"Unfortunately," she replied. Trying to will the tears that were forming behind her eyelids away, she blinked and added, "I have a disease that is slowly eating away at my magic. In 7 years, it will have completely destroyed me and I will fade away. Even right now, I can't perform difficult curses and spells."
"But...but can't you do anything about it?"
"My father took me to St. Mungo's when I was a little girl. They said this was only the 3rd case of this disease they had ever seen, and that there was no cure." As she said these words, she inhaled deeply, and let the tears fall. They glistened on her cheek as she turned her eyes to James. Hopeless despair and sadness filled them, and it nearly made James's heart break.
Feeling that words could not even begin to make up for her fate, he took her into his arms and held her while she cried. "I feel so...weak. Like I have no control over my life," she said through her sobs, the words muffled by James' shirt.
"I know how that feels," he answered quietly. And indeed he did, for although he appeared to have the perfect life to all of his friends, it wasn't as perfect as it seemed. His parents were kind, but controlling; they always set down rules as to how he should act and when he could do something. Although they had become slightly more lenient when Sirius came to live with them, his mother and father still continued to lay out his life and goals for him.
For half an hour, James and Ginny remained in the position they were. Ginny realized that she did not feel uncomfortable or awkward crying to him, and James found her closeness oddly satisfying. Eventually, her sobs died down, and all was quiet. The only sound in the room as of her deep breathing, in and out. He gently shifted her position, and found that she was sleeping.
Smiling sadly down at her, James softly laid her on the bed. Once he had done this, he sat beside her slumbering form and observed her tenderly. At that moment in time, there was nothing more beautiful than this redheaded angel - her shining auburn hair spread out around her giving her an unearthly glow, and a slight smile rested on her pale, delicate face. He felt his heart thumping loudly in his chest; he wanted it to quiet down otherwise it might wake Ginny up. I've never felt this way before, not even with Lily, he realized. Could this be...is it possible...am I falling in love with Ginny?
Meanwhile, Hermione and Sirius were creeping down the damp and extremely dark passageway from Hogwarts to the cellar of Hogsmeade. "Ugh!" Hermione exclaimed as she felt something slick and cold brush along the side of her face. "What in God's name was that?"
"Scared?" Sirius asked from ahead of her. Although she couldn't see his face, she could tell that he was grinning.
"Oh be quiet," she answered, although she smiled at his remark. It seemed like they had been crawling through this tunnel for ages, and she knew that robes would never recover from this expedition. "Are we there yet?" she asked for the 10th time.
"Yeah, we are," Sirius said. He cautiously shifted the block of stone which rested above his head away, and climbed out into the cellar they had arrived at. Kneeling down, he reached out a hand and helped his companion out. Upon straightening up and shaking her robes out, Hermione looked around.
The room was dark, and a single round window was carved high up near the ceiling into the wall across from her. Through it, light cast by the crescent moon shone, lighting up the majority of the cellar with its peaceful glow. "It's so quiet," she murmured to herself.
"Mmhm," answered Sirius. He walked up next to her and casually slung an arm around her narrow shoulders. "Honeydukes is usually pretty dead around this time of night."
Hermione laughed. She was vaguely aware of his arm around her; however, she did nothing to throw it off because - to her surprise - it wasn't as awkward as she would have thought. It actually feels quiet nice, she thought to herself.
"So," he said, interrupting the comfortable silence, "Lets go get that acid pop, shall we?"
She nodded her agreement, and followed him as he began to ascend the rotting wooden staircase that led out of the cellar and into the store.
As they entered the clean, candy-filled main room of Honeydukes, Sirius heard a noise coming from the front of the store. "Damnit," he cursed, "someone's coming. Quick, hide here."
He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her behind a shelf of sugar quills and ice mice, and the two of them waited with bated breath.
A tall, burly man with a bushy black beard walked into their view. He carried a wand in one hand which was lit, and wore a security guard suit.
"Can't believe I forgot to lock up," he said to himself, shaking his head.
The guard then proceeded to mutter a charm which sealed both the door to the cellar and the door to the back room. Then, he turned around and headed out of the store, sealing the main entrance as well.
Once they were sure he was gone, Sirius and Hermione stepped out from behind the shelf. The realization that they were locked in hit them as they both stared at each other in panic and dismay.
"What are we going to DO?" Hermione shrieked, making sure not to be too loud.
"Bloody hell, this has never happened to me before," Sirius groaned. "I can't believe it. We're stuck in here for the night."
"Say that again," the other Gryffindor asked, her eyes widening.
"We're. Stuck. In. Here. For-"
"Ugh I know. How are we going to get out? What if they have security cameras? What if the rest of them start worrying about what happened to us?" she said frantically, her words coming out in a rush.
"I don't know," responded Sirius as he gave her a helpless shrug. "We might as well make the best of it. I mean, come on, we're stuck in a candy store at night. This should be interesting."
Hermione sighed, then sat down with her back leaning against the shelf. Great, she thought to herself as she watched Sirius run to the jellybean aisle like an excited toddler, I'm stuck with Sirius Black in Honeydukes for the rest of the night. Interesting doesn't even begin to describe it...
[A/N: Heh, gotta love Sirius :P And yes, I know James falling in love with Ginny is very sudden, but this is the fanfic world; therefore, anything is possible! Anyway, please review...I love getting constructive criticism as well as praise.]