Chapter 9 - A Traitor in the Woods
Ivy plodded her way back to the clearing where she had left Sirius. She was looking back on a whim, knowing that Sirius was a cautious man. He was anything but stupid, he would not have waited around to be caught and brought in because of her. He didn't know what or who was lurking in the forest any more than she did, but she was going back because she knew she would kick herself later if she didn't.
She found the clearing, flowers still in tact, but their glow had diminished considerably. She sighed and sat down on the plush grass. It should have been perfect, it should have been her first night with Sirius, but it wasn't. She knew he was long gone by now, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She also couldn't blame anyone for her current situations. As she had found out the hard way, there were some things that just happened. She had adopted the concept that everything happened for a reason, and while she was disappointed, she also knew that there was a reason for what had happened tonight.
A soft rustle of the grass shook her out of her thoughts and Ivy whipped her head around. She saw nothing, but her intuition was telling her something was going on. She removed her wand from the inside of her cardigan sweater and held it above her head.
"Lumos!" she whispered, and the wand began to glow, shedding light around her in a dim circle. She looked down and saw a small field mouse scurrying around, darting away from her. Her curiosity piqued, she pointed her wand at the mouse.
"Imobulous!"
The mouse froze, eyes blinking rapidly. She rose and went over to the mouse, crouching down on her heels to examine him. She picked him up by the tail for a closer inspection. What she saw made her heart pound faster than it ever had before. This little mouse seemed to be missing a front paw.
"Oh, you are one stupid wizard, aren't you?" she said in a scathing voice she hadn't heard from herself since she was in high school. In the heat of the moment, she almost tried to Apparate up to the castle, but broke into a run instead, clutching the mouse close to her in the process.
As she reached the castle, she realized that she was running on pure adrenaline because what would normally had taken her anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes, took her five. She paused quickly to catch her breath as she opened the castle doors. She hurried to Dumbledore's office, gave the password, and raced up the golden staircase. She pounded on the door fiercely as she heard footsteps behind it.
"Albus! Albus, hurry!" she shouted, clutching the mouse in her hand. Dumbledore opened the door with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ivy? What is it?" he questioned.
"Remember you asked me for anything that might help clear Sirius' name?" Dumbledore nodded, noting the sparkle in Ivy's eyes that he hadn't seen in many years.
"How about this?" she exclaimed triumphantly, holding the mouse out for inspection by his tail. Dumbledore's eyes widened.
"Pettigrew," he breathed.
"He's under the Imobulous charm right now, but that will wear off soon," Ivy said, out of breath, as she handed the traitor over to Dumbledore.
"Ivy, I will ask you to go to Severus and have him give you a vile of Veritiserum. I will write a letter to Sirius, he should be here. I will ask Minerva to contact the Minister of Magic. He will want to be here for this. You may bring Severus with you, but only if you want to. The more witnesses we have to this, the better we will be, but I can understand this is a sensitive situation. I can't imagine why Pettigrew returned, but we will find out, and hopefully Sirius will be a free man by the morning."
Ivy smiled at Dumbledore. Atticus Minor was the new Minister of Magic after Cornelius Fudge had been thrown out of office last year. Fudge had been totally against any tactics to stop Voldemort's inevitable return. When it had been made public knowledge that he knew about the Dark Lord's rise and did nothing about it, he was publicly and politically left out to dry. Atticus Minor, a very well respected, honest, and fair ex-Auror had been first in line to obtain the position after Fudge's demise. He took his work seriously, and knew that everyone deserved a chance to tell his or her story. Ivy knew that Dumbledore had the utmost confidence in him and was glad he would be there to hear Pettigrew's testimony.
Ivy ran down to the dungeons in search of the Potion's Master. She looked in the little window of every door in the dungeon, finally coming across Severus Snape in his classroom. Conveniently enough, it was the same classroom that she knew the Veritaserum would be in. She collected herself quickly before bursting through the door to a surprised Snape.
"Please," Ivy's voice was strained with emotion. "Please, Severus, I need the strongest Veritaserum that you have."
Snape stared at her without blinking or moving. Ivy moved from the doorway to Snape's desk and banged her hands down on it.
"Did you hear me? Please, Severus, this is a time sensitive issue!"
Snape narrowed his eyes at Ivy and gradually stood, walking in the direction of the door Ivy had come through, which, Ivy noted, was in the opposite direction of his potions closet. "Fine, I'll get it myself," Ivy mumbled angrily as she sprinted toward the potions closet door at the back of the room. Just as she reached it, the door closed and locked by Snape's wand. Ivy spun furiously on her heels and stalked toward Snape.
"OPEN IT!" she screamed, loosing control of herself for the first time ever in Severus Snape's presence.
"You don't think I know why you need it?" Snape's voice was quiet, seemingly retrospective, as he looked not at Ivy, but rather through her.
Ivy leaned forward, a look of complete confusion crossing her face.
"Of course you know why I need it. You just won't give up this silly grudge to save an innocent man's life!"
"You've never known another, Ivy. How do you know he's it for you?" Ivy's eyes bugged out of her head.
"Who are you to presume what I have done? I haven't been around here for fifteen years! Besides, this has nothing to do with my relationship with Sirius."
"Bloody hell, stop lying to me, Ivy! I'm not blind. He's the only one you've ever seen." Ivy noted the hurt look in Snape's eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me," Ivy mumbled, raking her hand through her hair. "Severus, I love him, yes. I've always loved him. But you can't hold my feelings against him. You know as well as I do that Sirius is innocent, and I need that Verituserum to prove that." Ivy was grasping at anything she could.
Snape sighed and pointed his wand at the potions closet. "Alohamora," he mumbled. "Second shelf in the back," he said wistfully and turned to leave. Ivy sighed as the door closed behind him and shook her head.
"My life is a soap opera," Ivy spoke out loud as she made her way to the closet and retrieved the potion.
*** "Now, if you would, Peter, tell us what you are doing here," Dumbledore asked, after everyone had assembled in Dumbledore's office. Everyone that is, except for Sirius. Dumbledore had contacted him, but thought it best if he laid low until Minor had heard everything from Pettigrew, just in case anything should happen. Ivy's insides were turning themselves into knots at the prospect of a free and clear Sirius.
"I was sent here to see if it was true that Ivy Evans was back," Pettigrew said nonchalantly. Ivy stared at him in shock. Peter was never nonchalant, even before he had betrayed Lily and James. Remus leaned in to Ivy's ear.
"He is in a state of unconsciousness. He can only answer what he is asked. It makes it easier to talk to someone like this, as well as to get the truth," he whispered.
"And who sent you?" Dumbledore continued.
"The Dark Lord."
Atticus Minor had been shocked when Dumbledore had forced the mouse to transfigure back to his bodily state, and it had been none other than Peter Pettigrew.
"Mr. Pettigrew, it seems we have a problem here. Maybe you can clear that up for us," Minor began. "I was under the impression that Sirius Black had murdered you, along with twelve other people, fifteen years ago. Yet, here you are. How is that possible?"
"Black killed no one. I killed them and transfigured into a rat to get away. I needed an escape and he was it," came the reply. Ivy almost jumped for joy.
"And why did you need an escape?" Minor asked, a slight smile on his face.
"Because everyone would have gone after me if they knew Sirius had not been Lily and James' secret keeper. I would have been killed if anyone found out I had given the Potter's over to Voldemort."
"So instead of being a man, you chose the coward's way out," Minor observed.
"Yes."
"Now, tell us why you needed to know about Ivy," Dumbledore inquired.
"Ivy is a threat to my master. She is smart and Voldemort doesn't like that. He needs Harry Potter, as his time in his new body is growing shorter. I made a slight mistake in the potion. His regeneration was not complete, and he is starting to feel his powers slip. He has made a new potion himself, but he needs Harry Potter to finish it. He has tried everything he can think of, but he cannot find Potter. My master fears he has been placed under the same protection charm as his parents, but there are limited people who can be his secret keeper. When Voldemort found out that Ivy was alive and possibly back here, he needed to know for sure. I was sent to find out. And that was when she caught me."
Ivy's eyes narrowed. She'd be damned if Voldemort got a hold of her nephew again.
"I think we have enough to go on here, Albus. He will be brought down to the Ministry for further questioning as to where Voldemort is. As soon as I know, I will send word. We can have wards put up for Ivy, of course," Minor looked approvingly at Ivy, "though I doubt she will want them, from the look on her face right now. If you decide otherwise, Ivy, please do not hesitate to contact me, and I will see that it is done. I will be contacting the Daily Prophet with the news of Pettigrew's capture, his story, and Sirius' innocence. I am hereby pardoning Sirius Black for any involvement he was charged with in the deaths of Lily and James Potter, as well as any Death Eater activity. He is a free man."
Minor turned to shake Dumbledore's hand, as Ministry guards took Pettigrew away. He then turned and left the office himself. Minerva was visibly shaken at the news, as she had known nothing of it previously, but Remus, Ivy, and Dumbledore were all brimming with happiness.
"Sirius, you may floo over now, if you wish to," Dumbledore spoke to the fireplace that had a fire blazing in it. It then dawned on Ivy that Dumbledore had let Sirius listen in on the conversation as long as he stayed out of sight. As soon as Dumbledore doused the fire out, there was a loud pop and a shot of green flame, and Sirius Black stepped out of the fireplace, a free man for the first time in fifteen years.
He grinned and thanked Dumbledore, shook hands with a still somewhat shaken Minerva, hugged Remus close and turned to face Ivy.
"You," he said softly, his eyes blazing as his lips curled into that gorgeous grin of his that Ivy had always considered dangerous to her libido. He grasped her upper arm. "Come here," he growled, and pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his lips.
Ivy's senses went into overdrive as Sirius deepened the kiss and she matched him emotion for emotion. As they slowed the intensity of the kiss down, she smiled against his lips. When they broke apart, they stared into each other's eyes, letting their souls do the talking.
Ivy heard Dumbledore clear his throat. He chuckled at them as they turned sheepishly toward him.
"Sirius, welcome back to Hogwarts. I can have a room ready for you in a few minutes," Ivy's heart dropped, "that is, unless you wish to stay with Ivy tonight?"
"He'll stay with me," Ivy answered hurriedly. Dumbledore smirked, but nodded his head politely.
"I'll have Dobby bring up something to eat to your quarters then," he waved his hand in the general direction of the door. "Go have fun getting to know each other again. And take a few days off, Ivy."
"What about Harry?" Sirius asked, and Ivy fell even more in love with him at that moment.
"I will tell Harry what has happened. And I am sure he will want to visit you, but I will not tell him until tomorrow. There is no sense in waking him up tonight. Now, go!"
Ivy smiled her thanks to Dumbledore and reached for Sirius' hand. Fingers intertwined, they walked to Ivy's room.
***
It being Saturday morning, Ivy was trying her best to sleep in. It wasn't working quite as well as it had been when Sirius had been there with her. But he had been summoned to the Ministry for paperwork and other things that she knew would take up the rest of his morning. She turned from her side onto her back, rolling into the warmth of the place where his body had been and smiled. Bringing her hand up to the pillow, she smelled the overwhelming scent that was just Sirius.
Ivy had never been happier in her life. She smiled at the memory of cutting Sirius' matted hair after washing it for him in the shower. She'd done a fairly good job of it, teasing him by doing it the muggle way. They hadn't got around to cutting it into any sort of a style just yet, but there was always tonight.
Coming to the realization that she was never going to be able to get back to sleep, Ivy threw the covers back and got out of bed, her face plastered with a perm-a-grin. She looked in the mirror.
"You aren't going to fool anyone, smiling like that all day, young lady," the mirror wheezed at her, imploringly.
"And I don't care," Ivy said, grabbing her towel off the floor and heading into the bathroom.
After a quick shower, which also reminded her of the night before, she got dressed in her most comfortable clothes, gray yoga pants and a light blue three quarter sleeve fitted shirt, and threw her hair up in a tousled ponytail and walked out of the bathroom with a bounce in her step. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. It was a day meant for relaxation and that was just what she was going to do until Sirius came back home. Ivy smiled at the thought. He would be coming home later, to her. And then they would go talk with Harry. They had decided to talk with Harry together both about Sirius being a free man, and their relationship. It seemed easier that way and they both agreed that Harry was going to have to get used to seeing them together whether he liked it or not. Ivy scowled a bit. That sounded very harsh and the last thing Harry needed right now was harsh. But, then again, the last thing Ivy needed right now was to not be with Sirius.
Ivy padded through the doorway into her office and sat on the couch to think. Harry deserved the best she could give him. Sirius deserved the best she could give him. And she deserved the best she could give herself. They all deserved each other, to be a family together. Albeit a strange mix of people for a family, but a family nonetheless. And it was hers, if she wanted it.
Ivy looked around her office and had a sudden urge to watch muggle television. A good three hours of The Golden Girls would be mindless enough for her to forget about Sirius for the time he was gone, but entertaining enough to hold her attention. She toyed with the idea of conjuring a wall socket just to see what her T.V. would do if plugged in, but thought better of it. She knew her T.V. would be all snow, but if she could hook up her VCR or DVD player, she might be in business. Ivy stood up and walked over to the wall thinking. Finally her shoulders sank; that all sounded like a lot of work for someone who was supposed to be relaxing. Ivy turned and walked over to her bookshelf.
Running her fingers along numerous volumes of muggle literature, Ivy had a hard time picking one out. They all appealed to her on some level but she just couldn't choose, until she reached the bottom of her bookcase, crouching down on the floor. Ivy sat down on the plush carpet and scanned her collection of what she referred to as her mindless smut book collection. Exactly what she was in to mood for. She picked out one of her favorites, a tried and true book that never failed to make her pulse quicken, her heart race, and her insides go to mush. It was something about the strong heroine and the connection she shared with a man who knew that she was capable but still had the need to protect her somehow.
Ivy rose and walked over to her couch, sinking down into the plush ness, never taking her eyes off of the page. After reading uninterrupted for ten minutes, she conjured herself a cup of hot tea and settled back against the arm of the couch, stretching her legs to their fullest extent. Engrossed in the book, Ivy almost didn't hear the soft knocking on her door. As it grew louder, Ivy sighed and put the book down on the coffee table, open to the page she was on. She shuffled to the door.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" she asked, startled at the young girl's tear stained face.
"Can you help me?" Hermione asked, in a small voice that was so uncharacteristic of her that Ivy leaned closer to make sure it actually was Hermione and not an imposter.
"I can try. Come in, please. Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thank you," Hermione's voice was distant as Ivy led her to the couch.
"Okay, Hermione, what's going on?" Ivy sat across from her, and leaned forward.
"I've tried everything, Ivy," Hermione said, burying her head in her hands.
"For what?" Ivy asked calmly.
"Ron," Hermione answered miserably. Ivy smiled slightly.
"Ah, the heartaches of your first love."
Hermione looked up at the fondness in Ivy's voice with a confused look. Ivy smiled. "There is a reason it's called a crush, Hermione. It hurts, a lot. But you have to be persistent. What have you tried?"
"I've tried helping him with his homework, spending as much time as I can with him. Sometimes I can't leave a room if he's in it."
Ivy smiled. "Have you tried talking about it with him?" Hermione looked scandalized.
"I can't talk to him about this!"
"Sure you can. I know it's hard, but you are a straightforward kind of a person, Hermione."
"I just keep reading the words to that song. That's how I feel, Ivy. Exactly how I feel."
"Then why don't you give Ron a copy of the lyrics?"
Hermione became thoughtful. Ivy could see the recognition dawning on her face.
"Maybe I could." Hermione trailed off.
"Maybe you should. Hermione, look, take it from me, Ron will never see it for himself. You need to make the first move."
"But, you do think he likes me?"
"As much as he looks at other women, Hermione, his heart belongs to you."
Hermione smiled, shyly.
"Do it. Make the first move."
A/N: Well, this was hard. Anyway, sorry for the delay in writing. *raises glass in a toast* Here's to the wonderful, vivacious, caring and talented Erin for always being there whenever I need to be pulled back into reality and whenever I need to be taken out of it. Love you sweetie, you are amazing.
I have received so many emails and good words asking me to continue this story that I feel I need to. I can't estimate how long it is going to take me, but I do have an outline for the rest of the story, so fear not, it will be finished. Now I just have to block OotP out of my mind. ( Hey, I did it when I chose to write about a book that had become a movie for my senior thesis, so I'm sure I can do it again. Thank you all for such great sentiments about my work!.
Ivy plodded her way back to the clearing where she had left Sirius. She was looking back on a whim, knowing that Sirius was a cautious man. He was anything but stupid, he would not have waited around to be caught and brought in because of her. He didn't know what or who was lurking in the forest any more than she did, but she was going back because she knew she would kick herself later if she didn't.
She found the clearing, flowers still in tact, but their glow had diminished considerably. She sighed and sat down on the plush grass. It should have been perfect, it should have been her first night with Sirius, but it wasn't. She knew he was long gone by now, but she couldn't bring herself to leave. She also couldn't blame anyone for her current situations. As she had found out the hard way, there were some things that just happened. She had adopted the concept that everything happened for a reason, and while she was disappointed, she also knew that there was a reason for what had happened tonight.
A soft rustle of the grass shook her out of her thoughts and Ivy whipped her head around. She saw nothing, but her intuition was telling her something was going on. She removed her wand from the inside of her cardigan sweater and held it above her head.
"Lumos!" she whispered, and the wand began to glow, shedding light around her in a dim circle. She looked down and saw a small field mouse scurrying around, darting away from her. Her curiosity piqued, she pointed her wand at the mouse.
"Imobulous!"
The mouse froze, eyes blinking rapidly. She rose and went over to the mouse, crouching down on her heels to examine him. She picked him up by the tail for a closer inspection. What she saw made her heart pound faster than it ever had before. This little mouse seemed to be missing a front paw.
"Oh, you are one stupid wizard, aren't you?" she said in a scathing voice she hadn't heard from herself since she was in high school. In the heat of the moment, she almost tried to Apparate up to the castle, but broke into a run instead, clutching the mouse close to her in the process.
As she reached the castle, she realized that she was running on pure adrenaline because what would normally had taken her anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes, took her five. She paused quickly to catch her breath as she opened the castle doors. She hurried to Dumbledore's office, gave the password, and raced up the golden staircase. She pounded on the door fiercely as she heard footsteps behind it.
"Albus! Albus, hurry!" she shouted, clutching the mouse in her hand. Dumbledore opened the door with a look of surprise on his face.
"Ivy? What is it?" he questioned.
"Remember you asked me for anything that might help clear Sirius' name?" Dumbledore nodded, noting the sparkle in Ivy's eyes that he hadn't seen in many years.
"How about this?" she exclaimed triumphantly, holding the mouse out for inspection by his tail. Dumbledore's eyes widened.
"Pettigrew," he breathed.
"He's under the Imobulous charm right now, but that will wear off soon," Ivy said, out of breath, as she handed the traitor over to Dumbledore.
"Ivy, I will ask you to go to Severus and have him give you a vile of Veritiserum. I will write a letter to Sirius, he should be here. I will ask Minerva to contact the Minister of Magic. He will want to be here for this. You may bring Severus with you, but only if you want to. The more witnesses we have to this, the better we will be, but I can understand this is a sensitive situation. I can't imagine why Pettigrew returned, but we will find out, and hopefully Sirius will be a free man by the morning."
Ivy smiled at Dumbledore. Atticus Minor was the new Minister of Magic after Cornelius Fudge had been thrown out of office last year. Fudge had been totally against any tactics to stop Voldemort's inevitable return. When it had been made public knowledge that he knew about the Dark Lord's rise and did nothing about it, he was publicly and politically left out to dry. Atticus Minor, a very well respected, honest, and fair ex-Auror had been first in line to obtain the position after Fudge's demise. He took his work seriously, and knew that everyone deserved a chance to tell his or her story. Ivy knew that Dumbledore had the utmost confidence in him and was glad he would be there to hear Pettigrew's testimony.
Ivy ran down to the dungeons in search of the Potion's Master. She looked in the little window of every door in the dungeon, finally coming across Severus Snape in his classroom. Conveniently enough, it was the same classroom that she knew the Veritaserum would be in. She collected herself quickly before bursting through the door to a surprised Snape.
"Please," Ivy's voice was strained with emotion. "Please, Severus, I need the strongest Veritaserum that you have."
Snape stared at her without blinking or moving. Ivy moved from the doorway to Snape's desk and banged her hands down on it.
"Did you hear me? Please, Severus, this is a time sensitive issue!"
Snape narrowed his eyes at Ivy and gradually stood, walking in the direction of the door Ivy had come through, which, Ivy noted, was in the opposite direction of his potions closet. "Fine, I'll get it myself," Ivy mumbled angrily as she sprinted toward the potions closet door at the back of the room. Just as she reached it, the door closed and locked by Snape's wand. Ivy spun furiously on her heels and stalked toward Snape.
"OPEN IT!" she screamed, loosing control of herself for the first time ever in Severus Snape's presence.
"You don't think I know why you need it?" Snape's voice was quiet, seemingly retrospective, as he looked not at Ivy, but rather through her.
Ivy leaned forward, a look of complete confusion crossing her face.
"Of course you know why I need it. You just won't give up this silly grudge to save an innocent man's life!"
"You've never known another, Ivy. How do you know he's it for you?" Ivy's eyes bugged out of her head.
"Who are you to presume what I have done? I haven't been around here for fifteen years! Besides, this has nothing to do with my relationship with Sirius."
"Bloody hell, stop lying to me, Ivy! I'm not blind. He's the only one you've ever seen." Ivy noted the hurt look in Snape's eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me," Ivy mumbled, raking her hand through her hair. "Severus, I love him, yes. I've always loved him. But you can't hold my feelings against him. You know as well as I do that Sirius is innocent, and I need that Verituserum to prove that." Ivy was grasping at anything she could.
Snape sighed and pointed his wand at the potions closet. "Alohamora," he mumbled. "Second shelf in the back," he said wistfully and turned to leave. Ivy sighed as the door closed behind him and shook her head.
"My life is a soap opera," Ivy spoke out loud as she made her way to the closet and retrieved the potion.
*** "Now, if you would, Peter, tell us what you are doing here," Dumbledore asked, after everyone had assembled in Dumbledore's office. Everyone that is, except for Sirius. Dumbledore had contacted him, but thought it best if he laid low until Minor had heard everything from Pettigrew, just in case anything should happen. Ivy's insides were turning themselves into knots at the prospect of a free and clear Sirius.
"I was sent here to see if it was true that Ivy Evans was back," Pettigrew said nonchalantly. Ivy stared at him in shock. Peter was never nonchalant, even before he had betrayed Lily and James. Remus leaned in to Ivy's ear.
"He is in a state of unconsciousness. He can only answer what he is asked. It makes it easier to talk to someone like this, as well as to get the truth," he whispered.
"And who sent you?" Dumbledore continued.
"The Dark Lord."
Atticus Minor had been shocked when Dumbledore had forced the mouse to transfigure back to his bodily state, and it had been none other than Peter Pettigrew.
"Mr. Pettigrew, it seems we have a problem here. Maybe you can clear that up for us," Minor began. "I was under the impression that Sirius Black had murdered you, along with twelve other people, fifteen years ago. Yet, here you are. How is that possible?"
"Black killed no one. I killed them and transfigured into a rat to get away. I needed an escape and he was it," came the reply. Ivy almost jumped for joy.
"And why did you need an escape?" Minor asked, a slight smile on his face.
"Because everyone would have gone after me if they knew Sirius had not been Lily and James' secret keeper. I would have been killed if anyone found out I had given the Potter's over to Voldemort."
"So instead of being a man, you chose the coward's way out," Minor observed.
"Yes."
"Now, tell us why you needed to know about Ivy," Dumbledore inquired.
"Ivy is a threat to my master. She is smart and Voldemort doesn't like that. He needs Harry Potter, as his time in his new body is growing shorter. I made a slight mistake in the potion. His regeneration was not complete, and he is starting to feel his powers slip. He has made a new potion himself, but he needs Harry Potter to finish it. He has tried everything he can think of, but he cannot find Potter. My master fears he has been placed under the same protection charm as his parents, but there are limited people who can be his secret keeper. When Voldemort found out that Ivy was alive and possibly back here, he needed to know for sure. I was sent to find out. And that was when she caught me."
Ivy's eyes narrowed. She'd be damned if Voldemort got a hold of her nephew again.
"I think we have enough to go on here, Albus. He will be brought down to the Ministry for further questioning as to where Voldemort is. As soon as I know, I will send word. We can have wards put up for Ivy, of course," Minor looked approvingly at Ivy, "though I doubt she will want them, from the look on her face right now. If you decide otherwise, Ivy, please do not hesitate to contact me, and I will see that it is done. I will be contacting the Daily Prophet with the news of Pettigrew's capture, his story, and Sirius' innocence. I am hereby pardoning Sirius Black for any involvement he was charged with in the deaths of Lily and James Potter, as well as any Death Eater activity. He is a free man."
Minor turned to shake Dumbledore's hand, as Ministry guards took Pettigrew away. He then turned and left the office himself. Minerva was visibly shaken at the news, as she had known nothing of it previously, but Remus, Ivy, and Dumbledore were all brimming with happiness.
"Sirius, you may floo over now, if you wish to," Dumbledore spoke to the fireplace that had a fire blazing in it. It then dawned on Ivy that Dumbledore had let Sirius listen in on the conversation as long as he stayed out of sight. As soon as Dumbledore doused the fire out, there was a loud pop and a shot of green flame, and Sirius Black stepped out of the fireplace, a free man for the first time in fifteen years.
He grinned and thanked Dumbledore, shook hands with a still somewhat shaken Minerva, hugged Remus close and turned to face Ivy.
"You," he said softly, his eyes blazing as his lips curled into that gorgeous grin of his that Ivy had always considered dangerous to her libido. He grasped her upper arm. "Come here," he growled, and pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his lips.
Ivy's senses went into overdrive as Sirius deepened the kiss and she matched him emotion for emotion. As they slowed the intensity of the kiss down, she smiled against his lips. When they broke apart, they stared into each other's eyes, letting their souls do the talking.
Ivy heard Dumbledore clear his throat. He chuckled at them as they turned sheepishly toward him.
"Sirius, welcome back to Hogwarts. I can have a room ready for you in a few minutes," Ivy's heart dropped, "that is, unless you wish to stay with Ivy tonight?"
"He'll stay with me," Ivy answered hurriedly. Dumbledore smirked, but nodded his head politely.
"I'll have Dobby bring up something to eat to your quarters then," he waved his hand in the general direction of the door. "Go have fun getting to know each other again. And take a few days off, Ivy."
"What about Harry?" Sirius asked, and Ivy fell even more in love with him at that moment.
"I will tell Harry what has happened. And I am sure he will want to visit you, but I will not tell him until tomorrow. There is no sense in waking him up tonight. Now, go!"
Ivy smiled her thanks to Dumbledore and reached for Sirius' hand. Fingers intertwined, they walked to Ivy's room.
***
It being Saturday morning, Ivy was trying her best to sleep in. It wasn't working quite as well as it had been when Sirius had been there with her. But he had been summoned to the Ministry for paperwork and other things that she knew would take up the rest of his morning. She turned from her side onto her back, rolling into the warmth of the place where his body had been and smiled. Bringing her hand up to the pillow, she smelled the overwhelming scent that was just Sirius.
Ivy had never been happier in her life. She smiled at the memory of cutting Sirius' matted hair after washing it for him in the shower. She'd done a fairly good job of it, teasing him by doing it the muggle way. They hadn't got around to cutting it into any sort of a style just yet, but there was always tonight.
Coming to the realization that she was never going to be able to get back to sleep, Ivy threw the covers back and got out of bed, her face plastered with a perm-a-grin. She looked in the mirror.
"You aren't going to fool anyone, smiling like that all day, young lady," the mirror wheezed at her, imploringly.
"And I don't care," Ivy said, grabbing her towel off the floor and heading into the bathroom.
After a quick shower, which also reminded her of the night before, she got dressed in her most comfortable clothes, gray yoga pants and a light blue three quarter sleeve fitted shirt, and threw her hair up in a tousled ponytail and walked out of the bathroom with a bounce in her step. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. It was a day meant for relaxation and that was just what she was going to do until Sirius came back home. Ivy smiled at the thought. He would be coming home later, to her. And then they would go talk with Harry. They had decided to talk with Harry together both about Sirius being a free man, and their relationship. It seemed easier that way and they both agreed that Harry was going to have to get used to seeing them together whether he liked it or not. Ivy scowled a bit. That sounded very harsh and the last thing Harry needed right now was harsh. But, then again, the last thing Ivy needed right now was to not be with Sirius.
Ivy padded through the doorway into her office and sat on the couch to think. Harry deserved the best she could give him. Sirius deserved the best she could give him. And she deserved the best she could give herself. They all deserved each other, to be a family together. Albeit a strange mix of people for a family, but a family nonetheless. And it was hers, if she wanted it.
Ivy looked around her office and had a sudden urge to watch muggle television. A good three hours of The Golden Girls would be mindless enough for her to forget about Sirius for the time he was gone, but entertaining enough to hold her attention. She toyed with the idea of conjuring a wall socket just to see what her T.V. would do if plugged in, but thought better of it. She knew her T.V. would be all snow, but if she could hook up her VCR or DVD player, she might be in business. Ivy stood up and walked over to the wall thinking. Finally her shoulders sank; that all sounded like a lot of work for someone who was supposed to be relaxing. Ivy turned and walked over to her bookshelf.
Running her fingers along numerous volumes of muggle literature, Ivy had a hard time picking one out. They all appealed to her on some level but she just couldn't choose, until she reached the bottom of her bookcase, crouching down on the floor. Ivy sat down on the plush carpet and scanned her collection of what she referred to as her mindless smut book collection. Exactly what she was in to mood for. She picked out one of her favorites, a tried and true book that never failed to make her pulse quicken, her heart race, and her insides go to mush. It was something about the strong heroine and the connection she shared with a man who knew that she was capable but still had the need to protect her somehow.
Ivy rose and walked over to her couch, sinking down into the plush ness, never taking her eyes off of the page. After reading uninterrupted for ten minutes, she conjured herself a cup of hot tea and settled back against the arm of the couch, stretching her legs to their fullest extent. Engrossed in the book, Ivy almost didn't hear the soft knocking on her door. As it grew louder, Ivy sighed and put the book down on the coffee table, open to the page she was on. She shuffled to the door.
"Hermione? What's wrong?" she asked, startled at the young girl's tear stained face.
"Can you help me?" Hermione asked, in a small voice that was so uncharacteristic of her that Ivy leaned closer to make sure it actually was Hermione and not an imposter.
"I can try. Come in, please. Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thank you," Hermione's voice was distant as Ivy led her to the couch.
"Okay, Hermione, what's going on?" Ivy sat across from her, and leaned forward.
"I've tried everything, Ivy," Hermione said, burying her head in her hands.
"For what?" Ivy asked calmly.
"Ron," Hermione answered miserably. Ivy smiled slightly.
"Ah, the heartaches of your first love."
Hermione looked up at the fondness in Ivy's voice with a confused look. Ivy smiled. "There is a reason it's called a crush, Hermione. It hurts, a lot. But you have to be persistent. What have you tried?"
"I've tried helping him with his homework, spending as much time as I can with him. Sometimes I can't leave a room if he's in it."
Ivy smiled. "Have you tried talking about it with him?" Hermione looked scandalized.
"I can't talk to him about this!"
"Sure you can. I know it's hard, but you are a straightforward kind of a person, Hermione."
"I just keep reading the words to that song. That's how I feel, Ivy. Exactly how I feel."
"Then why don't you give Ron a copy of the lyrics?"
Hermione became thoughtful. Ivy could see the recognition dawning on her face.
"Maybe I could." Hermione trailed off.
"Maybe you should. Hermione, look, take it from me, Ron will never see it for himself. You need to make the first move."
"But, you do think he likes me?"
"As much as he looks at other women, Hermione, his heart belongs to you."
Hermione smiled, shyly.
"Do it. Make the first move."
A/N: Well, this was hard. Anyway, sorry for the delay in writing. *raises glass in a toast* Here's to the wonderful, vivacious, caring and talented Erin for always being there whenever I need to be pulled back into reality and whenever I need to be taken out of it. Love you sweetie, you are amazing.
I have received so many emails and good words asking me to continue this story that I feel I need to. I can't estimate how long it is going to take me, but I do have an outline for the rest of the story, so fear not, it will be finished. Now I just have to block OotP out of my mind. ( Hey, I did it when I chose to write about a book that had become a movie for my senior thesis, so I'm sure I can do it again. Thank you all for such great sentiments about my work!.