ruins ; harry potter [1]

thirty two ; holi-daze

She swallowed thickly but nodded.

"And on that depressing note, I believe you have friends waiting for you!" he said brightly, clapping his hands together. The tension in the room seemed to vanish, and she smiled at him. "Up you go, to the fireplace."

She stood and walked to the fireplace, with Dumbledore trailing close by. She picked up a handful of Floo powder and walked into the fireplace.

"Merry Christmas, Diana. Do try to keep Harry out of trouble," he said.

She threw the powder, clearly stating, "The Burrow!" She was whisked away through green flame until she reached the Burrow. Diana was met with an entire crowd of guests in the living room when she looked up. She stepped out, brushing herself off, and smiled at them all.

First she said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then Remus, Bill, and Fleur. The twins came bounding over to her and they each wrapped an arm around her in a hug. Then she said hello to Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who looked very happy to see her. Everyone returned to their conversations, and Mrs. Weasley turned the radio on and a Celestina Warbeck song played loudly. Diana drifted from conversation to conversation idly, just enjoying the presence of her friends rather than paying attention to the conversations. It wasn't until she reached Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Lupin that she halted.

"Has it occurred to you, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, "that Snape was simply pretending--?"

"Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy's up to?" said Harry quickly. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But how do we know?"

"It isn't our business to know," replied Lupin wearily. He looked ragged and sunken. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore and Diana trust Severus, and that ought to be good enough for us all."

"Diana, you were there!" cried Harry. "Didn't it sound like he was working with Malfoy on something?"

She sighed. "Harry, there are things you do not understand," she said quietly. "You will not understand, but I trust Severus wholeheartedly, as does Dumbledore."

"But," said Harry, "just say--just say you're wrong about Snape--"

"People have said it, many times. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's, and even Diana's, judgment. I do; therefore I trust Severus," said Remus.

"But Dumbledore can make mistakes," Harry argued. "He says it himself. And you--do you honestly like Snape?"

"I neither like nor dislike Severus," said Lupin. "We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between James and Sirius and Severus, there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so I did not have to suffer as I usual do at the full moon."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Diana promptly cut him off.

"You are determined to hate him, Harry," she chided gently. "And don't get me wrong, I completely understand; with Sirius as your godfather and James as your father, I can understand your resentment toward Severus. There are things you do not know, things--"

"What don't I know?" he shouted indignantly. "I know he was a Death Eater, and that he hated my father and Sirius, I know that he is helping Malfoy--"

"Harry," interrupted Remus, "for all we know, it could have been on Dumbledore's orders that Severus questioned Draco."

Another Celestina song came to a close. "Shall we have a nightcap then?" said Mrs. Weasley over the chattering. "Who wants eggnog?"

Feeling that this was an appropriate time to exit the conversation, she walked over to where Ginny, Fred, George, and Bill were sitting. She sat beside Ginny, who gave her a big grin.