Remus Lupin opened the front door to see Severus Snape standing there, his large nose buried behind his handkerchief. “Ah, Severus. Come in, come in.” he greeted him warmly. Snape blew his nose and followed the werewolf inside. Remus was wan and pale, an indication of the full moon that would take place in a few hours time. “Thank you so much for coming. This is rather a bad time for the full moon I’m afraid, what with - ”
“How’s Ashling?” Snape interrupted to get the man to the point.
“She’s pretty sick. She’s not contagious anymore, but pretty sick nonetheless. She’s got some sort of throat infection, and you know that that can pose a problem with her asthma. She said she’d be fine, but she’s pretty weak and I didn’t want her left alone.”
“So you called me.” Snape stated bluntly.
“Well, with James and Lily dead, and Sirius in Azkaban, there weren’t a whole lot of options. I know you two are friends, and I trust you with her. More importantly, she trusts you, and she’ll allow you to care for her.”
“We were more than friends, Lupin. You know that.”
“I do,” he acknowledged. “That’s why I called you. You’ve seen her like this before, and as loath as she is to admit it, she does need someone here with her. I really appreciate it.”
“Let’s get one thing straight, Lupin.” he snapped. “I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for her. Epptchh, ehhpthff.” Snape rubbed at his nose with his handkerchief.
“Her pills and stuff are upstairs. She can handle that part. I’ve been making her drink plenty of tea. Put some honey in it so it’s easier on her throat. And if you can, try to get her to eat something.”
“I can take care of a sick person, thank you very much.”
“Okay. It’s just, she hasn’t eaten hardly anything today. There’s soup in the fridge. Make yourself whatever you want. Oh, and you probably want to stay out of the basement.”
“Why on…eh-Shhh, huhhshhh…Why would I wandt to go ind your basebendt? Merlind ondly know what you have down there.”
“I put the cat down there. I also used a deep cleaning spell on the house. I was hoping that then the cat wouldn’t bother you too much, although it doesn’t sound like it.”
“As much as it would please me to make you believe it so, it’s probably not the cat so much…Hahshphhh, ehhchmphhh. My allergies are really bad and those damned lilacs you have out front make matters worse. It took you long enough to open the blasted door. Although I do appreciate you remembering about the cat.” he admitted begrudgingly.
“I was upstairs with Ash. I’ll show you around quick and then I have to go.” Remus led Severus on a quick tour of the downstairs and then took him upstairs to one of the guest rooms. “She wanted you in this room.” he explained.
Snape placed his overnight bag in the corner. “Can I see her now?” he demanded.
“This way.” Remus opened a door down the hall and walked in. “Ash?” She turned and looked at him. “Severus is here. Do you need anything before I go?”
“I’m fine.” she croaked.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He bent down and gave her a quick hug. “Behave for Severus, and let him take care of you.”
“I’m sick, Remus, not six.” She rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue.
“You sure about that?” Remus grinned and left.
“Hey Ash.” Severus settled in the chair.
“Hey Severus. Missed ya.”
“I missed you too. How are you really feeling?”
“Lousy. My head hurts, my throat hurts, my stomach hurts, and my chest hurts.” she rasped, coughing. “You’re not going to suffocate me like Remus, are you?”
“No. I tried that once, and I know you don’t like it. But, he did say you need to stay in bed and rest and try to eat something. Heh-chff, hihchh, hichhmphh.”
“Bless you. Remus is gone, so you don’t have to hold your sneezes back anymore.”
“I don’t like people hearing me.”
“It’s only me. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I know, and you constantly remind me. It’s habit, but I’ll try not to be so self-conscious about it.”
“It just can’t be good. And you know you sneeze less if you don’t fight it.”
“I know. They’re just loud and embarrassing, and I hate drawing attention to myself, and you know the other reason.”
“I do, and I understand. And I know how you feel. I hate sneezing in front of people, too. Only time I don’t fight it is around you or Remus.”
“I know, and I can’t understand why. Your sneezes are very airy and quiet. They’re not half as loud and powerful as mine.
“I don’t enjoy showing weakness or illness. I’ll cough a bit around people, but if it’s going to be a bad spell, I’ll leave the room. I don’t even like taking my medications in front of people.”
“I know. No ma…ahhh…matteh…ehhh…her-SHAH…matter how close we got, you never let me….eehh…eh-SHOO…see.”
“Never will.” she responded simply. “Don’t let Remus either.” She yawned.
“Gett…ihh…getti…ing-SHAH….tired?” His eyes softened in concern.
“Bless you. Yeah. You okay?”
Snape blew his nose with his handkerchief. “Allergies are really bad right now. And my nose is itching from the lilacs while I was waiting for Lupin to open the door. Huh-IHSHOO. I’m surprised he remembered about the cat. I figured he’d “forget” to torture me, even with you reminding him.”
“Remus isn’t like that, Sev. He never hated you. And I didn’t remind him that you’re allergic to cats until he’d already taken care of things. He remembered from when you visited at the old house. He remembers things like that, probably because he has so many allergies of his own.” Yawning again, she started coughing. “Severus, I need to rest now.”
“You…” he broke off and levitated a couple tissues from the box next to him towards him. “Hag od.” he muttered, pressing the tissues to his nose. “Ahh…ahh..hah…ha-TCHOO, Hah-CHOO, huh-uh-CHOO, Ker-CHOO, har-ASHOO, HAESHOO, HAESH, ESHOO, HITCHOO, Ah-ASHOO, Hahh-SHUSHH-SHOO.” After the first few sneezes kept jerking his head forward, roughly, he chose to just keep it there. His shoulder length black hair hung in his face, and his body shook with each thunderous sneeze. “Heh-AHSHESHHH, EHCHEOO, heh-AHSHOO, AHCHOO, HAHCHOO.” He straightened up, wiping tears out of his eyes. “Dad’s beder. You deed to eat firsd. Lupid said you habed’t sidce dis bordig.”
She tossed the box of tissues at him. He raised an eyebrow as he took several. “My wand’s over there. This was easier.” she explained as Snape set about blowing his nose.
“The tickle’s gone now, pretty much. You need to eat, then you can rest.” he informed her gently.
“Fine.”
“I’ll go get you some soup and some more tea.” He returned a few minutes later with a bowl of chicken broth and another cup of steaming hot tea. She ate most of the soup and laid back.
“Can I go to bed now?”
“Yeah. Hah-CHEOO. I’ll take these downstairs while you take your pills.”
“Can you bring me another glass of water, please?”
“Sure. I’ll be back in 5 minutes.” She took the pills while Snape was downstairs and got ready to fall asleep. He returned with a thick book and a glass of water. “Sleep well, hon,” he told her, settling back in the chair with the book.
“Night, Sev. You don’t have to stay in here, you know. I’m sure Remus told you that the room is charmed so you can hear me, and also with an alarm that will go off if I can’t call for you or anything.”
“Okay. Heh-CHEHHUH. I’ll see you in the morning, then.” He went over and gave her a hug, and she gently kissed him on the cheek. “Just yell if you need me.”
“I will.” Snape walked to the door and turned out the light. He left the door partly opened and retired to the guestroom for the night.