Title: What you mean to me
Author: remmie
Summary: It takes the flu to make Harry realise just how much Sirius lovesand cares for him. Even when Harry is at his worst.
To: A friend who sometimes makes me feel guilty, but always forgives me.
Flashback
"Sirius, we just want you to watch him. We have an order meeting tonight and we have to be here."
"Calm down Prongs. I can take care of him, it's only the flu."
James Potter smirked at his best friend. "Yeah, only the flu."
Sirius was very sorry he had offered to watch his Godson, for the nearly one year old baby puked everywhere. He cried constantly and Sirius had gotten no sleep that night.
Sirius had just sat on the couch with a butter beer when his little godson had started screaming.
The raven hair man ran up the stairs and nearly flew into the nursery.
He grabbed a towel, draped it over his shoulder then picked up the crying child.
"Lungs of steel you have." The young godfather whispered in the boy's ear. Harry stopped crying to look at his godfather with a pained look.
"Oh no." was all Sirius got out before he was covered in vomit.
End of flashbackSirius Black stared at his godson whose body was shaking and bent over the toilet. Sirius closed his eyes and winced at the sound of Harry gagging.
The pale 16-year-old coughed and spluttered before kneeling back and wiping his mouth off using a wet wash cloth.
"Ah, I better brush my teeth again before I go out."
Sirius looked at Harry liked he grown two heads. "Excuse me? Go out? I don't think so. You are going to spend the day in bed."
Harry's eyes widened. "Stay in bed? Why would I do that?"
Sirius sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Harry would be turning seventeen at the end of the month and sometimes Sirius wondered if he was turning seven.
During Harry's sixth year wormtail had been caught, Sirius had been freed and Voldemort had been killed.
Harry had moved in with Sirius half way through the year.
"Maybe you didn't know this, but generally, when ones food comes back up violently, it means you're sick." Sirius said sarcastically.
"Sick?" Harry repeated curiously.
This time Sirius did roll his eyes. "Yes sick. Now get back to bed while I go get some potions."
"I don't wanna." Harry whined. Sirius looked at his godson. He had never whined about anything that Sirius had told him to do. He always did it willing. Sirius did not like this change.
"Well I'm sorry Harry, but I wasn't really asking you to, I'm telling you to get back to bed. You can go out with Ron and Hermione another time."
Harry huffed at Sirius while standing up and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You can't make me. I'm nearly seventeen."
Sirius smirked. "Yeah that means your still under age, and that means you have to do as your told."
"I'm not going to bed."
"I'll give you till the count of three Harry to go to bed on your own." Sirius inwardly winced at his parental tone. What were you thinking James when you named me godfather? I'm not cut out for this sort of thing.
"Sirius I'm not going."
"One-."
"You can't make me. I'm not that sick. I don't even feel sick. My breakfast must not have agreed with my stomach."
"Two-."
"Sirius, come on. You can't make me stay in bed! I promised Ron and Hermione I'd go to diagon alley with them!"
"Three." Sirius grabbed Harry around his middle, slung him over his shoulder and carried him to his room.
Harry seemed shocked his godfather had picked him up. Firstly he had gained some weight, although Harry had to admit it wasn't much, so his godfather probably wouldn't have any problems lifting him. It was the fact that Sirius had picked him was what surprised Harry.
His stomach was being pushed into Sirius's shoulder, which wasn't a good thing.
By the time Sirius had got Harry to his room, his back his coated his vomit.
Harry gave Sirius a horrified look. "Sirius, I never…I'm so sorry!"
Sirius sighed and pushed his anger down.
Harry didn't mean, he couldn't control it. Must not smack the kid…must not smack the kid…must not…
"Sirius?" Harry was looking up at him, wide-eyed and a little fearful.
Sirius gave him a strained smile. "Don't worry about it…this isn't the first time." He muttered the last bit as he left to get cleaned up.
Pulling an old blue T-shirt over his head, Sirius made his way back to his godson's room, only to find it empty.
Thinking, and hoping for Harry's sake, that the young man had needed to puke, he headed to the washroom. It too was empty and Sirius found himself trying to control his temper.
That's when he heard something fall down stairs.
Making his way down quietly, he heard his young godson's cursing from the kitchen. He pushed the swinging door open and found Harry wiping up coffee from the floor. His mug was sitting on its side on the table.
Sirius noticed that Harry's coat was not on the hook by the door, and when looking at his godson, he found Harry was wearing it. He also had on his shoes and he could hear the young man's keys jingling in his pocket.
"You're not going anywhere are you Harry?"
Said boy jumped up and, while giving Sirius the perfect deer caught in headlights look, he stammered about just getting coffee.
"Really?" Sirius said while crossing his arms over his chest and leaning in the doorway. "And that's why your wearing your coat right?"
Harry looked up with pleading eyes. "Why can't I-?"
He was cut off however by Sirius who had come forward and pulled Harry up roughly.
He pulled a kitchen chair out angrily then pushed Harry down into it.
The raven hair boy look mildly afraid of what his godfather intended to do.
Clasping the armrests of the chair with his hands, Sirius leaned forward not giving his godson a chance to look away.
"What is it going to take for you to understand that you are not going out today, or tomorrow and probably not for the next little while now, since you are going to be to busy being grounded."
Harry bit his lip and folded his hands together in his lap. He swallowed, then said in a quiet voice.
"That's not fair."
Sirius couldn't believe his ears. "Not fair? Not fair?" he hissed.
"What's not fair is having to listen to you whining about not being sick while you puke up your breakfast, not fair is having to tell you more than once that you're not well enough to go out. That's what's not fair."
"But I'm not sick!" Harry yelled in desperation. He then closed his mouth and sat there tensed while his godfather's expression changed from angry, to enraged.
"Get to your room now."
Harry didn't need to be told twice.
The next few days went by slowly and were not any fun at all for Harry. The only person he saw was Sirius and that was only when his godfather was bringing him his meals.
On the fifth day Harry was sick, Sirius finally said something to him.
"Tomorrow you should be able to get up." He had left right after that leaving Harry feeling extremely guilty.
The next day Sirius came into Harry's room. His godson was still sleeping and he sat down as he watched his small godson's chest rise and fall. His face was peaceful, for once, and he was clutching the blanket while murmuring in his sleep.
Sirius sighed while he soothed his black locks back. He watched as two eyelids slowly fluttered open. Emerald green orbs looked up at him in confusion.
"Sirius?" Harry's voice was sleepy and soft.
"Hey Kiddo, you can get up now. And…I just want you to know I'm sorry for yelling at you, and your not really grounded. I was just mad, but I should have realised you wouldn't have stayed in bed, I certainly wouldn't have. Oh, Ron's on the phone, I think he wants to know if you can go shopping today."
Harry watched as his godfather left his room. Getting up and wiping his tired eyes, he pulled on jeans and a T-shirt then made his way downstairs.
"Hello?" he said into the phone.
"Harry! It's Ron. Do you want to go shopping today?" his friend sounded excited, for reasons Harry couldn't conjure up at the moment.
Standing in the kitchen, facing the window, he watched his godfather slowly make his way down to the back garden to remove the gnomes.
"You know what Ron? I think I'll stay home today."
"You sure mate?" Ron sounded disappointed, but Harry paid no mind. "Yeah, bye."
Harry opened the back door to go help Sirius. Slipping on a baseball cap to prevent getting burned, Harry closed the door softly behind him.
The end