Chapter 11: (3620 words)

He didn't move at all, knowing that if he played things right, he would have no reason to worry. "Riddle, I have no clue what you're doing here but I'll certainly be dealing with you!"

"Now, now, McGonagall. Don't you want to hear what I have to say?" he raised an eyebrow to accompany his expecting smirk. The Gryffindor witch glared at him furiously, but reluctantly nodded and gestured for him to speak. "I assume that, after teaching here for a while, you'd have noticed how some of your students are sure to become Death Eaters once they graduate from Hogwarts?" Seeing that he was getting on her nerves, Tom continued with a barely hidden smirk, "It was shown to me a week ago just how many students that was. There's even some from your House, did you know?"

She gaped at him, "Gryffindor Death Eaters?!"

"Of course," he gave her an obvious look, "A prime example is Peter Pettigrew. Surely you know by now that Sirius Black was innocent?"

"Well of course I know that, Albus told me," she promptly replied, and Tom sighed. Apparently, this was going to be harder than he thought. "I don't see the point of you telling me this, Riddle."

"It's obvious, McGonagall; I am almost positively certain that once the Fifth Years, almost Sixth Years, graduate, I'll be sure to win this war. It is your choice if you give my side a chance. A lot of people you care about are with me and the Dark," he informed her and she growled at him.

"Take me to them," she ordered, gripping her wand tighter as she pointed it directly at his heart. Her eyes were filled with determination but Tom could see the worry within them. She probably assumed that he was keeping them captive.

"Of course," he nodded, and he gave her a little stone that Ivy had painted as a child. She had given it to him earlier; and it was decorated with beautiful patterns of snakes and leaves in gorgeous shades of brown, black, green, and some hints of red. Apparently, she had seen a picture of a snake in a school book and thought that the creatures were wonderful. "This is a portkey to my base. The word to say is 'Loyalty'. You will land in the Meeting Hall, which should be empty. Severus will meet you there." And with that, he hissed, "Change," to his ring and turned back into 'Corvus Malfoy'. "Nice talking with you, McGonagall," he smirked, and left the office.

Minerva stood in the centre of the room, her wand still aiming towards where the door – now closed – was situated. She wasn't sure what to think, but what she did know was that she wanted to find out who Riddle was talking about when he said 'a lot of people you care about'. It could just mean Gryffindors, though it could mean people who would make her unable to live with herself if they died and she wasn't there to help.

She glanced at the portkey in her hand and was surprised to see that it was a hand-painted stone. Certain that Riddle definitely wasn't the one who painted it, she wondered who it could have been. Minerva assumed that it was a Slytherin, what with the snakes coiling around the beautifully painted rock. Whoever gave it to Riddle either cared for him very much or… didn't have much of a choice. She guessed that it was the former option, only for the reason that Riddle wouldn't bother himself with stealing such a trivial item. Despite the snakes coiling around it, it was still a rock. This made her wonder who could have possibly cared enough for Riddle to give him something that obviously took a very long time.

Not being able to think of anything else to delay her decision, she sighed. Knowing that it was dangerous, but worth it, she whispered, "Loyalty," whilst gripping the stone in her hand.

(-Line break!-)

-One hour earlier-

Ivy grinned as she sent Hedwig off with four letters in her claws, each containing a uniquely painted rock within. One was heading to Hermione, one to Neville, another to Luna, and the other to the twins, who would tell Ginny and bring her along. The black-haired witch couldn't wait to see her friends again, and to introduce them to Tom.

Although he hadn't said anything when she went to give him one of her favourite rocks, she was expecting him to talk to Professor McGonagall somehow, despite not knowing where he was going. She remembered that look in his eyes as she told him about how she trusted the witch, that look that spoke volumes of what Tom what do to her. She quickly left, a blushing mess, though she doubted that he noticed, since he was doing quite a bit of blushing himself.

A few hours before, Ivy had to explain after breakfast everything that had happened to her Slytherin school friends, and when she showed them some of the letters, she blushed at the comments of how nice he was being to her. They definitely didn't miss those, that's for sure, what with all of the teasing that followed.

Oh well, at least there was no mistrust between them, and her other friends would hopefully be arriving soon, and possibly Professor McGonagall too; she knew how persuasive Tom could be. Her life could be better, but she was happy and safe and that was more than she'd ever had.

(-Line break!-)

Having finished all of her school work, Hermione didn't really have anything else to do but read. However, for the first time in her life, she didn't really feel like reading. She was much to excited to see her friend and finally be on a side of the war in which she felt excepted and happy. She was also worried about Ivy, since she had been told by the black-haired witch a long time ago that her uncle wasn't… the nicest relative ever.

And that was why her heart skipped a beat when a very familiar snowy owl landed on her open window sill, "Hedwig!"

Hermione raced to the owl and plucked a letter from the collection that had her name on it, in the normal chicken scratch of her best friend. "Thanks, Hedwig. You can deliver the rest of your letters now, I'll reply to Ivy when I get there. Bye!" Hedwig hooted as she flew off, and with nothing left to do, Hermione ripped open the envelope. She opened the letter and quickly skimmed through what she was being told: Ivy was injured but got healed by one of the Lestrange brothers; Tom was as nice as he was in the letters (at least to her he was); and that there was… a portkey in the envelope? Hermione put the letter down on her desk and looking in the envelope, she saw a purple and dark blue coloured stone within.

She picked it up and looked at it closely, a pattern of intertwining flowers, their stalks in light green and petals in dark purple and black, surrounded by petals of dark blue and purple, and miniature silhouettes of birds in white and light blue. Hermione noticed the rather discrete nod towards Ravenclaw and shook her head, how many rocks had her friend painted to have one for every occasion?

Hermione had to admit that the painting was beautiful and wasn't all that surprised that it was Ivy who did the painting; her friend was incredibly talented when doing something she loved. Examples including flying, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and, of course, painting. She had caught glimpses of sketches that her friend had done over the years. Hell, she had even saw one that was a portrait of her at thirteen, a few days before she was petrified in Second Year. A portkey, huh? She'd have to tell her parents first before she left.

"Mum, dad!" Hermione called as she ran down the stairs.

"Yes, my dear?" her mother replied from the kitchen, where she was reading a magazine about holiday destinations, and her father was cleaning up from lunch.

"I just got a letter from Ivy, there's a portkey in it." Seeing the looks of confusion, she quickly explained, "It's an object that teleports you to somewhere else. Sometimes it's the only way to get somewhere if you don't know where you're going. I trust my friend."

Her parents shared a look, before her father turned to look at her, "Do you mind telling us where you're going? And how long you will be staying there?"

"I don't mind at all, dad," she smiled, "You can always send a letter with Hedwig. I'll ask Ivy if she can come around every once in a while to see if you have a letter. Ivy's an orphan and very alone, but she made a friend and since she doesn't have the best home life, she's staying with him. Some of our other friends and I said that we'd visit and check in all the time. We're all very close," a grimace sprouted on her face, "except from Ron, he's a bastar-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, young lady," her mother sternly told her, though there was a glint of amusement in her eyes.

"I'll probably spend the night, and come back tomorrow, though there'll be likely to be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing from there and here, and our friends' houses," Hermione told her parents. "I won't need to take anything, her friend lives in a manor. And yes," she quickly interrupted her parents, "I'll be sure to look after myself and my teeth."

Their looks softened. "Alright, Hermy," her father told her, and she gave him and her mother a hug.

"I love you both," she smiled, before running up to her room, and saying to the rock in her hand, with a roll of her eyes, "Slytherin is better than Ravenclaw."

(-Line break!-)

Neville sighed as he hid out in his greenhouses at Longbottom manor. While he loved his home purely for the reason that his father grew up here and that he himself grew up here, he still despised it far more than he could ever love it. His grandmother made his life miserable, always going on about how unworthy he was of being a Longbottom. He didn't particularly mind, he'd much rather be in the same family as his friends. He closed his eyes as he thought of how much better his life would be if he was a Granger, or a Lovegood, or even a Potter. While he didn't like it, he was used to not having parents, despite them still being alive. It's not like they even remember him anywa-

His thoughts were cut off as a scratching noise reached his ears. He opened his eyes and saw Hedwig scratching her claws against some plant pots as a way of getting his attention. "Oh, hi Hedwig. Wait… Hedwig! Does Ivy have anything to say?"

The snowy owl hooted at the boy, and raised a leg, to which he promptly took an envelope and opened it. The first thing he noticed was that there was a painted rock inside and he took it out to inspect it, whilst telling Hedwig that she could carry on with her honourable job.

The background of the painting was a warm sunny yellow, probably a nod to which house he was descended from. There were swirls of white and light orange all over the rock, with the black shadowy silhouettes of a group of wolf-looking creatures, though Neville supposed that they could be badgers if one squinted their eyes. In one word, the painting was magnificent and Neville was now excited to read the letter sent to him by Ivy. Reading through it told him that Ivy was safe and sound, and with Tom, the one who ordered the death of him and his parents. 'No,' he shook his head, 'That was the prophecy's fault, and Dumbledore's.' He also read the part about the rock being a portkey to the main base of the Dark side, and he smirked as he thought about what his grandmother's reaction would be to that.

Not even hesitating, he whispered, "Slytherin is better than Hufflepuff."

(-Line break!-)

"Psst. Hey, Forge," Fred whispered to his twin brother, as they sat waiting for Ginny to bring them a snack. They three of them had been ignoring Ron and Percy as much as possible since they had arrived, much to the confusion of their parents. They didn't care much for the twins, since they were such 'disappointments', but they cared about Ginny. Well… 'cared' was a pretty lax term. They only saw her as a girl that they could marry off into a rich family to rise their status. To be honest, that was mostly their mother, who had practically brainwashed their father. Arthur still checked up on them to see how they were doing, while their mother couldn't care less.

"Yes, Gred?" George replied.

"Do you think Ivy's alright?"

"I'm sure she is. She may seem all small and cuddly most of the time, but she's a strong person. She'll be fine," his brother responded, and Fred sighed with relief. He had been worried ever since the Hogwarts Express reached the King's Cross Station, especially after seeing such a sadistic look on her 'uncle's face. George quickly made him calm down, he always knew what to say. The benefits of having a twin, he supposed.

"Thanks, Forge," Fred smiled, but he was cut off when an owl appeared on their windowsill, "Hedwig!"

Ginny entered just then with three sandwiches on a plate that she made herself, and grinned as she saw Hedwig, "Has Ivy sent a letter?" Taking the letter from Hedwig and handing a painted rock to Ginny while she gave the sandwiches to Fred, George read out the letter, and Ginny grinned at the password to the portkey and nodded, "That is very true." Her brothers agreed.

She then looked at the rock, having noticed that it was painted. There were stripes of dark blood red on them over a background of black, and dots of bright golden yellow forming little patterns of flowers and birds all over the rock. "Wow," they all said at the same time, and Fred mumbled, "Ivy made that when she was seven?"

George re-read the letter and nodded, "Yep, that's what it says here."

"Let's go!" Ginny whispered. They had to be quiet so that Percy and Ron wouldn't hear them talking about things like the Dark side.

"Now, now, Gin," Fred raised his hands, and gestured to the sandwiches, "We should eat these delicacies first."

"Fine, fine, fine," she quickly repeated, and grabbed one before devouring it quickly, followed by his older twin brothers a minute later. At her pleading, begging looks, George and Fred sighed and nodded simultaneously, before reaching out to have a finger each on the rock, Ginny doing the same. She then spoke the password, "Slytherin is better than Gryffindor."

(-Line break!-)

Walking in the meadows by her house, Luna wondered if her friends truly cared for her. She had never really had friends before until just a small while ago, she had risked her life for a girl that she had hardly met but found interesting enough to learn more about.

Though no one knew it (she was suspicious that Ivy assumed), her mother was a seer, and had passed the trait to her. It had never really showed her anything important, but the day before she left for her first year at Hogwarts, she had a vision. In it, she saw a girl whose face was shadowy so that she couldn't see any features. She seemed young, perhaps a year or so older than her, and had long black hair. And then, just for a moment, she saw a flash of green where eyes were supposed to be: the colour of the Avada Kedavra curse. She then saw herself and this girl together, far into the future… a friend. She had never had a friend. She snapped out of it soon after that, unsure of who this mystery girl was, but she soon found out when she went to Hogwarts the next day. Ivy Potter. The famous Girl-Who-Lived, and they would be friends? That seemed pretty hard to believe. But then, when she met her in her Fourth Year, she found that Ivy was actually pretty dorky, and more of a Slytherin than a Gryffindor. Someone… who didn't fit inside the norm. That was what made them such good friends. They were both different, and perhaps both slightly crazy, and Ivy always listened to her blabber on about creatures that only she could see.

Now certain that her friends did care for her, she smiled and leaned against a tree, smelling the gorgeous white flowers and the fresh Summer air.

Just then, an owl flew down next to her. Not even needing to look at the owl to know which one it was, she politely asked, "Did Ivy send anything?" Hedwig stuck out a leg and Ivy opened the envelope to find a letter and a rock within. "Oooh, pretty." She put the rock in her pocket and read the letter, letting out a sigh of relief at the knowledge of her first ever friend's safety.

Luna then took the stone from her pocket and looked at it. She didn't know that Ivy liked art, but she wasn't that overly surprised; her friend could be very creative, and she had an imaginative mind despite being abused (Ivy had told her before).

The stone's naturally smooth silver surface could be seen beneath the painting, which contained peacocks in turquoise and purple, with the eyes being bright yellow. They seemed to be fluttering around each other, with little green leaves surrounding their graceful frames. Luna smiled softly as she touched the smooth rock and the beautiful painting. Even before years of even knowing that magic existed, Ivy had painted a rock that suited her perfectly. Wait… could- could Ivy be a seer as well? The thought made her slowly stand with a look of realisation on her face. Could that be what her vision all those years ago was about? Why they were talking to each other? Why she even had a vision of her in the first place? It… it was certainly possible. She'd have to ask her about it later.

Luna raced to her father, "Daddy, can I go to my friend's house? I'll probably stay over, if that's okay?"

He looked at her. She hardly ever lied to him, and he didn't have a reason to not let her go, "… Very well, my little moon. Just… stay safe and come back tomorrow, yes?"

"Of course, daddy. Love you!" she called as she raced outside.

As she left, she heard her father call back, "I love you too!"

Reaching the tree that she was leaning on earlier, she took one more look at her stone before enclosing it with her hand, and saying out loud, with a little smirk at the assumption that it wasn't Ivy who came up with the code, "Ivy is better than Slytherin."

(-Line break!-)

The six friends landed as a heap on the floor of a large room, with a long table in the centre, pretty much at the same time. They had landed near the large doors that were obviously the main entrance to the room. They helped each other up, and rather spontaneously, Ginny asked what password they got for their pretty stone. Neville smiled as he remembered, "Mine was 'Slytherin is better than Hufflepuff'."

"Really?" Hermione blinked, "I got 'Slytherin is better than Ravenclaw'."

"Huh," Fred spoke up, "Us three got 'Slytherin is better than Gryffindor'."

Ginny turned to her friend, "What about you, Luna? What was your password?"

"Hmm?" she asked with a little smirk, "Oh, mine was 'Ivy is better than Slytherin'. It is quite obvious that the Dark Lord chose the passwords; Ivy would never be less than modest."

The others smirked at each other. Whilst they might not have liked You-Know-Who at first, it was quite obvious that he had it bad for their close friend, or as the twins liked to call her, their little cinnamon roll. Neville then remembered something, "… Hey, Hermione?"

She turned to face him, "Yes?"

"Remember a few days ago, when Ivy said that she wished we were her siblings?" She nodded at his question as the others stopped speaking to each other to listen. "Well, first of all, do you think that we could do a ritual to make that real?" Hermione gasped and her eyes began tearing up as she nodded rapidly and gave Neville a hug. He then continued, "That's great! We'll tell Ivy in a bit. Anyways, do you remember her telling us that she'd like for us to give whoever she chose to be with the shovel talk?"

Hermione paled as she remembered, before sighing with her hands on her face, "Why us…?"

Fred and George looked at each other before nodding with easy-going grins on their faces, "We'll help you. We care about Ivy too and we're practically her big brothers by now."

The others nodded, and Luna had no doubt that the Dark Lord would be perfectly terrified after the twins' shovel talk. Oh well, all the more reason for him to not hurt her first and best friend. She deserved more happiness than anyone else, though she certainly assumed that Voldemort knew that too.

A/N: I wasn't expecting Ivy's friends receiving their letters would take so much time, and now we are at the end of the chapter. :'(

Oh well. I hope you all liked this one. While not much has happened in this chapter, you got to see the points of view of Ivy's friends, and also Luna's… 'secret', and what she assumes to be Ivy's 'secret' as well.

I'm sorry it's been ages but, and I'm sure y'all are tired of excuses but my mom's definitely a hardcore Ravenclaw/Gryffindor and she makes me do tons of revision, and now that exams have started, the amount of revision I'm doing's increased. Also, I've recently moved house, so that's always fun.

Anyways, I just made up the rock patterns, but they sound really pretty anyways. :)

Enjoy!