A/N: Back again with yet another chapter, this time prompt based: Hermione is exhausted because both kids have the flu. How does Ron handle her?
Fair warning - sick kids so if you have tummy troubles, you might want to skip this particular installment. - DG
"Mummy, I don't feel good."
Hermione looked up from her legal journal discussing Centaur rights on the Continent to see her son Hugo looking rather green around the eyes.
"Is your tummy still bothering you?"
"Yes Mummy." A few tears leaked out of his eyes and she kept her face passive. Hugo looked much like his father but he was emotional and sensitive like she was. He was the best of both of them, most of the time. But when he got sick, he was just like his father: cryying in agony even with the sniffles.
"Come here, sweetie." Hugo crawled into his Mum's lap and she felt his head. "You're burning up! Let's get you something."
He whimpered when she lowered him to the ground and he whined again before retching all over the living room floor. He started crying harder and wretched again, leaving a mess everywhere.
She pulled her wand from her pocket and banished the mess immediately, and cast a charm in the room to pull the smell out of the air. Hermione took Hugo to the bathroom and stripped him out of his soiled pyjamas and set him in the tub. She quickly turned on the water and made it the right temperature. "Once you're cleaned up, it's potions for you and back to bed to sleep some more."
Hermione tidied up her son and heard her daughter in the room across the hall. Rose was working on her lessons in her room, and as usual, she had the telly on. She'd check on her once she put Hugo in bed.
"Sweetie, you feel better yet?"
Hugo nodded and she pulled him from the bathtub and toweled him dry, refusing to use magic on him when he was feeling dreadful.
Bang Bang Bang
"What is it Rose?"
"I need in there, Mum!"
Hermione opened the door and Rose ran in. She reached the toilet and wretched into it. Hermione fought the rolling of her stomach but felt Hugo shuddering. "Mummy," he whined before being sick again, this time all over the towel she wrapped him up in.
"This is going to be a very long night, I reckon," she said to herself. "Rose, honey, when you're done, go ahead and take your clothes off and get a shower. I'll be back in shortly. I need to owl your Daddy at the shop and warn him that both of you are sick. I need to owl work and tell them I won't be in again tomorrow."
Rose looked up from the toilet and looked green around the eyes too.
"Was anyone sick at school this week?" Hermione tossed aside Hugo's soiled towel and put a fresh one around him. She swirled her wand at it and he calmed down a little at the warmth.
"Miss Winchester wasn't at school the last two days. Miss Weisskopf was our teacher."
"'Lovely,' Hermione groaned to herself. "Come on sweetie and let's get you into the bed."
Hermione picked up Hugo in his bath towel and took him to his room. She quickly dressed him in some superhero pants he picked out and a white t-shirt. "Now you look like Daddy," she quipped but Hugo looked too miserable to smile. "You get under the covers and I'll go get you something for the fever."
She stopped Rose before she closed the bathroom door. "Once you're done, I'll tuck you into bed, too. Are you running a fever?" Hermione felt her head and it was hot, too. "Looks like both of you are sick."
"My tummy hurt this afternoon but I thought it was lunch of corned beef and cabbage. It wasn't like Gramma Jean makes."
"Finish up and put on some clean pyjamas and I'll tuck you into bed too. I need to get some medicine for both of you."
"Okay Mummy," Rose answered as Hermione went to the kitchen to get medicine for the kids.
She used her wand to unseal the medicine cabinet. She reached for the small bottle of children's paracetamol and picked up the measuring cup that went with it. She returned to Hugo's bedroom and gave him his dose before going to Rose's room and giving her a dose, too. "Now you try to sleep. You won't be going to school tomorrow."
Rose pouted. "Mum, I'll miss the party."
"And you'll have to miss the party, dear. You're running a fever and the school rules are that a fever means no school for 24 hours. Sorry, dear, but you're not going. Maybe if you're feeling better Sunday you can have extra pudding at Gramma Molly's house."
"Yes Mummy," Rose whined. Hermione kissed her daughter on the forehead and went next door to Hugo's room. He was bundled under all of his blankets and shivering hard.
"You cold, sweetie?"
Two smaller brown eyes looked up. "I'm cold, Mummy. Make it warm, please."
Hermione pulled her wand and cast a warming charm on his blankets. He smiled slightly and she watched as he drifted off to sleep.
She went back to the kitchen and replaced the bottle of children's paracematol and sealed it back up. "Now to let Ron know," she said to herself as she went to the den and the fireplace.
Hermione threw in a handful of Floo powder and yelled into the fireplace, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and within seconds, George was there looking concerned.
"Can you grab Ron for just a second?"
"Everything square Hermione?" George asked since Hermione rarely firecalled the store.
"The kids are sick and I wanted Ron to pick up a couple of things before coming home since it looks like I won't be going to work tomorrow and maybe Friday, too."
"Ugh. Fred had that last week. I'll go get the tosser."
"You do that," Hermione said to George's departing back. She waited a minute before Ron put his face in the fire."
"George said the kids are sick?"
"Yeah, both of them. I think it's the flu. Can you pick up takeaway and a small bottle of pepper-up potion from the apothecary around the corner from the Leaky?"
"Yeah, sure, no problem. Anything else you need?"
"Let me check the cabinet and see if I need anything else. Hold on," Hermione said before pulling her face from the fire and going to check the medicine cabinet. She then checked the refrigerator before returning to the fireplace. "And we'll need some pumpkin juice, too. I didn't realize the kids drank almost an entire quart of it when they came home."
"Did you look and see if we still have butterbeer?" Ron asked.
"There's three in the cabinet, dear. You know I don't drink during the week."
"Fair point. I'll pick those things up before I come home."
"Thanks, love. I'll see you when you get home."
"It'll be after seven, probably, since I'm closing up shop."
"Take your time. I reckon I'll be up late anyway."
"Do you need me to stop by the Ministry and pick up anything from Ms. Blunt?"
"I'll owl her in the morning so I think I'm sorted. I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight."
"Really?"
"Ron, you're opening in the morning for George. And you'll be short on sleep if you're up with the kids half the night like last time. It's fine. I'll take care of it."
"Okay. I'll pick those things up and see you when I get home."
"Thanks, dear."
Ron pulled his head out of the fire and Hermione did too. She stood up and heard whimpering from one of the rooms. She went to check on Rose and found her sound asleep. She looked in next door and saw Hugo thrashing in the bed.
"Oh bother," she went to soothe him and felt his head. She stood up immediately and went to the bathroom across the hall for a cool wet flannel. When she returned, he'd kicked off the bedclothes and was thrashing again.
"Shhhh. It's ok. You're fine. Mummy will help." She ran the flannel over his face and round his neck and Hugo settled down again. "You might be better out on the couch with me, dear." She hoisted his thin frame up from the bed and carted him into the den. Within seconds, she had him stretched out on the couch with her under two blankets and a pillow – along with the flannel in a dish.
Hermione picked up her journal and heard more thrashing from the bedrooms.
She saw Hugo sleeping comfortably so she went to check on Rose. Sure enough, she was thrashing in her bed, too, after having torn the bedclothes off.
"Sweetie, wake up."
Rose rolled over in her bed, threatening to roll out of the double bed, and swung hard, hitting Hermione accidently in the arm.
"Sweetie, wake up."
Rose moaned and rolled over, punching the wall with her fist.
"Rose, wake up dear."
Rose opened her eyes but they rolled back into her head. She moaned again and rolled to the other side of the bed.
"Come on sweetie, we'll go in the den with your brother." She lifted her older daughter up, all seventy pounds of arms and legs and carried her into the den with her brother. Sure enough, Hugo had thrown off his second blanket and was curled up into a ball with the first one, snoring away in a faint imitation of his father.
"Here you are sweetie. That's it." Rose whimpered once as Hermione settled her daughter onto the couch with Hugo and tucked her into her own blanket. One cooling charm later and she was softly snoring too.
Ron tapped the door to their flat and slowly opened it. The groceries and sack of takeaway for dinner would suffice considering the kids were sick. He'd eat and listen to the telly some before going to bed for a short night and a long day tomorrow at the store.
Ron took three steps into the flat and froze. He knew he was late getting home because he had to go to a third apothecary to find the potions Hermione asked for but he wasn't that late.
Hermione was asleep in his recliner, a wand in her hand and her hair completely frizzed out.
He tiptoed over to the den and saw the kids asleep on their oversized couch, blankets thrown onto the ground and drool stains on the couch.
Ron bent down to touch his wife and heard her yelp slightly.
"Shhh. It's me. I'm home."
"Good," she whispered. "I just got the kids down to sleep, I think. What time is it?"
"A little after 9, I reckon. I had to run to Hogsmeade to pick up those potions you want. The apothecary in London was out this evening after work."
"Hogsmeade! Ron!"
"Hush, you'll wake the kids."
She got up from the chair and Ron took a sniff. "That bad, huh?"
"Yeah, they both act like they've got the flu. Hugo might be worse off though since his fever is staying high right now. I gave them a second dose of children's paracetamol to help with the fevers about an hour ago." She took a sniff. "You brought home dinner too. Good. I'm knackered already."
"I'll watch the kids while you go get a shower. I'll plate dinner too if you want."
"Are you saying I stink?"
"A little, but I know it's from the kids."
She sighed. "I know. I had to clean up Hugo three times already. Rose has been as troublesome, thrashing in her sleep something fierce. I almost thought she was having nightmares the way she was tossing and turning before I put some cooling charms on her."
Ron pulled her close and kissed her on the temple. "Dinner will be ready when you get back. Do you want a glass of wine, or some fresh tea, or something else?"
"Tea will be fine. I'm sure I'll be up and down the rest of the night with the kids."
"I'll stay up with them a little if you want to get a nap."
"I doubt I'll sleep anymore. I hadn't realized I'd dozed off when you came in. But I'll take that shower and dinner and then you can go get some sleep."
"And you're going to be knackered in the morning and still dealing with two sick kids."
"Yeah, and what's your point?" She stood a fair imitation of her mother right then.
"I know I have to work tomorrow but let me help some tonight. I know you're going to have a migraine tomorrow from being up two days straight and worrying about them won't help either."
"Ron, I – "
"Hermione, they are our kids, not just yours. Let me help."
She sagged and he opened his arms to hold her. "I'll put dinner under a warming charm and sit up with the kids for a couple of hours. You get a bath and a nap and I'll wake you 'round midnight."
"Are you sure? What if the kids wake?"
"I'll deal with them as best as I can. It's not like when they were babies and I couldn't feed them. I can put some cooling charms on them if they get too hot or warming charms if their fevers grow again. But you need rest, too."
"I'm fine," She replied before a jaw breaking yawn.
"And you were up and down all last night with Hugo and I bet you didn't have a chance to sleep any today besides that one forced nap tonight. Right?"
"I reckon so. But the kids are sick and he needed me and – "
"So let me help some and get a nap. I'll sit up and will check on them while you're asleep. I'm here for you too, remember?"
"Fine," she huffed. "I'll do that. Maybe the hot shower will help."
Ron kissed her on the nose and watched her walk back to their bedroom.
"Daddy," a weak voice piped up from the den. "I want some water."
"Sure thing," he replied back for his daughter and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"Daddy home," Hugo spoke up.
Ron filled a second glass of water for his son and went to the den. Both kids were rumpled and looked feverish but he didn't dare give them more medicine like Hermione did. "Here you are. Drink up and maybe I can get you some crisps later if your tummies cooperate."
"Where's Mum?" Rose asked wearily.
"She's in the shower and then going to lay down for a nap. You're stuck with me for a spell."
Hugo got up from his end of the couch and brought his blanket with him. He stood silently before his Daddy until Ron settled into his chair with the takeaway. Once he was in his chair, Hugo curled up in his lap, blanket wrapped around him, and fell fast asleep.
"Dad?"
Ron looked up from the newspaper in his hands. Rose stood there in her pyjamas with a forlorn look on her face.
Ron put aside his takeaway carton and opened his arm for his daughter."Come on sweetie. I'll shove this one over some so you can snuggle too."
Ron shifted Hugo a little to his left arm and then opened his right one up. Rose crawled up into her daddy's lap and snuggled into his chest, acting like she was three but also as tall as her Mum at 10.
Rose fell asleep almost immediately and Ron followed suit soon after, cherishing that his kids still needed him sometimes.