Taryn blinked. Her head hurt so much. Why was she in the Hospital Wing? What… What had happened? Had she really fainted from trying to do her homework?
Was Sirius there? She looked around. No he wasn't. Maybe he just had to go somewhere. He probably had detention or something like that…
Had she missed dinner? Taryn sat up and looked at the clock. She had missed most of it; it would end soon. That was probably where Sirius was.
She still felt sick. Why, oh why did she have to get sick? She hated being sick, probably more than many people. She always left the Hospital Wing when she was still sick, and then ended up sitting in her dormitory, staring at the same four walls with no thoughts in her mind at all.
Taryn laughed. It was all so stupid that it was funny! So stupid! She suddenly depended on Sirius to always be there, to help her, to love her when everyone else hated her. She suddenly spent most of her day with Sirius and the rest alone. Her life had suddenly turned into practically the same thing as Sirius' life.
There wasn't much bad about spending her day with Sirius. She obviously loved him and felt good whenever she was around him. He made her laugh, he made her smile and he made her feel like she belonged.
But she always had belonged. It was never such a big deal. She was always unique and everyone liked her for that, and that was how she belonged.
Now she belonged differently. Now she belonged because she was just like everyone else, and she wasn't sure that that was good. Actually, she was pretty sure that it was bad.
She was just like all those girls who get asked out by Sirius and then give up their whole life to spend all their time with him, so they could keep him…
But Sirius really loved her right? And she didn't have to try to get him to stay with him, so why did she change her whole life for him. She had thought that she would've been willing to give up her life to make him happy, but she never thought she would need to.
But she started thinking, and she realized she had given her life already, just to be with him, and she wasn't happy anymore. She had given up her happiness, her freedom…. And her best friend.
Lily no longer talked to her anymore, ever since that morning. She had given up Lily, the first person to ever be her friend. Lily was the one who always gave her advice…
Who would help her when she had some problem with Sirius? Who would give her chocolate, rainbow sprinkle cupcakes and tell her that everything was okay, and cheer her up? Sirius could, but there were some things that Sirius didn't understand at all… Like the complex mind of a teenaged girl.
She heard the door open and ignored it. If it was Sirius, he would probably come up behind her and hug her, then start kissing her, not caring that he could catch whatever sickness she had. If it was anyone else, then she didn't care at all.
"Hey Taryn." Said a girl's voice. She couldn't tell who it was, but it certainly wasn't Sirius.
Taryn didn't say anything. She looked down at the floor.
"Taryn…" The girl sat down next to her and also looked down at the floor.
Taryn saw red hair in the corner of her eyes. It was Lily.
At the same time the girls turned to look at each other and said, "I'm so sorry!"
"Everything you said was true!" Lily said.
"No, everything you said was true!"
"I shouldn't have judged Sirius like that. I didn't even know him as much as I thought I did."
"I should've spent more time with you and less with Sirius!"
They hugged each other. "I missed you Lily." Taryn said.
"I missed you too."
"Best friends forever?"
"Yeah. Best friends forever."
….
"When'd you paint your nails?" asked Lily, looking at Taryn's Gryffindor colored nails. They were in their dormitory and Taryn didn't feel sick at all anymore.
"The day of the Quidditch game. I wanted to show some team spirit!"
Lily laughed. "Awesome."
"Yeah." Taryn smiled. "Have you done any homework yet?"
"Yeah. All done."
"Can I copy it?"
"No way, Taryn."
"But homework is why I got sick. I was in the boys' dormitory, staring at the paper, and I suddenly felt sick."
Lily smiled. "Guess what tomorrow is."
"What?"
"Valentine's Day." Lily grinned.
"Ugh. I hate that day. It's so… pink." She made a disgusted face.
Lily laughed. "I'm going on a date that night."
"Ooh. Potter's going to be so jealous."
"Which is why I said yes to Remus."
"Remus? Remus LUPIN?"
Lily nodded. "Yeah."
"Oi! Potter's going to kill him."
"I know." Lily laughed. "It will be rather fun to watch, as long as Remus doesn't get too hurt."
"Yeah."
….
Taryn slept pretty well that night. She barely even thought about Sirius…
She woke up the next morning and got ready for Valentine's Day. They still had classes, and she still had homework, but she really didn't care. Sirius probably prepared some sort of surprise for her, and she was eager to find out how Lily's date with Remus would turn out. Maybe she would get a boyfriend!
It was all so perfect now. She had the perfect balance between Lily and Sirius. She made sure that whenever Lily was busy, she would be with Sirius, and she would be with Lily whenever she wasn't busy. It was perfect, and Sirius perfectly understood that she couldn't spend her whole day with him. He actually seemed pretty happy that he had time to cause trouble with Remus, James and Peter again, like he used to before he and Taryn started dating.
"Hey Sirius." Taryn said that morning when she walked down to the common room.
"Hey babe."
"Happy Valentine's Day." She kissed his lips.
"Same to you." He handed her a box wrapped in pink and red wrapping paper. "Open it later, okay?"
"Sure." She smiled. "I love you Sirius."
"I love you too."
Taryn walked out of the common room and started heading toward breakfast.
She opened the box after all her classes were finished. Inside were two smaller boxes, each individually wrapped in different colored wrapping paper. There was a note as well.
My dear Taryn-The blue box is for you. Happy Valentine's Day. I love you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much!
The green box is for Lily. It's from James. Please give it to her, but don't tell her whom it's from.
Looooooove,
Sirius
Taryn smiled and started to slowly open the blue box. Inside was a pair of red earrings that lighted up. They were shaped like lions.
She put on the earrings and began to look for Lily. Where could she be?
Oh. She suddenly remembered that she had a date with Remus, so she went up to their dormitory and left the box on her bed.
When she walked back down into the common room, one girl told her that she loved the earrings and one girl said that she had seen them in a store one time and they costed 50 galleons. ((Note to American readers- 50 galleons is about 241 US dollars.)) Sirius had actually spent that much money on her. Wow!
Sirius really loved her… She would've never believed that if she had told herself that a few weeks ago.
If Sirius really had the ability to change a stubborn mind like hers, then she was really glad that she had given a chance.
Her relationship with Sirius was a short one, but so far she had enjoyed every single second of it….
She got all that, and she still got to be best friends with Lily.
THE END… OF THIS CHAPTEROkay, so this was going to be the end of the story, but I kept writing this to keep my out of writer's block for another story, and it actually seemed pretty good, so there'll be a few more chapters. Just to warn you, after the first part of the next chapter, it skips over a year and a half of time, and so much happens in that time that I skip, but don't worry, I'll explain it… And sorry it took so long! I've been having a bad month, and a lot of school field trips to get ready for, including one out of state for two days, so… Bye!
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns all this Harry Potter, Marauder and Hogwarts stuff…