HP Fic- Too Many Cooks 9/???
Jun. 25th, 2005 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarotgalAnnalisa always asks so nicely and it's nice to be able to actually fill a request. I made a little progress on part 10 and, thusly, here is part 9 :-) Sorry for the long wait. I keep getting kidnapped by various other bunnies. But I totally had meant to post this earlier.
Part 1- Discovery * Part 2- Breakfast * Part 3- Chamomile Tea * Part 4- A Potion * Part 5- Chicken Soup * Part 6- The Black Ledger * Part 7- Apples * Part 8- Exercise
Same ratings apply to this part
Too Many Cooks
Part 9: Hot Shower
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Remus asked when James had eaten all the dinner he could without bursting. Remus took the tray from James' lap and set it aside. Peter grabbed a roll off it and ate it so it wouldn't go to waste. "Careful not to get crumbs on the books," Remus warned. "You know how Madam Mullen can get about her books." Or how Remus could get about them, for that matter.
As James had eaten, the other three marauders had spent the dinner thumbing through books to see if there were any treatments they could perform this night. There did not seem to be much they could do without ingredients or equipment. They could procure the things they needed overnight or the next day, however.
Sirius had picked up a few books and looked through them casually. But his chief role had been moral support. He'd handed James tissues when it was obvious James needed to sneeze or blow his nose and he had rubbed James' shoulders comfortingly.
Peter, when not sneaking bits of food from James' tray so James wouldn't have to eat quite so much, had thumbed through books to sort them into piles based on their usefulness. There was a pile for books containing possible herb and potion treatments. There was a pile for books that seemed more medical and logical in what they proposed; the book from which they had learned about how exercising was helpful was in that pile. And there was another pile for less fact-based treatments such as folk remedies and unproven theories. That pile was currently the tallest and, when it was moved from the bed to the ground beside it, the pile of books stacked higher than the bedside table.
Remus wrote down the titles and authors of the books on the back page of the black ledger so as to be able to keep track of them all and which pile they were being put into. And he kept a close watch on James all the while. He trusted Sirius to look after James, but was still worried.
James spent much of his dinner stifling sneezes, as neither he nor his friends would appreciate him sneezing with a full mouth. And it was something of a relief to swallow his last bite and have the dishes cleared away so that he could again curl up and sneeze normally, even if what he really wanted to do was stop sneezing.
"It's no use," James said, watching them work through the books. "There's no cure for the common cold. I'm just doomed." He rubbed at his nose, then kept his hand there in place. "hehhShoo! hahhShoo! hehhChoo! hahhShooo! Sniiiffff!" Sirius handed him a tissue, and he rubbed again at his nose, this time with the tissue. "I should just go tell Lily now so she has time to make other plans for Sunday-" Though he definitely didn't have the energy to get up out of bed and go charging over to her, he started to sit up as though threatening to do so.
Peter and Sirius both pounced on him, pinning him down to the bed. Remus flipped through pages of the ledger to where they'd last recorded his temperature and symptoms and whatever else they were writing down there. James frowned at it.
"We're going to help you," Remus assured him. "We got through the hard part today already. Lily doesn't suspect a thing. Now we have pages and pages of possible remedies. And if even only one of them helps a little, it'll be worth trying, right?"
James reluctantly nodded.
"You don't want to be all sneezy on your date and get Lily sick do you?" Remus continued.
James shook his head.
"Then let us do our part and take care of you. All right?" Remus said softly, comfortingly.
James nodded.
From the nightstand, Remus retrieved the thermometer and shook it in the air out of habit. "Now I'm going to take your temperature while Peter checks and secures the bathroom."
Sirius finished Remus' thought, "Then you're going to take a long, hot shower and get ready for the night."
"With any luck, you'll sleep a long time and feel better when you wake up," finished Peter.
James smiled at them all, then nodded once more. He let Remus take his temperature, and even humored his friend by giving an update of his symptoms. Then Sirius walked him over to the bathroom with James under his invisibility cloak so that no one in the stairway could see how sick he looked.
And he did look sick. It was hard for James not to stare at himself in the bathroom mirror as he attempted to hold his sneezes off long enough to brush his teeth. His hair looked unkempt but in a far worse way than usual. It looked like it hadn't been tended to in days which, James noted, it hadn't been. His nose was starting to look a little pink at the tip from all the rubbing and sniffling and blowing. And even though he'd slept and eaten that day, he looked tired and sallow. "Dotow how ew guysh can stado ook ame," James said around his toothbrush.
"Sorry, Mate?" said Sirius. While Peter was outside the bathroom, running interference, Sirius had entered the loo with James and was standing with his back to the door to prevent anyone from barging in. He had the cloak in one hand and his wand in the other.
James spit out his mouthful of toothpaste and rinsed. "Don't know how you guys can stand to look at me," he said more clearly. "Just look at the state of me!"
Sirius shrugged. "Not so bad," he lied, though he sounded convincing as always. "You'd be a right catch for anyone into the disheveled, sickly look."
James rolled his eyes then pulled off his glasses and set them down with his dock kit. Then he reached over and pulled a paper towel out from the holder above the soap dispenser. He cupped it to his face. "hahhh… hahhh-Chooo! hahhShooo! h'Shoo!" He gripped the edge of the porcelain sink tightly with one hand as he rubbed and folded the paper towel in halves with the other.
"Go hop in the shower, Prongs," Sirius called over sympathetically. "It'll help." James nodded and headed for the showers.
Once he was in one of the stalls with the shower spraying down on him, he wished he'd thought to do it earlier. All his achy muscles were gone, the water rushed against his skin soothingly, and the hot water was incredibly relaxing. He wanted to lie down right then and there and never leave. The steam was equally enjoyable. After a few minutes he found he could almost breathe through his nose perfectly once more. So he took long, deep breaths, letting the warm, moist air fill his nostrils to soothe them. No longer did they tickle or itch, and even though he still felt a little sniffly, his condition had definitely improved.
"I should have asked Remus to borrow a book!"
James opened his eyes and turned his head away from the spray. "What?" he called out over the hiss of the shower.
"You've been in there over half an hour now, James. We'll be coming up on three quarters in a minute."
James blinked, wondering how it could be possible to have been in there so long. It felt like just a few seconds, really. "I'll be done in a moment!" James called back. Quickly he soaped himself up and rinsed off. It was nice to feel clean again after all that exercise he'd done earlier. He paused, then, thinking about making up some excuse to stay in the shower just a bit longer. But finally he turned the knob and the shower head went from steady downpour to trickle, then to nothing at all.
It was with regret that he wrapped a towel around himself and dried off. He almost wanted to tell Sirius to go piss off and get a book so he could stay in longer. But his friends wouldn't be able to keep all the Gryffindor boys away from the bathroom for much longer and he was still rather tired. So he changed into his pajamas, ran his hand through his hair to try to get it in better order, then returned to the main part of the bathroom to see Sirius now sitting on the floor with his back to the door. On his lap were the cloak, his wand, and James' toiletries, glasses, and such.
"Sorry for making you wait," James said.
Sirius shook his head. "You sound better, so it seems to have helped a little. No need to apologize. Do you feel any better?"
James nodded emphatically. "Haven't felt this good in… in…" He squinted, then shut his eyes. "hehh… hehhh-HahShoooo! Sniff!"
"Come on," Sirius said, standing and draping the cloak around James. He put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him, even though he couldn't see him. "Let's get you back before Remus gets all worried that you keeled over and drowned in the shower or something."
And even though Sirius couldn't see him beneath the cloak, James nodded.
Next up- Part 10: Sleepy Time Tea
Part 1- Discovery * Part 2- Breakfast * Part 3- Chamomile Tea * Part 4- A Potion * Part 5- Chicken Soup * Part 6- The Black Ledger * Part 7- Apples * Part 8- Exercise
Same ratings apply to this part
Too Many Cooks
Part 9: Hot Shower
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Remus asked when James had eaten all the dinner he could without bursting. Remus took the tray from James' lap and set it aside. Peter grabbed a roll off it and ate it so it wouldn't go to waste. "Careful not to get crumbs on the books," Remus warned. "You know how Madam Mullen can get about her books." Or how Remus could get about them, for that matter.
As James had eaten, the other three marauders had spent the dinner thumbing through books to see if there were any treatments they could perform this night. There did not seem to be much they could do without ingredients or equipment. They could procure the things they needed overnight or the next day, however.
Sirius had picked up a few books and looked through them casually. But his chief role had been moral support. He'd handed James tissues when it was obvious James needed to sneeze or blow his nose and he had rubbed James' shoulders comfortingly.
Peter, when not sneaking bits of food from James' tray so James wouldn't have to eat quite so much, had thumbed through books to sort them into piles based on their usefulness. There was a pile for books containing possible herb and potion treatments. There was a pile for books that seemed more medical and logical in what they proposed; the book from which they had learned about how exercising was helpful was in that pile. And there was another pile for less fact-based treatments such as folk remedies and unproven theories. That pile was currently the tallest and, when it was moved from the bed to the ground beside it, the pile of books stacked higher than the bedside table.
Remus wrote down the titles and authors of the books on the back page of the black ledger so as to be able to keep track of them all and which pile they were being put into. And he kept a close watch on James all the while. He trusted Sirius to look after James, but was still worried.
James spent much of his dinner stifling sneezes, as neither he nor his friends would appreciate him sneezing with a full mouth. And it was something of a relief to swallow his last bite and have the dishes cleared away so that he could again curl up and sneeze normally, even if what he really wanted to do was stop sneezing.
"It's no use," James said, watching them work through the books. "There's no cure for the common cold. I'm just doomed." He rubbed at his nose, then kept his hand there in place. "hehhShoo! hahhShoo! hehhChoo! hahhShooo! Sniiiffff!" Sirius handed him a tissue, and he rubbed again at his nose, this time with the tissue. "I should just go tell Lily now so she has time to make other plans for Sunday-" Though he definitely didn't have the energy to get up out of bed and go charging over to her, he started to sit up as though threatening to do so.
Peter and Sirius both pounced on him, pinning him down to the bed. Remus flipped through pages of the ledger to where they'd last recorded his temperature and symptoms and whatever else they were writing down there. James frowned at it.
"We're going to help you," Remus assured him. "We got through the hard part today already. Lily doesn't suspect a thing. Now we have pages and pages of possible remedies. And if even only one of them helps a little, it'll be worth trying, right?"
James reluctantly nodded.
"You don't want to be all sneezy on your date and get Lily sick do you?" Remus continued.
James shook his head.
"Then let us do our part and take care of you. All right?" Remus said softly, comfortingly.
James nodded.
From the nightstand, Remus retrieved the thermometer and shook it in the air out of habit. "Now I'm going to take your temperature while Peter checks and secures the bathroom."
Sirius finished Remus' thought, "Then you're going to take a long, hot shower and get ready for the night."
"With any luck, you'll sleep a long time and feel better when you wake up," finished Peter.
James smiled at them all, then nodded once more. He let Remus take his temperature, and even humored his friend by giving an update of his symptoms. Then Sirius walked him over to the bathroom with James under his invisibility cloak so that no one in the stairway could see how sick he looked.
And he did look sick. It was hard for James not to stare at himself in the bathroom mirror as he attempted to hold his sneezes off long enough to brush his teeth. His hair looked unkempt but in a far worse way than usual. It looked like it hadn't been tended to in days which, James noted, it hadn't been. His nose was starting to look a little pink at the tip from all the rubbing and sniffling and blowing. And even though he'd slept and eaten that day, he looked tired and sallow. "Dotow how ew guysh can stado ook ame," James said around his toothbrush.
"Sorry, Mate?" said Sirius. While Peter was outside the bathroom, running interference, Sirius had entered the loo with James and was standing with his back to the door to prevent anyone from barging in. He had the cloak in one hand and his wand in the other.
James spit out his mouthful of toothpaste and rinsed. "Don't know how you guys can stand to look at me," he said more clearly. "Just look at the state of me!"
Sirius shrugged. "Not so bad," he lied, though he sounded convincing as always. "You'd be a right catch for anyone into the disheveled, sickly look."
James rolled his eyes then pulled off his glasses and set them down with his dock kit. Then he reached over and pulled a paper towel out from the holder above the soap dispenser. He cupped it to his face. "hahhh… hahhh-Chooo! hahhShooo! h'Shoo!" He gripped the edge of the porcelain sink tightly with one hand as he rubbed and folded the paper towel in halves with the other.
"Go hop in the shower, Prongs," Sirius called over sympathetically. "It'll help." James nodded and headed for the showers.
Once he was in one of the stalls with the shower spraying down on him, he wished he'd thought to do it earlier. All his achy muscles were gone, the water rushed against his skin soothingly, and the hot water was incredibly relaxing. He wanted to lie down right then and there and never leave. The steam was equally enjoyable. After a few minutes he found he could almost breathe through his nose perfectly once more. So he took long, deep breaths, letting the warm, moist air fill his nostrils to soothe them. No longer did they tickle or itch, and even though he still felt a little sniffly, his condition had definitely improved.
"I should have asked Remus to borrow a book!"
James opened his eyes and turned his head away from the spray. "What?" he called out over the hiss of the shower.
"You've been in there over half an hour now, James. We'll be coming up on three quarters in a minute."
James blinked, wondering how it could be possible to have been in there so long. It felt like just a few seconds, really. "I'll be done in a moment!" James called back. Quickly he soaped himself up and rinsed off. It was nice to feel clean again after all that exercise he'd done earlier. He paused, then, thinking about making up some excuse to stay in the shower just a bit longer. But finally he turned the knob and the shower head went from steady downpour to trickle, then to nothing at all.
It was with regret that he wrapped a towel around himself and dried off. He almost wanted to tell Sirius to go piss off and get a book so he could stay in longer. But his friends wouldn't be able to keep all the Gryffindor boys away from the bathroom for much longer and he was still rather tired. So he changed into his pajamas, ran his hand through his hair to try to get it in better order, then returned to the main part of the bathroom to see Sirius now sitting on the floor with his back to the door. On his lap were the cloak, his wand, and James' toiletries, glasses, and such.
"Sorry for making you wait," James said.
Sirius shook his head. "You sound better, so it seems to have helped a little. No need to apologize. Do you feel any better?"
James nodded emphatically. "Haven't felt this good in… in…" He squinted, then shut his eyes. "hehh… hehhh-HahShoooo! Sniff!"
"Come on," Sirius said, standing and draping the cloak around James. He put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him, even though he couldn't see him. "Let's get you back before Remus gets all worried that you keeled over and drowned in the shower or something."
And even though Sirius couldn't see him beneath the cloak, James nodded.
Next up- Part 10: Sleepy Time Tea
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Date: 2005-06-26 12:53 am (UTC)Tina
no subject
Date: 2005-06-26 06:53 am (UTC)I love emphasis on the relationship that Sirius and James have maintained. They're so cute as best friends! Plus, I really like the sort of conclusion to the first day. Comforting. I can almost feel the comfort that James experienced in the shower... oh it's almost making me wanna take one! lol.
I am really liking this, I'v reread it a couple of times and am anxiously awaiting the next part.
Take care of yourself first though. Feel better! And Great job on this part!
~A