ruins ; harry potter [1]

ten ; breaking point

Something was off.

Diana had seen this place in her dreams. The obsidian walls, the glowing blue orbs. She knew all about the place, even long before she was inducted into the Order, and even long before she had found out about the Prophecy.

Here she stood, the cold of the black stone chilling her bare feet. She recognized the same aisles, the same spherical glass balls. She wondered if she could find her prophecy among the giant aisles. She took a step, but instead of appearing one step in front of her previous spot, she appeared in a black-stoned corridor.

The same black stone as the Department of Mysteries. In fact, it looked to be the corridor leading to the Department. A mop of red hair stood out in front of her, sitting against the door leading to the Department. She recognized him as Mr. Weasley immediately, but her eyes caught on something slithering down the hall towards her.

A large snake passed Diana, paying her no mind as it dragged its large body down the hall. It approached Mr. Weasley quickly, and immediately it lashed its jaws out at him, biting him, causing a large spray of arterial blood to fan across the wall. It kept clamping its jaw onto Mr. Weasley, and Diana screamed. It was a loud, wailing scream that she thought would even wake the Hogwarts castle all the way in Scotland.

Her vision swirled. When it cleared, she next found herself in a black expanse of nothingness. For as far as she could see, it was just pure, undiluted darkness, until a figure appeared in front of her.

The hairs on the back of her neck bristled. She tensed, sensing the atmosphere of the place turning darker. Colder.

"My, my, look at how you've grown," taunted the man. She couldn't see his face, but she knew who it was. He wore an all-black suit, his hair perfectly neat and done. He was tall, and his sheer presence set her on edge.

He turned around. Tom Riddle stood, in a form much too young for his age. The Voldemort she knew now was gray and snake-like, but this Tom Riddle before her was youthful, and handsome, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. The only thing that wasn't normal about his face, though, was the way his eyes shone a blood red, glinting maliciously in the darkness. "Little Diana, out of her prison."

"You were the one who put me there," she growled, but his smirk was unwavering. His charm and confidence was something she suspected he had much of when he was younger. Now, he just doesn't even need it.

All of a sudden, he furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes turned from red to a dark, mysterious brown. He looked slightly more boyish without the snake eyes, and if she dared, she thought he looked slightly innocent. "You remind me of your mother," he murmured, his eyes looking at something that wasn't there. "And I'll always hate you for making me think of her."

Her vision swirled again, and she awoke in a familiar office. Her senses were on overload as she started hyperventilating, her eyes snapping open and taking in her surroundings. Everything was much too bright and much too loud and she could almost feel the air around her and people tried to snap her out of her panic. Tears streamed freely down her face and a pair of hands clamped down on her shoulder.

Albus Dumbledore tried shaking her back to reality, his voice hard and demanding as he tried everything he could to make her better.

"Mr. Weasley," she choked, but Dumbledore immediately stopped her.

"He's on his way to the hospital right now."

She nodded and slowly calmed her breathing. She peered around her, taking in the various faces around the room. All of the Weasleys stared back at her, with Harry next to him. All had various looks of shock and worry and confusion, and Diana looked away.