A Woman Of Ice

LXXXVIII- The Wolf's Bane

  "Diana?" Sirius called.

Diana instinctively searched for the direction from which her name had come from, eyes filled with hope.

  "Yeah. That's me," she nodded, stepping closer to Sirius, who had been standing alone.
  "Oh my. Look at you," he smiled in disbelief. "Beautiful, talented, smart, sharp.... I never thought that a person could be that.... remarkable with my name."
  Diana smiled at his pride. "Thanks.... Dad," she tried. "If you knew me better, you'd know that I'm not everything that you think, but.... yeah, I try."
"Diana, that's not true at all. I hardly know you and I truly would like to change that. I'm as proud of you as a father could be, and nothing could outweigh that. Being both your own parent, and someone who maybe can understand you, I really do believe that," he told her honestly. "And look at you! An amazing young woman like you, taking a name that I only offered to you?! That right there is what I call loyalty and faith," he beamed proudly. "I am honored to have you call me your father. Your mother, I'm sure, is very proud of you."
  "Dad.... I know that you think that we're exactly the same because society hates us, but there's a huge difference between our two different situations," Diana told him, tears in her eyes, glancing down shamefully at her feet.

  "And what is that?"
  "They all hate you because a man framed you for all of his sins. They all hate me because, well, I'm stupid and I'm evil. I've done things, Dad. I've done horrible things, things that make what they accused you of seem like child's play," Diana confessed.
  "Diana, my sweet daughter, I know a bit about you. Okay? That's the beauty of the parent, my dear; I will always love you, unconditionally. It won't be easy to get rid of me," Sirius promised.

Diana began to cry, as her father tentatively placed a rough and dirty hand on her cheek.
  "You're an innocent man, despite anything that they've said about you. I am not. Anything that they do to you, I deserve ten times worse. I'm a disgrace to you," she argued.
  "Sweetheart.... don't ever think that. That letter that you received? It may have been written by Remus, but everything in it is straight from my heart," he promised to his daughter.
  "You don't deserve what they're doing to you," Diana sobbed. "I deserve it, all of it, and much more."
  "No, you don't. And even if you did.... you will always be my daughter, and Harry's sister. Anything beyond that hopefully shouldn't have to matter to you, because I would do my best as a father to give you just as much love as you would receive from the other seven billion people in the world. You have my word on that," Sirius explained desperately.
  "Dad...." Diana sighed. "I've always wanted to be able to call someone that."
  Sirius nodded. "And now you can, if you will accept me as your father."
  "Well, no sh*t I will!" Diana cried, embracing her father. "I'm sorry, I've got a bad mouth," she sighed.
  "Oh, Diana. It's alright. I'm certain that you've earned it. Besides, you should have heard James, Remus, and I as children," he chuckled tearfully.
  Diana chuckled along happily. "Oh my God. Please never leave me," she begged.
"I won't," Sirius nodded softly. "I love will you," he whispered.
"I love you too," Diana said, for the first time without hesitating the first time. "God, I've waited for this moment my entire life."
"You know, once all of this is over.... perhaps maybe you and Harry could come to live with me, if you'd like," Sirius offered nervously once they had pulled away.
"I— of course I would," Diana nodded quickly.
"Harry! Diana!" Hermione shouted suddenly, before Sirius could respond, pointing to Remus Lupin, then at the full moon.