Drink
“Here.”
Sirius held out the steaming mug. The bundle of blankets only grumbled in reply, making no move to take it.
“Drink it, you’ll feel better.”
“I don’t think a cup of tea will keep me from dying,” the bundle of blankets returned, voice raspy and pathetic and sounding just slightly bitchy – a reaction Sirius was letting slide considering the circumstances.
“You have a cold,” he stated anyway, because despite the pity he felt for him, it was just a cold.
The pathetic bundle of blankets didn’t respond, and Sirius placed the mug on the table next to the sofa, in between all the tissues.
“Just so you know, that’s not just tea. It’s a special recipe from Effie she made for me when I was sick. Works like magic, is all I’m saying.” And with those words he left the room, acting as if he couldn’t care all that much whether he drank it or not.
As soon as he was gone, a hand snuck out from under the blankets, carefully pulled the mug to his lips, and took a sip. He tasted ginger, lemon, cardamom and a lot of other spices, mixed with lots of honey. It was actually quite good.
When Sirius returned half an hour later to check on him, the mug was empty and the bundle asleep.
“Gotcha,” he whispered as he leaned down to gingerly swipe some of the sweaty strands of hair out of his boyfriend’s face. Remus’s skin was pale with dark bags under his eyes, but as Sirius laid a hand on his forehead to check his temperature it already felt much cooler than before. With Effie’s magic recipes he’d be back to normal in a few days. In the meantime Sirius would make more tea and soup.