Oh No She Didn't!

[Cecily Rambolt]

-Set day before Summer Break-
Daily Gossip

Cecily cupped the warm tea between her hands, enjoying the simplicity of the morning. She couldn't wait to see off those who were getting on the train and make sure those who stayed were settled in well, so she could go home and begin her own holiday. Her new family was important to her, although she knew that Prodan's children may take a long while to warm up to the fact they were married and had their new sibling on the way. She hoped the presents they'd picked out for them were to their liking. Just then the owls arrived. One delivered their payload at the staff table then she noticed that most students received the Daily Prophet as well.

Unfolding the paper, she smiled at Gabe as he took a seat next to her. She skimmed a few articles boredly before her eyes widened and she nearly choked on her tea. "Bloody hell." Looking at Gabe, then back to the paper, she continued to read. So she was a murdering jezebel who lured men to their death and cuckolded her husband with anything male and above age. Visions of stringing up Cynthia Vandervoort by her own quill flashed through her mind. Then she set the paper down and picked up her tea again. And began giggling, then laughing. Oh that delusional woman! As if she could cope with anybody plus her husband! If that disgusting reporter had been a fly on the wall during their honeymoon. She sipped at her tea, shaking her head. Well, it wouldn't have been much different than any other day in their lives, she smirked.

"Pass the toast?" she asked Gabe, as though nothing had happened.

 

[Gabriel Lloyd]

Gabe grinned at Cecily in greeting, pouring himself a cup of coffee before sitting down. He nibbled at toast and eggs, watching the owls as the morning mail arrived. The students were damned lucky that those blasted birds left nothing behind but letters and the Daily Mistake. He never ordered the paper; he usually just read the ones that students or his coworkers left behind. He gave Cecily a weird look. After checking his clothes and his reflection in a dish, he affirmed that she hadn't pulled a prank on him. Why was she laughing so hard?

The dark haired man passed the toast as she had asked. Grabbing the paper Cecily had been reading, he skimmed the articles until he reached the one that seemed to be causing a ruckus. Dear Merlin. Gabe's first instinct was to be angry, but if Cecily could laugh over it, he could too. Leaning in, he murmured, "You should be ashamed of yourself, you floozie."

 

[Cecily Rambolt]

Cecily's laughter trailed off as she spread jam thickly on the toast, making sure it mixed well with the melted butter. "Well if I'm a floosy, then what does that make you?" she grinned, biting into the crunchy bread. She eyed him then once she could speak again, couldn't help being quite the smart arse with him. "Knocking up two women consecutively, for shame." She finished the toast then wiped her mouth with a napkin. Refilling her tea cup, she took a drink then put a hand to her forehead. "Am I a horrible person for wishing she'd drop dead?"