HI I'm so sorry I vanished, I've had an absolutely MAD few weeks and I'm still going to be insanely busy over the next few months, but now that I have a free moment, have this oneshot I wrote at 2am a few days ago! I'm wrapping up a few chapters of my wips that'll be out soon too!!
It's not the most descriptive thing, but I'm playing around with the concept of turning this into a six chapter thing, so this is more me testing the waters lol
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For a while, it's just a cough.
Sirius has noticed the hacking cough developing over three weeks, but he doesn't think too much of it. Why would he? Remus downplays everything that happens to him, and anytime Sirius brings up getting it checked out, he's just waved off with a small, gentle smile.
It's only when he passes out that Sirius gets him to do something about it.
He's just gotten out of the bloody hospital wing after the full, and although it's not exactly normal for Remus to be this... shaky, they all just think it's that. As they walk, Sirius can't handle watching Remus struggling with his bag.
"Right, hand it over," Sirius says simply, stopping. Remus stops with him, James and Peter moving a little more before they turn back too.
"Hm? What?"
"Your bag. Hand it over."
"I'm fine, it's fine," He tries to dismiss it, coughing once, but Sirius isn't having it this time.
"Moony, you look like you're about to keel over. You don't get a say in it."
Remus rolls his eyes, but he's quite clearly biting back a smile as he pulls his bag off his back and hands it to Sirius, who slings it over his free shoulder without hesitation. They both go to keep walking, when Remus is hit with a coughing fit. He stops again, hands still jittering as he uses the back of it to try and stifle it.
"Hey, d'you need water?" Sirius asks, going to open and rifle through Remus' bag, but Remus just shakes his head.
"I- I can't- can't-"
Sirius doesn't need him to fill in the blanks. He can see the panic, the paling of his face.
Remus can't breathe.
"Shit, right, come on." Without thinking, he wraps an arm firmly around Remus' waist and pulls him as quickly as he can to the hospital wing. "Madame Pomfrey?!"
She appears in less than a second as Sirius sits Remus down onto the bed. Remus can't exactly complain, resting both forearms against his thighs and dropping his head down as he struggles for breath. Forcing himself not to panic, Sirius reaches out and claps Remus on the back a few times. It seems to work, dislodging something enough to give Remus a breath, but not to free it from his windpipe altogether.
Still, relief courses through him as Remus finally starts taking heaving breaths, and Sirius opts for moving his hand in a gentle circle over Remus' back. Madame Pomfrey crouches in front of Remus, taking hold of both of his shoulders and pushing him upright. Breathing seems to come a little easier for him then, as Madame Pomfrey watches him carefully.
"You're staying here overnight, at the very least."
"Why?" Remus asks with a frown. "I'm fine. S'just a cough."
"That isn't just a cough," Poppy says carefully, pointedly. "It sounds like there's either some kind of blockage, or another serious issue. Either way, you need monitoring. You're staying, you are not allowed to refuse that."
"I'll go and grab you come food," Sirius says, moving his hand to squeeze Remus' shoulder before standing.
"M'not really hungry..." Remus admits. "I haven't been for a while, really."
"Moony, why haven't you said anything?" James asks, stunned. Remus just shrugs, unsure.
"You're still eating. I'll be back in a few minutes."
With that, he makes a beeline for the kitchens, lets the elves gives him enough wrapped food for a small feast, then heads straight back to the hospital wing. James and Peter are still there, Remus having conceded to sitting in the bed, Madame Pomfrey having checked him over carefully and is now leaving him alone with his friends. Sirius drops down into a seat and starts pulling the food out of his bag.
As they all eat in silence, Remus clearly trying to stifle his own coughing every now and then, there's an unspoken knowledge that Remus is probably going to be in the wing for a while. Still, Sirius at least expects Madame Pomfrey to have it figured out by the next day.
Instead, Remus just seems to get worse.
Three days pass, and Remus has gone from bad to awful, having coughing fits at least once an hour, and Sirius is barely leaving the hospital wing at this point. Every day sends him spiralling slightly more into his own anxiety, waiting until Remus has fallen asleep every night to let himself feel.
It's takes another two days for Madame Pomfrey to figure it out, and they're all there when she does. She emerges from her office, making her way over to the bed.
"I know what's happening," she starts simply. "Did you want me to tell you alone, or...?"
"No, it's fine," Remus says, "they can stay."
"You have Hanahaki Disease," she starts, confusing all four of them. Obviously she's expecting this, as she keeps talking. "It's incredibly rare, very few known cases. I had to get in contact with St. Mungo's to get real information about it. Essentially, it is a disease that causes red roses to develop in the patient's lungs."
"Roses?" Sirius asks, stunned.
"Sorry, I- I didn't tell you. I didn't want to freak any of you out." Sirius doesn't even have time to think about that part before Poppy continues.
"It is actually caused by love. Romantic love that the patient believes to be unrequited."
"Oh." That even throws Remus, whose eyes flick to his hands as he starts fidgeting with them over the covers.
Remus is in love.
That almost crushes Sirius.
Mostly because of the word unrequited. It means that any hope he had of Remus ever liking him back flies down the drain.
He doesn't let himself process those emotions, quashing them to focus on Remus. There's no fucking time to wallow.
"There are actually two treatments for this," Poppy says, taking the book from under her arm, titled 'Mysterious Magical Ailments', pulled it open to a bookmarked page and started to read from it. "The patient should initially attempt to confess their emotions to said object of their affections, due to the possibility of the love not truly being unrequited. Reciprocated love is the simplest solution to Hanahaki Disease.
"If this is not successful, the base of the roses can be removed magically. However, this only has a seventy percent success rate. Also, the patient's romantic feelings for the object of their affection will go, and many patients are unlikely to feel romantic attraction again." She closes the book and watches Remus carefully. Remus glances up, eyes meeting Poppy's decisively.
"Remove it."
"Moony, wait. Don't you think you should at least try the other one first?" James pipes up quickly, carefully. "You never know, she could feel the same and, even if she doesn't, you'll get the feelings taken anyway, right? It's worth a shot."
"He doesn't. I'm sure he doesn't. He has no reason to," Remus snaps quickly, devolving into another coughing fit. Sirius doesn't hesitate in doing the same thing he has done every time since he first went to the hospital wing, as Remus leans forward and Sirius reaches out to tap his back, to dislodge the flower in his throat. Poppy pulls her wand put with her free hand, ready, but she doesn't need it. Nobody even has time to acknowledge Remus' revelation, but Poppy steps in the moment the coughing stops.
"I'll have to bring someone in, as it is a procedure I've never carried out before, and it has fairly high risks attached to it. I can get in contact with the same healer from St. Mungo's, she should be happy to perform it."
The healer agrees.
She offers to arrive in two days to resolve the problem. That gives Sirius a lot of time to think.
Firstly, Remus is gay. Sirius could actually have been in with a chance, if he wasn't in love with someone else. Also the fact that he's so adamant that the mystery guy doesn't love him back. Remus doesn't seem to understand just how incredible he is. How much he can brighten someone's day. He's doing everything in his power to avoid telling this person, and it's really bloody confusing to Sirius.
Even Remus starts to second guess it, that evening.
Poppy has accepted that Sirius isn't leaving, and he's nodding off in the chair beside the bed when Remus' quiet voice pipes up.
"Hey, Padfoot? You awake?"
Sirius opens his eyes and lifts his head, offering Remus a smile through the increasing darkness.
"You okay?"
"I was just... is James right?" He asks quickly, eyes meeting Sirius' anxiously. "Is it worth telling him, even if it's just so it's off my chest before I get the roses removed?" Sirius shrugs.
"Yeah, I think so," He says honestly. Remus asked for his opinion, so that's what he's getting, even if it's slightly upsetting Sirius to say. "If he doesn't feel the same way, surely it's worth him knowing. You never know, and it won't mean anything if it goes wrong." Remus nods to himself, glancing down and, for a moment, Sirius thinks he's done with the conversation.
"What if it ruins our friendship?" He asks in a rush. "What if he can never let go of the fact that I literally almost died because I'm in love with him?"
"Then he can go fuck himself," Sirius answers bluntly, clearly throwing Remus.
"Sirius!"
"No, I mean it!" He's bloody frustrated now. "If this mystery guy is uncomfortable because of your feelings and an illness that you can't control, then fuck him! I can't imagine anyone not wanting to spend time with you, so if he really does care about you then he'll get the fuck over himself-"
"It's you, Sirius." Remus' voice is low, almost inaudible, but Sirius catches it. It actually stops him in his tracks, turning to face Remus as shock ripples through him. Remus keeps his eyes fixed firmly down, forcing the rest of his words out. "I'm in love with you. Have been for a while, actually. I know there's no world where you'd ever feel the same way, but I'm getting it sorted, so-"
"You love me?" Sirius asks breathlessly. Nothing feels real, thousands of questions racing in his head.
Mostly the fact that Remus' feelings aren't unrequited.
Sirius has been in love with Remus for years. At this point, it feels as normal as breathing. So how the fuck has Remus got Hanahaki Disease?
As Remus nods, face flushing a deep red, Madame Pomfrey's words come flying back to him.
"Romantic love that the patient believes to be unrequited," he whispers to himself, everything finally clicking.
"I'm really sorry Sirius, I never meant for it to- to do this, I just- I don't know. I'm really sorry," Remus is rambling, and Sirius just can't take it anymore.
With a new resolve and years of unexpressed feelings, Sirius stands, leans in and connects their lips. Only for half a second, pulling away to gauge Remus' reaction. His expression seems to match what Sirius' own must have been a few seconds before. Nothing but shock sitting there.
"...Remus? You okay?" Sirius asks gently, watching him carefully.
"You don't... you can't..." Remus can't quite get through the sentence, stifling a cough as Sirius decides to fill in the blanks for him.
"I love you, Moony. Christ, it feels like I've loved you forever." Remus opens his mouth to protest, but Sirius isn't done yet. Remus needs to know just how important he is. "If you need me to tell you that every single day for the rest of your life then I will. You mean everything to me." Carefully, he sits on the side of the bed and waits with bated breath.
He watches as Remus' eyes dart across his face, seemingly searching for an ounce of truth. Then, before Sirius has a change to register what's going on, Remus has pulled him back in, lips meeting in a much more urgent kiss.
Still, Sirius isn't complaining.
He lets one hand rest across Remus' cheek, the other finding one of his. For someone who is essentially on his deathbed, he's a bloody fervent kisser. Something in the back of Sirius' mind is reminding him that the only thing separating the two of them from the outside world is a curtain that could be pulled back at any time, but it doesn't really matter to him. All that matters is Remus in front of him, real and there and his.
After what could be a few minutes, could be an hour, they both break away, Remus scarily out of breath. Yeah, he's still unwell, they both kind of forgot. Still, it doesn't stop a smile making its way onto Remus' face.
"Okay, yeah, I believe you."
"I think it's safe to say that you're free to go, Remus!" Madame Pomfrey says brightly, sending relief through Sirius. Remus has done nothing but improve, but it's still amazing to hear Madame Pomfrey confirm it.
He turns to Remus, whose hand is in his, and shoots him a gentle smile. A fucking gorgeous blush makes its way across Remus' face, sending a jolt through his stomach.
God, he loves Remus.
Thank fuck he didn't get the flowers removed.
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