Breakfast that morning felt different for Naomi, because now she understood everything; she understood why the girls cast her pitiful, concerned looks, and why Marlene looked at her smugly.
Her cancer.
It still came as a shock to her that her friends knew her secret this entire time, and she hadn't even known it. It made her feel like a fool. But, most of all, she felt betrayed by Remus, who she had just discovered was the person who had told Marlene her secret—or so she thought.
"Naomi, pass the marmalade, would you?" Speaking of the devil, Remus' voice shook Naomi out of her thoughts.
She gave him a look as she passed him the drink, and he gave her a perplexed look. She offered no word to his look, rather pretending that she was looking in the opposite direction at the Slytherin table.
While she did so, she caught eye of Drew, who tried to mouth something to her, but she turned away quickly before she was able to decipher his message.
James, who had witnessed the encounter between Drew and Naomi, leaned into Naomi and curiously asked, "What's his deal?"
Naomi looked at James and explained, "Him and I used to date. He broke up with me but now he wants me back,"
James nodded slowly before casting a nasty look Drew's way. He concernedly asked Naomi, "Want us to do something about it?"
Naomi frantically shook her head. "No, that's alright,"
James reluctantly nodded. "Alright, but we'll play a prank on him for good measure. Don't be alarmed if you see him with maroon and golden skin tomorrow."
James and Naomi couldn't contain their giggles at his words. Naomi saw Sirius eying then for an unknown reason, but she thought nothing of it. Lily, however, stared at them with judging eyes, and said to Naomi with a falsely calm tone, "Naomi, would you like to head down to classes early with me?"
Naomi was absolutely certain that Lily only said that to get her away from James, but nonetheless she nodded in acceptance and stood up.
"I'll come too, if you guys don't mind." Remus spoke up, and Naomi glanced at his empty plate, cursing her luck. She didn't want to be with Remus for any longer, knowing that he had betrayed her trust.
"We don't mind at all, Remus," Lily kindly nodded.
Naomi would've said something along the lines of 'speak for yourself' if she wanted to be cross with him, but instead she settled for a light scoff under her breath.
Together, the three students left the Great Hall and began to walk to Transfiguration together. Remus stood in between the two girls. While Lily was busy blabbing on about the difficulty of their latest essay, Remus leaned into Naomi and asked, "Has something happened to you?"
Naomi stiffened. "No."
Remus stared at her unconvincingly until she confessed.
"Lily told me what you did. What you told Marlene."
Remus stared at her for a moment. "What? Sorry, I don't follow,"
Naomi narrowed her eyes uncharacteristically. "So, you didn't tell Marlene that I have cancer?"
"What?" Remus exclaimed in shock. Lily stopped talking and stared at them weirdly.
"Are you guys even listening to me?" Lily offendedly questioned.
"No, sorry, Lily," Naomi had the courtesy to look sheepish, "Though, would you mind telling Remus why I'm so disappointed in him?"
Lily looked confused, and Naomi shook her head before facing Remus. Naomi said, "According to Lily, you are the reason that Marlene knows I have cancer."
Naomi had never seen Remus look more offended.
"What?" He exclaimed, sounding more shocked than ever before. "Naomi, I promise, I did not tell Marlene anything. I swear it."
Naomi's tough expression softened a little. "Are you sure? I mean, there are only two other people who know,"
"And out of all three people, you think that I'd be the one to tell your secret?" Remus incredulously asked.
Naomi slowly shook her head. "Well, now that I think about it, it doesn't seem like you would. But if you didn't tell Marlene, then why would she say you did?"
Lily butted in, "She only said that she found out through Remus. But, that doesn't necessarily mean he told her."
Remus nodded, and with that, Naomi apologized.
"Well, if that's really the case, then I'm sorry for accusing you of something you didn't do, Remus," she sincerely apologized. Remus acceptingly nodded.
"Let's head in the class and get good seats." Remus changed the topic, nodding towards the group of students who were approaching the classroom. Lily and Naomi nodded, and together, the three headed in.
————–
It was early in the evening when Naomi was told the terrible news.
She was going through her weekly check ups with Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing, and Madam Pomfrey was going through the same precautions just as she would've any other day. But, suddenly, things took a turn.
"My dear," Madam Pomfrey began in a sorrowful tone, "before you go, I must tell you... It seems that a cancer has been spread to your liver. The liver is the chemical factory of the body. This chemical balance can't be corrected..."
Naomi tried to process the information but became confused. "What does that mean?"
"Your time has been shortened..."
"To what?" Naomi desperately asked, her heart pounding in her chest.
Madam Pomfrey herself had watering eyes as she answered, "To two months."
Two months.
"Oh my gosh," Naomi covered her hand with her mouth.
"I'm so sorry my dear," Madam Pomfrey was speaking, but she sounded numb to Naomi's ears. "The precautions you must take have increased, and you must..."
Naomi tuned out, nodding uselessly to the speech that Madam Pomfrey proceeded to give her.
"You are so strong," Madam Pomfrey ended her speech with. She gave Naomi a comforting pat on the back.
"Is there still a chance? That I will live?" Naomi quietly asked.
"Yes, there is. I will warn you, though, it's much too narrow to even think about it."
Naomi nodded. That was all she needed to hear.
As she left the Hospital Wing, she wondered, how on earth could her time go from six months to two? How? What did she do to deserve this?
Naomi realized that she didn't even know where she was walking off to, but eventually, she changed her course and began to walk to the library. She needed a peaceful place to think; to have time alone.
When she entered the library, she quickly maneuvered her way around until she found a secluded, quiet corner. There, at the table, she put her head down, and, shamefully, began to cry. She really couldn't help it. Even though she knew that she had to be strong and accept her fate, she thought that she deserved her whole life to live still.
She finally had something to be grateful for; her friends. In her fourth year, when she had become friends with both Regulus and Severus, she was happy with them, true, but just recently, she'd learned that neither of them wanted anything to do with her. She felt different with the Marauders and the girls. She felt not only happy, but loved; appreciated. She hadn't really felt loved since her mother died. The feeling was amazing.
But, in two months, everything was going to be stripped from her—she was going to die.
Naomi muffled her quiet sobs. She honestly loved her friends—James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, Alice, and Dorcas. It wasn't fair that in two months, she would be taken away from the world.
"Nomi?"
Naomi slowly looked up, and through her blurry eyes, she could make out the figure of Lily approaching.
"I thought I—told you to stop—calling me that." She attempted to joke, while hiccuping mid-sentence.
"Oh my gosh," Lily scrunched her forehead in concern, not hesitating in pulling up a chair beside Naomi. She immediately enveloped Naomi in a hug. "What's going on? Why are you crying?"
"I..." she couldn't find it in herself to continue.
"Did someone do something? The Marauders will prank them for you,"
Naomi tried to chuckle but couldn't. "It's the cancer."
Lily tightened her hug. "I see how it can be overwhelming for you, that you only have six months left to live, but—"
"No, Lils," Naomi pulled away from the hug to look at Lily. "That's the thing. I don't have six months left. I have two."
Lily looked like her heart had broken in two. Her voice lowered to a broken whisper as she desperately spoke, "What? But today you told me you had six."
"At my check up with Madam Pomfrey today, she told me that the time had shortened. Something had gone wrong." Naomi explained.
"Oh my gosh," Lily uttered before pulling Naomi into another hug. "You're one of my best friends. I don't know what I would do without you though."
Lily's words touched Naomi's heart. She didn't know she meant that much to Lily.
As she hugged Lily, her eyes wet with tears, she could feel Lily's tears dripping down on her shirt.
While the two girls continued to hug and cry, Naomi glanced behind Lily's back and, to her surprise, saw Marlene. Marlene had been with Lily. She had heard the entire thing.
Marlene's dark brown eyes met Naomi's blue ones, and with a sad look in her eyes, Marlene mouthed, 'I'm sorry'.
Naomi slightly nodded in acceptance. Marlene and Naomi didn't have to be friends, but Naomi definitely deserved an apology for everything that Marlene had done to her. She was grateful that Marlene apologized.
Meanwhile, as Lily and Naomi hugged each other, she couldn't help but be grateful; grateful for her friends, who, out of everything, taught her what it felt like to be loved again.
————–
Yay, I updated on time!
So in my last chapter, when I said that I was going to be editing, a few people complained, saying that they liked the book just fine. I just wanted to clarify, I am not going to be changing the plot, the characters, or even the storyline. I am just fixing some grammatical or spelling errors for future readers.
I've already updated about the first 20 chapters, and I will probably finish editing the rest of it today or tomorrow.
Q: What country do you live in?
A: Canada!
Vote and comment!
Love,
Manny