LET ME GET YOUR TIE BEFORE YOU GO TO ASTRONOMY.

"ARE YOUR GRYFFINDOR KIDS STILL FIGHTING?" Val asked. Her head was in Ivy's lap, who was braiding the Slytherin girl's hair. Ethan was sitting next to them and looking over Val's Charms homework. Snuffles was curled up against Ivy's side

"Merlin, yes," Ethan groaned. "I swear, all Weasley and Granger do is fight. Blimey, were we that annoying when we were in our third year?"

"Probably," Val muttered, snorting. "I thought they'd all kiss and make up now that Potter has the Firebolt back."

"Yeah, but there might be a small chance that Mione's cat ate Ron's rat," Ivy said, cringing. "Scabbers has been in that family for like twelve years, so he's pretty upset with her."

"Rats don't live for twelve years," Val said, shaking her head. Of course, that messed up the braid Ivy was working on, and she had to start over.

"Trust me, it barely looked alive," Ethan told her. "Probably put the little creature out of its misery."

"I'm sure Ron will forgive her soon. I mean, who knows? Maybe Crookshanks just scared Scabbers, and he ran off. He could be on his way back now," Ivy said, looking on the bright side. "Or he's just hiding in the room. The boys don't exactly keep their room neat and tidy — plenty of places for a small rat to hide."

"If your dog hasn't eaten him yet," Val mumbled.

Ivy playfully tugged on her hair before leaning down and kissing the top of Snuffles' head. "Snuffles is an absolute angel." The dog turned his head and licked Ivy's cheek, earning a smile from her.

"What're you gonna do about this guy when you leave Hogwarts?" Val asked. "Your parents certainly won't let you keep them. They didn't even want you to get Fish."

"Hey, Fish has really grown on Father," Ivy defended. And then she frowned. "I don't know but I'll figure something out. Just add it to the neverending list of things in my future that I haven't figured out."

Ethan smiled sympathetically. "Still no idea what you wanna do?"

"Well, we can't all have stellar offers from the National Irish Quidditch team," Ivy said, winking at Ethan.

A few months ago, the professional team had approached the Gryffindor simply asking for him to try out for the team. Of course, the Chaser had done fantastic and would have a position on the team once he finished with school. It was highly likely they'd all be watching him in the Quidditch World Cup in a few months.

"What about you, V?" Ethan asked, turning to her.

"I'm gonna be a bitchin' Auror and make Professor Hottie my trophy husband."

Ethan groaned while Ivy shook her head, her cheeks heating up. "Val, what if he heard you say something like that?"

"She wouldn't care," Ethan said, chuckling.

"I'd like to think Professor L would fancy a girl who knows just what she wants — and I want him," she boldly claimed. "And back to knowing what you want, V, has your Head of House said anything?"

Ivy simply shrugged. "Sprout's been really helpful, but it's just hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that I really have no clue what field I'd like to go into. And she's been writing to my parents about it, which I wish she hadn't."

"You can't blame her for worrying," Ethan said gently. "You're the smartest witch in our year. You have perfect grades in every class."

"Just because I'm top of the class doesn't mean I know what I'm meant to do in the real world," she said quickly. "I mean, we don't even know what's out there. Not really. It's scary to think about leaving Hogwarts."

"Well," Val said, sitting up as Ivy finished braiding her hair. She slung an arm around the Hufflepuff's shoulders. "At least you have one thing you don't have to worry about."

"Let me guess. I'll always have you guys?" Ivy cooed.

Val scoffed and shook her head. "Gross, Flufflepuff. No, you're super-rich. Don't need a job right away."

"And for a moment we dared to think Valerie Swan could be sweet," Ethan said, chuckling. "How foolish of us."

| | |

"So, yesterday was rather eventful."

"I think eventful is too gentle a word," Ivy said, chewing on her bottom lip.

She was sitting outside — quite close to the courtyard in order to be seen — with Snuffles and Cedric. She was feeding the dog apple slices covered in peanut butter while Cedric went on about the previous day. It had started out quite well but went downhill rather quickly.

With Harry's Firebolt returned, everyone was excited to see him use it in action for the Quidditch game against Ravenclaw. It was fantastic how Harry zoomed through the sky, faster than anyone else on the pitch. But then Draco and his goons thought they'd play a little prank by dressing up as Dementors to try and scare Harry. Of course, his lessons with Professor Lupin paid off, and he successfully cast the Patronus Charm, which had definitely dazed the Slytherin boys.

"Personally, I think you smacking Draco on the back of his head and reprimanding him like a mother did more to make him regret his actions than the detentions he got," Cedric had told her.

Despite the horrible prank, Harry managed to catch the snitch and defeat Ravenclaw. Though Wood barely gave Harry time to celebrate before ranting to him about how many points ahead they had to have against Slytherin to win the Quidditch Cup at the end of the year. The party to celebrate Gryffindor's win had gone on for some time, and even Ivy had been let into the common room to enjoy it.

However, once everyone had retired to bed, they didn't stay there for long. In the middle of the night, Sprout had woken everyone up and made them move to the common room because Sirius Black had successfully broken into the Gryffindor Tower — more specifically, Harry's room. No student slept a wink as they waited up in their respective common rooms, eager to hear if Sirius Black had been caught in the search of the castle.

He hadn't.

"Heard that Ron boy is walking around like a celebrity," Cedric told Ivy. "Everyone wants to hear about what happened."

"I think if I woke up with a criminal hovering over me with a knife, I'd be too terrified to retell the story the next day," Ivy admitted. Snuffles licked at her fingertips, signaling he wanted another apple slice. "I'm just glad he wasn't hurt."

"Yes," he agreed. "Though I'm not sure why Black didn't just kill him and move on to Harry when he realized he had the wrong bed."

"Oh, I don't even want to think about that," she said, shutting her eyes. Then she sighed. "Neville is really having a tough time. I might knit him a scarf or some socks or something to make him feel better."

Cedric softly scoffed and shook his head. "V, he's the reason Black made it in the room in the first place. He didn't even have the sense to think about how dangerous writing down all the passwords would be."

"It's not his fault he has trouble remembering things sometimes," Ivy defended. "And clearly, he feels bad. People shouldn't be bullying him because of a little mistake."

"That little mistake almost cost Harry and Ron and all those other kids their lives," he said as if she needed reminding.

"I know," she said, sighing before eating an apple slice. "But I'm gonna make him something anyway."

Cedric simply smiled. "You're too nice for your own good sometimes."

"You're just as nice as me, Ced," she pointed out. "I mean, you're the only Captain that would have offered a rematch after the Dementors interrupted the match against Gryffindor. Chang, Flint, and Wood wouldn't have done that no matter the conditions."

"Gotta live up to the Hufflepuff name," he said, chuckling. Then he studied Ivy's face, focusing on her lips. "Oh, you've got some peanut butter."

Cedric had reached forward, intending to wipe the food off her bottom lip, but Ivy had beat him to it, leaning away slightly. Snuffles watched with a slightly smug expression as Cedric's shoulders sagged. "Thanks, Ced," Ivy said, grinning. "That would've been embarrassing to go to Astronomy like that. Val certainly wouldn't have told me."

"No problem," he told her, shaking his head. He then looked around outside to make sure plenty of people were in sight. "I've got to head to Charms. Are you sure you're alright to stay out here by yourself for a little while?"

"Yeah," she assured him. Then she put an arm around Snuffles, who moved closer to her side. "I've got a guard dog with me. See you at dinner, Ced."

He got to his feet and grabbed his bag but then glanced down at Ivy once more and smiled sweetly. "Let me get your tie before you go to Astronomy."

Dogs couldn't scoff, but Snuffles would if he could as he watched Cedric kneel over Ivy. A smile graced Ivy's soft lips as the younger boy carefully tied a perfect Windsor knot. He let his fingers brush her shoulders as he pushed her dark curls back before finally leaning away. As soon as the distance between the two grew, Snuffles moved to sit on Ivy's lap, making sure to stay between them.

"Thanks, Ced," Ivy said, running her hands through Snuffles' fur — she wasn't aware of it, but she was calming him down.

Sirius knew, of course, that it was ridiculous to react so childishly to a boy — one who was both sort of perfect for Ivy and age-appropriate — being so close to Ivy. And If Remus or James knew how he was internally pouting over the fact that he couldn't be the one to tie Ivy's tie, then they'd call him pathetic.

That was the only word he could think of to describe himself. Having a crush on the much younger girl who was feeding and taking care of him out of the kindness of her heart because she thought he was a stray dog was pathetic. Truly pathetic.

The stronger his feelings grew, the more he knew he'd never live it down once his plan was complete and he was free.

| | |

"Really, Snuffles, Harry's done it this time," Ivy mumbled. She and the dog were outside, and Ivy was lying on her stomach, looking at Snuffles. Every now and then, she'd grab one of his paws and toy with it while continuing to tell him about her day.

"Fred and George are gonna be furious when they find out he already got the Marauder's Map confiscated. I mean, at least it went to Professor Lupin and not Professor Snape, but still," she said, sighing. "Really, I wish I could say I thought he was more responsible than this, but we both know that's not true. At least he didn't lose that invisibility cloak. I know it means a lot because it was his father's."

"Ooh, you know what would be fun?" Ivy asked. Snuffles tilted his head, seeming to give her his full attention. "Maybe HJ could let me borrow the cloak, and I could sneak you into the Hufflepuff common room. I think having a dog at the end-of-term party would certainly liven things up. You wouldn't be alone. Val and Ethan go."

He thought it was adorable how she considered the fact that he might be lonely.

"Val is the one that always brings the alcohol," Ivy said in a quiet tone as if she was spilling some huge secret. "I never drink, despite her nagging, but I might try it this year. I mean, there's lots of things I haven't done, but maybe I should scratch some things off the list. I'd never admit that to Val though, or she'd go crazy."

She rolled her eyes. "Val's been trying to corrupt me since fourth year. As I'm sure you've picked up on, I'm the type of girl that's concerned by the fact I've never been kissed, and she's the type that's concerned by the fact I've never had an orgasm — really, Snuffles, file this under things not to tell your forest friends. Seriously."

Merlin, Ivy was killing Sirius and she didn't even know it with the things she'd admit to him. Such intimate things coming from that innocent, pretty, little mouth made his brain fuzzy at times.

"I think you'll like the Hufflepuff common room," Ivy went on, completely oblivious about the things she had admitted to the Azkaban escapee. "It's right next to the kitchens too. However, we'll have to wait until after exams because most people are there studying, and I don't want to disturb them."

"Ivy!"

The Hufflepuff looked away from Snuffles to see Hermione running up to her. She had a piece of parchment crumbled in her hand, and as soon as Ivy saw her red eyes and splotchy cheeks, she sat up.

"Mione, what's wrong?" she asked, worry clear in her tone.

"Oh, it's just awful," Hermione said, throwing herself next to Ivy and hugging her.

"Are you hurt? Is it the boys?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. She thrust the parchment into Ivy's hands, who read it over, her face falling. "Buckbeak is going to be executed."

"This is horrible," Ivy said, tears welling in her own eyes. She hated the thought of that innocent, majestic creature being put to death over one accident. "How could they make such a drastic decision?"

"Malfoy's dad's frightened the Committee into it," Hermione mumbled, wiping her eyes. "I know you tried to get Malfoy to talk to his dad about it, and I appreciate it, but it's too late."

"Hagrid must be in pieces," she said, shaking her head. "You both have been trying so hard to win this case. It's just not fair."

"No, it's not," she agreed. "Hagrid was allowed to bring Buckbeak back to Hogwarts for his last few weeks. But his execution date is set right around exams."

That was a horrible thing to weigh on Hermione's mind during her tests. Ivy knew how Hermione spent all her free time researching the different laws about magical creatures, trying to save the Hippogriff. She couldn't imagine the guilt that was plaguing her mind.

Ivy gently held Hermione's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "You know I'll be there for you and Hagrid and Buckbeak right up until the end. We can go visit every day."

"Thank you, Ivy," she mumbled.

"Have you told the boys yet?" Ivy asked.

Hermione hesitantly shook her head. "No. I'm sure they don't want to talk to me."

"Hey, they care about Buckbeak too," she reminded her. "I know you've all been fighting, but maybe this will knock some sense into Ron. Whether Crookshanks ate Scabbers or not, nothing should matter more than your friendship and keeping each other in your lives."

"Will you come with me to tell them?" she asked, flashing her a pleading look.

"Of course. Let me get my bag," she said. Then Ivy turned to Snuffles and kissed his nose goodbye. "I've got to run, but I'll see you after dinner. Maybe I'll bring you back a nice juicy pork chop for being the best secret-keeper in the world."

Snuffles licked Ivy's cheek before letting her go. As they walked off, Snuffles watched to make sure they made it safely into the castle — there was a murderer on the loose after all.

"I've seen Crookshanks hanging around your dog," Hermione said, looking at him over her shoulder.

"That's good. I'm glad he has some animal friends," Ivy said, smiling. "And Crookshanks is welcome to join us outside any time. I've always got snacks."

"I know," Hermione told her, grinning. "You probably wouldn't have managed to win him over otherwise."