Welcome Home

Ivy slept in until the sun light shinned in through her yellow curtains. She laid in bed for a while, looking up at the window. How could she get up? It was Tuesday, and the middle of the summer holiday. Of course she didn't mind helping at that daycare down the street, it was actually enjoyable. She went there once, most of the kids who go there are well behaved. But when she went there, there was one boy who was just a spoiled brat, he probably still is. He got excepted in to some snotty, rich private school. Because the public high school wasn't good enough for him. Anyway, he was awful to all of the kids. He would take their snacks, juice boxes, ice-cream from the ice-cream truck that came every day. His father was just as bad, fat and greasy. While his mother treated that fat kid as if he was an angel sent from above, she was tiny. Like a twig. The kids name was something completely mad, Bubby Vermon, Cuddy...

"Dudley Vernon."Ivy sighed, as she pulled her shirt over her head, "That's the name..." But other than that kid, she had never known of a bad...no, evil kid that went there. Ivy stood in front of her floor to ceiling mirror, it was nothing special. Just a cheap, and tall mirror leaning on the wall by her dresser, where all of her make up sat on top of.

Ivy looked at how much her hair stood out against the teal tank top she wore. She glared at her reflection. She would be going to get her hair dyed...again, tomorrow. No matter what, she was going to get brown hair. At least for two days. She wore a teal tank top, white denim shorts, and she put her hair up in a ponytail, letting her bangs hang loose, they would end up that way anyway. She slipped her feet in to a pair of black flip-flops and made her way down stairs. Her mother sat in the corner of the living room, at the computer desk.

"Morning, mom."Ivy yawned, as she walked through the arch in to the kitchen and opened the fridge, but found nothing that was worth eating. So she got a jar of peanut butter out of the cabinet, a butter knife out of the rickety old drawer, then a piece of bread out of the bread box.

"Good morning, sweetie."She smiled turning around in the chair, "I left a water bottle of ice-t in on the table for you, who knows how hot it will be. Weather said at least 97 degrees."Her mother sighed, standing up and walking in to the kitchen.

"Thanks mom, is their pepper-mint in it?"Ivy asked, her mother laughed a little and nodded. "Where is Matt?"

"Still at the Huens, would you mind picking him up today? The car is still at the shop." Her mom sighed, as Ivy started towards the door. Ivy nodded, as she picked up her keys off the hook. Every morning was like this, almost to the dot. No matter where she was going, whether it was to school, to the store, or park. She got up, found nothing pleasing for breakfast so settled for a piece of peanut butter bread, and her mom always had tea for her ready.

"Yeah, I'll get him..Ivy sighed as she walked out the door, as she rounded the corner to the driveway. She put the lid back on her tea, then when she got to the driver's door, she put the key in to unlock it. But before she opened the door, she peered in the window. She dropped tea, which quickly found itself rolling down the driveway. Ivy let out a frustrated, annoyed, and very irritated scream. Her car was filled with envelopes. All of them a light creamy color, sealed shut with a maroon stamp. "Mom!" She shouted towards the house, yanking the door opened, at least fifteen of the envelopes falling out. There was no way she would be able to drive anywhere! The pile on the driver's seat moved a bit, and a brown tabby cat jumped out, it had strange black box strips around its eyes. "Mother!"

"Ivy, don't shout. I'm coming-"Her mother said, walking out with a cup of coffee in hand. "-oh my..."

"Matt did this."Ivy scowled, "I'm going to kill him. I am going to kill him!" She paused, "This is low, even for him."

"This is strange..."Her mother sighed, seeming to talk to herself for a moment. "Look at this, Ms. Ivy-Jane Sullivan, Surrey, Blue Car in Driveway..."She paused, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."Her mother seemed to be more interested with the one envelope in her hand. "Mathew wouldn't go through all this trouble."

"Who else could get in to my car and do this?!"She scowled, speaking loudly, as she began to scoop up envelopes and bring them to the garbage can and dropping them in.

"Ivy, a letter came yesterday, I assumed it was just a joke from Mathew. It was from the same place-"

"Mother! It is a joke! Matt..."She said, cussing under breath. "I am going to kill that twerp!"She stated, as she continued to empty the car of the useless, well put together envelopes in the garbage. Matt would be hearing from Ivy later.

Once Ivy cleaned out the car, she made her way to the daycare. She did just what her mom suggested. Using the supplies that the daycare had, she helped them trace their hands, and staple the pieces together. She had to take away all the glue when a boy, went my the name of Jake, took a bite out of the glue stick. Which, of course the rest of the children for completely hysterical. She was there for about one hour, and thirty minutes. Ivy smiled as she was finally heading for the door, saying goodbye to a few of the kids.

"Ms. Jane..."Ivy turned around, "That is your name, right?"

"Part of it, why?"She asked, looking down at Amanda Levvy. She was a kindergartner who had been one of the few who made multiple hand turkeys.

"Because thats what I wrote on this one...I made it all by myself, I made it for you, Ms. Jane."She smiled, her blonde hair falling loosely out of her ponytail, holding it up to her. Ivy laughed a little, the feathers were crooked, one of the legs wasn't even attached, it was an inch below the bird. The hand writing on it was chicken scratch, but the words For Ms. Jane were readable.

"This is a very pretty bird, are you sure you don't want to keep it?" Ivy asked, raising her eyebrows, bending down to her level.

She shook her head, "I made it special for you. See, look, the feathers are bright red. Just like your hair." She smiled, holding the picture out to Ivy. Ivy took the picture, she had always considered being a teacher. There were moments when kids took a bite out of glue, but then there are moments like this.

"Well, thank you very much Amanda."She smiled, "Maybe I will draw a picture of you."

Amanda giggled, "Have a nice day, Ms. Jane!"She called after Ivy, Ivy waved goodbye as she got in the car, and set the picture on the passenger seat.

She pulled out of the driveway, as she then went towards the Huens house. Ivy glanced in the backseat, there were a few stray envelopes on the floor. It reminded how angry Ivy was with Matt. It was over a stupid radio. She didn't think he would stoop to such a low level. There was actually no way she could top it either, "Hogwarts? Really?" She asked herself as she stopped at the stop sign, when she looked at the sign, she saw a cat. A brown tabby cat with black boxes around its eyes. "No way..."Ivy groaned, leaning her head back. "No way." She frowned, pounding her fist on the steering wheel. It didn't even phase the cat. "Come on! Run away!" She shouted, furiously at the cat. "Run-a-way!"At each pause she would honk her horn. She glared at the cat. Nothing phased it. Ivy jumped when she heard cars behind her, honking. "Fuck you..."She frowned, to cars she knew full well couldn't hear her.

When she pulled in the Huens driveway, she picked up the picture Amanda had given to her. She looked at it, smiling for a brief second and put it on the dashboard. She rested her forehead on the steering wheel. When she looked up, she saw Matt coming out of the house. On the bird feeder, it was the same owl from the day before. Matt noticed it, and a look washed over his face, almost like he was going to go crazy. Matt got in to the backseat with out a word, not even a snarky remark.

"Get in the front, dim-bat."She frowned, staring at the own. Matt sighed, and climbed in to the front. As she honked, the owl wasn't phased either. "I'm going crazy, Matt..."She frowned.

"You aren't the only one..."Matt scowled, Ivy pulled out of the driveway. Matt looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. "I swear, that bird is following me."He sighed, yawning. "When Alex went to sleep, I went downstairs to get a drink, it was right there, right outside the kitchen window, it had this in its beak..."He sighed, pulling something out of his back pocket. Ivy sighed, and pulled over and took it from him. Mathew Thomas Sullivan, Surrey, The Dwelling of the Huen Family. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"You got one too?"Ivy asked, raising her eyebrows. Then glaring at Matt, and punching him in the arm as hard as she could.

"Ow! What was that for!?"He snapped, flinching away from her.

She glared at him for a few longer moments. "For playing the twisted, awful, and sick prank! How far are you going to go!?"

"What prank?"He snapped, his eyes were dull from lack of sleep.

"You know, filling my car with these!"She snapped, reaching for an envelope on the floor in the back and shoving it in to his hands. "And lock a mental cat in my car!"

He read over the front of it, "Ivy, then why the bloody hell would I have gotten one too?!"

"So it looks like..."She paused, "So...um...damn." She paused, "Then who did this-"She said looking pasted Matt. "there! Look! It's that cat I was talking about! See it! The brown one! It has the black boxes around its eyes!"She exclaimed loudly. She probably sounded like she had gone completely mad. Just one day earlier, she was quiet, and looking forward for today, working at the daycare. The day had become hectic. It shouldn't have happened, Surrey was a normal town. Things like this just didn't happen in Surrey.

"Ivy!"

"Matt! Look! It's right there!"Ivy said pointing know, wagging her finger towards it. "Maybe we can catch it-"

Just as she went to unbuckle, Matt stopped her. "Ivy. Chill. Out."He stated, "It is probably diseased anyway." He sighed, holding an envelope in each hand. "Can you please just drive us home?"

"But Matt-"

"Ivy-Jane! Could you please just drive us home now?" Matt shouted, staring at her.

"Alright, alright..."Ivy said, irritated.

"We've both gone made..."Matt frowned, pausing. "-one of us more than the other" He sighed, glancing at Ivy, who glared at him as she pulled away from the curb. "-there is an animal supposedly following us. You think that cat is following"

"Not just following. Watching."She stated, Matt rolled his eyes. Ivy just needed to let out some steam. Sketching would be the perfect solution.

"And an owl me..."He frowned, "We've lost it...we have gone completely mad."

"You don't think mom would lie to us about something, do you?"She asked, "I mean, not that this Hogwarts is real."

"I don't think so..."Matt frowned, "What about dad? He went on a lot of business trips...maybe it's one of his old friends playing a trick on us?"

"By stalking us? Yeah, great trick."She stated, sarcastically.

Matt sighed, "Well at least it's an idea."

"A bad one."Ivy stated bluntly.

"Well, go on! Let's see you come up with something even better?"He paused, "Come on, lets hear it."

"Well...I...fine."She frowned as the pulled in to the driveway. "Fine, I can't. But I still think you did all of this."

"How the hell would I get a damn cat to fallow you around? And why the hell would I do that?"He asked irritably.

"I don't know, all I know is that I know you did it." She frowned, snatching the envelopes. "This better be the last time I ever see one of these stupid things!"She stated clearly, Ivy got out the car. Her red bangs in front of her eyes. She angrily threw the two envelopes in the trash, and stomped inside. She just wanted to go upstairs, and sketch. To just relax, her state of mind was crazy.

"Is Matt home too?"Her mom asked.

"Yeah."Ivy stated, as she started up the stairs.

"I don't want any arguing at dinner." She called after her, knowing full well that Ivy wouldn't be out of her room for a while.

She fell limply on her bed, her whole body was tense. Her head was pounding, and spinning with everything. Letters had flooded in her car, and a cat was everywhere. Now, Matt, her twerp of a brother was getting letters too. The owl she had seen yesterday, it was at the Huens house too. Everything that had happened, it wasn't real. It couldn't be real... never ending envelopes, owls, and cats... nothing like this ever happened in Surrey.