Lollipops - Chapter 21

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"I'm waiting," Severus stated impatiently. Naomi stayed quiet — a little too long for his liking. When she remained silent, Severus demanded once more. "Naomi, I want you to tell me what you and Remus were talking about."

Again, silence. One so powerful that the tension was overbearing.

Severus' nostrils flared. "Naomi—''

"Severus, not now!" She suddenly raised her voice. Her usage of voice surprised them both, but once she saw that it'd stunned Severus into silence, she carried on. "Look, Severus, I'll tell you everything when I'm ready, but right now, I need you to leave me alone."

Her words hit her best friend with a pang, and an offended expression came to rest on his face. However, his huffy facial expression lasted no more than a second before it was transformed into an expression of loathing.

"Well, then," Severus abruptly stood up, causing her to lean back with a frown. "Until you find it in yourself to share with me whatever it is that you're not telling me, I can no longer keep in touch with you,"

"Wait, what?"

"Bye, Serdeys." And with one last mistrusting scrunch of his nose, Severus disappeared, slamming the compartment door shut.

This was exactly what Naomi feared; her cancer was going to destroy all of her relationships—her friendships. It wasn't clear to Severus, but the only reason she wasn't telling him anything was because she did not want to inform him that she had cancer. She didn't know how he'd react.

He could've shown too much sympathy and remorse, or he could've been very offended and hurt that she didn't tell him any sooner. Maybe, he wouldn't even want to be her friend anymore.

Her cancer was the exact reason that she didn't want to have any friends. She feared that, eventually, her relationship with someone would strengthen to a strong bond, but suddenly, she would die of cancer. Naomi didn't think anyone deserved that sort of pain. And so she thought that if she just kept to herself, then not many would be affected by her death.

Severus' anger towards Naomi was just an example of how cancer was going to be the destruction of her world.

—–———

The train ride was relatively calm and peaceful for Naomi. A lollipop remained in her mouth, and she had a book to keep her occupied. The only sort of disruption she faced were her deep thoughts. She refused to sleep, fearing that she wouldn't wake up on time to head off of the train, so she was trapped in her shell of thoughts, which revolved around one topic; cancer.

She headed off and went along to the carriages. Awkwardly, she had to squeeze into a carriage with a group of students younger than her, but in the end, she could only focus on how grateful she was to be back.

The students of Hogwarts made their way into the castle, and began to enter the Great Hall for dinner. Naomi casually followed after the students, but in the end, she sneakily swerved out of the crowd and made her way to the Astronomy Tower instead.

After climbing the many stairs, Naomi simply leaned against the balcony and took in a deep breath of the sharp, winter air. She was very cold, especially because of her cancer, but she was able to tune out her discomfort.

About five minutes later, Naomi heard footsteps walking up the stairs. She froze for a moment, expecting an intruder. However, when she turned around, she saw Sirius. She frowned in shock for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, baffled.

"Why do you ask?" He retaliated with a goofy grin, taking his place beside her.

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