Harry Potter Halloween Collection Prompt: (plot theme) Attending a Halloween themed party

An Act of Kindness

Sirius slowly opened his eyes to the dim light of the dying fire, unsure what had awoken him. He'd been sleeping quite well finally, the fever exhausting him enough to make him fall asleep. He'd been fighting this illness all day long, but refused to go to Madam Pomfrey. "I don't want to spend my Halloween in the Hospital Wing," he'd argued with Remus that afternoon. "You know how she is, you go in there for a little scratch and she keeps you for a week. Woman's crazy if you ask me."

It hadn't mattered one bit. He'd so badly wanted to join his friends at the Halloween feast, but he'd just been too weak and tired. He'd barely even made it through his classes. He'd never been so sick in all of his sixteen years. Even though Remus insisted that he go to the Hospital Wing if he wasn't going to make it to the feast, Sirius had no intention of doing so. He was sure that with plenty of rest, he'd be able to get rid of this. It was Friday anyway, so he had all weekend to sleep it off.

A knock came at the door. So that was what woke me up, he thought. He wasn't sure who would be here right now when there was a feast to enjoy downstairs. Maybe one of the others was coming to check on him. But why would they be knocking on the door to their own dormitory? "Come in," he said weakly, sitting up.

To his surprise, Marlene walked through the door, carrying a tray, her school bag bulging at her side. "I'm sorry to intrude, you were probably sleeping." She stopped by his bed, gripping the tray with both hands. Sirius saw a couple of bowls on it as well as two goblets, which he hoped contained pumpkin juice. "I overheard James and Remus talking about how sick you were and I thought maybe this would help." Sirius moved his legs out of the way as she set the tray down in the middle of the bed. The bowls contained some kind of soup and the goblets, to his delight, were filled to the brim with pumpkin juice.

Sirius watched, speechless, as Marlene sat down on the end of the bed, legs crossed in front of her. She flicked the curtains of his four-poster closed with a wave of her wand, plunging them into near darkness. From her bag, she extracted a jack-o-lantern and three candles. The jack-o-lantern she placed next to the tray, its carved face turned inward to face them. She placed one of the candles inside it and lit the wick with her wand. The other two candles she sent floating above their heads, making sure they were a safe distance from anything flammable before lighting them as well. The dim lighting, enclosed space, and eerie face of the jack-o-lantern made the whole space seem just spooky enough for Halloween.

"I thought maybe I'd bring the Halloween feast to you since you couldn't be there," she explained once she'd set everything up. "I thought maybe you wouldn't have the appetite for everything we normally eat, so I told the house-elves in the kitchen my mother's chicken noodle soup recipe."

"Chicken noodle soup?" Sirius had never heard of such a thing, but the smells wafting up from the bowls between them were heavenly.

"My mum always makes it when I'm sick," Marlene said fondly. "It always makes me feel better, if not physically, then emotionally. It's comfort food at its finest." She handed him a spoon. "Give a try before it gets cold."

Sirius dipped the spoon into the liquid, stirring it around a moment before scooping up a spoonful of noodles, tiny diced vegetables, pieces of chicken, and broth. He brought it carefully to his mouth, testing it to make sure it wouldn't burn his tongue before putting the spoon in his mouth. "This is good," he said after he'd swallowed the first bite. "I can see why you like it so much."

Marlene smiled and picked up her spoon. "I'm glad you like it. I thought you would." They ate in silence, Sirius occasionally feeling Marlene's eyes on him. He wasn't sure why she was being so nice to him. Not that she was mean to him normally, quite the opposite. She was always polite to him when they passed each other in the corridors between classes, or when they saw each other in the common room, and even on the rare occasion they'd been partnered up in classes. But it never went beyond that.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful," he said as he put his spoon back down on the tray, his bowl now empty, "but why are you doing this?" He picked up the goblet and sipped the pumpkin juice, the cool liquid soothing to his sore throat.

Marlene shrugged. "Just being nice, I suppose. I know how much I look forward to the Halloween feasts every year and I'd hate to miss one just because I was sick. I thought it might be fun to bring some happiness to someone who needed a bit of cheering up."

"There's no other reason? You don't want anything from me?" Sirius had always found it difficult to trust others. In his family, you only did something for someone else if you wanted something in return. No one was ever simply kind for the sake of being kind. It had taken him a while to even trust his own friends.

Marlene shook her head, puzzled. "No. Why would you think that?"

Despite his suspicions, Sirius could tell she was sincere. "Never mind," he said. "It's nothing." He sipped his pumpkin juice again and shivered. He had been going between overheating and freezing all day long.

"You should lie down," Marlene said, opening the curtains and gathering up the candles, pumpkin, and tray. She took his goblet and set it on the bedside table before helping him lay down. "Would you like another blanket?" she asked as she adjusted his blanket around him.

He shook his head. "This is fine. I'll be too warm in a few minutes anyway." As his eyes slipped closed, an idea came to him. "Marlene," he said, his eyes shooting open. She had knelt down to put everything back in her bag, but looked up at the sound of his voice. "I know you didn't want anything in return for this, but – would you like to go with me on our next Hogsmeade visit? Just the two of us?" It was the only way he could think to repay her.

Marlene seemed shocked at first, but a grin slowly broke out over her face. "Of course," she said. "I'd like that very much." She finished gathering up her things and stood, coming to the side of his bed again. "Sleep well, Sirius. I hope you feel better in the morning." She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. Her own cheeks were tinged pink when she straightened up again.

"Thank you," he said as she turned to leave. "For everything." His skin tingled where her soft lips had touched it. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.