Disclaimer: You all know the drill; I own nothing except for the concept of Hawthorne's flu and a CMW; those are all mine. ::grins::
Or as one other person put it, blah blah blah lawyers blah blah sue blah.
Harry Potter and the Escape from the Dursleys
By
Megofalltrades
Part 4: Visits
Hermione, Ron, and Remus Lupin came through the front door and into the living room to find Harry up and out of bed. He was sitting on the couch with Sirius chatting about his old Marauder days.
"Well, there was that one time James, Remus and I snuck into the Great Hall and rigged the Slytherin table so that the chairs would explode. Sent Snape face-first into a bowl of porridge the next morning- it was priceless!"
The two of them were laughing hard at the memory (or mental image) of the prank. Harry looked up.
"Ron! Hermione! I didn't know you guys were coming over." He said, slightly startled.
"Remus came over earlier this morning and said that you were sick and might like visitors." Ron said.
"Yes, I jumped at the chance to come visit. I know that I would feel terrible if I was ill and my friends didn't bother to write or visit." Hermione added.
"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me." Harry said, smiling.
Remus had gone into the kitchen during this little discussion, and now poked his head into the living room. "Would anyone like some tea?" he asked.
Everyone assembled in the living room answered in the affirmative, and Remus fetched a tray from the kitchen with five cups and saucers, a steaming pot of blackcurrant tea, and a plate of biscuits and small cakes.
Everyone enjoyed their tea and spent the rest of the morning swapping jokes and stories of their summer activities ("Have you really started to revise for the O.W.L.s already, Hermione?")
By around noon, Harry wasn't feeling very well again. His temperature was slightly up again, and he was feeling rather dizzy and tired. Sirius helped him back to his room, and Ron and Hermione were still in the living room looking somewhat awkward and out of place.
"We could go; I mean, we're really only here to visit Harry…" Ron started.
Remus waved this off. "Nonsense Ron, I enjoy your and Hermione's company as well as I do Harry's. He just needs a short nap, is all. You two are more than welcome to stay for lunch and until Harry wakes up."
With that said, Remus walked into the kitchen and started preparing some soup and sandwiches for the four of them. Sirius and Ron sat on the sofa and started a spirited discussion on the merits and shortcomings of the Chudley Cannons. Hermione sat in one of the elderly wing chairs and contented herself with looking around the room.
As her experience with magical households extended solely to the Burrow, she found the room very interesting. Among the weatherbeaten sofa and two battered wing chairs was a small coffee table on which rested a couple back issues of the Daily Prophet and a copy of Which Broomstick. A small houseplant stood on the end table, and a variety of interesting objects and photographs stood on the mantelpiece. A large bookshelf graced the wall to the left of the sofa, which was filled with a variety of magic and muggle books ranging anywhere from Hogwarts, a History to Common Household Charms: A Guide for the Less than Expert to the muggle Physician's Desk Reference and A Tale of Two Cities. It seemed Remus had very eclectic tastes when it came to reading. The bookshelf also held a chess set and a small and elderly wizard's wireless.
By now, the smells of homemade soup and ham sandwiches were starting to drift in from the kitchen, and Hermione didn't quite feel up to lunch. Truth be told, she wasn't feeling very well at all. Several days after she'd gotten back from the Burrow, she'd started feeling a little off. She wouldn't have decided to come visit Harry if she wasn't worried about his welfare. Her parents hadn't noticed, as she had kept to her room studying and didn't especially look ill.
However, the re-exposure to a magical environment and the smells of food all caught up with her in one fell swoop. She felt very nauseous and dizzy all of a sudden, and got up somewhat unsteadily from her chair. "Sirius, where's the bathroom?" she asked.
"It's down the hall, last door on the right." He answered, looking up to see Hermione running down the hallway, and heard the bathroom door slam shut a second later. Remus looked out of the kitchen.
"What on earth was that?" he asked.
"Hermione running to the loo." replied Ron.
Ten minutes later, and Hermione had not returned from the bathroom. Remus, becoming somewhat concerned, left the soup to simmer on the stove and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He rapped on the door, saying "Hermione? Are you all right in there?" Receiving no answer, he tried to open the doorknob only to find it wouldn't open. He unlocked the door and opened it to find Hermione slumped on the floor, leaning against the bathtub. It was painfully obvious from the smell of the bathroom what the problem was; she had quite clearly vomited. Hermione had her face in her hands and was shivering slightly. Remus gently helped her to her feet and got her a glass of water, then flushed the toilet. He carefully led her down the hall and into the guest bedroom that Harry was sleeping in.
Remus helped Hermione to sit on the unoccupied bed and cast a privacy spell that created a screen in the middle of the room and incorporated a silencing spell, so that they would not wake Harry. Remus then pulled the chair next to the bed and turned his full attention to Hermione.
"Hermione, how long have you been feeling ill?" he asked, quietly.
Hermione mustered her wits enough to say "I've been feeling a little off for about two or three days now. I haven't been really ill before now, though; I've felt more tired and a little dizzy, and I haven't been very hungry."
Remus put his hand against Hermione's forehead, registered that she was running a bit of a fever and located the thermometer in his medical bag. Hermione stared at the bag and managed to ask why he had it.
"I'm a Certified Medi-Wizard." He explained. "I can perform basic first aid and diagnose and treat mild to moderate illnesses. I do need to see how high your fever is, though, so open your mouth, please."
Hermione obliged, and the thermometer pinged softly three minutes later. Remus removed it and noted that she had a fever of 101 degrees. He then looked in her eyes and gently felt under her jaw and throat, noticing the purple circles in her eyes and slight swelling of the glands as he did so. He looked at the back of her throat, which featured purple spots, with a tongue depressor, and when he had finished Hermione began coughing. Remus conjured a glass of water, which she drank gratefully when she was done coughing. She set the glass down as Remus once more rummaged through his bag, finally producing a stethoscope. He told Hermione, who was looking rather quizzically at it, "That's quite a nasty cough; I'd like to see if you have any fluid in your lungs. But to do so, I sort of need for you to undo the top couple of buttons on your blouse." Hermione did so, and Remus noted that she did indeed have a slight amount of fluid in her lungs. When he was done, Hermione re-buttoned her blouse while Remus put everything back in his bag.
Hermione was still sitting up, somewhat uncomfortably, and Remus turned to her with a smile and said, "You know, I would think that you would be more comfortable lying down."
Hermione admitted that she had been rather uncomfortable sitting up, and laid down on the bed, pulling the sheets up around her. Remus sat back in his chair and proceeded to explain. "You have exactly what Harry has; Hawthorne's flu." He gave a brief description of Hawthorne's flu and its symptoms, and then continued. "You had said that you visited the Weasleys last week for Ginny's birthday?" Hermione nodded. "I strongly suspect that you caught it from one of them. Now, what I'm going to do is go get a fever reducer for you, and then I suggest that you take a nap. I expect Sirius and Ron will want lunch, so I'll come back and check on you in an hour or so, all right?" Hermione nodded again, and Remus smiled and patted her shoulder before getting up. He disabled the privacy spell, and came back in a minute carrying a cup of the fever-reducing potion. Hermione took the cup, but sniffed it hesitantly.
"It smells like mint. Madam Pomfrey's potions don't smell nearly this good, and they don't taste very good either." she noted doubtfully.
"Madam Pomfrey is of the opinion that a potion need not taste good for it to work. I, on the other hand, feel that if I'm going to drink something it should at least be palatable." Remus said.
She drank the potion and handed the cup back to Remus before pulling the bedcovers closely around herself and drifting off to sleep. Remus carried the cup back to the kitchen and then went to explain the situation to Ron and Sirius.
Part 5: Explanations
While Remus had been tending to Hermione, Sirius and Ron had remained in the living room. They had heard Remus go down the hall, retrieve Hermione and lead her into the bedroom, but they had not wanted to interrupt. When Remus came back into the living room, Ron immediately voiced their concerns.
"Is Hermione all right? We heard you take her into the bedroom, and I don't see her with you. What's wrong?" he asked..
"She has a good case of what Harry has; I suspect she caught it from one of your siblings, Ron. She'll be all right; she's taking a nap now, and I'll check on her again after we've finished lunch."
Sirius piped up, "She's muggle born, though. How is she going to receive treatment? You know it isn't safe to leave Hawthorne's flu untreated."
Remus nodded. "I've thought of that. I agree that it isn't safe to leave her untreated, and this afternoon I'm going to visit her parents and see if I can't get them to agree to let her stay here for a few days. I can easily care for her here, and it'll give her a little time to spend with Harry and Ron over the summer. If her parents don't agree, I suppose I could just give them a reference to a doctor I know."
So, with much discussion, the three of them had lunch, and Remus went to check on Harry and Hermione an hour later. He came into the room to notice that both Harry and Hermione were now awake, and chatting with each other. "So, how are you two feeling?" he asked.
"A little better." Responded Harry.
"Still not that good." Said Hermione.
"It's good to hear that you're feeling a little better, Harry." said Remus. "Are you still feeling nauseous, Hermione?" She nodded. "I'll bring you a potion to help settle your stomach, then I'm going to pay your parents a visit and see if I can't convince them to let you stay here for a few days. If they won't let you stay here, I'll take you back to your home and give your parents a reference to a good doctor I know of."
"But my house isn't connected to the Floo Network, it was only connected that one time because someone at the Regulation Panel owed Mr. Weasley a favor. And I don't have an owl or anything! There would be no way for a wizarding doctor to contact us. I'm sure my parents will let me stay here; just make sure to let them know that you're a CMW. Could you maybe get some of my clothes and things, and maybe Crookshanks? Oh, and my books; they're all in my schoolbag."
Remus smiled and said, "I'll make sure to get your things Hermione, books and all. I don't think you'll want anything dear, but would you like something to eat now, Harry?" directing this last question at the occupant of the other bed. Harry considered this, and replied "I think I could eat something, as long as it isn't too heavy." Remus went and fetched a bowl of soup and some milk for Harry, and an anti-nausea potion for Hermione. He then Apparated to Hermione's house.
He knocked on the door to be greeted by Mrs. Granger. "Hello again, I see you've brought Hermione back…" She trailed off as she looked around Remus and realized that Hermione was nowhere to be seen. "…or not. I don't believe that you left anything; may I ask why you're here?" she asked, perplexed.
Remus said, "I need to explain a few things to you and your husband; may I come in?"
"All- all right…" she said, still somewhat perplexed. She moved aside from the door and let Remus in, and led him to the living room where Mr. Granger was reading a book. He put his book down when he caught sight of Remus, sans Hermione. "Sit down, please." Mrs. Granger offered.
Remus sat, and immediately launched into his explanation. "I'm sure you've noticed Hermione isn't with me, and I know that I did not leave anything here on our last visit. I'll cut right to the point; Hermione became ill right before lunch, and I've discovered that she has exactly what her friend Harry has- Hawthorne's flu. I should point out here that I am a Certified Medi-Wizard, and perfectly qualified to diagnose and treat most illnesses. Now, Hawthorne's flu is very similar to the regular flu…" and here he went on to describe its symptoms, how Hermione caught it, and the need for proper treatment. "…now, when I say that Hawthorne's flu needs to be properly treated I mean of course that it needs to be treated magically. I realize that, being non-magical yourselves, you have no real resources to handle this sort of thing. What I suggest is that you let Hermione stay at my house until she's recovered, three days to a week at the most. I could give you a reference to a doctor I know, but he would have to real way of contacting you, and I feel that it would be the most convenient for everyone concerned if Hermione were to stay at my house. She'll be perfectly safe there, I'll be able to treat her illness, and she'll be able to spend some time with her friends."
The Grangers considered this and, after some discussion among themselves, agreed to let Hermione stay with Remus. Mr. Granger spoke up, "Now, we can of course pay you for this-"
Remus waved this suggestion off, saying "Oh, there's no need for that. I don't want paying. I just need to collect some of Hermione's clothing, personal effects, books, and possibly her cat. She said she wanted to have Crookshanks with her." Mrs. Granger led him upstairs and to her bedroom, where her things and Crookshanks were summarily collected. Crookshanks was to be found snoozing in a patch of sun on her bed, and was not happy about being woken. Despite this, Remus put her things together in a small bag that he conjured, and picked Crookshanks up in his other hand. He bade the Grangers goodbye, with a promise that he would come back tomorrow to let them know how Hermione was doing, and Disapparated.
A/N: I'm evil! But bad things hardly ever happen to Hermione, and I wanted to throw that one in there. A big thank you to all my reviewers; I didn't think I'd get such a positive response so early on. And of course a shout out to my favorite reviewer, even if he didn't post one, the always wonderful Andrew.