Three full days had passed since the party, and the worries of Remus' acknowledgment to Naomi's secret were now the least of her worries. She was no longer fretting over the fact that her secret had been exposed, no, but, now that Christmas Break was officially starting that very day, that was the only thing that kept her mind busy.
Hogwarts was her safe place; Naomi refused to call the place that she resided in out of Hogwarts her home.
Naomi lived in a very small space with her father, and he was as rotten as the gum resting on the bottom of her shoe. There was no way she could look forward to being reunited with him.
"Ready?" Darcy Nallis questioned with a polite smile as she bounced out of the washroom, ready to go. Darcy Nallis was one of Naomi's fellow Ravenclaw roommates. Naomi and Darcy weren't exactly friends, but they were close enough to have a one-on-one conversation without question.
Darcy was slow on getting ready, and she was running late for the train back home, which was why Naomi offered to wait for her.
Darcy was rather pretty looking, too. She had luscious, golden locks for hair and fair, tanned skin. She was about yet the nicest person Naomi had met at Hogwarts.
"You bet," Naomi plastered on a grin once she was knocked out of her solemn thoughts, rising up from her bed and snatching her suitcase. "All set?"
"Yeah," Darcy off-handedly chirped as she carried her heavy luggage. With that, the two sixth years walked out of the empty dorm room and descended into the unusually still Common Room. "Thanks for waiting for me. I wish I could repay you," she gushed.
Naomi meekly shrugged. "You're welcome! Here," she handed Darcy a lollipop, "Relieve your stress." She said in a jokingly mystical tone.
Darcy giggled, and Naomi chuckled as well, and together, the two walked out of the room side-by-side.
To make light conversation, Darcy spoke about how atrocious her older brothers behaved, and how much she dreaded seeing them over the Christmas Break. Even though Naomi had an amused smile plastered on her face throughout the whole story, there was an underlying bitterness resting beneath her expression—didn't Darcy realize how lucky she was? To at least be able to go home and have a family greet her with happiness? To have a family properly care for her?
Naomi had neither of the two stated above, resulting in a bittersweet feeling settling in her chest. The family she had—which consisted of her father only—could never compare to Darcy's. They seemed like such a sweet and caring family. Meanwhile, Naomi did not want to see her father so much that she did not only wait for Darcy to finish getting ready out of her kindness, but because she was hoping to miss the train back.
By the time the two made it to the platform, most of the students were already on the train, and by the time the girls finally made it on, the train had started. Hagrid, who was watching on to make sure that everyone made it safely onto the train, shouted a quick farewell to Naomi, who gladly returned the call. Almost instantly, Darcy sighed in relief.
"We made it," She breathed.
"Yup." There was a pause.
"Well, thank you for the treat," Darcy widely grinned and gestured to the yellow candy in her hand. "You're welcome to come and sit with me and my friends, if you'd like," she kindly offered.
"That's alright." Naomi shook her head politely. Without supplying Darcy with an explanation, she merely nodded, "Well, I better get going. Have a fantastic Christmas!"
"You too, Naomi."
And with that, the two girls parted ways, Darcy reuniting herself with her group of friends, and Naomi reuniting herself with, well, herself.
Without further ado, Naomi welcomed herself to an empty compartment after she watched Darcy retreat, and she spent the rest of the train ride with herself as her only source of entertainment. Naomi was trying to enjoy her last moments of bliss before she'd be reunited with her father.
Alas, it's been proven that time seems to drift away faster when you don't want it to, and that was exactly what had happened with Naomi. She enjoyed the beautiful scenery as she gazed out of the compartment's window, until at last, the train slowed down, and eventually, stopped altogether.
Naomi was reluctant to come off the train, and she must've remained in her compartment for around ten minutes before she forced herself to gather her things and bounce.
She walked off of the train and collectively looked around with her trunk now in her hand. It was very easy to determine if her father was there, as most students had already left with their parents/guardians, and the space was rather empty. Those who had not yet left were either there only because their parents were holding up a civilized conversation, or they were still sharing heartfelt goodbyes with their friends.
Naomi was easily able to conclude that her father was not there, so, clinging on to her last thread of hope, she walked through the barrier that divided the platform apart from the muggles, hoping that her father was waiting for her on the other side.
Once she did so, she took a quick glance around. There were a fair amount of people around, but Naomi still didn't see her father. She walked outside, and there were a few passersby, but again, her father wasn't one of them. Among all the cars driving by, there was no blue, dirty, shabby one resembling the one that her father owned, and so, as Naomi sighed in defeat, she concluded that her father had forgotten to pick her up.
Again.
—–———
Sirius watched from afar as Naomi Serdeys sat down on a bench nearby, her back slumped and a stressed look on her face.
He watched her, his interest very much peaked by the girl who had grown to become a reliable companion. Sirius would've continued staring, but his best friend interrupted him.
"What are we staring at?" James Potter cane along and breezily put his arm around Sirius' shoulders.
Sirius woke from his daze with a slight jolt, and looked towards his mate. James sported a lazy grin and adjusted his circular glass. Sirius was able to plaster on an even brighter grin and lied, "That one. She's a beauty,"
Sirius jerked his head towards a very random girl walking by them, and yet James didn't even spare her a glance before saying, "I've only got eyes for Evans."
Sirius rolled his eyes. He muttered with the intention of James hearing him, "Not gonna happen,"
He then snickered, but James smacked the back of his head. He hissed in pain and retaliated with an inappropriate gesture. The two began to fight, and although it was all in a brotherly manner, Mrs. Potter began to reprimand them. Both James and Sirius argued with her, but secretly, Sirius' heart warmed on the inside at being treated like a normal son. This was all he ever wanted.
Though, through his moment of inner bliss, he couldn't help but wonder why Naomi wasn't with her family. He looked in her direction once more, but she coincidentally sat up from the bench at that very moment and left Kings Cross Station.
Again, he wondered about her—where was she going without anyone to pick her up? Though, he supposed it wasn't in his place to pry.
As Naomi retreated, he couldn't help but feel a forlorn ache in his chest at the sight of her leaving. He was going to miss her and those late night talks...
————–
I find it flattering when teachers mention how good I did on the last test, or how they point out how well presented my project was, but it's embarrassing too. I mean, we had a supply teacher yesterday and I raised my hand to answer a question. After I answered, the supply teacher just had to make a big deal about it, of course. He said that it was something a high schooler would say, and that it was an A+ answer.
Also, my actual teacher read the class my paragraph assignment because it was claimed to be the 'best' one yet. We had to write about things that make us unique. One of the things I wrote down is that my dream of having seven kids makes me unique. The entire class laughed.
Hardy har har.
Not only that, but as I was getting up to throw out my trash, I tripped over my chair and fell.
I screamed on the way down. Like, horror movie scream scream.
Sigh.
QOTD: Apple Products or Samsung?
AOTD: Apples for the win!
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Manny