On an ordinary morning in the middle of October, Neville Longbottom caught the flu.
That very evening, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan developed a nasty cold.
The next morning seven other students from all the houses including Slytherin Quidditch captain Marcus Flint started experiencing similar symptoms. Mr. Flint evidently passed it on to the Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood because of whom the entire team came down with the flu.
Within three days, more than half the student population of Hogwarts was sniffling, shivering, sneezing or coughing.
It truly made for a wonderful teaching environment.
After much deliberation, Madam Pomfrey and two Healers from St. Mungo's arrived at the conclusion that this was simply a case of the viral flu.
A common ailment and nothing to be alarmed about, the healers informed the bewildered professors.
However, owing to the large number of unwell students, everyone simply had to be sent home. At least for a week.
As per Madam Pomfrey's expertise, it was simply not advisable or acceptablefor so many unwell children to reside under the same roof.
Madam Pomfrey had a rather onerous discussion with Professor Dumbledore regarding the same.
Don't be absurd, Albus!
Ultimately, the petite healer persuaded(read: bullied)the usually obstinate Headmaster into seeing sense.
That afternoon letters were sent out to all the parents, informing them of the situation and that very evening, all the students were flooing back home through the fireplaces in the professors' offices.
Percy Weasley valiantly tried to perform his prefect duties and assist in the evacuation whilst sneezing splendidly before Professor McGonagall took the boy by his shoulders and all but shoved him into the floo.
Your unfailing valour and dedication have been noted, Mr. Weasley!
Some complained about falling behind with the syllabus —you and me both Miss Granger!— while most of the students were elated at the unexpected vacation.
Harry personally didn't mind the flu season all that much. He would argue that while a blocked nose and sore throat were unpleasant, it was far more preferable to the evil wizard/ weird professor who had been hellbent on trying to kill him last year.
At least no evil wizard was after him that year.
Of all the things Sirius had expected when he had received the letter from Hogwarts, news of a viral flu outbreak hadn't been one of them.
As per the letter, his godson and a majority of the students were down with the delightful blend of a cold, cough, fever.
Harry sneezed bodily in lieu of a greeting the moment he stepped of the fireplace and into Black Manor's impressive sitting room.
"Charming as ever, I see."
He scowled at Sirius, but the man couldn't quite hold back his grin considering that his godson resembled like a disgruntled Pygmy puff.
"You're supposed to be nice to me."
"Now whatever gave you that idea?" Sirius quipped even as he took the backpack from Harry and slung it over his own shoulder.
His other hand made its way to Harry's forehead, not at all liking the heat radiating from him. He allowed himself a moment of concern before winking reassuringly at the kid.
Sirius slung an arm around the lad's shoulders and gently tugged him to his side, leading him towards the stairs. "Tell you what, go change into your pyjamas and rest up for a bit. Becky's makingmesome of her signature chicken soup, but since you're under the weather, I'll let you have it."
"Liar. The soup is for me."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at his godson. "You know just for calling me a liar, you get a bowl full of Bertie Bott's limited edition Soggy SocksTMfor dinner tonight, while I eat Butterbeer Bliss Brownies, right in front of you."
Harry wrinkled his nose distastefully at the rather unsavoury description and frowned at him. "See I would almost believe you except that I know you hate dessert. Of every kind." His words were abruptly cut short by a series of pitiful coughs, causing Sirius to instantly abandon any intention of ribbing the kid.
"Okay, love. You win." Sirius leaned down and pressed a kiss against Harry's hair. "Soup, rest and Andi will be here to see you first thing in the morning."
"Is that really necessary?" Harry pouted. "It's just a flu."
Having interacted almost regularly over the summer, Harry had grown to really like Andromeda. However, he had never been particularly fond of doctors. Rationally, he was aware that his godfather's favourite cousin was nothing like the rude doctors his aunt had dragged him to, on the rare occasion that he had gotten 'freakishly sick enough to harm precious Dudders' .
"It is absolutely necessary, and no its not just a flu," Sirius remarked exaggeratedly. "Tell you what, I will make you a bargain. You let Andi look you over and we will watch the Home Alone movies in the afternoon."
"I thought they were Christmas movies."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Only because you brought this up, I will reveal an incredible secret." He leaned in conspiratorially and whispered. "Turns out we are allowed to watch them at other times of the year as well."
Harry gasped dramatically. "And you kept this from me? For all these months? How could you?"
Sirius Black was dangerously close to losing the title of most-dramatic resident to have walked the gilded halls of Black Manor.
"Do you wish to be cast out into the stables?"
Harry smiled innocently at Sirius. "One, there are no stables on the estate and two, you love me too much. Fine, I will let Mrs. Tonks have a look, but I'm telling you, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. It's a flu. It will be gone by the end of the week."
"Sirius, darling, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. It's a flu. I assure you; it will be gone by the end of the week."
As promised, Andromeda had come over after breakfast where she had completely ignored her favourite cousin and spent fifteen minutes fussing over Harry before delivering her expertise.
Harry wagged his eyebrows at Sirius, appearing far too smug for someone with a flu and cough topped off with a red nose.
This kid. Sirius ran a hand through the lad's hair and shot his cousin a grateful smile. "Thanks for coming over, Andi."
"What's the point of being the youngest Medical Director in the history of St. Mungo's if you can't train your team to handle things for a few hours? Harry and I will keep ourselves entertained until you're back."
"You wi—"
"Floo should anything urgent come up," Andromeda assured him.
"You're the best."
The last thing Sirius had wanted was to be called into work that morning. He'd specifically taken the week off so that he could stay home with Harry.
Kingsley Shacklebolt had reassured him that the aurors would handle things. After all there were very few matters that required a senior auror's expertise, and even then, there were other senior aurors with the requisite clearance to handle just about anything.
Except this.
He arrived at his office at the Auror department and headed straight for the interrogation rooms. He got there to find Kingsley waiting outside one of them.
"I tried talking to her, but she wasn't very cooperative."
"Thank you, Shacklebolt. I'll take it from here."
The burly man appeared more than relieved to be dismissed.
He turned the handle and opened the door.
"Miss Ivanov. I hear you've been giving my aurors a hard time."
The woman leaned back in her chair, her red mouth curving into a delighted smirk.
"Perhaps you can find a way to make me behave, Auror Black."
"How did things go with your little thief?" Amelia Bones asked in lieu of a greeting when he stopped by her office at the DMLE.
The questioning had taken a little longer than expected but the woman had been more forthcoming than usual.
"One, she's not my little anything," Sirius asserted, "and two, it went about as well as I had expected. This is a high-profile case after all. I know it's going to take time... not unlike our current side project."
Three weeks had passed since Sirius and Amelia had started working together to discover and expose the truth about the seemingly incorruptible Bartemius Crouch.
So far they had made little progress. But neither of them was willing to give up. Sirius had his obvious reasons. He still hadn't figured out why Amelia felt so strongly about this case .
"Speaking of our little project, I will not be able to stay back at the office for the next week or so. How would you feel about trusting me to take a couple of the files home? I'll dig through them, see if something comes up and we can compare notes in the morning."
Something akin to disappointment momentarily clouded Madam Bones' face before it vanished. "Of course, I understand. How is Harry this morning?"
"Still down with the flu yet strong enough to sass me before breakfast so I'm quite optimistic."
"He's a resilient one. I can manage by myself for a few days. You don't have to—"
"Amelia, believe me, I want to. Very much so."
The woman blinked, probably taken aback by the fierce determination in his voice before she nodded. "Understood. I'll have the files sent over to your office."
"Right then. I'll see you in the morning." Sirius turned to leave but hesitated. "Unless..."
"Yes?"
"How do you feel about coming over this evening? We can work in my study."
"I mean we do work better together, so that does sound more... practical. That way we can cover more bases faster. That way I get to ensure you don't accidentally destroy the files," she teased, even though they both knew how meticulous Sirius could be when the situation demanded it.
Sirius allowed himself the barest smirk. "Of course. It's the files and the practicality of it all and has nothing to do with my delightful company."
"And this is the part where we both get back to work."
As promised, Sirius returned home for lunch. Harry and Andromeda sat on matching high-backed armchairs with their heads bent over the coffee table, engaged in some muggle board game.
"I just bought Mayfair," Harry looked up from the board and grinned.
Did no one say hello anymore?
"Hello to you too," Sirius gently squeezed the back of Harry's neck, discreetly noting the abnormal warmth.
"Mrs. Tonks just told me something awful about you today," Harry began with a familiar mischievous gleam in his emerald eyes.
Sirius barely refrained from rolling his eyes, an indulgent smile tugging at his mouth. "Did she now?"
"I discovered that you of all people shouldn't be telling me that violence isn't the answer to our problems."
"And why is that?"
"She told me about what you had done to this boy called Bash because he'd picked on your little brother when you were a kid."
The mirth vanished from Sirius' expression instantaneously and his shoulders drew back in a sharp line. Like most unpleasant moments in his life, he recalled that incident as well with vivid clarity.
He glanced at Andromeda, the sharp sting of betrayal catching him squarely in the chest. "You told him that?"
"I was just telling him about how you had shoved him into the lake because he wouldn't stop bullying Regulus. Personally, I found it hilarious."
Sirius felt himself relax and he let out a little laugh, an overwhelming sense of relief drenching his bones.
Thank Merlin.
He nodded gratefully at his cousin who simply rolled her eyes.
"Yes, that. I said it that day and I'll say it again. He deserved every bit of it."
If only the reality had been as harmless. What Sirius had done to Rabastan Lestrange that summer had been far more monstrous.
If he could go back and change how events had unfolded that afternoon... he'd do far worse.
He banished that thought and inclined his head towards the dining room. "You ready for lunch?"
"Starving! Mrs. Tonks, will you stay for lunch?"
"Oh darling I'd love to, but I'm afraid I must get to work. I promise I'll see you again this week though."
Satisfied, Harry said his goodbyes and took off for the dining room.
"Thanks for looking after him."
"I had the time of my life. The lad's an angel." She knocked him lightly in the shoulder. "Also, did you honestly assume I'd tell Harry what had really happened that day? Merlin knows that prick Rabastan deserved it."
"How did that come up anyway?"
Andromeda smiled although it was wistful. "He asked about Regulus, he mentioned that you get sad whenever you talk about him."
And here Sirius thought he'd been doing a fantastic job concealing his emotions. They hadn't talked much about Sirius' childhood... for obvious reasons.
Harry had understood from the beginning that it wasn't a pleasant topic for him.
"Would you care for a word of advice from your older, wiser cousin?"
"Enlighten me."
"You've got a kind-hearted, wonderful godson. Talk to him. He wants to get to know you. You can certainly spare him the darker details, but a small beginning wouldn't hurt."
Sometimes, Sirius really hated when other people were right.
"Lastly darling, we've all got out fair share of... unsavoury secrets. The children don't need to know."
They most certainly didn't.
And boom we're back.
I can't believe its taken me this long to write a sick!fic featuring our favourite godfather and godson duo. I hope you guys spotted the small plot bunnies along the way. I'm super excited to be writing again. I won't lie, it was totally because of all your encouraging comments.
As usual, do comment. Let me know what you liked in this fic because I shall absolutely read every single one of them... multiple times.
