The Heiress of Slytherin

A Nice Day, All Things Considered

Ivy ran through the common room and up the stairs, throwing herself onto her bed. Stheno, who had spent breakfast and class napping, hissing at fish that passed the window, and then napping again, woke up with a start. Instantly sensing that her owner was very much not okay, she slithered over to the witch, who started crying softly.

Wrapping herself around Ivy's neck, Stheno hissed gently and rubbed her face against her cheek, forehead and chin, trying to calm down the witch. She was asking what was wrong, but that only made Ivy cry harder.

The truth was, all of Ivy's rage in the hall had melted away into fear and sorrow. She missed her home, and her mother. She missed being able to transform into a siren without fear, and going for swims with her mother to explore the coves and hidden caves that lay under the cliffs.

She wanted to speak to parseltongue to Stheno; it had been so long since it had been safe for them to just sit and talk.

When she had barely pulled herself off from the edge of transforming in the corridor, everything that had been trickling in slowly hit the young witch like a ton of bricks. She was too young to be carrying so many secrets, and the weight of them was starting to bury her.

In the moment, all she'd felt was rage for Hermione's sake, but now, when she lay alone in her dorm, grief at the reality of her situation rolled in. She had just started to make friends with these people. She liked them so much. But what would they think if they knew who she actually was? Would they stay by her, or would they run away?

Draco's stance today seemed clear, and Ivy felt a stabbing sensation in her gut at the thought, before she frowned. Why would she be upset about that, she barely even liked him.

Before her brain could process any further, she felt the mattress behind her give way slightly as Pansy crawled into bed and gave her a tight hug. Not a second later, Selina did the same at the front of Ivy, so that the crying girl was completely encircled by hugs; two human, one reptilian.

Pansy and Selina both held Ivy in silence, smoothing her hair and wiping the tears off her face for what seemed like a hours. They listened quietly through hiccups as Ivy confessed to the two girls that she was hiding secrets, and admitted her fears that the witches would hate her once she revealed them.

Hiding her face in her hands, Ivy couldn't even bear to look up at Selina and Pansy, who shared a glance. Ivy was as tough as they come - if she was this upset, there was a very good reason. Nodding to each other in a silent agreement to accept whatever it was whenever they found out, Selina moved a strand of hair off of Ivy's cheek and behind her ear.

"Is the secret that you're actually here to kill one of us?" She questioned in a serious tone. Ivy frowned and looked up at her, evidently confused,

"What? No!" Pansy smiled from behind Ivy's head, but quickly chimed in.

"Is the secret that you're actually not the girl who hunted down and jinxed my childhood bully into next week, then planned a gorgeous picnic by the lake to cheer me up, but instead you're actually her evil twin who killed her and has been acting really convincingly in her stead for some part of today?" Ivy frowned at the obvious ridiculousness of the questions.

"No, I mean obviously not, stop being daft. You don't understand I-" Ivy tried to prostest, but her friends just shook their heads firmly.

"If you're not here to kill us, and you're the real Ivy that we've already grown to absolutely adore, then there is no secret you could keep that would make us not want to be your friend." Selina said. Ivy shook her head again. They didn't understand. If they did then they wouldn't be saying this.