WARNING: SPOILERS!!! ~A Watty's 2019 Submission!

Saved for Karina Potter, Mini Marauder

Previously, on Karina Potter, Mini Marauder...

"Okay! She's coming!" Peter ran and hid behind the couch and Sirius watched from the stair railing as Karina walked into the common room. 

"NOW!!" Karina jumped at the loud shout, and screamed as a rain of garlic powder came down on her.

"Bloody hell!" She shouted covering her eyes that had gotten a ton of powder in them. Sirius jumped down over the railing, laughing, before he realised that Karina was crying. "Oh, it burns!" She sobbed, falling to her knees.

"Karina!" James came out of the dorm, his hair wet after his shower, and came running over to his sister, helping her to her feet, glaring at Sirius and Peter. "What did you pricks do to my sister!?" 

"Who's there?" She asked, looking up, making them all gasp. Her eyes were already red, and her face was getting puffy. "I-I can't see! James, who else is there?" Peter looked ready to cry himself, and Sirius felt the worst he ever had. He hadn't meant to hurt her!

"It's me Karina. Sirius." He said, leaving Peter out. He didn't want him to get in trouble for his stupid prank. Karina lifted up her hand and reached out to him, laying her hand on his cheek.

"Sirius, is this you?" She asked. He nodded into her hand, and she pulled away, bringing her hand back down hard onto his cheek, leaving a red mark. "You arse! You ignorant, no good, arse!" James took her by the hand.

"Come on, Rina. Let's go down to Madam Pomfrey." 

Now...

Sirius had of course gotten detention, for the rest of the month. 

Karina was still in the hospital wing. She was unable to see at all, even though the garlic powder had finally been removed from her eyes. Madam Pomfrey said that it was a difficult process, but she had done it.

Karina's eyes were covered with a cloth, so that if anyone came in, they wouldn't sit and stare at them. They were still horribly red, with yellowish crusty bits around them, and her whole head smelled of garlic.

Remus visited twice a week, always reading her the funnies in the Daily Prophet, and reading her the things that would have made her roll her eyes if she could. Peter came every now and then, sometimes smuggling her little treats, since she couldn't see and house-elves often had to feed her, which meant soup and sandwiches, which meant no sweets. Peter often snuck her up Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and the occasional Pumpkin Pastie, helping her eat them. James came every single day, staying until after his last class ended to the time Madam Pomfrey kicked him out. Sometimes, Lily came with him, and they would help her with her homework that she was missing. Even Severus came up every now and then, avoiding James when he could, just to say hello and make sure that she was doing okay.

Though there was one person who didn't visit for the longest time, and that was Sirius. Everyone, even the other Houses, knew of Karina's eyes and knew that he was the one to have caused it. James had given him a good shouting in the Great Hall the next morning, and didn't speak to him for almost the whole of the month.

Sirius didn't try to speak to him. He was scared that James would yell again, hit him, declare their friendship over. Sirius couldn't lose James over his stupidity. So he finally went and visited Karina.

When he walked into the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gave him a dirty look. She must have heard as well.

"Miss Potter is over there, Mr. Black." She told him through pursed lips. She clearly didn't approve of him being here right now.

Sirius thanked her, and slowly went over to Karina's bed, where she was listening to a book that had been enchanted to read to her. James was in class right now, as Sirius was pretending to be in the washroom.

"Karina?" She jumped at the second voice.

"Who's there?" She asked, trying to find the book to shut it, but finding herself unable. Sirius reached over and shut the book for her, silencing its dull voice.

"Its me, Sirius." Karina was silent, her jaw dropping. "I only came to apologize." He told her, and she crossed her arms.

"For what? Blinding me? You're lucky its only temporary!" Sirius nodded, then remembered that she couldn't see him.

"I know, and I know that I can't make up for it. I never meant to hurt you, you have to know that! I really have no excuse for what I did." 

"Just tell me." She told him, looking to her left, and Sirius gently, using the tips of his fingers pressed against her jaw, pushed her head to face him. "Tell me. Why did you do that? I thought that we were a team, that we always did pranks together on others, not each other." He shrugged, forgetting again that she couldn't see.

"Well, I was only trying to make your head smell funny. I didn't know that it would sting so badly." That was when she did what he didn't think that she would do.

She smiled at him.

"Well, my head certainly does smell funny. I mean, get a whiff." She patted her shoulder for a strain of her hair, then held it out to Sirius, who took a sniff, and indeed, her hair smelled strongly of garlic. "I'm smelling it constantly. Lily keeps loaning me some of her rose perfume to try and get rid of it, but the rose smell fades away!" They both laughed, but it faded away slowly, and they were both silent for a moment before Karina spoke again. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me. I mean, you're like another brother to me. You wouldn't do something like that." Sirius's eyebrows rose.

"Just a brother?" He asked, hoping she didn't mean it. "Karina..." She tilted her head, her face turned to the right.

"Sirius? What's wrong?" He turned her head for her again. "What's wrong?" He sighed, hoping that he wouldn't screw this up.

"Well... Remember when we went to the ball together, and we almost kissed, before Remus and Jorkins interrupted?" Karina nodded.

"Uh huh." 

"Do you think... we could try that again?" If he could see Karina's eyes, he was sure that they had gone wide.

"Sirius, you want to... You want to kiss me?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I do." Then he leaned in, taking her now quivering hand. She leaned in as well, his eyes closed...

"Padfoot! There you are!" Sirius and Karina fell back as James came running over to them. "I've been looking all over for you!" 

"Prongs!"