Chapter thirty-four - 'Lupin's dress taste is pretty horrible as well but you still have to drink it!'
The Black family home, now only containing one Black and one future inheritor was for the first time in many weeks absolutely silent. Harry had finally gone to sleep after managing a mouthful of food, he wasn't sleeping brilliantly and Lupin was barely dosing in the chair next to him. Sirius meanwhile had headed down to get some food and sit in the cold order-come-dinning room for a while as it was the closest he ever got to fresh air away from Harry's usually quiet stuffy bedroom.
Things had barely improved over the last few weeks but as Woolnough regularly pointed out to everyone concerned, it was an improvement despite Harry's regular troubled days of cold turkey. Sirius and Lupin had lost count of how many variations of potion they'd tried Harry on and were both really feeling the strain of 24hour care and badly needed a bit of rest bite.
They'd tried getting Tonks to help out a bit but it never really worked much to her frustration, she just hadn't spent enough time with Harry and there was never a simple answer to anything anymore with him. Harry's mood's and needs changed quicker than you could provide them so often Sirius thought it was just pot luck that he found the right answer to keep him calm and comfortable which was the best he could hope for.
Just then a gong rang through the stairs of the house that signalled someone waiting on the door step to be let in. Thinking a few seconds of air wafting in from outside might help him a bit Sirius quickly got up to un bolt the door and check who it was before removing the catches.
"Oh hello Arthur, its a bit late for a visit, what's the matter?" Sirius asked gruffly, closing the front door behind a very disgruntled looking Mr Weasley as he moved into the dinning room and sat down with a flump.
"Yeah well she's never gonna come here looking for me and if she does, I can always get you to bolt her out can't I?" He grumbled with an odd grin as he pulled off his hat and coat and pulling a chair up closer to the fire near where Sirius had been sat half asleep for the past couple of hours in his forced rest time.
"I guess." Sirius wondered sitting down next to the very peculiar Mr Weasley, if it wasn't for the fact that he'd given both the correct password to the house and checked out ok by the handy nearly always correct lie detector Moody had installed as a precaution then he would have wondered if Arthur wasn't in fact an impostor.
"How is Harry these days? Is he getting any better yet?" Mr Weasley asked trying to be polite but some how finding it far more difficult than his nature ever did before.
"Not really, he's having a rough week, Lupin's sat with him upstairs at the moment. He thinks I need a bit of a break from looking after him so took over for the night. But it's not going too well because I'm supposed to be sleeping." Sirius explained sitting down and rubbing his tired eyes.
"Oh well, that's a shame but I'm sure he'll come through it. Would you like a brandy Sirius? I think I could do with a large few tonight.' He asked pulling out two tumblers and a bottle from his briefcase.
'That woman is beyond any help. I mean, why does she have to be such an interfering old bat with other people? I can't bear to be around her any more, it's more than just embarrassing now. We were always such a happy couple before, hardly argued at all but now, she'd hopeless. I'm just glad the ministry keeps me so busy. The extra money's nice but coming home to that every night is enough to make any man drink a bit more than he should once in a while." He grumbled pouring out two large glasses and handing one roughly to Sirius before downing his own and poured another out.
"Well you're welcome to stay here tonight if you want. As long as you don't mind the sound of Harry screaming at half five in the morning when we try and force the first batch of potion down him." Sirius explained but something finally twigged in Arthur that Sirius didn't seem to be telling any sort of a joke and he started to behave a little more like the placid well mannered man he was.
"I'm very grateful for the offer Sirius. Is it really that bad with him these days? Moody mentioned you were having a few problems and Dumbledore keeps moving the meeting place around so less people come here."
"Yeah, Harry isn't doing so well with people at the moment. And I don't want many people seeing him like this. He's so utterly helpless and spends most his time shouting and screaming, throwing up or ramberling on in some hallucination. I know its still him in there, so I don't want him getting embarrassed by other people seeing him like this. He has such stupid pride sometimes and it's always the first thing that kicks in when he manages to sit up and be himself for a short while."
"Oh I'm so sorry Sirius. But he only has as much pride as his father and no one can fault him for that, now can they?" Mr Weasley sighed making a point to notice how weary Sirius looked if only to make his own problems feel more trivial for a moment.
"I suppose not." Sirius sighed often wondering if James would have been able to come up with some answer to it all, if he was only alive but then he had the recurring image that Harry wouldn't even be ill if James were alive and almost all the horrible things that had ever happened to him probably wouldn't have happened either.
"Is he always like that or is he getting better do you think, the last time I saw him he seemed so much more together?"
"No it's not always like this, but the potions are getting so much stronger now and we have to push him through he whole set otherwise we end up starting over again. Then he quickly becomes addicted to things and when we wean him off it takes so much longer to get him cold turkey before starting the next batch. It's so much harder for him to cope with, so everything becomes a hundred times worse. He can't cope with the littlest of things and falls to pieces. I have to do absolutely everything for him now and he hates it."
"Is Woolnough still no closer to finding the right mix to get him together." Mr Weasley asked supping at his glass again that Sirius was suspicious might have refilled itself again when he was rubbing his eyes.
"No he is. Dumbledore and Woolnough both say we're getting closer but because were dealing with such strong substances it's really hard to get the right balance. Harry was doing so well with the last attempt but then we found out how all his personality was getting squashed. He was just empty, he never dreamed or laughed or anything and as soon as I worked it out I couldn't bare to see him so empty. I'd rather he was screaming in his own little horrible world. Woolnough thinks he may well be a much more placid person than he used to be when we get him on the right mix, but Harry wouldn't like it if he couldn't imagine anything. It was like he was just an empty shell or something and he just sat there doing nothing all the time." Sirius explained gulping down his cooking brandy and pushing his glass away to stop the temptation of downing another.
"But you're getting close now Sirius, it won't be long now and you'll have Harry back to being more his old self." Arthur tried to sooth but it was clear Sirius needed the time to get the state of Harry off his chest to someone other than Remus.
"It's so hard though seeing him like this. He cry's his eyes out for hours and hours and he's getting so thin again. He won't eat anything and if I manage to force something down him he chucks it back up most the time and usually all over himself. And that will make him start crying all over again because he hates it so much." Sirius explained looking completely depressed and frightened for Harry in the fire light.
"I promise you he will get through this. You're doing the right thing. Every one who knows about what's going on says the same thing, you've done brilliantly looking after Harry. He cares so much about you and trusts you so much more than anyone else, try and hang in there a bit longer Sirius and you'll get him back again. You just wait and see."
"But still, it's so hard for him. When you hear him screaming at you to make it all stop between holding him up so he doesn't swallow his own vomit and holding him down so he doesn't hurt himself again on something." Sirius hated every minuet of being around Harry now he had started shouting how much he hated Sirius. He knew he had to do it, he didn't want anybody else inflicting the pain he did on Harry but in the end, how can causing Harry this much pain be good in the long run?
Sirius was never going to forget that look of childish fear he got from Harry every time when he came to wake him up in the morning with a bottle of foaming blue potion. Harry knew it was going to taste like ash and burn his mouth and make him feel like the entire world was about to freeze over starting with his stomach but still Sirius gave it to him.
"At least deep down you know Harry still cares about you. And when he comes through this he will be so much better, you'll see he will. You can sit and tell him all the funny things that happened and he'll laugh away with his girly little giggle and probably never remember any of it even if you told him." Mr Weasley explained putting a hand on Sirius's shoulder and showing just how many he'd had already.
"I guess, but what about you and Molly? What happened to get you to in such a state?" Sirius asked wanting to change the subject and return the favour of an understanding ear for a bit while he tried to think about something other than Harry screaming in a fit of rage on the landing floor that morning as Sirius pinned him down and Lupin poured the potion down his neck.
"Oh her. I can't stand to be around the women any more. I told her tonight that if she doesn't stop interfering with other people I'll disown her. She can have the house I don't care, it's so empty these days with all the kids gone. Ginny ha! No wonder she's turning out to be so difficult with a mother like that as a role model." Mr Weasley explained pushing his glass away again and slouching back in his chair to feel the effects of too much brandy wash over his body, clearly he'd had one or two of something before he even arrived that evening.
"Ginny isn't that difficult, Tonks was worse than her I'm sure and it can't be that bad? Ginny's quiet nice really when I see her, she could be a hell of a lot worse, specially seen as you aren't a granddad yet!" Sirius wondered watching how thin and grey Mr Weasley was looking these days in his face.
"Coming from you! You can't stand my wife when she stops here for a few days, how do you think I feel coming home to that every single night? You know I think I might stop here tomorrow night as well. I can get a few extra hours kip in the morning that way and go straight into work early without having her winging on at me." He explained opening his case and taking another quick swig of brandy straight from the bottle.
"Sure, if you think it'll do some good. It can't be that bad though. I mean, if you've threatened to walk out maybe she'll change her ways a bit and try a bit harder?"
"You really think that or are you just bullshitting me to get me to feel better?"
"To be honest I'm very, very tired, so it's a bit of both. But there must have been something that kept you together. Ginny's been at Hogwarts years now. You must be used to having all your kids away by now?" Sirius explained carefully having been completely oblivious to any Weasley marital problems, other than Molly Weasley's dislike of Bill's choice in Fleur as a wife.
"I am. I liked having them all away at times. After all these years of nappy's and children it's nice to finally have a more adult home but Molly, oh god, she's got this bloody empty nest thing all of a sudden and pushes her way into other people's business to make up for it." Mr Weasley snapped and although Sirius totally agreed with Mr Weasley he wasn't going to talk him in to leaving his wife completely, it just wouldn't be fair on the Weasley offspring. As you can hardly count Bill as a child anymore and if the rumours were true, one of the Weasley boys had already managed to make Arthur effectively a grandfather although no one was quiet sure who and when.
"Do you think you two can get past it?" He asked in the customary manly sympathetic way.
"I don't know, Bill reckoned it was just a temporary glitch that would sort itself out in no time!"
"Well there you go. He's far more sensible than he should be for his age!" Sirius added hopefully but then saw the look on Mr Weasley's face and knew this certainly wasn't the case.
"He said that over the summer. And since then despite me taking some time off just to spend some quality time with her it's just gone from bad to worse."
"Did Bill say owt else?" Sirius wondered hopefully.
"Not really, he had to make a run for it because Molly was on at him again about Fleur. Seems he told Charlie and it got back to me and unfortunately Molly as well, that if she'd been Charlie's bird causing a fuss, he'd have ditcher her ages ago and made off with at least a cousin or a sister by now to get back at her."
"Spoken like a true callow youth." Sirius added proudly, Mr Weasley however finally lifted his head up and smiled weakly.
"Yeah isn't he just. Charlie always has a string of girls one after another and ditches em all. Not that Molly knows most of this but still, he had one girl that got really quiet serious but he gave her the boot rather quick when she started talking moving in together, I'd hate to think what would happen if one started mentioning marriage to him." Mr Weasley laughed in his pathetic attempt to be rude or cruel neither of them suited him at all, he looked as bad as James trying to be serious when he was at school.
"Yeah well Charlie's not that old yet. From what I saw he needs a few more years to mature. Chase a few more dragons and what not and then he'll be fine." Sirius added confidently, out of all the Weasley's, Charlie was the only one he thought reminded him of himself but it didn't really make him like him more. Sirius in a moment of parenting madness didn't think he would be a good influence on Harry and was glad he often wasn't around much when Harry was.
"Yeah I guess. How long do you think I can leave it with Molly before she gives up on me?" Mr Weasley asked curiously as Sirius had to think a moment before answering.
"Few days and she'll be a total wreck I bet." Sirius replied honestly but Mr Weasley nodded a bit and came to a firm conclusion.
"Can I stop a week then?" He suddenly asked as Sirius started to get up.
"Sure but you might want to stick a bed together in the living room. Harry gets a bit loud some times. In any case, you could do with you sleep and we could do with the company." Sirius added taking the bottle of brandy quickly from Mr Weasley and opening the door to the living room.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble. Don't worry about me, I'll see to myself. I could do with a few extra hours to work in the evenings any way. But if you want any help with Harry or anything at all, just ask?"
"I will. Now go get some sleep I've got to get Harry's poison together again in time for the morning." Sirius added darkly as he left Mr Weasley to sit quiet for a bit in the old hardly used living room before making himself a little bed and laying down comfortably.
After five days of Mr Weasley camped out at Sirius's, Bill turned up late in the evening to give his father an ear bashing about marriage. After over an hour of heated whispered discussions in the basement, so not as to wake Harry, it ended with Bill claiming that his dad should take one for the family and stop his wife from ruining the lives of all his children. Mr Weasley had merely said he'd think about it and suggested Bill went to stop with Fleur's family for a bit and keep away from their mother seen as they had made some time off together to be coupley.
Sirius hadn't really been very awake to listen to this, he just didn't want them waking Harry up now he'd finally gone to sleep properly and stopped being sick every quarter of an hour. Lupin been the supportive easily entertained people watcher, had sat in to keep things calm but as the full moon was quickly coming up on him again he couldn't do much more than watch and snigger at the scene before him.
Tonks however had a much more difficult time of it while Mr Weasley hid at work and the impenetrable fortress of Sirius's family home. Mrs Weasley knew full well that was where he was hiding, because it was the only place she refused to step foot in to while Sirius had such total control over Harry's health. Tonks though had unfortunately gone to see how Mrs Weasley was coping and was hoping to offer a friend to listen to her for a bit but instead got an overbearing ear bashing.
A hundred different bits of advice on how to secure Remus as a husband and pumped for every bit of information Tonks couldn't pin down. When she finally returned to work in the afternoon she'd endured far worse than anything she'd been trained to cope with and even Moody who having suffered endless amounts of torture, agreed Tonks should take five minuets to get herself together before returning to work. Much to Podmore's amusement Tonks found work at Kingsley to be a bit of light relief.
On the sixth day of Arthur's flight from home Harry had come off his previous batch of potion that had in two words from Woolnough gone 'dreadfully wrong' and was now on the second day of his new potion and was beginning to feel more himself. There was the constant odd side affect that his peculiar taste for Tabasco and anything had come back, and Harry did still suffer from regular personality shift between what Sirius now called Henry and Harry to keep track of them both.
One would only eat one thing and the other another and although both of them refused to sleep in Harry's bed they each had very different ways they liked to sleep and eat. Other than that though, he seemed to be coping better and came to sit at the dinner table with Mr Weasley in the late afternoon. It was the first time in a fortnight making Sirius surprisingly optimistic, despite the fact that the last time Harry had tried this he'd completely collapsed, consequently spending two days sat in complete silence and worrying Sirius that he'd forgotten how to talk.
Sirius could see along with the others how dreadfully thin Harry was looking and how pale he'd grown over the last week but was just so overjoyed to see Harry doing something other than throw up that he tried his best to keep the conversation jolly. He even aloud Mr Weasley to make Harry believe he'd just popped over to London for two days as he had several early morning meetings and it was easier to use Grimmauld Place as a base than the Burro.
Harry seemed perfectly happy with Arthur's off hand comment and slowly ate his way through a small amount of vegetables that Sirius had carefully steamed for him having decided it might be best to keep Harry on simple foods for the time been like Woolnough had suggested and had flatly refused to let Harry soak his plate in Tobasco and Marmite. Partly because Sirius couldn't stand the smell of Marmite and partly because he was worried about it burning Harry's lips too much when he threw it up again which was more likely to be the case at some point that night than not.
"Are things as bad as ever at the Ministry?' Harry began curiously but seeing Mr Weasley's slightly confused face he continued.
'You're looking a bit tired that's all." Harry explained politely as Mr Weasley forced himself to smile back at Harry and this surprisingly uncomfortable meal he'd sat down with them since Harry had spotted Mr Weasley's nightwear in the living room and was sure they weren't Lupin's.
"Yes I'm afraid so Harry, Scrimgeour is worse than Fudge in some ways, but fortunately he's so all consumed by one thing that he barely notices half a dozen other things that are happening right under his nose. It makes the Order's life a lot easier some times but everything else at the ministry is pretty hectic." He explained stopping to take his time chewing on an extra large piece of chicken breast.
"Well I guess if it helps the Order. Did Dumbledore come see me some time last week?" Harry suddenly wondered finishing his carrots and pouring Tabasco on his mashed potatoes now Sirius had given in and past Harry a bottle he'd been itching for the last fifteen minuets.
"Yeah but you weren't feeling well at the time so I let you sleep through most of his visit.' Sirius explained carefully, but this was hardly the truth. Harry had been ill but had been well awake and either throwing up or screaming how much he hated his mother for dying and leaving him all alone. Harry couldn't remember any of this and Sirius didn't want him to so had decided to keep it a secret along with everything else Harry had screamed in his madness recently about how much he hated his mother for screaming all the time.
'He's coming again soon Harry, to see if your feeling better. Woolnough wants to see you again as well, once you've taken a few more potions." Sirius added casually but this only worked because he was feeling so tired and couldn't spare the energy to give things away in his facial expressions to Harry.
"Yeah I feel a lot better this time than last. I guess I didn't take to it very well, I can hardly remember anything since you let me watch red dwarf with Tonks." Harry explained unaware of how this seemed like months ago for Sirius and was actually nearer two weeks and not a few days like Harry seemed to think.
"Well she's stopping over again tomorrow night if you want to watch some more with her." Lupin explained not half as good at keeping himself composed in front of Harry as Sirius was. He couldn't bare the sight of Harry at the moment, it made him feel so sad and empty inside and it was only the sight of Sirius struggling so much with him, that stopped Lupin from playing his usual stupid trick and hiding from people when he was uncomfortable, Harry needed Sirius and Sirius needed Lupin so he helped anyway he could.
"Oh good. Can I go out again for a walk soon? My legs feel really stiff and sore, did I get any chance to move around much?" He asked rubbing his knee and happily finishing off the last of his mashed potatoes.
"We'll see, after you've been to see Woolnough Harry. You barely left your bedroom last week.' Sirius explained but both the other men knew that this really meant that Harry only left his bed when Sirius had to change the sheets having cleaned vomit off them too often with magic so they disintegrated. Sirius saw Harry's slightly let down face and tried to add something to his comment.
'Well at least you'll get to walk around and have a change of scenery when we go see Woolnough." Sirius explained visibly watching Harry's chirpy little face droop a little before he'd even started.
"I guess, but it's not the same as been outside or going to see Quidditch at school." Harry explained sulking slightly and picking at the last of his meal. Sirius knew how he felt here, as the only outdoors he got was hanging his head out the window or standing in the pokey little back yard of the house in the dark with the stench of sewerage around him.
Other than that he was always either in Grimmauld place or Woolnough's office which was beginning to feel more and more underground as the novelty had quickly worn off at being somewhere new.
"They'll be another match later in the year you can go see? I promise Harry, but I'd rather you got better first before wondering off around the woods with Lupin that's all."
"I know. I'm tired now, can I go to bed?" Harry asked looking just as fed up as Sirius felt and wanting an excuse to flop on his bed for a bit and sulk before going to sleep.
"Sure if you're tired. I'll be through in a bit ok." He added deciding Harry can't get in to too much trouble walking across the hall to his bedroom and climbing on to his bed. After all, he could see right into Harry's room from here as he hadn't gotten around to fixing all the doors back on yet after Harry's sudden dislike of them a few weeks ago and therefore smashed all the doors into nothing more than wood chippings. You couldn't even use them as fire wood they were so small.
"He looks a lot better Sirius you should be glad." Mr Weasley explained having seen Harry roll on to his bed behind the wall and watched his trousers get flung over on to the middle of the floor in a true teenage boy style.
"I know, but how longs it going to last? This mix has got muggle drug's in it. Tonks laughs and call's it weed or something." Sirius sighed sitting back in his chair and rubbing his eyes again.
"That's something muggles smoke isn't it?" Mr Weasley asked unable to contain his curiosity of muggles even when he was miserable.
"Yeah I think so, Tonks said it was one of those illegal things some muggles take to get high on or something like that." Sirius explained as Lupin couldn't help but smile weekly.
"You've gotta admit it is slightly funny.' He added trying to lighten Sirius's mood again.
'I mean this looks like a decent batch he's walking around and talking fine. Yes he's still a bit odd but that might be just tiredness from the last lot. His body went through hell last week he's bound to be having side affects still."
"You don't have to remind me!" Sirius snapped tiredly but Lupin and Mr Weasley never took offence.
"I know, I know.' Lupin explained quickly leaning toward Sirius.
'But look what a difference this new potions made on him. Try and look on the bright side a bit Sirius, at least you can still see Harry in him again, and he's eating well something." Lupin tried to get Sirius to warm up a bit again but it would take more than a few days to convince Sirius, Harry had been normal before this and ended up in a state a few hours later.
"I guess I just daren't get my hopes up, he could roll over in a minuet and start puking again and I'll just have to sit with him though it all until he finally stops."
"Go get some sleep Sirius, we'll sit up for a bit and keep an eye on Harry." Mr Wealsey added as Sirius got up.
"Yeah well I'll sleep in there again." Sirius mumbled as he started to leave.
"I know but go to sleep properly and I'll come and give ya a kick if he starts doing something odd. But honestly you could do with some rest." Lupin tried to smile and Sirius returned it as best he could before slouching off across the hall to roll on to his camp bed in Harry'. He didn't bother getting undressed and merely kicked his slipper shoes off and laid down to close his eyes.
It was nearly an hour after Harry had fallen asleep that Sirius finally let his eyes close properly and fell asleep. He always watched Harry sleep if he could. He looked so peaceful when he was properly asleep and Sirius often found himself hoping that if Harry was destined to have such a painful life, that Sirius could some how make him sleep though it all and only wake up for the better times.
He knew this was stupid but so was looking after a boy who'd survived all three of the unforgivable curses without much trouble and was now battling with a mental illness he'd inherited from his mother that usually only effects people when they reach late adult hood and were female. At least that was Woolnough's current theory as what was underlining cause, Sirius had been too tired and Harry had been too hysterical for him to catch the correct name for it.
The following day Sirius woke up with a start to see Lupin rocking his shoulders and handing him the next bottle of potion. It was ten to seven and some how Harry had slept through the entire night with only the odd murmur in his sleep and thankfully no vomiting. Maybe he really was finally over the worst of it and soon Sirius would be faced with the far less painful prospect of sending Harry back to school leaving only a grumpy werewolf for company.
"Did he sleep ok?" Lupin asked sitting down in the chair while Sirius moved to try and gently wake Harry up enough to give him his potion when the pocket watch chimed.
"Yeah, well much better than he has been." Sirius mumbled rubbing sleep out his eyes and gently shaking Harry's shoulders more.
"Bugger off I'm asleep." Harry grumbled trying to roll back over.
"No Harry, wake up, you need to drink this." Sirius replied gently as he forced Harry's head from under his pillow and attempted to pull the squirming boy up so he'd be able to drink his potion.
"It tastes horrible." Harry continued to grumble still clearly half asleep.
"Lupin's dress taste is pretty horrible as well but you still have to drink it." Sirius grumbled yanking the pillow from Harry as he tried to disappear back under it and finally getting him to sit up properly. The pocket watch chimed and Harry rolled over on to Sirius lap and opened his mouth lazily for Sirius to pour it down his neck, then after shaking his head a bit laid back down to sulk for five minuets before drifting back off to sleep.
"Well that didn't seem so bad Sirius, maybe Woolnough is going to have some good news after all later." Lupin explained as Sirius followed him across the hallway and in to the living room.
"Yeah I guess and I suppose it would be nice to get a change of room for a while." Sirius decided allowing Lupin to conjure up some breakfast for them both as Sirius started re-reading Woolnough's last list come mini questionnaire and scribbled something down he thought seemed reasonably appropriate.
Woolnough seemed overly fond of these odd little forms. He said it was an easy way of getting Sirius to remember the most important stuff and found them really useful for his work to build on however dodgy Sirius's scrawling handwriting was, even at the best of times.
The two men sat down for breakfast quietly like normal. While Lupin read the paper Sirius sat annoying his friend by reading quicker over his shoulder and making useless comments before Lupin had got to that bit, when finally Harry wondered in. He had his dressing gown on over yesterdays boxers and god only knows what t-shirt but finally he was looking a bit on the hungry side as he sat down.
"I took my potion didn't I?" He asked sitting down next to Sirius and waiting for his breakfast to appear in front of him. He knew this was an utterly lazy way to behave but he had a bit of a headache and Sirius never complained and never failed to deliver something remotely interesting to eat.
"Yeah you took it and then rolled back over to sleep.' Sirius explained flicking his wand so some healthy brown bread toast and jam appeared next to Harry's diluted apple juice.
'How do you feel this morning?" He asked as Harry started to sup his drink and Lupin suddenly became much less interested in his paper despite not having to put up with Sirius at his shoulder any more.
"My head hurts and the after taste of that potion is foul. Can you make me drink something else after it next time?" He suddenly asked quietly downing his drink and pouring more out for himself. He wasn't utterly lazy after all.
"Sure if I can. You slept right through the night you know." Sirius added watching carefully as Harry bit into his toast.
"Am I still not aloud milk?" He asked swallowing hard and having another sip of juice to help it go down.
"No afraid not, there's plenty other things you can eat for breakfast you know. At least you can still eat wheat." He added as brightly as he could pouring himself another cup of tea which badly needed some milk but he daren't conjure any up for himself and not Harry.
"I guess. What time are we going to see Woolnough?" He asked rubbing between his eyes a bit too forcefully to be comfortable.
"About half nine. You need to get some rest in the afternoon though before we go. Because he wants to spend some time talking to you again I think, now you're doing better." Sirius now started adding yet more sugar to his tea to help the taste and Lupin went back to the paper properly.
"Is Dumbledore coming again?"
"Yeah, do you fancy having a bath or something today, make you feel a bit more refreshed?" He asked as Lupin took out a pencil and started attempting the crossword. He never could finish it and always gave up after a couple of hours, only to find that in about ten minuets after he'd given up, Sirius had come along with a red ink and corrected it all just to piss him off. Even while he'd been looking after Harry Sirius had found the time to correct Lupin's mistakes.
"Yeah, I guess you didn't wash my hair did you?" He added running his hands through thick grubby hair and not even attempting to make it lie a bit better, he was sure it had gone well past any comb-able stage now.
Harry didn't know why he was bothering to worry about it. Lupin always looked shabby these days, having long since given up on making much of an effort past a shave and soap unless he was going out to see Tonks. Although Lupin had lasted out longer than Sirius, who had given up making much of an effort if it was just the three of them together a long time ago. The majority of the time he only reason he bothered to shave was because Harry complained about his scratchy face when Sirius picked him up to clean vomit off something.
Even if Harry often dozed off in the middle of a conversation or started to be sick again the three had spent quiet a lot of time together in one way or another. The novelty had now worn off for Sirius and although he was still really happy to have Harry living and sulking around the place with him, he was beginning to feel like it was normal to live with Harry been so ill all of the time.
Harry unfortunately had now lost nearly all contact with his friends at Hogwarts, since they couldn't write about anything important and Harry hadn't been in a fit enough state to go to any Quidditch matches like he wanted. In the end it was only Ginny who tried her best with the mirror to get in touch with Harry even if he was usually either asleep or quiet violently ill when-ever she managed to get through to anyone.
Tonks fortunately in an attempt to be useful still made the effort to meet her or trips into Hogsmade but as she was now living at home more than Sirius's, she never really had a lot of information for Ginny to hear. To top it off the longer Harry spent off school the more his teachers realised how hard it was going to be for him to catch up with his school work and assumed he might have to drop back a year completely which was beginning to be the general feeling through-out the Quidditch team. There was the odd hopeful voice that claimed this meant another year to watch Harry's dives on his Firebolt but was often quickly silenced by the fact that everyone much preferred to have Harry here this year and not an extra year in a few years time.
The biggest shock of interest for anyone later that week however, came when Harry and Sirius returned from Woolnough's office to find Mr Weasley had made yet another flight out to them after attempting to go home to Mrs Weasley after a week like he'd promised. Harry merely grumbled something about being tired as he'd gone into a very stubborn mood when he was talking to Woolnough so now only craved Tabasco and his bed. Unfortunately Sirius was only going to give him one of these and consequently Harry seemed to be banging things around as best he could in stubborn response.
Sirius greeted Mr Weasley as best he could but quickly poked Harry up to his bed leaving Lupin to sit in the dinning room opposite with Mr Weasley. They stayed relatively quiet until Sirius finally left Harry, comfortably fast to sleep hanging off his bed sideways like he wanted whatever Sirius said about getting his head on the pillow a bit.
"I guess it didn't go so well then?" Sirius asked a little too pointedly to be polite but Mr Weasley didn't care, he felt like being as stubborn and moody as Harry but there was no way he'd ever get away with it.
"No not really Sirius. But before I get in a god awful mood because of that banshee I have of a wife, tell me about Harry. He's far more important and seemed a little odd before and I do hope its good news you've got to tell me."
"Henry's the moody one again, but really I just think he's just really tired. Woolnough did say he was doing much better though but, well you can see for yourself what he looks like."
Sirius sighed flicking his wand so a cup of tea appeared in front of him in his favourite mug. Remus and Arthur could see for themselves what Harry looked like, his skin was waxy and thin, stretched across his cheek bones and making his eyes seem dark and dingy by comparison.
His fingers were as thin and long as spiders legs and his wrists were about as wretched looking in size. Mr Weasley had seen him looking almost like a skeleton before but now he looked even worse, Lupin was sure it was a miracle Harry could still walk by himself and secretly Sirius hoped Lilly couldn't see him like this. He hoped that some how James, where ever he was, could shield her view of her little baby boy looking so deathly and cold.
"Henry?" Mr Weasley asked curiously.
"It's Sirius's way of distinguishing between Harry's two personality's, they seem to be blending a little bit now, but when he's tired you can tell a difference by his mood swings."
"And he's often very tired." Sirius added heavily drinking deeply from his cup having guiltily added a drop of milk to it.
"We don't call him Henry ever but if you saw him switch the change is remarkable, even when he still seems like original Harry." Lupin finished explaining carefully for Arthur.
"Did Woolnough give you any indication of how much longer it'll be to fix Harry's potions?" Arthur asked mainly to Lupin who seemed at the moment a little bit more together than Sirius who was staring blankly at the table hardly moving his chest even to breath.
"Not really, he hopes it won't be more than a couple of months but he said something about needing another sign to know he's on the right road before he can know for sure. It's still really just a case of time now, for Harry to get to grips with his potion's and then Woolnough doesn't want him back at school until his put a lot more weight back on and his body can cope with normal day to day things better."
"Harry's always been quiet a slight boy though, it shouldn't take long for you to fatten him up a bit."
"Yes but Woolnough say's it's not healthy for him to be on the underweight side to start with and won't let him go back to school until Sirius has got him well into the normal bracket and heavier than he started off. He was too thin before and clearly he's very good at just letting weight drop off him, so Woolnough wants him much heavier than he used to be to compensate. Plus most of his muscles are on the weaker end of things too from a lack of doing anything, furthest he walks is to just out the front door and that isn't nearly often enough and more and more now he needs more than a little help of someone if he's even walking for himself."
"I suppose, but Sirius I can see a brighter side to all this for you." Arthur decided firmly as Sirius looked up in disbelief, he certainly couldn't see a brighter side.
"What?"
"Well once Harry's on the right set of potion's he should be as normal as he'll ever be and perfectly happy. And it'll probably take quiet a bit of time for him to fill out and get his muscles back in working order, so you'll get to spend plenty of time with a rather normal Harry doing daft things like jumping on the furniture again for exercise. I'm quiet sure that's where Charlie got his sturdy legs from, jumping up and down on his bed. He definitely got through enough of them and you look like you could do with some good old jumping on the bed too."
At this Lupin laughed and even Sirius broke into a smile, James at school was always stupidly fond of jumping up and down on his bed to get his brain working again half way through homework, so maybe he and Harry could come up with some stupid games like that to get his body back to work again. Lupin didn't care for anyone else he met much these days, accept Tonks, but he was just so glad Mr Weasley had found a way to bring some shred of hope back into Sirius's eyes.
Sirius had seen Harry jump up and down on the sofa before and he didn't half laugh with his giddy little grin when he did. This happy little memory of Sirius's involving someone far from being dead was enough to make him pull himself back together and go to sleep properly next to Harry's twitching legs for the first time in weeks.
When Lupin went to check on the two he found Sirius asleep on the camp bed with and arm and chin dangling off the side of the bed and Harry laid opposite on his own bed in near enough the same pose. After contemplating it for a few moments Lupin decided it would probably be ok and retrieving the old camera from his room, took a picture of them both and went to magically develop it while they slept.
Sticking it in Harry's photo album for him he put it with a copy of his own photo of Sirius, laid out on the sofa in just his shorts and baby Harry sleeping on his chest in his nappy. It was a copy of a picture Lilly had taken that Lupin had never yet managed to show Sirius. It was Sirius's first attempts at been a godfather looking after Harry for the night. Lilly hadn't even made it down the road to dinner before rushing back to sit in the kitchen and check on them. James thought she was been daft but after seeing Sirius so pleased by how well he looked after Harry no-one had the heart to tell him he had hardly been alone with Harry for longer than half an hour.
"Harry, Harry, do you remember me? It's Sirius." Sirius explained gently from the top of the stairs as he looked wearily up at Harry. He was about twelve foot away and had blasted the heavy banister from the top of the stairs that went up into the rafters.
Leaning sideways in his sitting pose Harry was hanging on to part of the opening, panting, sweating and in very great danger of going completely out of control. He'd taken a dizzy turn on the landing after Sirius had helped him up the stairs and after magically throwing his godfather several meters backwards down the landing, he'd half crawled, half scrambled to where he was now and got stuck.
"Make it stop!" Harry shouted tears running down his face and more than just a suicidal glint in his eyes, as he looked down at the drop he was wavering above.
"Harry I can try and make it stop if you let me get you down from there."
"NO, MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" Harry bellowed even louder shuffling around in his seat a bit as he hung on to the sides tightly.
"Harry take a deep breath.' Sirius explained carefully as he looked around for what he could do, he didn't even have his wand. Harry had got frightened earlier when he saw Sirius holding it out and some how had managed to stick it to ceiling in his bedroom so it was safe out of everyone's reach. Unfortunately unlike Harry, Sirius wasn't very good at doing magic without his wand.
'Harry tell me what you want to stop, what's the matter, tell me what it is so I can help you?" Sirius tried, looking up at Harry's face and trying his best to keep the panic out his voice.
"My head hurts." He groaned.
"I know Harry, but sitting up there is only going to make it worse." Sirius explained gently.
"And I feel sick, I hate feeling sick, I'm fed up of it, all I ever do is feel sick!" Harry explained stubbornly while Sirius tried to move around and see if there was anyway he could reach Harry by climbing on the chest of draws.
Unfortunately as he soon came aware of, he wouldn't be able to reach even on his toes, and if Harry fell, he was going straight down the centre of the stairwell most likely making it right to the very bottom of the house in one deadening swoop. So far there was nothing Sirius would be able to do about it.
"Harry I'm gonna shift this so it's easier to talk to you ok, I'm coming up closer." Sirius knew he had to do something, so got behind the chest of draws and pushed it over as far as he could towards Harry and carefully trying his best not to look down, stood up on it so he was now only about five foot away but still, too far to be able to do much other than talk to Harry.
"Sirius I hate it! I HATE it! I HATE BEING SICK!" Harry shouted down at Sirius who was trying his best to understand what sort of mood Harry was in and weather or not he had it in him to let go of the sides and slide himself off his perch.
"I know Harry, I understand you don't like it, but it won't be for much longer now, you'll be better again soon so you won't be sick anymore."
"I don't want to wait anymore. I want to be well, I want to go back to school and play Quidditch!" Harry complained tiredly, tears still steaming down his face.
"I know Harry. Well we can go see Woolnough tomorrow if you want, he may be able to stop you from feeling so sick. He might be able to make you better. But you have to let me get you down now so we can go see him safely, together." Sirius explained seeing Harry's face slowly resolve on something.
"Ok, I'm coming down now!" Harry decided shuffling forward in his seat and rubbing at his cheeks to wipe some of the tears away, he knew the drop was below him but he also assumed Sirius was too, so he could just slip off and Sirius would catch him.
"No Harry, wait a few moments while I find a way to reach you!" Sirius tried not to shout looking around for something to help him.
"No, I want to come down now!" Harry decided letting go of the side to rub his head a bit more and scrunch his eyes shut. Without much more warning, Harry slipped forward as he finally past out cold, falling down through the gap between Sirius and the stairs leading up to the little landing he was stood on.
"HARRY!" He yelled suddenly as he saw helplessly his godchild fall down in front of him and pass out of sight, Sirius could barely move before finally, he heard the distinct sound of something crunching together below and the startled yell of Tonks as she started onto the stairs.