When Sirius, James and Peter wandered back into their dormitory, they wondered why Remus hadn't come to meet up with them as he had said he would, but their questions were answered quickly when a certain sight met their eyes.

Remus was fast asleep on his bed, and so was Ivory. Her head was rested on his chest and his arm was draped across her shoulders.

Seeing this made each of them smile slightly. They wondered what the two had talked about while they were gone.

"What—" Peter started to say, but the other two shushed him, afraid to wake Remus and Ivory.

Sirius winked at his other two friends and they carefully tiptoed to their beds.

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When Ivory awoke, it took her a while to figure out where she was and what pillow she was sleeping on. She looked around; the dormitory looked much like hers, but it appeared backwards and was a lot messier. She carefully turned her head and saw that she was sleeping on a boy's chest.

The minute she saw him, she remembered everything that had happened the previous day. She remembered the horrible, haunting letter that told her her parents had been killed. She remembered sobbing into Remus's arms and having a heartfelt chat with him, and she remembered finally lying down with her head rested on his chest. She remembered why her eyes had been crusted and glued shut with dried tears. The only thing that she really cared about was the fact that her parents really were gone and it hadn't all been a nightmare...

She got up abruptly, lifting her head off of Remus and scooting away from him. It was still dark, so she figured it would still be a few hours before breakfast. The tears were falling fast down her cheeks again as she rolled off of Remus's bed and onto the floor. She put her hand in front of her mouth, attempting to muffle the sound of her cries so as not to wake any of the boys up.

Ivory lifted her knees to her chest and rested her head against the side of Remus's bed. She didn't even have time to think about the fact that she'd been sleeping in the same bed as Remusーsomething that, a few days ago, would have completely startled herーbecause all she could think about was how helpless she felt.

She looked over at Remus, whose chest was rising and falling steadily. He looked so peaceful in his slumber, and Ivory wished she could share in that peace. Asleep, there was no crease appearing between his eyebrows, no worry lines etched onto his face, no signs whatsoever that he had a care in the world. She wished there was a way that she might be able to do that once again.

It was terribly inconvenient that most of the peace a person could feel was while they were asleep; while they were not conscious of anything that had happened during their waking hours. One could sink into a dream, living a different life in an alternate universe and plunging into a false sense of security until such a time that they finally opened their eyes and were forced to continue on with a life full of despair and disappointment.

Ivory closed her eyes, hugging her knees to herself. She wasn't sure whether or not she ended up drifting off, because one minute she was closing her eyes, blocking her view of a dark room, and the next she was lifting her head again as sunlight flooded through the windows. She had somehow gotten back into Remus's bed, though he was no longer there.

"Morning, sleepy," came a cheerful voice. Sirius came into view and it appeared that he was the only one in the dormitory. He wasn't wearing his school uniform, but rather some plain Muggle clothing. He had his usual smirk on his face. "It seems you rolled right out of Remus's bed last night... that had to be the only explanation for why I found you curled up on the floor this morning, right?"

Ivory blushed feverishly and propped her head up on her fist, avoiding looking at Sirius.

"Anyway, so I took it upon myself to be gallant and lift you back into my best friend's bed."

She didn't answer again, letting her head fall back onto the pillow.

"You've been excused from your classes for the day," Sirius said, trying again to talk to the girl. He had never had trouble talking to her before, and had even quite liked her. She and his friends had often joked around before, however now she didn't seem to want to joke or laugh.

"What about you?" Ivory asked finally. "Have you been excused as well? Is that why you're not in uniform?"

"No," said Sirius. "I haven't been excused from my classes, per se... but that doesn't mean I can't excuse myself."

"You can't," said Ivory flatly.

"Well, I am, so you're just going to have to deal with me breaking the rules. It isn't like I haven't given myself a day off of school before. Remus, James, Peter and I have decided to stay with you rather than going to our regular classes so that we can keep you company."

"I don't need company," she said. "You lot don't need to miss out on classes for me..."

"Ivory," Sirius tutted. He came to sit next to her. "I wish we could help you..."

"Well, you can't," she snapped. "Unless you can bring my parents back, there is no way you can help me." She sniffled quietly, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Sirius was unfazed by her rudeness. He knew that, in this moment, she didn't mean it.

"That doesn't mean we can't at least try to cheer you up. I'm assuming you wouldn't like to go to the Great Hall for breakfast?"

Ivory shook her head.

"Good, because the others have gone to bring some food back for you. Breakfast in bed sound nice?" he asked.

She ignored his question. "Does Remus mind that I... that I... you know, slept in his bed...?"

"Mind? I'd have to say he was even disappointed that you 'fell' out of his bed," Sirius said, making air quotations with his fingers.

Ivory's lips twitched upwards for a fraction of second. It was so quick, however, that Sirius nearly missed it.

Suddenly, James, Remus and Peter burst through the door of the dormitory carrying food with them. They had brought two entire food platters from the Great Hall. Ivory almost wanted to chuckle at the three boys. Peter was struggling to carry five goblets of pumpkin juice at once, and nearly tripped over a pile of clothes on the floor as he tried to place them down on the nightstand. Remus was carrying one food platter, and James had the other. They all appeared to have been having a conversation prior to entering their dormitory.

"How is stealing food platters committing a crime?" James demanded.

"It isn't, as long as we go bring them back to the kitchens later on," Remus replied.

James rolled his eyes, then stopped when he caught sight of Ivory sitting up in Remus's bed. Peter and Remus glanced over at her as well. She looked distraught, her eyes appearing sunken and her face paler than they'd ever seen it.

James gulped and said to her, "Hello, Ivory. Hungry?"

Ivory didn't know just how hungry she had been until the moment she began eating. She scarfed down her breakfast, taking seconds and glad that the boys had brought entire platters instead of just filling a single plate. She hadn't eaten dinner last night, so the last meal she had eaten was lunch the day before. Unfortunately, hunger was a feeling that couldn't be avoided, and though she had felt sick to her stomach for a while just thinking about what had happened to her parents, human instincts had kicked in and she felt the inevitable feeling of hunger.

After she drank the goblet full of pumpkin juice and had wiped her plate clean, Ivory found herself being watched carefully by the boys. Remus settled down next to her on his own bed. She thought she ought to scoot away, perhaps sit on the floor instead, but she was too embarrassed to do so.

Ivory felt empty once more. Perhaps it was the silence that allowed her to reflect on everything, or it was the way Remus, Sirius, James and Peter were all looking at her like she might split at the seams, but she was once again reminded of how very alone she was. She didn't want to cry anymore; her eyes were too dry and had no tears left to shed, but that didn't keep her heart from aching and throbbing inside her ribcage.

The tension was thick in the air as the boys searched for something to say to the girl who had just lost her parents. Normally, they'd be cracking jokes and teasing each other and her, but she didn't seem like she wanted to laugh at all. Her face had fallen again and the tiny ounce of life and colour that had flooded into her cheeks momentarily had faded.

In his desperation looking for something to say, Remus reached into his pocket and something out. "Chocolate?" he said awkwardly, holding it out to Ivory.

She looked up at him, peeking through her curtain of auburn hair. She gave him a questioning look and suddenly he felt embarrassed. He always carried chocolate in his pocket, which James, Sirius and Peter teased him for. They said he was like everyone's favourite uncle who always had sweets with him.

"Normally chocolate makes people feel better," he whispered nervously, looking down at the chocolate bar in his hands.

Ivory's lips finally quirked upwards as she held out her hand and took the chocolate, the smallest of smiles finally lighting up her face.