"I'm so excited for the summer!" Honey said to her roommates as they packed some of their things. "I can't wait to stay with everyone. I can't wait to meet your sister, Lil. Or James's Mum, or Remmies family, or-"
"We get it, Bear! We're excited too, but we've been hearing about this for a week!" Marlene said cutting her off.
"Sorry," Honey smiled sheepishly.
"Don't be. We know you're excited, and we want you to be happy!" Lily said, walking out of the small closet they shared.
"Okay," Honey said and collected her things from the closet.
"Right, so have you talked to Sirius? Like at all over the past few weeks?" Marlene asked.
"Marlie, he's mad at me for some reason. So, it's not like he'll exactly talk to me!" Honey sighed unhappily.
"That's too bad. Do you know why he's mad?" Lily posed.
"No, I can't figure it out. Remmie doesn't know either, and when I talk to James he won't tell me! Even Peter's in on something strange. So I've decided to spend my night studying tonight. He knows where I'll be if he wants to find me." Honey said, plopping down on her bed.
"What are you studying for?" Marlene wrinkled her nose. "We don't have any tests, and we don't even know what we have for next year! Do you want help?"
"No thanks," Honey sighed, shaking her head as she stood up. "I'll be fine."
"Oh good, I didn't want to help you anyways," Marlene said.
"Then why would you offer?" Honey laughed.
"I wanted to be kind," Marlene said.
"Okay, well I'm going to the library now. Bye!" Honey said, dashing off.
"Bye," Lily laughed as she disappeared.
When Honey got to the bottom of the stairs she fell into someone. They tripped over a rug and Honey went sprawling across a chair. She quickly stood up and brushed off her jeans. Her shoes had caught the lip of the rug, and she had pushed the other person onto a pillow. She was seeing double and her head was aching from where it had slammed into the arm of the chair.
"Are you okay down there?" She asked weakly, sitting back down.
"Ow," Groaned a familiar voice.
"Star?" Honey asked.
"Bee, why did you knock me into the pile of pillows?" Sirius asked, rubbing his knee where it had struck the floor.
"Why were you at the bottom of the girls stairs?" Honey asked.
"Why were you running down the stairs so fast?" Sirius grumbled.
"Can I not do that?" Honey asked.
"Can you check at the bottom of the stairs next time?" Sirius sighed.
Honey groaned and slid down in her chair. There was a look of intense pain drawn across her features, and a tear escaped her eye. Sirius stood up quickly and set a hand on her head. Her forehead wasn't hot, but she didn't try to slap away his hand either. That's when he knew something was severely wrong. He slid one arm under her legs and the other behind her back. She feebly smiled, and he lifted her up. She was lighter than he expected, but he wasn't complaining.
"Wha- is she okay?" Remus asked, watching and following as Sirius took her to the hospital wing.
"No," Sirius said simply as he walked.
"Do you need any help?" Remus said, following closely behind.
"Get Lily or Marlene, tell them to come down to the hospital wing. Bring James and Peter with you too," Sirius ordered.
"Got it," Remus said, and ran to their common room.
When Sirius finally got to the hospital wing, he was panting and sweating from the effort of getting her down the stairs quickly. Madam Pomfrey immediately sensed that something was wrong, and cleared out a bed for the injured girl. The woman laid the small girl down and covered her with a sheet. Sirius sat by her bedside and answered her questions numbly, not taking his eyes off his best friend.
"Hey, what happened? Is she okay? What did you do? What did she do? Are you hurt?" Lily said in a rush, breezing past the foreboding Madam Pomfrey to Honeys bedside.
"She tripped over a rug, bumped into me, we both fell, she hit her head, and I'm fine." Sirius answered all her questions.
"Oh good," Lily said, hugging the boy tightly. "Thanks for taking care of her."
"She's my best friend in the entire world, I couldn't have left her if I tried!" Sirius defended, sitting back down in his chair to resmue his watch.
"Good. Next time, talk to her when you're angry. Last I heard, she thought you hated her and wouldn't ever talk to her again." Marlene said, crossing her arms.
"I could never do that to her," Sirius said with an angry shake of his head.
Peter and James pulled up extra chairs for the visitors. They each took a seat, and waited. The nurse asked them all to get away from the girl, all but Lily, so that Honey might get pajamas on, with the help of Lily. The striped pajamas weren't flattering on anyone, but the comatose Honey made it work.
Lily opened the curtains and Sirius resmued his brooding. Marlene handed him an elestic, snapping him away from his angry staring. He sat on the bed and put her head in his lap, and began to braid. His fingers danced through her soft hair, creating a beautiful plait.
"How did you learn to braid?" James asked, looking at the perfect plait that went from the top of her head to over her shoulder.
"She taught me," Sirius smiled reminiscently.
"Honey taught you how to do that? I didn't know she could do a plait. She always asked us!" Lily said with a smirk.
"She doesnt' let many people know," Sirius said.
"She doesn't let many people know much," Peter said.
"She's afraid of letting them in. You've heard about her parents, I've met them. They're worse than she lets you know. She's afraid that people will use anything against her. She's afraid that they will fear her or want to kill her or even take advantage of her, because that's how she was raised. She doesn't trust," Sirius said, tying off the end of the plait.
"I know. I think we all do," James said, rubbing his tired face.
They sat in silence until Madam Pomfrey's heels clicked to her bed. She stood with her arms crossed over her stomach, and a cross expression was painted on her face.
"Visiting is over," She said, ushering them all out.
"Please, can I stay?" Sirius begged unmoving. "I'll be the next one in here, sick with worry if I don't! You have no idea how much I need to be here!"
"Fine, but only you! I can't risk anything else," She said, shaking her head.
The rest said their goodbyes and left the dreary hospital wing. The nurse locked the double doors and went over to her only patient. She handed Sirius a warm blanket, a glass, and a water pitcher.
"Should you need the restroom, there is one down the hall near my office. Should she wake up, do your best to keep her calm, and call for me. If you need a bed, there are plenty, roll on past the curtains if you need, but make sure you sleep." She warned, and then walked off to her office.
Sirius nodded and moved his chair closer to her bedside. He adjusted her head and pillow, and pulled her sheet up to her chest. She shifted slightly in her sleep and smiled. She continued to breath steadily, and that's what broke him.
She seemed so at peace with the world, and he was hurting. He broke down in sobs, the kind that hitched in your chest and shook your entire body. He had a heavy heart, thinking that if she were to pass away right then his last words with her would have been a fight. He said some horrible things that he didn't mean, and now he wished he could take it back.
"I'm sorry, Bee," He whispered, leaning his head on her arm. "I'm sorry. I take it all back."
He continued to sob until he fell asleep. His head was next to her arm, and his neck was beginning to crick. But he wouldn't ever leave her side. He was loyal to a fault, and he was especially loyal to the people closest to him. The people he loved most.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey," Honey whispered, stroking his shaggy black hair. "Goodmorning Sleepyhead."
"Morning, Bee," He said sleepily.
"I heard you talking in your sleep," She said, moving to one side of the bed.
He sat down next to her, looking slightly confused. "What'd I say?"
"You kept saying that you were sorry, that you didn't mean to hurt someone. You were talking about a person who you trusted, a person whom you would trust with your life," Honey supplied, giving Sirius a bit of her blanket. "You were calling out a name, but I couldn't quite understand it. Were you having a dream, or nightmare that you remember?"
"No," Sirius said truthfully, shaking his head.
"Oh well," Honey said quietly, burrowing her head in his shoulder. "It doesn't matter."
"Have you eaten?" Sirius asked, sniffing the air.
"Not yet," Honey replied, looking at the window to Madam Pomfreys office. "She's supposed to bring some soon. She said she'll bring something for you."
"Okay," Sirius said, a certain intensity hanging in the air.
"Star, whatever happened before I hit my head, it was hardly your fault. The only part that was your fault was the fact that you wouldn't talk to me. I don't hold you at fault at all," Honey said, clearing the air ever so slightly. "I missed this. I missed being able to tell you everything. I missed being able to tell you all the gossip that I heard and couldn't keep it to myself. I missed you."
"I missed you too, Bee," Sirius said, pulling her into a hug.
The nurse brought their food out on trays, and then left them alone again. Honey traded her chocolatey cereal for Sirius's grain toast. He took her pumpkin juice for his chocolate milk. They smiled. They knew the others breakfast preferences almost as well as their own.
"I think you know more about me than I know about myself," Honey giggled, kicking him gently in the shin.
"Wanna see?" Sirius asked. "I have a game to see."
"Let's do it," Honey agreed, finishing up her toast.
"Okay, I'll tell you anything you want about me, and then you do the smaed and we see if I already know it. Does that seem okay?" Sirius said with a smile.
"Yes, okay. Let's hear the first one," Honey said, wiping her fingers on the tissue she had on her tray.
"Alright, your favourite colour?" Sirius asked.
"Green, like a fir tree." Honey answered. "And yours?"
"I didn't know that, and mine is yellow. Soft like the sun reflected in a lake," Sirius replied.
"I did know that one," Honey smiled. "Okay, how about your favourite book?"
"Hmm... I don't read a lot, but I think it's probably the one you lent to me over the summer." Sirius said. "And yours?"
"That one is also my favourite book," Honey smiled.
"I did know that," Sirius said. "Next, your favourite place on earth?"
"Anywhere that I'm with my best friends. Or even just my best of best friends," Honey said.
"You stole my answer!" Sirius laughed.
"Okay, so who's your favourite cousin?" Honey asked.
"Andromeda Black," Sirius answered quickly. "She's the nicest."
"And see, I knew that," Honey smiled. "She's my favourite of your cousins too. I don't like Lucius, so that's all of my cousins."
"Wait, Lucius is your cousin?" Sirius said.
"I don't really like to talk about it," Honey said, looking down. "He's annoying and rude and he invades my personal space constantly. I hate him."
"Okay, next question; favourite animal?" Sirius asked.
"Oh that's hard, umm probably a cow. You?" Honey said, fiddling with her bee charm necklace.
"Bee's. I didn't know that," Sirius said.
"And I did know your favourite animal was a bee," Honey smiled. "My question is; who is your favourite girl?"
"You," Sirius smiled.
"I know, I just wanted to hear you say it," Honey grinned widely. "Okay, what's your next question?"
"Who was your first friend?" Sirius asked.
"Adult, or my age?" Honey said.
"I want to hear both," Sirius said.
"Well, my house elf. She served as my nanny until she had to retire a few years before I met you, my first friend that is my age," Honey acknowledged.
"Oh, my first friend was Andromeda," Sirius said.
"I know that one," Honey smiled.
"Okay, children! Honey, it is time for your medicine, Mr. Black I would kindly ask you to move off the bed for a minute. The medication is rather unpleasant, I must warn you," Madam Pomfrey said, bustling about her bed.
"Okay," Honey said braceing herself for the awful medicine.
She took a spoonful of a green liquid that made her shiver with disgust. It only took a minute for it to begin working; making her head ache, blinding her temporarily. She couldn't see, she could hardly move, her head hurt almost as much as it had when she had hit it against the chair originally. Sirius sat back down next to her on the bed and she grabbed his hand. He knew she was in pain, but she was squeezing his hand so tightly he was in pain too.
"Hey, it's okay! You'll be fine, it'll pass," Sirius reassured her.
She nodded, but refused to say anything further. Her face was screwed up and her eyes were closed tight. She was still holding his hand, but she had lessened the crushing of his bones. The nurse had said it was unpleasant, but that was rather an understatement. It was downright painful.
"I'm okay," She said with a breath of relief after a minute or so.
"Good," Sirius smiled, shaking out his hand.
"Did I hurt you?" Honey asked, grabbing his wrist.
"Not really, you only crushed a few bones," Sirius said, brushing it off.
"I'm so sorry, Star!" Honey murmured, hugging him feircly.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Sirius said quietly, rubbing his hand behind her back.
"O-okay," Honey faltered.
"Don't worry, Bee! I'm okay!" Sirius said with a small smile. "Want to plan a prank with me that we'll do when we get you out of here?"
"Let's do it!" Honey smirked.