twenty-six

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        Ivy woke up, immediately shielding her eyes from the sun streaming through the window. Her head was pounding.

"Oh good! You're awake!" Jessica said in a quiet voice. She had no hangover. Ivy poked her eyes out from under the duvet carefully, squinting up at Jessica. Jessica was smirking down at her. "You drank an awful lot last night."

Ivy just looked up at Jessica miserably. She got out of bed carefully, barely able to walk, grabbing her potions book. Jessica watched her confusedly as she flipped the pages.

"I'm looking for a potion to cure hangovers," said after seeing her confused face. "I'm not having much success. I could brew a Pepperup Potion but that's mostly for a common cold. There are spells for a migraine, but that's not really what any of us have and it's highly dangerous if done incorrectly. So we'll just have to suffer."

"I doubt anyone needs a hangover potion more than you, Ivy," Bella said suddenly, drowsily sitting up. "You drank more than enough. Or you're just a lightweight."

Ivy sighed as she looked up at her, defeated. "Did I do anything I would regret?"

Bella shrugged since she was also wasted and couldn't remember anything. Jessica sighed, exasperated.

"No, not really. You were just outgoing. And I don't think anyone except for maybe me and whoever else didn't drink last night remembers anything," Jessica said, hands placed on her hips. Ivy closed her book lazily.

"Shit," Chloe groaned from her bed, rolling out of it hurriedly and running to the bathroom.

"And there's the vomit," Bella said as she got out of bed, a bit too chipper for being drunk last night. Chloe walked out a few minutes later, rubbing her eyes that had makeup smeared underneath them.

"Why didn't any of you stop me from drinking last night?" Chloe said as she stumbled over to her wardrobe to find clothes.

"You were unstoppable. I swear I tried, but you wouldn't stop," Jessica shrugged. Chloe shook her head, almost disappointed in herself as she grabbed clothes and walked to the bathroom to change.

Ivy felt like she couldn't move without every muscle in her body aching. It felt similar to after the first day of quidditch conditioning where John was hellbent on the team being in shape.

Chloe walked out of the bathroom with a hoodie on and a pair of sweatpants, looking in her small mirror. "I look like I have a hangover."

She then grabbed makeup, lathering it onto her face in attempts to hide her under eye bags. After a while of feeling drained, Ivy hopped up, grabbing clothes and walking to the bathroom. After getting ready for the day, she grabbed her bag that was full with all her stuff and walked to breakfast sluggishly.

It was already well into the day and most students were there, but a good amount of the Gryffindor section was still missing. She looked around at the Gryffindor table and spotted James waving her over. She walked slowly and carefully.

        "It's so loud in here," Sirius said before spotting Ivy and managing to give a small smile.

"Good morning," Ivy said in a voice that already gave away she was super tired.

"I'd hardly call this a 'good' morning," Sirius grumbled as he stared at his food lazily, not eating. James was obviously amused with his friends. Remus looked up at her with squinted eyes.

"Ivy, kill me now," Remus said as she laughed. Peter nodded in agreement.

"This is torture. Ivy, how are you so awake?" Peter said. Ivy shrugged.

"I'm not. No one told me that hangovers were this terrible," Ivy complained as she plopped down next to James. Remus snickered.

        "I forget, this is your first hangover," Remus said. Ivy decided to leave out the story of when she drank all that Butterbeer in Hogsmeade. Although, that wasn't nearly as bad as now.

        "Yeah, and there's nothing I can do about it!" Ivy hissed angrily. "I've spent most of my morning looking for a potion or a spell that cures hangovers, but there was nothing of the sort in my 'Year Six, Potions Book' because we probably shouldn't need to brew that."

        "Unfortunate," Remus said with a lackadaisical smile. "I don't remember anything that happened last night. Probably for the best."

"You could say that again," James said with a smirk, referring to how much he talked about Ivy. Remus looked at him inquisitorially. James waved his hand dismissively. "I'll tell you later."

"We have a quidditch match today. You gonna be okay commentating, Sirius?" Ivy asked worriedly. Sirius shrugged.

"I'll be fine, all I have to do is say a few words," Sirius shrugged. They spent a few more minutes talking before they began to walk to the quidditch pitch for the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor match. Ivy was expecting for Ravenclaw to be horrid. Ivy began to complain to Remus about Ravenclaw and how in theory, they should be super bad this year.

"Maybe they won't be as bad as you say," Remus said with a smirk as they trudged through the snow, bundled up for the cold winter weather. Ivy scoffed, shielding her eyes from the bright winter sky.

"Yeah, right. I hope it's terrible. Also, Gryffindor has always been spectacular, so I wouldn't be surprised if they lose even with me on the team," Ivy said. Remus laughed.

"I've always admired your modesty," Remus said. Ivy rolled her eyes and shoved him gently as he guffawed.

"Oh shut up, I'm just telling it how it is," Ivy said with a shrug, suppressing her smile as he stared at her, a grin blossoming on his own face.

He hated himself for liking her. He believed that people with his condition didn't deserve to love someone and put them in danger, but Ivy was making it awfully hard for him to like her platonically. She was unique. Remus had never met anyone as charming as herself even if she wasn't being charming on purpose.

They sat down in the Gryffindor section, Peter on the other side of Remus. They talked to each other, waiting for the match against Ravenclaw and Gryffindor to begin.

"Alright, Alright, lets get this game started, huh?" The low, familiar voice boomed through the stadium. "Okay, lets start off with Ravenclaw. First up we have the captain, chaser, a total fucking jackass—"

"—language, Black—!"

"—Adam Andrews! Ladies, he went berserk when the lovely Ivy Scott turned him down. Didn't put her on the quidditch team because he's ugly and she didn't want to date him. Not exactly a good trait to have. Steer clear of him."

        "Stop going off topic," McGonagall said, trying to direct her voice away from the microphone but failing.

He called out the rest of team, not going nearly as into detail as he went with Adam, and moving to the Gryffindor team.

"James Potter! Captain, chaser, also single and ready to mingle if your name is Lily Evans!" Sirius said. Ivy glanced over at Lily who looked nauseous at the mention of them being together.

Once the game started, it was obvious that Ravenclaw was really bad. The keeper couldn't block to save his life and everyone kept getting hit with bludgers. Also, the seeker looked a bit unsure with what she was doing.

"Forty, zero, Gryffindor. Honestly, this is getting boring, Gryffindor is blowing Ravenclaw out of the water. My dearest McGonagall, fancy a chat?"

"Stay focused, Black," McGonagall growled. Sirius smiled and held his hands up in mock defense as Adam got hit with a bludger for the third time.

"Ooh, another hit to Adam Andrews! Bet you wish you put Ivy on the team now, huh?" Sirius said sassily. McGonagall didn't say anything but was scowling beside him.

        "This is a train wreck," Peter said as Gryffindor scored again. Ivy nodded with him, watching the game in horror. "I don't even play quidditch and I can tell this is a train wreck."

"At least you don't have to share the failure with them, Ivy," Remus said, causing her lips to upturn into a smile. "You can just watch them suck from afar."

"That's true. I've never thought about it like that," Ivy said as Gryffindor scored. "God, James really is racking up all the points."

The crowd cheered for James as he flew past them cockily, grinning and flex his muscles.

          "Oh? Has the Gryffindor seeker spotted the snitch?" Sirius said as everyone diverted their attention to the two seekers racing to the golden snitch.

        The Ravenclaw team may be horrible but the seeker was awfully fast. Her hand was almost around the snitch, the crowd holding their breath. Then, a bludger hit her square in the chest.

"Ooh, that'll leave a mark— and Gryffindor wins!" Sirius said as they cheered. James hugged their own seeker and went to the locker room as the Ravenclaw team hung their heads, walking slowly. Ivy smiled, satisfied that Adam was sort of defeated. They walked back to the castle and walked outside near the Black Lake. Ivy cleared the snow with her wand, leaving a big enough space for five figures to sit.

        "Christmas Break is next week, got any plans?" Remus said, idly making conversation as Sirius waved from afar, walking towards them.

"Nah. I never have plans," Ivy said, yawning. "And what do you want for Christmas? There is a Hogsmeade weekend coming up and I need to get you something."

"No. I don't need anything, I have enough," Remus said firmly with the shake of his head. Ivy groaned.

"Well too bad, I'm still going to get you something," Ivy said with a smile. Remus rolled his eyes as Sirius plopped down next to Remus.

"Ivy, I don't know if I'll make it two weeks without you. You save my ass all the time and I won't be able to survive," Sirius said dramatically, laying his head in her lap. She laughed.

"You'll be fine. Although, I do help you with a lot of things," Ivy said. Sirius threw his arms up in agreement.

"I'll miss you dearly," Sirius said, fake crying. Ivy patted his shoulder as James walked over to them.

He sat down and they chatted for a while about Christmas Break, school, and several other things.

Remus watched the way Ivy talked. Her voice had a sort of sarcastic edge to it that never really went away, even when she was being completely serious. Her voice was also more low and raspy than most girls Remus had spoken to. She was very soft-spoken, rarely raising her voice at anything, no matter what happened. Remus watched her in admiration, the way she laughed, her mannerisms, everything drew him to her. Soon enough, they had to part ways and say goodbye. Still, Ivy was on Remus's mind all day.

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