Green Namesakes PV Willow Anderson finished

@Willow Anderson

It was somewhat unnerving, how Willow was so willing to help a stranger out of the blue. Ivy felt a little antsy at the thought, knowing that she would never that unless there was something in it for her. She had never thought it a bad thing - she knew that some thought it was selfishness, but Ivy preferred to call it... self-preservation. However, Willow's niceness was making her question herself, and it was an uncomfortable feeling.

Ivy bit her lip, trying to remember what had been said in those letters. There were a lot of them, after all, and she could only really remember the general idea of them. Aggressive was a common theme, but there was no sign that they would stop. At least, that's what Ivy thought, but she hadn't really read them properly. Perhaps Willow would be able to spot a few red flags if Ivy showed them to her, but she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to do that. Lillian's responses hinted strongly at what Ivy herself had said, and let's just say, the young Gryffindor had not held back.

But how to respond to Willow's question? There was nothing normal about the letters exchanged between the sisters. "Well, the letters, they were..." Ivy trailed off, unsure of how to describe them. "There was nothing particularly strange about them. I mean, each letter kind of said the same thing." She avoided the topic of what exactly the letters said. I can't believe you, yada yada yada, why can't you forgive me, just give Noah a chance, blah, blah, blah...

Ivy sighed. This was really just one big mess, and despite her appreciation for the Hufflepuff's concern, it wasn't fair to push her problems onto Willow. Hopefully, Lillian was just sulking over her little sister's words, and no one was hurt. Besides, Willow would have better things to do than investigate this. Pasting a smile onto her face, Ivy turned to the other girl again. "Hey, it's fine. I'm sure she's ok. She's probably just really caught up with other stuff in life. It'll all be worked out in the end," she said.

She was lying through her teeth, although there was not much that would reveal that to Willow. Ivy had mastered the art of fake-smiling long ago, and her tone was even and normal. "Do you have any siblings?" She made an attempt to steer the conversation away from Lillian. This afternoon was already miserable enough without talking about her.

Interacting with @Ivy Bellamy

Willow watched the thought and concentration grow on Ivy's face as she seemed to think about the letters. It wasn't exactly an easy thing to just suddenly recall the minutia of the letters, picking them apart and seeing if there was anything wrong, when she didn't even have them in front of her. But Willow would sit with her until she thought of anything.

When she spoke again, there wasn't really anything for Willow to work with. Typical letters. Not much sleuthing to be done, and she didn't want to pry into Ivy's life too much for fear of setting her off again. "Maybe something would come up if you looked at them? Maybe you could look at them later tonight and see if there's anything off about them." The girl sighed and brushed off the rest of the concern, more so for herself it seemed than for Willow's sake.

Willow retracted her hands and nodded encouragingly to Ivy, maybe it wasn't the real story. Maybe there was something more to this all and Ivy had just built her walls back up after letting them down for a brief moment. She wasn't the only person at Hogwarts to do this. It seemed like everyone was a little guarded, like everyone had a secret. Willow had her fair share of them. A small smile made it's way onto her face with Ivy asked about her own family, even though Ivy's smile seemed forced and fake especially after an issue like that coming up.

"No, I'm an only child actually. Pretty small family. It's just me, my mom, and my dad. I don't even have a pet which sucks. My grandma used to be mixed in there too, but she recently passed. So it's just the three of us now." This conversation seemed stuck in the dark and sad. If there was a light to be brought, for once Willow couldn't find it.

@Willow Anderson

Ivy was relieved when Willow picked up the cue for the change of topic, ignoring how abruptly it had been offered. She didn't want to dwell on her sister for any longer, for if she did, she would likely have another outburst... and that wasn't great, seeing as Willow had already witnessed two of them. Ivy was pretty sure she was labelled as the crazy person in the Hufflepuff's mind by now - to be honest, that wasn't too surprising.

Her eyes would turn sharply back to Willow's face as she mentioned her grandmother, searching for some kind of reaction that would go along with the statement. "I'm sorry." Ivy wasn't quite sure what to say other than the usual - I'm sorry for your loss, blah blah blah... she had never been very good with this sort of thing. "My cousin's wife, Agnes, passed away a few years ago too," she said slowly. "It was some kind of accident with her broom. I don't know much about it."

This was a miserable conversation, wasn't it? Ivy sighed, letting out a short huff of laughter as she did so. "Goodness, I'm a terrible conversation partner. I do apologise." She glanced down at the book in her hands, as if only just remembering that it was there, and shook her head, smoothing down nonexistent wrinkles in her clothing as she spoke. "Our lives are as tragic as Romeo and Juliet's," she said. Ivy was smiling, to show that she was joking, although she was half-serious as well. Some people's lives seemed to be straight out of a trashy soap opera.

She would stand up, not wanting to waste anymore of Willow's time talking to her. Ivy felt terrible for making the Hufflepuff talk to her, as she seemed like a genuinely nice person. "I ought to go and return this book to the library. Like I said, Othello's much better." She smiled again as she brought up another aspect of their brief conversation before clearing her throat again. "I'll see you around?" Ivy turned around, clutching the book to her chest, and walked out of the courtyard, throwing a wave and a smile behind her at the Hufflepuff. Well, what a strange afternoon.

cruddy post i'm sorry
Ivy leaves the thread.

Interacting with @Ivy Bellamy

Willow was surprised when Ivy offered a story of someone else who in her life had passed in response to her revealing information about her own loss. There was a slew of typical responses that she had received in response that information but never this. A small smile came to her face, Ivy was trying to connect with her. While admirable, truthfully it was an awkward connection. But it was a connection nevertheless. "My grandma passed away in her sleep, natural causes I guess. That's what my parents told me." She really didn't know what 'natural causes' entailed, but it wasn't exactly something that she was excited to find out information on. So she had tucked away that bit of curiosity under the mounds of other subjects that she wanted to look into, so it wasn't that hard to ignore.

She chuckled with Ivy, awkwardness was a place Willow was an expert in existing in. She simply choose to ignore the awkward and move on from it. Ivy seemed to be one to steep in it. "I've had worse. You ever talk to a rock? I have. They are kind of the worst. But! They're great listeners that's for sure." She nodded as if confirming how great rocks were to talk to about your problems, they really just... were rock solid friends. Maybe she should be ashamed of talking to rocks, but it didn't really occur to her that it would be something to be embarrassed about.

Willow's eyes tracked Ivy as she stood up, nodding slightly and giving a small wave as she left. "See you around! It was nice talking to you." The small Hufflepuff would stay in the Courtyard for a bit longer, watching the people mill about the area before getting up and heading off to her dorm for a bit.

Willow has left the thread.