Cursed Ancestors And Clones PV Ana Finished

@Anastasia Beckett

"No pureblood family is complete without a disowned child," sighed Ivy. She was only partly joking - disownment was strangely common with most pureblood families, although outsiders thought otherwise as these affairs were always kept quiet. Even Lillian's name was forbidden at home. A group of servants had once been caught speaking of her and all of them had been sent away with quickly. Ivy had learnt not to talk about Lillian - at least, not in front of her parents.

Ivy shook her head slightly and smiled thinly as Ana stated that she played the piano and violin as well. It was expected; almost every single pureblood girl she had come across were carbon copies of each other. Ivy wished she could say she was different, but she was exactly the same as the rest of them. Shaking off the somewhat depressing thought, she turned her attention back to the conversation. "God, next you'll be telling me you sew and speak French," she said wryly, with a good-natured smile, although she was feeling rather disconcerted and uneasy. Ivy sure hoped that they would find the source of their identicality soon. Every minute spent in this classroom made the funny feeling in her stomach grow.

She scanned the page, running a finger down the list of names as she searched for a familiar name. Come on... Ivy turned to the family tree next to her. She had been trying to ignore their squabbles, but ugh, their voices were so annoying... "I suppose you guys have nothing to say about this matter?" she asked the tree, arching an eyebrow. She was looking pointedly at the roots of the tree, although most of the inhabitants of the portraits down there were either asleep or absent from the portrait altogether. "It would be a great help if you could contribute."

The portraits conveniently all went quiet. Ivy sighed. Well, she got nothing out of them, but at least they were quiet now. "Jesus, they're so difficult," she muttered out of the side of her mouth to Ana. "I was hoping that we could get something out of them, but as you can see..." Ivy waved a hand at the tree and rolled her eyes. The tree started up again, their voices surprisingly loud. "I do apologize. They'll probably give us earaches by the time we're done."

Ana chuckled lightly at the girl's remark about disowned children. It was rather ironic since once a family disowned someone, they weren't exactly complete anymore. She couldn't understand why parents would do that. Sure, hers were harsh and somewhat manipulative, but they loved her. She was always going to be their child no matter what. Right? She was far less sure of this than she had been a year ago. Her father was increasingly volatile, Ana was increasingly argumentative and rebellious, and her mother was quieter and quieter when her father had his outbursts.

That wasn't a subject Ana wished to dwell on, so she was grateful for Ivy's next comment about French and sewing. "Of course I do," Ana laughed. She also knew Italian and Chinese and was working on Russian, but that was really more because of her travels than her upbringing. God, she would never understand her parents. How was it important for her to do all the well-bred nonsense that they wanted her to do if everyone else did it. If everyone could do it, it was really rather the same effect as if nobody could do it.

Her stomach twisted uneasily as the minutes ticked by in the classroom. Ivy was pleasant enough, but Ana doubted she would be fully comfortable around her until there was a plausible explanation for their resemblance. She bit her lip as Ivy spoke again. "Oh, of course, they won't talk when they could actually be somewhat helpful. The portraits back home are exactly the same way. Can't get them to stop talking most of the time, but if you actually need something from them, they're completely mum," Ana said. "Honestly, one has to wonder what exactly happens to the person once they're painted into a portrait, seeing as they're all so cranky and bossy."

When the portraits started up again, Ana let out another soft laugh. She rather thought that, in another world where she and Ivy each had their own face, they would be friends. Ana did rather like the younger girl, although she wouldn't admit it to herself. Until there was an explanation as to why Ivy looked so much like Ana - or would it be why Ana looked so much like Ivy? No, Ana was older, so Ivy looked like Ana - Ana wasn't going to be able to fully let her guard down around her doppelganger. Depending on the explanation, maybe not even then. It was a pity though since there was just something about the younger Gryffindor that seemed to draw Ana to her.

@Anastasia Beckett

Ana wasn't the only person who wanted to leave. The longer Ivy spent in the classroom with her, the uneasier she felt. If there really was a curse, Ivy was pretty sure that they should be trying to avoid each other instead of purposefully spending more time together. A shiver ran down the first-year's spine - curses were serious. The results were horrible, and, well, she didn't know about Ana, but Ivy did not wish to die.

Her uneasiness was only spurred on by the fact that they were similar in their upbringing and family as well. In the back of her mind, she knew that there were plenty of girls who were similar to her in those areas, but knowing something didn't exactly help in this case - partly because Ivy could actually see the effect. Scratch what she had said earlier - this definitely not the same as the mirror in Bellamy Manor, and she didn't think she would ever get used to this.

Speaking of scratching things out, Ivy's piece of parchment was now full of crossed-out names and ink blots. She could find no answers, only dead ends. Flipping through the book again with a groan of frustration, the Gryffindor wondered if their identicality was truly just a coincidence. "Nothing," she said to Ana, exasperated. "There's nothing that suggests that we're related." Ivy handed the book to her doppelganger absentmindedly so she could see for herself, her mind racing as she tried to think of another explanation. She drew a blank.

In all honesty, she wasn't really sure if she was relieved or disappointed. Probably a mixture of both. Obviously she was relieved there was a more-than-likely chance that she wasn't going to die, but there had been a part of her that had been excited about this, something else to research, something that held a note of danger and adventure. Ivy propped her chin up with an arm to look up at Ana, setting her quill down next to the piece of parchment. "Well, that was a waste of an afternoon," she joked, cracking a smile. "Suppose we're just... identical for no reason, I guess."

Ivy wasn't quite sure who she was trying to convince, but she knew that her words didn't sound right. There weren't that many coincidences in the world. She stood up, chair scraping along the ground harshly as she pushed it backwards, and moved to pack up the family tree, the Bellamys letting out a harsh cry of disapproval as she did so. Ivy ignored them, and offered Ana an embarrassed sort of smile as she stood up, tucking the metal box under her arm. She quite liked the older girl, and thought they got along alright. It was a shame that they were identical, for Ivy's natural instinct would to be avoid her doppelganger...

"It was nice to see you again," she said. She was lying through her teeth, but to Ana, it would seem like she was telling the truth. "I'll see you 'round," or never. With that, Ivy left the classroom, grey eyes troubled as she wandered throughout the corridors, thinking of the strange afternoon she had just experienced.

Ivy leaves the thread.

Ana was irritated at having found absolutely nothing after what felt like hours of working. Her parchment looked like a violent, angry, illiterate turkey had attacked it, and Ivy's only looked slightly better, like maybe just an illiterate pigeon had encountered it. Eerily enough, right as Ana glanced over, her doppelganger spoke. She had come to the same conclusion as Ana. "Same here. Absolutely and utterly nothing," Ana huffed, soundly slightly more grumpy than Ivy did. That was a nice difference that Ana had picked up on - she seemed to be a tad more dramatic and hotheaded than Ivy. Generally, Ana's impulsivity wasn't something that she particularly enjoyed about herself, but at the moment, it was rather comforting that there was something like this that was such a part of Ana that wasn't as foundational to Ivy.

Ana smiled despite herself at Ivy's slight joke. It really was a pity that there was a curse or something that connected them, because Ana really rather liked the younger girl, which was exceedingly rare for the former prefect. "Prehaps," Ana thoughtfully replied. She bit her bottom lip as she considered what they knew. It was pretty much nothing. Maybe Ivy was right, and they just happened to look like each other. Still, Ana's gut said that there had to be something more going on. She just had no idea what.

Ana smiled as both of them stood. "Likewise," Ana said in reply to Ivy saying that it was nice to see her again. As much as she liked the girl, she rather hoped they wouldn't see each other much more until there was a decent explanation for their similarities.

End of thread