A Marauder in Need (sick!Sirius, drunk!James)

[Sophie<3]

Hello friends! c:

As some of you may know, I am positively obsessed with the Marauders (in case you don't know: Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew from the Harry Potter novels).

I've been wanting to write a drunk story with a sick person trying to take care of the drunk person for a while... and finally came up with a scenario!

This is post-Hogwarts, first war era. The boys are like 20 in this. <3

I wrote the whole thing as a OS, but I think I'll split it into three parts for you guys. I hope somebody will like this! Feedback is as always highly appreciated!

Oh, and also: The characters belong to Joanne Rowling. I love her so much for creating them and want to emphasize that I'm simply borrowing them for this nonsense. I do not earn any money with my writing (which is good!) and I'm just playing with the puppies for now. So let a fangirl have a little fun, okay? Okay.

A Marauder in Need (Part 1)

Sirius Black was miserable.

He blamed the weather. Three days out in the damp alleys of London or flying around with his motorcycle, getting soaked by the rain, had taken its toll on him. Of course, Sirius knew that the order needed him and he was glad for the chance to help and do his part in the war. Just maybe...not today.

His breath hitched. His eyelids fluttered. Then, he doubled over with another series of harsh sneezes. “Huh'Atch'OooO! Huh'Rishh'aah! Huh'ithc'shhoOOo!”

Sniffling, Sirius got up in search of a hanky. He had tried to ignore the signs of sickness all day, but now it was night and he felt much worse. A runny nose like this he couldn't ignore. Also, the sneezing and the coughing were keeping him up. There was no chance of going to sleep like this. Therefore, he hadn't bothered to even go to bed. Finally, after finding a hanky in Gryffindor colors still from his Hogwarts years, he returned to the living room. Sirius then sat back down on the couch, still in his clothes from the day (muggle clothes... he liked to wear them at home, because he felt that they were more comfortable than robes), just staring into blank space.

„Huh'tchIoOO!“ With a sigh, Sirius blew his nose and longingly thought of Hogwarts's hospital wing and the potions that could relieve fevers and aches and cold symptoms of any sort. It had been two years since he'd last caught a cold this bad, in his seventh year in Hogwarts. Remus had been the first to notice and after a day or two James had also started persuading him to go the nurse. After two nights of coughing and sneezing and getting close to zero sleep, Sirius had given in. A short flirt with the nurse (a young girl, who had only been helping out the actual school nurse at that time) and a potion later Sirius had been magically cured. Literally.

Now, there was none of that. Rubbing exasperately at his itchy nose with the handkerchief, Sirius realized that he'd never received as much care as he had at Hogwarts. His childhood hadn't exactly been rosy and his mother was about as caring and gentle as Hogwarts's giant squid. His father hadn't been much of a father, either. If anybody had taken care of him back then, it had been Regulus, and that had always caused Sirius to feel guilty, because he thought that as the older brother he should be the one taking care of Regulus and not the other way around.

But at Hogwarts, there had been the best friends in the world. Remus, who had always noticed first when Sirius was feeling under the weather. And James, who had maybe made fun of him good-naturedly, but still pushed him to get the treatment he needed. And Peter, who had always did what he could to make Sirius feel better. Smiling, Sirius remembered the time when he had felt like staying in bed rather than going to dinner and Peter had brought him loads of food, despite Sirius's claims that he didn't need anything.

Who was there now? He had no idea where Peter and Remus were. Maybe they were out doing something for the order. And James? Well, his best mate had a pregnant wife at home and was most certainly not going to leave Lily just because his best friend Sirius Black had the sniffles.

Sirius got up from the couch, rubbing his temples as his head started throbbing, and stumbled across the room, from where he staggered towards the kitchen. Another double of sneezes krept up on him and he had no time to catch them in his hands. Since nobody was around, he just let them out freely.

He was just about to make himself a cup of tea, when suddenly, something bright appeared right in front of him and he jumped backwards, startled.

It took his eyes about three seconds to adjust to the brightness, but once they did, there was no mistaking the figure in front of him. It was a silver stag: James Potter's patronus. Sirius felt alarmed, because James and him usually communicated with the help of their mirror pieces. He would only send his patronus if something was really wrong, right? For example, if he was in danger...?

Then the stag opened its mouth and spoke with James's voice: „Sirius...mate. You...er... you gotta come. I dun' really kno' how to say i'... but...um... I need yer help. Sor' of... So...come to the... wait, what's this shithole called 'gain? Um... Red Dragon. Yeah, that's it. See ya.“

With that, the silver stag dissolved. Sirius stared at the spot where it had been standing. One thing was for sure, his best friend was drunk. At least as drunk as that one night after the Quidditch match, in their seventh year, and every Gryffindor knew that that hadn't ended well.

Before he could do anything else, though, Sirius Black bend over with three more explosive sneezes. „Huh'AtchOO! Itch'iiOO! Huh...huh...HIAT'chioOoo!“

Sniffling miserable, he went to grab his wand and mumbled a stuffy: „Accio Scarf!“

Feeling slightly melancholic, he wrapped his old Gryffindor scarf tightly around his neck, and proceeded to grab his leather jacket while wondering absent-mindedly whether he was even still entitled to wear that scarf now that he had been out of Hogwarts for two years.

Already at the front door, Sirius realized that it probably wasn't the smartest idea to fly through the rain again with his wicked head cold and that he would only get worse. However, he also didn't exactly trust his apparating skills in his weakened state and he would be of no use to James if he arrived all splinched. Finally, he settled for floo powder.

Sniffling wetly and pressing the damp hanky to his runny nose, Sirius grabbed the rest of his floo powder out of a small box from his mantelpiece, threw it into the flames and stepped right into them as soon as they had turned green. He sniffled again, trying desperatedly to get rid of the congestion in his sinuses and then said 'Green Dragon' as clearly as possible.

The spinning and twirling made Sirius feel nauteous. He tried to remember why he had settled for this kind of travel. There was a familiar roaring all around him, his body was being tossed around like a rag doll...

And suddenly, it was over. He fell hard and landed inside of somebody's fireplace. Small particles of the ashes that were covering the ground like black snow flew up into his nostrils and triggered another major sneezing fit. Sirius had no choice but to let the harsh sneezes take over his body for the time being. He tried to catch them in his hands, but his entire body was shaken by the fit and he was completely powerless. When the sneezing finally ceased, he noticed that people were staring down at him. Embarrassed, he got up and started brushing the dirt off his shirt and leather jacket.

[squealofapproval]

Amazing start. Can't wait to see what's going to happen. *devilish look*

[Sophie<3]

Amazing start. Can't wait to see what's going to happen. *devilish look*

Thank you, sweetie! c: You shall receive the second part! It's longer than the first and we finally meet a (very) drunk James! Hope you'll like it! Let me know, kay?

Warning: v-ing is mentionend in this part, but nothing actually happens. Also, some language... sorry about that. (;

A/N: I'm trying to make them talk like British people, but man, I'm having a hard time. I'm just using some phrases that I picked up online, I think, and I just hope that the dialogue is remotely authentic. If it's not, you have permission to just be amused by it.

A Marauder in Need - Part 2

A slim-faced witch, who looked to be in her 50s, was scrutinizing him.

„Hey...“, Sirius started and sniffled, trying to suppress another uncoming sneeze. „I'b sorry. The name's Black. I'm just looking for my friend...“

He started looking around for James, but something was wrong. The pub was filled with smoke and everyone inside was at least as old as the witch. Also, the atmosphere was really eery. It didn't exactly look like the type of place James would pick to get wasted.

The witch still didn't say anything. While wiping his nose with his sleeve, Sirius mumbled: „He's about my height, black hair, too... My age...probably really drunk at the moment...“

„Sorry“, the witch said now and giggled a little creepily. „I don't think I've seen him.“

„Oh... well, I... huh...heh'tchIooO! Ah... 'scuse me.“

She grinned. „Are you sure you got the right address, lad?“

“Well, this is the Green Dragon, right?”

She burst out into laughter. “This is the Greed Drag God! Must've mispronounced it with that cold you got...”

Sirius shrugged. Was it really that obvious that he was sick? Oh well, he should've known better than to use the floo network when he could barely pronounce his best friend's name.

“Try again”, the witch said, still amused, but more sympathetically now. „Floo Powder is right there.“ She gestured towards the mantelpiece and Sirius nodded his thanks, then took another handful. As the flames turned emerald green, he waved at the witch and the other people who were staring at him, sniffled until he felt that he could now talk clearly and said „Green Dragon“ with a lot of effort.

The familiar pull and roaring started again. He was thrown around for a while and finally spat out into yet another fireplace. Face in the ashes again, Sirius felt his nose began to tickle.

Merlin, this was getting old.

“Huh...ATch'iOoo! Ritch'theew! Ishhhh'shhhhOooo!”

In between sneezes, he looked up. Yes, this place was more like it. A nice little pub, few people around. His head jerked forward again, so he couldn't see any more. “Huh'Ichhh'ooO! Ugh.”

He sniffled wetly and the next time he looked up, his best friend's face was hovering right in front of him.

“Sirrrrius...!” James's face spread into the widest smile. Sirius sighed. That was James's drunk smile. He recognized it right away.

“Hi Jabe... atch'ioOO! 'scuse be.”

The smile disappeared from James's face, slowly, comically so. “Hey.... Pads...? What'choo doing in there...? Sneezing and shit like that...?”

Sirius took a moment to get up, brush the ashes off his arms, take out his hanky and blow his nose.

“I came here”, he declared in a self-imported manner, “to make sure you, my dear Prongs, were okay.”

“Oh....”, James stared into blank space for a moment. Then, his eyes focused on Sirius again and he threw up his arms unexpectatly, almost hitting Sirius in the face. “Well, ah'm glad you joined the parteeeyy....!”

Sirius couldn't help but chuckle. Gesturing descretely at the three or four other people in the pub, he whispered: “So this is what you call a party these days, Prongs?”

James grinned widely at him. “Now that you're here, sure!”

“Alright...”, Sirius said and patted his friend on the shoulder. “Why did you send your patronus?”

James frowned. After a few seconds, he said, apparently sincerely surprised: “I did?”

Sirius laughed his bellowing laugh. “James Potter, you're a train wreck! I haven't seen you this plastered since our last year in Hogwarts!”

James's face lit up at that memory. “You mean after we won the Qui'itch cup? Yeah... that was brilliant...”

“Except for the part where you hurled for two days straight....”

James screwed up his face at that and nodded his head slowly. “I s'bose... Lucky it was the weekend, huh?”

He swayed on his feet and Sirius took hold of his arm to guard him safely back to one of the tables.

“Alright”, James declared as soon as they had both managed to take a seat. “Now that you're here, m' friend, I need to get more booze.”

He raised his hand sluggishly and looked over at the bartender, but before he could open his mouth to yell something, the man shook his head. “No more for you, mate, and that's final”, he said.

James's jaw dropped, so his mouth hung open for a moment, then he turned to Sirius.

“Can you believe that berk?! Oh!” He had the exact same expression that he'd sometimes displayed during lessons when he'd finally figured out how to do a certain charm. “I remember now! I sent you my p'tronus so that you'd come...an'... you kno', make sure that...iiidiot gives me another drink.”

Sirius patted his arm. “Prongs? Even if you were my worst enemy, I wouldn't let you have another drink right now. And you're my best friend.”

James frowned again. “What do y' mean, Pads...?”

“You're completely shit-faced, James”, Sirius declared in a friendly tone. “And I will not allow you to get any worse. I... heh'tchhhkk!” He managed to stifle a sneeze behind his scarf last second. James didn't seem to have noticed. He was gazing into empty space again.

“But...just one more drink....”, he muttered, as if talking to himself.

“James!”, Sirius said, after blowing his nose descretely. His friend's eyes came back into focus.

“Sirrriiuss! Hey....!”

“Yeah, still me. Remember sitting in front of the toilet for several hours? Remember me carrying you into bed the next morning?”

James nodded slowly, cringing at the painful memory.

“Right. You're that type of drunk right now. I'm your best friend, that's why I ain't letting you have any more. Got it?”

“Well...I s'bose you got a point...”, James muttered. “Still... fucking bartender...won't let me have another.... He's stupid, right?”

Sirius sighed. “I have no idea, James. I don't know the man.”

“Hey!” James got half-way out of his chair, then fell back into it. “Whose side are you on, Pads?”

Sirius sighed again. “You're right. He's real stupid. And a jerk.”

“Thank you”, James nodded. “'s just what I've been saying.”

“You don't say” Sirius couldn't hide his smile. Then, something occurred to him. “Hey, Prongs?”

“Yup? That's me.”

Sirius ignored the comment, while quickly wiping his runny nose again. “Why did you decide to get this wasted in the first place?”

At that, James's facial expression changed again. “I...”, he stopped and burped, then continued: “I have a problem, Pads.” He raised his eyebrows, puffed up his cheeks, then exhaled slowly. “Like...major type of problem...”

Sirius wasn't sure whether or not to feel alarmed. On the one hand, there was a war going on. On the other hand, James had also considered the fact that he wasn't getting any more booze as a serious enough issue to send his patronus for help...

“Tell me”, he simply said and gave his friend an encouraging look.

“'s Lily...”, James mumbled with a pained expression.

Immediately, Sirius imagination flooded his mind with a series of horrible scenarios. “Where is she? James?! Is she hurt?”

“What?” James seemed to only process the question slowly. “Oh, hurt?”, he finally repeated. “Ah, no. I don't think so, at least. 's way woooorse, though...”

Sirius took a deep breath and gestured for James to continue.

He was looking right at Sirius now. “She's pregnant.”

Sirius couldn't help but burst out into laughter, which resulted in a coughing fit. After he had recovered, he looked back at James with his mouth twitching. Amused, he said: “Is that a fact.”

“Yeah!”, James exclaimed, eyes wild. “I realize that this comes as... ya know...somewhat of a shock! Ah mean... I didn't really realize she was serious until now... but her belly....” He made a gesture that was supposed to indicate the size of Lily's belly. “'s like... a frickin' mountain or I dunno... Like, what's she keepin' in there? A litter of nifflers?”

Sirius had to clear his throat, before he could put on a serious expression and say: “James. I'm pretty sure that what she's keeping in her belly is your baby.”

James shook his head, as if what Sirius was saying was just unbelievable. “That's what she's been saying, too...”, he muttered. “An', you know, I thought I was okay with that...but now, sweet Jesus...”

Sirius wiped his runny nose and suppressed a sneeze. His best friend needed him. His own nose had to wait.

“James”, he said and put a hand on his friend's arm sympathetically. “There's no reason to be scared.”

“No reason?!”, James exclaimed angrily. “When was the las' time ya saw her? She's a bloody whale! And she's gonna push out a bloody baby soon! And it'll cry and whine and God knows what else it'll do! Sweet Lord, it'll even start crawling and shit like that eventually! There's every reason to be scared!”

After this monologue, all energy seemed to have been sucked out of James Potter. He slouched forward, letting his head hang.

Sirius wanted to comfort him, but was interrupted by a sharp tickle in his nose. This time, he knew, there was no suppressing it, so he simply turned to the side and brought his wet hanky up to his face. “Huh'TchOoO! Heh'ATCh'oo! Muh'tchOoO! Ihh...huh....ish'shhioOO!”

James looked up and cocked his head. “What's with all the sneezing....?”, he asked suspiciously. His speech was still extremely slurred. “You sick or something?”

Sirius shrugged. “Looks like it.”

“A cold?”, James asked.

“If so, then a rotten one”, Sirius replied with a moan and began massaging his temples again. His headache was getting more intense.

“Where have y' been anyway?”, James asked now. “Haven't talked to ya in like...days.”

Sirius shrugged again, then leaned closer to James. “I was out doing stuff for Dumble... I mean, the order.”

“Oh. Were they ordering you around?”, James asked, laughing hysterically at his pun.

“Hilarious”, Sirius said sarcastically, but nonetheless grinned a little. “Yeah, you could say that. I mean, I know that this war is important and I'm glad I get the chance to fight on the right side, but... flying my bike in that stupid rain, getting completely soaked...”

“At least you're not having a baby...”, James reminded him darkly.

“You're not either, technically”, Sirius pointed out dryly.

“Oh, piss off, Black”, James replied with a smile. Insulting each other had been part of their friendship since their third year, so Sirius wasn't particularly offended. Plus, James was so drunk that he probably only listened to about half of the stuff that came out of his mouth.

Right when Sirius was about to insult him back, good-naturedly of course, his nose took over again. This cold was really getting to him. He was feeling worse by the minute. After five more sneezes and a wet noseblow, he came back up only to see his best friend look at him with open disgust.

“Merlin, you're like... really sick!”, James stated. “Gross.”

“Gross, my arse, Potter.”

James grinned. “That, too. Not that I would know, of course....”

[squealofapproval]

Haha, that was cute and really funny!

Ooh, baby Harry's on the way!

[Seniorstatus14]

Oh my goodness!! Please continue this is amazing!!

[Sophie<3]

Haha, that was cute and really funny!

Ooh, baby Harry's on the way!

Thank you, dear! c: And yes, he most certainly is! Have fun with the last part, girl!

Oh my goodness!! Please continue this is amazing!!

Aww...thanks so much! Really glad you liked it! Here's the final part now. it's longer than the first two, I think, and I just hope that you'll like it!

“So?” Sirius said and sniffled again. He needed some tea, maybe a bath... a warm bed. “Do you feel like getting out of here? Going home?”

“What?”, James sat up straight and his eyes widened again in horror. “Home, where Lily is? Nah, can't do that, mate! No bloody way! Told her I'd spend the night at yours, y' see? And also... I can't see that belly right now, not now...”

“Okay, I got it!” Sirius put up his hands. “I got it, James. No going home to Mrs. Potter. Okay.”

“S'pose I'll just have to spend the night here, eh?”; James muttered, looking around uncomfortably.

Sirius chuckled. “Either that... or you just come over to my place.”

James looked up at him at once. “Got any booze?”

“Nothing that you'll get your hands on tonight, Prongs.”

“But...” James threw up his hands desperatedly. “But if I stop... y' know... stop being like this, I'll have to go back to Lily an' the kid an' I just can't do that, y' see?”

“It's okay”, Sirius said. “You can stay at my place as long as you want. We'll just tell Lily we went to a Quidditch game in Puddlemore or something.”

“But Puddlemore United suuuucks", James said, drawing out the word for emphasis. Then he added: "And you're sick.”

Sirius shrugged and rubbed at his red nose. “'s okay. I'll be fine.”

“Alright”, James smiled. “Good plan then, Pads. Let's just apparate to your place.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Did you pay?”

James wrinkled his forehead as if in deep thought. “Can't remember...”

“Just wait.” Sirius got up, noticed how dizzy he was, took a moment to readjust his scarf, then went over to the bartender. “How much does he owe you?”

“4 galleons and 10 sickles”, came the immediate reply.

This seemed like a lot to Sirius, but right then all he wanted was to get home, so he paid up.

Coughing and stumbling, he made his way back to the table, where James looked at him worriedly.

“You alright there, mate?”

Sirius gave a sarcastic laugh. “Asked the one who was too drunk to spell his own name.”

“At least I can sneeze without talking... er... I meant talk without...”

“Huh'ITC'ioOO!”

“There!” James stood up and pointed at him exaggeratedly. “That's what I meant!”

Sirius put up a hand to signal that he needed a moment before he could reply. “Huh...huh'tchieww! Mmm'Tshhh'ooo!!”

“Honestly”, James said, trying to walk over to Sirius and swaying on his feet. “You've been sneezing, like, a loooot.”

“I'b aware!”, Sirius croaked.

James chuckled. “You're sick as a dog, aren't you? Hah! Get it? Geddit??”

Sirius grinned tiredly. “Yes. I got it.”

“Okay”, James said. “Hold on to me, Snuffles. I'll get 'cha home.”

“No!” Sirius crossed his arms. “James, I repeat, you are totally shit-faced.”

“Sweet Lord, Black! I'm in better shape than you, that's for sure!”

“Granted”, Sirius sniffled. “We can't apparate like this. It's too dangerous.”

“Okay.” James shrugged. “Stinkin' floo powder it is.”

“No!” Sirius wiped his nose with the crumpled hanky. “It'll just get me started again! The ashes.... no. Can't do that.”

James puffed up his cheeks again. “Then what do y' suggest, genius?”

Sirius fell back into his chair, exhaustion taking over. “Calligg Moody”, he muttered in defeat.

“What?! You want to call Moody? Are you completely off your bloody onion? The man would stare at me with his creepy eye, like: 'Potter, you're about as -'”

“Nndo!”, Sirius interrupted and sniffled to get rid of the congestion. “I meant Moony.”

“Oh, Remus...”, James's face lit up. “That's actually a good idea. I'll send my patronus.”

“Nah-ah.” Sirius shook his head, his eyes half-way shut. “Yours can hardly form a coherent sentence at the moment... We'll send mine.”

“I'd like to see you try, dog-boy”, James teased with sparkling eyes.

“Here.” Sirius pulled out his wand very slowly, paused to muffle the sound of sneeze behind his scarf, then took a deep breath and tried to collect all of his happy thoughts, which was pretty hard at the moment. James, Remus, Peter and him in Hogwarts. The time they'd released a swarm of doxies in the dungeons near the Slytherin common room... No, that was more of a funny anecdote. The Christmas they'd spent together.

And there it was. That warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

“Expecto Patronum”, he mumbled and the dog appeared. “Go get Remus”, he said and the silver dog ran off at top speed.

“Think he'll come?”, James asked, while running his fingers through his hair. Sirius smiled briefly at his friend's old habit, this remnant of their Hogwarts time.

“Sure he'll come. It's Remus we're talking about.”

James face lit up. “Think he'll bring more booze? Call back your patronus and tell it to tell Rem...”

“James, no. You've had enough. And if you don't stop asking for more, I'll Silencio you until you fall asleep.”

James chuckled. “Remember the time we Silencio'd Professor Binns?”

Sirius grinned. “I don't think he even noticed. People weren't paying any more attention to him than usually. That was great, that was.”

“Yeah...” James looked lost in thought. “I miss Hogwarts.... I miss the Quidditch.”

“I miss our dorms.”

“I miss the lake.”

“I miss the forest.”

“I miss the food.”

“I miss the...” Sirius's nose twitched and his breath hitched. “Huh'AtchOoOO!” He sniffled, then said: “I miss the medical care.”

Right then, the door opened and a wide-eyed Remus stumbled inside. “Sirius? James??” He rushed over to them.

“Hey...”, Sirius waved tiredly.

“Hello, Moony!” James beamed at his friend, then asked chattily: “How have you been?”

“How have I...? Sirius! I was out doing something”, he lowered his voice for a whisper: “for the Order, when your Patronus came. I then took the Knight Bus here as quickly as possible. I was worried. Your Patronus sounded...” He trailed off, apparently searching for the right word.

“Stuffy?”, Sirius suggested lamely.

“Well, yes.” Remus frowned. “Are you... under the weather or something?”

Before Sirius had a chance to confirm or deny this, James chimed in to repeat his horrible joke: “He's as sick as a dog, Rem! Haha! You know? Dog? It's funny cuz...y' know??”

Remus looked at the bellowing James with raised eyebrows. Then, he turned to Sirius: “Is he...?”

“Yes.”

Remus looked again at James, who was doubling over and letting out a guffaw. “How bad....?”

“Seventh-year bad.”

“Oh!” Remus's caramel eyes widened. “That bad, huh?”

“Yeah...” Sirius wiped his nose with the hanky again. Now that it had stopped itching, it was running again... “We need to get him to my place. He told Lily he would be with me.”

“Do you need me to apparate?”, Remus asked sympathetically.

Blushing a little, Sirius nodded. The pub door opened when a group of people came in and the chilly air hit Sirius. He started shivering and pulled his leather jacket closer around himself, even though it didn't provide a lot of warmth.

“Are you alright?”, Remus, who noticed immediately, asked. “Do you have chills?”

“Nah...”, Sirius shrugged and coughed a little. “Just the cold air. Let's take care of Prongs.”

Remus smiled warmly at him. “I'll take care of both of you. C'mere.”

And with that he placed a hand on Sirius's forehead. He wrinked his forehead in concentration. “Hm... you do feel a little warm. Not sure if it qualifies as a fever, though. How are you feeling? You cold?”

“A little. But I don't think I have a fever. I'm not even sweating.” He tried to smile at Remus reassuringly. “I just feel a little under the weather, is all. Don't worry about me. Let's just make sure James doesn't accidentally blow up this place. Or himself. Or both.”

Remus smiled a tiny, crooked smile. “You know your distracting techniques don't work on me the way they work on others, Sirius. I'll take you home and I'll get you into bed. And”, he added with more emphasis. “I'll stay with you until you get over this wicked cold.”

“Aren't you bossy today”, Sirius muttered, unable to look Remus in the eye.

Lucky for Sirius, James interrupted their conversation right then. “Hey Remus! You should just bring us to Pete's house! I'm sure he has some firewhisky around somewhere! I doubt he drank that bottle I forgot at his the other day. C'mon! It'll be the four of us together, the old gang....”

He slapped Remus on the back, but the shorter man escaped his grip. “You mean it'll be the three of us watching you get even more drugged until you're completely out of it.”

“Hey, that was mean, Moons...”, James pouted.

“Enough”, Remus said with determination. “Sirius, hold on to my shoulder.”

Sirius obeyed and Remus grabbed James's arm. In the next moment, they were in Sirius's apartment.

James, a few feet away from Sirius, tried to walk and tripped over something invisible. Then, he simply dropped to his knees. “Sweet Lord...”, he muttered. “Apparating....made everything spin...”

Before Sirius could do anything, Remus was by James's side. “Do you feel nauseous?”

James only grinned. “That's a funny word, Rem.”

“But it won't be so funny if you throw up all over Sirius's carpet. So, bathroom or no bathroom?”

“Aaahhh'm m'kay!”, James declared and managed to get up with a lot of help from Remus.

“Just go to bed then, okay?”, Remus suggested.

“Oh no...”

Remus frowned. “Why not?”

“When I wake up, it'll be mooorning...”

“Yes?”

“An' I... will have to get back to Lily! And the baby! I'll be a father, Remus! A bloody father!”

Remus smiled knowingly at Sirius, as if to say Oh that's what this is all about. “Let's talk about all of that in the morning over some nice breakfast, okay?”, Remus suggested warmly and half-way carried James over to the couch.

“I'll get him a blanket”, Sirius muttered, but Remus simply help up his wand. “Accio blanket.”

It flew over to him and he covered James, who had dropped onto the couch, with it. “Accio water”, he said then and handed James the bottle. “Here. Drink up. It'll help you feel better in the morning.”

After mumbling things about not being ready for a baby and Lily looking like a whale (“the most beautiful whale, though...”) James's finally couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Sirius and Remus watched in silence until he started to snore.

“Great”, Sirius mumured. “That's gonna keep me up all night.”

“Don't worry.” Remus smiled and waved his wand in James's direction. Judging from James's expression, he was still snoring, but Sirius couldn't hear it anymore. “Problem solved”, Remus said warmly and Sirius thanked him for the silencing spell.

“Now... to you”, Remus said and started walking towards Sirius. “What do you need?”

“Me? Um... I just need to get over this cold. Nothing you can do.”

“Oh, there are plenty of things I can do, Sirius. First of all, I'll make you some tea. Sounds like your throat is a little sore.”

Sirius nodded. It felt raspy and at some point during the last five minutes talking had become painful. So he followed Remus into the kitchen, where the werewolf quickly prepared two cups of tea with his wand. He handed one to Sirius, who was sitting opposite of him at the kitchen table and started sipping it thankfully.

“So... how have you been?”, Remus asked then, brushing back his sand-colored bangs.

“Oh...you know”, Sirius said and sniffled. “Pretty busy, doing things for the order.”

Remus smiled knowingly. “You've been flying around with that motorcycle of yours a lot, haven't you?”

“It's not a crime, is it?”

“Well, technically”, Remus smirked. “You never had it registered, did you? So...”

“Ah, stop it, Rem! A war is going on! And stupid laws like that are generally overrated, even at peaceful times...”

“A war is going on...”, Remus repeated, as if talking to himself. “Poor James. I actually understand why he's scared. Having a child at this point...”

Sirius made a movement with his hand as if he was trying to wipe away his friend's concern.

“Prongs is just scared he'll get to drink and party less. And the kid will be fine.”

“Well, with you as its Godfather, what could possibly go wrong, right?”, Remus grinned.

“Exactly”, Sirius grinned back. “Hey, wanna start a betting pool? On whether or not the baby will inherit the impossible mess James calls his hair?”

Remus chuckled. Sirius nose twitched and he turned away quickly. “Huh'AtchIIoOO!”

“Ah, to bed with you!”, Remus said, his facial expression changing abruptly. “Take the cup of tea with you, you hear?”

“It's been a while since the last time you ordered me around like that...”, Sirius said with a smile, but got up and took his cup of tea regardless.

Remus followed him into his bedroom and didn't even look away when Sirius stripped down to his boxers. They'd had seven years to overcome that kind of shyness.

“Excuse me”, Sirius said apologetically before blowing his nose with a gurgling sound.

“It's okay”, Remus said softly. “You're pretty miserable, aren't you? Be honest, mate.”

Sirius took a deep breath and nodded. “True. I've been better.”

Remus, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, leaned over to place a hand on the black-haired man's forehead again. He put his other hand to his own head for comparison. “Ugh... that feels too warm, Padfoot. Better go to sleep now.”

Before lying down, Sirius took a moment to look Remus straight in the eye. “Thank you, Rem.”

“Don't mention it.”

“I'll owl you tomorrow, tell you how James is doing. I bet he'll have the hangover of the century.”

“We'll see. And you won't have to owl me. I'll stay the night.”

“But...” Sirius wiped his nose with the hanky. “I... don't have a spare bed.”

Remus smiled. “I'll stay up. In case James wakes up and needs me. Or you. You can just call, too. I'll be there.”

And as Sirius nodded his head thanks and tried to express his appreciation with a look, Remus gently took the hanky from his hands, rubbed it against Sirius's nose one more time and then placed it on the nightstand.

Sirius felt exhaustion take over his body. His throat hurt, his head was still throbbing, but his nose wasn't itching anymore... Taking deep breaths through his mouth, he allowed Remus to tuck the blanket around him and rested his head on the pillow.

He drifted off, relaxed and finally at peace, because no matter how bad James or him might get over the course of the next few hours, it would be alright.

Remus would take care of it. Remus would be there. He always was.

THE END

[squealofapproval]

What an endearing story! I found it witty and sweet. Good job. XX

[Seniorstatus14]

This was adorable! Thank you for completing it!

[HPG]

Very very sweet.

[irishsneezeandkisses]

This is so awesome!!

James chuckled. “Remember the time we Silencio'd Professor Binns?”

Sirius grinned. “I don't think he even noticed. People weren't paying any more attention to him than usually. That was great, that was.”

[RiversD]

Aw, this was brilliant!

I'm going to take all these warm fuzzies into the corner with me now.

[Sophie<3]

What an endearing story! I found it witty and sweet. Good job. XX

Thanks for sticking with me! I'm glad you enjoyed my little story! xx, Sophie

This was adorable! Thank you for completing it!

Oh, you're so welcome! Thanks for commenting!

Very very sweet.

Thanks!

This is so awesome!!

James chuckled. “Remember the time we Silencio'd Professor Binns?”

Sirius grinned. “I don't think he even noticed. People weren't paying any more attention to him than usually. That was great, that was.”

Haha...thank you! I love adding a little marauder mischief on the side!

Aw, this was brilliant!

I'm going to take all these warm fuzzies into the corner with me now.

Thanks! And oh, yes, dear, take them! They're all yours! c: