Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Hogwarts, Assignment 12. Potions Task 1; Someone feeling under the weather.
Word Count - 1130
Beta'd by the lovely Gabby
For Liza. Happy Birthday, babe, have an amazing day!
Love Is…
Remus lay prone on the sofa, propped up by cushions and surrounded by a large fluffy blanket. He'd only allowed Sirius to smother him with comfort to placate him, but he could admit now that he was comfortable.
He'd woken up feeling awful. He was relatively positive it was just a bug of some sort, but Sirius had taken one look at him and proceeded into panic mode without pausing to listen that Remus wasn't actually dying.
Sirius had hustled him onto the sofa immediately, along with their entire flats worth of soft furnishings, and had run out of the door, promising to be back soon.
That was two hours ago and Remus was beginning to wonder where his wayward boyfriend had gotten himself. Remus wouldn't be surprised if he'd got lost somewhere.
The key in the door proved him incorrect, and he was just pushing himself into a sitting position when Sirius bound through into the living room, his arms weighted down with bags.
Sirius was a mess, his hair everywhere, still wearing the t-shirt he'd gone to bed in and a pair of shorts from the washing pile. Remus thought it was probably the first time he'd ever known Sirius to leave the house looking anything less than absolutely perfect.
His eyes moved to the bags that were being placed on the floor.
"What… what's all that?" Remus asked, his eyes wide as Sirius fussed over him, checking his temperature with the back of his hand on Remus' forehead.
"Supplies," Sirius replied, as though the answer was obvious. "You need all the things, so I went and bought all the things!"
"Sirius -"
Sirius waved him quiet, returning his attention to the bags. He began pulling things out, paying no attention to the amusement on Remus' face.
Chocolate, soup, ice cream, a drink called lucozade that was so orange it looked dangerous, water, three different types of tea, and… how many bottles of… was that Muggle medicine?
"Sirius -"
"Do you know how weird the Muggles are, Moony? I went into their health shop, and they wouldn't sell me all the things I wanted! Something about overdosing. I told them I just wanted to make my Moonpie better, and the first one threw me out!"
Sirius shook his head.
"I had to go to four different medicine shops to get all these. Muggles, Moony. So weird. Slug and Jiggers didn't have any problem selling me all the potions I needed for you!"
He gestured to an as yet unpacked bag.
"Sirius -"
"And I bought you new pajamas and slippers, and a dressing gown too, oh, and I called in on Lily and Prongs, and Lily said she'll come by tomorrow with some homemade soup for you. And -"
"Sirius!" Remus shouted, ending in a coughing fit.
"Moonpie? What is it? Are you okay - tell me what you need - what do you need?"
Remus chuckled, pulling Sirius to sit beside him on the sofa. He gestured to the pile of things on the table and floor.
"I'm grateful for all of this, but… Padfoot, I'm okay. It's just a bug. All I really need is a cup of tea, and a snuggle from you and I'll be right as rain in no time."
"I can do that!" Sirius agreed. Then he looked back at the mess of items. "Just give me a few minutes to put these away?"
Remus laughed again, choking on a cough. He nodded with watery eyes, smiling fondly at Sirius.
Sirius clicked the kettle on - Remus preferred his tea brewed from the kettle rather than in a teapot the way Sirius' mother had always insisted on - and started clearing the things away.
He left the chocolate on the table though, he wasn't stupid. Putting the new clothing in the bathroom with plans to run his Moonpie a bath later that evening, he made the tea and fetched it back to the living room.
As soon as he sat down, Remus leant in against him, placing his book on Sirius' knee.
"Read to me?"
"Of course. I am your servant," Sirius replied, kissing his temple. He frowned worriedly. Remus was still too warm. "Are you sure you don't need any medicine or potions?"
"I'm sure," Remus confirmed, snuggling closer. "Read to me."
…
Sirius leant in for a kiss as he helped Remus from the bath. Remus had protested loudly, but he'd admitted once he was settled in the water that it was helping his muscles.
Remus shifted his face so that Sirius' lips hit his cheek instead. When Sirius pulled away, a wounded look on his face, Remus was quick to reassure him.
"Baby, I just don't want you to get sick too," he murmured, nuzzling his nose against Sirius' neck.
Sirius kept the puppy dog eyes, staring at Remus until he huffed, leaning in to press their lips together.
Sirius helped him - "This is unnecessary, Padfoot!" - to get dressed, and then bundled him off into bed before he returned downstairs. When he came back a few moments later with two bowls of ice cream and Remus' book, Remus melted a little bit.
Sirius was trying so hard to look after him. It was a bit adorable.
Okay, so it was a lot adorable.
So adorable, in fact, that Remus rewarded him with another, longer kiss, that Sirius took happily.
"I love you," he murmured later into Remus' hair, his arms wrapped tightly around him.
"I love you too. Thank you for looking after me."
…
"Moony…"
Remus was in the bathroom. He was feeling much better, and had enjoyed the peace of the morning with Sirius still sleeping to wash and shave.
"Moooooony!"
Returning to the bedroom, Remus sighed.
"Moony, I'm dying," Sirius whimpered.
His skin was shiny with a sheen of sweat, and Remus knew that if he touched him, Sirius would be roasting.
"You're not dying," he replied, crouching down beside the bed. "You've got what I had. I told you not to kiss me."
"Now's not the time for 'I told you so', Moonpie!" Sirius complained, coughing. "Besides, you can't expect me to go longer than a few hours without a kiss! That's completely unreasonable."
"At least Lil's will be here later with soup. And hopefully you'll feel better by tomorrow. Come on, hun. I'll help you shower and get you on the sofa."
Sirius whimpered when he sat up. "Moony, I don't like it."
"I know, baby, I know. Come on, I'll look after you."
Sirius leant into Remus' chest. "You always do."
…
True to his word, Remus took care of Sirius for the three days it took him to shake off the illness. He thought that was what love was.
Looking after each other.
And they'd been doing that for years.
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