Disclaimer: If any of these characters belonged to me, I wouldn't be a poor starving college student, now would I?

Part 6: Discussions

            Remus, along with Crookshanks and Hermione's belongings, appeared with a small pop in his front yard. It was now getting on to be dusk, and the golden rays of the setting sun illuminated his front garden in a very pleasant manner as he opened the front door and went inside. Sirius was sitting on the sofa attempting the crossword in the Daily Prophet, and looked up as Remus shut the front door.

            "Well, how did it go Moony?" Sirius asked. "I'm guessing by the fact that I see a very unhappy Crookshanks and a very heavy looking bookbag that Hermione's parents have agreed to let her stay here for a few days."

            Remus replied, "Yes they did Padfoot, and where did Ron get off to?"

            "The three of them are in the bedroom; Hermione badgered me into letting her read one of your books, and I think Ron and Harry are playing chess." Sirius said.

            Remus set off down the hall and entered his second spare bedroom to find it just as Sirius had said: Hermione was sitting propped against a couple of pillows reading what appeared to be his rather worn and dog-eared copy of A History of Magic. Ron was sitting in the chair next to Harry's bed; they had pulled the nightstand between them and had used it to set the chess board on. Harry appeared to be losing spectacularly, a fact that was confirmed as Ron deftly captured Harry's king with a bishop and triumphantly said "Checkmate! Ha, I win again!"

            Harry groaned and said, "I'm no good at this. Want to play Exploding Snap?"

            Ron collected the chess set together and looked up to notice Remus in the doorway. "You're back! Hope you don't mind that we borrowed your chess set but we were dead bored, and Sirius said you wouldn't mind."

            Remus came into the room and set Hermione's schoolbag and other things next to her bed and then deposited Crookshanks on the bed. Hermione looked up as the large ginger cat settled itself into her lap and started purring loudly. "Remus, you're back! I take it my parents agreed to let me stay here then."

            "Yes, they did. I brought some of your clothing and pajamas, as well as some toilet articles and, of course, your schoolbooks." Remus said, gesturing to the pile of things next to the bed.

            "Oh, thank you!" Hermione said, smiling enthusiastically. She set the copy of History of Magic on the bedside table and asked "Can you please hand me my bookbag?" Remus did so as Ron looked over and groaned.

            "Oh, no! Now she'll never let up about studying! Honestly Hermione, if I were sick I'd take the opportunity to lay off work. Especially since it's the summer, too!" Hermione simply shot him an annoyed look as he turned back to Harry. "Guess it's only to be expected; remember second year?" Harry grinned; he did indeed remember the infamous Polyjuice Potion incident. Remus, however, looked politely puzzled.

"What happened in second year?" he asked, curious.

            Ron and Harry exchanged glances, and started explaining all about their desire to find out if Draco Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin by using Polyjuice Potion. "…And then Hermione comes out and she's got cat ears and a tail; it turns out the hair she used actually came from Millicent Bulstrode's cat, not Millicent Bulstrode. She was in the infirmary for a month before Madam Pomfrey could clear the whole thing up, and she insisted that we bring her assignments every night!" explained Ron. "Honestly, if I'd been turned into a cat…"

            Remus smiled, shook his head, and said "Although I can't exactly approve of your brewing an illicit potion, at least your hearts were in the right place. I am curious though, not only that you managed to brew such a difficult potion, but also that you managed to find both the recipe and ingredients, since I believe the recipe is only to be found in a book in the Restricted Section of the library, and several ingredients could only have been found in Professor Snape's private stores."

            Harry grinned at this. "Well, you can blame that on Hermione. The whole thing was her idea, really; she's the one who brewed the potion, and she's the one who got Lockhart to sign a permission slip for the book. Heck, she's the one who pinched the ingredients from Snape's cupboard. Well, after I tossed a firework into Malfoy's cauldron to distract him, that is."

            Sirius had come in at some point during this narrative and was grinning widely. "Brilliant! An inspired prank, worthy of the Maurauders themselves." He proclaimed. "When's lunch, Moony?"

            Remus rolled his eyes and said "I'll be starting it in a little bit; is food all you can ever think about?"

            Sirius replied "Of course it is! You know me Moony, there are only two things on my mind: girls and food, as you used to say."

            Ron and Harry had started a game of Exploding Snap and were chuckling at this exchange. Even Hermione could be seen smiling over her O.W.L. study guide. Remus simply smiled and headed out to the kitchen to start making lunch, and Sirius went to finish reading the newspaper.

            Ron finished his card game with Harry, and decided to go see what Sirius was up to when Hermione started questioning Harry about what schoolwork he had finished. Ron found Remus in the kitchen, cooking, and Sirius sniggering over the personal ads in the paper while sipping at a glass of pumpkin juice. All of a sudden, Sirius started laughing so hard at one particularly amusing ad that he accidentally inhaled some of his juice and started coughing violently. He set down the now damp paper and downed the rest of his juice in an attempt to stop coughing. Remus came out of the kitchen looking concerned. "Are you all right in here Sirius? I hope you aren't getting sick too; I'm not sure how well you'd be able to handle a bout with Hawthorne's flu at this point." 

            Sirius waved a hand nonchalantly at Remus and managed to gasp out between chuckles "I'm fine Remus; I was reading the personal ads..." he gestured feebly towards the paper as a fresh bout of laughing ensued. He calmed down enough after a few minutes to reassure Remus. "I'm fine; I was laughing hard, and some juice went down the wrong pipe is all." Remus frowned and said "The thought does occur to me, however, that you really can't handle a bout with Hawthorne's flu, not with the state your system is in. You've had two colds this summer as it is. I would personally feel much more secure if you could be vaccinated against this; I'm sure you'll be spending as much time as possible with Harry."

            Ron interjected at this point "Mum says that the vaccine for this is fairly scarce and she wishes that the rest of us who haven't been sick already could be inoculated. She didn't say why it was so scarce though."

            Remus nodded and replied "The vaccine for Hawthorne's flu is so scarce because the only real way to make one is to use blood from someone who is infected, and it has to be compatible with the blood type of whoever is receiving the vaccine. It would be very difficult to tailor-make a vaccine to everyone who wanted one, and while type O-negative blood is compatible with anyone there are very few wizards who have that blood type. I am seriously considering looking around to see if I can't find someone of Sirius' blood type who has Hawthorne's flu, though."

            Ron shuddered, and said "Rather him than me, though. What blood type is he? Half of my family has had it."

            Remus noticed Ron's reaction to the thought of an inoculation and smiled. "I take it that you don't like needles then, Ron?" Ron shook his head vehemently. "And Sirius' blood type is A+."

            Ron looked rueful. "Sorry; everyone in my family has type AB+ blood. Guess I can't help you there. Why not check with Harry or Hermione though?" he offered.

            Remus looked thoughtful. "You know, I may just do that." The oven dinged, and Remus went into the kitchen to retrieve everyone's food. Remus brought Harry another bowl of soup and some juice. Hermione declined the soup but agreed to a glass of juice. They all had a pleasant meal, and afterwards Ron came to say goodbye to Harry before he left.

            Remus came into the room after Ron, and looked at Harry and Hermione before asking them a question. "Harry, do you happen to know what blood type you have? I need to know."

            Harry frowned slightly. "No, I'm afraid that I don't know. Why?" Before answering, Remus pulled out his wand. Harry eyed it suspiciously. "What's that for?"

            Seeing the dubious expression on Harry's face, Remus chuckled slightly and patted Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry Harry, the only thing I want to do with this is perform a Blood Typing Charm. It doesn't hurt; all it does is register your blood type and change color depending on what it is. Could you hold your hand out for me please?" Harry complied, still looking somewhat suspicious. Remus pointed his wand at Harry's hand and muttered "Ferroulius."

            Harry's hand glowed a bright Kelly green for several seconds, then faded back to its normal color. Remus shook his head, muttering "No, that's B+. No good there." He then turned his attention to Hermione, who was looking curious. "Hermione, would you mind if I were to perform the same charm on you?" She replied that she wouldn't mind, and Remus repeated the process. Her hand glowed bright red for a few seconds and then faded. Remus looked astonished. "My goodness- O-." At Hermione's questioning look, he elaborated. "It's exceptionally rare for wizards to have that particular blood type. It's also compatible with any other type, not just it's own. The reason I've performed this charm on the both of you is that I'd like to see if I can't vaccinate Sirius against Hawthorne's flu; his immune system isn't really up to scratch and we really can't have him getting sick. The problem is that the vaccine for Hawthorne's flu must be made with infected blood that is compatible with that of the recipient of the vaccine. While Sirius has a rather common blood type, there just isn't any way to make a vaccine on a wide enough scale because it would be too hard to tailor-make a vaccine for each wizard. However, since Hermione has a blood type compatible with anyone, it would be possible to make one. That is, of course, assuming that you'll agree to donate a small amount of blood and if your parents agree."

            Hermione looked thoughtful at this and finally said "I wouldn't have a problem with it, and if you explain all that to my parents they'll probably agree."

            Remus smiled and said "That's good to hear. Now, I'm going to escort Ron home, have a chat with Molly, and then I'll be back here." Ron bade Harry and Hermione goodbye, and left the room. Remus followed him, and after Ron said goodbye to Sirius they both traveled back to the Burrow through the Floo Network.

Part 7: Nightmares

            Ron and Remus fell out of the fireplace in the Weasleys' kitchen to be greeted by Mrs. Weasley. "Ron, you're back! Where is Hermione- I was rather hoping she would stop by before she went home."

            Dusting himself off, Remus replied "Well, apparently when she visited for Ginny's birthday she caught a good case of Hawthorne's flu from one of you, and she became ill while at my house. I visited her parents, and they've agreed to allow her to stay at my house for the next few days so that she can be treated." Mrs. Weasley nodded, looking somewhat dismayed that Hermione had become ill because of one of them. Remus continued "She'll be perfectly fine, but I did find something interesting. I've been wanting to obtain the vaccine because Sirius, who is staying with me, has been ill twice already this summer. You know that the vaccine is somewhat scarce, but I can make it myself if I had blood that was compatible with Sirius'. Apparently, Hermione has O- blood, compatible with any type. Ron mentioned that you were wanting to vaccinate those of you who haven't been ill already, and it would be a simple matter to make enough of the vaccine. Assuming, that is, that Hermione's parents will agree to this."

            Mrs. Weasley beamed at this and said "I hope they do. I've already been ill, and so have Arthur, Charlie, and Percy. But Ginny hasn't gotten sick, and neither have the twins or Ron." Ron winced slightly at his name- he'd been hoping his mother wouldn't mention him.

            Remus smiled and said "I suspect her parents will agree; I'll call you tomorrow and let you know. If they do, send Ginny and the twins along; I suspect Ron will want to come over again tomorrow anyway. I must be going though, so I'll talk to you tomorrow." With that said, Remus got up and Disapparated back home.

            For the remainder of the day everyone kept mainly to themselves; Hermione helped Harry with some of his summer assignments, Sirius and Remus each took care of various projects, and after an argument with Sirius over which of them got to use the bathroom first, Remus, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione all got ready for bed and dozed off in their respective rooms, with Harry and Hermione still sharing the second spare bedroom. Hermione was not normally a light sleeper, but she awoke at around 1:30 in the morning to hear Harry thrashing about in bed and moaning. She realized that he was in the throes of a terrible nightmare and tried to wake him up. When Harry would not wake, she became alarmed and did the first thing she could think of; she ran down the hall to Sirius' room. She padded over to his bed and shook him slightly, saying "Sirius, wake up! Come on, wake up, it's important!"

            Sirius mumbled something incoherent and opened his eyes to find Hermione standing over him looking anxious. "Sirius, Harry's having a nightmare and I can't wake him up!" Instantly alert, Sirius leapt out of bed and followed Hermione back down the hall to find Harry still in his nightmare. Sirius shook him, lightly at first and then more roughly, calling his name. Harry suddenly regained consciousness, and he was shaking and pale in a cold sweat. Sirius pulled him into a hug, telling Harry that it would be all right and he was here now.

            Hermione, feeling that she probably shouldn't intrude, decided to go back to bed. Sirius sat on the edge of Harry's bed and held Harry's hands in his. "Harry, can you tell me about your dream? Does your scar hurt?" he asked, concerned.

"My scar doesn't hurt, it's just the same nightmare I've been having. Well, mostly the same." Harry mumbled.

"The same nightmare you've been having? Is it about the Third Task?" Sirius asked, softly. "Can you tell me about it?"

Harry nodded. "I keep hearing Voldemort saying 'Kill the spare' and the flash of green light, and Cedric laying there dead. Then Cedric gets up and says 'You killed me Harry, it's all your fault! It's your fault he's back! And this dream was different though; Uncle Vernon was there…" Harry trailed off, and said more quietly "I'm not sure I want to talk about that."

Sirius nodded and simply pulled Harry into a tight embrace, telling him "Cedric's death wasn't your fault Harry. None of this is, not Voldemort's return and nothing that your uncle did to you is your fault." A few tears slid down Harry's cheek, and he choked back a sob. Sirius continued to hold him, rocking him gently back and forth and rubbing his back in a soothing motion.

Remus stood in the doorway and silently watched this; he had been wakened by Sirius and Hermione running back down the hall and now knew why Harry hadn't been getting enough sleep. He went to fetch a goblet of Dreamless Sleep potion and came back to find that Harry was lying down and Sirius was gently stroking his hair. He quietly went over to the bed and asked "Harry? Are you feeling any better now?" Harry nodded, and Remus continued "Harry, I'd like you to drink this for me; it's a dreamless sleep potion. You really need to get a full night's sleep." He handed the goblet to Harry, who drained the potion without protest. His eyes immediately began to droop as he handed the cup back to Remus. Sirius pulled the covers more firmly around him and gently kissed his forehead. Remus put a hand on Sirius' shoulder, saying "Sirius, you can't stay in here; Harry won't have any more nightmares tonight, and you need your sleep just as much as he does." Sirius looked ready to argue about this, but desisted when he saw the stern expression on Remus' face. Remus and Sirius went back to their rooms, and everyone slept for the remainder of the night.

The next morning dawned brightly, with birds singing cheerfully outside. Remus and Sirius got up around 8, Remus started breakfast and Sirius went to check on Harry. He entered the room to find Harry fast asleep and Hermione awake and starting to head for the bathroom. "Good morning Hermione." he said. "How did Harry sleep the rest of the night? Did you sleep well?" he asked.

Hermione answered "I slept fine, and since he didn't wake me up I'm guessing that Harry did too." With that she headed out the door to the bathroom and Sirius went to go help with breakfast. Harry woke up around an hour later, and Hermione felt well enough to attempt a bowl of porridge and some orange juice. After they had all finished breakfast and gotten dressed, Remus Lupin set off for the Granger residence again.

Part 8: Vaccines

Mrs. Granger answered the door and immediately ushered him in. They sat down in the parlor and Remus assured Mrs. Granger that Hermione was doing well and would come back home in a few days. He continued, explaining that he needed to vaccinate several people against Hawthorne's flu, how the vaccine was produced, and that he needed to use some of Hermione's rare blood to create the much-needed vaccine, with their permission of course. Mrs. Granger explained that her husband was working at their dental practice today, but that she would agree to this and she was sure he would too. Remus thanked her profusely, saying that Hermione had already agreed to do this and he had only needed their permission. He assured Mrs. Granger that he would be back tomorrow, and Disapparated to the Burrow.

He arrived just as everyone was finishing breakfast and was cheerfully greeted by every member of the Weasley family. He offered to help with the washing up, and Mrs. Weasley insisted that he would not. He then informed Mrs. Weasley "I was just at the Granger's house and Mrs. Granger has agreed to let me make a vaccine using Hermione's blood. Remind me again, who hasn't been ill? Aside from Ron, that is."

Mrs. Weasley replied "Ginny hasn't gotten sick, and neither have the twins. Or Ron."

Remus smiled and said "Right then, the twins, Ginny, and of course Ron will be spending the day at my house."

Mrs. Weasley turned to Ginny, Fred, George, and Ron and told them "The four of you are going to Remus Lupin's house today; Harry and Hermione could use some company, and Remus has also agreed to vaccinate the lot of you against Hawthorne's flu."

Ron paled slightly at this, and Fred and George looked puzzled. "Weren't you telling us that that vaccine is hard to come by?" asked George. "Yes, I remember you lamenting about that when Charlie and Percy came down with it at the same time."

Remus pointed out the reason why the vaccine was so scarce, and how he had come by the materials for it. Mrs. Weasley then said that they should leave soon and that she had work to do around the house anyway. "And," she added, "It will be much easier to get done with less of you in the house. Especially you." Looking pointedly at Fred and George.

"Why Mum, we're hurt." Fred lamented dramatically, grinning.

"Our own mother doesn't want us. How tragic." seconded George.

"Go on then, I'm sure Harry will be pleased to see you." Said Mrs. Weasley, smiling at Fred and George. She handed them the pot of Floo Powder. "Here. You're going to Lupin's Den."

One spinning trip through the Floo Network later, the five of them popped out of the fireplace in the living room. Sirius was flipping through several letters and looked up as they arrived. 'Oh good, you're back, Moony. Arabella's written us back, and so have Mundungus and Minerva. We'll-" Sirius cut off, noticing that they had visitors. He greeted them all warmly, and Fred and George were now staring at him slightly.

"Did you just say 'Moony?'" asked Fred.

"Yes…" said Sirius, slowly. "Why do you ask?"

Fred and George exchanged wide grins. "And would you, by any chance, happen to be Padfoot?" asked George.

"Yes, I am." Said Sirius, surprised that they knew of the Marauder's old nicknames. "How did you know that?"

"Wicked!" breathed Fred and George in unison.

Remus was curious to how they knew about the Marauders as well, and said as much. "Well," started Fred, "We know about the Marauders mainly because of the Marauder's Map."

"How do you two know about that?" asked Sirius, frowning.

"Didn't Harry ever explain how he got ahold of it?" George asked. Remus and Sirius said that he hadn't, and Fred continued. "Well, we gave it to him in his third year, our fifth year. We'd had it since our first year, and it took us the better part of three months to figure out how to work it, too."

Remus was now smiling at them. "Would I get an answer if I asked just how you two came about acquiring it? I happen to know that Mr. Filch confiscated it in our seventh year."

Fred and George were now grinning. "Well, as I said, we found it in our first year. We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it bothered Filch for some reason. So, he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual- detention, hanging by the ankles from the ceiling, and so forth, when we noticed a drawer in his filing cabinet marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."

Sirius was grinning by now, too. "Don't tell me- one of you caused a diversion, and the other nicked the Map from the drawer." Fred and George were now staring at him. Sirius shrugged and simply said "Well, you know what they say about great minds thinking alike and all that."

Remus interjected "As much as I'm enjoying this little conversation, I need to check on Harry and Hermione and start on the vaccine. It'll take a couple of hours to prepare, so feel free to make yourselves at home."  Fred and George were instantly immersed in a conversation with Sirius about pranks, old and new, and ideas they'd had. After a few minutes, Harry came out into the living room where he was greeted exuberantly by Fred, George, and Ron, and somewhat less exuberantly by Ginny. Harry struck up a conversation about how the joke shop was going, and Ginny went to go see Hermione.

She found Hermione sitting up in bed, skimming through One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, researching something for her Herbology essay. She looked up when Ginny came in the room, and set her book down on her lap.

"Ginny! What are you doing here? How has your summer been going?" she exclaimed.

"I'm doing just fine." Ginny replied. "Ron, the twins and I are spending the day here; Mum told us Professor Lupin has the vaccine for Hawthorne's flu. My summer's been okay, except that Fred and George are inventing nonstop now. I've had my hair turn purple, my feet have sprouted green hair, and plenty of other things besides. I guess you haven't had such a good summer, have you, what with being sick and all?"

Hermione made a face. "Yeah, it does suck having the flu, and I can safely say that, having had both kinds, the magical sort feels worse."

"I can sympathize." Ginny said. "I've had this before, and half of us have had it this summer. Charlie and Percy caught it at the same time; and you won't believe how much of a baby Percy can be when he's sick!"

Hermione grinned. "You should see my dad when he's ill. He mopes around all day complaining; Mum can't stand it!"

Remus came into the room in time to hear their discussion on various family members. "Hello there girls, how are you doing?" Ginny and Hermione said hello, and Remus continued. "If you think that's bad, you should have seen Sirius when he was at school and ill. Madam Pomfrey had her hands full with him, I can tell you. He never liked going to the infirmary; James and I had to practically drag him there. He was of the opinion that if he hadn't broken anything and he wasn't missing any body parts, he was fine."

Ginny smiled and remarked "Sounds like Fred and George. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why she wants them vaccinated, so she doesn't have to deal with them when they're sick!"

Remus grinned and said "Yes, that's probably a major reason." Setting down the things he had been carrying, he continued "Now then, your parents have agreed to let me use some of your blood to make the vaccine Hermione. Have you had blood drawn before?"

Hermione nodded and said "Yes, several times. I've never had blood drawn by Madam Pomfrey though, just by the Muggle doctor."

            "Well, there's no real difference in the wizarding world; this is what I'll be using." Remus said, holding up a small container with a needle attached to a short length of tubing. "If you'd like to stay Ginny, you may, although it's up to Hermione."

            "Ginny can stay; she can distract me. I'm not deathly afraid of needles but I'm not that fond of them either." Hermione said.

            Ginny smiled and held Hermione's hand while Remus rolled up her left sleeve and swabbed her arm with alcohol. "You should see Ron- he can't stand needles. The last time we had to go in for inoculations, when he was ten, he screamed like a banshee when the nurse came at him with the needle. Fred and George still tease him about it."

            Remus swiftly inserted the needle in her arm, and Hermione flinched. He quickly finished, placed a band-aid on the small puncture, and patted her shoulder. "All done. Now, I'm going to need to make sure that Sirius and the four Weasleys don't already have Hawthorne's flu, and then I'll make the vaccine. It'll take about two hours to make, all told. And as long as you're already in here Ginny, I can start with you. You can stay sitting where you are, this won't take a minute."

            Remus quickly looked at Ginny's eyes and throat and found no trace of purple in either. He felt her forehead, and announced "You're perfectly fine; I'll go check the others." He left, taking his equipment with him. He started the vaccine, and went to check the others in the living room. Sirius, Ron, Fred, George, and Harry were all embroiled in a heated debate about Quidditch and looked up as Remus walked into the room. "Well, I've started the vaccine, it still has to finish simmering and then has to chill for a half-hour. While I'm waiting, I need to have a look at all of you except Harry to make sure you don't already have the flu. I've already seen to Ginny; she's fine. Sirius, you're next."

Remus pulled one of the armchairs into a corner and cast a privacy spell around it, and Sirius went and sat down. Remus shortly proclaimed him fine, and Sirius sat back down on the sofa next to Harry. Remus looked around the screen and said "Who's next?" The three brothers proceeded to all point at the others. Remus sighed. "All right Ron, you're next." Ron was found to be perfectly fine, and the process was repeated with Fred and George.

Remus then went and finished the vaccine, with Ron looking more and more nervous. Fred and George noticed, and both clapped Ron on the back, George saying "Buck up, mate; it isn't so bad."

"Yes, if you try anything like the last time you had to go for vaccinations we'll be sure to tease you about it for another five years." Added Fred.

Remus had finished the vaccine by now, and decided to once again see to Ginny first. He came into the bedroom where Hermione and Ginny were still to be found chatting, but ceased when Remus entered. "The vaccine is done, and I decided I'd get to you first before I had to tackle the boys in the living room." Ginny looked at Hermione and grinned.

"Guess it's your turn to distract me now Hermione; to tell the truth I've never been that fond of needles either." Hermione held Ginny's hand until Remus was finished, and Ginny called out as he was leaving the room "Good luck with Ron!"

The conversation in the living room also stopped as Remus came into the room and set the tray holding four syringes down on the bookshelf next to the chair. He came back around the screen that still surrounded the chair and said "All right, who's going to be the bigger man and go first?"

The Weasley brothers all pointed at each other again, and Sirius got up with a sigh. "I suppose that would be me, then." He went behind the screen, and came out a minute later rubbing his arm. "Honestly Moony, I think you enjoyed that."

Remus stuck his head around and asked "Okay, which of the twins is next?" Fred and George conferred for a minute before deciding to flip a coin for it. Ron grinned.

"Can't tease me now, can you?" he said.

Fred lost the coin toss, and George remarked "Hey, we're not scared like you are, but that doesn't mean we have to be jumping for joy about this." Fred came back and sent George behind, and then it was Ron's turn. Remus called him over, noticing that he didn't want to get up.

"Can't we not do this and say we did?" he pleaded.

Remus smiled and said "Ron, I know you don't want to do this, but it's necessary. Plus, I don't want to face the wrath of Molly Weasley, so come on." Sirius got up and together they hauled Ron off the sofa and onto the chair behind the screen. Remus rolled Ron's sleeve up, and Ron tensed.

Sirius grinned. "Tell you what, I know a good story that I can distract you with. I remember in our second year, there was a huge outbreak of a particularly nasty virus among the students; another magical one; I forget exactly which, and all of the muggle-born kids who hadn't had it had to be inoculated by Madam Pomfrey. I'm muggle-born myself, and so is" and here he grimaced "Peter. Now, you'd be surprised at how many people tried to get out of having to be vaccinated. Most of the people were first or second years, so Madam Pomfrey had her hands full trying to find people. There were people hiding in the Astronomy Tower, under beds. One girl tried to hide in Hagrid's pumpkin patch, I believe. Anyway, as much as I hate to draw comparisons with him, Peter was as deathly afraid of needles as you are. At any rate, he had the truly brilliant idea to try and hide in one of the trees by the lake. He never was the smartest of the bunch, and long story short we found him after he had fallen out of the tree and twisted his ankle. So he had to go to the hospital wing anyway, and Madam Pomfrey managed to give him his inoculation at the same time." While Sirius had Ron's attention, Remus quickly administered the injection and put a band-aid on Ron's arm.

"There, I'm finished." Remus said, smiling. "Hardly felt a thing, did you? And by the way, that story was completely true. Although Sirius did leave out the part where James and I had to go with him because he didn't want to go to Madam Pomfrey either."

Remus disabled the privacy screen as Sirius indignantly pointed out "Hey, at least I didn't try to hide in a tree. And as Fred so eloquently put it, I wasn't as scared as he was, but I didn't have to be jumping for joy about it."

Ron unsteadily got to his feet and then immediately sat back down again. Remus put a hand on his shoulder and said "Are you feeling dizzy?" Ron nodded. "That can happen; you just sit there for a few minutes until your head clears." He went to go put his equipment away, and came back a minute later. Ron, Fred, and George were arguing about something or other, and Harry and Sirius were watching them, amused. Everyone spent the rest of the day chatting and playing games, while Remus and Sirius caught up on their correspondence.

Revised A/N: As regards all of the stuff about the vaccine and all of that- I'm going on a limited amount of medical knowledge here, so chalk the rest up to artistic license. I humbly apologize, but in the year or so that this fic has languished in the bowels of ff.net, I have yet to come up with a good way to end it. Therefore, unless I can get a really good suggestion on how to wrap this up, this fic will have to remain uncompleted. It was just my first attempt at fanfiction anway; I wasn't really thinking about the plot too much, so this is just a one-shot fic. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and be sure to check out my latest fic! It's complete, I promise you; I spent all summer writing it. I've also written a few slash MSTs for those of you who like that sort of thing, and can be found at the Slash_Grievances Yahoo! Group under the same pen name.