Starry skies and Gardenias

Chapter 140

Isabella was returning from the Great Hall, early Sunday morning, when she ran into Remus at the common room. 

Well, they hadn't exactly seen each other since they apparently decided to go out yesterday afternoon. 

Isabella had excused herself saying that she had homework to do, and went to her dormitory and sat there until evening, writing to Tom and then fell asleep. 

When Remus saw Isabella, he promptly hid the parchment in his hands. That was the Marauders Map, obviously. She wanted to see how it would actually look. All she knew about it was that it would show everyone at anything in the entire castle, and the grounds and they had all the secret passages marked.

"I was just coming down for breakfast," Remus said sheepishly.

That's when it hit Isabella. She was used to going to breakfast early, Remus wasn't. It was courtesy to wait a bit for her 'boyfriend'. 

. . .That would mean a very noisy situation early in the morning. . .Well, hopefully, it would be only for a short while.

"I go for breakfast early," Isabella said awkwardly. "Sorry,"

"No, no, it's fine," Remus said hurriedly. "Really. I wake up early too, just I have to come down instead of staying in bed,"

"No, that's fine," Isabella said. "You can stick to your schedule. I don't mind waiting. I'll see you for lunch, then?"

"Yeah," Remus nodded. 

It was awkward. Very awkward. 

Now that she was face to face with the situation, Isabella realised her lack of planning in her scheme.

She had no clue what she was supposed to do now. What do people usually do when they have a boyfriend? . . .Well, it must be easy when they are actually 'in love' with each other. But that was not the case for her, so it was just strange. 

Should she ask Tom for suggestions?

Yeah, no. He was sworn single for eternity. And his habits were super trashy to be used ever in dating. 

He would have no clue either. Even though he liked to act as if he knew everything, Isabella knew he had no knowledge in this matter. He would be the same as her. 

"See you at lunch, Izzy," Remus said, thankfully taking the initiative. 

He patted her head with a smile and climbed out of the Portrait hole. 

Isabella stared after Remus and the portrait hole closed behind him. She raised her hand slowly and touched the top of her head. 

How weird...

Well, it made sense. Remus was way too tall, the tallest of the Marauders and Isabella was just way too short. The highest point was her head, it was easier for him to reach. 

Oh, whatever. She had her Transfiguration essay waiting for her. 

..........................................................................................

It was a habit Regulus had developed just a few months back. Coming early to breakfast just so that he could see Isabella. 

But after she removed her memories and entrusted them to him, he stopped it. Because it was rather hard for him to continue that habit. And it would only cause Isabella to become suspicious if he hung around with a forlorn expression around her all the time.