Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 33

Author's Note

'Queen of Disaster' has reached 100k reads! I have no words no express how happy this made me! Thank you guys so much for reading the story, and I hope you've liked it so far ❤︎

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That night over dinner, Professor Slughorn walked over the Slytherin table, making a list of students who would be staying at Hogwarts for the holidays. Diana was too lost in her own thoughts that Layla had to be the one to tell Slughorn that her friend wouldn't be staying at school over Christmas break either.

     While the Great Hall had a roaring fire that kept everyone warm near winter, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in every hallway. Worst of all was the dungeons; the Slytherin students had to hold their cloaks close to themselves while making their way toward their common room, where the warmth welcomed them once more in the green blaze.

    On the day everyone had packed their trunks to leave for the holidays, Diana and Layla walked up to the Great Hall for breakfast, and the place looked absolutely magical.

     Countless mistletoes hung all around the walls, and more than a dozen Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, and some glittering with hundreds of candles. The biggest Christmas tree stood at the end of the hall, and bewitched snow fell from the Great Hall's ceiling which looked like the morning sky, though the snow didn't land on the floor.

     "I really want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas once," said Diana, looking around her longingly. "It looks great, doesn't it? And the Christmas feast must be delicious."

     "Not me, though," said Layla thoughtfully. "I'd rather go back home for the holidays."

     "That's because your mother doesn't scold you about the way you behave 24/7 and call you boyish, and you don't have a brother who brags about his accomplishments at work whenever he gets the chance," Diana said bitterly.

     "That too." Layla smirked. "But we're also going to Switzerland this year. My mum has a photoshoot with the Wizarding magazine over there."

     Diana sighed. If her parents were even a bit like Layla's, she could look at it as a good distraction from recent events at school. Layla's father being a celebrated journalist and her mother an international model, they traveled somewhere new each Christmas. But Diana had no hope when it came to her own family.

     She used to think that the biggest thing which was going to trouble her mind was an annoying stupid boy with brown eyes who smelled like chocolates, but now she had worse problems at hand.

    For days, she kept repeating Professor Tenebris's words in her head over and over again, trying to make sense out of them, but she came to no conclusion.

     You have a gift, Diana... This is just the beginning... Mark my words...

     From Diana's point of view, the feeling was nothing like a gift, nor a blessing. No part of this felt fun. Not the pain, not the darkness, and most certainly not the way it was now troubling her mind.

     After breakfast, the two girls left the castle along with the other students and took the horseless carriages down to the Hogsmeade station, where the Hogwarts Express was awaiting them to take them back home.

     They walked through the train's corridor until they found an empty compartment to claim for their own, and took the seats beside the window.

     "I think I'll just sleep for the whole ride," said Diana as she yawned, leaning her head against the window's glass.

     "No, you're not!" said Layla, kicking her in the leg. "I'll get bored!"

     "I'm sorry, I missed the part where entertaining you had become my responsibility," Diana said sarcastically.

     "I don't appreciate your sarcasm."

     "Once again, not my problem."

     They both chuckled, always enjoying the little bickering they shared every once in a while.

     The train still hadn't started moving yet. Before Diana could close her eyes to get some rest which she had missed for the previous nights, the door to their compartment opened.

     Looking over, they saw Regulus peaking his head through the door and peering inside down at them.

     "Can we help you?" Diana asked formally, trying to suppress her grin. She already had a faint idea about why he was here, but she would never pass down the opportunity to tease him.

     "Just checking to see what you two idiots were up to." Regulus shrugged with a careless look in his eyes.

     "Aha..." Diana smirked up at him from where she sat beside the window. "And it had nothing to do with the fact that you couldn't find an empty compartment."

    "Don't be silly, Diana," said Layla with a grin as she kept her eyes on Regulus, "the train hasn't even left the station yet. There must be a lot of empty compartments. He just missed us and wanted to sit here."

     "You know what? Forget it," Regulus said with an eye-roll, turning to leave.

      "No, wait!" Layla called after him promptly, stopping him.

      "Come on, Black. Sit with us," said Diana, gesturing him over with a lazy wave of her hand. "We don't bite."

     "Speak for yourself," said Layla, winking at Diana. The two girls burst into laughter.

      "You two are the worst," Regulus said with an annoyed groan.

      "Oh, just get in here already!" Layla snapped jokingly.

     "Fine. If you insist," Regulus said with another careless shrug, though they didn't miss the little smile on his face as he entered the compartment and sat down with them. Diana and Layla threw each other a knowing grin.

     As soon as the train started moving and rumbled its way out of the Hogsmeade station, Layla took out a game of Exploding Snaps from her bag and passed around the cards. The three talked and laughed their way through the night, playing different games and eating sweets.

     Regulus might not have admitted it out loud, but he was starting to like the two annoying older girls.