The Golden Trio and the Slytherin

Chapter 8

Months flew by and the holiday snuck up on Diana. She knew they were coming but she had been dreading it. She would be spending Christmas alone as she had come to find out. None of her friends within her house were staying back this year. It would just be her in the entire dorm, so she knew she would be in for a long two weeks on her own. Luck would have it that Harry and Ron would be somewhere in the castle at all times but they were boys and she had no idea if they would even want to hang out with her.

Hermione was headed back to visit her parents, Selene was going to see her mom, and Daphne had her whole family waiting on her. While most of her friends were excited to go home Draco was not. He seemed reluctant to go home. He wouldn't talk about it, which made her wonder what his home life was like. Their talk by the fireplace that night had been very one sided but his quick understanding made her wonder what he would be going home to.

As the final day before the holiday break arrived, Diana found herself standing in the Slytherin common room, surrounded by her departing friends. Selene and Daphne were preparing to leave, their trunks packed and ready to go. She was dressed in her comfy clothes, a baggy sweatshirt and a soft pair of loose pants.

"Take care of yourself, Diana," Selene said, giving her friend a tight hug. "I'll send you an owl as soon as I get to my mom's. We can catch up."

"Thanks, Selene. Have a safe journey." Diana returned the hug, feeling a pang of loneliness as she watched her friend go. Daphne stepped forward next, her expression filled with warmth.

"I'll miss you, Diana. But we'll be back before you know it." Diana managed a smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I'll miss you too, Daphne. Enjoy your time with your family. Don't let that brother of yours drive you too crazy."

"I'll try not to." Daphne said, giving her one last hug before they walked up the steps of the common room. With a sigh she turned around to go back up to her room so she could sulk but ran into someone.

"Aww... look at sad little Diana. No family to go home to. I bet they didn't even want you around this year now that you've been gone." Pansy stood before her, her whiny voice grating on Diana's ears.

"Oh piss off." Diana retorted, trying to walk past the girl who shared her dorm. Pansy put her arm out and stopped her from walking by.

"I heard that you were an orphan girl. Mommy died giving birth to you and daddy just abandoned you. Your uncle doesn't even want you home for the holiday. How pathetic." Pansy sneered in her ear.

"What's pathetic is you're scared to go home, cause daddy is just going to beat you for the next two weeks. You're more than welcome to join me, instead of going home to the abuse." Diana whispered back, keeping her eyes forward, not daring to look at the girl who was trying to put her down. Pansy's grip on her arm tightened to a painful grip but she kept her face calm. Draco came into view then and they made eye contact. His eyes traveled down to the hand that was gripping her arm and he frowned.

"You little..." Pansy started to growl, but Diana peeled her fingers from her arm and looked over at her.

"Don't even begin to shit all over my family life when I've heard you complaining and crying to the other girls about your home life. Is it actually true or do you just tell them that to gain their sympathy?" Diana glared at her, trying to gauge her reaction. Pansy's face turned bright red in anger, indicating that her story was indeed true and her heart went out to her. "If your home life really is like that, you could always stay here with me and make a new friend. Up to you. Have a good holiday, Pansy."

Diana walked away from the defeated girl, shaking off the comments and rolling her shoulders so she could stand taller. Pansy hadn't been nice to her since day one, but there had been many occasions where the girl hadn't realized that she was reading in her bed with the curtains drawn and she had just poured her heart out to the other girls. According to Pansy, her father abused her heavily and she was just glad to be away from them for the school year. Pansy had said that she wanted to stay at school for the holidays but she knew that if she didn't go home her summer beating would be even worse, and that she was only going home so she could share the abuse instead of her mother taking on all of it.