Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for; Stickers; Object; Cauldron - Write about a potioneer or a potion.

Word count without AN - 414

Needs Must

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling bad before I left for work?" Harry asked softly, stroking the hair from Severus' sweaty forehead. "I'd have stayed home."

"I don't need looking after like a child," Severus growled out, though it was more a whimper as he closed his eyes against the pain in his head.

"Have you got any potions to help?" Harry asked.

"If I had them made, don't you think I would have taken one?" Severus asked, opening his eyes to glare at his boyfriend. "I'm not a bloody idiot!"

Harry stood up from the bed with a small shake of his head. Severus thought he heard a muttered, "Could've fooled me", but dismissed the thought as sleep claimed him.

He felt awful.

Harry set the cauldron up, before washing his hands. He was nervous as he looked over the recipe for the potion, but he didn't have much choice. It wasn't like Severus could get up and make the potion himself, and it wasn't a potion that the apothecary's kept in stock.

He sliced the ingredients carefully, grounding others and chopping more still.

He felt sick.

He'd never taken to potions, even after leaving Hogwarts, and usually, he stayed as far away from Severus' lab as was humanly possible.

Still, Severus was sick, and Harry wanted to help.

Time passed as he stirred and counted, constantly checking the flames and the colour.

Finally, two and a half hours after he started, Harry was done. The potion was the consistency and the colour described in the book, and Harry was proud of his effort. He waited for it to cool before bottling it, and labelling the vials.

Taking one up to the bedroom, he woke Severus carefully, tilting him up and helping him drink the potion before Severus could argue with him.

"Where did you get it?" Severus asked, feeling the relieving effects of the potion immediately.

Harry wrinkled his nose. "I made it."

Severus frowned. The potion had tasted correct, and the dregs still in the vial were exactly the right colour.

"You made it?"

Harry nodded. "You were sick so…"

"You're scared of the lab," Severus replied, only half joking.

Shrugging, Harry lay down on the bed beside Severus. "I don't like you not feeling well," he murmured, resting himself up against Severus' side. He yawned.

Intense concentration had a way of wearing him out. As sleep claimed him, he felt Severus' arm wrap around his side.

"Thank you."