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Chapter Three: D'you Think You Might be Coming Down With Something?

"Ouch!" said Scorpius as he sat up the next morning. "That flying yesterday was intense."

"What d'you mean?" asked Albus, sitting up in his own bed.

"Aren't you sore?" asked Scorpius, rubbing his shoulders.

"Not particularly, no," said Albus. "Why? Are you?"

"Yes," grumbled Scorpius. "Damn, I really need to practice more. I'm out of shape!"

Scorpius's headache from the previous day had not improved. If anything it had gotten worse. The night before he had taken some Headache Potion, but it hadn't seemed to help. This morning he dipped into his mother's stash of Extra-Strength Headache Remedy.

*****TWWAM*****

"Scor," said Albus, looking at him across the breakfast table. "You look really tired."

"I didn't sleep too well last night," said Scorpius. "That's all." He stifled a yawn.

Albus gave him a funny look but didn't say anything.

*****TWAMM*****

"Scor, why don't you take off your coat?" said Albus.

They were sitting in the park again. Scorpius had said he didn't feel like going on the merry-go-round, so they were just sitting in the swings, not really swinging, and chatting.

"I'm fine with it on," said Scorpius.

"But it's hot out!" protested Albus.

Scorpius shrugged. He didn't think it was hot out. Though it was sunny, and Albus was dressed in shorts and a tank top that showed off his Quidditch-toned muscles, Scorpius had felt chilled all day. His headache hadn't gone away either, and he still felt pretty sore from flying the day before.

Albus stood up. "I'll race you to the end of the field," he said.

"You're on," said Scorpius.

The two boys took off. Albus was more muscular, but Scorpius was taller, and usually the two boys tied when they raced. But this time Albus arrived at the finish several seconds before Scorpius.

"Ha!" said Albus, punching the air. "I win!"

"Dumb—cough cough—luck," said Scorpius, clutching a stitch in his side with one hand and his aching head with the other.

Albus stopped cheering. "Scor? Are you okay? Do you need some water or something? He pulled his water bottle out of his shorts pocket and offered it to Scorpius.

"Thanks," said Scorpius, gulping the cool liquid down. It felt good on his scratchy throat.

"Scor," said Albus, examining the other boy critically. "You don't look so good. D'you think you might be coming down with something?"

"Nah," said Scorpius, waving a hand airily and suppressing a shiver. I'm fine. I think it's about dinner time, don't you?"

*****TWAMM*****

Scorpius leaned his forehead against the bathroom mirror, Albus's words from earlier in the day ringing in his ears: "D'you think you might be coming down with something?"

No, thought Scorpius firmly. I'm just tired. To reassure himself that he wasn't getting sick, he pulled out the thermometer and stuck it under his tongue. After a minute it beeped and he pulled it out.

38.6 (101.5)

"Fuuuuuuck," he groaned, banging his achy head against the mirror. That, of course, only made it hurt more. He couldn't be sick, not now. Not when Albus was visiting. He pulled a Fever Reducer Potion out of the cabinet and downed it, adding another Extra-Strength Headache Remedy for good measure. Then he left the bathroom and climbed into the comfort of his soft, warm bed.

*****TWAMM*****

"Scor," said Albus. "Hey, Scor, wakeup!" He shook the blond's shoulders. Scorpius sat up quickly, head spinning, and moved away from Albus. He couldn't let his friend realize that he had a fever.

"I'm up," he said, wincing as the words scraped his sore throat.

Albus frowned. "Scor? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" he extended his hand toward Scorpius's forehead but Scorpius brushed him aside.

"I'm fine, Albus Severus," he said. "In fact, I'm more than fine, I'm great." He forced a grin. No need to worry Albus. And he would worry, sweet, sensitive boy that he was. "Let's go have breakfast."

Albus bit his lip but shrugged and got off of Scorpius's bed. "I'm gonna take a shower," he said. "See you in a minute."

He disappeared through the door and Scorpius dragged his shivering, achy body out of bed.

I'm fine, he told himself severely. It's just a cold or the flu or something. I'll be over it by tomorrow.

After Albus came back from the bathroom Scorpius took his own shower, reveling in the warm water. Then he brushed his teeth, combed his hair, got dressed, and took another dose of potions. Then, doing his best to look as healthy as possible, he went down the stairs and joined Albus.

"Hey," said Albus, hailing him from the table where he sat with his coffee and oatmeal.

"Wow, Albus cooking?" said Scorpius in mock shock.

"Fuck you," said Albus. Then, "It's instant."

Scorpius laughed.

"Want some coffee?" said Albus, offering him the pot.

"Actually, I think I'll have some tea," said Scorpius, hoping this would soothe his burning throat.

Albus couldn't help noticing that the tea was all that Scorpius had for breakfast.

"Scor, don't you want anything else to eat?" he asked in slight concern.

"Maybe later," said Scorpius lightly. "What do you want to do today?"

"We could go flying again," said Albus. "It's a beautiful day and you said you needed to practice."

Scorpius rubbed his head. He didn't really feel up to flying, but he didn't want to say no to Albus either.

"Sure, let's go."

Both boys grabbed their brooms and Scorpius grabbed his coat and they went again to the meadow where they could fly unseen.

*****TWAMM*****

Scorpius hadn't been flying for very long when he realized that he really had to rest. Despite having eaten nothing for breakfast he was feeling decidedly nauseous, and the world below him was tilting in a way that he was pretty sure it shouldn't be. Trying to hide the fact that he was shivering and none too stable on his feet, he landed on the grass.

"Nah, Albus Severus," said Scorpius as the dark-haired boy swooped down toward him. "You keep flying. I'll be back up in a minute."

He was, however, not back up in a minute. After five minutes of flying on his own, Albus came down to land near Scorpius.

Immediately, he could tell that something was wrong. Scorpius was stark white and shaking almost convulsively. As Albus's feet touched the ground, Scorpius suddenly fell to his knees, retching.

"Scor!" said Albus, throwing aside his broom and running to the other boy's side. "Oh my God, Scor, are you alright? What's wrong?"

Scorpius looked up. He said, "Al..." but that was as far as he got before he began retching again.

Albus knelt by Scorpius's side and held his hair out of his face as he emptied the meager contents of his stomach onto the grass. At last Scorpius looked up again, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. He swallowed painfully.

"I'm sorry Albus Severus, I thought..."

Albus put his hand to Scorpius's forehead and was shocked at how hot it felt.

"Scor, y-you're ill," said Albus, his stutter returning in his anxiety. "Why didn't you t-tell me you were ill?"

Realizing the charade was up, Scorpius hung his head. "I didn't want to mess up our holidays."

Albus gaped at him. "Mess up our h-holidays?" he said incredulously. "Merlin Scor, you're ill! How l-long have you been like this?"

"I started feeling kind of strange on Monday...but I didn't really feel sick until Tuesday night."

He shivered and Albus wrapped his arms around him. "You're f-feverish."

"I know. I took my temperature last night."

"What w-was it?"

"38.6 (101.5)."

"Scor," moaned Albus. "I thought you might be feeling kind of off, but I didn't know you were this sick! I shouldn't have b-brought you out here."

"It's not your fault," said Scorpius. "I thought if I ignored it it would go away."

"It d-doesn't work like that. You kn-know that!"

"I know," said Scorpius miserably. He shivered violently and clutched at Albus's shirt.

"Oh G-god, what am I doing?" said Albus, appalled. "We have to get you b-back to the Manor. C-Can you walk?"

"I think so," said Scorpius weakly. He pulled himself to his feet, leaning heavily against Albus. "Our brooms," he whispered. "Don't forget our brooms..."

Albus picked up the brooms and put them under his arm, keeping the other one firmly clamped around Scorpius's waist.

"C-Come on," he murmured encouragingly. "Come on Scor, it's n-not far. You can do it.

Scorpius nodded into Albus's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Albus Severus—"

"Shhh."

"I just thought—"

"Shhh."

"Thanks."

AN: Thanks for reading. Thanks in advance for reviewing ;) I hope the chapter was worth the wait.

-SQ