Grey Eyes (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

5. Gossip Everywhere

It's warm.

Warm and cozy and... Huh, do I feel blankets?  A pillow and a bed...  I'm sleeping?

Oh thank god, it was all a bad dream.

Yeah, I went up from the Great Hall on the first night and just went to sleep.  Daybreak, huh? Guess I should get up and get my class schedule.  Man, I ache all over.  I probably slept in some weird position and strained my back.  Hope no one saw me because that'd be pretty embarrassing.

I slowly open my eyes. "It's all white..."

"Uh, that's what it looks like, yeah."  I hear a voice close to me.  A boy's voice.

My eyes snap open.  "Wait, what?"  I see Remus sitting next to my bed, head propped on his elbow.  "What are you doing in the girls' dormitories?"  I demand, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Um..."  Remus raises an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute,"  I mutter and take a proper look around the room.  "Wait, where am I?"

Remus' confused face turns into a grin as he leans back in his chair and gestures towards the very white scenery behind him.  "Welcome to the Hospital Wing," he says with a wave of his arm. "Sirius left like a minute ago. You just missed him."

"Oh, okay cool," I reply absently, still perusing the room.

Hospital Wing, eh?  Figures.  I can't believe I actually thought a guy was in the girls' dormitories.   Silly me.  But what am I doing in the Hospital Wing?  Wait... did I get knocked out?  Wait.  Then all that actually happened?  Nooooo!

As I wallow in my self-centered misery, I almost miss Remus' casual comment.  "Fiancé, eh?  Amusing."

My face turns a bright red.  "I didn't plan this!"  I retort a bit too fast.

"Uh huh, sure..."  Remus replies skeptically. "Hmm, well..."  He leans back on the back legs of his chair with his hands behind his head.  "The Blacks and the Vances are practically pureblood royalty, so it makes sense that they would want to keep the bloodline pure through arranged marriages."

"It's ridiculous!" I throw my hands into the air in frustration.  "What century are we in that arranged marriages even still happen?"

Remus raises an eyebrow.  "Your parents didn't give you an indication that this was going to happen?  At all?"

"Well, when I was a kid, they would mention it every so often, but one, I was too young to really understand, and two, by the time I got older I thought it was just a joke!"  I ruffle my own hair and flop back down on my pillow.  "Plus, I can't marry a guy I don't even like.  Much less a guy I practically hate right now.  Man, my love life is getting off to a great start..."  I sigh heavily.  "Even tomboy homeschooled girls have dreams of romance, but this? Just my luck..."

Wait. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the amused expression on Remus' face.

"Which... I probably shouldn't be talking about with a guy..."  I mumble, sinking down beneath my blankets so as to hide my pink cheeks.  Yeeeah, good job, Cecilia.  Just ramble on about your entire life story, will ya?

But Remus' grin just widens as if my embarrassment only served to fuel his amusement.  "Oh, I don't mind,"  he says with a shrug. "So, you don't like Sirius then?"

I immediately fling the blankets off myself in protest. "Of course, I don't! You think I'd ever fall in love with a right idiot like that? And he's not even that good looking!" I finish, panting from my anger.