what is right and what is easy? (Harry)

[elvishbanana2]

Diana slammed the door on her way out of the common room, her cane cracking against the stone floor with more force than was probably necessary. Of all things, she hated more than anything the condescension of Professor Cadmus. Anger clouding her mind, Diana marched through the halls, uncertain as to where she was going. Warm afternoon sun shone into her face as she passed windows, the light heating up her cool face. Diana stopped and sighed, leaning on a windowsill. The stone was warm from the few hours in the sun, though not unpleasantly so. Unbidden, thoughts of the odd Gryffindor boy sprung to her mind. She shook her head, but the sound of his voice remained. She was used to the traditional idiotic chivalry Gryffindors favored, but Harry, the boy who had come to her defense, seemed… different. Challenging hundreds of years of tradition, he’d offered her friendship where she had expected only to find mockery and contempt. And to her shock- perhaps even her dismay- she’d found herself accepting.

Diana dug her fingers into the stone for a moment, then wrenched herself away. He’s an idiot, she thought firmly, trying and failing to convince herself of it. An idealistic fool who doesn’t know how the real world works.

She knew it wasn’t true. He was brave- he’d had the courage to face four dangerous Slytherin girls and a nasty professor, all at once. And what was more, he’d paid little or no attention to the insults she’d showered on him. Shame crept into her heart- she’d been utterly heartless. Half-blood was, after all, better than Mudblood, and Gryffindor was better than Hufflepuff. Harry had a peculiar way of behaving- unlike the brash, bold Marauders gang, he displayed only chivalry. And what was more, he did seem to have a degree of sense, holding his tongue when she’d urged him. She could hear by the huffs in his breathing that he was angry, and she didn’t understand why. Her baiting of Professor Cadmus had been her affair- she’d made the mistake of making a comment about his relationship with Narcissa Black under her breath, and he’d heard, assigning her two months’ worth of Saturday detentions when she hadn’t owned up for it. Funnily enough, however, was Harry’s reaction. He’d stood up for her, creating an excuse when she could only blush and fumble for words. For that, he’d proved himself to be hopeless at tactics and strategy- but kind, and noble at the same time.

Diana flung herself away from the stone windowsill, continuing down the corridor. Her taps grew less and less spirited, finally settling down into her usual quiet rap. Her anger at being treated so unfairly lingered, but it was lessened. Diana tapped her way down the stairs, intending to make her way to her favorite hiding spot in the library. Some instinct intervened, however, and she turned, changing direction on a whim. What had Harry said to look up- Tom Riddle, Sr. and Jr.? Diana shook her head. It was probably nothing. But she couldn’t help the urge to look anyway. Pushing open the wooden door to the trophy room, she sighed. ”What am I doing?” she wondered. It took her several moments to think of a way to find the name she was looking for. Striding over to one section of the room, she pointed her birch wand at the glass case. ”Acroasus,” she said firmly. A list of names began rattling off, a list of Quidditch team members in 1929. Diana listened to the whole list patiently, moving from case to case in search of Tom Riddle.

She found it half an hour later, a trophy for Special Services to the School, awarded to Tom Riddle Jr. Blinking, Diana shook her head a little, sending her light brown curls in every direction. ”He was actually telling the truth?” she whispered. If the rest of what he’d said was true, and not just a ploy for attention, he was in trouble. Bellatrix Black was not a witch to be crossed, especially not when it came to her idol, the Dark Lord. Diana sat on a bench, wondering over the Gryffindor boy…

OOC: Just thought the two of them had kind of a connection in the common room- thought it might be interesting to continue that a little!

[potter]

Harry was extremely angry at Lucius Malfoy, not the young one, the older one, because he was just so... stupid! Harry had always hated Lucius and Lucius had hated Harry, since they first met, especially since that year Harry freed his house elf Dobby. And now Lucius was having his little revenge, though he was sure Cadmus wanted to kill Harry, as he tried multiple times, instead of just making his life hell.

Harry was up in his common room looking at the roof. Everything he had said in there was the truth, though most Slytherins wouldn't care, but that one girl Diana did. He wondered if anyone really took him seriously when he was talking about the Halfblood Tom, or Voldemort. He doubted it. Lucius probably knew, or didn't believe Harry, even though Tom told Harry himself. Now that no one would believe.

Most people, or Slytherins that is, would think of him as an idiot and a fool who thinks he's better than everyone and can get away with anything he wanted if he really tried. Bellatrix sure thought he was just a filthy liar, as most people would, at least those who were pro Death Eater all the way, like Bellatrix was. He wasn't surprised when she acted the way she did, just like she would in the future, though it was surprising to Harry that she didn't attack him.

Sighing Harry got up from his bed, feeling he needed to go and do something of interest and stop skulking around in the common room. He smiled and starting thinking about the happy things that could happen. Harry could get to know his parents, and the rest of the marauders, and have some fun just being a normal kid. Harry headed down the stairs nearly skipping as he though of the good things that came out of this, and finally made it to the ground floor.

His destination was unknown, and he didn't really care. Soon he began to wonder if Tom Riddle still had his award. Of course he did, but really the reason he wanted to go and view the awards was to see the plaque he saw in his first year, now, wondering if it was there, and if James was still on it. Even though he could get to know his father, he still remembered that they would have to die for Voldemort to disappear for the time he did, and it was nice to see his father's name, or a picture of him every once and awhile, though meeting him would be great.

As Harry entered the trophy room, really haven't had justified it to himself, he walked around and noticed a familiar face sitting down. Harry approached slowly, unsure if it really was her. It wasn't his mother he saw, nor anyone he knew before this time travel, but it was Diana the one who actually believed him and forgave him for anything James and the other Gyrffindors did.

"Diana? What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

[elvishbanana2]

Deep in thought over the odd Gryffindor, Diana barely noticed the sound of shuffling footsteps on the stone floor. She gripped the curved handle of her cane, brow furrowed. The astonishing truth of it was- the Gryffindor boy had been telling the truth, not just bluffing to start a fight. That in itself was incredible- most of the Gryffindors would say anything to get people riled up. But what confused Diana was how the boy, Harry, had known about it. She’d never heard of a Gryffindor Death Eater, and even if Harry happened to be one, there was no reason for him to slander his own master. And even if there was, the Death Eaters were like a cult- by all rights, Bellatrix would have gotten along just fine with one of her own, not tried to kill him. It was baffling.

”Diana? What are you doing here?”

She looked up, a force of habit. She recognized the voice at once, though she was astonished to hear it. ”Harry?” she asked cautiously, eyes going to the place where she’d heard his voice come from. Diana blinked. From time to time, her blindness eased, making it possible for her to see light sources, or even colors, though that was rare. The least common occurrence of all was auras- fuzzy, vague silhouettes with unique colors to them. A few individuals had them, only a handful or so. The funny thing was, though; they kept the aura. No matter what happened to them, Diana could see the color that surrounded them. She loved the change from the utter darkness that usually enveloped her sight. But it came rarely, only to a few people.

In the spot where Harry’s voice had come from was a blur of color, a nebulous shape reminiscent of a human silhouette. Diana gaped. He has it? The Gryffindor has the color? How? This doesn’t make any sense- why didn’t I see it earlier? Thoughts bounced around her mind, her ideas moving faster than she could blink. I tried not to look at him often, I was so nervous. And I do need some kind of light to see the auras- that common room is dark.

Swallowing her shock, Diana continued to grip her cane, hands shifting nervously. ”You were telling the truth back there, weren’t you?” she asked quietly. ”About… about the Dark Lord. He’s really a half blood, isn’t he?” She gulped. If this Harry knew so much about the Dark Lord, he would know whether it was possible for the infamous wizard to heal her. But she couldn’t reveal that, not yet. She couldn’t let him see her desperation for a cure. ”How did you know that? You’re no Death Eater,” she observed, keeping a close eye on Harry’s color. She drank it in, savored it even if it was not a color she was supposed to like. It was a beautiful shade of bright red, the scarlet normally associated with gold and lions as well. Diana couldn’t keep her eyes off of it.

Diana bit her lip for a moment, her anger resurfacing. It wasn’t directed at Harry, but at Cadmus- she still blamed him for the whole mess in the common room. Confusion and wonder bubbled to the top of her mind as well, and she cocked her head to one side, sending her light brown curls tumbling off of her shoulders. ”Why did you speak up for me, back there?” she asked bluntly.

[potter]

Harry smiled as she said his name. Some people would think he was James Potter, but then he remembered she was blind, which was somewhat nice to have someone not mistake him for his father, or 'second cousin'. He didn't mind it too much, but after a little while it could get annoying.

"Yeah, it's me," Harry replied coming closer to her. That was when he realized his mistake in telling about the Dark Lord being a Halfblood. How would he explain how he knew it. The truth was that Voldemort told Harry himself. But no one could seriously believe he was a Death Eater, especially when spreading something like that around. He would never believe that he would ever go over to the Death Eaters, after all Voldemort had done to him. There was five years of a hard time Voldemort had given him, and Harry wasn't going to forgive and forget.

"It was all the truth. And I have a few friends back home who dug into his past, some knew him while they were in school, some knew his family," Harry replied hoping that explanation would work. She wouldn't believe him if he told the truth. At his 'old' school Voldemort came out of a diary and tried killing the muggleborns with a snake, then going after Harry, for no reason to the people here. If word got out of where the transfers came from, he might be able to explain further, but he didn't want to change anything too big, at least with consequences that could be disastrous.

"Why shouldn't I?" Harry countered. Of course there was all of the insults she threw at Harry, but Harry tried keeping a level mind, knowing there was a lot of stuff between Gryffindor and Slytherin. To Harry, a Slytherin is just like a Gryffindor, and like a Hufflepuff, and like a Ravenclaw, everyone was equal. Those who weren't good at Quidditch were strong elsewhere, everything balanced itself. Of course some were idiots but strong idiots (cough cough Crabbe and Goyle). Harry just didn't like a majority of Slytherins because they wanted to hurt his friends and family, because he didn't care about blood purity. Plus most hated Harry for his vanquishing of the Dark Lord.

[elvishbanana2]

[

”It was all the truth. And I have a few friends back home who dug into his past, some knew him while they were in school, some knew his family.”

Diana frowned. ”That seems… dangerous. Meddling in the Dark Lord’s past- aren’t your “friends” worried about retaliation?”
What she really meant was “aren’t you worried about retaliation?” Diana could hear the uncertainty in his voice- the friends were not alone in the search for information on the famous dark wizard. Unbidden concern for Harry rose to the back of her mind, confusing her even further. Gryffindors and Slytherins weren’t supposed to get along. It just didn’t happen, not since the early days of Hogwarts. But she felt… protective of the boy sitting next to her, like he was something innocent and vulnerable that needed to be defended constantly. From what, she didn’t know- and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Harry had already shown that he made powerful enemies- the Malfoys, the Blacks, practically the entirety of Slytherin House- or at least, the powerful ones. Diana wondered why she was an exception to his obvious hate-Slytherin rule. If it was just out of pity, she wanted nothing to do with him. But there was that protectiveness, and then there was his color. Could she give up his color, even if he did pity her?

Harry seemed genuinely shocked by her question.

”Why shouldn’t I?”

Diana blushed and tilted her head down. ”Well… I mean, Gryffindors and Slytherins… we don’t get along. Ever. And on top of that, I insulted you, and I was rude and I ganged up against you. And still, after all that, you helped me when I couldn’t think of a thing to say to that idiot Cadmus.” Diana sighed, shaking her head a little. ”It eludes me.”

Everyone in her family had told her the same thing- stay away from Gryffindors. Everyone in her House had told her the same thing- stay away from Gryffindors. She’d even told it to a few younger students herself- stay away from Gryffindors. But in the past few years, she’d broken the rule more times than she cared to admit. At times, there was something inside of her, something that made her wish there wasn’t a rule against talking to them. Diana had tried to bury the phase and the feelings it brought with, but sometimes they… came out. She would snap against a member of her own House, or listen in on Gryffindor conversations, wishing she could be part of them. Or, like now, she could place her trust in someone she’d been specifically told not to. It was maddening. You. Are. A. Slytherin. Not a Gryffindor. Not a Hufflepuff. Not a Ravenclaw. They’ve already Sorted you- you belong in Slytherin. You belong in Slytherin. You belong in Slytherin.

Not matter how many times she told herself, the feelings were still there, buried under the surface. Diana shook her head, sighing at her own foolishness. There were so many problems attached to Gryffindor friendships, and it seemed especially to Harry. Could she possibly remain his friend and survive the encounter when she returned to the Slytherin Common Room?