AN: This will be a two-part story and is just a fluffy story about two friends. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and I just wish that I do.
"Achoo!" Poppy sneezed into a handkerchief she had tucked into her hand.
"Bless you. Surely you aren't allergic to the Highlands, are ye?" Poppy's best friend and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts asked in her thick Scottish accent.
"Really, Minerva, I live in the Highlands year round. I am not allergic to the Highlands" Poppy said as she set her baggage down. She was visiting the Transfiguration Mistress at her ancestral home over the summer holiday.
"Hogwarts and the Highlands are different," the other woman insisted as she led her friend towards the ancient manor.
A couple of hours later, the two women were sipping their afternoon tea in the garden, enjoying the summer sun.
"It is hard to believe that it is August already. Soon it will be time to return to school," Poppy commented absentmindedly before sneezing a couple of times.
"Bless you again – how many sneezes is that? Twelve so far today?" Minerva teased lightly.
"Fourteen, actually," Poppy replied tiredly.
"And you are sure you aren't allergic to this place? Did you sneeze before you came here or are my house elves just that bad at dusting? Stop glaring at me! It is a perfectly logical assumption to make!" The two women might have been staff members but that doesn't mean they had a lot of maturity during the holidays.
After a few minutes of silence, Minerva spoke up again, "Care to play some Quidditch?"
"How can you stand that barbaric game?" Poppy responded, now wearily rubbing her forehead.
"It's not barbaric, it's a sport."
"A sport that lands many students in the Hospital Wing during the – achoo – year."
"Shall I summon Mickey to get you a new handkerchief?" Minerva teased lightly but she was starting to become slightly concerned for her friend.
"Actually, would you mind if I went in for a short nap before dinner? I fear that traveling has tired me out."
"Certainly," Minerva was slightly disappointed because she had wanted to spend some quality time with her friend but she could tell that her friend was extraordinarily tired and they would have no fun for the rest of the weekend if Poppy didn't catch up on her sleep first.
Three hours later, Minerva hesitantly knocked on the guest room door, where Poppy was going to be staying for their weekend together.
"Poppy?" she quietly called.
"Yes?" Poppy sleepily responded before attempting to muffle the sound of her coughs.
"May I come in?"
"Of course. You never asked that when we were roommates."
Minerva was about to make a sarcastic retort back when she finally got a good look at her ex-roommate's face. The Medi-Witch's face was flushed and her eyes were almost completely glazed over. She had definitely taken a turn for the worse during the past three hours.
"You are ill. I will be back in a few moments," the Deputy Headmistress said in her Head-of-House voice and promptly left the room, leaving Poppy no room for arguments.
As promised, a few moments later she reappeared in the bedroom, holding a muggle thermometer, a steaming mug of tea and a box of tissues.
"I take it you know how to use one of these," she told her friend as she held out the thermometer to the Medi-Witch.
"I'm not sick!" Poppy vehemently protested but her protests were cut off by her own cough.
"You aren't?" Minerva asked as one of her eyebrows rose. After a couple of seconds, she took pity on her friend and made a deal with her, "If you don't have a fever, you aren't sick and you are free to do as you please. If you are feverish, you are spending the next 24 hours in bed. Deal?"
"Deal," Poppy answered sullenly as she took the Muggle thermometer from her friend.
A few moments later, the device beeped. Gloomily, Poppy read, "38 C."
"Is this one of your summer colds or is it something more?" Minerva asked as she handed her friend the steaming mug of tea. Poppy gratefully hugged the mug close to her chest, since she was shivering despite the three blankets piled on her bed.
"I think its – achoo! – a summer cold but I rarely have a fever with a cold," Poppy answered as she accepted a clean tissue from her friend.
"So you want a Pepper-Up and a basic Fever Reducer then?"
"That would be great, thanks."
"You want to actually taste the foul tasting potions?"
"Taste them, no. But if they make me feel better, I will take them," Poppy explained as she watched Minerva summon a house-elf to retrieve the requested items.
"The fierce Poppy Pomfrey is admitting that she is feeling under the weather?" Minerva couldn't resist teasing her a bit.
"At least I know how to – achoo – admit it. Last winter, you refused to stop teaching even though you couldn't stand on your own two feet!"
"That was an entirely different situation. Here are your requested Potions. How often are you going to need to take them?"
Poppy uncorked the vial to the fever reducer and quickly drank it down. "Every four hours. My fever should come down within the next 6 to 8 hours."
"And if it doesn't? Or it keeps climbing?" Minerva asked, barely keeping her concern out of her voice as she watched her friend down the Pepper – Up and the steam billow out of her ears.
"If it keeps climbing, as much as I hate saying this, call Severus. He is the only other one on Hogwarts staff with any amount of healer training and I would need a proper diagnosis. If it stays where it is at, we will play it by ear," the Healer explained as she lay back down and prepared to sleep again. She did not notice Minerva transfigure a tissue into a card and pen. Quickly, Minerva recorded the results of the reading and the time.
"Oh no you don't. Dinner first," Minerva scolded as she gently pulled her friend into a sitting position again.
"Not hungry," the other woman mumbled.
"Too bad. You need to eat something, at least a little chicken broth."
"You are evil." Poppy half-heartedly glared.
"Just remember this feeling when one of us protests about eating when we are stuck in your Hospital Wing."
"If you are ill, you need to eat," the Healer in Poppy came out before she could stop it.
"My point exactly! I am glad you can see it my way!" Minerva exclaimed as she put a bowl of hot broth down in front of her friend.
Half an hour later, Poppy was fast asleep, her bowl of broth half eaten. Minerva was reading in a transfigured arm chair next to the bed, occasionally bathing her friend's feverish face.
Three hours later, Minerva gently woke up Poppy and explained that they needed to take her temperature again to see if the medication had worked.
"Don't wanna," Poppy mumbled as she tried to curl up tighter under the blankets.
"Poppy!" Minerva exclaimed a bit more harshly.
"What? Oh. You need to take my temperature now?" the Healer answered, more coherently this time. Obediently, she placed the icy-cold thermometer in her mouth and waited for the reading. The two women did not have to wait long for the reading. Minerva gently took it out of her friend's mouth and read aloud, "38.5 C. Higher than last time, I'm afraid."
"Give me the next dose of fever reducer and if it hasn't come down by morning, call Severus," Poppy ordered hoarsely, obviously forgetting that she was the patient.
Minerva smirked at her friend's forgetfulness and handed her the next fever reducer, before asking, "Are you feeling any better at all?"
"My head has stopped feeling like it is going to completely explode. But that might just be the fact that I am lying down now."
Poppy quickly drank the potion, unable to hide the fact her grimace over the taste. Within two minutes, she was fast asleep again. Minerva wrote down the latest reading before retiring to bed her self.
Three and a half hours later, Minerva sleepily made her way back to the guest room. When she entered the bedroom, she was startled to discover Poppy awake and sitting up in bed.
"Are you alright?" Minerva quietly asked.
"I got woken up by my coughing and then discovered it was easier to breathe sitting up."
"How long have you been awake?"
"Probably around ten minutes or so."
"Well, it is almost time for your next dose of the fever reducer. Shall I summon Mickey to bring us a couple mugs of tea since you are awake anyways?"
"Please," Poppy politely answered as she accepted the offered thermometer without protest.
A minute later, the thermometer had just peeped and Mickey had reappeared with two steaming mugs of chamomile tea. Gracefully, Minerva handed Poppy one of the mugs while simultaneously taking the thermometer out of her friend's mouth.
"39.3 C. I am calling Severus," Minerva told Poppy seriously before she headed out the door.
"Minerva – wait, at least, until morning. He can be most grumpy at this hour. It seems it would be useless to take the fever reducer now, seeing as how it is not doing anything."
"I suppose you are right. And its only 4 hours until a decent hour in the morning."
"What time is it?"
"0200," Minerva responded as Poppy yawned.
"You should try to sleep. How is your breathing?"
Poppy coughed harshly before answering, "Well, it was better before. But I should be able to sleep on and off at least."
"Sleep then." Minerva gently tucked in her ill friend, as if she was a child. The two women had started their first year of Hogwarts when they were roommates. Since that first year, they had been best friends, always taking care of each other.
Minerva transfigured a tissue into a wet, cool cloth and gently bathed her friend's face. The Transfiguration Mistress had no intentions of sleeping the rest of the night, but was resolved to watch over her friend.
At five- thirty, Minerva decided to get up and watch the sunrise for a few minutes – mostly because she was about to fall asleep in the chair.
The cool air reminded Minerva that fall was soon to be here as she watched the mist rise from the fields amid the faint glow of the earliest rays of light.
After a few minutes of quiet reflection, Minerva returned to her post at her friend's beside. It was now almost six and Poppy's breathing had slowly become more ragged.
"Poppy, you need to wake up so I can take your temperature."
"But I am sleepin' right now," Poppy mumbled and rolled over.
"I promise you can go to sleep when I am done checking you over," Minerva reasoned with her friend as she magically cleaned the thermometer.
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise." Minerva answered patiently. They had been roommates for seven years throughout Hogwarts and Poppy never did get up well.
"Alright, I'm awake," Poppy said rather grumpily as she pushed herself up. Suddenly, she grabbed onto Minerva's arm.
"What's wrong, Poppy?"
"Dizzy. Vision slight blurry." Her sentences were short and choppy, as if the words were struggling to be formed. Gently, Minerva pushed the Medi-Witch back down before inserting the thermometer into her mouth.
"39.8, Poppy. I am going to call Severus. Try not to go back to sleep," the Deputy Headmistress instructed her friend. Once she had reached the hallway, she summoned Mickey, the Manor's house-elf.
"Mickey!"
"You called me, Lady McGonagall?"
"Watch Poppy while I go call Professor Snape. Make sure she doesn't try to get up."
"Yes, Lady." The elf bowed and walked into the bedroom.
Sighing to herself, Minerva walked into the parlor, where the only fireplace hooked up to the floo was located.
"Hogwarts – Professor Snape's Quarters!" she called into the flames.
"Minerva!" Snape answered a minute later, surprised. He sounded remarkably awake for very early on Saturday morning. "How may I help you?"
"Severus, if you have a moment, could you step through to my manor? Poppy is here and has taken ill. Her fever has been steadily rising all night and is currently 39.8, even through multiple doses of fever reducer. Yesterday she told me to call you if her fever continued to rise."
"In that case, I shall be right through."
"Thank you, Severus." The Deputy Headmistress closed the connection, stood, and stretched. It had been a long night and it was far from over.
A minute later, true to his word, Severus stepped out through the fireplace, clutching a small black bag.
"Good Morning, Minerva."
"Good Morning, Severus. I apologize for calling on you at such an early hour."
Since neither one of them had a high tolerance for idle chit chat, Minerva simply led Severus to the guest room. She lightly rapped on the door to alert Poppy that they were entering.
"Good Morning, Madam Pomfrey," Severus said politely as he took his first look at his patient.
"Severus?" she mumbled. Severus raised an eyebrow in silent question to Minerva before addressing the Healer once more.
"Minerva has told me that you are feeling ill. What's wrong?" he asked as he read the notecard Minerva had slipped him.
"Headache, coughing, congestion, fever," she answered, her eyes still closed.
"May I have your consent to run a diagnostic charm on you?" he asked gently as he checked her pulse.
"Sure."
He waved his wand in a complicated motion as he said a Latin phrase. A simple piece of parchment with writing appeared in front of him.
"You have the wizard's flu," he pronounced a minute later. He rummaged through his bag and handed Minerva a set of vials.
"This is 3 vials of the Class 2 fever reducer and 3 vials of the Wizard's Flu potion. If her fever does not go down by the afternoon, call me again. Otherwise, I request permission to return tomorrow morning to check on her again."
"You are welcome here any time. Even for less official visits." Severus merely glared at her before excusing himself.
"Minerva?" Poppy sleepily called after Severus had departed.
"Yes?"
"Sorry about ruining your weekend."
"I guess we will just have to have a fun weekend next weekend."
"Unless you get the flu from me, then we can reverse roles for next weekend."
"Was Severus supposed to give me a flu prevention potion?"
"Its only effective if you take it before you are exposed or within the first 6 hours of being exposed – it's a bit late for you now" Poppy slightly smirked to herself before rolling over and going to sleep.
Minerva threw up her hands in frustration – she knew that next weekend promised a similar fate.
AN: Thank you for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them!