Late November 1977 (the next day, continued..)
Kelsey woke up with a groan. She felt really warm. She went to get up but a cramp hit her and she fell back not-so-quietly muttering a few choice words at the ceiling.
"Kelsey!" She heard the familiar voices of her friends exclaim. Finally, she managed to open her eyes to the worried faces of Astrid, Lily and Mary next to the infirmary bed.
She noted how bright the entire Wing was. Had she slept through the night?
"See, she sounds fine to me," a voice called out.
She looked past her friends to see Potter, Remus, Pettigrew and him sitting a lot farther away from her. Smart choice.
She wanted to muster up anger but she was in pain.
She went for a second attempt to get up, however, the stabbing pain in her abdomen destroyed any hopes once again.
"Miss Jones! Oh good, you're up!" Madame Pomfrey shuffled over and her friends stepped back, making way.
"What am I doing here?" Kelsey rasped.
"You gave us quite a scare!" She tutted in her usual manner. "What would possess you to go for a midnight swim in this weather?!" she scolded as she placed a bunch of healing potions on the small table next to her bed.
"Yes. I wonder," she seethed while sending Black a death glare. He had the decency to look guilty. Could you un-crush on someone?
"You had a fever which your little adventure only speeded up. You also have a cold. I'm keeping you here to make sure you don't catch pneumonia."
Kelsey drank the potion that the nurse shoved into her hand.
"Oh and you started your monthly," she announced cheerfully, happy that that was one less hormonal teenager to worry about getting pregnant. "You can have those pain relievers after you're finished with these. You clearly need them," she watched as Kelsey winced in pain once again.
Kelsey regretted that Sirius throwing her into the lake hadn't drowned her. She looked at the nurse in horror as she turned to face her friends and then the boys who were now just as red-faced suddenly finding their shoes more interesting.
She had found the one thing worse than a boy finding out you liked them - them knowing the intricate workings of your period.
She could feel the pity radiating off of Astrid, while Lily and Mary chatted anxiously.
After she finished drinking all the tonics, she lay back down on the bed wordlessly and drew the bedsheet over her face and just lay there.
This was her life now.
Ϟ
Sirius Black felt like an utter tosser.
"I mean," Prongs whispered next to him. "At least she's not pregnant. Now you know she's not off with other blokes," he sent him a sympathetic smile, trying to lighten the grim mood.
Remus held back a chuckle as he saw Sirius' face scrunch.
"Shut up," Sirius grumbled.
He watched Kelsey's friends trying to snatch the bedsheet off her but she just refused, turned the other way, and curled up into a ball.
Jones refused to talk. With a sigh, the three girls got up and made to leave.
This was his fault.
"I can't believe you did that," Lily Evans was in front of them looking furious. "What if she gets pneumonia and dies! It's bad enough she happened to get her period too!"
"That's a bit extre-" James began but she shut him down with one scornful look.
Sirius did not have a witty comeback for once as he saw Jones lying there in pain.
"Irresponsible!"
Sirius watched as Evans left the infirmary with Prongs on her heels.
"You coming Pads?" Remus and Peter too made to leave.
"You go ahead. I'll stick around for a bit." See if she ever talks or even looks at me again, he thought sourly.
Behind her, Kelsey heard her friends leave. She felt bad but she really wasn't in a mood to talk to anyone. She had had enough embarrassment to last a lifetime. All in a span of twelve hours.
Plus, with Mother Nature visiting, she deserved the slight courtesy to be able to mope in peace.
The oncoming of her period ironically made her feel a little better, as she realised yesterday had been the effects of PMS.
"I knew I wasn't a weak-ass biddy," she whispered to herself. Yesterday had been a roller coaster of emotions; right from the game to her sappy gazes to her dramatic exit.
She closed her eyes and lay there in peace for a few moments before she heard someone shuffle behind her and sit on the chair.
"Kelsey," he said softly.
She didn't know if she would ever get used to the sound of her name on his lips.
"Talk to me," he pleaded. Instead, she tugged the covers around her tightly and remained still.
"Kels-"
"Go away," she mumbled through the covers. She heard a sigh and footsteps of him walking away. She fell asleep in that position.
Ϟ
The entire day passed with Kelsey going in and out of sleep as her fever gradually wore down. There were a few coughing bouts wherein Madame Pomfrey would rush to her side and ease her but other than that she slept without a hitch. She was told that she could leave on Monday night if she improved by then.
That information alone was enough to cause panic. She couldn't bear the thought of missing NEWT classes. By Monday morning she was almost back to herself, still a little moody but now frantically expressing her worry about having to catch up on classes if she didn't get better.
Lily was by her side before classes to assure her that it would be fine. Kelsey only let her leave after she promised to bring back detailed notes.
By lunch on Monday, she was well enough to sit up and eat the bread pudding that Lily and Marlene had brought for her.
Lily went over while recounting how Potter - yes he was Potter again - was back to annoying her. Kelsey tried to assure Lily that it wasn't his fault. After all, she didn't want to be the cause for this blooming romance.
"I think you should go easy on Potter. It's the other one we need to watch out for," Kelsey grumbled while eating the pudding.
Why couldn't she have feelings for a normal boy who did normal sweet things like helping out old ladies cross the street?
"I think Sirius feels really bad," Marlene said, giving her a small smile. "I saw him in class today. He didn't look like his usual self."
Sirius Black and James Potter entered the infirmary on Monday during lunch to check on Jones. He would've visited during breakfast but Prongs told him to stay away for a while. Sirius figured that half a day was 'while' enough.
He didn't like the unsettling feeling that was gnawing at him.
"Ke- Jones," he corrected himself the moment he saw the crowd.
"What?" she snapped without looking at him. The girls had been in the middle of a conversation. From her clenched jaw, he had an inkling of what the topic had been.
"Evans," Potter said suddenly. "Uh - McGonagall said you're needed. Some third years got into the forbidden corridors on the fifth fl-,"
"What?! Where?!" With that Lily was up and off drilling Potter for information about the supposed shenanigans. Sirius looked at Marlene nervously who got the hint and left as well after patting Jones on the leg.
"Traitor," Jones grumbled as Sirius took Marlene's spot.
Sirius looked at her sitting on the bed. Her hair was fussed up and she looked tired. He was tempted to do something to soothe her but he knew it wasn't worth the slap in the face.
"I'm sorry."
She finally met his gaze for the first time since the Quidditch match.
"I hate you," she spoke softly.
He looked dejected for a moment. "You do?"
"No," she huffed. "But I wish I did," she mumbled, crossing her arms.
He held back a smile as he did his best to once again ignore his thumping heart.
"Forgive me."
"Not yet." She wasn't going to make it easy and Sirius hadn't expected her to.
"What do I have to do? I'll do anything!" She bit her lip in thought pretending to think.
"Anything?" Suddenly she seemed interested.
"Anything," he declared.
"I need notes," she declared knowing full well that Sirius Black never wrote his own notes in class. If she suffered so would he. Feelings schmeelings!
This was war.
He groaned automatically but she gave him a 'This is all your fault' look.
"Fine." He got up to head off to class.
"They better be in your handwriting. I'd recognise Remus' handwriting you know."
"Will do, love," he winked at her, making her remember the thing that started it all on Saturday.
"F-flattery will get you nowhere!" She cried just as he was out the door. He could practically hear the smile on her face.
Ϟ
Where was Tatty? Kelsey wondered. She was supposed to be here for her discharge.
"Miss Jones! Now you're just being dramatic!"
She heard footsteps approaching and fell back on her bed in pain.
"Avenge me," she croaked. She put one hand over her stomach and reached the other one out dramatically towards - she assumed - who would be Astrid.
"Blimey, Jones. If the pneumonia didn't kill you, I think your um- womanly stuff might," she heard Sirius Black chuckle and sit down, throwing a bunch of parchment on her.
She sat back up, red in the face.
"No uterus, no opinion," she told him.
"Fair point," he agreed and looked at the parchment. "Your notes m'lady." She held them up in awe. She really hadn't expected him to write them.
Sometime later, Madame Pomfrey showed up to finish up her final checks to discharge Kelsey only to find her and Sirius Black having a civil conversation as he went over what looked like class notes.
As the nurse saw Sirius Black, the boy she had heard notorious rumours about over the years, it clicked when she recalled the day he had shown up claiming to have been poisoned.
"Young love," she chuckled to herself and headed over to the two to let Kelsey know the good news.
Kelsey and Sirius exited the Great Hall, arguing about an appropriate timeline to resume their prank war when they heard two even louder bickering voices.
"Oh just shut it would you Potter!"
They didn't need a Ravenclaw to figure out who it belonged to.
Sirius figured that James who had been on watch duty to keep Lily away from Jones while he visited her was just doing his part.
"Yeah? Well, make me, Evans," Potter sounded just as frustrated. He had spent the last two days at his wit's end to explain himself to Lily for something that wasn't even his fault.
"Oh, he did not just say that," Kelsey whispered and Sirius gave her a confused look. Kelsey had read enough muggle books to know what came next.
They turned the corner the very moment Lily furiously grabbed James by the collar and pulled him down, smashing their lips together.
Sirius gasped, clutching his poor heart.
Lily held on to James, vehemently snogging his face off in the middle of the corridor. Potter wide-eyed froze in shock for a few moments before kissing her back. He brought a hand up to tangle it in her hair and deepened the kiss.
Kelsey didn't know how that was possible. They were already glued by the face.
"Getting creepy. Starin' like this. We should go," Kelsey tried to tug Sirius away to give them much needed privacy but he stayed put.
"Pinch me," Sirius whispered, still not believing the scene. Kelsey obliged eliciting a shrill yelp that alerted the two Heads in front of them. They jumped apart to see Kelsey beaming and poor Sirius looking shocked that the day had actually come.
"You - He - Evans -" Sirius stuttered. Before they could explain themselves Kelsey dragged Sirius away.
As the week went by, neither Kelsey nor Sirius had spoken a word of it to anyone. But the same could not be said for other shocked students who stumbled upon the Head Boy and Head Girl snogging in the most ridiculous places around the castle.
By the end of that week, almost all of Hogwarts knew that Lily Evans and James Potter were an item.
Sirius could only watch on, 90% happy and 10% jealous, that Friday morning as Prongs pulled down a blushing Evans into his lap and kissed her cheek.
'At least Kelpie was talking to him' he thought, meeting her gaze down the table where Evans' friends sat.
The rest of December passed by in a blur of classes. From dungbombs in the girls' dorms to misplaced comic books, Sirius stuck to low damage and frankly low-effort pranks, a little apprehensive about Jones' health.
The week after discharge was still a little rough. He'd see her limping around, clutching on to her tummy. Although he heard Mary and Marlene discussing how she was faking the 'period pains'. He had no idea how long those things lasted.
She'd smile at him in corridors, setting off an unsettling rush of warmth every time but she kept her distance as if something was holding her back. He found himself longing to have her there in front of him, yelling at him. Scolding him. Doing anything really. Perhaps he was a masochist when it came to having her attention.
He didn't realise how embedded their daily banters had been as a part of his Hogwarts life until then.
A few days before students left for break, Sirius, Remus and Peter were in their dorms with James out on patrol that evening with Jones.
Sirius sighed, heavily, one that clearly begged for attention. Remus grumbled internally before replying, "We noticed how your pranks have been not up to par since Kelsey's discharge earlier this month."
Sirius sighed again, staring up at the ceiling. Remus observed him for a few moments before adding, "You know she's not fragile, right? I heard Astrid muttering something about her getting restless too. It's almost unnatural how you two aren't causing havoc."
"Heard Mckinnon saying something about Jones and period pains," Sirius grunted.
Peter blushed at the mention of feminine issues.
Remus almost snickered at the thought of Sirius Black, THE womaniser - now ex-womaniser, actually caring enough for another girl that much. But then he knew how special this unusual relationship of theirs was.
"Just so you know, er- those things are meant to last about a week tops," he pointed out instead.
"THEY- WHAT?!" Sirius cried. He thought of all the times Jones actively put on a show in front of him. "She was taking advantage of me not knowing that part!" he realised. "That- that- little minx!"
Peter was now sniggering.
"You're just mad someone got you at your own game again," Remus quipped and returned to his book.
Sirius huffed, considering what Moony had just said. It was time he upped his game again.
Ϟ
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