𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞 || 𝐃.𝐌

Chapter 22 - Hello Princess

*A few weeks later*

Ivory's POV:

I called out, "Guys, wait for me!" as I hurried to catch up with my friends. "Guys...?" I gasped, but no one stopped. They simply walked away, leaving me behind. This has been going on since February, it was March already. Hermione and Ginny are still both upset with me because apparently I'm acting different. And the rest of my friends seemed to follow them too.

I entered the Great Hall alone and made my way to the Gryffindor table. "Thanks for waiting, guys..." I muttered, but no one acknowledged me.

"Can I sit here?" I asked, gently nudging Ginny to make some space. They all ignored me, and Ginny barely moved.

"Seriously, guys? How much longer is your ignoring game going to last for? I'm getting sick of it."

George looked away and rubbed his hand on the back of his head. "Hermione? Ginny? Fred, George? Anyone?" I said with a tinge of discomfort in my voice. The entire dining area fell silent. No one responded.

"Okay, so apparently no one wants anything to do with me anymore.'' I said, my frustration growing. "Well, forget it. I'm leaving." As I spoke, I could feel tears beginning to well up. After storming out of the Great Hall, I noticed a few of my friends following me.

"Please, Ivory, wait!" they called after me. I rushed into one of the bathrooms and locked myself in a stall. But it was too late. Hermione had already entered with Ron, Ginny and Harry.

"Open up, Rory. We know you're in there." Hermione called out, knocking persistently on the door.

Harry's voice softened. "Ivory, please... we didn't mean to hurt you."

I stayed silent for a moment, gathering my thoughts. With a deep breath, I unlocked the door and stepped out, my face set in a firm expression. "Well you already did. So now you want to talk to me?" I asked, my frustration evident. "Or are you just going to walk away again, like you have for the past three weeks?!"

They all visibly tensed. Ginny, after a brief pause, spoke up. "We can explain..."

"Can you?" I interrupted sharply. "Give me a real, honest reason."

There was no response. No one spoke, knowing they couldn't offer an excuse for their behavior.

"See, this is what I mean!'' My frustration flared, my voice rising. "You don't know, and you don't even care!"

Just then, Draco stepped into the room. His eyes widened as he took in the scene, seeing me shouting at my friends.

"Love, are you okay?" he asked, his tone concerned.

"No, I'm not. I'm not okay... You guys completely abandoned me. I have had the worst couple of weeks of my life..., and I needed you. I needed you." My voice trembled with the weight of it all.

"Ivory..." Hermione said softly, her voice shaky with regret. "We're so sorry. Can we talk?" She stepped forward, reaching out to pull me into a hug.

"I don't want to talk to fucking any of you. Find someone else you can play this game with..." Those were the last words I said before I stormed out, shoving them aside as I left, needing to get away from it all.

Hermione's POV:

Shit, we messed up. Ivory was right. We had made her feel abandoned. Her secretive and unusual behavior didn't excuse how we treated her. I was starting to realize that maybe we were making it worse by avoiding her.

Draco shot us an intimidating glare before walking up to us. He said angry, "What have you done to her?!"

In an instant, he shoved me against a stall, my back slamming into the door with a loud bang. His hands came up, bracing against the wall beside my head, trapping me in place.