"Sirius," the small voice called down the hall.

Sirius leapt up from the armchair in his bedroom. He instantly noted that although his godson's voice no longer sounded as hoarse as it had earlier, it still sounded plenty miserable.

He made it the short distance down the hall to Harry's bedroom in record time.

In the year that the almost ten year old had lived with him, Sirius had quickly discovered that there were many things he loved doing with his godson. However, if he had to pick the top thing he disliked the most so far it would easily go to the past twenty four hours.

It had started with feeling just a bit more tired than he should have and had quickly progressed to a sore throat, a horrible cough, and a temperature so high that Sirius had considered taking the child to St. Mungo's. Luckily after his second dose of potion his temperature reduced some, but Sirius was still quite concerned that if left unattended for even a moment it would rise once again.

Watching his godson suffer through the sickness and not being able to stop it altogether was absolute torture for Sirius. As far -fetched as it was he sincerely prayed that Harry would never get sick again in his life.

"What is it?" Sirius asked as he walked into his godson's room.

Harry still looked far too pale for his godfather's liking.

"I thought you left," Harry replied as the panicked look that had just covered his face quickly disappeared.

It was an issue that they dealt with often. The soon to be ten year old still wasn't quite used to the idea of having an adult in his life that didn't abandon him. Of course his relatives had never actually up and left him physically but they had often abandoned him mentally as well as emotionally. As a result of this it wasn't unusual for Harry to become panicked when he couldn't find his godfather in a minute's time. It also wasn't uncommon for Harry to awaken in the middle of the night calling out in fear as if he had been completely abandoned.

It broke Sirius' heart each and every time.

"Never," Sirius promised in a gentle voice as he sat on the edge of his godson's bed.

He never grew annoyed with his godson's constant need for reassurance. Quite frankly, Sirius didn't care if they needed to address it several times a day, as long as it ended with Harry feeling safe and loved.

Harry responded with a silent nod. Sirius visibly saw the child's body relax into his blankets and pillow.

"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked as he reached out and put a tender hand on his godson's forehead.

"A little better I think."

Sirius was relieved to find that his godson appeared to be quite a bit cooler than he had been earlier.

"Your cough seems to have diminished," Sirius noted as he pulled his hand from the small forehead. He had noticed earlier when the child was asleep that he hadn't heard him coughing constantly as he had the previous night.

"Yeah its loads better," Harry confirmed. "That cough medicine you gave me really helped."

It had been a potion that Sirius had added a pleasant grape flavor to.

"I'm glad," Sirius smiled. "Hopefully by tomorrow you'll be out of this bed and back to yourself."

Harry smiled up at his godfather as he nodded enthusiastically. He was tired of being confined to his bed despite the fact that he knew it was for his own good.

He wasn't used to being cared for when he was sick. When he had lived with his relatives he had been ignored when he was ill. He had never so much as been given a tissue let alone medicine. He would just ignore his symptoms until they eventually went away.

Life with his godfather was much different.

Sirius had been so attentive to him while he wasn't feeling well that Harry felt a bit guilty. He was sure that the man was starting to get annoyed with caring for him.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Harry said in a sincere voice. "I know it must be annoying."

"Absolutely nothing about you is annoying Pup," Sirius said in a gentle tone. "I am so happy that I am able to take care of you."

Harry felt his heart swell at his godfather's words as he smiled softly. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

Sirius smiled down at the child as he nodded. "I will stay with you always."