Chapter 4 - A Bit of an Explanation
Harry was stunned into silence. Hermione knew that wouldn't last long as she watched the recognition wash over Harry's face. This was going to be big and she wasn't sure they needed an audience for their initial meeting.
"Ron, Ginny.we should go," she said quietly. Ivy gave her a thankful smile. Regretfully, Ginny agreed and began to pull her hand away from Harry's.
"No!" he said forcefully. "I want you all here."
"Maybe we should talk somewhere else? I'm not sure the hallway is the best place to have this conversation," Ivy stated. Harry shook his head in agreement and they found an empty classroom to talk in.
"You must have so many questions Harry, and I will answer as many of them as I can," Ivy said as she took a seat opposite Harry, who was still clinging to Ginny's hand.
"You're my aunt," Harry stated. Ivy nodded.
"Your mother's sister."
"I was told the Dursleys were the only family I had," Harry said trying to keep his emotions in check.
Ivy had known this was going to be the bulk of her first conversation with Harry, and she thought she had prepared herself well to answer the questions he would ask. What she hadn't counted on, however, was the anguished look in her nephew's eyes when he asked them.
"Oh Harry," she sighed dejectedly, "I know. I was thirteen when you were born, which made me fourteen when Lily and James." Ivy trailed off for a moment, then she shook herself out of her memories. "No one would let me see you afterwards. I really tried Harry. No one would listen to me. I wanted nothing more than to be in your life. I never thought giving you to Petunia was a good idea. She never cared about anything but herself, but I was outnumbered."
"You never came back for me."
Ivy swallowed noticeably. "You're right, Harry, I didn't. The day after.I was taken to America. I was sequestered in the state of Massachusetts to finish my schooling in a muggle high school. Because of my involvement with the Wizarding world, I was considered to be the next target for the Death Eaters. The Ministry felt that they needed to get me as far away from here as they could. And make me as inconspicuous as I could be. I was only allowed to use owl post under dire circumstances. I petitioned to the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore, McGonagall, anyone I thought that would be able to help me get to you. But they were never going to let me raise you. I was fourteen and had just started my fourth year at Hogwarts."
Ivy glanced at Harry, who was staring at her like he was lost in thought.
"In reality, we were both shipped into a world we didn't understand, didn't want, and weren't meant to be a part of. I struggled in the muggle world. I didn't use my magic while I was in high school. I renounced anything that had to do with magic when I was sent to America. When I got out of high school I couldn't stand it any more. I felt disconnected from myself, from everything I had ever known. I found the American Society for Witches and Wizards when I started college and finally made peace with my place in muggle life. When I graduated from college, you were just starting at Hogwarts. I requested and was granted the opportunity to be given constant updates about you and how you were doing. I know that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you, or that it has taken me so long to come back, but I don't have any excuses for those things."
Harry was quietly introspective. Ginny shifted her eyes from Harry to Ivy and back to Harry. She was in shock. Everyone had assumed that Ivy had been killed the same as her sister. There had never been any proof, it had just been assumed. As she contemplated this, Harry finally spoke.
"So.you've been hiding out in America and all of the sudden you have the urge to see me? To become a professor here? To interrupt my life because you wanted to?"
"Harry!" Ron hissed.
"It's okay, he has the right to be angry. I would be. All I can say is that I wasn't ready to come back and face everything, Harry. When Dumbledore owled me and asked me to come back home, I started thinking about how nice the idea of home, and seeing you, was," Ivy tried to explain, but Harry wasn't hearing her.
"I'm going to my room. I don't care to talk to you anymore, Professor Evans," Harry stated curtly. With that said, Harry stood and walked out, Ginny following closely behind him. Ivy sighed and sank down in her seat further.
"He'll get over it, Professor Evans. Just give him time," Hermione said in a comforting voice. Ivy gave a strained smile.
"Thank you, Hermione."
"You know who I am?"
"I know a lot of things. And when it's just us, please call me Ivy. That goes for you too Ron," Ivy looked at the flustered boy.
"You're bloody beautiful," he said softly in response. Ivy had heard him clearly, but his face turned so red when he realized he'd said it out loud, she felt badly.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing. I think I'm going to check on Harry. You coming Hermione?" Ron said all in one breath.
"Right behind you," Hermione smiled at Ivy as they walked through the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts of the conversation she'd just had.
***
"What right does she have to just waltz back into my life?" Harry asked Ginny as they sat in front of the fire, Harry's head in Ginny's lap as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"She doesn't have any right."
"I hear a 'but' in there," Harry sighed, reaching over his head and stilling Ginny's fingers.
"Think about it, Harry. She's your aunt. She's family and she seems to care a great deal for you. Maybe you should talk to her some more," Ginny had the distinct feeling she had overstepped her boundaries with Harry as she felt him tense up.
"An aunt who cared so much for me she left me with the Dursleys for fifteen years while she gallivanted around America."
Ginny sighed at the harsh tone in his voice.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm also not going to fight with you about her. Everything surrounding Ivy Evans is your decision. I said my piece and that's it."
Harry blinked rapidly and sat up to face her. Ginny had never been that forceful with a decision before.
"So, if I don't talk to her, you won't support me in that?" Harry questioned, his blood near boiling. Ginny shook her head.
"I didn't say that. I said I think you should talk to her some more before you make your decision. I'm not in any position to make any judgments about what you think. If you feel she's not worth letting into your life, I will support that. But I don't think you can make that decision based on one interaction with her, Harry," Ginny smiled coyly at him. "I'm glad you didn't make your sole interpretation of me based on one or two interactions."
Harry thought about what Ginny said. He hated to admit it, but she was right. She always had an uncanny ability to keep him calm and make his see straight when her got overheated. That was one of the many things he cherished so much about her. "I think I should go to bed now. You look like you have a lot to think about," Ginny said quietly as she gently rose from the couch. Harry looked up and smiled, rising to meet her.
"I'll walk you upstairs."
They walked hand in hand up the stairs until they reached Ginny's room. Harry let go of her hand and placed both his hands on the sides of Ginny's neck, his thumbs grazing her cheeks as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss, locking her hands together behind his head, her fingers lightly tickling the hairs at the base of his neck.
"Thank you, Ginny," Harry whispered, resting his forehead on hers. Ginny smiled slightly.
"Not a problem. If you need anything, you know where I'll be," she arched her head up slightly, made contact with his lips one more time and walked into her room.
Harry ran his index finger over his lips. There was always something special about kissing Ginny. It was almost like she lingered on his lips even after she had been gone for a while. Comforted by this thought, Harry went to his room to think about this mysterious new person who had appeared in his life.
***
"I can't believe I said that," Ron mused as he and Hermione entered the library together. They had decided to go and look up Ivy in the school records. They both knew the legend of Ivy Evans, but Hermione thought it best to review for Harry's sake. She was acting almost as if it were a test. This amused Ron greatly until Hermione reminded him that he practically hit on a teacher, let alone the fact that it was also Harry's aunt.
They grabbed the past twenty years of Hogwarts records and sat side by side, searching for anything that said Ivy Evans.
"Wow," Ron muttered as he turned a page halfway through the book he was looking in.
"Find something?" Hermione stopped turning pages and looked over at what was in Ron's book.
There was a picture of Ivy, which must have been taken right before Lily and James had died. She was holding some sort of award and kept looking to the right of the photographer and back again, laughing. The caption read 'Ivy Evans receives Service to the School Award.' Her green eyes were shining and she looked radiant. If Ron had thought her beautiful before, she was a goddess in this picture. He looked at Hermione with a puzzled look, which she returned. Ivy hadn't looked frazzled when they had met her, but she was far cry from the person in this picture. Her eyes alone had lost much of their luster, not to mention the havoc her body seemed to have gone through.
"Is there an article?" Hermione asked wanting to know what act Ivy had performed to receive such a prestigious award.
"Article on page 342," Ron read out loud, already turning pages quickly. He landed between pages 341 and 344. "Where is it?"
"Look, a page has been torn out!" Hermione ran her finger down the remnants of paper where the page had once been.
"Great! Now we'll never know why she got that award," Ron said, looking downcast. Hermione almost laughed out loud at Ron's lack of ingenuity. Hadn't their escapades over the years taught him anything?
"One book isn't the only way to find out what happened, Ron. You should know that by now," Hermione's tone was more teasing than it was condescending and Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"You have to admit it's easier though."
Hermione shook the thoughts out of her head and took out some parchment and a quill from her bag.
"Let's make a list of the things we know about Ivy. I'm sure you know things I don't and vice versa."
"Okay. Well, we know she's Harry's aunt, Lily's sister."
Hermione's hand was quickly scribbling things down on the parchment.
"By now she would be, let's see." Ron paused as he worked out the math in his head. "Twenty-nine years old." Hermione scratched the paper again.
"She's been in America for the last fifteen years, and was in a muggle.what did she call it?"
"High school. They separate their grade levels into different schools in America, not just the two," Ron looked at Hermione with an odd expression.
"You do know everything. Anyway, she went to college, and became a member of the American Society for Witches and Wizards," Ron paused. "Hermione, start another parchment for questions we need to have answered."
Hermione grabbed another blank piece of parchment and poised her quill, looking at Ron thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?"
"Ivy said that by the time she got out of college, Harry was at Hogwarts. But that doesn't make any sense. How long is college, Hermione? Four years, right?"
"Most of the time," Hermione smiled. Watching Ron be so analytical wasn't something she saw on a regular basis and she was quite enjoying this side of him.
"But she left here at the beginning of her fourth year, how long is.high school?"
"She would have been there for the rest of that year and three more," Hermione said after thinking it through in her head.
"Okay, but that still doesn't make sense. There are two years missing."
"What?"
"If what Ivy is saying is true, there are two years not accounted for between her leaving high school and going to college. That is, if I have this right."
Hermione wrote something down on the parchment and Ron looked over her shoulder to see what it was. It was a timeline of Ivy's life in America. He saw that he was, indeed correct. Hermione looked up at him in awe.
"I'm impressed."
Ron blushed and looked back into the book for a distraction. "Wait a minute. Four year for high school, plus two years we don't know about, plus four years for college is only ten years, Hermione. There are still five more years we don't know about. So, all in all, seven years unaccounted for."
Hermione nodded her agreement and wrote that down.
"So we want to know where she was and what she was doing for those seven years. By the way, until we find out that answer, I wouldn't tell Harry. It will just make him even more angry than he already is," Hermione said as she wrote the questions down.
"We also want to know what she got that Service to the School award for," Ron said quietly.
"Okay, what else do you know about Ivy?" Hermione asked, her sharp mind wanting to gain as much information as possible.
"Well, what I've heard is that she was an amazing witch. She was very talented, always knew what she was doing and she had a natural talent. Much like her sister. She was very well liked, popular. She also." Ron trailed off, smiling.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"She sounds like a little bit of all of us," he paused, a smile lighting up his eyes. "She was really smart and a great witch like you, she could fly with the best of the best, very talented. She played Quidditch, a pretty amazing chaser what I've been told. You know, like Harry. And she was said to have had a reputation for getting up to no good when she was at Hogwarts, kind of like me."
Hermione smiled at Ron. He was right, Ivy did seem to possess a little of each of them. He had recited the same legend she had known also, but her extensive reading in the library had given her a little more information. Not a lot, however, the library seemed to be lacking in the Ivy Evans department.
"You're right; she was an amazing witch. More than amazing, in fact. She was said to have been the smartest witch to ever come through Hogwarts. She mastered every charm, spell, and potion the first time she tried. She was extremely talented," Hermione's voice dropped and became uncharacteristically shy. "She was kind of my idol before I came to Hogwarts. I wanted to be the next Ivy Evans."
"But you're not," Ron started. Hermione looked crushed. "You're the first Hermione Granger," he finished. Hermione locked eyes with Ron. She smiled and looked down, almost embarrassed.
"Anyway, she was famous in her own right, but only because of her potential. Everyone thought that she had been killed the night that the Potters died. I mean, she just disappeared and was never heard from again until today. I never mentioned it to Harry because I didn't think he needed any other ideas floating in his head about family members dying."
"Mum asked us not to say anything to Harry either. She said he'd been through enough and when the time was right he'd find out for himself. I guess the time is right then," Ron looked at Hermione soberly.
"I suppose so," Hermione answered in the same tone. They absentmindedly went back to turning pages, both lost in though.
***
Ivy was putting away her things in the office portion of her new living quarters when she heard a knock on the door. She had yet to set up her password so she thought nothing of it as she looked up from her desk and finished placing her files in the desk drawer. Getting up from her desk covered in books and papers, she went to open the door. She found Severus Snape on the other side and groaned inwardly at the sight of him.
"Good evening, Miss Evans," he said through his famously tight lips.
"Hello," Ivy said shortly. She knew this moment had to have come, but she had hoped it would be later. 'Oh well, best get it over with now' she thought to herself.
"I've just come to give you some insight as to what I have been doing in the Muggle Studies classes. I'm here to give you a report on whom to watch out for and who has been doing well in these classes," he somewhat snarled his words. Ivy gave him an odd look and silently tried to place what was wrong with him, but came to the conclusion that it had to be ingrained in his stunning personality.
"Are you listening to me, Miss Evans?" Snape sneered to get Ivy's attention.
"I am not your student, please do not address me as such," Ivy said forcefully.
"I see America has made you insolent," Snape observed. He was trying to make her lose her cool. She had taken enough psychology classes to see that one coming from a mile away.
"No, I think it's just you," Ivy said calmly as she returned to her desk and continued putting her books away as if Snape wasn't even there.
"If you think this is going to be easy, you have another thing coming. Muggle Studies is a very hard subject, though I am sure I have properly prepared the students. Here are the files you will most definitely need," with those words, Snape dropped all three folders of at least a hundred pages each onto her floor, sending papers flying. Ivy rolled her eyes at his obvious stunt to try to get her to blow up at him.
"And if you think getting under my skin is going to be that" - she pointed to the mess of papers on her floor - "easy, you have another thing coming," she countered defiantly.
"Now, thank you for the information," she left her statement open-ended hoping he would get the point himself that she wanted him to leave. She certainly didn't fell like kicking him out.
"You've lost any trace of your accent," Snape observed correctly. "Pity, you're too Americanized to even realize your change in behavior."
"As much as you want me to, I am not going to fight with you, Professor Snape. Now, I have a lot of things to get done before tomorrow, so if you don't mind." she gestured to the door.
Snape blew out of the room in a huff, causing the papers to scuttle around her office creating even more of a mess. Once again, Ivy rolled her eyes.
"That man is incorrigible," she sighed as she crouched down to pick up the papers.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my best friend, Melissa, who will probably never read this, but it's the thought that counts! She was deployed from the U.S. to the Middle East last week and I already miss her terribly. This is just my way of reminding everyone that there are everyday people out there who are risking a lot. regardless of where you come from! Love and miss you Liss! Come home safely!
Harry was stunned into silence. Hermione knew that wouldn't last long as she watched the recognition wash over Harry's face. This was going to be big and she wasn't sure they needed an audience for their initial meeting.
"Ron, Ginny.we should go," she said quietly. Ivy gave her a thankful smile. Regretfully, Ginny agreed and began to pull her hand away from Harry's.
"No!" he said forcefully. "I want you all here."
"Maybe we should talk somewhere else? I'm not sure the hallway is the best place to have this conversation," Ivy stated. Harry shook his head in agreement and they found an empty classroom to talk in.
"You must have so many questions Harry, and I will answer as many of them as I can," Ivy said as she took a seat opposite Harry, who was still clinging to Ginny's hand.
"You're my aunt," Harry stated. Ivy nodded.
"Your mother's sister."
"I was told the Dursleys were the only family I had," Harry said trying to keep his emotions in check.
Ivy had known this was going to be the bulk of her first conversation with Harry, and she thought she had prepared herself well to answer the questions he would ask. What she hadn't counted on, however, was the anguished look in her nephew's eyes when he asked them.
"Oh Harry," she sighed dejectedly, "I know. I was thirteen when you were born, which made me fourteen when Lily and James." Ivy trailed off for a moment, then she shook herself out of her memories. "No one would let me see you afterwards. I really tried Harry. No one would listen to me. I wanted nothing more than to be in your life. I never thought giving you to Petunia was a good idea. She never cared about anything but herself, but I was outnumbered."
"You never came back for me."
Ivy swallowed noticeably. "You're right, Harry, I didn't. The day after.I was taken to America. I was sequestered in the state of Massachusetts to finish my schooling in a muggle high school. Because of my involvement with the Wizarding world, I was considered to be the next target for the Death Eaters. The Ministry felt that they needed to get me as far away from here as they could. And make me as inconspicuous as I could be. I was only allowed to use owl post under dire circumstances. I petitioned to the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore, McGonagall, anyone I thought that would be able to help me get to you. But they were never going to let me raise you. I was fourteen and had just started my fourth year at Hogwarts."
Ivy glanced at Harry, who was staring at her like he was lost in thought.
"In reality, we were both shipped into a world we didn't understand, didn't want, and weren't meant to be a part of. I struggled in the muggle world. I didn't use my magic while I was in high school. I renounced anything that had to do with magic when I was sent to America. When I got out of high school I couldn't stand it any more. I felt disconnected from myself, from everything I had ever known. I found the American Society for Witches and Wizards when I started college and finally made peace with my place in muggle life. When I graduated from college, you were just starting at Hogwarts. I requested and was granted the opportunity to be given constant updates about you and how you were doing. I know that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you, or that it has taken me so long to come back, but I don't have any excuses for those things."
Harry was quietly introspective. Ginny shifted her eyes from Harry to Ivy and back to Harry. She was in shock. Everyone had assumed that Ivy had been killed the same as her sister. There had never been any proof, it had just been assumed. As she contemplated this, Harry finally spoke.
"So.you've been hiding out in America and all of the sudden you have the urge to see me? To become a professor here? To interrupt my life because you wanted to?"
"Harry!" Ron hissed.
"It's okay, he has the right to be angry. I would be. All I can say is that I wasn't ready to come back and face everything, Harry. When Dumbledore owled me and asked me to come back home, I started thinking about how nice the idea of home, and seeing you, was," Ivy tried to explain, but Harry wasn't hearing her.
"I'm going to my room. I don't care to talk to you anymore, Professor Evans," Harry stated curtly. With that said, Harry stood and walked out, Ginny following closely behind him. Ivy sighed and sank down in her seat further.
"He'll get over it, Professor Evans. Just give him time," Hermione said in a comforting voice. Ivy gave a strained smile.
"Thank you, Hermione."
"You know who I am?"
"I know a lot of things. And when it's just us, please call me Ivy. That goes for you too Ron," Ivy looked at the flustered boy.
"You're bloody beautiful," he said softly in response. Ivy had heard him clearly, but his face turned so red when he realized he'd said it out loud, she felt badly.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing. I think I'm going to check on Harry. You coming Hermione?" Ron said all in one breath.
"Right behind you," Hermione smiled at Ivy as they walked through the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts of the conversation she'd just had.
***
"What right does she have to just waltz back into my life?" Harry asked Ginny as they sat in front of the fire, Harry's head in Ginny's lap as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"She doesn't have any right."
"I hear a 'but' in there," Harry sighed, reaching over his head and stilling Ginny's fingers.
"Think about it, Harry. She's your aunt. She's family and she seems to care a great deal for you. Maybe you should talk to her some more," Ginny had the distinct feeling she had overstepped her boundaries with Harry as she felt him tense up.
"An aunt who cared so much for me she left me with the Dursleys for fifteen years while she gallivanted around America."
Ginny sighed at the harsh tone in his voice.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm also not going to fight with you about her. Everything surrounding Ivy Evans is your decision. I said my piece and that's it."
Harry blinked rapidly and sat up to face her. Ginny had never been that forceful with a decision before.
"So, if I don't talk to her, you won't support me in that?" Harry questioned, his blood near boiling. Ginny shook her head.
"I didn't say that. I said I think you should talk to her some more before you make your decision. I'm not in any position to make any judgments about what you think. If you feel she's not worth letting into your life, I will support that. But I don't think you can make that decision based on one interaction with her, Harry," Ginny smiled coyly at him. "I'm glad you didn't make your sole interpretation of me based on one or two interactions."
Harry thought about what Ginny said. He hated to admit it, but she was right. She always had an uncanny ability to keep him calm and make his see straight when her got overheated. That was one of the many things he cherished so much about her. "I think I should go to bed now. You look like you have a lot to think about," Ginny said quietly as she gently rose from the couch. Harry looked up and smiled, rising to meet her.
"I'll walk you upstairs."
They walked hand in hand up the stairs until they reached Ginny's room. Harry let go of her hand and placed both his hands on the sides of Ginny's neck, his thumbs grazing her cheeks as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss, locking her hands together behind his head, her fingers lightly tickling the hairs at the base of his neck.
"Thank you, Ginny," Harry whispered, resting his forehead on hers. Ginny smiled slightly.
"Not a problem. If you need anything, you know where I'll be," she arched her head up slightly, made contact with his lips one more time and walked into her room.
Harry ran his index finger over his lips. There was always something special about kissing Ginny. It was almost like she lingered on his lips even after she had been gone for a while. Comforted by this thought, Harry went to his room to think about this mysterious new person who had appeared in his life.
***
"I can't believe I said that," Ron mused as he and Hermione entered the library together. They had decided to go and look up Ivy in the school records. They both knew the legend of Ivy Evans, but Hermione thought it best to review for Harry's sake. She was acting almost as if it were a test. This amused Ron greatly until Hermione reminded him that he practically hit on a teacher, let alone the fact that it was also Harry's aunt.
They grabbed the past twenty years of Hogwarts records and sat side by side, searching for anything that said Ivy Evans.
"Wow," Ron muttered as he turned a page halfway through the book he was looking in.
"Find something?" Hermione stopped turning pages and looked over at what was in Ron's book.
There was a picture of Ivy, which must have been taken right before Lily and James had died. She was holding some sort of award and kept looking to the right of the photographer and back again, laughing. The caption read 'Ivy Evans receives Service to the School Award.' Her green eyes were shining and she looked radiant. If Ron had thought her beautiful before, she was a goddess in this picture. He looked at Hermione with a puzzled look, which she returned. Ivy hadn't looked frazzled when they had met her, but she was far cry from the person in this picture. Her eyes alone had lost much of their luster, not to mention the havoc her body seemed to have gone through.
"Is there an article?" Hermione asked wanting to know what act Ivy had performed to receive such a prestigious award.
"Article on page 342," Ron read out loud, already turning pages quickly. He landed between pages 341 and 344. "Where is it?"
"Look, a page has been torn out!" Hermione ran her finger down the remnants of paper where the page had once been.
"Great! Now we'll never know why she got that award," Ron said, looking downcast. Hermione almost laughed out loud at Ron's lack of ingenuity. Hadn't their escapades over the years taught him anything?
"One book isn't the only way to find out what happened, Ron. You should know that by now," Hermione's tone was more teasing than it was condescending and Ron shrugged his shoulders.
"You have to admit it's easier though."
Hermione shook the thoughts out of her head and took out some parchment and a quill from her bag.
"Let's make a list of the things we know about Ivy. I'm sure you know things I don't and vice versa."
"Okay. Well, we know she's Harry's aunt, Lily's sister."
Hermione's hand was quickly scribbling things down on the parchment.
"By now she would be, let's see." Ron paused as he worked out the math in his head. "Twenty-nine years old." Hermione scratched the paper again.
"She's been in America for the last fifteen years, and was in a muggle.what did she call it?"
"High school. They separate their grade levels into different schools in America, not just the two," Ron looked at Hermione with an odd expression.
"You do know everything. Anyway, she went to college, and became a member of the American Society for Witches and Wizards," Ron paused. "Hermione, start another parchment for questions we need to have answered."
Hermione grabbed another blank piece of parchment and poised her quill, looking at Ron thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?"
"Ivy said that by the time she got out of college, Harry was at Hogwarts. But that doesn't make any sense. How long is college, Hermione? Four years, right?"
"Most of the time," Hermione smiled. Watching Ron be so analytical wasn't something she saw on a regular basis and she was quite enjoying this side of him.
"But she left here at the beginning of her fourth year, how long is.high school?"
"She would have been there for the rest of that year and three more," Hermione said after thinking it through in her head.
"Okay, but that still doesn't make sense. There are two years missing."
"What?"
"If what Ivy is saying is true, there are two years not accounted for between her leaving high school and going to college. That is, if I have this right."
Hermione wrote something down on the parchment and Ron looked over her shoulder to see what it was. It was a timeline of Ivy's life in America. He saw that he was, indeed correct. Hermione looked up at him in awe.
"I'm impressed."
Ron blushed and looked back into the book for a distraction. "Wait a minute. Four year for high school, plus two years we don't know about, plus four years for college is only ten years, Hermione. There are still five more years we don't know about. So, all in all, seven years unaccounted for."
Hermione nodded her agreement and wrote that down.
"So we want to know where she was and what she was doing for those seven years. By the way, until we find out that answer, I wouldn't tell Harry. It will just make him even more angry than he already is," Hermione said as she wrote the questions down.
"We also want to know what she got that Service to the School award for," Ron said quietly.
"Okay, what else do you know about Ivy?" Hermione asked, her sharp mind wanting to gain as much information as possible.
"Well, what I've heard is that she was an amazing witch. She was very talented, always knew what she was doing and she had a natural talent. Much like her sister. She was very well liked, popular. She also." Ron trailed off, smiling.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"She sounds like a little bit of all of us," he paused, a smile lighting up his eyes. "She was really smart and a great witch like you, she could fly with the best of the best, very talented. She played Quidditch, a pretty amazing chaser what I've been told. You know, like Harry. And she was said to have had a reputation for getting up to no good when she was at Hogwarts, kind of like me."
Hermione smiled at Ron. He was right, Ivy did seem to possess a little of each of them. He had recited the same legend she had known also, but her extensive reading in the library had given her a little more information. Not a lot, however, the library seemed to be lacking in the Ivy Evans department.
"You're right; she was an amazing witch. More than amazing, in fact. She was said to have been the smartest witch to ever come through Hogwarts. She mastered every charm, spell, and potion the first time she tried. She was extremely talented," Hermione's voice dropped and became uncharacteristically shy. "She was kind of my idol before I came to Hogwarts. I wanted to be the next Ivy Evans."
"But you're not," Ron started. Hermione looked crushed. "You're the first Hermione Granger," he finished. Hermione locked eyes with Ron. She smiled and looked down, almost embarrassed.
"Anyway, she was famous in her own right, but only because of her potential. Everyone thought that she had been killed the night that the Potters died. I mean, she just disappeared and was never heard from again until today. I never mentioned it to Harry because I didn't think he needed any other ideas floating in his head about family members dying."
"Mum asked us not to say anything to Harry either. She said he'd been through enough and when the time was right he'd find out for himself. I guess the time is right then," Ron looked at Hermione soberly.
"I suppose so," Hermione answered in the same tone. They absentmindedly went back to turning pages, both lost in though.
***
Ivy was putting away her things in the office portion of her new living quarters when she heard a knock on the door. She had yet to set up her password so she thought nothing of it as she looked up from her desk and finished placing her files in the desk drawer. Getting up from her desk covered in books and papers, she went to open the door. She found Severus Snape on the other side and groaned inwardly at the sight of him.
"Good evening, Miss Evans," he said through his famously tight lips.
"Hello," Ivy said shortly. She knew this moment had to have come, but she had hoped it would be later. 'Oh well, best get it over with now' she thought to herself.
"I've just come to give you some insight as to what I have been doing in the Muggle Studies classes. I'm here to give you a report on whom to watch out for and who has been doing well in these classes," he somewhat snarled his words. Ivy gave him an odd look and silently tried to place what was wrong with him, but came to the conclusion that it had to be ingrained in his stunning personality.
"Are you listening to me, Miss Evans?" Snape sneered to get Ivy's attention.
"I am not your student, please do not address me as such," Ivy said forcefully.
"I see America has made you insolent," Snape observed. He was trying to make her lose her cool. She had taken enough psychology classes to see that one coming from a mile away.
"No, I think it's just you," Ivy said calmly as she returned to her desk and continued putting her books away as if Snape wasn't even there.
"If you think this is going to be easy, you have another thing coming. Muggle Studies is a very hard subject, though I am sure I have properly prepared the students. Here are the files you will most definitely need," with those words, Snape dropped all three folders of at least a hundred pages each onto her floor, sending papers flying. Ivy rolled her eyes at his obvious stunt to try to get her to blow up at him.
"And if you think getting under my skin is going to be that" - she pointed to the mess of papers on her floor - "easy, you have another thing coming," she countered defiantly.
"Now, thank you for the information," she left her statement open-ended hoping he would get the point himself that she wanted him to leave. She certainly didn't fell like kicking him out.
"You've lost any trace of your accent," Snape observed correctly. "Pity, you're too Americanized to even realize your change in behavior."
"As much as you want me to, I am not going to fight with you, Professor Snape. Now, I have a lot of things to get done before tomorrow, so if you don't mind." she gestured to the door.
Snape blew out of the room in a huff, causing the papers to scuttle around her office creating even more of a mess. Once again, Ivy rolled her eyes.
"That man is incorrigible," she sighed as she crouched down to pick up the papers.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my best friend, Melissa, who will probably never read this, but it's the thought that counts! She was deployed from the U.S. to the Middle East last week and I already miss her terribly. This is just my way of reminding everyone that there are everyday people out there who are risking a lot. regardless of where you come from! Love and miss you Liss! Come home safely!