DIANNA LEFT THE SMALL PUB not long after her interaction with Sirius. Dreading to go home, but she knows that she has to. She apparates to the front door of Rain Manor and points her wand at the door nob. "Alohomora," she whispers.
Nothing happens.
"Alohomora!" she whispers again, a bit more clearly this time.
Once again, nothing happens.
She decides to put her wand in her pocket before knocking three times, seeing as she can hear voices from inside.
"Poppy, are we expecting anyone?" she hears her mother's faint voice ask from inside. Of course, she didn't notice her daughter was gone. Why would she?
"No, Mrs. Rain," Poppy replies squeakily.
Dianna rolls her eyes as she hears her mum's heels against the marble floor get closer and closer to the doorway. She opens it before laying her eyes on the girl and squints. "And where were you?"
"Diagon Alley with some friends," the teen replied, moving to walk past her mum but she didn't move out of the way. Dianna steps back as her mother stares her down.
"With some friends? How long were you gone?"
"About two hours," she lies. She was probably out for four hours but there's no need to make her mother think of her even less than she already does.
She nods, still not moving as she continues to look at the girl with her permanent intimidating glare she seems to only have for her. "May I come in now?" Dianna asks her mum after a few more seconds of waiting.
She doesn't reply. Instead, she moves to the side finally, allowing the girl to speed walk past her to go up the stairs to her room. She pauses in her steps before saying "You should get the door checked. The blood magic might be wairing off." And with that, she leaves to run up the stairs. She can feel her mother's eyes follow her before she's out of her sight.
As she walks past her brother's room quickly, hearing music blaring from his open door, she takes her wand out of her pocket again to make his door slam closed before entering her room and closing hers as well.
☽☆☾
A day later Dianna had planned to go out again, really just needing to get out of the house for the sake of her sanity.
Instead of going to Diagon Alley, she apparated to a small wizarding town east of London. Little to no Hogwarts students knew about this place and she thought that a little time out on her own was needed.
Rain poured from the sky, making the cobblestone street damp. She charmed an invisible umbrella to protect herself from getting wet with her wand.
She found this town when her mum had taken her, her brother, and her sister, a few streets away to see a show when she was thirteen. At some point, she had gotten lost in the crowd and found her way here where she spent the whole day wandering around the many shops. Her mother hadn't found her until she went back to the theater. She was pissed at the girl but still to this day doesn't know where she had wandered off to.
Dianna's favorite place to go to in this small town is the bookstore cafe, where you could read books while you enjoyed your meal. At that moment she stood in front of a sign that said "Joey's Book Cafe" in big bold letters. She took a moment to look at the books displayed in the window before pulling the door open making the small bell overhead ring.
The smell of tea, coffee, and parchment wafted around the long extended room, creating a calming aroma. As she steps into the shop, she removes the umbrella charm. There are rows of bookshelves in every category possible as well as an area for muggle records in the corner. The sound of a piano playing a light airy tone echoes around. Dianna had stepped into the shop hundreds of times but she could never grow tired of the homey feeling it brought her.
"Hey, Dianna!" The teen squib waved at her with a wide grin. Dianna quickly walked through an aisle and up to the counter where Delilah Brown stood behind the register before leaning forward and hugging her.
"Hey! Wow, it's good to see you!" She pulls away from the hug to get a look at her. "I've been away for a semester and you've grown, what like, an inch and a half?" she asks the fifteen-year-old.
"You're the one to talk," She chuckles. "You're like 5'8"."
"5'9" actually," Dianna corrects with a shy grin.
"Bloody hell," She replies in awe.
Dianna moves to sit on a stool at the bar before ordering some tea. Delilah nods before getting to work. She takes her book out of her bag before looking around the store.
There are a few lounge chairs with coffee tables next to them creating a warm glow around the area. Books rearrange themselves automatically to their rightful place as fellow witches and wizards look for their next read.
She turns to look at the rest of the cafe to see people enjoying their morning peacefully. She feels something rub against her leg and looks down to see a beautiful silky gray cat purring loudly as he looks up at her.
"Why hello, Spike." She reaches down and picks him up before letting him sit on her lap. She's a big animal person. She's always thought that they were easier to get along with than people, although her family owl, Coco, is a jerk. (He likes to bite whenever she's tried to go near him.)
She pets Spike on his head before letting him hop up onto the countertop to strut over to his owner. Delilah smiled at the cat before handing Dianna her tea and she handed her a few sickles, which she puts in the register.
Suddenly, Dianna heard a loud bark-like laugh from the coffee table by the fireplace. She turns to see two boys laughing together on the couch. Here she was thinking that no one from Hogwarts knew about this place but she was surprised to see the two Gryffindors in her favorite coffee shop.
Remus grins as he covers Sirius' mouth to muffle his loud chuckles before looking around the shop to see if anyone notices. Remus' smile drops once he makes eye contact with Dianna before giving a small wave. She gives him a polite smile before turning back to Delilah.
"They've been here a few times this week," She tells Dianna, having noticed where her attention was just seconds ago.
"Just them?" she asks curiously. She's never noticed them without other members of their group.
"Yeah. They're cute together, don't you think?" She asks, leaning against the countertop as she looks in their direction behind Dianna.
She turns to see them again, now in deep conversation, Sirius having a loose grin playing on his lips with an arm dropped over the back of the couch as his hand rests on Remus' shoulder. The sight brings a small smile to her face as she tilts her head to the side.
I guess Pandora was right; relationships can appear in the most unexpected ways.
"Yeah," Dianna replies before turning back to face her friend again.
They spend some time catching up for another half an hour before Delilah gets back to work and the Ravenclaw opens the book she is almost finished reading.
☽☆☾
Dianna takes another sip of her third cup of tea. She's just finished the book she was reading and was about to turn to look for another one only to see Remus Lupin walking up to her with his hands shoved into his pockets. "Hello there," he greets with a loose smile.
"We just keep running into each other don't we?" Dianna asks with a playful grin.
"It seems we do." Sirius walks up from behind her before standing next to Remus. They look down at her with playful gleams in their eyes. Normally, if someone was looking at her the way they were now, she'd feel intimidated, but for some reason, she can't help but feel very relaxed the more she's around these two.
"I didn't know anyone knew about this place," she says.
"Well, we're not just anyone, darling," Sirius replies with a sly smirk.
"I guess not," she agrees in the same tone. Looking at Sirius now she notices how stormy gray his eyes are. He runs a hand through his curly raven hair that almost reaches his shoulders. His sharply defined jaw caught her attention for a second.
"We wanted to say hello earlier but I didn't want to interrupt your reading," Remus points to the book next to her. "I know how annoying it can be when someone does that." He side-eyes Sirius, to which the raven-haired boy replies with a not-so-innocent smirk as if he's very proud of himself which makes Dianna huff a smile.
"Well, it's no bother," she replies. "I didn't really take this to be your sort of crowd, Sirius."
"Oh, it's not. I'm just here cause of this dork." Sirius replies honestly, pointing to Remus, who is currently rolling his eyes.
"Ah, I see," she nods, looking between the two knowingly.
"Erm, we have to go," Remus suddenly says as he anxiously looks at the clock behind her. "Pads," he urges.
Sirius looks at the clock too. "Right, we do. It was lovely seeing you, Rain," he smiles before taking Remus' hand and apparating to their next destination.
She chuckles to herself as she turns in her swivel chair only to look at the same clock that they were looking at moments before. Has she really been here for almost four hours?
Shit. Her parents will be expecting her home soon. She stood up, bidding Dalilah goodbye, and grabbed her bag before apparating to Rain Manor's front door. She points her wand at the door nob before whispering "alohomora." With a click of many locks, the door swings open for her.
My mother spells them to only open when at the hands of a Rain due to the massive war going on at the moment in the wizarding world. She's not sure why the lock didn't work yesterday but she guesses her mum had Poppy fix it.
Dianna puts a spell on her bag to go up to her room before taking off her sweater and placing it on a hook. She mutters a charm so that any water that had remained on her due to the rain, dries away.
Dorian had told her that he had some news to share with the family during dinner. Knowing her mother would scold her if I were late, she paces to the dining room quickly, finding both her parents already sitting at the grand table that sits in the center of the room.
Dianna quickly finds her seat, a chair away from her father, who sits at the head of the table, and diagonally across from her mother, who sits on the other side of her father.
He turns the page of today's daily profit as he looks through his spectacles.
Dianna's mother sits quietly with her fingers entwined on her lap as she stares at her plate. Her hair is pulled tightly back into her usual tight high bun, exposing her high cheek bones, expensive gold earrings, and necklace. She's quite beautiful in all honesty. Probably because she is half Veela. It's tragic that her outer beauty doesn't reflect her soul.
As the painfully silent minutes pass by Dianna finds herself picking at her black nail polish, a habit she's had for years. Once the food appears on their plates, she doesn't hesitate to dig in.
Suddenly Dorian bursts in with a neatly folded piece of paper in his hand. He breathes intensely as if he just ran down the stairs from his bedroom (which he likely did). "So, I have good news!" He steps forward to take his seat in between their father and Dianna.
The man folds the newspaper and places his reading glasses neatly in his blazer pocket before looking at the boy expectantly.
Dorian grins widely at his parents before saying "As you all know, I just finished my last year at Hogwarts and that led me to believe that I need a job. So, a few weeks ago I sent out a few resumes for jobs and internships. Of course, I've gotten many positive replies, but this morning I got a letter back from the ministry," He says proudly, holding out the letter for his mother.
Dianan furrows her brows and takes the letter before her mother can. "Mr. Dorian Rain, we have graciously accepted your attendance for an internship in the Department of International Magical Cooperation..." she reads aloud, her voice fading as she continues to read.
"Well, that's brilliant, Dorian!" their mother cheers.
"Well done, my boy." their father pats his shoulder proudly.
All Dianna can do is stare ahead of her. She has this sick feeling sinking into a pit in her stomach as she swallows the lump in her throat which only seems to make it worse. Now having no appetite, she pushes her plate a little further away as she leans back in her seat, giving the letter back to her brother.
"Oh, this calls for a celebration! Poppy!" her mother summons gleefully.
The small house elf appears in a small puff of smoke. "Yes, Mrs. Rain?"
"Bring a bottle of our finest wine from the seller," She orders. "Just wait until your sister hears about this," she tells her son, referring to her eldest child who moved out three years ago. Dianna can't help but envy her sister for that right now.
"Right away, Mrs. Rain." Poppy bows before vanishing in smoke once more. Seconds later, wine glasses and a bottle appear on the table, prefilled.
Dianna takes her wine glass and raises it to her lips before taking a gulp.
☽☆☾
A/N: Hello! Hope you enjoyed Ch.3 of Rain. The video at the top is the kind of music that was playing in the coffee shop. If you liked the chapter don't forget to comment and vote! I love you all! ~ Zoe Manijeh <3 01/11/2022
Casting for Delilah Brown:
Word count: 2411
Edited: 11.12.22