Didn't take nearly as long to write as the first one did. This continues the next day after the storm. R&R
Standard disclaiming applies ^_^
Scorpius lay in the bed, frowning over at Albus, who had busied himself with pulling his hand slowly and gently through Scor's hair. The messy blonde strands were sticking together slightly, since Scor was sweating from the fever he had developed the day after his escapade in the rain. The young Malfoy relaxed at the action, but it didn't help him to feel any better. It was still hard to keep his eyes open with as tired as he was; he still had a cough that made his chest hurt; he was still shivering despite the fever.
He hadn't wanted to come to the hospital wing, but Al had insisted when Scor had entered breakfast that morning, noticing the slightly younger male looked about to faint. "I have class," he had protested, but the argument quickly failed as Scor started to cough rather harshly. So he'd been forced to relinquish and allowed Al to help him get there. Unfortunately, there wasn't a magical cure for pneumonia, that being the diagnosis, so Scor was stuck in the hospital for a while. Al refused to leave him there alone, and so had taken up residence in a chair next to the bed.
The two had been there most of the morning; it was late afternoon now. Classes had come and gone already, and soon Al had no doubt that he would be shuffled out so that Scor could sleep without an interruptions, although if that were to be the case he could just argue that he'd been there all day while Scor slept off and on, never bothering him one time.
Albus continued to run his hand through Scor's hair, wishing him well soon. Al's hand stopped and removed itself as Scor started to cough, so that his fingers wouldn't get tangled and cause Scor discomfort.
The young Malfoy sat up in the bed, covering his mouth with a self-cleaning tissue that had been laid on the table next to him to avoid spreading germs. Once he stopped, Scor's frown had deepened. He fell back on the pillow, looking at Al with tired eyes. "This is all your fault you know," he said, voice barely more than a soft whisper. "If I hadn't been dreaming about walking around with y-" He stopped, facing tingeing more pink than it already was from the fever. "Nevermind. That's not relevant. Just know it was your fault that I was sleepwalking."
This, rather unfortunately, set Scorpius off on another coughing fit. Once he'd calmed it again, lying back on the pillow with his eyes closed, catching his breath, Albus commenced his hair stroking again. He didn't get a chance to commented on what Scor said, since when he'd finally thought of something intelligent to say he noticed that the blonde's breathing had evened out and from what Al could tell Scor was asleep again.
The Potter looked at Scor as he slept, noticing the fever-flushed cheeks, the light sweat that covered Scor's face and matted his hair. It made him just want to hug the blonde and make it all go away. Scor looked weaker than usual, now that he was sick, and –in Al's opinion- he looked pretty weak to start with, dainty as his figure was. He frowned as Scor shifted on the bed a little bit, to a more comfortable position, making a small noise of discomfort as he did so. His face scrunched as his hair fell over his eyes and brushed his nose, able to feel it even asleep. Albus quickly moved to brush it away, so that Scor wouldn't wake up. He needed the sleep, since being sick was taking a lot out of him, as it did with anyone.
When Scor woke up on his own a few hours later he looked surprised to see that Al was still there. Al answered the look. "I wouldn't just leave you here," he said. "That would be cruel of me since, according to you, it's my fault you're here to begin with."
Scor attempted to smile then, but it quickly vanished, as he felt nauseous for a short moment. Al looked at him concerned, but Scor dismissed it with a simple 'I'm fine' that Albus didn't dare argue against even though the brunette was very aware it was a lie. Scor just looked so pitiful, lying there on the bed sick, that Al didn't want to say a word, worried that it would upset him.
A few moments later, the nurse came in the room with some soup and some juice for Scor, who looked at it and immediately shook his head. The nurse set it on the table by the bed, saying he should eat it if he felt up to it later. Then she walked back to her office, leaving the two boys in the darkening hospital wing, the only light coming from the setting sun and the small lamps scattered throughout the room.
Eventually, Scor's worn out body decided it wanted to sleep again and his eyes slipped closed, the small boy burrowing under his cover and curling up, trying to get rid of his shivers and the icky feeling in his chest and stomach.
Al looked at him, frowning sadly. He wanted Scor well soon, not liking to see him sick, but he knew that pneumonia was a nasty mess and wouldn't go away overnight. He smoothed back Scor's hair as the boy slept, standing from the chair he'd been settled in most of the day. His legs were stiff. Casting on more look at Scor, Al walked from the room, going down several sets of stairs to the entrance of the school's kitchen for some food. He thought he ought not spend too much time doing so, as he didn't want Scor to wake up alone.
So once Al had acquired enough food to satiate his hunger he started back up the stairs, carrying with him some toast and tea for Scor, since he knew the other boy was not going to touch the soup or the juice that had been left for him.
He entered the room to see that, thankfully, Scor was still asleep. The Potter put the food next to the bed, moving the gross food out of the way. Then, not too much later, he fell asleep himself, having been awake all day, unlike a certain someone. In his sleep, Al ended up leaning over and resting on an empty spot next to Scor.
He was still sleeping when Scor woke a couple hours later. The blonde blinked his eyes sleepily, coughing for a second before looking around. He noticed the toast and tea, which had sadly gone cold, smiling just a little. Then he noticed Al. Scor smiled even more, seeing him there, dark hair falling into his eyes as he slept. "Al," he said softly, reaching out to gently shake Al's shoulder.
The brunette's sleepy eyes opened and he looked at Scor. Then he sat up quickly. "You're awake!" he said.
Scor nodded; then decided that was an unpleasant action. "You didn't have to stay if you were tired," he said.
Al shook his head. "Yes, I did," he said. "It wouldn't have been right of me to leave you here all alone."
"I would have been fine," Scor protested. "I can't be very entertaining right now."
Al shrugged. "Too bad that I care about you too much already to believe that you don't want me around."
Scor let out a sound that mixed a laugh and cough. "Fine, fine you've caught me. I'm glad you stayed."
Fin
