Patients (M, HP)

[Dusty15]

Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse, looks after a favorite patient one more time...

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“Hello, Poppy,” Molly Weasley said, ushering the Hogwarts matron inside Grimmauld Place. “It’s nice to see you.”

“And you, too,” Poppy Pomfrey agreed with a smile. “How’s Arthur?”

“He’s well. At work at the moment. Won’t you come into the kitchen and have a cup of tea? I’ve just put the kettle on.”

Poppy followed Molly into the kitchen, the central hive of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. At the table sat Sirius and Bill, both already nursing their own cups of tea and comparing notes on a complicated spell map.

“Mr. Black,” Poppy said, inclining her head. “And Mr. Weasley. Pleasure to see you.”

“Madam Pomfrey!” Sirius said, a grin transforming his gaunt face into a shadow of his younger self. “It’s nice to see you too. Welcome.”

“Where’s Remus?” Poppy asked.

Bill and Sirius exchanged a look.

“Um, he’s upstairs,” Sirius said. “With Tonks.”

“Miss Tonks?” Poppy asked. “Oh, good. I told that boy he was a prat to say no to her.”

“You knew?”

“Remus writes to me every so often, when I pester him with a letter of my own,” Poppy explained.

“He’ll be glad to see you, perhaps tonight at dinner,” Sirius said.

“I don’t think I’ll be staying that long,” Poppy confessed. “I’m just in to check the potions stock here and to visit a bit. I’ll just pop upstairs and say hello.”

“Err…well, he might be asleep. He’s a bit ill, you see…” Sirius began.

“Ill, is he?” Poppy said, frowning. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“He hates being fussed over,” Sirius said. “You know that.”

“I’ve been barred from his rooms,” Molly chimed in. “He’s too proud, that one.”

“Remus has dealt with me fussing over him for seven years, what’s one more check?” Poppy said. “Where’s his room?”

“Third on the left on the top floor,” Bill said. “Knock first. Last time I walked in I caught him and Tonks snogging.”

Sirius snorted a laugh.

“I’ll do that, Mr. Weasley,” Poppy said, gathering her things and heading for the stairs.

She climbed the two winding flights up to the top floor and knocked softly on Remus’ bedroom door.

“Come in,” a woman’s voice called softly.

Poppy pushed open the door and smiled at the sight of Nymphadora Tonks curled up on the bed, her head resting on the chest of a sleeping Remus Lupin.

“Madam Pomfrey!” she said, sitting up and stepping off the bed, stumbling as her foot caught in the sheets. Remus woke and blinked, eyes focusing on his former school matron.

“Poppy,” he croaked, smiling widely. “I’m not dying. Who sent for you?”

“No one sent for me, Mr. Lupin,” she said, setting her bag down on a chair near the door. “I was stopping in to check the potions stores here and Mr. Black finally let it slip that you were ill.”

“It’s just a cold,” Remus said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Just a cold he’s had for days now,” Tonks added, insistently. “He can’t seem to shake it.”

Remus shot Tonks a bemused look and shook his head.

“She’s exaggerating.”

“Knowing you, I imagine she’s telling the truth,” Poppy said, moving to his side and pressing her wand to his brow. A thin red line emerged, rising and curling into a number.

“Fever,” she said, shaking her head.

“Yes, I could have told you that. And…”

He broke off, brows creasing, mouth dropping open slightly.

Ehh’tshthoooo!

He sneezed loudly and reached for a handkerchief from his night stand, wrapping it around his reddened nose and blowing noisily.

“Ugh, pardon,” he said, tugging the cloth off the end of his nose.

“Have you taken anything?”

“No,” Tonks said before Remus could answer. “He refuses. Says that Pepper Up doesn’t do anything.”

“He is rather resilient against that,” Poppy agreed. “But Remus, at least take a Decongesting Potion.”

“They aren’t tested with the Wolfsbane,” he said. “I don’t want to risk anything.”

“Don’t be silly, Remus. Saint Mungo’s must give something to the men staying at the ward there after moons. I’ll just go Floo a colleague of mine there and ask…”

“Really, Poppy, it’s okay,” Remus insisted. “It’s just because the moon was a few nights ago and it made my cold worse. I’ll recover.”

“At least let her give you something to sleep better, love,” Tonks said, curling back up at his side and sliding her hand around the back of his neck. “You’ve been so congested you aren’t getting proper rest.”

Remus relaxed into her touch as she kneaded at a knot at the base of his skull. Poppy watched, amused. Remus rarely allowed his friends into the hospital wing at school to see him after moons when he was ill, and here was this woman, sharing his bed and fussing over him. It was touching, how much he appeared to trust her. She was glad her young Remus had finally found someone he could let in.

“I think Miss Tonks is right, Mr. Lupin,” Madam Pomfrey said. “A dreamless sleep potion will help you recover and let you get some much-needed rest.”

Hehh’tsxctt!

Remus sneezed roughly, once more, and then pressed his sinuses with a pained expression, snorting congestedly.

“Here, love,” Tonks said, raising a handkerchief to his nose. “Blow.”

Remus obeyed, blushing a little. He strained to clear his nose before dissolving into coughs, shuddering and hacking. Tonks pulled the blanket up over his convulsing chest.

“That’s it,” she said. “Sleep potion it is. I can’t have you get worse.”

“I’ll fetch one from downstairs,” Poppy said, leaving the room and heading back to the kitchen.

“How is he?” Sirius asked when she entered.

“Sick, but Miss Tonks is doing a splendid job of keeping him quiet. I think if she wasn’t there, he’d probably be up and about trying to work through it. Good thing, too, as it’s a rather nasty head cold.”

She selected a sleep potion from the potion store cupboard in the pantry and returned to Remus’ room.

“Here we are,” she said, pouring the potion into a goblet and handing it over. Remus drank it in a few swift sips and set the goblet aside, setting down into his pillows as Tonks stoked his hair soothingly.

“There,” Tonks said. “Sleep.”

Remus’ eyes drifted shut and soon the sound of congested snores filled the bedroom.

“Thank you, Madam Pomfrey,” Tonks said. “I was worried about him.”

“Please, call me Poppy,” she said. “And you’ve taken very good care of him. From someone who has for many years, I can say that he’s a difficult patient at times. Keep up what you’re doing; he needs the rest. Take care, Miss Tonks. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

She headed for the door and Tonks called out after her.

“Poppy? I just wanted to say…thank you for writing to him. He told me the reason he agreed to go forward with our relationship is because his second mum said he’d be a prat not to. It was you, wasn’t it? I saw a letter on his desk written on your stationary.”

“Yes, dear,” Poppy said. “He’d’ve been a prat, indeed.”

Tonks grinned, her hair turning a subtly brighter shade of pink.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Tonks. When he wakes up, make sure he gets a cup of peppermint tea. It’s his favorite.”

With that, she shut the door behind her and leaned against the wall for a moment, glad to have one less former student to worry so much about.

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Awww... lovely, sweet story. Good old Madam Pomfrey. Wonderful story and so sweet to go into background of Remus' and Tonks' relationship's start. Thank you so much for sharing.

[PaperThings]

I'm such a sucker for Remus, and my recent reread of the books had left me wanting something like this. Amazing. Thank you for writing him so in-character.

[Prongs]

Aw, cute how Remus doesn't want everyone to worry about him!

[Dusty15]

Narnie, I think I'm the world's biggest sucker for Remus

I'm glad you guys liked it!