Chapter 21;

James's POV

Waking up in the morning, he noticed that Sirius wasn't on the mattress that he'd been calling his bed during the break. Sitting up, James stretched, yawned and looked at the old alarm clock on his bedside table. Ten in the morning. He got up and went in search of Sirius, deciding to look in Rosie's room first because she was known to have nightmares and Sirius was known to sneak into the room to comfort the little girl.

Opening the door, he didn't expect to find the room unusually warm. He could see Sirius on the bed, Rosie curled into him. Sirius's hair was stuck to his forehead from sweat and James could see Rosie moving slightly, as if she was shivering. Confusion filled James's mind at why both of them looked uncomfortable for different reasons. Sirius looked unusually hot while Rosie looked cold.
Thinking he was asleep, James turned to leave when he heard a male voice whisper his name. Sirius had looked up and saw James, then made a motion that translated to keep quiet as he de-tangled himself from Rosie and slipped out of the bed. He grabbed James's arm and pulled him out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them.
James only gave him a questioning look, noticing that his best mate was covered in sweat. Sighing, Sirius fanned himself with his hand, trying to cool down slightly as he explained;
"Rosie's got a fever. I've been trying to help her break it and it really wasn't working out for me. She's getting worse..."

James felt concern shoot through him at the possibility that Rosie was horribly sick during Christmas but he had no idea what to do. He was hopeless when it came to people he loved and cared about being sick. Gnawing on his lip, James finally came up with a solution. "I'll get Anna Lee to go check on her. You should probably shower and then head down to breakfast." He could see how hesitant Sirius looked so James sighed and patted his best mate on the back. "Sirius...you can only do so much. Just stay with her until Anna Lee comes up then go. And open a window. We wouldn't want you to get too overheated."

Nodding, Sirius ran his hands through his hair, the exhaustion clear in his eyes. "I just...I hate being so...so helpless! I can tell she's not enjoying this situation and I just want to make her better." James hugged Sirius tightly in a hug that they'd dubbed the "man hug" during their third year before he walked into Rosie's room and looked at the girl again. She was thrashing around and calling out softly and James hurriedly kneeled on the bed beside her sleeping form and shook her violently, easily waking her from her nightmare as Sirius pulled open the curtains and opened the window to let in the soft, refreshing wind.

Sirius had told James more than once how terrifying it is to see someone you loved wrapped up so completely in a nightmare and he finally understood. Seeing Rosie wake up was like opening a present you've begged for forever on Christmas morning.

"J-James...?" Her voice was weak and shook slightly in her confusion. Pity filled him to the core, so he hugged the girl tightly, not noticing that she was covered in sweat. More sweat than Sirius was covered in. Rosie's face was pale and she looked sickly and thin.

James nodded and pushed her back against the bed before getting up, sharing a look with Sirius that worked as a mutual agreement. The agreement basically stated that Sirius was in charge of looking after Rosie with whatever he could without leaving her for too long, while James was in charge of finding her help while leaving her.

Hurrying out of the room, James ran to his uncle's bedroom and knocked frantically on the door, calling to Anna Lee from the other side. He was frantic. He wouldn't be if he hadn't seen how sickly Rosie looked, but since he had, he couldn't get the image from his mind. Finally, Anna Lee opened the door, her hair was ruffled and she was only wearing one of his uncle's button up shirts. Averting his eyes respectfully, James told her about Rosie's current situation.

Sirius's POV

Sirius looked down as Rosie and gently put the moist cloth on her burning forehead, sending a look over his shoulder at Anna Lee, who was flicking through a book about medical ailments, a furrow in her brow. He was panicking and had been doing so for the last hour or so. He hated seeing Rosie in pain and she had calmed down slightly but her forehead was still burning up and she still had a pile of blankets stacked on top of her.

"Anna Lee...isn't there a spell or a potion or something else?" Sirius asked desperately as he sat heavily on the window seat and ran his hands through his hair, feeling frustratingly helpless. Anna Lee looked up from the book and sighed softly. She was gently gnawing on her bottom lip as she flicked through the pages and held the book back out to him.

"They recommend what we've been doing as well as a potion I'll get William or Remus to pick up on their way home. Okay?" He knew that Anna Lee was as distressed as he was, but he couldn't control the anger that bubbled to the surface.

"That isn't soon enough! There must be something we can do, something that'll work sooner!" Sirius's voice broke with emotion as his eyes trailed over the girl he loved. Why did it seem that every time something good happened in her life, Rosie's world was somehow turned up side down. Anna Lee re-took the book from his hands and flicked through the pages, finally settling on a spell and casting it over Rosie. "It'll take a little bit to actually work, but the fever should drop soon." Sirius nodded his thanks to Anna Lee before going to lie on the bed beside Rosie, cuddling her into his chest as he waited for the fever to drop.