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Sirius frowned.
Snape’s soft steps drifted as he left the room and strode down the hallway for the third time in the last half hour. The room felt less oppressive already. It may have been that Sirius was just more comfortable when he wasn’t present though.
He watched nervously as Harry sniffled and dozed uncomfortably against the arm of the sofa in a drugged stupor. He wasn’t radiating heat at the rate he had earlier, but Sirius couldn’t shake his concern. He’d helped Harry cuddle into the thick blue blankets, but the poor kid just kept shivering.
He knew he wasn’t dying, but that didn’t make him less worried.
Snape didn’t seem as alarmed as Sirius had thought he’d be. In fact he’d go as far as to say Snape didn’t seem the least bit alarmed, beyond a consolatory nod and a short comment about Pepperup, he’d been downright unbothered.
“Sirius,” Moony said from his right. “I can hear you worrying from here.”
His eyes lingered over Harry’s bundled form, unable to look away just yet. “What else am I supposed to do?” He asked. “He’s just-he’s—”
“He has a cold, Sirius.” Moony said with a huff of laughter. “He’s not dying.”
“You don’t know that.” Sirius whinged. Harry always seemed to be in danger, whether it was from Voldemort, Dumbledore or the multitude of other people or effects he encountered, he was always suffering for one reason or another.
“I do know that,” Moony nudged his shoulder. “I know that because people don’t die when they get colds.”
Snape stalked back into the sitting room then, seeming to darken the space around him. He stared at Sirius and eyed Harry for a second before twisting annoyingly on his heel and disappearing out the door with his ridiculously black cloak swinging around him in a slick arc.
Sirius half debated chucking a pillow at his retreating form.
“Why is he still here, he doesn’t care about—”
“Severus cares about Harry, Padfoot.” Moony said, arguing his unspoken comment as he stepped into Sirius’s line of sight. “He would’ve left if he didn’t.”
“Well I don’t like him.” Sirius said. “And James didn’t like him either.”
“Lily did.” Moony said as he sat down. “Harry likes him too, which is arguably the more important opinion.”
Sirius wrinkled his nose and wished he could do something else to help. Sitting quietly didn’t feel like helping, no matter how many times Snape argued that it was ‘Significantly better than being an overly loud clown.’ Harry thought he was funny when he acted like a clown and had said it cheered him up despite the immeasurable amount of stress he was under.
Snape stepped through the door once more, this time with a smoking vial of Pepperup. He glared at Sirius as he rounded the sofa.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Snape asked.
“Me!?” Sirius asked aghast. “My godson’s sick, I’m watching over him!”
“Obsessively.” Snape said. “Play chess or read a magazine. No one likes to be stared at while—”
“He’s asleep, it’s not like he knows.”
“He knows, Black. Human beings come equipped with a sense that alerts them of when they’re being watched, though I would easily see how you’ve misinterpreted the stares of others as interest rather than annoyance.” He raised a thin eyebrow as he spoke, and sneered down at Sirius as if he smelled of something particularly unpleasant.
Sirius snarled and he nearly jumped to his feet before Harry coughed, almost making him forget Snape was even present.
He reached over, running a nervous hand through Harry’s sweaty hair. A faint flush had brightened Harry’s cheeks, but he didn’t look as if he was bothered by Sirius’s presence despite Snape’s comment, or even as if he was awake. He still sounded stuffy, in spite of the Pepperup he’d taken earlier.
“Black.”
The vial of Pepperup appeared in front of Sirius’s eyes.
Snape swirled the smoking potion between his stained and pale fingers in front of him. Sirius blinked at it, trying to think back to the last dosage Harry had received and the more potent effects it could have on small bodies.
The soft sound of the vial landing on the coffee table rang in his ear as Snape sighed and pushed aside the folded over covers.
“’m sleeping,” Harry croaked as Snape’s hands slid under his armpits and he lifted Harry from the blankets.
“I know,” Snape replied quietly. “But your godfather is annoying me and I suspect he’s inhibiting your ability to get actual rest.”
“I am not!” Sirius hissed.
“Sirius,” Moony held a hand up and mouthed the word ‘patience’.
Despite the movement, Harry seemed to settle more comfortably over Snape’s shoulder than he had against the sofa’s arm. It looked as if he’d already gone back to dozing. Sirius could feel the heat radiating from the blankets again, and he worried how he missed Harry’s fever rising again.
Snape pulled one of the covers from the small nest and draped it over Harry.
Sirius stewed silently for a few moments, before mouthing the word ‘fine’ back at Moony and watching as Snape plucked the vial from the table. He didn’t appreciate Snape’s sneers or snide remarks, and he certainly didn’t appreciate hearing how his careful watch was being misinterpreted as obsessive looming.
He had a feeling Moony would be upset with him if he got in a fight with Snape while he had Harry with him. He would be upset with himself if he got into it with Snape. He should be better than that.
He was still angry though.
“We will be in the study.” Snape turned around carefully and stepped slowly from the room.
“Well,” Sirius started once Snape was gone. “Go on, tell me that wasn’t rude. You know it was, you have to agree. That was blatantly rude.” He rubbed over his beard with frustrated fingers. He needed to think of what mattered, what actually mattered. Harry mattered more than his petty arguments with Snape.
Moony shook his head. “You two have been at each other’s throats all morning. I admit, Severus isn’t the most pleasant company, but—”
“Thank you.” Sirius nodded shortly.
“But,” Moony said, elongating the word knowingly. “He has a point that your concern is visibly loud. It really is just a cold.”
“He’s six, why can’t I be worried?”
“He’s fifteen.”
“But physically six.” Sirius said.
“If you’re really still worried, go follow Snape. Bring the chess board, it might make a nice peace offering.” Moony said, pointing at the muggle chessboard on the end table.
Sirius glowered and resisted the urge to mimic Moony.
“I know, it’s the worst idea you’ve ever heard.” Moony smiled and leant backwards, sinking into the chair.
“Completely awful, you’ve lost your touch.” Sirius said.
“How will I ever go on?”
“You could tell Snape to shut his mouth next time.”
“I’ll add it to my list of witty retorts.” Moony said with a grin.
Sirius stood and snatched up the chessboard. He despised the thought of playing chess against Snape, but he wanted to be near Harry in case he needed anything.
He’d already wasted thirteen years, he wasn’t wasting another second.
“Do you need anything before I leave?” He asked, lingering near the door frame.
Moony shook his head and his eyes slipped shut.
The walk to the study was considerably shorter than Sirius remembered it being. He stared at the small faded door and debated what he’d say to Snape. It was terribly difficult. He wanted to say several things to Snape, none of which were really appropriate for Harry’s ears, no matter if he was six or fifteen. He quickly compiled a list in his head, but found it dwindling to almost nothing as he struck most comments from the list due to obscenities.
‘I dislike you, but I want to be around my godson.’ Was the least rude. It sounded almost pleasant, but it depended on how Snape would take it.
‘Fancy a game of chess? It was your idea.’
That seemed somehow worse. It felt as if he was admitting Snape had been right in some way. He tried to comfort himself with the thought that It didn’t much matter what he said, so long as he was able to help Harry.
He needed to put aside the anger, but that was easier said than done.
He pushed the door open, finding Snape sitting in a plush black chair behind a grotesquely large desk with an empty Pepperup vial on his left. If Harry was dozing earlier, he seemed dead to the world now. His mouth was half open and he was crushed against Snape’s front.
Sirius could feel a smile sliding across his face at the sight until he caught Snape glaring at him from behind a dusty looking textbook.
“Come to stare?” Snape asked quietly as he slowly turned the page.
Sirius held the board up, hoping Moony’s peace offering spoke for itself. He figured Snape would be quiet while they played, for his own peace of mind as well as for Harry’s sake. Sirius was relying on that silence to keep the peace between himself and Snape as well. The less Snape spoke, the less they’d argue.
The textbook shut with a short snap as Snape set it aside and gestured for Sirius to sit.
He set the board down and slowly placed the pieces in their spots, half fumbling with them as he eyed Harry. He looked comfortable, more so than he had on the couch. Sirius knew Harry had been tactile as a toddler, but as a six year old and even at fifteen, he sometimes needed to be encouraged to allow others into his personal space and see touch as a friendly gesture, rather than an unknown entity.
He tried to guess at how Snape slid through Harry’s nervous and unspoken barriers.
“If you stare as loudly as you did in the sitting room even one more time, I’m leaving.” Snape hissed as he twisted the board sharply and immediately began to arrange the white pieces. “He’s actually asleep for the first time in hours.”
Sirius flicked his hands apologetically and tried to keep his concern quiet.
He didn’t know how to do that, but he’d try.
The thought that he was actually going to have to play the menace occurred to him at that moment, but he tried to shut it out.
He wondered idly about the metaphor of Snape blatantly choosing white, and how the chances of winning were always higher for the player who moved first. Sirius had always had a penchant for white as a Black.
Reg had thought it was hilarious.
Harry snuffled and pressed his face even more into Snape’s side. Snape didn’t seem to mind, as he tucked the blanket tighter around him and carded a hand through his hair.
Perhaps Moony had a point. Snape did care for Harry and Harry in turn felt safe enough to sleep peacefully.
Sweaty and sick, but no less peacefully.
The soft sound of a pawn sliding over the chessboard caught his attention, and he blinked down at the board, intending on at least making a good show of it.