Seven Years

Diana and Akko are students at Hogwarts. This is the story of how they gradually become friends and fall in love. Told in snippets.

Chapter One: Diana Cavendish and the House War

"Diana Cavendish, Slytherin!" the hat bellows and of course she's in Slytherin. Where else would she be given her drive and ambition and her pureblood upbringing? The Sorting Hat had been fool to suggest she might fit into Ravenclaw- even though she was smart and talented- or Gryffindor- even though she did have a desire to do good, but what shame it would give her family to be thrown in there- and she'd persuaded it to put her in the only house she could ever be in. the only house she ever deserved.

She slides off the stool, marching over proudly to her house table decked in green, witches and wizards who all await her eagerly, patting her on the back and telling her how great it is to have another Cavendish among them, for they all know her family- know her wealth and her legacy and her hereditary skill with the wand.

It's not long before two girls latch themselves onto her. Hannah England and Barbara Parker, lower level Slytherin's from families that are upper class but barely, clinging onto the last of their money and prestige like leeches. She knows they want to surround themselves with her influence, mother warned her enough about this and told her to use them as her personal help, to make them loyal to her for the remainder of her years here. Mother said to do that with all the Slytherins, for Diana to build up her own force, her own following that would do anything she asked. It's expected of her; every great Cavendish prior was waited and doted on by the whole Slytherin house practically because so great are their accomplishments. Their magic is irreplaceable and has done much in the way of influencing how the wizarding world is run.

But Diana doesn't want to do that, she wishes she could have real friends, someone she can confide in and trust to keep her secrets and not sell them for a momentary social gain. Someone who she can paint her nails with, have sleepovers, and talk about silly things rather than politics and work and how to improve the family legacy like Diana's conversations normally are filled with. But mother says there is no such thing as that among the purebloods. Everyone is a snake, poised to strike when one shows weakness. So Diana suffers down her inner desires and flashes her power, sticks her nose up imperiously like she has been taught, and talks with canines barely hidden behind lips. Hannah and Barbara heel immediately and Diana is almost disappointed how easy it will be to press them under her thumb. Clearly their families have not taught them how to scale social ladders; it is no shock that their families are rapidly deteriorating and becoming irrelevant.

The ceremony goes on and Akko Kagari bounds up to the Sorting Hat like a little child, wonder in her eyes. "Hufflepuff!" it announces and Diana snorts in derision. Hufflepuff is the worst of the worst, her mother says. Floaters with no clear ambition or talents. Those who are bottom feeders and cannot contribute anything useful to society end up there and that is the immediate opinion Diana takes on Akko and keeps. Akko trips walking to her table and has the goofiest expression on her face and what even is that hairstyle? The little ponytail on top bobs up and down as she walks and Diana is tempted to chop it off. And those robes? Second rate. She's poor and what's worse a muggle born, given all her ceaseless gandering of the magic around her. It's no surprise she ended up in Hufflepuff.

Akko sits down next to a boy that is older than her, a boy with brown hair and happy eyes, the two of them embracing in their joy to be here together. Diana pretends not to be bothered by what looks like genuine friendship between the two of them. Her house may have cheered for Diana's entrance into it, may have been proud to have her, but their greeting was professional, nowhere near as warm as Akko's had been to her house. Diana suffers down her feelings and pretends she doesn't have any as the ceremony continues onward.

And after that, Diana forgets all about the Japanese witch because Amanda O' Neill comes up to the podium, the witch everyone is talking about. She's the one who destroyed an evil lady as a simple child and the lighting bolt scar on her forehead shines in the light of the candles like a medal. "Gryffindor!" is the expected cry when she sits down and the hat slips over her hair, for where else would heroes go? Certainly not to Slytherin, because even if one did do good from that house it would only be assumed it was done for a personal and lower motive rather than from the goodness of one's heart, because Slytherin's couldn't be good or selfless.

"That is a person who you will want to align yourself with," mother's words ring in her head. Amanda is powerful and popular already. She was a friend Diana would want regardless of whether she actually wanted to be friends with her or not; it would help her family's prestige ascend.

Diana makes it her goal to befriend Amanda but it's not easy. The witch is always swamped by people in the halls or during lunch and in their shared classes she is loud and boisterous and she spits on Diana's title and offer of friendship.

"I don't befriend snakes. One of them killed my whole family," Amanda says so savagely that it almost makes Diana want to cry when Amanda slaps her offered hand away.

"Not all of us are like that," Diana counters, tries to make this work as she rubs her hurt hand.

"Well, I don't care enough to find out. Stay away from me; that includes your little servants."

"We are not servants!" Hannah shrills, flushing red.

"And you would do well to respect Lady Diana's person!" Barbara barks out, hands fisting.

"My bad," Amanda laughs cruelly and if they think she is going to apologize they are wrong. "You're not servants- you're clearly guard dogs."

Diana has to hold Barbara back- the girl did have an awful temper- and Amanda just laughs and laughs as she walks down the hall and for once in her life Diana feels like her family name is worth shit. Too many people have seen this exchange and it only fuels Diana's shame and guilt and even though Hannah and Barbara offer to prank Amanda or spread rumors of their own, Diana shakes her head. Too late- her family name has been besmirched in public and there is no quick reparation to that. Conversely, she was raised better than this. She won't stoop to Amanda's level.

But it is increasingly hard to not do that when they share two classes together- Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Amanda makes snide remarks, ruins Diana's potions, throws papers at her, and has her countless friends join along. Diana grinds her teeth and knows she shouldn't let this bother her, but it does. Just because Amanda has her popularity, has defeated an evil lady, and is now the youngest Seeker for the Quidditch team, doesn't mean she can carry herself like a spoiled brat.

Amanda's not the only one with power. Diana has her own though she's built and kept it in the shadows.

A secret war is swiftly carried out. Diana employs her Slytherin warriors to do her deeds. Slytherins are good at being slight of hand and sneaky because of the way they were born in shadows, were raised in the dark like it were an old friend, so it's hard to catch them in the act. Gryffindors aren't as low. They retaliate in hotheadedness, in big showy events, and they get caught because they are 'good' so they only ever paraded in the light and the day both which are too revealing to keep things hidden.

Diana can tell she's pissed off Amanda but there is nothing the witch can pin on her. Because Diana had planned everything out meticulously. There were no room for slip ups. But it's not victory she wants. She wants a truce because she hates conflict, and so she extends an olive branch to Amanda. "Truce?"

She can see the indignation in the girl's eyes, in her set jaw, but Amanda concedes though it takes a lot out of her. "Truce, but we're settling it between us. One on one duel."

"Deal," because no matter how powerful Amanda may be, she's squandering it, basing her wins on pure luck and sheer magical force. Diana has a lot of power too, but a skill and patience to the art that many her age lack. A chance arises in their DADA class and they duel in front of the class. Both sides are cheering for their respective champions but it's clear from the start who is going to win. Amanda shoots off heavy stunners one after the other but Diana deflects them like a pro before sending Amanda flat on her ass.

The Slytherins have won and begrudgingly Amanda agrees to her loss and the truce. And Diana's first year of Hogwarts ends rather normally, with the house war settled and her passing all her classes and tests with flying colors.

For Amanda, her year involves one last big finish, with her discovering the Sorcerer's stone along with her friends Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank and Jasminka Antonenko, two other Gryffindor's. Headmistress Holbrooke tries to keep this incident quiet but Diana's mother finds out somehow when Diana herself doesn't know and Diana gets a strongly worded letter from her mother, chastising her for not being the one to find the stone, for not being the one to out the evil professor who was working for the Death Eaters. She is bringing shame to her family by letting a stupid Gryffindor outshine her. That Diana already has brought shame by failing to be friends with the hero.

Diana's hands shake on the paper and she lets out a long sigh, trying hard not to hurt and feel like a failure.

And while the war had been going on between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, while Diana and Amanda had been wrapped up in their own fights, and while the school was in uproar of the evil professor being found, Akko had been hard at work learning everything she could about the wizarding world, trying to catch up and lessen the knowledge gap she had between wizards and herself. She knew she had a lot to prove and so the library became her second home, Diana often sitting not a table or two away from her and the two of them not once noticing the other, too wrapped up in their own struggles.

They didn't know who the other was, and it would be a while before their paths could officially first cross.