Dianthus Stories
Chapter Six - Secrets and Lies
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Anything you
recognize belongs to someone else, namely, JK Rowling.
the HP universe, characters from same.
Sadly, I have no hope of publishing this story outside the fan fiction
characters I’ve created. Feel free to
give me critical feedback, including flames and harsh criticism.
personal embarrassment, but I do promise to read it and incorporate it if I
feel it improves the story.
*****
This is Chapter Six.
you’re only looking for that, feel free to skip ahead.
of the stuff in those later chapters if you don’t stick it out.
*****
Chapter Six –
Secrets and Lies
“How come you
didn’t tell us, then?”
Dianthus froze
with a piece of toast stuffed in her mouth, having just sat down for breakfast
the next day. She had woken late, and
her roommates had all been gone. “Tell
you what?” she spluttered, around a mouthful of bread.
daggers at her, and Melanie and Martine looked furious as well.
“Tell us you’ve
got a boyfriend,”
“What?!?”
Dianthus shrieked, and then turned beet red.
Many students turned to stare at them.
“Come on,” said
Martine, calmly. “When you took two
butter beers last night, I knew something was up.
Martine continued firmly. “You did
you went right down the Defense against the Dark Arts passage.
closed the door. What was I supposed to
do? I put my ear to the door and I
listened. I heard two voices, you and
someone else, and then a guy said, ‘Happy Birthday Dianthus’.
all really pissed at you.”
nodded vigorously in agreement.
Dianthus’ insides
withered under the heat of their combined stares, but she put up a brave
face. “First of all, he is not my
boyfriend. Second of all–
crumbled, and she muttered, “I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you guys.”
avoiding mentioning any names, or any house names, for that matter.
myself, and he was looking for someone to play with too–”
“Have you kissed
him?” broke in Melanie.
“Oh, sweet faeries
in the wood,” groaned Dianthus. “He is
NOT my boyfriend!”
“What year is he
in?” challenged
“He’s a
seventh-year,” replied Dianthus. There
seemed to be no getting out of it now.
“Unh-huh.
first-year?” There was a definite note
of disbelief in Martine’s voice.
“I think he gets a
kick out of teaching me to play properly,” said Dianthus thoughtfully.
started, what Snape might be getting out of their sessions.
said that one time, Mel? – a head trip, that was
it. It gives him a head trip.”
“What – does he
want to be a teacher, or something?”
“I – I don’t
know,” admitted Dianthus.
Martine asked,
“What do you talk about, then?” She was
still looking doubtful.
“We, well, we
don’t really talk much.He likes to
concentrate on the game. He likes to
win, and says it distracts him when I chatter.”
rolled her eyes. “Jeez, Di, why didn’t
you just tell us? Why
all the cloak and dagger bullshit?”
“I don’t know,”
moaned Dianthus. Then she glared at her
friends. “Because I knew you guys would
go on and on, just like this! He’s just
a guy who happens to like chess, and we have a good time playing.
Melanie
sniffed. “Well, it seems fishy to me.”
“Look, just drop
it, okay? It’s one night a week, and in
a few months, he’ll have graduated and I’ll probably never see him again in my
life.” To her horror, tears sprang to her
eyes. She clenched her teeth, furious at
this emotional display.
“Ah, stop the
drama,” said
“Listen,” said
Dianthus quietly. “I don’t want this
getting out. If this is how my
about how everyone else would.”
“You can count on
us,” sighed Melanie, who obviously still believed there was something more to
the relationship. The other girls nodded
their head solemnly. “But you’ll tell us
right away if he kisses you?”
Dianthus assured
her giggling friends that they would be the first to know if anything
happened. Dianthus, in fact, was
counting on the suspicion (or the hope) of eventual romance to keep her friends
mum. A secret love, was there anything
more romantic to a trio of preteen girls?
The thought of kissing Snape (or anyone else, for that matter) made her
stomach turn.
When Valentine’s
Day came and went, and March arrived, with no flowers or chocolates dropping
into her lap, the roommates were finally convinced that there was no Juliet
sitting at the table with them.
“Maybe
if you did something with your hair?” Melanie suggested hopefully.
“Like what?”
Dianthus laughed.
“Like cut it,”
said
“That’s what d.
when it’s long, too. Want me to cut
yours?”
“No, thank you,”
said Dianthus hurriedly.
“Well, we could do
something with it,” insisted
Melanie. She had her wand out and was
fingering it as if she wanted to start right there, in the great hall.
nice.”
“I don’t want to
do anything with my hair,” Dianthus said firmly.
roommates tittered madly.
They were on their
way to Potions when she heard someone yelling, “Hey, kid!” and felt her arm
being grabbed. It was Potter, the Head
Boy. The roommates looked askance at
her, and she waved at them to go on without her.
“My name is
Dianthus Brandywine,” she replied coolly to Potter.
He frowned and
said, “Sorry about that. I saw you, but
I didn’t know your name – and I’ve been wanting to
have a word with you.”
Her stomach
dropped. “Well, here I am,” she said
sweetly.
“I haven’t seen
you in the great hall on Wednesdays lately,” said Potter, in a concerned
tone. “Dnivenivellus scare you off?”
“No,” said
Dianthus, her voice carefully neutral.
“I just, well, you know, I made some friends, and I stopped having to
hang out all by myself.”
He looked
relieved. “Oh, good.
to make sure. Snivellus can be a nasty
bit of business, but he’s a coward at heart.
I think I scared him off that night, myself.”
Dianthus had no
idea who Lily was, nor did she care.
Potter was proving to be an arrogant little toe-rag, and his cheap shot
at Snape made her feel ill. “You
probably did. Well, thanks for checking
up on me,” she said with what she hoped was a charming smile, as she turned to
continue down the hall to the dungeons.
“I appreciate it.”
lying to the Head Boy.
Her roommates were
waiting in the Potions classroom with goggling eyes.
made her way to their cauldron – obviously she thought she was going to get the
full story. When she heard Dianthus’
whispered protestations that she was not meeting the Head Boy each Wednesday,
she looked so crestfallen that Dianthus actually felt sorry for her.
at a cauldron several feet away, and shook her head sadly.
Dianthus. “We couldn’t believe you were
dating the Head Boy.”
“He called me
‘kid’,” snorted Dianthus. “Wasn’t that a
clue?”
“Well,” said
Melanie dreamily. “That could be a
lovers’ nickname, now couldn’t it?”
Dianthus lowered her head over the cauldron and made gagging noises into
it.
She didn’t plan to
tell Snape about her encounter with Potter.
Just thinking about it made her cringe.
Potter and Snape obviously didn’t like each other, and why add fuel to
the fire, she thought. Instead, as
Professor Incompertus lectured them on the properties of wolfs bane, she considered
for the hundredth time what her roommates had asked her about Snape, the
morning after they discovered she was meeting someone.
him. Since her birthday, she had made
several feeble attempts to draw him out, but to no avail.
That Wednesday,
though, she was determined to find something
out about him. “What do you like to do
for fun?” she demanded, after he sent the chess table away, having beaten her
again – although this time it had been a close thing.
He looked at her,
seeming quite puzzled. “What on earth
are you talking about?”
“What do you do on
the nights we don’t play chess?”
“Not that it’s any
of your busineshe she said scornfully, “but I generally study for my
coming up in ja fea few months, you know.
Not that an ickle first-year has to worry
about them, but I do want to do well.”
“Hmm…well, what’s
your favorite subject, then?”
“Dianthus,
why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Because I know
almost nothing about you, Severus, and we’ve been playing chess every Wednesday
night for the past five months!”
He snickered.
short a period of time?”
“I think I might
know a little something about you.
What’s your favorite subject?”
He rolled his
eyes. “Defense againthe the Dark Arts, if you must know.
Although I’ve always thought Dumbledore was an ass to not let us learn
the real thing.”
“The
Dark Arts?” She was horrified to
hear him say this.
“Certainly.
ourselves against it, if we don’t know what’s really happening?”
thing in the world.
“Severus, that is
so gross. I don’t want to learn the Dark
Arts.”
“You are a child,”
he sneered.
“Yeah, but
still…,” she trailed off. “When did you
start wearing that ring?” She pointed to
a plain silver band on the ring finger of his left hand.
“What are you
talking about?” He looked down at his
hand. “I’ve always worn this ring.
small. It’s got some sort of magic in
it, because I’ve never had to have it resized.
Here, look,” he removed the ring and held it out to her.
on her finger. To her amazement, it did
fit her snugly, as if it had been handmade for her.
“Wow,” she
breathed, stretching her hand out to admire the effect.
him. He slipped it over his finger
easily. “But I’m sure you weren’t
wearing it when we first starting playing together.”
“I tell
years. You are unobservant and
dull-witted.” He gave her a
condescending smile. “Consider yourself
lucky I let you touch it.”
“Piss off,
Severus,” she said, and was rewarded when the corner of his mouth twitched even
higher. “Okay, what are you going to do
when you graduate?”
Oddly, this
question seemed to make him angry.
“That’s none of your business,” he said scathingly, his eyes
glinting. Seeing the shocked and
offended look on her face, he took a deep breath, and continued calmly.
who, uh, owns his own business. He needs
someone to help him out, do odd jobs, that sort of thing.”
“Oh.”
“What?” he
snapped.
“Well, I don’t
know, but you’re pretty smart, Severus.
He sighed.
with some potions. He’d like to get them
into mass distribution, and he needs someone to help him brew them.”
She
btenetened. “Potions!
He threw her a
shrewd look. “Oh,
re? Is that because I just
told you that’s what I’m going into?”
Now it was her
turn to look puzzled. “What do you
mean?”
He gazed at her
intently. “Why are you asking me all
these things, really? Do you have a
crush on me, Dianthus?”
“Are – you –
crazy?” she yelled. “First
my roommates, then you! Is
something going on here that I don’t know about?”
“Keep your voice
down!” he hissed.
“What the hell are
you talking about?” she said, dropping her voice to a loud whisper.
don’t want you as my boyfriend!”
“Well, then,” he Dianthus took a He stared at her “Oh, jeez, “Is Potions really “Yes, I think “That’s very “Tell me about “You,” he said She giggled. “It’s
said, silkily, “why are you asking me these questions all of the sudden?
chess, without all the bullshit that comes from ‘being friendly’.”
profy.
deep, calming breath. “I told you, I
like you – as a friend. liked me, too – as a friend. I know I’m
just an ickle first year, but we have had fun, and
you’re going to be leaving pretty soon.
Maybe someday, I’d like to tell my kids a bit about the guy who taught
me chess!”
for a long moment. “I see,” he said, and
cleared his throat. “I am glad that you
don’t have any inappropriate feelings for me.
I do consider you a, um, friend as well.”
Severus, don’t go all mushy on me,” she muttered.
your favorite subject? He seemed eager
to steer the conversation away from their emotional status.
Professor Incompertus is quite brilliant, and I do enjoy it.
making Potions was fun. On the farm, you
know, Grandpa was always trying this with that, to see what happened.”
dangerous!” Snape said sternly.
it. That’s how my Grandma died.
one of her potions exploded.” Snape
raised an eyebrow, but Dianthus only shrugged.
“Well, it happened before my parents died, so I don’t really remember
anything about her. Aster wasn’t even
born yet. I think Aster’s a Squib, by
the way. She can’t get that goddamned
wand to do anything right.”
sardonically, “have a mouth like a sailor.”
Erin, my roommate. She swears like a
demon.”