The Heiress of Slytherin

Who couldn't love the moon(y)

The New Year came and went in a blur of ice skating, snowman building, hot chocolate drinking and a plethora of other delightful winter activities.

Ivy visited the hospital wing every day to talk to Griffin, whether he could hear her or not, and as much pain as it brought her that he wasn't there to enjoy everything with them, she could feel her spirits being raised every day by the love, warmth and joy that surrounded her.

Two days before her parents returned home, Ivy bundled up in her new gloves, cloak and so many layers she looked a bit like an abominable snowman, then walked out to meet the carriage that was already waiting in the courtyard for her.

Her parents had already managed to find her a private tutor for Defense Against the Dark Arts so she was heading into town to meet with him. As the carriage bumped along the winding road to Hogsmead she sat back and smiled slightly as she mused that last year she would have been enormously nervous about this, but she had changed a lot.

She had faced coming out as a siren, receiving  training from the selkies and centaurs, facing the vitriol of most of Gryffindor for arguing with their golden boy and so much more. Throughout it all, she now realized just how much stronger and tougher she had grown, and it put a smile on her face that she couldn't shake even when she hopped out of the carriage in front of The Three Broomsticks and hugged her parents.

"Are you ready to meet your new tutor, Ivy?" Asked her father in his endearing, slightly awkward tone. Ivy just nodded and gripped their hands, and the three of them walked in the inn together.

Seated at one of the tables near the fireplace was a tall man with a messy crop of sandy hair falling about his forehead. His face had long, gashed scars running down it in white streaks that caught Ivy's eye, but made him look more approachable than formidable somehow, which was a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on.

He looked up at them when they walked in the room and smiled brightly before pushing himself to his feet. As they walked across the room Ivy took a moment to observe him.

He had brown eyes that sparkled when he smiled, but the creases around them were etched with sadness, and as tall as he was there was a certain slouch to his posture that made him seem somewhat endearing.

The sleeves of his brown, worn sweater were rolled up to his forearms, revealing more of the long white scars that covered his face and neck, and Ivy found she couldn't help but wonder why they were there.

Before she could truly guess, they had crossed the room and were standing in front of him. He stretched out his hand, which Ivy took in her own gloved one and shook, and smiled brightly down at her.

"It's delightful to meet you, Ms Stone, my name is Remus Lupin." There was something in the way he spoke quietly and softly but with a certain confidence behind his voice that made Ivy immediately find she quite liked him, and she smiled back at him warmly.

"Please call me Ivy, and it's nice to meet you too." He smiled another smile at her that made his eyes dance in the firelight and they both took to their seats, Remus back to the one he had vacated and Ivy between Kyria and Athemar.

"We have already spoken a little with you about why we are searching for a private tutor for Ivy, Mr Lupin. Her teacher, Mr Gilderoy Lockhart, leaves much to be desired in his instruction and we wish for Ivy to excel in her studies." Began Athemar, who had one arm wrapped around the back of Ivy's chair protectively.

Ivy snorted with laughter before she could stop herself at the mention of Lockhart, which made Remus smile and chuckle slightly himself.  "I have had the interesting experience of meeting Gilderoy myself a few times, and I have perused his books. I can imagine that his teaching would be less than instructional."

With forced solemnity Ivy widened her eyes and shook her head. "Oh no, it's just not true. Professor Lockhart has taught me so much. I now know the best hair products, how to pair robes so that I look like a gaudy firework, and ever so much more."

"Ivy..." started Kyria warningly, though not without a great deal of laughter leaking into her voice, but the warning was washed away in the flood of Lupins laughter.

Once he had composed himself he shook his head and smiled again. "Tragically I know little about robe matching, but what I can teach you is how to defend yourself from offensive spells as well as cast them. Beyond that, I can teach you how to cast spells that will protect you from getting into such unsavory circumstances as would require said offensive skills. I can even teach you how to face and overcome your own worst fears. That, is what a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher should do."

Athemar and Kyria looked rather impressed, and Ivy had to admit she felt it too. The group settled themselves into an easy conversation about where Lupin would start her tutoring, the Stone family all felt some of the same tension slide from their shoulders.

Ivy's lack of a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts Education had been a source of common concern for them all throughout the year: for what was ahead of her she needed all the preparation possible.

What touched Ivy's heart the most was the way that Lupin never allowed her to feel at all left out of the conversation. He spoke directly to her, asked her questions and allowed space for her to speak and raise her own concerns.

Only a few hours later they had agreed upon a rough outline for a curriculum, time for two recurring weekly sessions. Lupin had even spoken to Dumbledore and gained permission to be on school property and use an empty classroom, so Ivy wouldn't have to worry about commuting somewhere.

Once they had finished, mugs of hot chocolate were served to everyone and Remus began to ask Ivy about her experience at school so far. He laughed loudly at every silly story she shared, and even slipped in a few of his own from when he was at school, which made the whole party roar with laughter (Athemar merely chuckled, but for him this may as well have been an encore).

As Ivy wound her way back up to the school alone, having left her parents behind in Hogsmeade, she smiled to herself slightly. As much as it felt like the whole world was against her sometimes, she couldn't deny that in many ways she was one lucky siren.

Authors note: hello everyone!! I know this a shorter chapter than usual, but the next one is pretty much all one scene and long as shit so I didn't want to squeeze too much into here :) love y'all! Also I didn't edit it. Feel free to torment me mercilessly for grammar and spelling mistakes