Open A Slow Metamorphosis

[Ivy Ashworth]

Open after Kadi posts with Delilah

Ivy hadn't realized she was running late until she checked her watch as she left the Gryffindor tower. Oops. She hadn't meant to keep Delilah waiting, and she immediately felt a bit guilty. She had been trying out a new hairstyle, which was a bit more tricky than it had looked in the magazine. Ivy thought she had pulled it off decently, but she knew her mother could do a better job. Ivy headed into the student lounge, having rushed a bit on the way. It wasn't until she sat down that she realized her bag with her books was still upstairs. She groaned. "Hi Delilah, sorry to keep you waiting." She said. "I forgot my books." She added sheepishly. "Can we both study from yours?"

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah never liked coming to the student lounge alone if she could help it. She felt guilty taking up space was always worried that people were looking at her and thinking she was a loser with no friends. So she tried to make sure she had at least one person with her and today that was supposed to be Ivy. But the Gryffindor was nowhere to be seen and Delilah felt the familiar awkwardness settle over her as she tried to distract herself with the homework in front of her that they were supposed to be working on together. Finally Ivy came rushing into the lounge and she felt herself relax as she waved her over. Delilah could tell something was different but it took a moment to realize it was Ivy's hair, she had done something different to it. But before she could even comment on it Ivy was asking to borrow her books. She blinked a few times and tried to keep the irritation out of her face and voice. "That's fine." she said quickly and wasn't sure what it was in reference to. The tardiness or the books? "Did you forget?" she asked with a smile and tried to sound amused rather than annoyed.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was glad Delilah didn’t seem too upset about her forgetting her books and being a bit late, though she did ask if Ivy had forgotten about their agreement to study together. Ivy quickly shook her head. “I didn’t, I swear.” She said quickly, holding up her hands. “I just lost track of time, I was trying something with my hair.” She frowned, reaching up to adjust her hairstyle. “It looked so much easier in the magazine. Potions instructions are a lot easier than hairstyle tutorials, honestly, even with moving pictures.” She said, then shrugged. “So what are you working on?” She asked, as she was going to be sharing Delilah’s book with her. She didn’t especially want to study, but she knew she was a bit behind. Especially for her usual standards. While she had given up on trying to be top of her class, Ivy still didn’t want bad grades, or even mediocre ones. So she had to try.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah's pursed her lips and Ivy gave her an excuse. She had no reason not to believe it but it still didn't feel great to be left waiting. “Oh.” she said with mild surprised and looked up at Ivy's hair. She usually didn't pay too much attention to her friends looks but the style did look impressive. “Well...it does look nice.” she said with a sigh and tried to look sympathetic as Ivy complained about the difficulty. "I've never really tried to do much to mine. It's too straight." she admitted as she reached up and twirled a strand between her fingers for a moment before letting it drop. “History. We have an essay due.” she answered and tried to remind her gently. Part of her wanted to ask if she had forgotten that too but she held her tongue. Now that they were almost to their upper years they didn’t share all the same classes like they once did but they did have history and charms together. Delilah had never had to remind Ivy of anything when it came to lessons but her friend seemed so distracted lately and she didn’t understand what had changed.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy smiled brightly when Delilah said her hair looks nice, even though it was pretty obvious the other girl hadn’t noticed it until Ivy had mentioned something. She knew Delilah didn’t much care about stuff like that, much like Ivy used to. Out of the three of them, Brooke had always been the one that cared most about appearances, and she often looked rather boring. Ivy shrugged when Delilah said her hair was too straight to do anything with, looking at it critically. “If it were a bit longer, you could still do a ton with it.” She then said, wondering if she could try something out on Delilah. But as the girl brought up their upcoming History of Magic essay, Ivy came back down to earth. “Oh, right.” She said, frowning a bit. “About… what was it again?” She asked as she realized she had also forgotten her planner in her dormitory. She still wrote everything down meticulously, she just looked at it a lot less than she used to.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah could feel Ivy's gaze on her and she tucked her hair behind her ears like she always did when she was nervous. She wasn't expecting Ivy's critique and it made her feel more self-conscious in a way she never usually did around Ivy. "I guess." she said softly and reached up again to touch it. She had tried to grow out her hair a few times, and it was even quite long when she was little until Simon got gum stuck in it. They had to cut it up to her chin and ever since she's kept it on the shorter side, everything else just felt wrong. Delilah smiled at Ivy and tried to hide her discomfort, and instead tried to look grateful for the offer. But it quickly falls when her friend has to ask about their history essay. She let out a breath and started to dig for her notes to share too. "It's about the moai." she answered simply. She wanted to let it go but this seemed so out of character for her friends she couldn't help the question from slipping out. "Are you alright?" she asked in a hush voice to make sure no one would hear them. "You seem...off." Delilah added, not sure how to explain and hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy saw Delilah fuss with her hair and felt a little bad about her comment. "But it looks really pretty like this." She offered with a small shrug. She thought Delilah would maybe look even prettier with longer hair, but she didn't want to make her feel bad. Ivy nodded when Delilah said what the essay was about. "Oh, right." She said, thinking back to the lesson. "I remember now." She paused at the question Delilah gave her, hesitating for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said quickly. "Great, actually." She smiled. "Sorry to be so out of it, I've just been... trying to have other priorities than schoolwork all day every day." She said, wondering what Delilah would make of that. "But that does make it harder to keep track of everything." She added.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah wanted this conversation about hair to be over. It reminded her of all the times her mother told her to stand up straight or change her clothes for one reason or another. It had been easier at school, without her hovering even if she could still hear her in the back of her head sometimes. "Thanks." she said with a small smile but didn't like the feeling that she was just saying that to be nice. She was a little relieved to see Ivy look a little flustered, at least she seemed to still care about school somewhat. "What kind of priorities?" she asked, sounding as confused as she felt. Wasn't their main priority supposed to be focused on their lessons? Wasn't that why they were here? Delilah felt nervous feeling settle in her stomach and she wasn't sure what that meant.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy felt a little embarrassed as Delilah asked her more about her priorities. She felt like the Ravenclaw likely wouldn't understand, Ivy wasn't even really sure if she herself understood. She shrugged, leaning over her notes a bit so she wouldn't have to look at Delilah. "You know... clothes and stuff. It's not bad that I want to put a bit more effort into my appearance." She said, not looking at her friend. "And I'm trying to be more social, and stuff." She added with a shrug. "Maybe get a date to the dance."

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah frowned slightly as Ivy looked at the notes and practically seemed to ignore her. She didn't like that her friend seemed to be implying that she didn't agree with her. "No it's not bad." she said in a soft voice. And she did believe that. Her mother always told her she needed to look presentable at all times and Delilah always did her best to have her hair neat, and she took care of her clothes, whether it be robes or neatly pleated skirts. But still, she couldn't argue with what Ivy was saying. She knew here mom would be saying the same thing. Maybe that was it? Maybe she was just feeling like she was falling behind, more than she already did. She wanted boys to like her but it just felt impossible. But at the same time she had to focus on her grades and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to do both. "And being social means forgetting your homework?" Delilah asked tentatively and immediately regretted it. She had meant to just think that but it came out anyways. She could understand what Ivy was talking about but she still wasn't sure if one was more important than the other, when it came to school and a social life.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was a bit nervous talking to Delilah about this and felt ready to move on. She didn't want to change her relationship with her friends, especially not Delilah. The Ravenclaw had always felt like the truest friend she had at school, there was less of a rivalry there than with Brooke. But it seemed like Delilah wasn't ready to let it go, and her question stung. Ivy frowned. "You sound like my dad." She said. "I forgot my homework once, do you want an apology? It happens, okay?" She said defensively. "You don't have to be a jerk about it."