Lollipops ↬ Sirius Black

Lollipops - Chapter 10

The end of a peaceful snowfall on the late November day gave Naomi a deep sense of comfort and warmth. The beauty of nature was a blessing, and Naomi was not shameful in expressing her delight towards it.

Classes had been completed for the day, and most of the students had already retreated to their common rooms, accompanying themselves with homework or something of the other, pleasantly waiting for the dinner that was to be graced upon them in an hour or two.

Of course, there were the few passersby, each walking the halls of Hogwarts for a purpose, but then there was Naomi.

A grape flavoured lolly was placed in her mouth as she freely roamed the halls, having no real purpose. She walked at a slow and forlorn pace, simply bored and lonely. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her Ravenclaw robes, and her glistening hair swung behind her as her vibrant blue eyes danced alight, taking in her surroundings with joy.

She'd already completed her daily stack of homework assigned to her, gifting her with enjoyable free time. Although, little did Naomi know that her day was soon going to take a shocking twist, the reason behind it being the oddity of one short and stout boy bestowing her with his presence.

Peter Pettigrew seemed to have found his way into the desert-like corridor that Naomi stood in. He appeared to be occupied with deep thoughts, for, his shoulder accidentally jammed into her's, rather hard, if Naomi had to admit.

"Sorry!" They both exclaimed simultaneously, even though Naomi knew she wasn't at fault. It was just something she'd said out of habit.

The boy twiddled with his thumbs nervously as if scanning his mind for the perfect thing to say. Eventually, he settled with the following words, "It-It's very nice—seeing you, I mean,"

Naomi was rather surprised by the fact that he was making conversation with her, but showed no such thing. She kindly smiled at Peter's rosy blush and took her lollipop out of her mouth to offer him some welcoming words. "It's very nice to see you too."

With a pleasant nod of farewell, Naomi made a move to make her way around Peter and walk away, when suddenly, he abruptly swung his arm out, preventing her from walking any further. He, rather alarmingly, said to her, "Wait!"

She raised her eyebrows raised at his suddenness, causing him to rub the back of his head abashedly.

"I mean—do you mind if we talk?"

Naomi paused before smiling nicely, agreeing to giving Peter the time of day, "Why, of course not. What is it?"

Peter sighed deeply and thoughtfully, as if he was having trouble finding the right words. Naomi gave him an encouraging nod. She was not going to lie, the approaching of Peter took her by surprise; while his friends were the most rambunctious boys in school, he would much rather quietly trail after them than anything else. He'd always been so shy, despite being so popular. So, to see that Peter was genuinely making an attempt to carry out a conversation with her kind of warmed her heart.

After Naomi gave him an urging nod so that he would continue, he plunged right into it without further ado.

He said to her in a very hushed, very quiet voice, "Do you know our—the guys and me—secret?"

Then came the moment of truth.

Peter remained silent for her to speak in baited breath, his eyes wide as he awaited her response. Naomi was more so taken aback than anything, but as usual, she displayed a slick and smooth expression.