The White Rose

Chapter 2: A New Face At Hogwarts

The Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony was almost complete, but there was one person that had not been sorted--the school's new 6th year, Diana. She was all the way in the back. Students who were older and just coming to Hogwarts were always sorted last.

She was the last one left. Harry had been waiting for this ever since he met her. He hoped that she would be put in Gryffindor, but knew that the chance of her being in Slytherin was very high.

"Well, I think that she'll be put into Slytherin," Hermione said. "But it might be nice to have a Slytherin friend. Maybe Draco will stop picking on us." She glared over at Draco.

"Well, I hope she's in Ravenclaw. We need a Ravenclaw friend," Ron said to Hermione. "What do you think, Harry?"

"Yeah, don't you agree that Diana should be in Slytherin?" Hermione glared at Ron.

"No! He thinks that she should be in Ravenclaw!" Ron yelled.

"No! She should be in Slytherin! What do you think Harry?!" Hermione yelled.

"Shh! She's about to get sorted," Harry said quickly.

"Snape, Diana!" McGonagall called.

Harry's heart sank as the Great Hall filled with whispers. Diana looked around the room nervously, cracking her knuckles. She began to walk up to the stool were the sorting hat sat. As she walked, she tripped on the edge of her robes, but managed to catch herself before she fell.

She sat down on the stool in nervousness. She looked over at Severus Snape and he waved with pride. Diana put a fake smile on and waved back.

"Quiet down!" McGonagall said.

She walked over to put the hat on Diana's head. As soon as the brim touched her head, the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Diana got up and walked over to the Gryffindor table. She sat down right next to Harry, and smiled. Snape looked ready to explode.

"Hello Harry, how are you?" Diana asked politely.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Harry said, feeling his face get pale.

"I'm doing very well, thank you!" Diana chirped. Then, without warning, she began to ramble. "I never wanted to be in Slytherin, because my uncle heads it, but he is going to be my teacher anyway. It's going to be awful having my uncle as a teacher. My parents were both teachers at my old school. People always made fun of me. That, and they always know my grades." Diana stopped for a moment, and looked around. Everyone at the table was staring at her. "Why is everyone staring?" she asked, looking around at the table.

"You're related to Snape," Harry said, almost in disbelief.

"He's my Uncle. We're close, but I'm nothing like him. Is that why everyone is staring?!" Diana asked Harry.

"No! It's a bit weird that you're related to Snape," Harry smiled at her.

"Yeah, I always thought that if anyone was related to Snape they would have shot themself by now," Ron said. Hermione elbowed him. "Hey that hurt!"Ron yelled.

"Nothing against Professor Snape or anything," Hermione smiled.

"Don't worry, I understand. He's a bit mean, but he has a good heart...deep down inside," Diana said, looking at her uncle.

Ron began to laugh. Hermione hit him in the stomach.

"I always thought he did," Hermione smiled.

"Oh yeah, he's always been there for me. He was always like a second father to me. And I'm kind of like the daughter her never had. We have a very tight relationship," Diana explained, as food appeared on the table.

"Thank God!" Ron yelled, grabbing a turkey leg. "I swear this feast gets better every year."

"You'd love Thanksgiving then," Diana laughed.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"It's an American holiday where we give thanks for what we have. Then we have this huge feast. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, green beans, cranberry sauce, apple pie, cherry pie, pumpkin pie. It's like an unwritten rule that you must gain five pounds," Diana laughed, as Ron's eyes got big.

"I'd love that..." Ron smiled.

Diana was amazingly short compared to Snape (5'5" compared to a 6'4"). She was also had a little bit of meat on her. Not too skinny, not too fat, but a healthy looking size. Nothing like the thin girls Harry was use to. Her face was also round, while Snape's was oval. Her long, blonde hair was a little bit messy, mostly because of its length. She may have not looked perfect or acted perfect (obviously, after Diana's little trip while getting sorted), but in Harry's eyes she was beautiful.

Harry had never thought about Snape having family--he just thought he was an old, lonely man. As Diana was explaining to Ron about Thanksgiving Harry examined Snape and Diana. They looked and acted nothing alike.

Diana noticed this, then stood up and yelled, "Hi, Uncle Severus!" Everyone at the Gryffindor table started to laugh, and from that point on, no one had a problem with her being a Snape.

***

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the common room talking about the events of the day, when Diana walked down into the common room with a book in her hand. She sat in a cozy chair and began to read. This immediately grabbed Hermione's attention.

"Let's go talk to her," Hermione said.

"Hermione, she's a Snape," Ron pointed out.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and walked over to talk to her. Harry shrugged his shoulders and walked over too. Ron sighed and followed.

"So um . . . what are you reading?" Hermione asked.

Diana looked up from her book. "My Transfiguration book. I've never been good at it."

Hermione, Harry and Ron sat down in front of the chair, and started up a conversation with her.

"So Diana, what are your best subjects?" Hermione asked.

"Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was never good at transfiguration and charms. But I always seem to pass those classes... somehow," Diana said.

"So Diana, you have a boyfriend?" Ron asked, scratching behind his ear.

"No, I've only had like two boyfriends my whole life. Both, ironically, were named Jeff," Diana stared off into space in disgust.

"So why don't you play Quidditch anymore?" Harry asked.

"Well, besides that fact that I'm a klutz?" Diana laughed. "And I guarantee that I will fall down a set of stairs this year. But anyway, I just don't. I think it could be because I never liked being seeker. For most of my life, I lived for playing chaser. Than one day they said, ‘‘You're going to be a seeker.' So I was, and I hated it." Diana stared. "But there are other reasons that I don't want to talk about."

"Hey! We're looking for a good chaser this year for the Gryffindor team," Harry hinted.

"No thanks," Diana smiled at him.