PITY PARTY-003
"Happy birthday!" A voice cried on the morning of October 31st.
Diana opened her eyes to see Hermione's dark brown eyes peering down at her. Her hair melted to bright pink as she sat up causing Hermione to stand upright and grab her hand.
"Come on, Ana! Let's go to breakfast, I think Dobby made you a special breakfast."
Diana got dressed in her robes, and they headed to the Great Hall. The girls met with Harry, Ron, Sam, and Koda, who were sitting at the Gryffindor table. A large plate of blueberry pancakes sat in the seat where Diana sat. Dobby had a special bond with the blonde after they met in the kitchens. He made her favorite.
"Happy birthday, Ana!" Ron shouted, rushing over to hug his sister. He pulled back and handed her a gift. "This is from Sam and me."
The group sat down with Diana between Harry and Ron as she opened her gift. She pulled out a stuffed wolf plushie. A grey wolf. She squealed, throwing her arms around Ron before reaching and squeezing her twin's hand.
"Thank you, thank you, Ronnie, Sam! It's perfect!" Diana said, using her nickname for Ron, which caused him to blush red.
Sammy smiled at his sister's excitement. Diana had a stuffed wolf when they were little, but something happened to her wolf. One day, she was playing with it and the next it was missing. Gran tried hard to look for it, tried accioing it and all but never found it. His sister loved the plushie, so she named it Moony. The name just came to her and she loved it.
Harry was the next person to give her a gift. "Here, Dia." He handed her a small box. A small beautiful rudy necklace.
She gasped, staring at the necklace. "Harry...it's beautiful. Thank you." she looked at him, grinning. "Help me put it on?"
Harry nodded, taking the necklace nervously. She turned around with her back facing Harry and held up her pink hair. He placed the necklace around her neck and clipped it. The rudy landed perfectly on Diana's throat.
"Thank you, Harry. It means so much." She said, turning back towards him. Boldly, she leaned up and placed a tender kiss on his cheek. They both blushed hard as their friends smirked.
The group ate their breakfast before they headed toward their dorms. The trio of Ron, Harry, and Diana climbed the staircase toward their common room but stopped when the path to the tower was jammed with students.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, curiously.
"Probably Neville's forgotten the password again," Ron said making Diana elbow him in the arm.
"Hey!" Neville called, standing behind the blonde.
Diana stood on her tippytoes, trying to see over people's heads, but all she could see was that the portrait was closed.
"Let me through, please." came Percy's voice. "Excuse me, I'm Head Boy."
And then a silence fell over the crowd from the front first; a cold chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a sudden sharp voice.
"Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."
Ginny came down toward them. "The Fat Lady. She's gone."
"Serves her right. She was a terrible singer." Ron muttered.
Hermione hit the back of his head from where she had come up before him. "It's not funny, Ron,"
Soon, Dumbledore came and took a look at the ruined portrait as he ran his hand over it. "Mr. Filch? Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady."
Filch shook his head and pointed. "There's no need for ghosts, Professor. The Fat Lady is there."
Everyone hurried up the stairs and stood in front of the Fat Lady as Dumbledore looked up at her. "Dear Lady, who did this to you?"
"Eyes like the Devil, he's got. And a soul as dark as his name. It's him, Headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black!" The Fat Lady screamed.
Diana's hair slowly changed to purple causing Harry to grab her hand and squeeze it when he noticed the change.
Her father was in school.
***
Dumbledore sent everyone to the Great Hall with the rest of the houses looking utterly confused. Diana laid on her back between Harry and Sam as she held their hands. She stared at the bewitched ceiling before glancing at Harry, who was already staring at her. She gave him a tiny smile as she let go of her twin's hand and turned to face him. She was about to open her mouth to say something when Professor Snape's and Dumbledore's voices came in a hush.
"Headmaster?" Said, Snape. Harry kept quite still, they both listened hard. "The whole third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch had done the dungeons; nothing there either."
"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"
"All searched..."
"Well done, Severus, I didn't expect Black to linger."
"Have you any theory as to how got in, Professor?" Snape asked.
Harry raised his head slightly off his arm to free his other ear as Diana snapped closed her eyes when the teachers came near them; in case, they saw her awake.
"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."
"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before—uh—the start of term?" Snape said, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy from the conversation.
"I do, Severus," Dumbledore said with a warning tone in his voice.
"It seems—almost impossible—that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed—"
"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," Dumbledore said, his tone made it clear that the subject was closed when Snape didn't reply. The old headmaster walked away with Snape following. Harry reached out his hand, taking a strand of Diana's hair in his fingers. She looked confused at the boy when he motioned to her hair.
Yellow. A mustard yellow.
"What does it mean, yellow I mean," Harry asked, quitely.
Diana touched her hair and said. "Worry. I'm worried."
***
The Fat Lady was replaced by Sir Cadogan. The most annoying portrait ever. Every time Diana walked in or out of the hole, Sir Cadogan would challenge her to a duel. He would yell after her when she denied it.
"He's barking mad," Seamus said to his raven-haired friend. He and Harry watched as Diana walked out of the portrait into the corridor.
"Fight, You scallywag! Put up your sword and fight!"
Diana huffed in annoyance. "I don't want to duel with you. Now, for the love of Merlin, stop asking,"
Sir Cadogan didn't seem to take that as an answer and began yelling after her. She walked over to Harry and her friend, who was smiling in amusement.
"Merlin, I hate him. Every time I walk through the hole, he demands me to fight," Diana said as they walked to their Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
The day before the match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, Diana was sitting next to Harry in DADA. The door snapped open and walked in Snape. She frowned, confused—wondering why her potions master was teaching her Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
"Turn to page 394," Snape said after pulling down the projector.
The class turned to the page, and Diana read the chapter name. Werewolves? She glanced at her best friend and Harry who had the same expression.
"Excuse me, sir. Where is Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, slightly leaning over Diana as he asked Snape who walked past them.
"That's not your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say, that your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the moment. Turn to page 394."
Harry sighed, sitting back in his seat and turning to the page.
"Werewolves?" Ron asked, confused and slightly scared.
"But, sir, we've only just begun learning Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks—" Hermione voiced, causing her friends, to expect Diana to frown.
Snape cut her off. "Quiet!"
Ron leaned towards his best friend and sister. "When did she come in? Did you see her come in?"
Diana shrugged. "She's been here the whole time."
"Now, which of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?" Snape asked in a monotone voice.
Hermione's hand shot up as a piece of parchment in the shape of a bird flew toward Harry and Diana. She watched it land in front of Harry as he glanced towards where the parchment came from and saw Draco Malfoy sneering at him. Harry opened the parchment, Diana leaned over his shoulder and saw a drawing of him getting struck by lightning during the quidditch match. The raven-haired crumpled it up, sending a glare at the platinum blonde boy.
"Sir please, an Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon, when he transforms, he is no longer any he who is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed his path. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of its kind." Hermione answered, her face a pitch higher.
Snape glared at her as Malfoy added his theory and let out a howl. "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself? Or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"
Hermione sank in her seat as tears welled in her eyes. Diana and everyone who hated Snape glared at him, Sammy being one of them.
Suddenly, Ron stood up from his seat and shouted. "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"
Diana's head snapped to her brother, her eyes wide. Ron had gone too far as Snape advanced on the redhead slowly; the room held its breath. "Detention, Weasley. And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."
No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook. When the bell rang, Snape held them back. "You will each write an essay, to be handed to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time for somebody to take this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention."
***
Mustard yellow means worry.