Weeks flew at Hogwarts like the autumn leaves fell from the trees stripping them bare, preparing them for Winters. The cold November air replaced the chilly October breeze and the snow settled in, covering everything with a beautiful white sheet.

Snow brought with it the most favourite part of every student’s time at Hogwarts; the Hogsmeade weekends. Well, favourite for everyone except Ivy.

Hogsmeade and snow and winters just brought bitter memories back and she had grown to avoid the trips over the years. Sometimes, she’d go when it wouldn’t be snowing but mostly, she avoided Hogsmeade. Most of the people already knew about her being repellant to Snow, going out in public just attracted more unwanted attention and made her feel uncomfortable. Everybody staring back, looking at the snow not falling on the girl. She couldn’t enjoy these trips like any other normal Hogwarts student. All thanks to Regulus.

The boy hadn’t even bothered to apologize for what he had done. And Ivy kept thinking, would she even be able to forgive him if he apologized? And every time, the answer came to her as a big fat no.

They had tried several times to lift the curse but the type of magic he had done, the curse could only be lifted by the one who had done it. And there was no way she was going to go to Regulus for this matter and humiliate herself. Because she knew he would never agree to it. She didn’t want to become a laughing stock.

All winters did to Ivy was make her feel extremely on edge. Always annoyed and irked, and even more angrier than usual. Paige called it her ‘permanent PMS period’

Paige and Maria came inside the dorm discussing the Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Alexis was sitting in the upper bunk of her bed, as usual, reading her book. Ivy was laying in her bed, and upon hearing the word Hogsmeade, she pulled her covers up and hid her face.

“You guys ready for the trip this weekend?” Maria asked, taking off her blue and silver scarf. “One hundred percent!” Paige replied excitedly. “I heard Honeydukes made new candies! Can’t wait to try them all.” she rubbed her hands greedily.

“As if you aren’t always on a sugar rush.” Alexis commented. “What are you gonna get Lexi?” Maria asked her. “Well apart from the school supplies, I’m going to get some new books and bookmarks.” Alexis replied excitedly.

“And you, Ivy?” Maria asked in an un-certain tone, looking at the girl. But no reply came. “Will you be going this time?”

“Shhh!” Paige put a finger on her lips. “It’s her time of the year.” She sat down on Ivy’s bed, then brought her mouth very close to Ivy’s ear. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with us?”

Ivy flinched, bolting upright as she put a hand over her ear. “Do not do that ever again.” she said, menacingly. “What?” Paige said in an oblivious tone. “This?” she whispered, once more trying to eerily say it in Ivy’s ear. “Stay back!”

“I won’t go.” Ivy announced in an angry tone. “You guys can go and have fun. I hate that place.”

“Didn’t seem like it when you went there last time. I very much remember you enjoying yourself.” Alexis said, then shifted her attention back to her book. A second later, Ivy’s pillow greeted her straight in the face.

“I hate Hogsmeade!” Ivy snapped. “And I hate snow. And I hate winters. And I hate Regulus so, so much it makes me sick!” she pulled her covers over herself again.

“Alright, Alright, calm down.” Maria said soothingly. “Just tell me what sweets you want, I’ll get them for you. Chocolate always makes you feel better, right?” Ivy nodded slowly, a pout still etched on her face.

“Look at her, she’s not even trying to comfort me.” Ivy said grumpily, her words directed at Paige who was too immersed in cleaning her neon shoes. “What?” Paige said. “You told me to stay back yourself.” She then returned to cleaning using

They all were interrupted by a knock. Maria opened the dormitory door to see Michael Davies standing outside. "Could I talk to Miss Binns for a second, please?" He asked politely. "Which one?" Maria asked with a smile. They both don't seem in a mood to talk right now though, she added in her head.

Michael looked at Paige sitting down on the floor, applying Madam Glossy’s Self Polishing Shoe Polish to her shoes with the most attention she had ever gathered in her life — as if her depended on this one task of applying the white polish perfectly.

"Um.. Ivy." He replied with a smile. Maria called Ivy out and she went outside despite her grumpy mood.They both came down to the common room.

"I wanted to talk to Paige as well but she seemed busy so I didn't want to disturb her." He said. Ivy rolled her eyes. "Believe me, she's not. She polishes her shoes 5 times every day." Ivy replied

"Anyways, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well.. um.. I was wondering if you both would like to accompany me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" He asked. "The two of us.. with you?" Ivy confirmed again. Michael nodded, looking at her with hopeful eyes.

"Well.. I'm not sure if I can go this weekend.." Ivy replied. The hope in his eyes dimmed. "Oh.."

"—but I can ask Paige to tell you. She'll probably agree." Ivy added, not wanting to disappoint the guy. "Alright, thanks." Michael smiled once more.

Ivy came back to her dorm, explaining everything to the girls who were waiting anxiously.

"Ooo!" Alexis said excitedly. "Do I sense some romance brewing?" She wiggled her eyebrows. "What? No!" Ivy replied. "He asked both of us to go."

"He probably wants to spend some time with you without making it very obvious. That's why he invited Paige too." Alexis replied.

"That makes no sense."

"I also suspect that he liked you Ivy." Maria intervened. "He always greets you when he sees you. He invites you to matches and match practices." "Exactly." Alexis agreed. "He even kept asking about your wrist. He's trying to get on your good side. Definitely interested."

Ivy didn't know what to do with this piece of information. She didn't want to believe it, because she wasn't interested in Michael in any way. Besides, there was a fat chance all of this was just a coincidence.

"Or he's just a gentleman." Ivy replied, rolling her eyes. "Come on, he's like that with Paige as well. And these are very basic things, none of these suggest interest in any way."

Ivy waved her hand carelessly, dismissing her friends' theories. "Singing your favorite song to you, however, would be more of a sign of being interested." Ivy said, throwing shade at Maria. The sudden look of amusement on the brunette's face suggested she had understood Ivy was talking about Sean but remained oblivious.

"What do you say Paige?" Alexis asked. "About what?" Paige asked, looking up from polishing her second shoe. "Oh nevermind her," Ivy shook her head.

"Does Davies like Ivy or is he just being a nice guy?" Alexis reminded her. "You know him the best out of us all."

"Oh that?" Paige said. "How am I supposed to know?" She rolled her eyes.

"Do you want me to go ask him though? I'm almost done with my second shoe." She said, getting up to leave but was met with unanimous chants of "No!"

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Finally, the Hogsmeade weekend arrived. Ivy looked down her dormitory window as everyone left the castle. The Ravenclaw Tower being the second tallest in the castle, gave a good view of the grounds. Happy faces everywhere. People in groups, laughing along with their friends, ready for the fun time ahead. Ivy spotted Paige walking with Micheal Davies, and Sean, Alexis and Maria in another group as well. Ivy stared down the glass window glumly. Oh how she wished she could be a part of this.

“Well, let’s not stay glum the whole day.” Ivy said to herself and packed some stuff in her satchel. There was nothing much to do so she decided to just head out to the library and find an interesting book to read.

The castle was less crowded than usual. Most of the students had gone off to Hogsmeade. Ivy found an empty table and put her satchel down. She moved towards the aisles choosing what book to read this time.

The library was easily Ivy’s favourite part of the castle; given she spent so much time there. She found it so wondrous— tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows. So many things to read, one would never run out of options.

Her mother had told her that during her time at Hogwarts, she had decided to make it a goal to read every single book by her last year. She was an avid reader too, and had fell in love with the grandness of the library when she first set eyes on it in her first year. But, of course, she couldn’t even manage to read half of the books in it.

Ivy had tried to do the same thing as her mum too, but it was already her 5th year, and by the rat it was going, Ivy could just deem the task impossible. The library was definitely one of the places she’ll miss when she leaves Hogwarts. She knew that she would never be able to find a library grander than this, ever.

Ivy moved around the aisles, searching for her next read. It took her a while, but then her eyes settled down at a book. She took the book out, opened it, flipping through the pages as she made way to her table, eyes still scanning the book. But through the corner of her eye, she sensed somebody sitting there already.

She moved her attention from the book, and at the person occupying the seat opposite to her. Regulus sat there, a cheeky smirk etched on his face. Ivy snapped the book close with one hand.

"Get lost." she stated, not trying to hide her rudeness. "I see you didn't go to Hogsmeade." Regulus said, ignoring what she had said. "No thanks to you."

He smirked again. "Well I never told you to not go you know." He shrugged. "It's totally your choice." Ivy took a deep breath to calm her down. She was not going to allow Regulus to ruin her already bad mood

“Go away Regulus. Don’t bother me.” she said again, opening her book once more. "Hmmmmm...no." he replied, checking out his nails in the light that shone through the windows.

"I wasn't asking you." she said through gritted teeth. "Honestly, I'm going to tell Madam Pince now if you don't leave within two seconds." She threatened. "I'd like to see you try," he smirked. "I mean this is a library for everybody at Hogwarts. I have the same right to use it as you do." He shrugged. "You can't just tell me to leave."

"I really want to smack this book on your face right now." She lifted the heavy book up."Do they send people to Azkaban for assault?" Regulus asked her. It was really getting hard to control herself now. "Nevermind, you'll probably scare the dementors off too. That'll be a waste." Ivy opened her mouth in shock, face turning pink from humiliation.

"What are you even doing here? Why are you not at Hogsmeade?" She snapped. "I don't want to go. I've seen every shop like a million times now. It's all boring." He yawned.

"And annoying me in the library is not?" she arched an eyebrow. "No, it's far more entertaining." he smiled at her again, batting his eyelashes. All of his sarcastic smiles were annoying Ivy even more.

"Well, I don't care whether you like Hogsmeade or not, go somewhere else. Your mere presence is infuriating me. Go hang out with your girlfriend or something."

"Girlfriend? you think there's any girl worthy of my standards yet?' he said cockily, looking at the side, so the sunlight shining highlighted the features of his face. Ivy rolled her eyes.

She was about to grace him with an insulting remark when her eyes caught sight of somebody standing outside the library doors. "Oh, there she is," she said. "Your girlfriend."

"Who?" he said lazily, looking behind where Ivy was pointing. But as soon as he caught sight of Portia Parkinson, his neck snapped back in a second, a look of horror on his face. Regulus lowered down in the seat, hiding his head from the view. "She is not my girlfriend." he said, then snatched the book from Ivy's hands.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Ivy protested at the book being snatched right out of her hands. Regulus buried his face inside the book— a childish attempt to hide himself. "How did she find me in here?" he grumbled to himself.

It didn't take Ivy one second to put two and two together. A smirk graced her face as a plan formed in her head. It was payback time. She got up from her seat, and started walking towards the doors.

"Hey? Binns? Where are you going?!" regulus whisper yelled from under the book. "Oh, nowhere," Ivy said carelessly. "Just want to have a little chat with your girlfriend."

"Binns! no- I swear if you tell her where I am.. Binns? Binns!?" Regulus mumbled but it was too late. Ivy was already gone. Being left with no other choice, Regulus squatted down, hiding underneath the table.

Ivy went out and accidentally-on-purpose bumped into the Slytherin. "Watch where you're going!" Portia snapped. "Oh sorry," Ivy apologized. "Wait you're Parkinson right?" Ivy pretended to have recognized her. Portia knitted her brows in confusion, a scowl still etched on her face.

"I'm Ivy Binns." She introduced herself, putting her hand forward. Portia crossed her arms instead of taking it. "Yeah. I know." she said with a grimace. "Regulus hates you. And so do I. He also never shuts up about you, which makes me hate you even more." Ivy raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"He sure gave me a hard time this morning," Ivy rolled her eyes. "And that's your fault." Ivy told her. Portia glared at her. "What do you mean?" "He's been sitting behind my table and constantly murmuring about you, I couldn't concentrate. It was so annoying!" Ivy jerked her head in annoyance and started walking away slowly.

"Wait!" Portia called out. Ivy smiled. The fish had taken the bait.

"What?" Ivy replied, turning back. "He was talking about...me?" Portia asked, pointing towards herself. Uncertainty laced her tone. "Of course," Ivy feigned annoyance. "He went on and on rambling about your hair, saying stuff like they are so glossy and as black as the night—" Portia looked bewitched. She slowly ran a finger through her hair.

"—and how he sees the whole constellations in your eyes—" The slytherin's hand moved to her eyes.

"—and how your nose is so sharp, he could cut a diamond with it and gift it to you." Portia's fingers grazed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh and also, he wants to take you out on a date at Hogsmeade but his knees wobble every time he sees you." Ivy shook her head, biting her lips to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Honestly, I don't think he has the guts to take you out. Parkisnon, I suggest you woman up and take him yourself. at least, he'll get out of my hair."

"Yes..Yes!" Parkinson said in a determined tone. "Where is he?" she asked Ivy. "Over there, on that table." Ivy pointed inside to where she was sitting.

Portia rushed in, then halted and came back to the blonde again, who managed to hide her grin in time. Portia held the girl's arm.

"You know...Bins..I don't think I hate you as much any more." Ivy smiled at her, feeling a little bad inside for lying to her like that. Parkinson then rushed back in, Ivy following with small steps to enjoy the show.

Regulus murmured curses as he spotted Portia's heels coming towards his table. The heels stopped by the table, and Regulus held his breath.

"We can see your shoes poking out from underneath the table, Black." another voice, Ivy's voice, said as another pair of pumps came in view. He instinctively thought of pulling the shoes in but there was no use. Ivy is so dead. Regulus thought.

Portia crouched down, staring straight at him. He gave her a nervous chuckle and got out, hitting his head in the process. "Uh.. my um.. quill.. fell down." he said clearing his throat. "I was just..uh looking for that." He glared at Ivy who stood grinning behind Portia. She just smiled at him mischievously.

"No, no. You don't need to hide it anymore Reggie." Portia said with glossy eyes, a hand covering her mouth, the other on her heart.

"Your knees wobbled so much when you saw me that you fell under the table!" she cried. Ivy clasped her hand on her mouth to stop herself from bursting out the loudest laugh. "What?" Regulus asked, bewildered.

"It's okay Reggie, I know everything now." Portia said with a smile and glossy eyes as she extending her arm to him. "Let's go to Hogsmeade." "What?" He said again, with more amusement as Portia moved forward and wrapped her hands around his arm. "Let’s go,” and took him out of the library, unwillingly. He didn't have much time to react besides when he turned his head back to glare at Ivy. Ivy just mouthed ‘have fun’

Ivy packed her stuff and started going back towards the Ravenclaw common room, laughing all the way back. Students saw her and whispered to each other. “I’ve never seen her laugh like that before,” a hufflepuff whispered to her friend. “Do you think her anger finally drove her crazy?” Her friend just stared ahead at the girl, wide-eyed.

But Ivy was too humored by the encounter with Regulus and Portia that she didn't pay attention. She went up and into her dorm, laughing more as she laid down on her bed. Although she was glum about the Hogsmeade trip, and then Regulus had come to annoy her too, but in the end, she felt her mood having lifted, than having a bad day. Maybe Regulus coming to annoy her today wasn’t really that bad of a thing.

After a while, the dormitory door opened. The girls came back bringing with them noise and chatter into the empty room. Alexis sprawled down on Ivy’s bed beside her. “Oh God, What a day!” she exclaimed. “Such an awful day!” she complained. Paige said a loud greeting then quickly sat on her bed emptying all her shopping bags onto the bed, all their contents falling on the sheets. Maria gave Ivy a quick hug and handed her a honeydukes bag before rushing back out again. Ivy smiled at her friends. Such chaos within a few minutes. The day was dull without them.

“You guys seem to have enjoyed.” Ivy commented, examining the candies Mari agot her. “Oh, I'm dead exhausted. And my feet are frozen and tired at the same time!” Alexis sat up and wiggled her toes within the socks.

“Stupid lovebirds.” she grumbled. “I was totally third wheeling today! I missed you so much Ivy.” she said. “If they just wanted a date, why'd they ask me to come with them. That Sean Rowland took Maria to every single shop. They were just going on and on moving ahead of me and I was just treading behind them. God, my feet hurt so much from walking. It’s so annoying they both clearly like eachother but wouldn’t admit. Even now, Maria’s rushed out because Sean wanted to try out the new candies together. He really can’t spend enough time with her.” Alexis rambled on telling Ivy about their day.