CHAPTER SEVEN! ༉‧₊˚✧
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

DIYA TALWAR WAS having an absolute shite day.

And it was all because of two boys.

Sirius Black and Rahul Patil were both Fifth Year Gryffindors, and they were both utter idiots, at least, in Diya's opinion. Despite this, they were remarkably different people. Sirius was the definition of an extrovert, while Rahul mainly kept to himself (when he wasn't bothering Diya).

Either way, on November 3rd, 1975, both of them did a fantastic job of making Diya dislike them.

The day had started ordinarily, with Diya waking up in the Gryffindor dormitories. When her eyes fluttered open, however, instead of immediately springing out of bed and beginning her meticulous morning routine, she took in her surroundings.

Her pillow felt unusually soft today, almost as though it was calling her to stay in bed and never leave again. The window accumulated frost, telling Diya that she needed to wear something warm before heading to her classes. Her eyes flickered over to her calendar, praying for it to prove her wrong. To tell her that it wasn't November 3rd.

But alas, as she scanned the crossed out days on the calendar, they led to November 3rd, where Diwali was written clear as day.

"Shit."

She sighed, sitting up and running her hand through her long hair. Not only did she have to spend the evening with Rahul Patil, she had not prepared for the weather to be cold.

Pulling the curtains around her bed open, she gently placed her barefoot on the carpeted floor of the dorm. She quietly tiptoed to her trunk, trying to avoid being reprimanded by her friends for waking up early again. Diya unclicked the latch on her luggage, swinging it open. Her eye immediately flickered to a carelessly folded yellow knit sweater. The one that Sirius had gifted her on her birthday.

"Diya?" A whisper came from behind her. Her head snapped toward the beds in the dormitories, searching for the voice. "That you?"

Diya finally noticed Marlene peeping through the curtains surrounding her bed, looking wide awake.

"Marls? Why are you awake?" Diya whispered, walking over to her friend.

"Couldn't go back to sleep." The girl shrugged. "Was actually waiting for you to wake up so I could go down to breakfast with you."

"Oh," Diya said, smiling awkwardly. "Well, here I am."

Marlene narrowed her eyes, nodded her head slowly. "Right. Well, you continue getting dressed. D'you have any classes after breakfast?"

"Nah," Diya shook her head, turning back to her trunk and grabbing the large yellow sweater. "After breakfast, I'm gonna come back to the dormitories instead of going to Charms."

Marlene produced a dramatic gasp, making a drowsy Diya jump. "Diya Talwar skipping class? Why, it's practically unheard of!"

Diya rolled her eyes as she grabbed the rest of her outfit, chuckling. "It's not like I struggle in Charms, anyway. Merlin knows I need a little rest before the trainwreck that tonight will be."

Marlene furrowed her brows as Diya clambered onto her bed, closing the curtains around her bed as she began to get ready. Her eyes flickered to Diya's calendar, and her mouth formed an "o" shape as she realized what tonight would be.

"Oh, you're spending tonight with Patil, right?"

Diya opened the curtains around her bed dramatically, half-dressed. "Yes. And don't say 'spending the night.' It makes it sound like I'm shagging him."

Diya shuddered in disgust at the thought, pulling the curtains closed once again.

Marlene let out a laugh, ignoring the groan that Alice produced in response. "Duly noted."

Marlene clambered out of bed, grabbing her wand and igniting the fire pit in the middle of the dormitories. She plopped herself down next to it and held her hands out, trying to regain heat now that she was no longer wrapped in her comforter.

Marlene smiled to herself as Diya talked to herself under her breath, occasionally yelping if she stumbled while getting dressed. After three minutes of struggle, Diya was finally clothed and ready to head down to breakfast with her friend.

As the two made their way down the staircase leading to the Common Room, Marlene began to speak her thoughts aloud.

"D'you ever wish that you were a boy so you could just slide down the stairs?" Marlene asked.

"I would spend my time doing other things if I were a boy," Diya announced.

"Like snogging girls?" Marlene chimed.

"Yeah, exact— What?" Diya blinked. "No, not snogging girls! I would do things useful, like speak my mind freely without being judged."

"I don't know, Di. Snogging girls could be pretty useful." Marlene countered, nudging Diya with a laugh.

Diya chuckled back, "Yeah, I guess it could be."

The two continued exchanging thoughts that have occurred to them over their years at Hogwarts (Can thestrals see each other? The DADA position seems cursed. Etc.) as they began their walk to the Great Hall.

Upon arrival, Diya hid behind Marlene slightly, not wanting to attract attention to herself now that she was adamant about skipping Charms.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table, scarcely littered with students as they began to pile food onto their plates. Diya made eye contact with Rahul, who looked equally as horrid as she felt. Clearly, he was also dreading Diwali. She held eye contact until Rahul finally became uncomfortable and looked back to the food in front of him. Smirking, she began to look at the food on the table.

Diya's meal consisted of eggs, buttered toast, and beans, while Marlene had decided to also pile eggs onto her plate. Diya additionally grabbed a mug of tea to get the day started, while Marlene abstained.

"Do you remember what Remus was talking about a few days ago?" Marlene asked, swallowing a bit of toast.

Diya nodded her head no as she took a sip of tea.

"He was talking about a conversation the boys were having in the kitchens, I think?" Marlene took another bite of food. "About if Dementors can love each other?"

Diya slurped her tea slightly, raising her eyebrows and smiling. "Ah, yes! What do you think about that?"

"I think— there is a very angry Hufflepuff heading your way?" Marlene said, looking directly behind Diya.

Diya barely had time to process Marlene's words as she was suddenly drenched in warm liquid. Her own cup of tea had been dumped over her head. She jumped out of her seat, gasping, as heads turned toward her. 

So much for not attracting attention. Diya thought to herself.

"What the hell is your problem?" Marlene slammed her hands on the table, standing up in her friend's defense.

"My 'problem' is that this bitch is wearing my sweater! I haven't been able to find this for weeks!" The Hufflepuff huffed, tugging at Diya's sweater.

"This is yours?" Diya inquired. She looked down as the yellow material darkened from the tea that had been dumped over her head.

"Are you seriously acting clueless right now?" The girl scoffed. "You clearly stole it from me!"

"Er— I'm sorry, what's your name?" Diya asked, tea dripping down her face.

"Screw her name, Diya!" Marlene shouted. "Are you that daft that you think that she stole it from you? She doesn't even know your name! At least, now we know why you aren't in Ravenclaw—"

"Marlene!" Diya scolded lightly.

"I'm serious, Di! I'm just curious to know her thought process here. Do you think that Diya went through the trouble to head down to the basement, break into the Hufflepuff dorms, and trifle through your shit to find a sweater?"

The girl just scoffed, placing her hands on her hips, clearly not having a comeback for Marlene's point. "I'm telling you, McKinnon, that is my sweater! My mother embroidered my name on the bottom hem."

Diya grabbed the back of her sweater, and sure enough, "Lucretia" was sewn into the hem in brown thread. She sighed and mentally cursed Sirius Black.

"I'm really sorry, Lucretia, but I didn't steal this sweater from you." Diya tried to reason with the girl, wiping tea from above her eyebrow.

"My name is right there, you airhead!"

"Okay, first of all, my name is Diya." Diya was beginning to get angry. "Second of all, this sweater was a gift."

"Oh yeah?" The girl tilted her head to the side, almost mockingly. "Who gifted you my sweater?"

"Sirius Black."

The girl paled, suddenly losing all attitude.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry— " She said, trying to reach out to Diya, who swerved out of the way.

"Is everything alright over here?" A male voice chimed in.

Rahul fucking Patil.

"Yes, Patil, everything is fine," Diya said, trying her hardest not to grit her teeth. It's been like thirty minutes, so how the hell is today already the worst? Diya questioned mentally.

Rahul turned to Lucretia. "I suggest you leave, Lucretia. I would hate for Fawley to find out that you cheated on him with Sirius Black."

"Leave Marshall and yourself out of this, Patil." She seethed before turning back to Diya. "Listen, I'm really sorry. Diya, right?"

Diya sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, beginning to become sticky from the tea. "It's f—"

"It is absolutely not okay." Marlene hissed. "Get the hell out of here, Lucretia."

The girl scrambled away, leaving Diya alone with Patil and Marlene, the latter yelling at students to "mind their own damn business and get back to their boring conversations!"

Rahul pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to Diya before nodding and walking back to his seat.

"What the fuck just happened?"

༉‧₊˚✧

Diya hadn't told Sirius how he had indirectly ruined her day (it was his birthday after all). Instead, she rushed to take a shower, trying to get rid of the stickiness and the bad memories the day had already produced.

The day prior had been another Quidditch practice. One of the final ones before the Gryffindor/Slytherin match, approaching quicker and quicker. The workouts were grueling and exhausting, which meant that Diya's rest was well-deserved.

The sun sat quicker than usual, especially since the weather was getting colder, meaning that Diya would soon have to make her way toward the Black Lake.

Diya groaned to herself as a knock sounded on the door, and Zoya walked into the Fifth Year girl's dorms. Her older sister's hair was curled expertly and down, showing off the impressive length, similar to Diya's.

"Get up! We don't have much time until we have to meet Rahul by the lake." Zoya pulled the comforter off of Diya, ignoring her groans of protest. "Put this on, and then meet me in the washroom."

Zoya threw an ornate red ensemble on Diya's bed and rushed off to the washroom with her own outfit.

Diya ran a hand through her hair, staring at the outfit in equal parts wonder and dread.

God, why did her parents have to be friends with the Patils?

Diya grabbed her wand from where it sat atop her trunk and pointed it toward the door. "Colloportus."

She sighed and grabbed the garb, muttering to herself as she got dressed.

Diya had finally clasped her blouse when Zoya emerged from the washroom, shocking her.

"Zoya, you look hot!" Diya gasped.

Zoya blushed but shook her head furiously. "You need to finish getting ready, Diya. We have to be down there in ten minutes!"

"Calm down, Zoy, I just need to fix my hair, and I'll come down. You go!"

Diya rushed into the bathroom with her wand, speedily twisting her hair into curls.

Once she was done altering her appearance, she ignited the fire in the fire pit and ran out of the door, anklets in hand.

Diya had figured that she would fasten them once she sat down on the couch in the Common Room, but she was sorely mistaken, seeing as Sirius and the rest of Fifth Year Gryffindor was huddled around the fireplace, opening gifts, just as they had days prior.

"Merlin, Di!" Alice said, referring to the girl's flushed appearance and over the top appearance.

Diya threw her head back, groaning in realization. First, she was late, and now she had to deal with the crowd of people that she hadn't wanted to run into. She shook the thought out of her head and ran to one of the armchairs, sitting down and propping her ankle up.

Marlene perked up at the mention of the girl. "Hey, Diya! Did you finally get the tea out—"

Diya shot the girl a glare, wordlessly saying Please shut up.

"Right."

She sighed and hiked up the bottom of her skirt, attempting to fasten her anklets around her ankles as quick as she could. She glanced at the large window in the Common Room, which usually would've comforted her, but this time made her more stressed. The sun was almost down, now, and she still had to rush down to the lake.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Diya worked faster to clasp the anklet.

"Profound," Remus said, taking a swig of whatever the group had been drinking.

Diya struggled with the clasp for a few more seconds until she finally heard the click. She sprung up from her seat, anklets chiming.

"Sorry, again, about missing your birthday, Black. I'll give you your gift later, I promise!" Diya looked to the boy before running over to her friends, making a chham chham noise with every step.

"See you lot later, yeah?" Diya left a kiss on Alice's cheek (she had been closest at the moment) before nodding to the group in its entirety and sprinting out of the Common Room.

Running through Hogwarts in a heavy outfit, with noisemakers fastened around your feet wasn't exactly ideal, but it was what Diya had to work with. The girl ignored the crazy looks she was getting as she continued to sprint, barefoot, through the corridors until she finally made it outside.

The decline to the Black Lake was rather painful, considering Diya had no shoes on, and she was running faster than usual.

She only slowed down when the silhouettes of Rahul and Zoya came into view. The two had been standing close to each other, which was odd to Diya, considering they were completely alone with a vast amount of space around them.

"I'm here!"

Zoya and Rahul immediately sprung apart at the sound of Diya's arrival. Rahul looked rather upset, while Zoya looked exasperated.

Diya panted as she approached Rahul, looking between him and Zoya and their increasingly suspicious behavior.

"I need to talk to you," She continued to glance between the two.

"Yeah, of course," Zoya began to walk to the side.

"No, I actually meant Patil." Diya fanned herself, still flushed from the run down to the lake.

Rahul raised his eyebrows in suspicion but let himself be pulled aside by Diya nonetheless.

Diya looked over to Zoya, making eye contact with her as she wore a worried look. Zoya was always concerned whenever Diya and Rahul were together. Rahul aggravated Diya perfectly.

"What was that today at breakfast?" Diya asked, crossing her arms.

"You clean up nice, Talwar."

"I'm not screwing around, Patil." Diya resisted the urge to punch him. "Why were you being nice? It's just unsettling."

Rahul shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Diya just stared at him, waiting for him to crack under pressure.

Knowing that the girl wasn't going to let it go, he sighed. "Fine. I just wanted tonight to go smoothly. I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly enjoy your company. But, Zoya and I have been friends for years, and you are starting to genuinely hurt her feelings."

"I think I would know how my own sister would feel, Rahul." Diya rolled her eyes.

Rahul pointed to Zoya, who was staring at the two anxiously, as though waiting for one of them to explode. She took a break from biting her nails to wave, continuing once the two turned back to each other.

Even though Zoya didn't think so, she was the bravest person that Diya knew. A true Gryffindor and an amazing sister. Zoya would do anything for Diya, and they both knew that.

For Diya to see Zoya look so unsure was even more unsettling than Patil being nice, and that made her heart sink.

"You're telling the truth, aren't you?" Diya sighed.

Rahul nodded, "Frankly, as long as we act civil for tonight, I'm fine with never speaking to you ever again."

He held out his hand for Diya to shake.

Diya stared at his outstretched hand for a few seconds, contemplating what this could mean.

She only had to be civil with him for the night.

The possibility of never speaking to him again.

With that, Diya clasped her hand with Rahul's and shook it briefly before walking back over to her elder sister, leaving the boy behind with a smile gracing his features.

༉‧₊˚✧
a/n

i am in pain 😀
i LOVE the first half of this chapter but i have no opinions on the second half.

IM SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR LIKE AN ENTIRE WEEK WTF
school is a bitch

i wanted to point out that this is the first chapter that doesn't have a song as the title... you'll find out the significance of that later on but i just want y'all to keep it in mind.

i'm sorry for the lack of sirius in this chapter,, but i wanted to introduce another side of him (the side that we know best)

anyway i just spent the entire day watching "yeh jawaani hai deewani" which is a love story between ranbir kapoor and deepika padukone (who play rahul and diya) so i really wanted y'all to see that he's not a complete asshole ALL the time,, especially not when zoya is around.

also WE HIT 1K READS OH MY GOD I CANNOT PROCESS THIS THANK YOU SO MUCH

the next update will be up MUCH sooner,, i love you all