Lollipops ↬ Sirius Black

Lollipops - Chapter 26

Naomi grunted and groaned as she dragged Sirius to the Hospital Wing.

Earlier on, when she discovered Sirius' unconscious body, she knew she had to think quick. So, she'd cast an invisibility charm on him before carrying him downstairs from her dormitory—she couldn't risk having anyone see him in such a state.

When Naomi arrived at the Hospital Wing, there were three unconscious students resting on seperate beds. One of them had boils all over their face, and Naomi assumed that a fight had taken place. Though, she didn't pause to dwell on it. She was just grateful that they weren't awake to see her arrive there. She made her way to Madam Pomfrey, who frowned at her arrival.

"Dear, what seems to be the matter? I thought I already gave you Blighting's Bite just two days ago!"

Naomi just shook her head at the woman, feeling too exhausted to explain, and threw what seemed to be an invisible force on the nearest bed to her. Quickly after that, she whipped out her wand and cast the counter-curse to the invisibility charm that she'd cast upon Sirius. Madam Pomfrey was quick to bustle over.

"My, what happened over here?" The nurse muttered in disapproval, while checking Sirius' wrist for a pulse.

"He drank my potion. He's already unconscious from it," Naomi helplessly explained, looking at the woman.

Madam Pomfrey paused, turning around to peer at Naomi quizzically. She inquired, "How did he get his hands on your potion?"

Naomi hesitantly responded. "Well, he got his hands on my lollipops, which are dipped into the potion..."

Madam Pomfrey hummed in understanding and went out into the back of the Wing, retrieving a potion to cure Sirius. After a quick moment. she came back and explained to Naomi, "This'll do the trick. He'll wake in a few hours, depending on the dosage—ten at most."

Naomi nodded in understanding. Just as she turned around to leave the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey lightly called her. "Naomi, does he even know?"

Naomi paused and turned around quickly, her long blonde hair swishing. Obviously, Madam Pomfrey was asking if Sirius was aware of the fact that Naomi had cancer. She bit her lip and admitted, "No, not yet," Madam Pomfrey nodded, but said nothing. Naomi knew that the woman's advice would be to tell Sirius the truth, though. Despite that, Naomi rather asked, "Madam Pomfrey... how much time do I have left?"

Madam Pomfrey looked heartbroken when she responded.

"Six months."

Naomi tried not to let her fear show—six months she had left to live. She nodded and muttered a quick goodbye, before she rushed away.

She kept her head down as she weaved her way through the heap of students occupying the corridors. She made her way to the Entrance Hall, where she headed for the courtyard, her head still down.

"Oof." Someone said as Naomi stumbled into them. She snapped her head up and was rather surprised—but delighted—to see the familiar face of one of her best friend's. It was Regulus.

"Oh! Regulus—hello, there. We haven't spoken in so long," She brightly greeted the younger boy.

To her astonishment, Regulus only looked up, scowled, and continued walking without any explanation. Naomi pressed her eyebrows together confusedly, following after him. "Reg? It's me, you know—your best friend?"

Regulus scoffed incredibly loudly at that, and swivelled around. "Best friend?"

Naomi frowned, confused at the boy's behaviour. "Well, yes. That's what I thought,"