Lollipops ↬ Sirius Black

Lollipops - Chapter 16

Naomi exhaled sharply at Remus' words, alarmed. She quickly demanded, "Why? What's the matter?"

Her and Remus never quite exchanged several words following their incident in front of the Hospital Wing in which he was caught spying on her, so it confused Naomi that the boy wanted to speak to her with such urgency shown in his tone.

Before her questions could be answered, however, Peter was sighted making his way back to the table, two cups of punch in his hands. It became too late for Remus to respond without Peter hearing whatever he'd say, so instead he casually leaned back in his seat and greeted his fellow with a clear of his throat.

"Thanks, Wormtail. I'll take these," he gingerly grabbed the cups from Peter and airily dismissed him. "You should go snatch Sirius before he ends up with one too many lipstick marks from Romilda Gon."

Naomi looked up, and, navigating her eyes through the crowd, she was able to catch sight of Romilda Gon, a pretty Gryffindor who was a year older than them, and Sirius. They were huddled together in a corner, standing too close to each other for there to just be a friendly feeling in the air. Sirius was whispering in her ear in what Naomi imagined to be a husky, flirtatious tone, and Romilda was continuously twirling her hair while biting her lip, cute giggles evidently escaping her lips.

She figured that Romilda was going to be Sirius' lovely lady for the night. With that thought resting in her head, Naomi's gaze lingered on the pair for a moment longer before she realized that Peter was making her way towards them, following Remus' order, and that she was finally going to be able to have a word with Remus.

She ripped her head away from the sight and faced Remus. "So, what were you saying again?" Naomi asked, putting the attention on her. Not leaving him time to respond, she rather continued, "Remus, if this is about your secret, then, I've already told you before, but I'll say it again. You have my word,"

"No," Remus abruptly cut her off, and she patiently waited for him to carry on. "This isn't about my secret. It's about your's."

"No need to be vague," Naomi shrugged her shoulders once he didn't bother continuing. To carry on the vibe of casualty, she took a long drag of the punch, while Remus' eyes uncharacteristically stared at what she was doing with too much interest.

The punch didn't taste normal. In fact, it gave her an unusual exhilaration. But no matter—she wasn't going to let it show that she was mildly confused or curious.

Remus gave her a long look, before he grabbed his red cup of punch, and, in one swift movement, dumped it behind a very random plant stood in a pot at the corner. This time, Naomi's mouth quirked up with incredulousness and bafflement. "What on earth was that for?"

"There's poison in that punch." He matter-of-factly stated, as if it were a day-to-day conversation. Naomi choked on her saliva.

"What!" She spit out, regaining her composure as Remus merely stared at her with his arms crossed at her mini fit. "But-But you told me the boys didn't spike this!" She spluttered.

"Oh, they didn't," he grinned widely like a psychopath. "I did,"

Naomi gasped. "You did not!"

Remus passively shrugged with a slightly pleased expression on his face, as though he was proud with what he'd accomplished. He crossed his arms, "I did. But it's nothing to worry about. You see, Naomi, I spiked the punch with that potion of yours you seem to always be carrying about. Blighting's Bite, I think they call it. It shouldn't affect you though, because you're inflicted with the disease that makes you immune to any harsh effects,"

Naomi froze. She slowly asked, "What do you mean? What disease?"

"Naomi," he began, suddenly acting soft. "There's no need to act oblivious. If you didn't have a disease, then you would've showed instant signs of drowsiness. You see all these people slumped in their chairs? Yeah, well, it's because they drank the punch, which is contaminated with Blighting's Bite. Any—er, normal people, will be affected by the potion, and because all of these people drank the punch, they're showing signs of tiredness and exhaust because the punch had the potion."

Naomi struggled to breath, and not because of her cancer. As a sign of giving in, she quietly asked, "How did you know?"

Remus have her a sympathetic look. "I was researching about the potion I saw Madam Pomfrey giving you in a Potions textbook, and I came across a potion that matched the description of the blue potion I saw in your hand,"

Naomi tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. "That was the time I saw you in the library, and you said you were studying, wasn't it?" He hesitantly nodded with a newfound guilty look. She desperately asked him, "You said that everything was good between us. If that was true, then why would you pry into my life like this?"

Remus frowned. "I know that it was wrong of me, and I'm sorry," he hesitantly continued. "Look, I was really curious about what you were up to. I didn't know that it was something life-threatening. I'm really sorry,"

Remus' apology was sincere, yes, but Naomi was having trouble listening to what he was saying.

The secret she had tried so hard to keep for years was out. She didn't want anyone to place sympathy upon her, and she didn't want anyone to underestimate her abilities merely because she had a disease...

It was all so much to take in.

Naomi, overwhelmed with her emotions, sprung up from her seat and, without second thought, ran out of the Room of Requirement. Remus shouted her name, but she didn't listen. She was sure that at least one person's head turned at her suspiciously running figure, but she had no time to care—both about the fact that a person saw her running away, and that her cancer was going to push down her ability to run.

Although, perhaps, Naomi would've stopped to think about just who it was that saw her running away if she knew that it was her best friend, Severus Snape.

————–

Hi.

I know I already told you, but I'll say it again anyways...

I'm 12 years old! Whoop whoop!

Edit: To anyone who's curious, I made this story a year ago, and as of right now I'm in highschool! This is just a chapter I published when I was still 12.

I called my close friends to come over, and we watched the movie 'Nerve' together. It was really fun!

QOTD: Favourite subject?
AOTD: English.

Vote and comment!

Love,
          Manny