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Dianthus Stories	By : icewomin Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 3134 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Anything you
recognize belongs to someone else, namely, JK Rowling. Specifically, elements of the HP universe,
characters from same. Sadly, I have no
hope of publishing this story outside the fan fiction base, although I hope you
enjoy the plot and the original characters I�ve created. Feel free to give me critical feedback,
including flames and harsh criticism. I
may delete it afterward, so as to reduce my personal embarrassment, but I do
promise to read it and incorporate it if I feel it improves the story.

*****

This is Chapter
Eight. Smut begins in Chapter Twenty
Six, so if you�re only looking for that, feel free to skip ahead. Be warned that you may be confused about some
of the stuff in those later chapters if you don�t stick it out.

*****

Chapter Eight �
Finals

Dianthus spent
several miserable weeks, doing nothing much but attending classes and
studying. She was angry with the lot of
them: Potter for having been such an
asshole, Snape for not standing up to them, the entire seventh-year class for
their stupid gossiping ways. Not that
the rest of the school was much better.
Several second- and third-year Ravenclaw girls came up to her to offer
their sympathy.

It seemed that two
very different stories were circulating.
One, that she had been having a torrid affair with Snape (the very
thought made her stomach turn), and that he had dumped her after Potter came to
rescue her honor. The other, that Snape
had manipulated her into studying the Dark Arts so that he could further his
own knowledge in that area, and that he had only desisted after Potter came to
her rescue. Both stories were so
outlandish she would have laughed � if she hadn�t been so outraged and
horrified.

Snape refused to
acknowledge her presence in the great hall.
He simply stared through her whenever she attempted to make eye contact
with him. Potter, on the other hand,
gave her a broad, affable grin the one time she caught him glancing over his
shoulder at her from the Gryffindor table.
She didn�t know which was worse, the idea that everyone (including
Potter himself) thought Potter had saved her from the clutches of a nasty,
greasy haired bastard, or the thought that she had lost a good friend for no
good reason.

�It�s for the
best, I think, it really is,� sighed Melanie at breakfast, the morning their
exams began. She had just caught
Dianthus frowning in the general direction of the Slytherins. �I know it hurts now, Di, but you know, I
have heard some really bad things about Snape.�
Dianthus did not bother to protest, or even answer her. She glanced over to the Slytherin table one
more time, where Snape was busy ladling up his breakfast, and reading a
book. A sudden inspiration hit her, and
she jumped up from the table. �I�ll see
you guys in Transfiguration, I need to send an owl real quick.�

�But you haven�t
finished your breakfast!� called Erin behind her.

Once in the
owlery, she scribbled a quick letter on some parchment, addressed it to her
grandfather, and held out her arm. A
small tawny owl fluttered down, but she shook her head. �I�m going to need something bigger, this
time,� she said to it. Looking slightly
affronted it, it rose into the air, and a second later, a large barn owl landed
heavily on her arm. �Okay,� she told it,
attaching the parchment firmly to its leg, �I need you to go to Cornwall,
and be quick about it, okay?� It hooted
at her, and took oft tht the window at once.

Exam week finally
passed in a blur of tests, studying, eating, and sleeping. To her great surprise, they were not so
difficult as she had thought they were going to be. Certainly not the misery that Snape had
hinted they would be. She frowned at the
memory of his teasing her, and then pushed the thought out of her head. She was lounging with her roommates, by the
lake in the sunshine. They had just
finished their final exam, History of Magic.

�I think we did
okay,� said Erin, lazily skimming her bare foot over the
surface of the water. �Don�t you?�

�I think so,
yeah,� said Dianthus. �When do you think
we�ll find out?�

�Well, not before
the end of year feast, I�d say,� pouted Martine. �Wish we could find out something before
then.�

�Ah, who cares,�
replied Erin.
�I�m sure we did fine.�

�Wish I hadn�t
messed up on that Draught of Death,� muttered Melanie. �Professor Incompertus told me he�d have to
take something off for that.�

�Yeah, well,�
laughed Dianthus, �you nearly knocked us all out with the fumes!� They all cracked up, even Melanie. It felt good, Dianthus thought, to be sitting
in the sun, with her best friends, and to be done with the exams. Like Erin, she felt
confident they�d all done reasonably well.

�We�ll be going
home soon,� said Melanie.

�God, you�re
chatty today,� drawled Erin, and Melanie shoved her good-naturedly.

�It�ll give
Dianthus time to get over Severus,� continued Melanie.

�Oh, Mel, shut up
about it, please,� said Dianthus, kindly.
�He never was my boyfriend, you know.
I just liked him, and I thought it was pretty shitty what Potter did to
him.�

�People can really
be fuckers,� commented Erin idly. The others looked at her in shock. �What?
We�re practically second-years now, don�t you think it�s time we started
swearing like second-years?�

The morning of the
end ofr fer feast dawned hot and humid.
Dianthus� robes were damp from sweat by breakfast. She was thrilled when the same large barn owl
she�d sent to her grandfather fluttered down in front of her, a small package
secured in its beak. She gently removed
its burden, and the owl took a sip from her juice glass before taking flight.

�What�s that,
then?� asked Martine, looking curiously at the package.

�I asked my
grandfather to send me some things,� said Dianthus vaguely. She didn�t offer any more specifics, and the
roommates shrugged and continued talking.
Dianthus carefully slid the package into her school bag and didn�t
mention it again.

That evening, just
before the end of year feast, she slipped up to their dorm room alone and
opened the wrapped box. She breathed
thanks to her grandfather as she examined the contents: a dozen neatly labeled packets, each
containing a quantity of dried herbs.
She had asked her grandfather to send a good selection, and he had
outdoneselfself.

Miribilis
multiflora, excellent for treating open wounds; salvia divinorum, sometimes
used as an intoxicant but also very effective as a sedative; withania
somnifera, another excellent sedative; synsepalum dulcificum, an odd plant
whose fruit affected the taste buds; piper auritum, which could be used as an
antivenom. She was amused and a little
confused to see that he had included theobroma cacao � chocolate. She had asked for a selection of rare ingredients, after all, and she
hardly thought chocolate counted.

She carefully
resealed the package, and used her wand to transfigure the rough shipping paper
her grandfather had used into gold parchment, before setting it carefully back
into her bag. She didn�t know whether
she would be able to give it to Snape at the feast, but with any luck, the
students would be so distracted that she could sneak it in.

She spent the feast
trying to catch Snape�s eye, with no luck.
He was definitely not joining in the festivities at the Slytherin
table. If anything, he looked especially
sullen, and she thought she�d better not risk approaching him. She wondered how he�d done on his N.E.W.T.s. She wished she could just go and ask him.

She heard a bang
from the Gryffindor table. In contrast
to Snape, Potter and his friends looked like they were on top of the world, and
Dianthus supposed they probably were. Someone
had just set off some fireworks, and they were laughing like idiots. Potter had his arm around the redheaded
girl. Dianthus spent a few minutes idly
cursing Potter and the lot of them.
sh
she thought again of the little package in her bag. No chance of giving it to Snape tonight. It would have to be tomorrow morning.

The next morning,
she lurked outside the great hall until Snape came skulking through the
door. He stopped short when he saw her
in the foyer, and crossed his arms. His
scowl intensified when he saw the package she withdrew from her school
bag. �What the hell are you doing?� he
hissed, trudging over to where she stood.

�I have a gift for
you,� she said sweetly, �and I expect you to accept it with some grace, rather
than your usual rudeness.� She held out
the package. He glanced quickly around,
and then tentatively reached out to take it from her. She was slightly amused to see that he looked
quite embarrassed as he stuffed it unceremoniously into his own bag. Then he grabbed her wrist and dragged her down
the hall into the first classroom they came to.
He closed the door behind them, and finally met her gaze.

�Why did you get
me anything?� he said quietly. �I�ve
been an absolute fucker to you. I
haven�t been behaved like a friend.�

�I believe it is
customary to give a gift at one�s graduation?� she replied archly, leaning
against the closed door.

He gave her a
scathing look. �Not fair,� he said.

�Severus,� she
said, �why did you keep coming back to play chess with me?�

He dropped into a
convenient chair and thought about it for a moment. �At first, it was fun to beat you,� he said,
honestly. �I can beat most people at
chess, of course. Most people won�t play
with me.� He hesitated, as if expecting
her to taunt him. �But then it was fun
watching you get better at the game, and it felt � it felt good knowing it was
because of me. And you were pleasant
company. You didn�t seem to mind being
around me, since you kept coming back for more.
You�re smart, and funny, and you weren�t put off when I was mean to
you. Maybe you should be in Gryffindor,�
he sneered.

Dianthus ignored
his barb. �You think I�m smart?�

�Don�t fish for
compliments, Dianthus, it�s unbecoming to someone of your intelligence,� Snape
said, a crooked smile on his face.
�Obviously I think you�re smart, because you are. You don�t need me or anyone else to tell you
that.�

She flushed this
time. �If you�re so smart, and I�m so
smart, why couldn�t we find another room to play chess in? Why did you make us stop?�

He looked
astonished. �Because of Potter, of
course. Do you think he would have let
us meet again? His little gang shadowed
me for two weeks. I couldn�t go anywhere
without �bumping� into one of them.� He
grimaced at the memory. �They would have
made my life hell, more than they already do for me. And they would have made your life hell,
too,� he muttered.

She was surprised
to find out he�d thought of her at all.
�But you wouldn�t even talk to me or look at me. That was low, Severus.� She dropped her gaze to the floor. �I figured you blamed me for getting you into
trouble with Potter.�

He sighed. �No, I didn�t blame you, Dianthus. My reputation is � not entirely
unearned. Potter was looking for another
reason to punish me, and he found it in you.
But that wasn�t your fault. There
was no reason to involve you further, or give him more ammunition.�

�Open your
present,� she demanded. He withdrew the
package from his school bag and unwrapped it.
He whistled softly when he took out one of the packets of herbs.

�Holy shit,
Dianthus,� he breathed.

�My Grandpa picked
them out,� she said, happily. �I asked
him to send me a selection of rare herbs, for a graduation present for a
friend.�

�I had no idea
your grandfather owned Maedulas Farms,� he said, a note of approval in his
voice. Then he was rummaging through the
contents of the box, making soft noises of appreciation at each packet. He raised an eyebrow at the chocolate, and
she shrugged. When he was finished
examining each quantity of herbs, he raised his eyes to hers. �You�re the only one who�s given me a
present, Dianthus. Thank you.�

�I hope you can
use them,� she said. A frown flickered
across his face, but was gone almost before she noticed it. �In your job,� she continued.

�Yes,� he said
smoothly,� I�m sure I�ll be able to use them.�

�How did you do on
your N.E.W.T.s?� she asked eagerly.

�Well enough,� he
said calmly. She couldn�t tell whether
that meant great, or shitty.

�How did you do on your end of year exams?� he
said, with a little smile.

�I did fine � no
thanks to you,� she sneered.

�What are you
talking about?� he said, looking as if his feelings were injured � except for
the malicious glimmer in his eyes.

�You had me so
upset, I nearly passed out before the first test!� she said irritably.

�But you studied,
didn�t you?� he said quietly. �You
studied, and you did well, didn�t you, Dianthus? You should
thank me � for keeping you on track.�

She stared at
him. �You did that deliberately?�

�Of course,� he
said, without hesitating. �You needed a
little fear to encourage you to study as you needed to. You�re smart, but you�re easily distracted,
Dianthus. That�s why you never beat me
at chess. All I had to do was distract
you, and you were lost.�

She didn�t know
whether to thank him, or hit him.

�After I�m gone,
remember how you felt when you thought I was telling the truth,� he said.

�I�ll miss you,�
she said, not looking at him.

�I�ll miss you as
well, Dianthus.� He stood. �Well, I�d best be going. Thank you again for the herbs. I hope the rest of your time here is better
than mine has been.� He reached out a
hand as if to shake hers, but she bounded to him and wrapped her arms around
his thin frame before he could stop her.
- 7
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