Drowning (HP fic, Sirius Black)

[Dusty15]

Some warnings before you read: This was written for a Tumblr challenge called "Sick Days" with the prompt 'bodily fluids'. If it isn't obvious from that, this fic contains a pretty decent amount of mess, from both coughing and sneezing. It's not super gratuitous in description, but this isn't a 'clean' illness for sure. It also deals with bronchitis and all that nasty productive cough stuff, so if that's not your thing either, you should probably just move along

 

Drowning
A Post-Hogwarts Maraudeur's Era Fic
-----

 “You know, I never liked swimming,” Sirius grumbled. “I don't like the idea of drowning. I think this is what it must feel like.”

 

He was stretched out on the sofa in the main room of his flat, covered in about a dozen blankets.

 

“If you mean drowning in dirty tissues, then I agree you're close to death,” replied Remus Lupin as he stood surveying the scene.

 

Last week they'd been paired together on a mission for the Order and Sirius had been fighting a bit of a head cold. His outright refusal to take time off to get well had finally backfired. He was now laid up with a brutal case of bronchitis and had missed their most recent meeting. James didn't want to risk bringing home germs to his newborn and Peter already had plans, so Remus agreed that he'd go check on the man himself. Besides the piles of tissues strewn around the floor, a small stack of teacups and water glasses littered the coffee table.

 

“No, I mean I'm drowning in snot and phlegm,” Sirius complained.

 

“Have you been to see a healer?” Remus asked.

 

“No,” croaked Sirius. “I have some potions though. They're mostly wor--”

 

He was interrupted by a phlegmy cough that he muffled by covering his mouth with some of the blankets. He barked and hacked and choked, chest heaving and crackling as his lungs fought to clear the mucus from his airways. Finally, he surfaced with watery eyes and flushed cheeks, reaching for a tissue and spitting into it before depositing it into the pile at his side.

 

“They are not working. You sound terrible,” Remus said, gingerly making his way through the tissue minefield. “Where are your potions?”

 

“In the bathroom.”

 

Remus went to investigate and returned a moment later. Sirius was doubled up again, fighting another coughing fit.

 

“No wonder you're still a mess,” Remus said, crossing to put a hand on Sirius' shoulder and rubbing them gently as they rose and fell with each hacking cough. “Your potions aren't nearly strong enough to fight this.” He plucked a fresh tissue from the box and handed it over for Sirius to spit into.

 

Sirius shrugged, wheezing and sputtering as the fit died down. He wiped his mouth with the tissue and then grabbed another to blow his nose. The sound was a soft gurgle as the tissue quickly filled with snot. Remus sighed in sympathy.

 

“Let me take you to St. Mungo's,” he said. “You'll feel so much better when you get a prescription potion.”

 

Defeated, Sirius nodded as he clutched at his achy chest, rubbing his sternum where the muscles felt sore and strained from all the coughing.

 

“Good,” Remus said. “Go to the loo and wash up. I'll get you some warm clothes.”

 

Sirius struggled to extract himself from the layers of quilts. When he was up and standing, it was a fight to even walk a few feet without getting caught up in a coughing fit. With each hack, phlegm bubbled up from his chest and into his mouth. In the bathroom, he spit over and over into the sink as he tried in vain to clear his lungs. Outside the warmth of his cocoon of blankets, he started to shiver too; big, quaking chills that made his teeth chatter.

 

Remus arrived with a thick knit jumper and a hat along with Sirius' robes.

 

“You've got a fever,” he said, observing Sirius' clattering teeth and shaking arms. “C'mon, let's keep you cozy then. Arms up.”

 

Sirius raised his arms, trying desperately not to cough on his friend. Remus tugged the sweater down quickly and released his grip just in time for Sirius to raise an arm as a shield in front of his mouth. He coughed twice with deep, rattling barks and inhaled with a high-pitched, wheezing gasp.

 

“I take back what I said about you sounding terrible,” Remus quipped as he put the knit hat over Sirius' bedraggled hair. “It's worse than that. You sound dismal.”

 

Sirius' laughed with a quick, barked cough as he pulled on his robes over the jumper and his track pants.

 

“Let's go,” Remus urged. “The sooner we get there, the sooner you'll feel better.”

 

“Hold on,” said Sirius. He went to grab a loop of toilet tissue from the roll. “I need some supplies for the trip.”

 

“Ready?” Remus asked once Sirius had the toilet paper safely tucked up his sleeve. “I'll Apparate you over so you don't cough and splinch yourself.”

 

In light of the war they were facing, Sirius' flat was protected with spells preventing any unauthorized persons from Apparating in or out, but he'd made sure that the wards allowed his friends to enter and exit uninhibited. Remus put an arm firmly around Sirius' waist and turned on his heel, sending them both spinning into darkness, only to reappear in the Outpatient landing zone at St. Mungo's.

 

Immediately upon hitting the ground again, Sirius was doubled over with a coughing spell. The force of travelling by Floo or Apparating could knock the wind out of a perfectly healthy wizard and it had clearly set Sirius' lungs off. Between each spasm, he wheezed audibly, chest rumbling and crackling with the thick congestion as air tried to get in and out through the inflamed passages. Remus guided him towards a chair and sat him down, talking softly as Sirius continued to cough with increasing strain. The man's face was red and sweaty and his eyes were watering from the effort to breathe.

 

“Tissue,” he gurgled, voice muddled by the phlegm in his throat.

 

“It's in your sleeve,” Remus reminded him, reaching for the hand that Sirius held clutched to his spasming chest. He tugged out the small bundle and held it up to Sirius' mouth. Sirius took the offering and continued to cough into the bit of tissue, quickly filling it with mucus.

 

“Shh,” Remus coaxed, rubbing Sirius' back. “Small breaths.”

 

Gradually, the coughs settled and Sirius slumped in the chair, breathing noisily.

 

“I'm going to go check you in. Just sit and try to relax,” Remus said.

 

Sirius nodded in agreement, shutting his eyes and letting his head rest against the wall.

 

Remus went up to the registration counter and smiled at the witch sitting at the desk.

 

“Hello there. I'd like to request a Healer for my friend. I suspect it's bronchitis.”

 

The witch handed him a parchment form in a folder and a quill.

 

“Please fill this out and we'll have someone see him within....” She glanced at a large clock behind Remus. “Oh...about a half hour.”

 

“Ta,” Remus thanked her and took the form back to his spot at Sirius side.

 

He filled out the basics...Sirius' name, birthdate, address.

 

“When did the symptoms start?” he asked.

 

“Last Wednesday,” Sirius murmured.

 

“When did you get a fever?”

 

“Last night.”

 

“What about the coughing fits?”

 

“Saturday. Got really bad yesterday.”

 

Remus continued down the form, completing the various boxes with some help from Sirius. He was just about the pass the quill over for Sirius to sign the waiver at the bottom when suddenly, Sirius sat up straight and his hands rose up to cover his nose.

 

There was a sharp, wheezy inhalation before Sirius snapped forward, head bobbing into his waiting hands.

 

Hurh-GSGHHHHHH!

 

The sneeze exploded out, thick and full of congestion. Sirius' hands stayed clamped over his nose and he opened his eyes, looking panicked.

 

“Fuck,” he said, voice muffled by his palms. “Tissue. Plea..hehh....hehh-TSGSHHHHH!”

 

The second sneeze tumbled out as productive-sounding as the first and a thin dribble of snot began to leak from between Sirius' fingers.

 

“Remus!” Sirius moaned with urgency. “Now!”

 

The one Sirius had been using previously was too saturated to be of use and they'd brought no other supplies. Scrambling to his feet, Remus hurried over to the registration counter.

 

“Excuse me?” he asked. “Tissues? Is there a box somewhere?”

 

“Here,” the witch said, reaching into a drawer and passing over a white, freshly pressed and folded square of fabric. “We've switched to self-cleaning handkerchiefs to reduce waste.”

 

Remus snatched up the cloth with a hurried “thank you!” and rushed back over to Sirius.

 

“For you,” he said, unfolding the cloth and holding it up. Sirius removed one hand to take it and quickly covered his face with the handkerchief. Remus managed to get a glimpse of the shiny, wet mess that covered Sirius' nose and most of his upper lip.

 

Sirius wiped and scrubbed at his nose and hands with the handkerchief until he'd mostly tidied himself up again. The magic fabric performed a modified 'scorgify' charm every few moments, sending the mess and moisture disappearing. Folding the clean cloth over his nose, Sirius gave a gurgling, productive blow that filled the handkerchief once more and waited a second until it was clean again to go another round.

 

After several minutes of nose blowing and a few stares from the other people in the waiting room, Sirius finally stopped and held the handkerchief in his hand quietly. He signed the registration form and Remus returned it to the desk. The estimated thirty minutes and a few bouts of coughing later, a nurse emerged from a door on the far side of the waiting room and called Sirius' name.

 

The two friends followed the nurse down a long hallway and into an exam room. By the time Sirius was seated again on the exam table, he was wheezing audibly once more and struggling not to cough. A healer came with a cart full of diagnostic instruments and a folder containing the parchment form that Remus completed.

 

“Hello, Mr. Black,” the healer said. “I'm Healer Donaldson. A chest cold, it says here?”

 

Sirius nodded, opening his mouth to speak but coughing instead. He held up the handkerchief to his mouth, convulsing with crackling barks.

 

“It certainly sounds like it,” the Healer said, frowning. He took a look at Remus' checklist of symptoms and began to run his wand in a line around Sirius' body, creating a thin yellow ribbon of light as he performed a series of basic diagnostic spells.

 

While Sirius continued to fight against the coughing fit, the Healer touched his wand to Sirius' brow and then down to a piece of parchment, getting a readout of the man's elevated temperature.

 

“If I can have you remove your robes and jumper, please, we'll get a listen and look at your lungs.”

 

Sirius tugged off his top, still shaking with little coughs, and set the jumper and robes aside. Pressing a small coned instrument to his ear, the healer raised his wand again and trailed it slowly along Sirius' chest.

 

“Breathe in, please,” he instructed. Sirius complied, inhaling with a sharp wheeze.

 

“And out.”

 

Again, the breath from Sirius' lungs whistled and crackled in the fight against his inflamed airways.

 

The healer continued his examination, listening intently to the front and back of Sirius' chest before donning a pair of x-ray glasses to get a look at his lungs.

 

“Yes, definitely bronchitis,” he affirmed. “No cloudy spots like we'd expect with pneumonia. Likely an upper respiratory infection as well with all that nasal congestion. We'll put you on some potions to ease the symptoms and reduce the coughing so you can rest. Staying home and warm in bed is the best way to beat this and to prevent it from turning into something worse. You've already got a pretty severe case as it is.”

 

“I'll make sure he does just that,” Remus said, moving to help Sirius untangle the sleeves of his jumper to put it back on.

 

“I'll have an assistant healer come and give you your first dose of potions before we send you on your way,” Healer Donaldson said. “Take care, Mr. Black.”

 

Sirius dressed with Remus' help and in no time at all, the potions cart arrived pushed by a young assistant healer. She passed over three different vials of potions for Sirius to swallow to help combat the cough, temperature, and congestion. Then she went about filling up a bag with three bottles containing the tonics and a small tub of balm to ease the pain of his strained chest muscles.

 

“There we are,” she said, handing the bag to Remus. “You're all set.”

 

Sirius slid down from his perch on the exam table and followed Remus back out to the Apparation point, already breathing easier with help from the potions.

 

“See?” Remus said once they were back in Sirius' flat. He was tucking the quilts in over Sirius while simultaneously banishing tissues to the rubbish bin with his wand. “Don't you feel better?”

 

“A little less like I'm drowning inside my own body, yes,” Sirius agreed, settling into the nest of blankets and pillows with a sigh. “Thanks, Moony.”

 

“Least I could do,” Remus said as the last of the dirty tissues soared into the nearby bin. “I think ignoring a drowning man is punishable by the Wizengamot anyhow.”

 

[Winged]

Aww, I enjoyed this. I never know how to write coughs, so it was really interesting seeing the variety of different ways you wrote the sounds and sensations. Plus Remus is always so adorable as the firm, responsible one in the pairing. Nice work!

[Dusty15]

11 minutes ago, Winged said:

I never know how to write coughs,

Me either! Glad to know it worked for you!

[Sitruuna]

Popping into say the coughing is written really nicely (:

...okay, that's nit the only thing I WANT to say but I have no idea how to say the rest. This is great. 

[elizachoo]

I love this! I really enjoyed your exploration of coughing here - that's not a part of colds that I usually care much about, but in this story it was a nice change from the usual. 

[IveGotRedHair]

I read this on Tumblr yesterday and I loved it! Well done

[queenie]

Oh my goodness. What an amazing dose of hurt/comfort. Sirius is really quite ill, and not at all equipped to care for himself without Remus about to act as the sensible one. And the jokes! Perfect.