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"James, please hear me out," Ivy begged as she tried her best to keep up with the stubborn Gryffindor. Ever since her conversation with Albus, she had been building up the courage to confront, James. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be taking it too well - he refused to hear what she had to say.

"Lennon, I thought you believed in me," James said stopping to turn towards the Ravenclaw. "You're the only person who has recently told me they believed I could win, but now you're coming up with excuses such as a mystery lady! Do you believe I am that daft?" He said with a hurtful look on his face.

Ivy's face softened as she looked closer at the boy, she knew it wasn't like James to show his feelings, but he seemed to be on the verge of tears. The last thing she had wanted was to hurt him, but she couldn't seem to get it through his thick skull that he was endangered.

Ivy had recently ventured towards the restroom where Myrtle lived, the ghost informed her that the woman still roamed the halls. She tried her best to catch the culprit, but she always seemed two steps ahead. No matter how hard she tried, and no matter how long she stayed awake, she couldn't catch a glimpse of the figure. At one point she began to believe the ghost was filling her head with lies, but she couldn't afford to take that risk. Deep down, Ivy knew someone was bound to get hurt, and that was the last thing she wanted for any of the contestants.

One evening she had decided that she had enough with the hide and seek, she gained the courage to talk to the Headmistress before she could change her mind. Ivy began to explain the situation with Myrtle, and even told her about the talking snakes. McGonagall had been caring towards the girl since she was eleven, it felt right telling her everything. Unfortunately, she didn't get the response she was hoping for, in fact, she got the quite opposite. The Headmistress told her it was simply in her head, and that there was no trace of Salazar Slytherin in her blood, nor could a lady be wandering around with the high security that surrounded the castle. It was just impossible.

Even though McGonagall informed her not to worry, she still did. The whole tournament was ridiculous, and there was no point in risking the lives of three teenagers.

"James, of course, I believe in you!" Ivy exclaimed taking one of his hands into her own, intertwining their fingers together. "But, you could not tell me you don't have a bad feeling about the event. Something is going to go wrong, James, and I don't want you caught up in the middle. Imagine what will happen to your family if you get hurt, please think of something other than the Potter name. Your father has gone through so much, so you wouldn't go through what he did." Ivy said informing the boy of his father's rough life. "You've been given a loving home, James, not many people are lucky enough. Don't take it for granted."

"Lennon, the competition is tomorrow, and I'm going into that maze whether you like it or not. I trained all year for the tasks, I battled a bloody dragon, I'm not dropping out because you claim Myrtle saw a mystery woman. Lennon, that ghost comes up with the craziest ideas! For all we know, she's just making it up." James exclaimed trying to reason with the girl, but she didn't seem to be taking it lightly.

"James, if you enter that maze you'll never hear from me again," Ivy said in a hushed tone, tears threatening to spill out at any second.

James stood there shocked at her statement, not wanting to believe what she had just said. "Lennon... you can't be serious, you're taking this out of context."

"There are two options, James, either you don't compete, or you walk away," Ivy said lifting her head to meet his gaze.

James looked towards her with a pleading look, but as he slowly let go of her hand, she knew his answers.

*

"Don't mind me, just going to go kill someone," Daisy stated after hearing Ivy's rant about James, but unfortunately for her, Harlow, surprisingly, pulled her down before she could hurt anyone.

"The git deserves it," Scorpius mumbled.

Rose, who sat right next to Scorpius, nodded in agreement. "Even Lily has tried to talk him." She informed the group remembering the argument the siblings had in the Gryffindor common room. "He has his mindset on winning that tournament, he's going to end up hurt." Rose finished in a worried tone.

"Do you think he'd listen to Fred?" Albus questioned, genuinely worried for his arrogant brother. Although at first he too had doubts about Ivy's claims, the face of worry she wore since their conversation erased all of his doubts. Ivy was known never to let her guard down, which included telling or showing others how she felt.

While the group discussed the topic further, Ivy sat poking at the food that laid on the plate. Her apatite was low, due to the constant thoughts flowing through her head. Ivy racked through her brain wondering of different motives she could use to cancel the games. She had wanted to contact Ginny and Harry, but unfortunately, they were off in Spain, and wouldn't arrive till the next day at the tournament. Her last option was to beg McGonagall to call it off, but even she seemed to think she was going mad.

Was she? Ivy thought to herself. Maybe she was hallucinating talking snakes, and maybe she was crazy for believing a ghost that would make anything up for attention.

As she continued to doubt herself, a shock cursed throughout her body causing her to briefly faint. The whole group turned towards the Ravenclaw, worried as to what was happening. James, who sat across the Great Hall, rushed towards her as soon as he heard the gasps near the table.

"Don't you dare James Sirius Potter!" Harlow sneered before the boy could approach Ivy. "Don't you dare leave her, then come running back as her knight and shining amour. She deserves better than that, and even your tiny brain knows that."

James looked down towards the brunette, just as he was about to argue, Roxanne demanded him to go sit back down. "She's right, James," Roxanne whispered hearing what the Ravenclaw had just exclaimed.

Ivy, who had no idea what coursed through her body, regained consciousness quickly, almost as if nothing had ever happened.

"Fine, but is she alright?" James questioned trying to catch a glimpse of Ivy, who was hidden behind Harlow's figure.

"She's fine, James." Albus replied not even bothering to look up at his brother. "I'm taking her to Madam Pomfrey, you can go now." He stated lifting Ivy and guiding her out of the Grand Hall.

"You're not fine, Ivy," Albus told his best friend once they were out of reach from any other student. "My dad would have situations like this, and we all known how that ended."

"It didn't hurt," Ivy mumbled.

"What do you mean it didn't hurt!" Albus exclaimed turning towards Ivy with a shocked expression. "Ivy, you fainted in front of us, clearly something must have happened." Albus finished trying to reason with her.

"It was just a shock, I can't remember what I was thinking right before. All I felt was goosebumps appearing all over my body before I fell into a drowsy state." Ivy finished, trying her best to explain what she had felt.

"Ivy, this isn't normal," Albus said with a worried glance.

"I know it isn't, nothing seems to be normal."

~

like two or three
more chapters LOL

anyways james is
an idiot :///

also
#stanharlowforclearskin