The Legacy (Camren)

Chapter Fifteen

The following morning at breakfast, Lauren sat in her usual seat, collected her usual breakfast of eggs, sausage, and pancakes, and acted as if everything were normal. The Great Hall looked the same, except the jack-o-lanterns had been replaced by the usual floating candle. All of the Gryffindors were seated together, chattering as they always did about the previous night's events. Lauren's friends were all in their usual place- all except one, at least.

Ally, of course, being the witness to Lauren and Camila's private Halloween party, had been smirking at Lauren from across the table all morning. Obviously Lauren knew this meant Normani had heard the news, seeing as though, as sweet as she was, Ally had a hard time keeping Hogwart's gossip to herself, and considering Dinah was the first to return to the dorms the previous night, it was only fate that she had to be the one to find the two of them wrapped up under the sheets late into the night, fast asleep together after the love potion had supposedly worn off weeks earlier.

Lauren could handle a few moments of her friends side-eyeing her in an attempt to get her to spill, but after half an hour of awkwardly avoiding the conversation, she just couldn't take their stares anymore.

"Okay, what?" she snapped rather impatiently.

"Where's Camila?" Ally asked.

"She's still asleep," Lauren answered. "At least I think. That's how I left her this morning."

"Ah, so it was a hit and run," Normani teased.

"You two must have partied really hard last night," Dinah added. "Strange, though- I don't remember seeing you in the common room. Do you remember how Chris brought out the Filibusters and almost caught all of our previous House Cup banners on fire? Or when Niall chugged an entire barrel of ButterBeer and ended up barfing up slugs because Harry had charmed the keg? Good times, good times."

Lauren, though she felt well-rested and quite energetic from the night before, wasn't really in the mood for games. She wore a smug, blank expression as she listened to each one of her friends take their jab, and once they were all finished, she sighed.

"No, I don't remember any of that because I was upstairs hooking up with our housemate. Are you happy?" she admitted. "What else do you want to know?"

"Wait, so, do you mean hooking up as in before I caught you two making out on the couch, or was there more afterwards?" Ally questioned.

"None of your business," Lauren snapped playfully. "But from what I can tell you, it's safe for you to go ahead and assume the paintings don't know everything that went on, so don't try to go snooping for details."

"Wow," Normani laughed. "You totally bagged the new girl."

"Before me, too," Chris chimed in.

He took a seat next to Lauren and dug into his food casually, listening into the conversation as if he had been there all along. Lauren looked around at her friends and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, no, it wasn't like that," she insisted. "I didn't 'bag' anyone, and it wasn't a hit and run. It was two friends, talking and then, you know...sleeping together. I mean, it was a one time thing. It got out of control. All the ButterBeer, you know what I mean?"

"Hogwarts doesn't serve alcoholic ButterBeer," Dinah pointed out. "It would be way too dangerous, what with all the possible spells we could mutter while intoxicated. The place would be up in flames. And, uh...totally not a one time thing. You don't remember when you told us about the kiss in Hogsmeade?"

"So, let me get this straight," Chris interrupted. "You had sex? Like, with the girl I was trying to have sex with?"

Lauren's mind was racing, filling with a thousand questions a minute. She wished she could have had some playful banter with her friends and joked about how crazy the night was, but that just wasn't how she operated. Truth be told, she didn't know what to think, and she surely didn't know what to say, so she opted for the only thing that wouldn't get her in trouble with her friends or her professors.