Old Friends
a Harry Potter story
by Tina
Sirius Black sat at the kitchen table at Number 12 Grimmauld Place impatiently drumming his fingers on the table and watching the ancient grandfather clock, willing the minutes to pass faster to hours. He felt that if he did not have some human conversation soon he might just go insane from the sheer boredom. He had already picked three fights with Kreacher that morning just to have something to do.
There had been a lot of speculation and rumors lately about Voldemort's whereabouts which had led too a flurry of activity within the Order. Unfortunately for Sirius most of this activity was in longer covert missions which meant less and less visitors to the Order's headquarters and less Order meetings being held. He wanted badly to be doing something to help the cause, something to help Harry, something that didn't involve him being confined to dreary old Number 12, but there was nothing for him to do.
He looked again at the time, it was well after noon and Remus was still sleeping. He was growing more and more impatient. He wanted nothing more to bound up the stairs and jump on the bed to wake him up the way he used to when they were younger, living in the dormitory at Hogwarts. The idea, while somewhat appealing to Sirius did seem very inappropriate now.
He was ashamed to admit, even to himself how much he had been looking forward to the full moon this month. It was not that he wanted his old friend to have to endure yet another transformation, only that he was looking forward to the few days Remus would be remaining at Number 12 to convalesce. He hoped that they would have time to talk, and to see what they could still salvage from their old friendship. They had had very little time together since the revelations in the Shrieking Shack, and after more than a decade apart during which Remus thought him an evil murderer who had betrayed his best friends there was much to say.
Besides all of that, taking care of Remus would give him purpose, at least for a little while. He would be doing something to contribute, to the Order, but more importantly to his friend. In his anticipation however, he had forgotten how much of Remus' recovery involved him just sleeping.
He had gotten up that morning to find Tonks and Arthur Weasley in the kitchen after delivering Remus to his room. They had both stayed just for a brief cup of tea despite Sirius' offer of a full breakfast. After they left he had made his way up to Remus' room to make sure he was settled in comfortably. He had peeked in the darkened room to see Remus curled up in a ball shivering fiercely.
He approached the bed quickly, "Remus, are you alright?" He asked with worry in his voice.
Remus looked up and nodded his head. "Just c-c-cold." He replied through chattering teeth.
"Not to worry old friend, I'll take care of that." Sirius replied directing his wand towards the fireplace and igniting the logs placed there. He then left the room for a moment returning with a thick quilt which he draped over Remus' shaking form. Remus smiled up gratefully as Sirius tucked the quilt around him.
"Better now?" Sirius questioned. Remus nodded his thanks. "Anything else you need Remus?"
"No, thank you Sirius." He replied hoarsely. "This is perfect."
"Good." Sirius smiled. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything. "
That had been six hours ago and Remus still slept on. He had checked on him several times, managing to resist his urge to wake the sleeping man. But the idea of waiting hours more was beginning to seem absolutely unbearable.
He finally decided that Remus needed some nourishment, knowing him never to have much appetite following his transformation he made some tea and a pot of soup. He placed the tea pot with two mugs, and a large bowl of soup on a tray and headed back upstairs.
He opened the bedroom door, calling in cheerfully,"Oy, Remus thought you might like some soup and ...." One sight of his friend caused him to fall silent and regret waking him. Remus' normally pale skin was almost ghostly white, his eyes were reddened and sleepy as he looked up at Sirius and he was once again shivering violently. He looked, Sirius thought, like death warmed over.
"I'm so sorry I woke you Remus...." he said softly, " I should've let you sleep. I thought may be the soup would do you good and I .... I...."
Remus smiled weakly at his friend slowly pushing himself up to a sitting position. "And you needed some company?" His voice was still hoarse and was very faint.
Sirius hung his head with shame and nodded. "I'll let you get back to sleep now," Sirius spoke quickly setting down the tray and heading for the door.
"No stay Sirius!" Remus spoke as loudly as he could which strained his throat and set him off on a long coughing spell. Sirius went to him, rubbing his back, then when he seemed unable to stop, he quickly left the room and returned with a glass of water for Remus, which finally quieted his coughing. Sirius felt more guilty by the moment.
"Thank you, " Remus squeezed Sirius' arm. His voice had grown even fainter and was little more than a whisper. "The soup sounds lovely, just perfect for this scratchy throat of mine. And I have been looking forward to us having this time together to....to.... Hershooooo!!! Ishooooo!! AhhhhhCHOOOOO!!!!" He was interrupted by several harsh sounding sneezes. "Excuse me."
"Bless you Remus, " Sirius again spoke softly. " I think you still need some more rest. I shouldn't have come up before you were awake."
"No, Siri I'm fine, please stay." He had used the old familiar nickname without even thinking and it brought a smile to Sirius' face.
"Ok for just a bit, but after your soup, I'm going to let you get back to sleep." He went to the dresser drawer and retrieved a handkerchief for Remus whom he noticed was fighting another sneeze.
Remus accepted the handkerchief gratefully just him time for the next series of sneezes."Eshhhoooo!! Hershoooo!!!" He paused for a moment to blow his nose and then was overcome again. "Ishhooooo!!! Etchoooooo!!!! ISHhhhhhh!!!"
"Bless you again, " said Sirius, now with concern in his voice. "Oh Remus, you're sick." He reached over and felt his friend's forehead which was suspiciously warm to the touch.
Remus blew his nose wetly then shook his head. "I'm fine Sirius, just a sniffle really."
Sirius looked doubtful but did not want to argue with his friend." Would you like the soup now? It's chicken noodle."
Remus smiled, "My favorite, you remembered! "
Sirius nodded , grinning back and feeling a little bit less guilty. "`Course I did, with extra noodles just the way you like it." He helped Remus get settled comfortably in the bed , then handed him the bowl of soup. He then prepared him a mug of tea with lemon and extra honey, and set it on the bedside table.
"Just the way I like it.." Remus smiled gratefully, "I've missed you Sirius." He looked up at his friend, with tears in his eyes.
"I missed you too Remus. But I'm right here now, and I'm not going anywhere."
Remus nodded, unable to speak as his breath hitched with more impending sneezes. Sirius quickly reached over to take the bowl of soup before Remus exploded into another fit of sneezing. "Ehhhhh ..... heh ... heh - CHOOOOO!!! Ishoooooo!!!!! Hehshooooooo!!!!! " Remus paused trying to catch his breath yet again as Sirius watched his friend with sympathy, rubbing his back to try to offer some comfort. " `Scuse......ishoooooo!!!!! Etchooooo!!! Etchhhh!!!! Excuse me." Remus sniffled wetly then brought the handkerchief up to his face yet again. " Choooo!!!! Etchooo!!! Ishhhhhhh!!!! I'm sorry." He mumbled with embarrassment.
"No need to be sorry Remus, you're sick." Sirius replied. "And I'm here to take care of you until you're well again."
Remus nodded, no longer able to argue the point, he was clearly feeling under the weather."Just like old times." He smiled at Sirius.
Sirius grinned back. "Just like old times."
All of these characters belong to JKR, I'm just borrowing them to play.
This is my first fic with Remus and Sirius(Sorry, it's not slash!)This is mainly from Sirius' POV. I may contiinue with a second part more from Remus' view. The story occurs after POA, before GoF