Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 83: MC- room of requirement pt. 2

As if it was putting on a show: the room of requirements seemed even more lively than usual. More books were flying around and it looked like there was a gentle breeze above that made the plants sway back and forth. It was bright and warm, especially compared to the Undercroft- Diana almost winced at the perceived dramatics of it.

"You mean to tell me, we could have been studying in here for the last year??" Sebastian called back to her as he moved throughout the main room.

"Ah I mean I like studying in the undercroft though-"

"Diana," Ominis cut in "I'm blind and even I can see this is a million times better than that putrid dungeon. I can't believe you never told us about this."

She thought that he sounded a little hurt, which she was worried he would. He had opened up his secret space for her to use, even if initially it was against his will. She on the other hand kept her secret her own, and she felt a little guilty about it. She had thought about "evening the scores" last year when she had been found coming out of the Undercroft, but decided against it. She didn't know him well that year, and although she did want to be on his good side, it wasn't a risk she took.

"I mean I would have told you guys sooner this year, but Professor Weasley told me to keep it a secret. I mean I don't use the space that much anymore anyway so I tend to forget about it. Like I explained, it helped me catch up on work last year and is a good resource when working on tasks for the Keepers- but that's about it. As much as I do enjoy this place, I much prefer other places I can be with you guys around Hogwarts."

The blind boy sighed and moved over to her. He found her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"It's okay, I know you had your reasons. And I'm glad you had a place to do what you needed to do last year, Merlin knows you needed it." She smiled at his kind words and squeezed his hand back.

"Well I am not okay with it- I am hurt, truly!" The other boy said with a dramatic flare. "I guess I can at least take solace in the fact that we were the first ones you trusted enough to bring here."

Diana felt her face get a little warm "Oh um about that-"

"Oh don't tell me you already brought Poppy here?" Sebastian cut in, looking annoyed.

"Um, actually-" Then as if her life was a poorly timed novel, Garreth walked up the stairs and into the main room, carrying multiple filled potion bottles in his arms. He was carefully watching his pile as he moved upward.

"Hey Diana could you help me with-" he stopped when looked up and saw the boys, and both turned to him in response.

The little bit of tension they had brought into the room seemed to increase tenfold.

"Weasley?!? You brought Weasley here before me??!?" The brown haired boy spun back around to glare daggers at her. While she was pretty sure his anger was harmless, she shrunk in his gaze nonetheless.

Still holding Ominis' hand, Diana squeezed it tighter; unintentionally. Things had just gotten a lot more complicated than she had anticipated. In hindsight she definitely should have mentioned that she had already shown the Gryffindor the room. Thankfully Ominis chimed in, maybe because he felt bad for her, or maybe in response to the inadvertent death grip.

"Well we are here to find a place to store the animals- Diana do you want to show us where that is?"

She didn't respond, she just dropped his hand and moved towards the Vivarium on the first floor. As she moved past Sebastian she sent a quick look over to the red headed boy, hoping to convey that he needed to disappear by the time they got back- for his own sake.

The three of them walked into the seemingly small glass room, only to be met with the crashing of waves. Thankfully the change was enough to distract both boys from the betrayal back in the other room. She showed them around the area and the cottage that she had placed near the entrance. They both seemed amazed, even though she knew they had seen things like this before. It had been amazing to her as well though- going to a castle, into a secret room, and into another secret room filled with literally an ocean. Magic was amazing.

After introducing the animals in that area Sebastian tore off for a moment to look around the rocks off to the side. Diana made her way closer to Ominis who was tentatively petting a niffler who was making himself cozy in his arms.

"This is quite amazing," he said as she stood next to him. "Although it seems only fitting that a person with your abilities would be able to use a place like this."

She didn't respond at first, instead she just reached over and scratched the top of the blue niffler's head. It made a sort of purring sound and snuggled deeper into the boy's arms.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner- I promise it wasn't intentional. If I felt like you had a need for it I would have told you right away." She said quietly.

"And Garreth?"

"He was stuck brewing potions in the corner of his common room when everyone was at dinner. I felt like I could be of help by offering him a better work space. It's definitely better than breaking into Sharp's store cupboard anyway."

The blind boy hummed in agreement. Neither spoke, they just stood on the sand listening to the waves crash farther out.

"A-are you two-" Ominis started but was cut off by Sebastian calling out in glee as he ran back to them.

"This place is amazing!! You have a full on cave over there in the rocks! This will definitely be enough room for the animals!"

"Actually-" she started, smiling at him "this is only one of five Vivariums I have in this room."

"You mean there's more????" his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. Diana laughed and nodded her head. She gestured them back to the entrance and they followed her; Ominis letting down his little friend as he turned.

She led them back into the room, which thankfully was now empty, and proceeded to take them through the other animal sanctuaries. Thankfully by the end all topic of the Gryffindor was gone, although she knew at some point Sebastian would bring it up again. They made plans as to which room the new animals would go- and Diana conjured up more accommodations in preparation. Their plans were just two short weeks away- and the hardest part had yet to begin.