The Heiress of Slytherin

For Fucks Sake Hagrid

The next few weeks passed surprisingly peacefully for Ivy and her little troupe. They went to classes, caused general mayhem, and somehow found time to play extraordinary amounts of chess and cards in the common rooms.

Ivy was significantly more busy between her three tutoring sessions she now had every week-the Selkies, Centaurs and Lupin but she tried to make as much time as possible for the groups tomfoolery.

Lupin was rapidly growing on her as a mentor and teacher. He was always ready with a piece of chocolate and a kind word when she needed, but he also never let her quit on herself when she couldn't get something right the first time.

At last it was time for a Quidditch game, and although Slytherin wasn't playing, Ivy was thrilled to have a small break and get out into the fresh air and enjoy some friendly competition.

As she walked down to the pitch she noticed Harry and Ron not far in front of her. McGonagall stopped in front of them, speaking to them for a moment before looking up and catching Ivy's eye. "Ms. Stone, you should come with us. It's important." There was something in her tone, a gravelly seriousness, that made Ivy's heart run ice cold and beat irregularly.

She offered only a nod in response and turned to walk with the group back up the hill to the castle, where McGonagall lead them directly to the Hospital Wing.

"I must warn you, this may come as something of a shock." She said sadly before moving the curtains surrounding a bed away, revealing Hermione. She was stiff as stone and not one curl on her head swayed from the breeze drifting into the room.

If I've had felt cold before, it was nothing compared to the way her whole body froze now. Her head was pounding and her vision turned fuzzy. Somewhere in the distance she could hear Ron and Harry talking, their voices thick with emotion, but no words made it past the pounding in her ears.

This was what Hermione had been afraid of from the start. This is what Ivy had been fighting to prevent. And now one of her very best friends in the world lay like a statue on the hospital bed, a mirror clutched in one hand while the other fist was balled up tightly.

Ivy slumped heavily into a chair by Hermione's side, reaching out to touch the girl, but feeling the same cold, hard rock as Griffin. McGonagall handed her a tissue with a sympathetic look, and Ivy took it, wiping away the tears on her cheeks that she had barely realized were there.

A moment later Pomfrey bustled into the room and up to the little group. She gently brushed the hair away from Ivy's face as she spoke to them all, "I'm so sorry, but I need space to attend to my patients. Visiting hours should be back to normal tomorrow."

Harry and Ron looked mildly outraged that she was asking them to leave, but Ivy just stood up slowly and turned to walk out. She knew Poppy would never ask her to leave unless she truly did need to work alone, and she just wanted Hermione to be taken care of.

As she trudged slowly down the hall, her head spinning, Harry and Ron talked furiously behind her. Even in her current state she couldn't ignore the snippets of conversation she caught.

"Must see Hagrid tonight...can't be him... have to know for sure." She raised her head slightly as she tried to process all of this, then spun around, making the boys stop short and look at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know what you're planning, or why it's relevant, but if this has anything to do with the chamber then I'm coming." Ron opened his mouth to respond but Ivy shot him a look so fierce he snapped it immediately back shut. "Don't try to argue with Ronald. We both want the same thing, now more than ever, and it makes a lot more bloody sense for us to put our minds together, combine our information and solve this as a group than us separately feeling our way out in the dark, doesn't it?"