Artemis (A Remus Lupin love-story).

Chapter 4- An Eventful Morning

Diana's first lesson at Hogwarts the next day was transfiguration. She rose early, and spent most of the morning attempting a colour-changing charm on her mossy green velvet skirt turning it into a deep crimson. It was a difficult spell, O.W.L. level in fact, for someone who had had no formal magical education but it was not for nothing that the sorting hat had compared her to the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw herself. It took the whole morning to get dressed however (see the outfit above), and she had to skip breakfast in order to come to her lesson on time. She sat down next to a French girl with a pixie-cut of straight blonde hair and bright red nails who didn't look very friendly, and a mousy-haired, sweet-looking thing who introduced herself as Alice Fortescue. Diana watched with fascination as the Professor transfigured a table into a horse and back again.

'It will be a long time before you will be able to perform such advanced transfiguration. Work hard, however, and you will reach their before you know it. For now, you will transfigure these matches into needles.' Diana looked rather surprised at her last statement, and- with a wave of her wand turned the match into a needle at first attempt. The whole class stared at her in amazement, Professor McGonagall included. She clapped her hands.

'Well, what are you staring at? I want those matches silver and pointy by the end of this lesson. As for you, Miss Boleyn, five points to Gryffindor and well done!' The blonde girl, with a little help, managed to get it right at the fifth attempt- Alice, however, had more difficulty.

'Here... do it like this.' Diana demonstrated, taking Alice's hand in hers and performing the wand-movement. She turned the needle back into a match and smiled as Alice at long last succeeded. Unbeknownst to her, Professor McGonagall smiled too, a real genuine smile no-one had seen on her face for a long time.

'I'll look forward to teaching that girl.' They had History of Magic next, which basically consisted of Lily attempting to concentrate and failing, Alice dozing of multiple times and Diana finishing her 'A Tale of Two Cities' which she had slipped inside her book. It was a pity, Diana had been looking forward to History of Magic but Professor Binn's droning on about subjects she already  knew well was not the most enjoyable use of her time. She was glad when the bell went for break, and they made their way into the grounds. Diana and Alice were becoming fast friends, for Alice was a talkative little thing and Diana warmed to her at once.

By the end of the day, Diana had discovered that she had an older brother called Florian, favourite colour was blue, her favourite subject Herbology, her favourite sweet were Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans, she had a crush on a boy called Frank Longbottom, had never read a single muggle book in her life and hated the rock music her brother listened too. Diana was amazed, and a little alarmed, that Alice had opened up to her so quickly and found herself wishing that she shared her dorm with her. She sat next to her in Herbology too, which Diana quickly found she was not as good at as Transfiguration. Unlike Alice, she had little interest in plants and only knew those of them which were common ingredients in Potions, which she had taken a fancy too. Alice's information came to be much help, and by lunchtime they were firm friends. Diana was pleased to have someone she knew to sit next too, and for about the first time in her life she had a friendly conversation with someone her age. Narcissa had been a good deal older than her after all, and pure-blooded etiquette dictated that a boy and a girl of high society could not talk alone unless they were courting, which naturally put a little strain on her friendship with Regulus. She did, however, go to speak to them at the end of the hour, cowering a little as she thought of what they would say to her about her placement in Gryffindor. Regulus, who had been sorted just before me, had unsurprisingly turned out to be a Slytherin.

'Hello... Narcissa.' She turned to the elegant blonde girl, her pale pink lipstick perfectly matching the light dusting of rouge on her high cheekbones.

'Since when have you called me Narcissa?'

'So I can still call you Cissa?' The girl sighed and turned to Diana with an almost motherly smile.

'Dana, darling, you can always call me Cissa. The two of us are practically sisters. It doesn't matter if you're in Gryffindor.' Diana wondered if Narcissa had learnt legilimency over the summer. 'Salazar, it doesn't even matter if you run off with a mudblood (but don't, please). I'll always love you.' She wrapped an arm round Diana comfortingly. 'You're still my Diana.' Diana gave her a watery smile.

'Even if I am like your sister... there's still Andromeda isn't it? She was your sister and you- hated her- because-' Diana trailed off, tears stinging in her eyes. She had been very young when Andromeda had eloped, but the memories of her were still fresh. She had been more of a mother to her than her real one had ever been. Cissa had doubled as an older sister and a sort of young aunt to her, but she could never fill the gap Andromeda had left. Narcissa pulled her close.

'Here look.' She pulled an envelope from her pocket with a familiar loopy, spindly hand writing in gold lettering the words 'Andromeda Tonks', and a book that read 'The Magic of Mothering' with a note that said 'To help with Nymphadora'. Tears filled Diana's eyes. Happy ones, this time.

'Oh Cissy...' Narcissa smiled; Cissy was her family nickname, one which Diana used only occasionally at the most touching moments. Then her expression turned serious.

'Remember, keep mum about this. No one can now. Especially not Lucius.' Diana frowned at the tall, sneering platinum-haired boy whom rumour had it Narcissa would soon be engaged to. Then she nodded. 'In the name of Anne Boleyn.' It was a common phrase amongst the Boleyn family, for Anne Boleyn had always been the reason behind the Boleyn family and its traditions. Anne had been Irish, but had been brought up in the French courts, and made an English Queen, thus the location of they're empires. She had been the reason for they're transition into the classic muggle-hating pureblood family too, or at least Henry VIII's treatment of her was. Before that they had merely scorned them, looked down on them perhaps, but never hated them. The Grand Incendio de Londre, also known as the Great fire of London, had been they're doing too- after a raging (somewhat unhinged) ancestor had decided that the muggles ought to meet the same fate as the lost queen they had killed. Almost a millennium on, and the rage had certainly cooled, but traditions remained sunk in stone and the Boleyns were as pure-blood prejudiced as the House of Black themselves. There was no going back now, which was probably why Diana shouldn't have been as surprised when an owl pursued her into the potions classroom itself.