ruins ; harry potter [1]

six ; hogwarts

The next flew weeks flew by. Harry's hearing was a success, and the kids spent most of their time cleaning the house and talking about Hogwarts and current events. Diana and Mrs. Weasley had made up and left all bad blood behind them, Ron and Hermione were made Prefects (Diana knew it had really irked Harry at the time), and she had finally been registered in the Ministry's Statute of Secrecy so she couldn't use her wand anymore.

Everything had been worked out. When the others were to leave for the train station, she was to use the Floo network to get to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had made it very clear that she was not going to be a student; she was too important, too smart, and too valuable to spend her time doing such mundane things as learning (in her opinion) and it helped that she already had more intelligence and wits than most fully-grown wizards.

She was to stay at Hogwarts under watch of Dumbledore. She was to be on call for the Order, fulfilling any needs or purposes that they might have arise. She was to not cause trouble, and to observe students for anything out of the ordinary.

"What about that Umbridge woman? The one that the Ministry sent to invade the school?" she had asked Dumbledore a week before, as she sat fiddling with a bizarre device in his office.

"Leave it to me. You will not have to worry about her as long as I'm around," Dumbledore assured her, watching her intently. He did that a lot: he would watch her, familiarize her movements and try to understand her brain when most others couldn't. When she had first met him, he even tried using Legilimency on her. It didn't work.

The day had finally come; it was September the first. There was much panic and commotion as everyone tried to get all of their things organized and packed, and Mrs. Weasley was heard many times yelling at the twins for nearly killing someone.

Diana sat in the kitchen, watching idly as people filed in and out for various reasons, waving a quick hello to her before exiting once more. Sirius came and sat beside her quickly, stretching his legs beneath the table and sighing loudly. The kitchen was empty for the first time this morning, and he took a moment before speaking.

"I need you to look after Harry," he started quickly, as if she might oppose. "I'm worried about him. He's going to get frustrated from all of the lack of information. I need you to watch him, make sure he doesn't lose his temper."

She nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." She, as Dumbledore had to her, had taken to watching Harry for pure informational purposes. The raven-haired boy intrigued her; to her, he was a case study ready to be observed.

He looked at his hands before he said something else. "He's so much like James that way. He gets so frustrated," he said, chuckling slightly at a memory only he knew of.

Diana smiled slightly. A pained one, one filled with regret and sadness and guilt. After all, her father had been the one who had taken James from his best friend.

"I've seen pictures. Of James and Lily, I mean. Harry looks just like him," she said.

"But he has her eyes," Sirius finished. Diana could sense Sirius just wasn't emotionally capable of continuing the conversation, so she didn't press. They sat in a companionable silence until it was interrupted.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling in, positively distraught with frustration. Diana sensed it was like this every year on September first. "Good morning, dear," she said breathlessly, adding more toast to the existing platter with her wand. "You should probably get ready to leave for Hogwarts. We'll be leaving for the train soon."

Diana smiled lightly and stood up, Sirius following her lead, and they hugged tightly before she left to go find Remus and some of the others so she could say goodbye.