Title: Tina's Request 2007

Author: tarotgal

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: PG (if that)

Disclaimer: Bwahaha! I've stolen the characters for fun. Of course, I still don't own them and I don't make a cent or knut.

Summary: Sirius comes down with a horrible cold but elects for the care of his friends over the care of Madam Pomfrey. His friends are caring but not convinced it's the right choice.

Notes: Written for callmetina. I hope this is close enough to what you requested!

                With a cold as horrible as the one Sirius had, it was only a matter of time before one of the teachers noticed. He had done his best to hold his sneezes back and to sniffle quietly into his sleeve when backs were turned. The other three Marauders, who had been wise to the rare cold from the moment Sirius' sore throat came on, slipped him spare hankies under the tables and performed warming spells on his school robes. And Sirius, skilled in the way of mischief-making, had done a good job putting on pretenses. However, in the middle of the seventh years' advanced Transfiguration class, a sneeze overpowered him and burst out. Remus felt the hair on the back of his head stir from the force of it. “HARShooo!” Naturally, Professor McGonagall sent Sirius right out to the hospital wing.

                Remus spent the duration of the class feeling nervous and anxious. He knew well that the main reason Sirius tried to hide his cold was because he detested going to Madam Pomfrey. He preferred the care of his closest friends, and especially that of his boyfriend. Remus didn't like to think of Sirius sick and feeling miserable from having to go to hospital, but he knew it was for Sirius' own good.

                As soon as the class was over, Remus hurried through the busy corridors with James and Peter at his heels. They would have to be quick to make it to the hospital wing and then over to Charms before class began. When they arrived at the extra busy hospital wing, however, there was no Sirius to be found. When asked what was wrong, Peter was pressed into faking a stomach ache, leaving James and Remus free to slip out and up a secret passage which led to the end of the Charms corridor.

                Before Remus could ask James where he thought Sirius was, the two entered the classroom to find Sirius sitting at a desk as though nothing were wrong. In fact, he looked up and grinned at them. Remus slid into his seat in front of Sirius and James into the one beside. “Thought you were going to see-”

                Sirius hushed him and put his hands on Remus' shoulders, rubbing. “You dow I dod't like goig there-huhhhh…” He hid the lower half of his face behind his hands. “huhhCHUMFFF! herRUSHHHHHH!” He gave an embarrassingly wet sniffle and scrubbed the back of his wrist back and forth under his runny nose until Remus handed him a fresh handkerchief. “She'll dever fide out I did't actually go. I hid ub id the dorbitory udtil classes got out,” he explained. “Had a little sleeb. Dothig better thad that to kill a cold.”

                “Except maybe Pepper-up,” James said.

                Sirius scowled.

                The charms lesson was an interesting but complicated one. They had to perform a series of spells on everyday objects, everything from simple levitation to complicated invisibility. If done out of order the charms would be ineffective, but if done properly, they would have a powerful magical portfolio that would come in useful for future lessons. The desks were pushed aside and everyone in the classroom spread out to work.

                Sirius tried hiding his twitching nose inconspicuously behind a hand, and sniffled quietly into his sleeve or the handkerchief when his nose ran. He tried pinching his nose, rubbing it, scrubbing it, but it was no use. They weren't fifteen minutes into the exercise when Sirius' cold got the better of him. “hurAhshhhh! Huh-huhURschhhh! HerShooo!” A few feet away, something exploded and every one of Sirius' objects was suddenly encased in ice. Moreover, one of the objects went flying and smashed into James' shin.

                Professor Flitwick rounded on them. “What is this, boys?”

                Sirius, flushed in the face, panicked. He couldn't help but rub at his nose, but he wasn't sure what to answer. It was James who spoke up. “My fault, Sir,” said James, wincing and rubbing his leg. “Could I go to the hospital wing? I have a game in a few days and I think it's swelling up.” He pulled up his robes to show the bright red mark which was starting to turn blue and brown.

                “Go on,” Flitwick commanded, waving his hand. He helped Sirius and Remus put things right, then left circled the classroom, inspecting everyone else's work. Sirius sat down by his things, hugging his arms to his chest as he shivered.

                Remus patted his arm sympathetically, which was all he could do during class. “It's all right, Love,” he whispered. “Lunch is soon. Try to hold out.”

                Sirius tried. He sneezed another half dozen times, but each time he managed to set his wand down, so it wouldn't do damage. By the time class was over, he was a complete mess, and Remus pulled him straight to a bathroom. He sat Sirius down on a closed toilet seat in one stall and cupped the young man's head in his hands. “Padfoot, you've got to see Madam Pomfrey.”

                Sirius still managed to shake his head. “Don't want to. Want to stay with you. You can take care of me.” He leaned forward, nuzzling his face into Remus' chest. “hehhh…” Remus gently stroked Sirius' head and whispered words to soothe him. “hehh-ERChahh! Hurshuhhh! HerShhhhhh!”

                “It's all right,” Remus whispered, still petting Sirius as he reached over to the toilet roll for a few squares. “Blow your nose and we'll go get you some tea.” Sirius nodded in agreement.

                Neither Peter nor James turned up during lunch or for their next class; Remus suspected they were using their excuses to skithe off double potions and he was envious of them for it. Instead, he was stuck listening to Professor Slughorn prattle on and on about a variety of poisonous potions, all of which had only slight, subtle differences which had to be taken into account when brewing remedies. By the end of the lecture, Remus was thoroughly confused and anxious about starting the practical portion of the lesson.

                He needn't have worried, however, because it was not long before Sirius' cold proved disastrous. Being down in the freezing cold dungeon classroom had not been kind to his nose, which ran nonstop throughout the lesson. He pressed his sleeve to his nose during the lecture, sniffing whenever he could risk it. As they set up their ingredients, Sirius could not help but turn to the side and sneeze out the tickles plaguing his nose. “HAHShoo! HurShuhhh! HehShuhhh!” He blew his nose and slumped down in his seat, barely caring about the potions in front of him. Unfortunately, another sneeze snuck up on him seconds later, tossing him forward and causing him to knock two bottles over.

                A cloud of pink smoke engulfed the table he and Remus shared, which made Remus' sensitive nose tickle as well. Remus cupped his hands to his face. “Hitchoo! Ahchoo! ihhChoo!” Remus staggered back from the table, pulling Sirius back with him. The two sniffed and snorted and looked up to find Professor Slughorn looking cross. “I'm sorry, Sir. AhhChoo!” Remus looked at the crestfallen Sirius, and swallowed hard. “I think I've come down with another cold, Professor.” This wasn't much of a stretch, considering Remus was always coming down ill.

                “Report to the hospital wing, Mister Lupin.” Remus gave Sirius' hand a squeeze under the desk, and gave him a hopeful look, then headed out.

                Sirius barely made it through class alive, and practically crawled up the stairs in slow motion to get to dinner. None of the other Marauders were there and he wasn't hungry in the slightest, so he took a cup of tea and headed up to the bedroom again to get more sleep. On the trip upstairs Sirius tossed back the tea, which felt lovely against his sore throat. He slipped into his pajamas the moment he reached the empty dormitory, and practically collapsed into bed with coughs and sniffles.

                His head felt heavy with stuffiness, and he rolled around without being able to get comfortable in any one position. His nose was unsurprisingly relentless. “hershuhh! HuhShoo! Hershuhh! Herchhhh!” There was one sneeze after another after another, and Sirius had to get up to scour the room for clean hankies. He found one in James' nightstand and two underneath Remus' pillows. When he got back into bed, his nose tickled and his head spun. “HERShuhh!” His body shook and he curled in a tight ball under the covers. “HurSHUHHH!” He blew his nose and shivered. The blankets had come untucked at the bottom of the bed, exposing his feet. “hehhh.. hurhhh… hehshhhhhh!” His whole head throbbed and his nose went from painfully stuffed to running nonstop and back again every few minutes.  Sirius grabbed the pillows off Remus' bed and stacked them all against the headboard. He could breathe better, but still couldn't sleep. “ehhh-hehhh-hehh-URSchhhhh!” The sound of his sneezes and sniffles echoed throughout the otherwise empty room. Where were his friends when he needed them?

                After a few more miserable hours, Sirius had had enough. He got out of bed and, without bothering to change out of his striped pajamas, headed down to the Gryffindor common room. He announced his presence with a fierce sneeze. It was too late to roam the corridors alone, and the last thing he needed on top of a horrible cold was to get caught, so he'd need help. It only took him a few moments to spot Hogwarts' Head Girl, and he made right for her. “Lily,” he said, leaning against one of the armchairs as dizziness threatened to make him collapse in front of everyone. “I really dod't feel so good. Could you blease take be dowd to see Badab Bobfrey?”

                Taking pity on him, Lily was happy to take a break from her schoolwork, and escorted Sirius down. “How'd you let yourself get this bad?” she asked as Sirius took a break on the second floor to catch his breath after an intense sneezing fit.

                “I hate the hosbital widg,” he grumbled, latching onto her shoulder to keep from stumbling down the stairs. She put a hand on his back to help steady him, and he was glad for it.

                Madam Pomfrey seemed very put out when he arrived, but she thanked Lily for delivering him and then immediately administered Pepper-up potion. Sirius pulled a face and practically passed out as it heated him up and made steam pour from his ears. “You Gryffindor boys…” She followed this with a series of 'tisk' sounds. She guided him to a bed, and he sat right down, feeling too weak to make it back upstairs.

                When Madam Pomfrey had gone, Sirius heard movement behind him, and a Lumos spell made the beds around him suddenly visible. There they all were. Remus was on his left, curled up on his side and looking at Sirius with a sweet, loving expression. James was on his right, leg propped up on two pillows. Peter was in the bed right in front of him, sitting upright and backwards, chin and arms resting on the metal headboard. “Hullo,” Sirius said, his voice hoarse and full of congestion.

                “Sure took you long enough,” said James. “I had to use an engorgement charm on my ankle; had Madam Pomfrey stumped for hours.”

                “And I've been ducking into the bathroom every half hour, pretending to be sick,” Peter said, patting his stomach.

                “I've been faking sneezes and coughs for hours,” said Remus. “But it's worth it, now that you're here.” He reached over and caressed Sirius' forehead and cheek. “You've had a dose of Pepper-up and you're going to start feeling better really soon.”

                James plunked something down on the bed, and Sirius looked down to see an assortment of Quidditch comics and hard candies. “We'll stay with you until you do.”

                “Besides,” added Peter. “The hospital wing isn't as bad as you think. Lie down and get comfortable.”

                Sirius lay down and was immediately surprised at the nice firm mattress and the lovely fluffy pillow. When he pulled the blankets up, they stayed tucked in tightly at the bottom, even when he wiggled his toes, and they had an incredible warming charm on them that felt like a hug. Or perhaps that was Remus' arm which was suddenly wrapped around him. Remus had scooted his bed right up against Sirius'. Sirius rubbed his nose, and sneezed again. “herShhhh!”

                 “The handkerchiefs are even spelled to stay dry,” Remus told him, kissing his cheek as he blew his nose.

                Sirius smiled gratefully at them all. Even if they had tricked him into visiting the hospital wing, they'd done it for his own good. In fact, they were still sticking by him and caring for him. Sirius snuggled a little closer to Remus and closed his eyes. He was asleep in seconds.