The next morning, the Hogwarts Express left the Hogsmeade station, riding for hours through the snowy fields until it came to a stop in platform nine and three-quarters.

      Diana had just gotten off the train with Layla and Regulus that a hand grabbed onto her arm, suddenly dragging her away. She looked up, seeing that it was Remus, just as she had expected.

     "You need to stop doing that, Lupin!" Diana snapped at him jokingly as she tried to catch up with his pace, quickly pushing her trolley forward.

     "I know, I know. But I want you to meet someone and we have to hurry," Remus said with a grin, leading her through the brick wall, appearing on the other side of the King's Cross station at last.

     Diana looked around worriedly, but thankfully her mother hadn't arrived yet to see them together. She didn't want her mother to be reminded of their arranged marriage plans. Sirius had run away, but Diana wasn't sure if she was going to be this lucky the next time her mother chose a suitor for her.

      "There she is," said Remus with a broad grin, leading Diana toward a woman with long brown hair and the kindest eyes she had ever seen.

     "Remus!" the woman exclaimed at the sight of him, running forward to hug him tightly. "Oh, I missed you so much!"

     "I missed you, too, Mum." Remus chuckled, pulling away at long last. "Where's Dad?"

     "He's parking the car. You know how crowded the train station gets around Christmas," said Mrs. Lupin, letting out a small giggle.

      But that was when her eyes fell upon a young girl with curly blonde hair, standing further behind Remus rather awkwardly. Her smile then widened warmly.

     "And is she your friend?" Mrs. Lupin looked sideways at Remus to make sure she had gotten it right, and he nodded.

     "Mum, this is Diana," he said, placing a hand behind her back to gently push her forward and closer toward the woman. "She's — er — my girlfriend."

     "Oh?" Mrs. Lupin and Diana said at the same time, both a little surprised.

      Diana glanced up at Remus, who had a huge grin across his face and was blushing. They had never exactly talked about it, but Diana's heart fluttered at the mere thought. It would be an understatement to say that she didn't mind at all.

     "Well, Remus has told be all about you, of course." Mrs. Lupin giggled again. "It's nice meeting you, Diana. I'm Hope."

     "It's nice meeting you, too." Diana returned her smile. She always hated meeting new people and greeting strangers, but there was something about the woman that warmed her heart.

      "Remus told me that you too aren't in the same House, am I right?" she asked, and the two nodded. "Oh, how I would've loved to come to Hogwarts."

      "You haven't studied at Hogwarts?" Diana questioned, surprised yet amused. "Then which school did you go to?"

      "I actually studied at The King's school, Chester," Mrs. Lupin replied.

      Diana frowned in confusion. "I've never heard of that school."

     "Well, it wasn't exactly a school for wizards," she said. Diana took aback.

      "Diana... my mum's a Muggle," said Remus, watching as her eyes widen. Only now did he remember that the Greengrass family were just like the Blacks when it came to their view on Muggles.

     Remus could recall the first time Walburga Black met his mother back in the beginning of their fourth year. She had looked at Hope with nothing but disgust across her face. Sirius had apologized to Remus a hundred times after that, but Remus assured him that he didn't mind.

     Although now he certainly cared what Diana thought of his family. He couldn't even bear the thought that she would start to hate him because of the family he came from. What Remus hadn't realized, however, was how much Diana had changed since last year.

     Despite all the horrifying stories her parents had told her about Muggles when she was a child, Diana struggled with herself to put them all aside. It took her everything, but she forced herself to think that if a werewolf could be so kind and gentle, then a Muggle could be a good person as well. Hope had raised Remus into this sweet and amazing boy after all, and he obviously took after her.

      "It was really nice meeting you, Mrs. Lupin, but I should better get going and look for my Mum." Diana offered the woman another genuine smile.

     "Of course. Of course." Mrs. Lupin nodded in understanding before walking forward and bringing Diana into a hug, catching her completely off guard.

      Diana froze at first, stiffening. But then, slowly, she raised her arms and hugged her back, feeling calmer almost immediately. Not even her own mother had ever hugged her this warmly.

    "Ah, there's your father," said Mrs. Lupin after they had pulled away.

     She tried waving at Mr. Lupin who was standing on the other side of the Station, but he hadn't sighted them yet.

     "Oh, bless him. I keep telling your father that he should visit a ophthalmologist for his eyes, but he says he doesn't trust doctors." Hope sighed. "Wait here. I'll go get him."

     With that, she left their side. Diana felt in a daze, watching the woman walk away with a frown upon her forehead.

     "What is it?" Remus asked, looking at her worriedly.

      "I — I just don't understand," Diana muttered quietly.

     "Don't understand what?"

     "Your mother... she's a Muggle..."

     "Yes. And?"

     "Well... it's just that... she was so kind," she said, as though extremely confused at what she had just witnessed.

     Remus laughed. "Diana, what did you exactly expect Muggles would be like?"

     "My parents — actually, my whole family — ugh, you had to hear what they said about Muggles. For example they said that if a Muggle ever catches us, they would try to burn us alive."

     Remus couldn't help but to laugh even harder at those words. "Well, sorry to disappoint your expectations, but my Mum isn't really into the burning-people stuff."

     Diana chuckled. "I'm sorry... I'm really trying to forget everything and start over."

     Remus then smiled and his face softened, leaning down to plant a little kiss on top of her head. "I know. And that means the world to me."

***

The Christmas break wasn't something Diana could call fun at all, but she enjoyed staying in bed until late at night to read a book, glancing up at the snow falling outside her bedroom window.

Every once in a while, she glanced down at the knitted socks she was wearing, which Remus had sent her, smiling to herself each time. She also rarely took off his sweater and even slept with it on; the one he had let her borrow a few months ago, though she'd never returned it to him.

But not everything was as jolly and cheerful. It wasn't about the fact that her parents were giving her a hard time at home; that was nothing compared to the horror which was spreading through the Wizarding world.

Back within the safe walls of Hogwarts, Diana hadn't realized how dire the war was. People were dying every day. Wizards, witches, Muggles, and even Squibs. Disappearances happened every day, and the number of deaths increased rapidly.

Even the Greengrass family who were a part of the Sacred 28 and were Purebloods had become cautious of their surroundings. Mrs. Greengrass wouldn't even let Diana leave the house on her own, specially now that she was still underage and wasn't able to use magic to defend herself properly.

The only positive aspect of it was that with all the terrible things that were going on, her parents had completely forgotten about finding Diana a new suitor after Sirius Black had been disowned and ruined their previous plans.

Once the holidays came to an end, Diana went to King's Cross station, accompanied by her mother, just like always. She was excited to see her friends again, and Remus too. But she was also looking forward to their Apparating lessons which — as her brother had told her — were supposed to start soon.

After hugging her mother goodbye and promising her that she would take good care of herself and be more careful at school, Diana boarded the train to find Layla. Although even after an hour, when the train had left the station long ago, Regulus didn't showed up to join the two girls in their compartment.

"Where do you think he is?" Layla asked Diana impatiently.

"Dunno. Maybe his mother didn't allow him to come back to school." Diana shrugged, though she had started to feel worried as well. "He wouldn't be the first one. Many families have decided to escape the country with their children."

"No, that can't be it. He would've let us know in a letter, at least. Besides, his whole family are Purebloods and they support You-Know-Who. Why would they want to escape?"

Diana didn't reply, too lost in her own thoughts.

By the time the Hogwarts Express stopped in Hogsmeade station, the night had emerged and the sky had been painted in black, looking starless and covered with grey clouds.

Diana walked off the train with Layla by her side, though her stomach suddenly lurched in excitement when she saw Remus from afar. He was walking toward one of the horseless carriages with his three friends.

"Oooh, look who it is. Your boyfriend." Layla nudged her teasingly.

"Oh, shut up." Diana rolled her eyes, though she chuckled.

"Well, go ahead, then. Go say hi to him. I'm sure you miss him," said Layla with a smirk, pushing her forward encouragingly.

"Yeah... yeah, all right." Diana nodded nervously. Remus was the only one who could bring out this shy and sweet side of her, and she loved it.

With a cheerful smile playing on her lips, Diana started walking toward him, right before he could get on the carriage. "Remus!"

He turned around at the voice, and so did James, Sirius, and Peter, watching her curiously as she approached them.

Diana wanted to jump in and hug him, having missed him in the two weeks they were apart. She'd never felt this way about anyone, and yet for some reason it felt good to let herself be vulnerable for the first time.

But before she could reach him, Diana froze on the spot when Remus said blankly, "Can I help you?"

She gaped back at him, feeling lost. James, Sirius, and Peter were staring between them in silence, wondering what was going on. But their confusion was nothing compatible to Diana's.

"What?" she mumbled quietly, her eyebrows slowly furrowing.

"If it's about our Ancient Runes project, would it be okay if we talked about it tomorrow? It's been a long day," said Remus, trying to sound as casual as possible, though he was already looking at her apologetically with his back to his friends.

     And then the realization suddenly hit her. He didn't want his friends to know about them.

Diana scoffed bitterly, shaking her head lightly in disbelief as all emotions disappeared from her face in a second. He was too ashamed of being with her that he didn't even want to talk to her in front of his friends.

"You know what, Lupin?" she said sharply, her temper rising like a burning fire as she looked back at him coldly. "I just came here to tell you that you can forget about our Ancient Runes project. I'm starting to think that working with you was a mistake."

And so, with one last glare at his direction, she turned on her heel and stormed away, feeling a painful ache growing in her heart.