Cigarette Daydreams- ꜱɪʀɪᴜꜱ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋꜱ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ

14.

Aurora had never had any visitors in the hospital wing; she would be in the same bed every month - without fail - and the seat by her bedside had never once been occupied. She had never really minded it, well, that's what she told herself, but now - as she watched the school year continue and the usual hustle and bustle of the Hospital Wing return - she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously. Not loneliness, because Aurora Cassiopeia Black was never lonely, but jealously.

She'd never admit to it, but Aurora longed to wake up to see smiling faces staring down at her. To have somebody hold her hand whilst she lay unconscious after a full moon; to rave about her being attacked by a notorious mass murderer. For somebody to care - as cheesy as that sounds.

January came quickly, and she would have been glad to get back to normal if she wasn't still being held hostage in the infirmary. It seemed that time had carried on without her, for the new term had started four days ago - meaning that Aurora had been confined to a bed for just over a week. The lack of exercise was torture, she was certain that if she was forced to stay tucked under the duvet with a damp cloth on her head for any longer than her legs would seize up entirely, and that's her quidditch career down the drain.

She couldn't let that happen - the Slytherin's hadn't thrashed Gryffindor yet, and she was determined to permanently damage their egos. Ok, maybe she was only anticipating the look of frustration on Potter's face - but she wasn't ready for that conversation yet.

Aurora had begged and pleaded to be released - stating that her arms were feeling fine (they weren't - the skin was still swollen and a unsettling shade of red, border-lining on deep purple), but Pomfrey had seen straight through her lies. That in itself had earned her an extra day's monitoring. In short, Poppy Pomfrey was perhaps the most stubborn and perceptive person she had ever encountered - and she spent most of her free evenings chatting with an unimpressed Minerva McGonagall.

Huffing, Aurora stared at the patient in the bed opposite hers through a gap in her curtains. They were being smothered by kisses from, presumably, their boyfriend, and were laughing and giggling as a particularly sloppy one was placed on their temple. Aurora had seen them around - they shared a herbology class - but she was pretty sure that they were in Ravenclaw. Juno Miloby, she recalled, was non-binary, and forever advocating for LGBTQIA+ education to be provided at Hogwarts - Aurora had signed the petition last June.  

She finally averted her eyes when they began to snog passionately - Juno climbing out of the bed (despite their broken arm) to sit on their boyfriend's lap. On the other side of the wing, near the washrooms, a group of second years were sat conversing with a tiny blond girl, who had passed out while re-potting a mandrake. They had asked Poppy to play exploding snap, but she had refused, and so they were now talking loudly about their christmas holidays; the blonde girl had apparently gone to Milan to see her Grandmother, and was busy telling her mates about Italian culture. She seemed to be speaking, however, to one of her friends more directly than the others - Aurora smirked to herself, she could smell a romance brewing.

She was just about to pick up a book (she had managed to smuggle a few in) when her bed curtains were yanked open to reveal Madam Pomfrey's smiling face. She took one look at the book resting on her patients lap, before snatching it out of her grasp, with surprising strength, and tucking it neatly into the front pocket of her apron. Aurora scowled - she could of sworn that the nurse was busy fussing over a lone first year literally ten seconds ago - Madam Pomfrey was always able to tell when one of her patients was misbehaving. It was as if she possessed a sixth sense that was used solely for tracking down objects that could cause people harm. Like a book.

"No reading whilst your in my hospital wing," She glared, channeling her inner McGonagall, "Give me the other's"

"What others?" Aurora smiled an innocent smile that fooled nobody.