Today was one of those days. The kind of day that no person should have to deal with if they wanted to retain all parts of their sanity. It had started off normally enough – her alarm hadn’t gone off at the right time and she was late to her first class, but that had happened before. The problem was that it had been potions and that was one of her worst classes. Ivory was trying to pick up the slack there but it was a process; one of those two steps forward, one step back sort of deals. The class could have been tolerable if she had a partner that knew what they were doing, but she did not. Today, there had been a minor explosion that had resulted in Ive being the one covered in unrecognizable goo with unknown properties. So off she had gone to the infirmary for an unnecessary amount of time until she was able to go to lunch. Pomfrey had been a nightmare and that was no less than what the Gryffindor had come to expect. The woman was horrible and Ivory was always her least favorite patient. They had never gotten along in all the years that they had been forced to stumble across each other and that was the way it was going to stay. The bright side was that the girl had only another year before she was free of that particular woman’s tyranny.

Anyways, Ivory had gone off to lunch in a very bad mood and it didn’t pick up at all. The question resulting after the fiasco had been resolved was ‘Why do first years feel the need to be stupid?’ Because, during lunch, a few of them had decided that the girl would absolutely love to partake in their food fight and no good had come of that. They were hexed and she was given three nights of detention while they were given a verbal warning. That had certainly not left her to be a happy camper and the phrase ‘if looks could kill…’ had taken on a whole new meaning. ‘Course, that had been enough that she had decided she’d be going to none of her afternoon classes and instead retreated to her dormitory where she could clean up and find peace and quiet. But that had been a stupid hope because there was a nice surprise awaiting her in her bed. Of all the places that her roommates had decided to hide something nasty and unidentifiable, they had chosen her bed. That was a new low, and not one of them would be any happier; not even Charisse, whom Ivory had vowed not to ever pull that sort of thing on. At the moment, Ive was feeling uncharitable towards the girl. Jealousy was not pretty.

And now Ivory was in front of the Room of Requirement, all too glad to be in a fresh shirt and jeans with her hair piled on her head. Tendrils fell down because they were too short to do anything else with, though Ivory hardly noticed. There was one thing on her mind at the moment – all else could, frankly, go to hell. A few quick passes and the door appeared; without hesitation, Ive stepped forward and stepped in. Upon opening the door, the hard look on her face softened into a relieved expression. The sight that met her eyes was absolutely perfect – glass objects rested on tables everywhere and a great deal of them looked quite expensive. The beauty of it all was that it didn’t matter; they held no value to anyone within the walls of Hogwarts. And if they did? All the better, because her only intention was to smash them all into a million pieces…Or until she felt better. After the events of today, it was going to take a lot more than smashing a few hundred glass objects for this particular girl to feel better at all. A lot more. But what more was, she didn’t have a clue.

Closing the door almost all the way behind her, Ive grabbed the first thing that her hand came into contact with. It looked like a little gravy boat with the lid attached and she weighed it in her hand before looking at a window on the opposite side of the room. A second hardly passed before it was flung towards it and the satisfying sound of smashing glass met her ears. Another object soon followed but this time it was aimed at a table. Glass shattered and cascaded to the floor and other objects that had been resting on that one table followed. With all inhibitions about feeling utterly stupid now gone, Ivory worked herself into a frenzy until she was breathing hard and on her knees in the middle of the floor. It took her a second to realize that her hand was bleeding where she’d mistakenly grabbed a glass object that was already broken. Well, she’d broken it again. Wiping it on the thigh of her jeans, a bandage appeared next to her. Slapping it on her wound, Ive picked up a large shard of broken glass and turned it ‘round and ‘round in her fingers. Her thoughts were quite far away now and a glassy look appeared in her eye. Not long after, a few, frustrated tears did as well.

The day could have been better, much better. Her nightmares had pulled her out of bed well before any reasonable time, it had still been dark out. After wandering the halls in a daze until breakfast time she had over eaten. And then she had zoned out during potions class completely missing whatever had happened to Ivory. She hadn’t been able to find Ivy after class or during lunch much to her disappointment. So she had been looking forward to class not for the education but to see Ive. They hadn’t seen each other too much of late which was ridiculous when you shared a dorm with someone, but there it was.

Class had been an utter failure in so many ways. Her assignment which had actually been turned in after much tutoring on Jonah’s part was apparently wrong. Not that she usually thought much about such things but she had worked hard on that one. It actually hurt that her work was not well received, a rather new and unwelcome feeling. But all this paled in significance to the fact that she couldn’t find Ivy anywhere. Classes continued around the school without the Gryffindor prefect in attendance. Ivory was supposed to be there too so she felt justified in skipping out on them.

Not that she cared about what example she was setting for the younger ones. Chari had never asked to be a prefect and so she was using it to her own advantage. She had started out with searching the dorms, stopping at Ivy’s bed with a scowl as she saw the mess. Calling an elf to clean up Ivy’s bed she tried to find out who had done it but had no luck. Finding her friend was now more important than ever, whoever it was they would pay. Knowing Ive’s temper and what she had had to deal with that morning had likely upset her enough to skip class. A place to work off said temper was the next place to look. That narrowed down the places to search considerably. Only two places sprang immediately to mind, the Quidditch Pitch and the Room of Requirement. Since the Quidditch Pitch was further away Chari left the elf to it’s works and headed out for the Room of Requirement.

Chari heard the sound of glass smashing long before she reached the room. Bingo, she thought a little worriedly as it stopped suddenly. Running for the door and opening it in a rush the brunette stopped and just stared at the destruction. Ivory was surrounded buy smashed glass, turning a piece over and over in one hand. The other hand was obviously injured, blood staining the bandage. Walking very carefully forwards Chari reached out to place a soft hand on her friend’s shoulder, “Ive?” she asked quietly. She didn’t say anything else just trying to channel all her comfort into the hand that was their only connection.

Being completely unaware that someone had joined her, as off as she was in her own little world, Ivory jumped a little when the weight of a hand was placed on her shoulder. Blinking for a second, she tilted her head just a little to catch a glimpse of the person and promptly turned it back and grit her teeth. Charisse was a good friend, yes, but not one of the people that Ivory wanted to see right now. Actually, come to think of it, she didn’t want to see anyone right now. Silence save for the breaking of glass as well as solitude was right up there on her list of desired items. And both were gone in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t that she was mad at Charisse or…Oh, she didn’t know what she was thinking right now. Ive simply wanted to be alone, although it would be rude to brush off the comfort that the other Gryffindor was trying to give her. Problem was that Chari probably had no idea why she was trying to comfort Ivory in the first place. For some reason, this rubbed against Ivory the wrong way and she found herself shrugging off the hand that was resting on her shoulder. She had never been one that liked to be comforted in the first place – she much preferred to deal with things on her own or ignore them when they didn’t work out. This had backfired right in her face several times and while Ive was fairly certain it would do the very same thing right now, she didn’t care. The fact that she was a little sore with Charisse for undisclosed reasons hardly helped.

“I’m fine,” Ive said roughly, fingers gripping the glass in her hands too tightly, adding another cut. More bandages appeared and she slapped them on as well, pretty much ignoring the cuts for now. They could be handled later when she had her wand with her…No, the girl hadn’t brought it with her for this little outing. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why; her temper could get the better of her sometimes, and endless detention was not ideal. Not to mention she would feel horrible later for using it on someone she knew and actually liked, like Chari. If it was a Slytherin such as Demetrius, however, that was another story entirely. No way would she feel guilty for using her wand on him – as a matter of fact, she would actually feel quite a great deal better if only she were able to without fear of punishment. A deep sigh wormed its way from her mouth and she stopped squeezing the broken shard in her fingers, instead sending it sailing through the room right out of the previously broken window. Her eyes shifted around the room for more that hadn’t yet been broken, but the desire to destroy had been taken right out of her at the arrival of her friend. It would be hard to answer questions and to demand to be left alone when she was going crazy, even if it meant she felt better. Today had been a hell of a day and now she was exhausted.

From nowhere, a chair appeared in the middle of the pile of glass right in front of her. Looking at it for a moment with her previous glassy-eyed expression, Ive climbed up into it and slouched a little into the large soft cushion. It was oversized like the kind that she liked, and her small frame sunk into it easily. If only she could continue sinking until just the top of her head was visible. That wasn’t an option, though, and that was probably just as well; Ivory was beginning to wonder why Charisse had come here in the first place. Was she looking for Ivory, or had she just been looking for peace and quiet of her own? It was an interesting question to pose to herself, as well as wondering how the Gryffindor had known to look here for her. ‘Course, they had grown up together within Hogwarts’ walls, so they knew each other pretty well. Perhaps it wasn’t such a mystery, after all. The larger mystery was why Chari had been looking for her in the first place.

“Why’re you looking for me, Chari? I thought you would be busy with classes and whatnot…” she trailed off and inspected the bandages on her hands for a moment. The one on the palm of her hand would need replaced soon enough, she realized, because spots of red were already beginning to show through.

Ivory’s refusal to even look at her and the brush off was very discouraging. But Ivy had never been what you’d call good at sharing and Chari wasn’t really good at the whole comforting thing. She never really knew what to do with herself so she tended to stay quieter that she would with someone she didn’t have a bond with. Actually with anyone else she would probably be offended but Ive had never been very receptive to facing things with anyone’s help so she didn’t let it get to her. Sighing in frustration and at a loss for what to do next Chari just stood there fingering her wand as she watched Ivy warily.

Charisse didn’t ask how her friend was doing, obviously she wasn’t ok or they wouldn’t be here at all. But that didn’t stop Ivy from answering the unspoken question and insisting that she was fine. Suppressing a snort of disagreement she just watched as Ive tended to her wound, she hadn’t asked for help so Chari didn’t offer it. As the glass sailed through the window she caught a wild look in Ivy’s dark eyes that was a little frightening to behold. Hating to think what would happen if someone else walked in through the door Charisse turned closing the door completely so they couldn’t be interrupted. When she had turned back around the brunette found Ivy looking very small curled up in her favourite type of chair. It was a comfy chair that seemed to swallow you up and made her look even smaller.

Glancing around at the room with the glass strewn all over the floor it was clear that Chari needed her own chair. Luckily this was a special room and a chair identical to Ivy’s appeared facing the one that was already there. Charisse sat sideways in it with her legs dangling over one armrest and her head resting on the other one facing Ivy. One hand tugged at the ugly grey skirt of her school uniform. She hadn’t taken the time to change out of the horrible thing. The other hand lay on her lap idly tapping away as she waited. Waiting was best as she had no idea what was going on in her friend’s head. Not that she could think of any comforting words anyway.

When Ivy asked her what she was doing there Chari just shrugged staring down at her lap where the fingers of both hands tapped against each other. “Well I know something happened in potions. But I couldn’t find you anywhere.” she looked over at Ivy, “And then you never showed up for afternoon classes.” Looking away again she tried to lighten the mood, “Any excuse to get out class hey?” a small smile quirked her lips for a few seconds before disappearing again as the joke fell flat. “I looked in the dorms first and saw your bed so I figured you’d be mad. There were only two places I guessed you’d go…” she trailed off she wasn’t good with this sympathy thing, really she sucked at it. “You want to talk about it?” she asked softy, “Or we could just sit here.”

“The idiot I was paired with wasn’t paying attention and the potion got on me. And then I had to spend forever in the hospital wing with the woman who is the devil’s reincarnate and who so happens to despise me. And then I went to lunch in hopes that good food might put me in a pretty okay mood and got stuck in a food fight. The first years that instigated it were sent to the hospital wing, and I was given detention. Then I went to clean up and discovered the mess on my bed. Then I decided nothing was worth it and found my way here after finally cleaning up.”

This little spiel was said quickly with plenty of anger lurking behind each word. It had been a frustrating day and it felt good to rant about it to someone, rather than just herself in her head. Expelling a huge puff of air, Ive closed her eyes and was surprised that she felt both better, and a slight throb in her hands were the cuts were. She’d felt that before with injuries and always thought it a very, very strange feeling to be having. This instance was no different and it was enough to momentarily distract her. Perhaps she ought to have them looked at, at the very least, or heal them herself. The spell was simple, it was just a question of the wand. And as already mentioned, Ivory’s was presently not with her. A seemingly good idea at the time had turned into a less than brilliant one when she needed it. And this had, of course, happened to her before; she didn’t take her wand with her a lot of the time, but she was never in a life-or-death situation where it was necessary. Not a whole lot of those lurked around the corners at Hogwarts, truth be told.

Sinking a bit more into the seat, Ive adjusted herself so that her legs were tucked up underneath her rather than swinging free against the chair as they had been. She regarded Charisse for a moment before closing her eyes and trying to banish her thoughts – they weren’t fair, she guessed, because she held no claim on the person they were revolving around. He was just a childhood friend that had randomly reentered her life. That was it. If he and Charisse wanted to gallivant about, more power to them. Right? Yes, that’s right, she gave a slight nod to herself, as though that would make everything perfectly sensible in that senseless head of hers. It didn’t, not even a little, and at least she recognized this. Blowing out a soft breath, her eyes went to Charisse’s and she pondered conversation. Conversation would be good and a whole heck of a lot less awkward than sitting silently. But nothing brilliant came to mind. Nothing that might not come out as hostile, at the very least.

And although Ive didn’t want her to be here at all, there was a part of her that appreciated the concern of her friend. To be rude because of petty jealousy wasn’t something she wanted to do or end up because accused of, because it just wasn’t fair. But what to say? “So…” she started slowly, mind scrambling to come up with something, anything. Her eyes fell on the broken glass that littered the room before going back to her hands. “Er, sorry for the mess. I just…needed to break things…” Ivory trailed off, unsure where to go from there; she had just stated the complete obvious, and shutting up right now would probably be a good idea.

Charisse didn’t say anything as Ivory ranted about her day. The anger in it would be plain to anyone never mind a close friend. Nodding in understanding she let out a small ‘Ah,’ as her friend finished. It was no wonder that she had been smashing up the place with a day like that. It made her own day seem so much better in comparison that it wasn’t really worth talking about it. After the rant Ive didn’t say much else and just sat there with her eyes closed as the silence grew larger.

The prefect wasn’t sure what to do now she knew when she was angry she wanted to be distracted rather than dwelling on it. Ivory solved the problem for the brunette by speaking again. Chari gave a short laugh at her friend’s obvious comment. “Oh really?” she teased, “I wouldn’t have guessed at all.” When in doubt she always found it best to just stop being serious, it was so boring anyway.

Twirling her wand with the fingers of one hand she gave Ivy a wink before moving it in a slashing motion and murmuring quietly under her breath. The glass pieces scattered around the room vibrated where they lay before jumping together and settling back on their various shelves or tables. “Want to go again?” she asked with a sly grin gesturing grandly at the glass objects just begging to be smashed. From her position in the chair one foot began to bounce up and down as she got tired of sitting still. Talking was all well and good but moving around was just so much better. Idly spinning her wand again Charisse tilted her head to one side as she looked at Ivory. She was here for Ivy so Chari decided to wait on her friend.

Come on Ive just do something, she groaned mentally trying to direct the thought at the girl in front of her. Sometimes they knew each other so well that it felt like they could read each other’s minds. At other times Chari wondered if she really knew Ive at all. Ivory didn’t share everything with Charisse and sometimes Chari just had no idea what went on in that head of hers. Unfortunately this was one of those times.