Queen of Disaster | 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝐿𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑛

Chapter 03

The moment Diana arrived home along with her mother, she ran upstairs and shut the bedroom door behind her as she leaned her back against it, panting in horror.

     She could still remember the feeling of darkness, the bitter cold, the agony... she could remember feeling it all when her hand had brushed against the boy's skin.

     Diana clenched her hands and shuddered after walking toward her desk and placing her books down. She had left the Charms book she had bought in the shop, but she hardly cared. All she cared about at the moment was the possibility that the boy had jinxed her.

     Quickly, Diana walked into the bathroom inside her room and studied her face carefully in the mirror above her sink, as though searching for an abnormality caused by the jinx.

     When she found nothing, she stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the shower, all the while searching every inch of her skin for any sign of weird pimples or a change of color, but she found nothing out of ordinary .

      Diana wanted to sigh in relief, but her following thoughts forbid her to relax. The feeling she had gotten when she had touched his hand wasn't because of a silly jinx, like the jelly-legs. This was darker. She had felt it through every bone and nerve in her body.

Maybe it was Dark Magic, she thought to herself, but then shook her head, reminding herself that students aren't allowed to use magic outside of school.

     Diana didn't know how long she had been pacing around her room in her towel, but she finally snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her mother calling her down for dinner. Looking out of her bedroom window, she was surprised to see that it was already dark, which meant that her father and brother were back from the Ministry.

     Trying to push the thought of the mysterious Gryffindor boy out of her head, Diana quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs, jumping the last two ones.

"Diana, what did I tell you about skipping stairs?" Mrs. Greengrass gave her a look, her hands on her hips in a scolding manner. "It's unladylike."

Diana rolled her eyes without her mother seeing as she walked into the dining room with her.

     The meal was already set on the table. Their house elf always got the dining room ready on time, but Diana had only seen the house elf once or twice in all those years. As her mother would always say, this was the sign of a good house elf; that they do their job and yet are never seen.

     "How was your day, Darwin?" Mrs. Greengrass questioned her son, chopping her chicken breast on her plate in a graceful manner.

     "Perfect, actually," said Darwin with a proud smile, and Diana had to hold back the urge to roll her eyes again at her brother. He had always been the pride and joy of their family.

     Darwin was five years older than Diana, but she could still remember how he was back at Hogwarts; the best student in his year, always the top of his classes, a Slythering Prefect, and then the Headboy. Their parents never held back on saying how proud they were of him.

And now that he was out of Hogwarts, Darwin had followed their father's footsteps and worked at the Ministry, coming home with different good news or promotions every day.

     Even though her parents weren't surprised that Diana didn't get the prefect badge this year, that didn't stop them from being disappointed in her.

     But Diana hardly cared what they thought of her, despite how it always boiled her blood when they kept comparing her with her brother, and boasting about how brilliant Darwin was.

     When Diana had finally gotten the spot as the Slytherin Beater last year, she had sent her parents a letter to let them know, deep down hoping that they would praise her and tell her they were proud of her. But she was heartbroken when they sent a letter back, telling her that she better focus on her studies more than a sport.

     Diana was heartbroken, but she didn't even let it show on her face for even a second, and she certainly didn't drop out of the Slytherin Quidditch team. She had practiced years for this opportunity, specially because she knew how hard it was to get into the team — and specially as the Beater position — while being a girl.

    "... and so Mr. Crouch told me he wouldn't be surprised if I ended up as the Minister one day in the future," Darwin went on and finished his story, his chest out with pride.

     "I wouldn't be surprised either," said Mrs. Greengrass, taking a sip of her wine with a smile.

     She then turned to face her husband, whose face was hidden behind that day's copy of the Daily Prophet, already done with his dinner.

    "What do you think?" Mrs. Greengrass asked her husband, eager to talk more about Darwin's success at work.

     Mr. Greengrass briefly lowered the newspaper to glance from his wife to his son, before nodding once. "Indeed. I think he has potential," he said, before raising the paper again.

    "I think so, too," said Mrs. Greengrass, placing her glass back down on the table.

    Then her gaze fell upon Diana, who was staring down at her plate without blinking as she held her fork in her hand, her mind far away.

    "Diana!" Mrs. Greengrass called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

     "Yes?" Diana's head shot up, blinking a few times.

     "Weren't you listening to your brother?" Mrs. Greengrass shook her head. "Darwin was talking about what his boss told him at work today."

     "And you wonder why I wasn't listening," Diana muttered under her breath inaudibly, playing with the vegetables on her plate with her fork.

     "You know," Darwin started, leaning back on his chair, though he kept on sitting straight as he spoke, "your O.W.Ls are coming this year. I can give you a few tips for studying, if you like."

    "Wonderful idea!" said Mrs. Greengrass approvingly.

     "Can't wait," Diana said sarcastically and she gave his brother a fake sweet smile.

     Although her mind soon wandered off again to the boy with sandy hair and chocolate brown eyes in Diagon Alley, her heart lurching at his thought.