Warnings: Retelinng of abuse, mentions of prostitutes and drug dealers, big decisions, shocks, and apologies.
She gripped the blankets, breathing in sharply. "I-"
"We need to know, Ivy." George said calmly as Fred sat on the bed next to her.
"I- Look I'm fine, it doesn't need to be-" She fell silent at both of their glares, fidgeting with the blanket- something she hadn't done since she was little.
"I, er, I was three the first time he hit me. Told me it was my fault he hadn't got the promotion he wanted. It was a broken arm and a few missing teeth, I went blind in my left eye. The next morning I was fine. I started cleaning the house when I was four. If my chores weren't finished, I didn't get any food until Aunty could sneak me some. I was seven when I overheard him talking about…other things, while he was drunk."
Both growled, "Other things? Did he-" Fred cut himself off as his hands tore through the blanket.
George flexed his own, "Did her r-rape you, Ivy?"
"No. He decided I was too freaky for anyone to touch like that, thought I'd contaminate them. I didn't understand until I told Aunty, and she decided she'd have to find a way to make sure his attention didn't stray to that again and talked this sleazy woman to have an affair with him. When the woman heard she did it for free, and we just fed her dinner and stuff. He kicked me out when I was eight, that's when, erm, that's when I k-killed that man." She rung her hands, lowering her head so her hair covered her face. "I stayed with that woman, Hanna, and her best friend Shane, both of them were squibs so they taught me some of the things Aunty couldn't. Aunty didn't know I was friends with them, but Shane was a drug dealer, but he didn't use anymore. I lived with them for two weeks in the hood, and got caught in the middle of a drive by-"
"Like the movies with guns?" Fred questioned. She didn't get shot, did she?
She nodded, "Yea. One of the guys who knew Shane took a bullet in the arm for me, but when he landed he pushed me in the street on accident. I got hit by the car the shooters were using." She lifted up her shirt to show the pale jagged marking on her hip that vanished just bellow her jeans. "Shane got me to the hospital and they stitched me up. The hospital called Vernon and Aunty and they came and got me. I had to go back in for check ups, so he couldn't do anything until it was healed. It was usually just bruises after that, with the occasional broken bone. He debated whether or not to kill me when I got my letter, but Aunty convinced him he wouldn't have to pay for any of it, and he decided he still needed his house slave." She shrugged. "Nothing I wasn't used to by then."
Both twins pounced, wrapping around her with slightly angry/relieved expressions. "Wish we could have helped Snape get him." They muttered in tandem.
She felt their anger through their weird bond and sighed contentedly. Besides Hana, Shane and Aunty, she'd never had anyone feel angry for her, and she always relished in it when she did. Pomfrey woke them up sometime later with a knowing smile. "You have a visitor. When he leaves, you may go. Eat light at lunch, Miss Potter, and a normal dinner."
They sat up- more like Ivy sat up and shoved the two red heads into the plastic chairs on either side of her bed. "Headmaster." She greeted politely.
"Miss Potter, Fred, George." He greeted cheerily. "I thought I would let you know Quirrell is no longer among the living." he turned solemn. "He resisted arrest and had to be taken down." The didn't say anything as he gave a somewhat amused expression. "On to better things. Miss Potter, Nicholas Flamel would like to thank you for protecting his Stone, and he and his wife had asked me to give you this and ask that you open it in private when only your two bonded are present."
George choked, "Sounds like we're married." He muttered.
"Aw, I'm not good enough for you, brother mine?" Fred teased, blinking at the strange look he was given by the only female of the group.
Ivy accepted the long and somewhat heavy bundle with a nod. "Alright."
Dumbledore took a breathe, "Miss Potter…I would like to formally say both I'm sorry and thank you. Your right that I should have checked on you, but as much as we both wish we could change it, would you still be the same you are now?"
She shook her head, "No, but sometimes I wish I wasn't. I can't accept that apology now, but maybe in time." She met his eyes and remained with a blank expression.
"I wouldn't expect anymore after that." He admitted, "I thank you because due to you alerting me of Quirrell. However, before I leave we have one last thing to discuss."
Sharing looks, the three nodded as the wizened man summoned a chair. "You Aunt told you of your parents untimely demise, and both of you know about it through your own parents." He took another deep breathe. "Voldemort did not die that night, Miss Potter. When you somehow rebounded the curse at him, it only turned his body to ashes."
She paled and drew in a sharp breathe. "If that's true…I'm at the top of his hit list." Her grip tightened on the material in her hands, and both twins grew equally pale. Fred latched his hand onto hers, and George followed his example, tearing the appendages from the clothe.
"Correct." He flicked his wand to create a privacy ward, runes flashing blue around them before fading away. "Before I was Headmaster, a student named Tom Marvalo Riddle walked these halls. You know him as Voldemort." He ignored the twins light cringe. "Over these years I have figured something important out. Tom Riddle split his soul and made what the Magic World calls Horcrux. A Horcrux an object that can be either alive or inanimate that holds part of a persons soul. I believe Tom did this to strip away his humanity. As long as they exist he can never truly die. I don't know how many, not yet, but I'm looking. I've already found two."
"What-" Ivy cleared her throat, steeling herself and turning on her analytical side. "What were they? I'm certain, with as powerful as he's supposed to be, it wouldn't be casual objects."
"Very true. One was this." He held up a black and broken tiara like thing. "The Diadem of Ravenclaw. It was thought lost, but I stumbled across it here in Hogwarts. I've already destroyed this one."
"And the other?" George managed. It couldn't be, could it? He glanced at the scar on her forehead, grip tightening on her hand. He'd killed Lily Potter in front of Ivy, and the back lash. He paled further, hoping to Merlin he was utterly wrong.
Dumbledore met her eyes. "You. When the curse hit him, a part of his soul latched onto what ever it could, the only living thing that could sustain it."
Her eyes widened, hands shaking as she yanked her hands from her bonded's grasp. One touched her forehead and the other curled around her stomach. "That's- the nightmares when I was little. Morgana I could here her dying. He was making me see it."
Dumbledore was not looking any better, but he nodded. "Most likely."
Fred looked at the old man with a look of determination. If that bloody bastard could give her nightmares, he could get in her head and hurt her even more. She'd told him when they met in her mindscape that it was her 'safe haven,' and he wouldn't have any of it. "Can you get rid of it?"
"Yes. But it will hurt, excruciatingly so. The only known ways to destroy Horcrux are Basilisk Venom and Fiend Fire. Normally, those would also destroy the vessel as well. However, if Basilisk Venom is ingested it's much like a cleanser, painful, and it can kill you if you don't have proper medical care, but it can be done."
Ivy took a few shaky breathes before lifting her head, "W-what do I have to do?"
"All you have to do is drink and endure. Should you do it, Poppy, Severus , Minerva and I will be here to watch over you. However there is another, less painful option. But it's just as dangerous."
All three looked up sharply, waiting for him to continue.
"A Horcrux can also be destroyed with the Killing Curse. It's a freebee, so to speak. You can be hit by it, and it will only kill Voldemort's soul within you. You may choose what you want to do, but I would keep it for now, due to three reasons. The first is the freebee. The second, you can see into his own mind and get information. The third and last, these two, through your connection, can help you whenever he tries to invade your own mind."
"That's no reason-" Fred nearly leapt from his chair in anger.
"Fred!" His head snapped around at Ivy's exclamation. "Enough." She said strongly, "He's right, it's wiser to keep it for now, it can work more into our favor than his. As long as he doesn't know there is nothing he can do about it. And even if he did, the most he could do was lock me up from the rest of the world, and then I have the chance of being found and rescued." She wrung her hands before getting herself out of the bed standing tall and smoothing out her uniform. "Tell Madam Pomfrey thank you for changing me. And thank you, for telling me. You could have kept it to yourself."
She turned to the twins, "Come on, curiosity is killing me."
George smiled at her lightening of the mood. "Curiosity killed the cat." He teased.
"Good thing I'm not McGonagall then." She countered, taking the package into her arms and pushing Fred towards the door. "Good day, Headmaster."
"Albus, Miss Potter. Call me Albus."
She paused, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him. "Then it's Ivy." She continued at the door with the two redheads at her sides, both wrapping an arm over her, one on her waist the other on her shoulder.
She threw a teasing glare at Fred, "That hand moves and lower and I'll have your junk as a trophy in my room."
He sputtered, "I'm not a bloody pedophile!" He exclaimed in in embarrassment.
The other two merely laughed at him.