Inferius

Chapter 7

The next morning, I awoke by the fireplace. I sat up quickly and looked around, a blanket sprawled over my lap.

"Morning," Cirrus said, looking at me from the table in the other corner of the room.

I eyed him curiously for a moment before stretching, "thanks for the blanket."

"I-"

"What time is it?" I interrupted, moving slowly. My muscles felt stiff and I winced as I tried to put weight on my feet. They were both asleep and numb.

"It's midmorning. Harry and Ginny left earlier this morning to go help some of the professors with their classes, Ginny told me to tell you once you woke up in case you were looking for her."

I nodded. I hadn't seen Ginny since the war. She was wounded but fine after awhile. I didn't even say goodbye and she was probably hurt by that. I felt bad, but suppressed the feelings of guilt that threatened to rise inside me.

Cirrus took a sip from his mug, watching me intently. I gave him a tight smile, feeling an awkward tension grow between us. I knew I should forgive him since he didn't have any other choice, but my feelings of anger was still there, gnawing at the back of my mind.

I decided to ignore my feelings and gingerly stood up, feeling my muscles wake again.

I looked over at Cirrus who now busied himself with his drink and a notebook. The notebook looked the same as the one he had before. It was probably a diary, I thought and smiled.

It's my time to play with him. It'll be fun to play with his mind and put thoughts in his mind, my turn to manipulate.

"You're not married, are you?" I asked, wrapping the blanket around my body, enjoying the warmth that spread through my body. It was better than being cold.

Cirrus scrunched his forehead together, "no."

He peered over at me, curious it's dancing in his eyes. Even from a distance I knew he was trying to figure out why I asked, why I would care.

"So you need to get married within the year as well," I added, waiting for his reply.

He nodded slowly and I continued, "you've known longer than any of us, so who is the lucky girl?"

He tilted his head, his eyes showing what his mind was thinking. His eyes betrayed him and I knew that I was putting thoughts in his head. Why would I ask such questions if I wasn't interested. He finally shrugged with an answer, "I'm not sure. Why?"

I shrugged in return, keeping my mouth shut. I watched as he opened his mouth to ask something but closed it as I got up from my sleeping spot. I waved a small goodbye as I disappeared into my room.

I quickly got changed into a simple shirt and pants with a black robe overtop. I stood by my door, listening to the conversations in the common room. I could hear Cirrus whispering to someone else, but I couldn't quite hear what they were saying. I leaned further on my door, trying to make out any of the words, hoping Cirrus was playing back our conversation trying to find some reasoning for it.

I covered my mouth, laughing silently to myself that this would bother him for a while. I rolled my eyes and moved into my bathroom that was attached to my room. As I pulled my hair into a loose ponytail, I heard screams.