Ivy Smith and The Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 25. The Recovery

The first thing Ivy could see as soon as she woke up, was a big orange blob. Her vision was still blurry, and she couldn't make it out completely. A few blinks later, she found herself looking the side of Fred's head, sitting on the chair beside her hospital bed, looking out the window, and bouncing his leg up and down nervously.

"Freddie?" Ivy said quietly.

His head immediately whipped around and the familiar face filled with a grin.

"Ivy! You're awake!" He exclaimed, reaching down and hugging her. Ivy smiled.

The hug was a weird feeling. It was kind of awkward. Fred seemed to notice that too, for he quickly retracted his arms and sat back down, saying,

"George's just outside."

Ivy nodded slowly, her happy smile never leaving her face.

"Er...what happened?" Ivy asked. She could barely remember what had happened the previous day.

"I have no clue. Dumbledore said he'll explain everything to you and Harry. Dunno where he is though." Fred shrugged. He seemed happy that Ivy changed the subject. Then he pointed to a bed far away across the room. "There's Harry."

"He's...breathing right?" Ivy asked, craning her neck to try and spot Harry's face.

"Yeah, he's fine, don't worry." Fred chuckled.

"And what about Ron? And Hermione?"

"Hermione's great. And Ron's been dismissed a couple of hours ago."

"Were you just sitting here waiting for me to wake up?" Ivy narrowed her eyebrows playfully.

"Er...no...I was waiting for Harry too." Fred replied cautiously.

"Yeah right." Ivy scoffed, but smiled. She was about to say something else, when Harry suddenly started to move.

He sat up, blinking his eyes, looking around, his gaze slowly falling on Fred and Ivy. He looked strange without his glasses.

"Ivy? Er... Fred? George?" He called out, uncertainly.

Ivy smiled because she prided herself on knowing which twin was which, and she found it funny when others couldn't. She decided, however, not to dwell on it long.

"Fred." The twin called back, smiling.

"How are you, Harry?" Ivy asked, grinning from ear to ear, happy that her friend was alright.

"Brilliant, thanks!" Harry called, and reached over to his bedside table to grab his glasses.

Ivy, deciding it was impractical to be shouting across the room, stood up from her own bed and made her way over to Harry's bed.

Fred followed, but was carefully watching Ivy, as if he was expecting her to faint at any minute or something.

Ivy and Fred walked over to Harry's bed, and noticed a huge pile of sweets on the table beside him.

"Ooh! Chocolate frog!" Ivy exclaimed, reaching for the package. "D'you mind?"

"Go ahead." Harry smiled at her.

She took the chocolate frog in her hand, when suddenly the doors to the hospital wing swung open, and Dumbledore and McGonnagall walked in.

They both strode over to the other three, and stopped abruptly before Harry's bed.

"Mr Weasley," McGonagall spoke, "Would you mind leaving Mr Potter and Ms Smith-" (Ivy smiled to herself at the mention of her surname) "-to talk to Professor Dumbledore, alone?"

Fred slowly nodded, and McGonagall gestured for him to follow her out of the ward. Fred trailed behind the professor, and looked back at Ivy, who grinned at him, and he smiled back.

"So." Ivy's attention was brought back to Dumbledore, as he spoke. "I assume you two would like to know what happened yesterday?"

Ivy and Harry both nodded eagerly, and Harry moved to the side of his bed, to make room for Ivy, who sat down beside him, bracing herself for an explanation.

But before Dumbledore could start, Harry asked,

"Sir, when I touched Professor Quirrell, his skin turned to ashes. How come?"

"Well Harry, let's think back to the day when it all started. When Voldemort lost his power. When your mother protected you by sacrificing herself, she left a mark."

Harry brought his hand up to his scar, but Dumbledore quickly said,

"No, not something you can see. She left love in you, Harry. And unfortunately, Voldemort doesn't have any love. He might not even have a heart. So that's why you defeated him again. Your mother's love."

—

Ivy was lying in the bed beside Harry, talking about random things and waiting for Madam Pomfrey to dismiss them.

They were busy talking about Quidditch, when Draco burst into the hospital ward. He seemed to be worried, but as he spotted Ivy, his face relaxed a bit.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, curious, but with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Not that it's any of your business, Potter, but I'm visiting my...er...friend, Ivy." Draco spat back.

Harry huffed and turned to Ivy, his eyebrows raised.

"What? He's right!" Ivy replied. She stood up from the bed and walked over to Draco, who gently asked her,

"So how are you?"

"Brilliant." Ivy grinned. Draco made to smile too, but quickly shook his head, and looked at Harry over Ivy's shoulder.

"Right, well. I better get going." He told them, the coldness in his voice returning. "Bye, Ives."

"See ya!"