The Heiress of Slytherin

How Very Gryffindor of You

Ivy opened her eyes, blinking at the bright light that filled the room she was in. Letting her vision adjust for a moment, Ivy waited until she could see clearly before she looked around the room that she was in. It had high arched ceilings that were constructed of a pretty, tan sort of stone, and the excessive amount of light was streaming in through massive cathedral-shaped windows that lined the walls.

She herself was lying on a soft bed made up with clean white sheets. There was a plain chest of drawers next to her, on which lay all manner of sweets and flowers. The small surface was choked with blooms, and Ivy noticed that the treats and floral arrangements spilled onto the floor around her, giving her corner of the room the appearance of a portal having been opened to small candy and floral shop.

Smiling to herself, it struck Ivy that she was pretty sure this was mostly Pansy and Selina's doing. Those girls had money to spare enough, and she could see them frantically bustling around in her mind, panic buying bouquet after bouquet. A chuckle bubbled from her lips at the thought, and Ivy felt pain shoot through her body at the motion.

The sensation brought back a flash of memories of why she had come to what she could only assume was the medical wing rushed into her head in a flurry. Tentatively, she reached her hand up and lightly brushed the back of her head, relieved and amazed when her fingers didn't touch the wound.

"You won't be feeling it from the outside anymore, I've got the wound sealed up nicely, although I can imagine that you're still feeling it plenty in your head." A strong matronly voice called out to Ivy and she looked over to where it was coming from, seeing a tall woman with grey hair and fierce, but kind, features gliding over to her.

"You've had a nasty run of it; if you move your limbs much I expect you'll still feel some of your bruises healing under the skin. You should be out in a few days however." The witch was standing above her now, and she smiled down kindly. "Your friends will be relieved to see you awake. Hopefully you can convince them that you have enough gifts, I'm running out of creative places to store them."

Ivy chuckled again, then winced. "Is there any way I could sit up? I feel awful stiff." Her voice was scratchy and dry, but the medi-witch understood and carefully lifted her up into a seating position, rearranging the pillows behind her so she could rest her head comfortably. She handed her a glass of water, which Ivy took gratefully.

"My name is Madam Pomfrey dear." The healer seemed to understand that Ivy wasn't yet quite up for chatting, so she smiled and walked off to another part of the room.

Ivy leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She felt as though she'd been picked up by the giant squid and smashed into a rock several times over. A shadow fell over her bed, and she opened one eye to see Hermione standing nervously at the foot.

She opened both her eyes then and grinned at the witch, who lit up in a smile when she saw that her friend was awake. "Ivy! I'm so glad you're up. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? What about your bruises? How long have you been awake? Are you comfortable? Can I get you anything?" Hermione was pouring out her questions in a rush of words, and Ivy just smirked at her, waiting for the torrent to stop.

When it did, she cleared her croaky throat and managed to summon her words as best she could. "I'm rubbish at talking right now, but I'm fine 'Mione, how are you?"

"Oh I'm alright, I wasn't hurt at all really, thanks to you, just a bit shook up, but I'm fine now." Hermione seemed to fidget with her hands behind her back for a minute, before she hurriedly whipped something out in a bur of green. "I, I wanted to get you something, but I wasn't sure what you'd like. I don't know if wizards have these, but its called a stuffed animal. I thought it looked like Stheno, my mums just owled it for me this morning. I know it's not the poshest thing," her eyes flit nervously to the decadent flower arrangements as she said this, "but I remembered seeing it and, well, I thought you might like it."