eloquence | sirius black ✓

CHAPTER FOUR

POTTER AND BLACK

✦

DIANA WAS SITTING BY THE Black Lake when she heard several shouts from the castle. And one person would know exactly who was shouting. The Marauders, also known as James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Of course it was them. Diana would've expected nothing more than that bunch of rascals ruining her day.
       "And there goes it," whispered Diana to herself, closing Gone With the Wind. "I'm done." she said to herself, standing up, dropping the book onto the emerald grass with a light thump. Anger blazed in her eyes slightly, alike fire, perhaps a fragment of her ancestors passing down on her. After all, the Allisters were descended from dragons, and they still kept the fire within their souls, ready to be unleashed at a climax. She let her braids down, letting her hair free for the first time that semester; she rarely let down her hair and usually kept it in a high ponytail or a braid.
       Diana got up. The first thing she saw was the Marauders, strutting towards Snape. Severus Snape, her friend, or rather, good acquaintance from Slytherin. Nevertheless, she still stood up to defend him. Slytherins defended their fellow Slytherins.
       She marched towards Severus, who was now being mocked by James and Sirius. Remus was sitting, reading and not doing anything, and Diana can't help but feel disappointed in Remus. He should've defended Severus. He didn't deserve to be teased by the Marauders at all. He hadn't even done anything wrong to them, except maybe be with Lily, making James jealous. James Potter was slightly jealous over the fact that Remus John Lupin was best friends with Lily Evans, after all, but ignored that feeling, as Remus was too, his best friend and most importantly, fellow Marauder.
       "What in the world are you doing?" asked Diana, pointing her wand threateningly at the two, her violet eyes filled with a dangerous glint of anger.
       "That's slimy, greasy-haired Snivellus," said James as if it were the most obvious thing, a sneer laced upon his lips. "We're only teasing him, Allister! Chill your dragon down." he said, making a reference to the fact that Diana was the descendant of dragons. Diana's blood boiled slightly. It was a touchy subject at times, as it reminded her of her ancestors that went mad.
      "Shut up, Potter. Don't have prejudice against us Slytherins," said Diana sharply. "Quit being biased, you bloody git. Not all of us are evil."
      James took a moment to take what Diana said into consideration. Sirius looked like he was in deep thought. Diana felt a glimmer of hope rising in the chest, it was almost at its fullest point -- until James brought it down with a shake of his head. Sirius grinned cockily at her, running a hand through his long hair. That bloody grin, she thought silently, almost fuming at that very moment. Instant regret hit her chest. She shouldn't have danced with him at that ball. She would've preferred to dance with Regulus than him, if she had to be honest with herself.
       A sigh escaped Diana's lips. She shoved her wands to her robes; a discouraged act, but she didn't care, for that was her first instinct, and so far her buttocks weren't burnt from accidental magic, so it was fine at that time.
       She raised her fist and punched Sirius in the nose. She backed away for a moment, slapping James with her remaining strength. And people mock girls for 'fighting like a girl', Diana thought with a smug grin etched upon her face, violet eyes glinting in amusement. Amusement seemed to swim in those amethyst eyes of hers. They were special, her mother told her. Purple eyes were special, unlike the other blue eyes.
       "And people use 'fighting like a girl' to mock others." Diana mused, grabbing her wand out of her pocket. She silenced the two quickly.
       Sirius muttered something which sounded like 'she's got a mean left hook' as he turned to the other direction with James, face red (and bleeding, but only Sirius's) from Diana's punch. Diana turned on her heel and brought Severus to sit under one of the shady trees by the Black Lake. The autumn breeze blew, making the atmosphere cool and fine.
       She got a mean left hook. It was true, Diana Allister was left-handed. But she only used her left hand for writing, throwing, catching, and of course, punching and slapping. She did the rest with her right hand. You could say that she was ambidextrous, perhaps.
       Severus opened his mouth and closed it again. He was at a loss of words. Diana rarely defended him, except once during his second year. Especially with the fact that the two were rivals at Potions, even though they occasionally shared a civil conversation once in a while. Because Severus tended to be with Lily; at the library or at the Great Hall playing chess (Lily usually won.) (If Diana had to be honest, Severus sucked at chess.) (Even Diana won against him, and she knew nothing about playing chess. Playing chess was more of a Lily-and-Remus thing, honestly.)
       "You don't have to thank me -- " said Diana.
       Severus nodded uncertainly.
       " -- but you could go on your knees and beg for mercy." said Diana sarcastically, making Severus laugh shakily. Nevertheless, it was still a laugh. She didn't know that he could laugh, honestly, but he did, although it was shaky.
       "Never knew that you had a sense of humour, Allister." said Severus, replying to her in a sarcastic tone.
       Diana let out a laugh. She rarely did, but that time she did. "Well, I'm off to do Potions homework. Perhaps you'd like to help this time?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, her amethyst eyes meeting his cold pitch-black ones; they were unlike Hagrid's warm beetle-black ones. "Come on." said Diana as the two, chatting quickly (with Severus giving short answers, he was a dry talker) as they headed to the library.
       They entered the library, only to reveal Lily Evans scribbling furiously with her quill. She was doing her Potions essay. Diana and Severus were about to do the same, in matter of fact. Perfect timing, Diana thought silently. That way, they could do it all together at the same time, which was honestly much better than doing it alone.
       "Lily," said Diana seriously. "You're going to murder than piece of parchment."
       The red-haired Gryffindor looked up, shocked to see that Diana had came in with Severus. The two Slytherins took a seat in front of the auburn-haired girl, pulling out a fresh piece of parchment, an eagle-feather quill (Diana), and an owl-feather quill (Severus). Diana quickly corrected herself. Red-haired, not auburn. Lily's hair was fiery red.
       Lily stared at them thankfully when Severus and Diana began explaining to her the properties of moonstone, aconite, or whatever Lily decided to call it. Eventually, Lily was done with hers.
       And after Lily was done with hers, it was time for Diana and Severus to do theirs. They stared at each other in a challenging way. And with that, they began scribbling quickly, Diana writing as she used a spell to tidy up her writing (she thanked Vindictus Viridian for inventing that spell. Merlin knows what she would do without it. It had saved her many times) as she furiously scribbled, peeking at Severus's essay once in a while. They were tied dead even. At last, both finished at the same time.
       "I admit that I lose," said Severus with a grunt. Diana had a triumphant smile. "Your handwriting's tidier somehow."
       Scribbulus ateratum, she thought non-verbally as she pointed her wand to Severus's essay, as the writing slowly arranged itself to readable letters. Severus looked thankful, but he didn't say it. Diana didn't want him to say it either; it was unlike him to say thank you for someone's act of kindness; he was a cold, distant, and silent person.
       "What's the charm?" he asked curiously.
       Diana smirked at him as she placed the essay carefully into her book bag, putting back her quill and ink pot to its original position. There were some things she were grateful of knowing. And she wouldn't share them to others.
       Knowing things was a secret. A delicate secret kept within the heart, for the mind is a wide sea of knowledge, some unraveled to the rest of the world, and some kept within, stored inside, for it was a secret yet to be told to anyone, or perhaps never to be told at all. Knowledge was power, and those with a lot of knowledge were the ones with a lot of power, for they knew more than others do.
       Figuring them was just one step into the modern era.
       Diana grinned as she left the library, waving to Severus. She went down the stairs of the Slythein dungeons as she finished up her Potion essay, putting her name quickly, since she had forgotten to do it. And on that day, she realized something.
       It was the day she had become friends with Severus Snape.
       Perhaps making friends was easier than how Diana Allister thought it would be. She was an introverted girl, and she didn't really like talking to others, even though sometimes she did. And also, she did have friends. Remus and Lily, along with of course, some of her Slytherin friends. She rarely spoke up about herself, but when she you knew her good enough, she was an open book. If she trusted you, that was. Diana Allister didn't easily trust people; none of her friends knew of the Curse of the Dragon. She called it a curse instead of a gift, for it wasn't a gift at all. People ended up going insane because of the amethyst eyes they possessed.
       Diana Allister knew that she had it. When she was three, her blue eyes slowly became violet eyes, and her mother warned her of the course when she was seven, warning her about it earlier. Diana nodded at what her mother said; she explained it clear enough. Even at a young age, Diana Allister was an intelligent young girl.
       Over the course of years, Diana had read about the curse and studied about it.
        At a certain age, she'd get visions and it'll only get worse, then she'll become insane. Her father was lucky to have it at an older age, but he still went insane anyways, no matter how much treatment St. Mungo's gave to him.
       Diana had watched in a fascinated way about the curse; she always had a fascination with it. She thought about it a lot, keeping a notebook dedicated to everything about it. She wanted to know every detail about it; what caused it, the symptoms; everything.
       After all, she had it.

  ✦

diana's notes on the allister curse:

I'm not sure if it's clear, but that'll do for now.