thirty-four

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        "I'm not even cold, stop being so stubborn," Ivy whispered furiously as she pushed the Gryffindor sweater away that Remus was forcing into her hands.

        "Yes, you are! You keep complaining about it! And we're both being stubborn," Remus said, holding the folded sweater in his hands. Ivy looked at him for a long second before snatching it and putting it on. They were standing right outside of the Library, where they had walked together. It's true, Ivy has complained about being cold the whole time.

        "This is so Cliche, you know," Ivy said with an air of haughtiness as she pulled it over her head. Remus laughed.

        "Better?" He asked once she had it on. She shoved him as he laughed and walked past him to the library where she would study before breakfast. He walked away, going to breakfast.

        It had been a few weeks since Ivy had to take time off from Alchemy and she was back now. She was studying more, which most people didn't think was possible. Valentine's day had passed and Ivy and Remus shared a mutual hatred for it. Neither of them liked being all cheesy and romantic. They did get each other small presents though.

        Everyone whispered and stared at Ivy's appearance with Remus's Gryffindor sweater. It was obvious who the sweater belonged to, so Ivy's idea of not really telling anyone about 'dating' Remus went out the window as soon as she stepped foot in the castle with the red and gold on. Sure, she had told her roommates and Marlene, who all gave dramatic reactions that included screaming and running around whatever room they were in, but no one else.

        Currently, Ivy was walking to breakfast, early as usual. Chloe, Bella, and Jessica were next to her. Bella was rambling about some hot gossip she had gotten this morning.

"And Eliza and Ruby are dating now! She dumped Tommy this morning to date her! Apparently, they've had this thing for a while now in secret! Let's just say he was not happy!" Bella exclaimed with a grin, finally getting to the end of her story as they sat down.

        "It's what he deserves, I'm pretty sure he treated Eliza like shit," Chloe said with a shrug as she ate a strawberry.

        "Wait, since when did Ruby break up with Charlotte?" Jessica asked. Bella scoffed. Bella was always the first to find out about any drama.

        "A while ago! Like, maybe three weeks. Or less, I don't know," Bella said as she tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear.

        "How do you even know this?" Jessica asked with an exasperated smile.

        "I've got eyes and ears all around this castle. If something happens, I'll know," Bella said with a wink. "Speaking of gossip, you wearing that Gryffindor sweater has been the talk of the town lately."

        Ivy scoffed. "Yeah, right. I just put it on."

        "Word travels fast, my dear, especially when I'm around. It's the hot gossip with the Eliza and Ruby scandal. This morning a few people were like 'Bella, you're close with Ivy, whose sweater is she wearing?' and then they saw you talking to Remus in your accidentally flirty way and they go 'oh.'" Bella said, causing Ivy to roll her eyes as she adjusted the large Gryffindor sweater she had on.

       "Shut up. It's not all that new, you said that people have been speculating that we're together for a while now," Ivy said as she tucked her dark hair behind her ears.

        "Yeah, but it's practically official now! Of course, it's not news that you two have extreme chemistry, but you're wearing his sweatshirt! That's a pretty big deal," Jessica cut in, shrugging her shoulders with a smile. Ivy shook her head, about to say something before they were interrupted.

"Have you four read the daily prophet?!" Ava Andrews said as she bustled next to them, slamming the newspaper on the table. It was the newest edition, it just came out this morning. Other tables seemed to be whispering about it too.

HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED GAINS POWER

You-Know-Who is    on   the  rise.   He   is continuing    to   gain    members    for   his  followers,   rumor   has  it  they're   named 'Death Eaters.'  In the  past week, they have   set fire  to  a muggle  school near Glasgow, not    too    far  from  Hogwarts:  School  ofWitchcraft and Wizardry.  Thankfully,  there   were  no  casualties  concerning  the  muggle    children   that attend  the Muggle Primary  School, but they did cause Thirty-three injuries   for  the staff  and  children.

  We have insider information from a source    that  wishes  to  stay anonymous.  They saythat  you-know-who is  looking  to  recruit new  members, specifically pure-bloods. He also  wants   to   recruit  magical  creatures,like    werewolves   and   centaurs.  He-who- mustn't-be-named    says  that   the burningof  this  muggle  school   should   be taken as a  warning. More  attacks   will  be  coming soon     to     anyone     who    opposes     him.No  one  knows  when his next move will be,Not  even our anonymous  source. They  say he  is   unpredictable  and  dangerous. Some predict  his  next move  will  be to mess with Gringotts,   the   wizarding   bank,   or   evenHogwarts,  who  is  now home  to  hundredsof  witches   and   wizards.   Still,   his  group doesn't have  very  many  members,  so there is  no  reason  to  worry  just  yet, according to our anonymous source. Back to the subject of werewolves, they already have one apparently, that goes by the name Fenir. Greyback, who hasbitten several people in his life andcontinues to. Dementors are also a possibility for creatures he wants to control and use in his army. Be on thelookout for any suspicious behavior, such as covering up the left forearm. Report them immediately. Stay safe!"

        Ivy felt her heart drop as soon as she read the word 'werewolves' and how he was looking to recruit them. She glanced at Remus, who was reading the daily prophet worriedly with Sirius, James, and Peter peering over his shoulder.

        "Well that's great," Bella said sarcastically as Ava took back her copy of the newspaper and walked to another group of clueless Ravenclaws.

        "My parents live in Glasgow. I hope they're alright," Jessica said nervously, wringing our her hands.

"I think they're fine since it was only a muggle school he set fire to," Chloe said, looking more worried than Ivy had seen her in a while.

"My mum is a pureblood Slytherin," Ivy said in a small voice, thinking about her mom and brother. Her dad was a muggle-born Ravenclaw, to make matters worse. "If she gets recruited I think I'll throw myself off the astronomy tower."

        "She won't. They'd probably consider her a blood traitor for marrying a muggle-born," Chloe said with a scoff. She was a pureblood while Bella and Jessica were both Muggle-borns.

Ivy walked to the Owlery, a letter already written in her hands. Her dad had mailed her that morning, asking questions about how life was at Hogwarts. One question that she didn't know the answer to was 'are you dating anyone?'

Ivy didn't know what to say. They weren't official, but they were most definitely more than friends. She just put, 'you'll have to just wait and see about the dating part because I don't really know myself.'

As she stepped into the Owlery, she ran straight into someone. She stepped back, saying sorry as she looked up into their eyes. Remus.

"What are you doing up here?" Remus asked as he let Ivy in the Owlery, following her over to the school owl she was using.

"Owling my dad," Ivy said, trying to tie the letter to the Owl, who he was not cooperating and kept nipping her. "You?"

"I just owled my mom," Remus said, watching her struggle with the owl. She wasn't showing any signs of frustration or anger. Ivy was incredibly patient when she wanted to be. "Let me help you."

He walked over, tying the letter with ease and sending the owl off. Ivy said a quiet thank you, standing next to him as they watched the owl fly away. It was a sunny Saturday.

She was trying to find a way to bring up the daily prophet without being harmful or insensitive, something she was never very good at, but Remus beat her to it.

"I'm assuming you read the Daily Prophet," Remus said as casually as he could. Ivy glanced at him, who was still looking out into the vast sky.

"Yes."

"Did you know that Greyback is actually who bit me?" Remus said. Ivy winced at that statement. She didn't like thinking about when he got bit or who bit him in the first place.

"No, I never really thought about that," Ivy said quietly, looking at him sadly.

"It just makes me nervous. For you, mostly," Remus said, causing Ivy to make a face.

"Why me?"

"Because you're associated with me. If they find out you're 'dating' a werewolf, you could be killed so they can threaten me to join them," Remus said quietly. Ivy blinked at him.

        "They won't. You're a Gryffindor and a Half-blood. I don't think that they'd try to recruit you. And you wouldn't willingly kill anyone, so they couldn't utilize you," Ivy said with a shrug.

        "Then they'd just kill me instead," Remus said pessimistically. Ivy scoffed as she rolled her eyes.

       "You'll be fine, I swear. It's going to be okay," Ivy said. Remus finally looked at her. She turned her body to face him, causing him to do the same. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Try not to worry. You have so many people in your corner that'll willingly protect you. I know it's not like me to be easy-going and calm, and in a normal situation I'd probably be worried about this, but for once I'm not. Because you are teaching me to be more care-free. Granted, I'm not very good at it, but I think I've been a lot less distraught lately."

Remus smiled as she rambled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, causing her to blush now of all times. Not when she got all mushy about how Remus was making her a better person, but when he did a simple action such as brushing the hair out of her face.

Ivy hesitantly stood on her tiptoes and kissed him for the first time since returning from Christmas break. It felt familiar even though they had only kissed twice. Like they had been dating for longer than they have. Thankfully, no one else was in the Owlery at the moment. She broke apart after a few seconds, automatically feeling embarrassed and taking her hands off of him, returning right back to her usual, rational self.

"Well, I've got to go study. Do you want to come?" Ivy asked, turning back around from where she was already half-way out the door.

"Yeah, sure," Remus said, walking over to her and beginning the walk down the stairs with her. "You can keep that Gryffindor sweater, by the way."

"What? Why?"

"Because you look so cute in it that I don't want it back."

Ivy turned bright red, almost shoving him off the high stairs and causing him to plummet to the snowy ground that was miles away. "Shut up!"

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