Diana's eyes flutter open and she slowly becomes aware of her surroundings which were, to put it plainly, disgusting.
She was lying on the floor of a room, a very disordered, dusty room. The paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up, it was clear this place had been used to hold another creature before.
But her current location was the least of her worries. It felt as if she was, ironically, on fire. Her head was pounding, and her heart was racing a hundred miles an hour as sweat coats her forehead.
Diana groans as she pushes herself up. As her consciousness returns, so does the build-up of magic. It was like an overly filled gas canister, the pressure pushing against the container. Waiting to burst.
"I'm going to assume you're Diana?"
Diana's head snaps to the doorway, where Sirius Black was casually leant against the doorframe.
The way he was stood, it was as if he had no care that he was still the most wanted man in the Wizarding World. Diana stares at him with wide eyes, fear causing her to lose the ability to formulate a proper sentence.
"I- Oh-"
"Hermione wrote to me about your abilities," Sirius says. "In code which took me forever to figure out"
"You know Hermione?" Diana asks weakly.
"Well, she's best friends with my Godson,"
"Harry or Ron?" Diana asks.
"Harry,"
Diana nods, her eyes slipping closed before a hand taps her face.
"You can't go to sleep sweetheart," Sirius says. "Or else who knows what kind of havoc you'll wreak"
Sirius helps Diana sit properly upright before sitting next to her.
"You'd look good in purple," Diana murmurs and Sirius looks at her confused. "Sorry, I design clothes and to pass the time, I do it in my head for people"
"Purple, huh?"
"Extravagance," Diana says. "Luxury, elegance."
"That sounds like me," Sirius says, keeping his tone light.
"Black shirt with gold stitching on the collar," Diana murmurs. "Gold pocket square"
"Sounds like you're good at what you do," Sirius says.
"I'll show you my sketchbook sometime," Diana whispers before groaning as pain wracks through her body.
"What's in the sketchbook?" Sirius asks.
"All my ideas," Diana says. "Fabric swatches. I have about four completed designs which I have on mannequins at home"
"You'll have to whip me something up," Sirius says. "Purple?"
"Purple," Diana affirms.
A cry leaves the girl, and this time ice begins to form on the wall, sending the temperature plummeting. Sirius quickly turns into his dog form, the shaggy fur providing him with some well-needed warmth.
Diana lets out a particularly loud scream and a surge of magic expels from her body, freezing the entire room. Sirius had leapt out of the door just in time, avoiding the blast.
"It's okay," Diana whispers. "I think it's done"
Sirius slinks back in before turning back into a human, waving his wand and the ice melts away.
When Sirius sits down Diana leans against him.
"I'm scared," Diana whispers, causing Sirius to look down at the girl who was the perfect likeness to her mother.
"Of what?" Sirius asks.
This was strangely reminiscent of the nights he had spent in this very shack with Remus who would always cry at the end of the full moon. Vulnerable and scared.
"Myself," Diana whispers. "I like creating things that are beautiful or helpful like my mother did"
"How is Pandora?" Sirius asks.
"There was an accident four years ago," Diana says. "I was lucky, my mother-"
Sirius nods and bows his head slightly, remembering the eccentric girl who would always ask them how their day was and offer her assistance in the stranger pranks they planned.
"I don't want to be used as a weapon," Diana whispers. "I want to make the world better with my powers, not destroy it"
"I see so much Pandora in you," Sirius says. "It makes me feel young again like I'm back in the seventies"
Diana raises her hand and a woman made of snow was stood in her hand. It looked almost identical to Pandora. Almost.
"I can't fully remember her face anymore," Diana says. "Some aspects are hazy, and I hate that I'm struggling to remember my own mother's face"
Sirius feels his heart reach out to the witch his godson had described as 'so happy, you can't help but smile too.' Sirius had his doubts about that, no one went without sadness. That was a part of life that everyone experienced and from what Sirius could see, Diana Lovegood had her fair share.
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