a hard glare in his eyes. "I have been teaching her some of the spells I have learned from school and I must say, she is soaking everything up like a sponge."
July 13th, Tuesday
Lightning flashed through the dark sky, lighting up the cobbled streets of Diagon Alley for only just a moment before the summer rain came falling down. A ragged looking dog stocked through the shadows, seemingly unbothered by the rain. Multiple loud pops could be heard from a couple of feet away and the sound of voices shouting in the dark. "Spread out, all of you! Make sure to check every crevice! He has Auror Larson's wand! Black must not leave London!" One voice shouted. The dog shrunk a little in the shadows when two aurors ran passed the area he was hiding, the light they were using danced around. There was another way he could go. The dog whipped around and bounded around the back corner.
None of the aurors were present as he came to a cross section into a back alley. Wizarding London is so large, they can never catch me out here. He thought. Another lightning flashed through the night sky, displaying the dog's soaked black fur as it ran down the rain-soaked streets. Sirius Black has escaped the infamous Azkaban.
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
Diana jolted awake from her sleep as the sound of thunder rumbled outside. She sat up as she looked at the curtain-drawn windows through blurry eyes. Did the thunder wake her up? It usually didn't. Her throat felt dry. Diana groaned to herself as she pulled the covers off of her and climbed out of bed. She wasn't chilled at all as she left her room in just her t-shirt and booty shorts. The corridor was dark except for the flashes of lightning off in the distance. Diana held onto the brass railings as she stepped down the marble staircase, her feet barely making a noise with each step. She finally made it to the ground floor and turned down the hallway towards the kitchen when she noticed a light peeking out from the slightly cracked doors of the main office. Who could be up at this hour? She thought.
Diana chews lightly on her lower lip as she slowly walked towards the main office. The door was cracked open half way so she had a clear view inside the office as she stopped next to the door. She could see her father, Christopher, Valentina, Stepan, and the Malfoys talking to a man with unkempt black hair. Why are they here? As if Tom could hear her thoughts, he looked over his shoulder straight at her. "Princess, what are you doing over there? Come inside. There is someone I want you to meet." Everybody else in the room turned to look at the door in shock as she stepped into the room, looking slightly sheepish for possibly waking her up. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation, father, but the door was wide open," Diana said.
Tom didn't look the slightest bit bothered as he reached out to gently grab her hand and pulled her to sit down next to him on the couch with Valentina and Stepan. "Do you see that man over there?" He asked, slightly motioning towards the unknown man sitting on one of the couches. Diana raised an eyebrow at how disheveled and haggard he looked just sitting there with his black trench coat hanging loosely off of him. "You mean the man who looks like he just came out of prison?" She asked, causing the unknown man to laugh, sounding more like barks then anything as he showed his yellowing teeth. "She has Lily's sense of humor. I bet she has her scathing tongue as well."
Tom chuckled as he gently caressed the back of her head, looking into her eyes with his red ones. "Yes. I want you to meet your Godfather. Sirius Black." Diana widened slightly as she looked over at the ragged looking man. "My godfather?" Tom nodded and spent the time to explain to her where this man has been the last 12 years. "How on Earth did you manage to escape Azkaban? The place is practically a fortress. No one can leave in or out of that place without the consent of the Ministry." Diana looked on with awe.
July 14th, Wednesday
"Diana, what are we doing here?" Draco whispered as he and Diana stood in the main office in their pajamas early the next morning. Last night, the Malfoys decided to stay for the rest of the night instead of heading back to their manor because Narcissa didn't want to leave her cousin's side just yet. Sirius has taken to occupying one of the large sofas in the office that was a little firm, mentioning that it was better for him to gradually get used to sleeping on something as soft as a mattress being that he has been sleeping on the cold floor for the past 12 years. His snoring was so loud, it reverberated through the room, making Draco flinch when the man snorted in his sleep and scratched his stomach with gnarled yellow fingernails while kicking the blanket off one leg.
Diana smirked as she produced a black marker out of thin air and showed it to Draco. The blonde smirked one he understood what she was about to do. "Don't count me out."
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
"Children, what are you doing?" Valentina asked as she and Narcissa peeked into the main office, originally going to make sure Sirius was sleeping well but noticed the two were already in there. Diana and Draco were trying not to laugh hysterically as they turned slightly to show the women what they were doing. Valentina and Narcissa gasped in unison when they saw the black ink doodles on Sirius' face before they had to bite their inner cheek to not laugh. "Children, you should know better not to do that to your elders," Narcissa said, trying to sound disappointed but her twinkling eyes from utter amusement gave her away. "You two better get out of here before Sirius wakes up," Valentina said with a smile as she gently pats their backs.
The women could practically see the devil horns and tails attached to them as they ran off to get changed for the day.
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
"There needs to be a meeting soon to welcome Sirius. We also need to address bringing more werewolves to our cause." Tom mentioned to Lucius and Stepan over breakfast while the women and kids talked softly to each other. Out of nowhere, a girly-manly scream echoed through the mansion, causing everyone at the table to stop eating and looked at each other. The silence was broken when Diana and Draco burst out laughing, clutching their stomach from the stitches on their side. The women tried not to laugh as they dipped their head, their shoulders shaking. The men chuckled, already guessing that the kids did something. "Alright, what did you two kids do?"
Sounds of running footsteps could be heard coming towards them, and Sirius came barreling into the dining room, looking like a right mess. His already matted hair was haphazardly sticking in all different directions from sleep, making the black doodles on his face even wackier looking. "Sirius, wipe off that ridiculous drawing off your face. It is unbecoming of you." Lucius said, his face completely blank of any emotion except for the rather amused look in his cobalt eyes. Sirius looked slightly flustered as he sent his cousin's husband a glare before sending Diana and Draco a look that promise revenge later and left the room to hopefully wash the ink off his face.
July 17th, Saturday
"Neville?" Augusta called out as she stepped into her grandson's workout room with a letter in hand. "Yes, Grandmother?" Neville asked breathlessly as he stepped back from a punching bag that he had installed a while back when he changed the room from a spare bedroom, sweat glistening on his skin. Augusta passed him the letter. "An owl just came for you. It's from Diana." She said as she turned around to leave the room. Neville was silent for a minute before turning the envelope over in his hand and broke the wax seal as the door to the room closed shut after his grandmother. He unfolded it completely and starts reading it silently, his eyes darting side to side along the elegantly written words.
A smirk played with his lips as he reached the end of the letter. Another meeting. He was definitely going to be there. He folded it back up again and placed it back in the envelope before tossing it on a small table with a towel that was up against the wall. He grabbed the towel and used it to wipe the sweat off his face before lounging it over the back of his neck and left the work out room. He sauntered down the grand staircase to the ground floor and turned to head towards the door to the backyard. "Neville, where are you going?" Augusta called out from the parlor room where she was sitting on the couch, reading one of her favorite books, as he walked by. Neville smirked a little as he continued walking. "I'm heading out to the garden to practice on the garden gnomes."
July 20th, Tuesday
"Well, well, you look more deplorable than the last time I saw you," Severus said silkily. Black scowled at the man. "Hardy har har, Snivillus. I have a bone to pick with you. I see that you have been teaching my goddaughter one of your many childish pranks." Severus smirked at this, knowing what he was talking about. "Take that as a welcome home gift. I'm sure Azkaban doesn't miss your mangy ass." Sirius was about to make a snappy comeback when Diana stepped into the room. "Father wants us to come in now. The meeting is about to start soon." The two grown men silently nodded and followed her out to see the gang was waiting for her as well. They all walk through the familiar walkway, their footsteps echoed.
By the time they have reached the meeting chamber, Severus and Sirius had their Death Eater masks on. They stepped through the doors into the front of the chamber. All the mask-covered faces looked at the newcomers as the Dark Lord started to speak, many silently wondering who the person was under that new mask. "All of you may be wondering why I have called you here. I bring good news that one of our own has come back to our ranks." The Death Eaters mumbled to each other. Who could it be? Tom silently motioned to the unknown person to step it up to his throne. The Dark Lord waved his hand over the mask, watching it disappear in black smoke, to reveal Sirius' gaunt face.
The chamber was bombarded with gasps and rather angry conversations."How in the world is he here?" One asked. "Wasn't he in Azkaban?" Another asked in a low mumble. "Silence." Tom hissed loudly, causing everyone to be quiet again. The Dark Lord was silent as he red eyes glanced over the Death Eaters, making each and every one of them squirm where they stand. "It seems like many of you disapprove Sirius coming back to us. Why is that?" Tom inquired, his head tilting a little to the side. No one wanted to answer him, for fear of getting the Cruciatus treatment. "What about you, Bellatrix? Certainly, you miss your cousin very much?" Tom then asked, turning his gaze at the woman.
Bellatrix tilts her head up to showcase her obvious noble upbringing, her black eyes glaring coldly at the escaped convict. "Sirius is no cousin of mine, my Lord, He brings much shame to the House of Black, my poor aunt Walburga must be spinning in her grave." She said scathingly while stepping out from the ranks, Roldolphus cackling joyfully behind her. Sirius glared back at her as well, stepping forward away from the throne. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Bella. I have made my mother proud by joining the ranks of the Dark Lord. You on the other hand? You have failed to produce an heir. Oh, my poor Aunt Druella had always wanted another grandson to spoil. She-" Sirius was cut off when a fluorescent purple colored spell shot towards him from Roldolphus' wand.
Everybody in the room barely had time to react, let alone blink, as Sirius whipped out the wand he had stolen from out of the hands of an auror from within his robes. With a lazy flick of his wrist, the spell disappeared into thin air. As if Roldolphus anticipated this, he shot off many worldless spells one after the other. He wasn't named one of the Dark Lord's best faithful servants for nothing. The gang watched in awe as Sirius dodged all of the spells with such ease, always managing to disappear seconds before the spell would have hit his body. Roldolphus shot off three more spells with a yell of frustration when not even a single spell could hit the escaped convict. Sirius easily dodged those as well, waiting for an opportunity to arrive. There was a brief moment as Roldolphus scurried back and got ready to cast more spells.
Sirius took the opportunity and shot an unknown dark spell at the man. Diana watched curiosity as Roldolphus dropped to the floor like a rag doll and started screaming in agony as fresh lacerations appeared on his skin that was exposed. Bellatrix called out to him with concern as she knelt down next to him. Black liquid oozed from the wounds and a rather pungent odor started drifting through the air. "Ew, what's that God-awful smell?" Pansy pointed out while covering her mouth and nose with her hand. Sirius chuckled as he simply waved his wand again and the spell immediately but the odor still lingered in the air. "That, Pansy, is a nice little spell I invented. I made Roldolphus' blood infested with fungus."
He then turned his attention back to Bellatrix, who was glaring murderously at him. "You might want to get him checked up, Bella. Unless you want him to die a painful death." He said with an evil smirk. The moment was interrupted as Tom's booming laughed echoed through the chamber. "You've done well, Sirius. Take your husband to get treated, Bella." He said, waving his hand to dismiss her offhandedly. "Is there anybody else who wants to challenge Sirius?" The Dark Lord asked. "You think you're so high and mighty now huh?" One Death Eater sneered as he stepped out from the ranks. Everybody raised an eyebrow at this "You?" Diana scoffed coldly as she folded her arms across her chest, already getting bored of this meeting.
"You couldn't even beat me or my friends on a one-to-one duel. What on Earth makes you think you can beat my Godfather?" The Death Eater's face turned red from embarrassment at the memory of being bested by a bunch of kids while the rest of the Death Eaters snickered behind him. "You shut up, you stupid cunt! Kids should be quiet while the adults are talking!" He shouted venomously, glaring hard at Diana as he pointed rudely at her, all thoughts of her being the daughter of the Dark Lord flew out the window. Tom glared hard at the man as he started standing up to show the guy a piece of his mind when Diana put up a hand to stop him while still looking at the Death Eater with an expressionless face. Tom frowned slightly but did as she wanted, sitting back down in his throne.
Diana let out a dramatic sigh as she rubbed the heel of her palm against her right ear like his words disturbed her hearing while the rest of the gang glared hard at him. "Crabbe, Goyle." She simply said as she stopped rubbing her ear and looked up to see Crabbe's and Goyle's burly form storm over to the man who was backing away slightly in fear. Sounds of a fist connecting with something filled the room proceeded with a loud groan as Crabbe and Goyle grabbed both of the Death Eater's arms and forced him to get back up onto his feet. "Neville." Diana softly called out, taking the Gryffindor slightly off guard as he turned to look over his shoulder at her.
"Yes, my Lady?" He said while turning completely to face her, bowing his head slightly, making Diana smirk softly."I've heard that you have been working out since the end of the school year. Is that true?" Neville briefly looked up at Diana before turning his eyes back down to the floor. "Yes, my Lady. I've been practicing kickboxing, a muggle form of exercise." The room was filled with mumbles as the Death Eaters talked softly to each other. "Perfect. Care to give us a demonstration?" The Gryffindor looked back up at her again from surprise, noticing an evil smirk on her face. Show them what you can do. Neville was silent for a minute before giving a silent nod and turned around to face the Death Eater while receiving an encouraging smile from Pansy off to the side.
"Unfortunately, my demonstration won't be as good as I intended it to be, my Lady. I've only been practicing on punching bags, not on something soft like this disrespectful ingrate." Neville sneered coldly as he took his time taking off his cloak, causing the gang and those in the Dark Lord's inner circle to chuckle. "No worries. I'm sure it will be entertaining none the less." Diana smirked as she turned to sit down in the throne chair, crossing her legs over the other. "Exactly, mate. I'm sure this soft punching bag will make an excellent practice session." Draco smirked coldly, causing Neville to chuckle lowly as he moved to stand in front of the captured Death Eater, who seemed to have forgotten the punch to the stomach, and was glaring up at Neville.
"You can't do anything to me, Longbottom! You're just as pathetic as your parents!" Neville simply raised an eyebrow at his remarks. "Is that so?" He asked with mocking curiosity. Without any warning, the Gryffindor cocked his arm back and drove his fist into the Dark Eater's stomach, causing the guy to let out a grunt as he immediately hunched over coughing out blood. He could have crumbled to the floor if Crabbe and Goyle still weren't holding onto his arms. The gangs' eyes widened in amazement at how hard the Gryffindor had to punch the guy for him to spit out his blood, the crimson spots standing out on the white marble floor. The chamber was completely silent, many couldn't hide the look of shock from their faces.
Neville pulled his hand from the man's stomach and reached up to grab him by the hair and forced him to look up at him through pained eyes. "If I was so pathetic, then how did I make you keel over like a wimp?" Neville asked in a soft voice, his cold brown eyes were the only things showing his furious anger. He tasked when he didn't get an answer and let go of his hair, letting the head flop back down before turning around to walk back to stand with the gang. Goyle and Crabbe let the Death Eater crumble to the floor once they realized he wasn't going to be a threat for now. Neville grinned as Draco, Blaise, and Theo clapped him on the back, whispering praise about wanting to learn kickboxing from him.
Tom was enjoying every moment of it, the delighted smirk could barely be contained on his face as he silently motioned to Severus with his eyes to go see the probably unconscious Death Eater. Severus nodded his head before strolling over to the body while drawing out his wand. He lazily flicked his wand to perform the simple diagnostic charm. Nothing too severe. Probably going to be feeling the bruised stomach for a while though. To finish up the simple examination, he knelt down with his back towards the other Death Eaters and with his wand-free hand, he gently lifted the man's shirt to see what kind of damage Neville inflicted on the guy. His eyes widened at the sight, the others straining their neck to see what has happened.
Severus looked over his shoulder at Tom and silently motioned for him to come over. The Dark Lord raised an eyebrow as he smoothly got out of his chair and strolled over to the Potion Master. Tom's eyes widened slightly at the sight as well. To think that a mere third year could create so much damage with just his fist. "Printsessa, privedi syuda svoikh druzey. Vy vse dolzhny eto videt'." (R) (Princess, bring your friends over here. You all need to see this.) The gang looked at each other with confusion as they all walked over to where the adults were standing. "Chto eto, otets?" (R) (What is it, father?) Tom simply motioned to the man's stomach. "Vash drug - sil'nyy boyets." (R) (Your friend is a strong fighter.)
Diana let out a soft gasp when her eyes saw the rather large bruise that has already formed on the man's belly, matching the rest of the gang's reaction. She could barely make out an imprint of a small fist on the blotchy colored skin when the flames from the fireplace shined on the skin a certain way. Theo whistled in admiration, causing Neville's face to turn a little pink. "I went a little overboard, didn't I?" Sirius snorts as he walked over to stand next to the Gryffindor. "You have potential, Neville. If you'll allow me, I can help you hone your skills. In fact, all of you have potential. I can help train all of you. How does that sound?" The gang was silent for a second, looking at each other and came to the same conclusion before Diana blurted out their answer. "Hell yeah. Let's start after my birthday. I'm not willing to be sore on my special day."
July 22nd, Thursday
"Blimey, you have everything in here," Draco said with amazement as he, Blaise, and Theo were lead into the workout room by Neville. The Gryffindor chuckled as he let his friends explore a little bit. "Its not much, but its just enough to get a good workout." He took the moment to pull out the punching bag that was attached to a metal stand with wheels. "So, this is the punching bag?" Blaise wondered as he reached out to touch the bag, squeezing the material in his hand as his eyebrows knitted a little. Neville grinned as he rested his arm against the metal frame while the guys looked curiously at the punching bag. "Yup." Theo grinned and got ready in a stance, his hands balled up into fists to get ready to start punching but to only have Neville stop him right there.
"Woah, woah, before any of you start punching, you guys need to stretch." The guys rolled their eyes. "Really? We don't need that, Neville. We're all ready." Neville raised an eyebrow, a smirk cocked the corner of his lips but he relented. "Fine." He walked over to stand next to the punching bag. "Draco." He said, motioning with his finger to the blonde to have him step up to the punching bag. "Punch the bag as hard as you can." Draco grinned as he copied Theo's stance in front of the bag, his hands balled into tight fists. Neville got behind the punching bag to hold it so it doesn't go swinging too much, patiently waiting for the blonde to punch.
Draco let out a few deep breaths before taking a step forward while cocking his arm back and driving his fist into the bag, making a soft smacking noise. The blonde hissed softly as he cradled his stinging fist in his hand. "Merlin, that hurts." Neville chuckled while Blaise and Theo snickered behind the blonde. "You have a good form, Draco. The pain will eventually go away. You just need to practice every day and you'll get used to it. Alright, Blaise, you're up next." Neville said, motioning for the Italian to step forward while Draco stepped back to nurse his numb fist much to Theo's amusement. Blaise got into position and punched the bag but ended up cursing softly as he stepped back a little. "Sorry, it's hard to punch this thing like it's a real person."
Neville seemed to understand this, a knowing smirk on his face. "I had the same problem as you when I was first starting. Do you want to know my secret?" His friends just nodded in unison. "I just imagined this bag was Weasel. Just a glance at his ugly face always makes me want to punch the living daylights out of him. Try that." The boys had identical evil smirks as Neville motioned for Blaise to try again. Blaise got back into his fighting stance, taking a few deep breaths before punching the bag again, this time much harder. "Good." Neville praised Blaise as Theo stepped up for his turn.
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
"Wait, can you do that again?" Draco asked Neville. The Gryffindor nodded and quickly got back into his fighting stance, bending his knees a little before swinging his leg around in roundhouse kick, albeit a little shaky and slow since Neville had just started practicing this move, his foot smacking against the freestanding punching bag. You know, the one that has water in the plastic base to keep it still. "Alright, Draco you try first," Neville said, immediately calling out the blonde again. Draco looked unsure about this as he moved to stand next to the Gryffindor. The blonde's movement was choppy and ridiculously slow as he started swinging his leg to hit the punching bag but rather than gaining any momentum, the blonde started to lose his footing only to be caught by Neville.
"You're going too slow, mate," Neville said as he helped the blonde onto his feet, ignoring the muffled laughs coming from behind them. "I know. I just need to rest." Draco said in a tired voice, sending glares over at Theo and Blaise. Well, they have been at this for over an hour now. Neville snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared. "Young master Neville called for Lurch?" It squeaked while bowing lowly. "Grab a glass of water for me and my friends," Neville said as he grabbed three towels off the little table and tossed it to his friends.
July 31st, Saturday
Diana gasped and yelped as she fell into the cool pool water before she had the chance to take off the clothes she wore over her two-piece swimsuit. She quickly popped her head up, quickly wiping the water off her face as she heard the rest of the gang laughing joyously, hearing the adults chuckling as well from the shaded sitting area. Well, minus one gang member since Ginny is traveling to Egypt with her family. "You guys are so dead," Diana said with a mocking glare as she wadded through the water to get to the edge of the pool as if she was getting ready to climb out. Draco was still chuckling as he bent down since he was closer, offering his hand to her. Diana had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she took his offered hand and without a second thought, she made a sharp jerk and blonde tumbled headfirst into the water.
The rest of the gang was reduced to laughter once again, leaning against each other for support as Draco shot up to the surface, sputtering a little as he wiped the water from his eyes. He shot a playful glare at Diana, promising that he was going to get her later as the rest of the gang jumped into the pool in their swimsuits. Diana stripped her soaked clothes off, revealing her crop bikini with navy blue diamond print on it. It revealed a lot of her body but not so much that it was suitable for her age. She didn't notice the slight flush on Draco's cheek as she tossed her clothes onto patio deck, the barrier around the pool designed to stop any water passing through, instantly made them dry.
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
"Thank you three for coming today. I really appreciate the gift." Diana said with a smile as she slowly walked with the Malfoys to see them to the fireplace for them to take the Floo network. They are the last guests to leave as the sun started to set in the horizon. She was still wearing her clothes under her clothes since she hadn't had the chance to change clothes. Lucius chuckled at her works. "You humble us with your words, my Lady, but I must say, my son should be getting all of the credit. He was the one who picked out the gift." Diana immediately reached up to gently grasp the 18K white gold plumeria diamond pendant hanging around her neck.
A bright smile on her lips as she looked over at the blonde boy, her fingers feeling the small diamonds pieces that filled the petals and a single large diamond in the center of the flower. "Really, Draco? You picked this out for me?" Draco barely had the change to nos when a petit body hugged him tightly. His cheek turned suspiciously a little pink for the second time that day as his arms circled around her waist to hug her back, the earlier image of Diana in that two-piece swimsuit flashed through his mind. "You don't have to thank me. You deserve the best, Diana." The blonde found himself saying as Diana pulled away from the hug, that bright smile still on her face.
"Well, I'm going to thank you again. I'll treasure this for a long time." She ended the agreement with a kiss on his cheek, both not noticing Lucius whispering something into Narcissa's ear. The Malfoys finally left the Ivanov Estate after saying their final goodbyes. Lucius had a knowing smirk on his face as they arrived back at the Malfoy Manor. "Son, do you like Diana?" He asked as he took off his robe and passed it to Dobby, noticing the flushed look on his son's face just moments again. The flush on Draco's face still hasn't gone done, especially from the kiss on the cheek. "I-I think so."
August 3rd, Tuesday
A loud boom shook the ground as the sound of rubble fell to the floor amongst the smoke. "Good reaction, Diana," Sirius stated, satisfied as he casually walked through the smoke to see Diana sitting against the wall, panting heavily with dirt and grime covering her face. "You bastard, I could have lost my head if I hadn't moved!" She snapped at him as she struggled to get back onto her feet, which felt like jelly since they had just gotten back from a four mile run around the perimeter of the Malfoy Manor and this crazy man decided to have to dodge spells right after. Sirius grinned as he reached out to rumple her head, causing her to swat at his hand with mild anger. "Go rest up. Oi, Zabini! It's your turn next!"
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
Narcissa sat in her favorite armchair reading a book when her husband came into the room, his snakehead cane clunking softly against the ground. "Love, where are the children? Its time they should start heading home." He asked. Narcissa smiled softly, displaying the striking beauty he had fallen in love with so many years ago. "Look over there." She said, cocking her head towards the window viewing into the garden. Lucius looked out the window to see the gang had gathered under the giant oak tree in the middle of the garden, passed out from exhaustion. Diana had her head resting against Draco's shoulder with Hermione laying across of their laps. Neville was leaning back against the tree trunk with Pansy resting her head against his lap, their hands linked on her stomach. Blaise used Hermione's legs as pillows, their sleeping faces inches from each other.
August 7th, Saturday
"Black Still At Large! Aurors working hard to catch the escapee!" Diana saw the bold letters on the front page of the Dail Prophet as she and the gang strolled through Diagon Alley, hearing the whispers about the escaped convict and the new broom coming into the market. They were there to buy the books needed for their third year. Valentina and Stepan were their chaperons this time, having to separate from the gang briefly to head to Gringotts to handle some business. They all agreed to meet the adult at Flourish and Blotts after getting new robes from Madame Malkin's. With the addition of practice with Sirius, they found that their body was outgrowing their clothes, especially the boys since they had started with kickboxing as well.
The door to the bookstore jangled merrily, signaling their arrival. The ragged looking bookstore keeper lumbered over, his clothes littered with rips and strange teeth marks. "Third years?" He asked as he pulled off a pair of rather thick dragon hide gloves from his hands. "Yes." Diana drawled, watching as the bookstore keeper let out a groan as if he was hoping they weren't third years. "Blimey hell. I just put those ruddy books away." The gang bowed their head to the floor as they suppressed the urge to snort at his obvious misery as he dawned the dragon hide gloves once again while heading towards the back of the bookstore. He disappeared momentarily before walking over to the counter with a large cage filled with hideous looking books which seemed to be growling like animals.
This must be the Monster Book of Monsters. Diana thought. The bookstore keeper started picking out the books with a pair of long tongs, yelling at the books when they started tearing each other apart, shreds of paper raining down as the metal cage rattled on the counter. The bookstore keeper finally got the right amount of books for all of them and magically applied belts around the books to keep them from snapping at their new owners. "Alright, you lot can go get the rest of your books at the back of the store. I'll reserve these for you." He said, looking more ragged by the minute as he gazed loathingly at the rattling cage, deciding that it was better to just leave the cage there on the counter.
The gang split into smaller groups, each one assigned to a book and grabbed enough for all of them to save time. They ended up grabbing Magical Drafts and Potions, The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3, The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, A History of Magic, Intermediate Transfiguration, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Unfogging the Future.
August 31st, Tuesday
"Are you sure you want that cat, Mione?" Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow as she stared at the ginger cat. Hermione grinned as she held it close to her chest. "Yup. Father, I would like to have this cat." She asked as she looked over at Mr. Greengraass. "Very well." He said with a smile as he pulled out his coin pouch from his cloak. They immediately headed over to the counter since there was no line there. The lady behind the counter smiled at Hermione as she rang up their purchase. "This cat has been through a lot. Take good care of him for me, sweetheart?" Hermione smiles and nodded as she grabbed the little traveling case while the lady bagged the cat food and other necessities. "Of course."
They headed out once everything has been paid, back into the boisterous cobble streets. "What are you going to name him, dear?" Mrs. Greengrass asked as she placed both of her hands on Hermione's and Daphne's shoulder, keeping them all together. Hermione was silent for a bit before a name popped up. "Crookshanks." Aurora wrinkled her nose while laughing as she clung to her father's arm. "That's a strange name for such a weird cat." Hermione stuck her tongue out at her little sister, causing everyone to laugh. "Don't listen to her, Crookshanks. You're just perfect" She cooed down to her cat.
September 1st, Wednesday
The sky was covered in grey clouds as Diana arrived at King's Cross Station with Valentina, Tom, and Stepan. They briskly walked through the busy train station, dodging muggles who were on the commute to work. They arrived at the Platform 9 and with a quick look around, they smoothly walked through the invisible barrier into Platform 9 3/4. Wizards and witches didn't notice they had arrived as they made sure their kids were on the train or at least have everything they need. Diana started walking through the crowd, looking for her friends. She noticed blond hair and instantly knew it was Draco. She made her way over to see Draco and everyone was waiting for her with their parents lingering around.
Things were different for the past month. Ginny was spending more time with Blaise, Neville was paying more attention to Pansy as well as Theo was to Daphne. A smile appeared on Diana's face as she made her way over to the group with Valentina, Stepan, and Tom trailing behind her. Greetings went around and went into light chatter as the adults chattered about politics. Two whistles sounded from the train and students started swarming the train to get on. With a final goodbye to their parents, the gang filed onto the train just as the first drops of rain started to fall from the sky.
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
The sky darkened quicker than expected as the train chugged through the rain, streams of water droplets cascaded along the windows. "Want another round, Draco?" Blaise asked Draco as they assembled the chess pieces back to their respective places. The food trolley had just gone by not that long ago and they all had bought some sweets to share as a group. "Merlin, Draco, you really suck at this," Diana said in a teasing tone as she munched on a licorice snap. The blonde glared halfheartedly at her. "Yeah yeah, I was just warming up, that's all." The group laughed at his words. All the sudden, the train lurched to a complete stop, the chess pieces and the board sliding off the table onto the floor. "What the hell is going on? We haven't arrived at the castle yet."
"Let me go take a look," Diana stated and walked over to the compartment door, walking over the scattered chess pieces. She peeked her head out to see that the other students had their heads peeking out in curiosity. Suddenly, the train made another lurch, causing Diana to lose her balance and fell backward onto Draco's lap with a yelp. "Are you ok?" Draco asked with concern, his hands holding onto her arms protectively as the lights in their compartment started flickering and going out. "Yeah." She said softly. They turned to look out of the rain covered compartment window, thanks to the light from the covered moon, that they could see that the train had stopped at a bend and that the lights from the compartments had gone out one by one.
"Guys, I think I see people coming onboard," Theo said from his position next to the window. "That's impossible. There's no train station near us." Hermione said with a frown. A creepy rattling, gasping sound cut anybody off from saying anything else. They quickly turned their attention to the compartment sliding door. The light casted an eerie glow as they saw a shadowy boney hand appeared from the shadows on the other side of the door. Diana noticed her breath was visible as a sudden chilly cold appeared in the compartment, shivering as the rattling sound continued. She held her breath as she watched the boney hand stopped next to the door handled and with a creepy wave of its fingers, the compartment door slowly slides open.
The door slides completely open to reveal grotesque fingers, grey as if it was dead. Diana felt Draco held her tighter to him when the owner of the boney hand appeared. The creature was completely covered in a tattered black cloak, floating off the ground. No one made a noise as the creature looked around the compartment as if it was searching for something until it was looking straight at Diana. Suddenly the creature lunged at her, its bony fingers grasping her face before she could even make a sound and at the last second, she could see a face appear from the cloak, its mouth a permanent gaping hole. The creature inhaled and her hearing was muffled as she felt the happiness seeping from her body. Her vision was completely going dark and at the last second, before she blacked out, she heard a female scream. Diana!
*~*~*~*:*~*~*~*
Diana woke up to the sound of soft conversations going on around her, her eyes looking up at the ceiling. The train was moving. "Mmm...what happened?" She groaned out, the sound of her voice stopped the conversation. Draco and an unknown man appeared in her vision. "Natalya, thank Merlin you're awake," Draco said with a sound of relief. The rest of the gang moved to stand behind Draco to see Diana with a look of relief also as she slowly sat up. She noticed that Draco's peacoat "Here, Natalya. Have some chocolate. You will feel better." The unknown man said as he snapped off a piece of chocolate bar. "Thank you. Who are you?" She asked as she gently took the piece of offered chocolate, noticing his ragged looks and the scars on his face.
"I'm Remus Lupin. I'm the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now if you'll excuse me, I must see the train operator." Lupin said as he quickly stood and made his way over to the compartment door. He turned around to look at Diana once again. "Eat up. I promise you'll feel better." With a final smile and left the compartment, thinking that she was hesitating eating something from a complete stranger. Diana cautiously took a bite of the chocolate, enjoying the warm feeling in her mouth. "What happened to me?" Diana asked her friends who had sat back down in the chairs by then. "You just fainted when the creature got up close to your face," Pansy said with a shiver, still clinging to Neville's arm.
"I felt like I was never going to be happy," Blaise said with a haunted faraway look on his face, Ginny nodded as she tried to comfort him. Diana took another bite, taking everything in when she remembered the female scream. "Did any of you scream?" She asked only to receive confused looks. "Diana, nobody screamed," Hermione said softly, concern on her face. Who was it then? Diana defintely heard someone scream.