Two Days Out - Harry Potter (Lupin)

[AdrianMarx]

This is not intended to be Sirius/Lupin but more of a really strong, platonic relationship. However, you made interpret that however you wish.

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At Hogwarts, one grew used to things that went bump in the night, but the bump which awoke young Siruis Black that night wasn't your average, Peeves-ian bump. Head still heavy with sleep, he sat up slowly, pulling back the curtains drawn round his bed and squinting through the dark. The room was silent save, of course, for James' quiet snoring. Sirius considered throwing a pillow at him but thought better of it and was in the midst of settling back down to sleep when he spotted Remus' prized family photograph lying face down on the floor.

Curious, he got up to investigate and was thankful to find the glass intact. Remus would have been distraught had the picture been ruined. Sirius smiled as he took a moment to watch Remus' father ruffle his son's hair affectionately before setting the picture right again. He was halfway back to his own bed when a whimper from behind him stopped him dead in his tracks. Quietly, he peered round Remus' curtains and felt his heart clench painfully.

It was not uncommon for Remus to have nightmares in the run up to a full moon. Having pulled his usual stunt that day of remaining in bed in solitude, they'd all been expecting this. Sirius had just hoped that, this time, he'd have been spared the agony of torturing himself before the horror really began.

Sighing softly, Sirius perched on the edge of the bed and pushed his hand into Remus' hair, shushing him. Often, he'd be subject to some light teasing on account of the occasional patch of grey hairs woven throughout. Sirius actually found them to be rather endearing. He scratched gently at Remus' scalp with cool fingertips and felt him shift beneath him. He was tangled in the covers but Sirius didn't have to imagine him thrashing around in his sleep - he'd seen it happen often enough.

Remus emitted another pathetic whimper when Sirius removed his hand. He went to brush the remaining hairs from Remus' face when he felt the clammy heat of his forehead. Only then did he notice the sound of his stuffy and congested breathing and, though it was too dark to tell, Sirius was willing to bet that his nose was red and raw.

Now, Sirius knew that Remus was often sick after a transformation and he'd get the occasional headache in the run up to one but this was a whole new thing. He'd never seen Remus so ill that he couldn't work through it because now Sirius was certain that his impromptu day off had more to do with this dreadful illness than his mental state.

Panicked, Sirius yanked back the curtains on the bed next to his own and was met with a very grumpy and groggy James Potter.

James half rolled onto his back and squinted at Sirius before burying his face in his pillow again.

"Go away. Sleeping," he mumbled but his voice was mostly muffled by the fabric.

"Sorry, mate," Sirius said, heading round to the other side to pull the curtains back there too. "I know you've got a big game tomorrow."

James groaned and put his cheek on the pillow instead. "Yeah, I do," he sighed. "What do you want?"

"Moony's sick," Sirius said and James was immediately reaching for his glasses and pushing himself up. He rubbed his eyes.

"How long-" he began to say before Sirius cut him off.

"Two days," he said nervously and James was out of bed in a heartbeat, uttering a swear word Sirius pretended not to hear.

Sirius returned to Remus feeling a little less frightened with James on board. And apparently Peter too. (James had immediately woken him based on the premise that three minds were better than two.)

Half an hour later, the three of them were crowded round Remus' bed. James carefully pressed a cold cloth to his head at Sirius' suggestion because he'd seen Remus' mother do it when he'd stayed there for a couple of days last summer. Sirius himself was rubbing circles in his chest - again, something he'd picked up at the Lupins' but, when he thought on it properly, he was almost certain there had been some kind of sticky substance involved in that particular remedy. Peter simply did what he felt Remus needed and held his hand, worrying silently to himself.

Finally, when Remus' breathing turned to more of a wheeze, Peter made the first sensible suggestion any of them had heard all night.

"We should take him to Madame Pomfrey."

James, who had spent the last thirty seconds staring at Remus in a complete panic and willing him to get better, thumped Peter on the back and told him that it was the best idea he'd ever had. Peter smiled and immediately began gathering the things Remus typically needed during his monthly stays in the infirmary.

A damp cough from Remus made Sirius jump. It seemed to catch in Remus' throat and soon enough he was awake and Sirius was pulling him upright, swinging his legs over the side of the bed so he could crouch down in front of him. He wished they had some water to hand. But the coughing stopped as suddenly as it started and soon Remus' face was contorted into a ticklish pre-sneeze expression. His breath started hitching and James had just enough time to grab a handkerchief from Remus' bedside table before he collapsed forwards.

"hh'ISHHOO! hehHSHHOO! ihh...hiHISHHOO! ISHHOo!"

Remus lifted his face from the handkerchief to take a deep breath. James had settled himself beside him and wrapped an arm around his back which was all that kept him from tumbling backwards. Sirius squeezed his knee gently. But he wasn't quite finished yet and he let out an unconscious groan before clamping the handkerchief to his nose again.

"hEHISHHHhoo! ihh...hh...hISHHHOO! ishHOO! hEH'ishhoo! hh...hhh...hihh...hhIYISHHOO!"

When the fit had finally run its course, Remus found himself leaning completely against James. He made no attempt to support himself. In truth, he was too exhausted. The wheezing had not ceased. If anything, it seemed worse but Sirius was willing to put that down to an imagination sent into overdrive with worry.

"Bless," James mutters, sounding just as uneasy as Sirius feels. This is much worse than any cold Remus has ever had before. And with only two days until the full moon...

Sirius shook his head and summoned his own handkerchief from his trunk since the supply usually kept in the drawer of Remus' side table had mysteriously disappeared. (Sirius would discover later that Peter had put them all into the bag.) He tucked it into Remus' hand and gently guided that arm to his face.

"Blow your nose," he instructed gently. "It'll help."

Remus followed the advice and blew with all the energy he could muster, producing a rather loud, wet sound. He wiped his nose halfheartedly and lowered his hand to his lap with the damp handkerchief still clutched in his fist.

Peter returned shortly after with a bag slung over his shoulder. Sirius noticed the tail of Peter's beloved stuffed dog sticking out of it but says nothing.

"Ready," Peter announced.

James looked to Sirius. "We'd better go now before he gets any worse."

Sirius glanced between James and Peter and swallowed. "I think you should stay here."

"Out of the question," James shook his head immediately.

"James, please," Sirius said firmly and Remus sniffled pitifully. "Moony won't want all of us getting into trouble. It'll be easier to justify just one of us going so we can carry him."

James snorted. "Oh please. Like Dumbledore would uphold punishment for this."

"Maybe not," Sirius reasoned. "But you've got a big Quidditch game tomorrow. You need to rest."

"Forget the game," James said immediately, looking affronted that Sirius would even suggest that Quidditch meat more to him than the welfare of one of his closest friends.

To Sirius' relief, Peter piped up in his defence. "Sirius is right, James. Remus doesn't like to be fussed over. And he always responds better to Sirius when he's sick."

James sighed, defeated. "Alright," he said reluctantly. "But if there's anything seriously wrong with him, Sirius, so help me I will hit you with a bludger so hard that you'll end up in Russia."

Sirius smirked. "You're a seeker," he chuckled, slinging the bag Peter was handing him onto his back.

"I'll find a way," James promised.

Sirius shook his head and scooped Remus up in his arms with the greatest of ease. The boy weighed practically nothing, even as a dead weight, and Sirius found it quite easy to hold him. He carried him in a sort-of reversed piggy back with Remus' legs either side of his torso and his arms slung around his neck. Sirius clasped his hands under Remus' thighs and hoisted him up a bit further, earning a soft whine.

Mumbling his apologies, Sirius set off for the hospital wing

Several times on the journey, Remus muttered things Sirius couldn't quite understand. Having his face buried in Sirius' neck did little to help the situation, however. Before they were even halfway there, Remus' nose started to twitch again and his body convulsed in Sirius' arms with the force of the sneezes.

"hISHHHOO! isHHHOOO! hhrISHHOO!"

Sirius whispered a blessing in his ear but the tickle raged on and Sirius lost count of the number of times he had to readjust Remus in his arms because he'd almost slipped during a sneeze. Without the energy to cover his sneezes properly, Remus missed his sodden handkerchief a fair few times but Sirius was too worried to be disgusted by the dampness on his neck.

Remus did his best to apologise but his words were muffled by the congestion and the cough which just would not leave him be.

Eventually, after enduring two changing staircases, they arrived and Sirius struggled with the handle on the door for some time before it finally creaked open. As they squeezed through the gap in the door, Sirius noticed two Hufflepuff sixth years lying in the two beds closest to the door, looking all the worse for wear. They'd either been in a fight or had just been flat out beaten up. Sirius didn't know which was more likely.

But he spent little time dwelling on it. His mind was elsewhere.

He picked up the pace - which elicited a groan from Remus - and rushed to the other end of the infirmary in sight of her. When he didn't immediately see her bustling around, he started to panic. It occurred to him that he didn't know exactly when or where Madame Pomfrey slept. What if it was right now? Surely she'd help anyway, regardless of the time. But that didn't solve the problem of where the hell was she?

Sirius was starting to wish he hadn't persuaded James and Peter to stay behind. The last thing he wanted right now was to go this alone. So he stood there with Remus in his arms, desperately trying not to have a full blown panic attack when a door to his left opened and Madame Pomfrey appeared backwards, pulling a trolley.

Relieved, Sirius squeaked, "Madame Pomfrey?"

She turned, startled, and gazed at the sight before her for only a moment before springing into action. She flicked her wand at the closest bed and the blanket magically turned itself down.

"Lay him down there for me, dear," she said, bustling off through the same door again which swung shut behind her.

Sirius did as he was told and immediately wished he hadn't when Remus started coughing painfully again. The sound rattled in his chest which only concerned Sirius further. At a loss for what else to do, Sirius brushed aside a sweaty strand of hair from Remus' forehead and stroked his cheek softly. Only once the cough had calmed down a little did Sirius move to the bottom of the bed and pull the covers up over him.

Madame Pomfrey returned then, laden with bottles of all shapes and sizes. She laid a hand on top of his head and sighed.

Remus' incoherent murmurs grew louder in response but Madame Pomfrey paid them no mind and shushed him soothingly while she placed the tip of her wand on his forehead, frowning when it began to glow red. She tutted softly and poured a small measure of green liquid into a glass by the bedside.

She brushed away a tear which had escaped him and said quietly, "Now, now, dear. No need for that."

Sirius was just starting to feel a little bit useless when she turned to him and said, "Mr. Black, would you be kind enough to help me sit him upright?"

Eager for any opportunity to be of some kind of service, Sirius darted forward and helped guide Remus to sit up. He watched as Madame Pomfrey unbuttoned the shirt of Remus' pyjamas and had to bite his lip at the sight of fresher cuts on his chest and stomach. When he glanced up, he saw Madame Pomfrey frowning too. He knew they're both thinking the same thing. Those cuts were too new to have been made at the last full moon.

Without a word, Madame Pomfrey ran her wand down the middle of his chest, tutting and muttering to herself all the while. Sirius watched her add dribs and drabs from the other bottles into the glass, turning the entire concoction a shocking shade of pink. Seemingly satisfied, she put the glass to Remus' lips but had to pull it away when his lungs threatened another fit of coughs. On the second try, he managed half of it before he had to stop to take a few deep breaths through his mouth. Finally, though, he had downed the lot and Madame Pomfrey was helping him to lie down again.

(Sirius tucked the covers around him gingerly. When he thought Madame Pomfrey wasn't looking, he risked gently kissing Remus' forehead and could have sworn he saw the corners of his lips twitch.)

It didn't take long for Remus to drift off again, breathing much easier than before. Madame Pomfrey turned to Sirius.

"You did the right thing bringing him to me, dear. You're a good lad," she said tiredly. "But you'd best get back to your dormitory."

Sirius didn't take the praise. "Will he be okay for...y'know..."

She sighed. "If I could lift that awful burden from him, I would," she said sadly and Sirius noticed she hadn't answered his question but thought better of pushing it.

Instead he murmured, "Me too. I'd take it myself if I could," and they share a quiet moment of understanding.

(And this moment, and many more like it, stood as the reason why Poppy Pomfrey was never quite able to believe that troublemaker Sirius Black, who cared more for his friends than he did himself, could be capable of committing the cold-blooded murder for which he was imprisoned.)

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Okay, so, I've been re-reading Harry Potter recently and Lupin has always been my favourite character but I've been thinking so much about his backstory recently that I've made myself sad and I've just gone and fallen in love with him all over again. And I've always imagined him to hate being fussed over and always try to prove that he can push through it so I kind of liked the idea of having him feel so crap that he pretty much surrenders himself to his friends right away. Awh, Lupin. Why do you hurt me like this?

[Dusty15]

I love Remus for all the same reasons and many many more He's probably my favourite character from any work of fiction ever <3

I really enjoyed this, especially the bit about Pomfrey noticing and remembering how sweet Sirius was to Remus when they were boys. It was a lovely touch. Thanks for sharing!

[AngelEyes]

Awww. I'm rereading the books now too, with my niece who never read them. I love Remus!!!! And Sirius! This is a wonderful story. So sweet!