Grey Eyes (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

21. Happy New Year

"Hey, Cecilia, my mum wants you to go get ready early again." I hear a voice call to me from the doorway.

I raise my eyebrows at Sirius upside-down from my position on my back on his bed. "For what?"

He shrugs and slams the door behind him, falling back onto his bed next to me. "New Year's Eve party at the Malfoy Manor, only it's more party and a lot less ball this time around." Sirius snatches the piece of parchment out of my hands. "What are you reading?"

"Just another one of your letters. They're addressed to me anyway." I lunge for the stolen parchment half-heartedly with my dinky little arms before giving up. "By the way, did you really accidentally set Professor Grubbly-Plank's hair on fire with fireworks in your third year, or are you just pulling my leg?"

Sirius snorts. "Of course we did. Why else do you think she's half-bald right now?"

Still? Blimey, those are some intense fireworks.

"Do you actually not care that I'm reading all these letters you never meant to send?" I ask, glancing at him.

Sirius shrugs and tosses the parchment back to me. "Whatever, it's not like you'd understand what I'm saying in them anyway. My mastery of vague language is astounding."

"Understatement of the year," I mutter under my breath as I roll back onto my stomach and start reading the rest of the letter. "You know, maybe I'll spontaneously remember the answer you gave me that one night and then we'll see who's talking!"

"Oh really?" Sirius laughs teasingly. "Well, maybe you could try finding out again tonight since you're still sleeping here." He gives me a mischievous look, but before he can move an inch, I spring up off the bed and run towards the door.

"Fat chance, playboy!" I call out over my shoulder as I wrench the door open. "As if I'd fall for that again!"

And with that, I slam the door closed, just barely catching Sirius' "Don't forget to go to the kitchen fireplace when you're done!" from behind me. My eyes narrow in thought. The kitchen fireplace? Not exactly what I imagine when I think party, but, hey, I wouldn't put it past the Blacks to have a fireplace big enough to fit a hundred people. Sigh, rich people.

I meander through the door to my old room and up to the closet, starting to go through all the luxurious dresses for the second time this holiday break.

"Come to me, girly. Coooooome to meeee-"

"Oh, shut it, Jeeves. I'm a little busy here, alright?" I call out to the pedophilia-afflicted ghost butler behind me.

Jeeves isn't much of a threat while the sun's still out, but once it gets dark, he can get terrifying as hell. Precisely why I ended up practically living in Sirius' room, much to my dismay. But, of course, I can't exactly move all of my dresses there, so here I am again.

Now with much more experience in this whole dressing up thing (well, if you could call only one other time "experience"), I find a dress and accessories with considerably more ease. In record timing, I'm in front of the mirror, touching up my messy updo and make-up.

Not too shabby. The dress is a little shorter than I would usually wear, but, hey, no one said I was supposed to be waltzing right?

"Well, assuming I'm even going to dance," I mutter to myself as I make my way out the door and towards the kitchen. Huh, for a New Year's Eve party, it's suprisingly quiet. I peek my head through the kitchen door. "Heeeello? What the... no one's he-"

"Good evening, Miss Vance!" a voice squeaks from behind a kitchen counter.

I spin around to see a tiny house elf running towards me with a flower pot in her hands. "Oh, hi, Arby," I reply with a wave. "Where is everyone?"