Remus' word were assuring — that bit Naomi knew. Though, she wanted to tell Remus about what had happened. She thought that, after being so kind to her, he deserved to know.
"Remus," she began, getting straight to the point; "Sirius is unconscious in the Hospital Wing."
Remus looked at her and became weary. He exasperatedly said, "What was it this time, then? Prank gone wrong? The idiot..."
"No," Naomi swiftly chuckled, but it was so dull and mundane that Remus looked confused. "Actually, he intook some Blighting's Bite, which was in my possession, and well, I'm sure you're aware of the side effects, yes?"
Remus nodded in response to her question as a slight frown adorned his face. "Oh, well, does he know that you have... cancer?" She noticed that he was almost afraid to utter the disease, as if it would trigger the girl. Nonetheless, she shook her head at his question, and his frown deepened. "Then, what are you going to do when he wakes up?"
She responded in a desperate-like tone. "I'll tell him, of course, but it'll be difficult."
Unexpectedly, Remus stood up from the bench he'd been seated on. He only offered two simple words; "Come on."
Naomi questioned his actions, but she stood up and rushed after him. He zoomed into the castle, while Naomi reached into her pocket to retrieve a lollipop, hastily sucking the Blighting's Bite coated on it. For, Remus was walking so fast that she was practically running, and it was draining all of her little energy.
"Wait!" She panted. "Where are you going? Slow down,"
He slowed down only when they'd arrived at the destination. He offered an explanation, "There, you can practice on Sirius. Pretend that he's awake, and act like you're telling him the truth."
Naomi realized that they were at the Hospital Wing. She looked at the teenage boy apprehensively once hearing his plan, but with an encouraging nod, she gave in and walked into the room. Expectedly, Madam Pomfrey bustled over immediately, demanding her of what she was doing there.
"I'm just... visiting Sirius." said Naomi.
With a displeased look, Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Very well. Make it quick, and do not disturb him, dear,"
Naomi nodded and the nurse retreated. She made her way towards Sirius. She stared at him for a moment, noticing that he looked so peaceful. With a deep breath, Naomi began to speak.
"Hey, Sirius. Erm, I'm going to die soon, just to let you know. Have a great day!" Naomi chuckled at her own sarcasm, before sobering up. She tried again, "Sirius, before you jump to any conclusions about why you're here, I want you to know that... that... that —"
"That what?" A random voice interrupted. Just as Naomi had been practicing her confession on an unconscious Sirius, he woke up.
Startled, Naomi gasped. She incredulously asked, "You're awake already?"
Sirius adjusted his position to be hoisted upright in the Hospital Wing's bed, while offhandedly shrugging. "Yeah. But, what were you telling me?"
Naomi paused. Her heart's speed picked up. "Nothing. I'll tell you after,"
He looked at her curiously and shrugged. Just as he did so, Remus walked into the room. His eyes scanned the scene in front of him.
In the end, he chose to address Sirius. "I see you've awakened."
"Yeah. Mind telling me how I got here?"
Naomi and Remus looked at each other, sharing uncomfortable glances, and Sirius noticed their gesture. He cautiously demanded, "What? What is it? Is it something bad? The last I remember, I was in your dorm, Naomi,"
Again, Naomi and Remus shared worried looks, but just as Sirius opened his mouth to ask for an explanation again, Madam Pomfrey scampered back in. Her eyes zoomed in on Sirius.
"Good, you're awake," she murmured. "Would you like to rest for another hour?"
"No."
The woman narrowed her eyes at Sirius' blatant answer. She seemed disgruntled to say, "Very well, then. Don't be too active, or you'll drain your energy,"
He offhandedly nodded and jumped off the bed, in tow with Naomi and Remus.
As they left and began to aimlessly walk around, Sirius turned to Naomi and asked again, "How did I end up in the Hospital Wing?"
Once more, Remus and Naomi shared uneasy glances. After giving Naomi an assuring look, Remus said, "I better get going. Places to be, homework to do,"
Sirius stared at Remus confusedly, watching as he walked down the corridor and left. Meanwhile, Naomi went to sit on the ledge of a nearby window. Sirius shrugged off Remus's peculiar behaviour and instead followed her gesture, opting to sit down beside her on the windowsill.
Naomi nervously twisted her hands together, speaking only when the hallway cleared up. "Sirius, you remember how you licked one of my lollipops, don't you?" Sirius nodded. "Yes, well, the lollipops that I suck on are dipped into a potion that, erm, affected you, which led me to bring you to the Hospital Wing."
Sirius looked at her. "Okay, but, that doesn't add up. Why would you be dipping your lollipops into a potion that makes you unconscious?"
Naomi sighed nervously. "Sirius, do you remember that time, when you noticed a bright blue potion fall out of my backpack?" Sirius distinctly nodded, remembering. "Yes, that potion is called Blighting's Bite. Do you know what that potion is for?"
Sirius shook his head. "No. Should I know?"
Naomi forced a chuckle. "Well, Blighting's Bite helps to relieve the side effects of a disease called cancer,"
Naomi anxiously watched as Sirius digested the information. He spoke, "I'm guessing you have this disease."
"Well, yeah. That's why I'm always eating lollipops. I have to take Blighting's Bite in a discreet way throughout the day, so I dip lollipops into the potion so I can receive my daily intake without causing any confusion," she confirmed with a shrug. Sirius frowned.
"And what's cancer?" He asked. Naomi looked at him in shock, and he defensively explained. "What? It's probably a muggle disease, because I've never heard of it,"
"Oh," Naomi pursed her lips into a thin line in thought. If cancer was a disease that only had an affect on muggles, then how did she have it? Was it because she was a muggleborn? However much Naomi wanted to dwell upon the issue, she knew that Sirius was waiting for her to explain the severity of the disease.
"Cancer is a disease. It's caused by an uncontrollable division of abnormal cells in a part of your body. There are different types of cancer. I have lung cancer. I don't have it that bad, though. The side effects that I usually go through are shortness of breath, chest pain, and headaches. For some people, it's way more serious, so I guess I don't really have much to worry about." She lied, because she did have it bad—she was going to die.
Sirius looked terrible for her. "I'm sorry to hear that, Naomi. Is the cancer that you have life-threatening?"
Now that Sirius actually asked her, Naomi was forced to tell the truth then and there. She had to tell him that she was going to die. This was the moment—the moment it'd all be revealed.
"No."
Naomi said it before she could even think about what she was saying. Sirius nodded in relief, and he pulled her into a light hug, in which, for some reason, Naomi's heart faintly tingled. He muttered some words, but Naomi tuned out. She couldn't believe that she'd just lied to Sirius. She didn't even know why she'd done such a thing. It was foolish.
Sirius said something else, but Naomi was too preoccupied in her thoughts to really notice that he was talking to her.
"Naomi?" Sirius seemed to have repeated himself.
Naomi's head snapped in his direction. "Yes?"
He said, "Tell me if you need anything, okay? I mean, I know nothing about this disease, but I'll help you in any way that I can, if it means anything to you," Naomi nodded her head, and Sirius rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you at the Astronomy Tower. Bye."
Naomi only responded with a weak uplift of her hand in goodbye. Sirius left, and the comfort of having him by her side was gone. The place on her shoulder where his hand had been resting was warm and tingly, missing that feeling of Sirius' hand on it. Though, at the moment, she was hardly concerned about what that tingling meant. She was still wondering why it was that she'd felt the need to lie to Sirius.
–————
Lol I know.
This update is like 13 days late or something. I'd say I have a good reason, but I don't. My teacher assigned us 6 projects due the same week, and I've been staying up late and working hard for them. I admit, I occasionally had free time in which I could've worked on the chapter, but I spent my free time either reading or watching Degrassi.
Sorry for the inconvenience :(
Q: A song that you know all the words to?
A: 'Life Is Worth Living' by Justin Bieber
Sincerely,
Manny