Please...

Chapter Twenty Four

Remus woke to the sound of small cries next to his bed. That was odd. He wasn't in Severus' quarters, and Harry had not slept over.

He looked down at the floor on the side of his bed and saw Harry, curled in a tight ball, crying in his sleep. He noticed that Harry's skin was flushed red and covered in sweat.

"Harry?" he said quietly. He leaned down and carefully lifted Harry off the floor and into his bed. The movement woke Harry, who started crying even more.  "Hey, honey, what's wrong? What's wrong, cub?" he asked softly. He pressed a hand against Harry's forehead gently, and found he was right; Harry definitely had a high fever.

"H-Hot, Pappy!" Harry said groggily. "Tu-Tummy h-hurts!"

"Oh, honey... Does anywhere else hurt? Can you point or tell me?" Harry pointed to his throat and his head. "Cub, I think you might be sick. Come on, I have a thermometer somewhere."

He carried Harry to his kitchen, took the thermometer from the drawer, and had Harry place it in his mouth under his tongue. "Now, hold that there for a few moments, alright?"

Harry nodded, keeping it until Remus pulled it out. "Almost thirty nine degrees, Hare. That's a bad fever," he muttered to himself.

"Feve'?" Harry asked quietly.

"It just means you're ill, Harry. Sick. Probably caught a stomach bug or something. It is the middle of February after all." At this Harry burst into fresh tears, leaving Remus confused and worried. "Harry!? What's wrong? Talk to me, cub, does something hurt!?"

"N-Not 'lowed to b-be sick!! O-Or ill!!" Harry wailed.

"Is that what you think-"

"NOT 'LOWED!" he shouted. "Cup-Cupboard, no cupboa'd Pappy! Not sick, not ill, not sick!!"

Remus' heart dropped. "Oh, no, Harry, you aren't going in any cupboard-"

"NOT 'LOWED!! NOT 'LOWED, NO SICK!!"

"Harry, you aren't going in a cupboard-"

"P-Please don't put me in the cupboard," he whimpered. "I-It's dark a-and scary and th-there's bugs... t-too scary..."

Remus felt his heart shatter.

"Harry, look at me!" Remus instructed. "Now listen; You are not going to be put in a cupboard. You will not be punished for being sick. Everyone gets sick sometimes, okay? You didn't chose to be sick. I want you to feel better, not feel worse."

"N-Not... Not... b-bad?"

"Not bad at all. I have some potions that should help make you feel better, then why don't you and I go back to Daddy, okay?" 

"Mmm-mmm," Harry said, shaking his head. "G-Got sick..."

Remus' brow furrowed with worry. "You got sick? Where?"

"O-On Daddy's n-new b-b-boots!!" Harry exclaimed. "Th-The ones y-you got 'im!"

"Oh, Hare, I can clean that up in a split second. It's easy. So let's go, okay? Daddy might be scared if he wakes up and you aren't there, right?"

Harry thought for a second before nodding. He clutched Remus' jumper, the one Severus had got him for Christmas, which was pitch black, a little bigger than necessary, and soft. Harry breathed in deeply, almost instantly calming once he smelt the lavender from the jumper.

"Do you like lavender, Hare?" Remus asked as he looked for the necessary potions. "I find it quite calming."

"Jumper smells...?"