Lollipops ↬ Sirius Black

Lollipops - Chapter 34

With the news that she was going to die within the next two months, Naomi decided that she had to make things right with her father.

Naomi's father wasn't there for Naomi when he should have been. When she was still a kid, and her mom was alive, her father was loving and caring, but when her mom passed in the car accident, her father became a man she wished to have never known. Even though the death of his wife must've come hard to him, that wasn't much of an excuse to ignore his daughter's existence; to not be there for her when she needed him the most.

The only time Naomi's father ever really acknowledged her was every December, when he sent her a letter telling her to come home for Christmas break. She still had yet to discover why her father did that. As far as she knew, her father hated her, so it didn't really make sense that he wanted to see her for two weeks.

Despite thinking that her father hated her, Naomi found herself in her dormitory, writing him a letter for the first time since her first year. The dormitory was empty and silent, because everyone was in the Great Hall for lunch. This gave her time to think hard about what she was going to write to her father.

And so, once Naomi finished up the last remaining touches to her letter, she read it aloud to herself.

"'Dear Father,

It's me, dad. Naomi. I know that I haven't written to you since my first year of Hogwarts, when I told you what House I had gotten into. But I'm writing to you to tell you something very important.

Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse, has told me that I have only two more months to live. Something had gone wrong with my cancer, in result, shortening my time. This has made me realize that I won't ever see you again; I'm going to be dying in June.

I'm not sure if this really matters to you. I'm not sure if you even still care about me. I know that since mom died, we've been so distant. I don't even know if we've had a proper conversation since then. But, I know that you at least deserve an explanation.

I still love you. You are my father. I'm not sure if I ever even did stop loving you, even though you've disregarded me all these years. I still remember when I was just a child. You would hold me when I cried, or read me a sweet story to help me fall asleep, just as any other father would. I'll never forget those days, even though it feels like centuries ago. Even though you don't treat me like a daughter anymore, I'll always remember when you did. You and mom taught me what it's like to be loved; feel happy. I think that's why I still love you; why I still can't find it in my heart to hate you, no matter how much I think I should.

I don't know if you'll even read this letter. Maybe you'll chuck it in the trash the moment you see my name inscribed on it. Or maybe you'll be happy that I've written to you, which I know you won't. But, even if you don't love me, I love you. I don't need you to say it back. But I need you to know that I don't hate you; I don't resent you for being a bad father.

I'll tell mom you say hi.

Your daughter,
Naomi."

She had kept the letter short. It said everything that needed to be said, anyway.

Feeling a deep sense of accomplishment with herself, Naomi got up from her bed and left the Ravenclaw Tower. She made her way through the castle and to the owlry, where she used one of Hogwarts' owls to send the letter to her father.

Once she sent the owl off, she continued to watch it fly away until it was nothing but a little brown speck in the sky. With that, she let out a puff of air before slowly exiting the room.

Quickly after that, when Naomi was making her way to her next class, she ran into Remus—literally.

Remus grunted in shock, but his eyes lit up when he realized that the person he had bumped into was Naomi.