Care (Sirius/Remus, OotP era)

[Dusty15]

Comments are appriciated! Enjoy!

Care (Sirius/Remus, OotP era)
by Dusty15

Winter had settled over London with a fierce, icy grip. Snow blanketed the earth like the glaze that James’ mum used to drizzle over her holiday scones. Sirius smiled at the memory of the Potters. They had both passed not long after he and James had graduated Hogwarts. Lily had surprised them all with the sweet treats this past Christmas and Sirius had delighted in the look on James’ face. Remus’ lips had tasted of cinnamon when they kissed that night. Christmas was a delightful time for snow, when it was fluffy and beautiful.

This year, the snow echoed the mood around Grimmauld Place; it was thick and heavy. Sirius traipsed up and down the halls of the Order headquarters, kicking idly at rugs spread out along the corridor, avoiding those that leapt up and attempted to bite his feet. A mug of fire whiskey in hand, he arrived at the Grand Parlor and sunk down into a dusty chair, throwing a moldy cushion across the room where it hit a portrait and sent its inhabitant screaming out of his frame. Maps from an earlier meeting lay bundled on the coffee table and he pulled one open to study it again. Just as he was going over the basic layout of Azkaban he had constructed from memory for the Order’s files, there was a thud out in the front hall and he could hear someone closing the door. Sending the maps flying under the sofa with a flick of his wand, Sirius headed towards the front of the house.

A hoarse cough sounded from the hallway and Sirius grinned as he made his way through the kitchen.

“Hey ‘Dung!” he called. “You ought to lay off those pipes. That’s starting to get nasty, mate.”

Turning to corner, he expected to run into the con man, but instead came face to face with Remus.

“Where’s ‘Dung?” asked Sirius, glancing over Remus’ shoulder.

“He’s not here. It was me,” Remus replied softly. Covering his mouth, he coughed into his glove and took a shuddering breath.

Sirius frowned.

“You okay, love?” he asked, moving a hand to Remus’ brow. He pulled it away almost immediately.

“You’re burning up, Moony! I told you that going out and about in this weather the day before the moon would be the death of you.”
Remus shook his head.

“I’ve been coming down with it for a while. It just hit this…”

He broke off, coughing horribly. Sirius winced and pulled Remus into a hug so that the other man’s coughs were absorbed into his sweater.

“Off to bed with you then!” he said, rubbing Remus’ back. “It’s three weeks until Christmas and we don’t want anyone catching anything!”
Remus sighed heavily.

“I already told you, Padfoot. Harry is staying at Hogwarts. We’ve got too much sensitive information lying around here. And you’ve been in no state to host any…hssh..hssshCHOO!.”

Remus pulled out of the hug, sneezing violently, and then wiped his nose with a handkerchief from his coat pocket.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Sirius, his hands on his hips.

Remus looked up at Sirius from his handkerchief and raised an eyebrow.

“You wore those robes to bed last night, for one,” he replied, moving over to the stove to put on a pot of tea.

“I fell asleep in them and I just got up!” Sirius retorted.

“I will also mention that it is three in the afternoon, well past time to get out of bed, you are drinking before you’ve even had breakfast, and …ahhh..ahhhTSHCHOO!”

He paused, wiping his nose again and continued,

“And you haven’t shaved in five days. What’s going on?”

Sirius frowned.

“So, I overslept, had a headache so I got a drink, and I’m growing a beard.”

“Oh, come off it!” Remus replied. “You haven’t gone a day without a shower and a shave since you moved in! You hate being like you were…”

He trailed off, looking down at the teapot.

“Like I was in Azkaban?” asked Sirius darkly. “This whole place is a fucking Azkaban!”

He gestured wildly around the house.

“Sirius, you’re being redic….”

Remus broke off coughing. Sirius softened and moved to his side.

“Let’s get you off to bed, love,” he said, running a hand through the other man’s hair. “You need some rest.”

“No. You need to talk. So let’s get this over with, before I collapse, shall we?"

Sirius grumbled noncommittally and helped Remus out of his damp overcoat before following him upstairs.

Remus had taken up one of the beds in a guest room that had once been Sirius’ own bedroom. Sirius had insisted, claiming that if his parents had decided that the room was his no longer, that he did not want anything to do with it. Instead, Sirius had been drifting from room to room to sleep at night, sometimes climbing into one of the beds in the room that Harry and Ron had shared on their visit, sometimes finding a place on the floor next to Buckbeak, and more often than not, shyly creeping in alongside Remus and curling up against his hip, sometimes as Padfoot, and sometimes as they used to sleep long before they were troubled with memories of friends lost and futures uncertain.

“Will you rest too, if I have to?” Remus asked, looking his haggard friend over. “Did you sleep at all last night? I heard you up.”

“I woke you?” Sirius replied angrily. “I tried to be quiet but these floors…” “No, I was up!” said Remus quickly. “It’s fine.”

“Get yourself in bed and I’ll bring you some potion.”

“I can’t have any. Snape says I can’t risk anything interacting with the Wolfsbane.”

“Not even Pepper-Up?

Remus shook his head and stifled a few more coughs.

“Nope. It’s got aconite in it and if you add it in with the Wolfsbane potion, the levels in me would not be so kind, to put it lightly.”

Sitting down next to Remus on the bed, Sirius tapped his wand lightly on Remus’ brow and muttered a spell. A thin golden ribbon of smoke trailed out of the end and formed the numbers “39.6.”

“Feverish,” Sirus said, sighing. “I’ll be right back.

He shut the door softly and Remus listened to him go down the hall to the washroom. He returned a few moments later dressed in sleep pants and carrying a damp cloth to find Remus tucked in, looking miserable.

“This’ll make things a tad bit better, right?” Sirius asked with a small smile, draping the towel across Remus’ forehead.

Remus sniffed a few times and nodded.

“It’s fine, Padfoot, really. I just need to slee…ahhahhTSCHOO!”

He sneezed forcefully and shielded his nose with a pillow.

“I need to sleep,” he finished, his nose running down onto his lip.

“There’s nothing you can take?” Sirius asked, holding a handkerchief up for the other man. “You look like hell, Moony.”

“Speaking of looking like hell,” Remus replied. “Lie down.”

Grumbling, Sirius crawled under the covers and Remus snuggled close.

“You need to sleep too,” he mumbled. “Fine, my arse.”

Sirius laughed bitterly.

“We’ve all got our ghosts, Moony, old friend.”

Remus coughed into Sirius’ shoulder and closed his eyes, the washcloth slipping off his forehead and getting lost in the nest of blankets.

[Nicole]

My favorite pairing ever. I liked it. Great job!

[March Hare]

Ooooooh, YES! The pups! *LOVES ON!* Is this to be continued? It is cute in its mild angstiness and quite well-written and I'd love to see some more, but thanks a bunch for sharing this! OH! The pups

[tma]

Oooo!! I Really enjoyed this. Angsty- but not too much, and tone of the characters seemed spot on. And the descriptions (thinking esp. of the opening paragraph) were just So vivid and yummy. Thank you Very much for sharing this.

[Aisha]

YUM!!

Well done, I really enjoyed reading that story. Sirius and Remus are one of my fave pairings also! It was a perfect length too... and left me wanting more!

Thankyou Dusty!

[meff]

sweet story, my favourite pairing. nicely written

[Kaze Wo Hiku]

Oh god I know Im bumping an old topic but OH MY GOD!!!! This is love, complete love. My fave HP ship and it's just...did I say love. It's love. I'm a puddle of goo now.

[RiversD]

Wow, 2006 was longer ago than I think it was...

Well, since it's been bumped, I'll add that the whole atmosphere of this piece is gorgeous.

Remus' exhaustion, and his desire to deal with Sirius' issues even if it would be easier to just forgo the conversation until his own needs are met comes across really well, and I feel sort of guilty for enjoying it as much as I do.

Their mutual worrying is lovely, and I felt that, though both characters come across strongly enough to draw me into the word, Remus in particular was beautifully rendered (I mean, even if I didn't know you loved him, I would have cause to strongly suspect).

“No. You need to talk. So let’s get this over with, before I collapse, shall we?"

This killed me. It's so practical, and so SAD.

Okay, I'll leave this thread alone now.

[Dusty15]

Oh lawrd this IS really old!! I wrote this a lot longer ago than I thought!! But thanks for the sweet comments <3

[NoThankYou]

It's been a while since I've read HP fanfic, but this reminds me why I love the Remus/Sirius pairing so much (and Remus Lupin in general). Mental images of David Thewlis don't hurt either...