Dinner was awkward, but all family dinners on the Isle were. Largely because they never happened. Except for that evening when Captain Hook decided that they would celebrate him getting his beloved ship many years prior to that night. Additionally, commanding that his children dress in their finest clothes. A celebration for a true narcissist.

It would have been a fun thing to do - dressing up like you were someone important and actually having a sufficient meal to eat - but that night Harry wasn't feeling it. He felt selfish pushing his food around his plate not wanting to eat any of it. It wasn't often that their father provided them with this much to eat and it seemed a shame to waste it. He wished that his father would turn away for a few seconds so he could scrape some of his serving onto CJ or Harriet's plate, or both for all he cared.

Harriet sat uncomfortably in her chair - and not just because of the godforsaken corset she was made to wear. The surroundings were unsettling as the children ate in silence until their father rambled off loudly about some story of him and his ship, sometimes repeating the same one. But what unsettled her the most was her brother sitting next to her.

It had been clear to everyone at the table that Harry hadn't been well over the last few days. Even their father had made a passing comment or two about it. Which is why it annoyed her that he was still made to participate in this useless family activity. She looked over at his pale face as he stared down at his plate, and remembered back to when their father had called them up for dinner.

At the sound of the dreaded bell ringing through the corridors of ship Harriet finally conceded and knotted the tie at the bottom of her corset before heading out the door. On the way through the hallway she saw Harry's door still shut and knew he must still be inside – their father always made sure all doors were left open when no one was in the room. She came over to the door and politely knocked quietly before pushing it open.

Stepping into the room she finds Harry on his bed, already dressed for dinner. She smiles sadly to herself as she realises that he would have gotten dressed and gone back to sleep to catch just a few more minutes that he needed.

"Harry?" she says hesitantly, hating to have to wake him up. Kneeling down next to his bed she places her hand on his burning forehead. It has the desired effect as the coolness of her hand wakes him up.

After his eyes open, he shuts them again with a groan, knowing that he needs to get up. It pains Harriet to see her little brother in such misery and forced out of rest.

She gives him a light squeeze on his shoulder to show that she understands, before she stands up and walks toward the dinning room. Hoping that he has the strength to follow her.

CJ sat indifferently at the table. She wished she could entertain herself by swinging her legs from her chair but her shoes were too small and they hurt her feet when she moved them. The only solace for her was that she knew she wasn't alone in loathing this family moment. She'd seen Harriet shifting in her chair uncomfortably, trying to adjust her corset, but most of all what drew her attention was Harry.

He hadn't said a word since they all sat down for dinner. She hadn't heard him speak much in days, and what little words he had said sounded like it hurt for him to talk. It bothered her that their father still made him participate in this monstrosity, seeing as he was the first to pick up on him being unwell two days ago.

"You ill, boy?" Captain Hook raises an eyebrow at his son from where he reads over maps in the living room.

"No" Harry denies after clearing his throat from the coughing fit that he'd had when he walked into the room.

His father grunts in disagreement but doesn't say anymore. It is clear to him that his son is lying. It's clear to CJ as well, from where she sits in one of the arm chairs across from her father. Harry's face is pale and he seems to shake slightly as he walks towards her.

"You ready to go?" he asks her as he pulls his sword out of the drum by the door.

CJ thinks twice before choosing to say nothing, as she gets out of her chair and pulls her own sword out of the drum. Standing next to him she hears his labored breathing and looks up at him in worry. He shakes his head slightly at her before stepping out the door.

"Harry" CJ calls out as she jogs to catch up with him on the wharf.

"Save it" he warns her, his voice having dropped an octave in misery now that they are out of the house.

"You can't go to school" she ignores him. "You need rest."

"Watch me" is all he says before they continue their path to school.

And she had. She'd seen him go about his days like nothing was any different. He still went to school, did his supply runs for both the house and his pirate crew. He still looked after her in their father's stead and he still took his shifts at their father's shop. All the while CJ had watched as his energy dropped, his skin paled further and his cough got deeper into his chest.

Harry wished more than anything that he could go back to sleep, or at the very least lean forwards over the table to make breathing that little bit easier. But he knew he couldn't, lest he risk his father yelling at him for a lack of manners, and he wanted to draw as less attention to himself as possible.

That endeavour only lasted until just over halfway through dinner when his lungs decided they would launch an attack on his dignity. The first couple of coughs he was able to shield behind closed lips while he took the napkin off his lap and brought it to his mouth. Immediately after, the coughs became louder and more forceful. Knowing that the fit wouldn't end anytime soon he pushed his chair back and left the room. He knew the only reason why his father allowed him to leave without protest was because he wouldn't want him expelling germs around the room.

Initially when Harry stood up from his chair, Harriet had expected their father to yell at him, but he hadn't. Any parent on the Isle always took any opportunity to yell at their kids, the fact that their father hadn't concerned her.

Minutes ticked past and she became more worried that her brother hadn't returned to his seat. Lately his coughing spells were becoming longer and deeper in his chest, leaving him more out of breath. In a split-second decision, she pushed out her chair. "Excuse me" she bowed her head to her father before exiting the room.

Once Harry had left the dining room, he'd walked through the hallway without much mind to where he was going. He'd almost made it to the staircase, presumably to go to his room, when his vision started to cloud and he thought it would be best to sit down. Leaning his back against a nearby wall, he slid down to the floor. And that was where Harriet found him.

She sighed as she crouched down in front of him, where he sat in a ball with his head on his knees. "Can you stand?" she cut straight to the point.

Harry didn't say anything but he raised his head and took a shaky breath before he started to push himself off the floor.

It was immediately clear that he wasn't stable on his feet, with one hand bracing himself against the wall. Harriet pulls one of his arms across her shoulders before wrapping an arm around his waist to support him. Slowly, she carefully leads him down the stairs, wishing that he was still little enough for her to carry him, but those days had long been passed.

"Get some rest" she tells him once she has him settled in bed.

Although she'd already placed him under the covers, he makes a sound of protest before speaking, "But Da" his voice is raw and she has to strain to understand him.

"Dad won't care" she says although she's not sure. "I'll come check on you later."

Entering back into the dinning room, Harriet sees a look of relief cross CJ's face and watches her visibly relax in her chair. "Harry will not be re-joining us. He is too ill" she states as she resumes her seat. She hates having to speak properly around her father, much preferring to speak in slang around the wharf, but she slips into the dialect easily.

"Mhmm" the older captain hums in recognition, the sound portraying more consideration than annoyance.

As Harriet picks up her fork to resume her dinner, she and CJ share a worried look before they avert their eyes.

Darkness had fallen outside when Harriet places the wooden bucket back on the floor. Harry swallows thickly, rolling onto his back wondering why food only tastes nice when it goes in. He closes his eyes as Harriet goes around with a cool cloth wiping the sweat off his face.

She had been true to her word and had come to check on him after her dish duties had been completed. When she'd laid eyes on him, she realised that the situation was worse than she had initially thought, finding him sweating with fever and shaking as he slept. Since then it had only gotten worse as he continued to cough so much that it made him physically ill. Her work with a cold compress could only do so much to help him, but still she persisted in trying to bring his fever down.

At the sound of footsteps stopping outside the room Harriet looks over her shoulder to see CJ standing timidly in the doorframe. Harriet gives her a small smile from where she sits in her chair next to Harry's bed, hoping to coax her out of the doorway. Her face is pale as she stares at her brother's form lying on the bed, to her eyes it looks like he's dying.

Her apprehension doesn't go unnoticed by even Harry. "Hey, little croc" he calls out to her as he reaches his arm out towards her to welcome her into the room. His voice is raspy and weak, and it looks like it takes him a great amount of effort to hold his arm out to her.

She rushes forward and takes his hand, in finding that it's cold she takes it with her other hand as well hoping to warm it up between her own. Next to her she senses Harriet relax a little now that she's in the room. Stepping to the side, CJ stands against the side of Harriet's chair as a subtle sign of support. Even at her younger age CJ knows that Harriet is stressed over the state of their brother.

Harriet sighs shakily as she feels CJ stand next to her. Emotionally she leans her head onto her sister's shoulder, needing the support. Ever since their mother had died the matriarchal duties had fallen to her, and it was times like these that she didn't feel like she was equipped for the job.

"Do you know where we keep the elderflower?" Harriet turns to CJ after she'd taken a deep breath.

CJ nods her head unsurely.

"If you don't, I can go and you stay with him" Harriet tells her.

CJ is quick to shake her head. Harry's state scared her as it was, the thought of being left alone with him scared her even more.

"It's on the top shelf in the kitchen cupboard in a silver box" Harriet moves along, understanding her younger sister's reaction. "I need you to take a couple spoonfuls of it and put them in half a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Can you remember that?"

Obediently CJ nods before letting go of Harry's hand and hurrying out the door. Harriet bites at her lip as she watches her leave.

"She's scared, isn't she?" Harry's voice brings her eyes back to him.

"She's young" Harriet tells him as she turns the cloth over and presses it back to his forehead.

Harry sighs in content at the coolness of the cloth but the rest of his body shivers at the contact.

"Are you feeling any better?" Harriet asks.

"Little bit. Don't think I have anything to throw up anymore" he admits.

"Technically, that's not a good thing" she points out. "Don't laugh at that!" she quickly adds seeing the corners of his mouth turn up, knowing that it would only set him off coughing again.

His face drops at his sister's seriousness.

"Why do you do this to yourself? If you just let yourself rest…" she trails off, losing her train of thought.

"There's no time to rest" Harry counters.

"Find some" she tells him. "It scares me how bad you've let this get. If you'd just rested, things would be different."

It doesn't surprise her that Harry doesn't reply, already short of breath from the few sentences he'd said. Instead he closes his eyes as she runs her hand over his cheek, falling into an uneasy sleep.

When Harriet awoke to find Harry's bed empty, it was safe to say that she nearly had a premature heart attack. Her neck spasmed painfully as she rocketed out of the chair where she'd slept but it didn't faze her much, her mind was racing through a million thoughts at once. Looking outside through the window she judged that it was a little past dawn, the sun just breaching over the water on the horizon. That was good, it meant he couldn't be too far away.

"What are you doing up? You should be in bed" Harriet says when she finds Harry moving around the living room appearing to be getting ready to leave the ship.

"Meeting up with the crew" he answers as he fastens on a fingerless glove. His voice is still deep and raw, but his skin isn't as pale as it was the night before.

"No, absolutely not" she shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Uma's giving out the new chore roster" he ignores her as he works on putting on the other glove.

"There's no way you're up to working today. She'll send you right off that ship as soon as she sees the state of you."

"Well I can't exactly skip it, can I? How would it look to the crew if I missed it?"

"How would it look to the crew if you showed up looking like walking death? Uma's just going to turn you back around and you know it" she points out. "Just please go back to bed."

"I'm the first mate" Harry reasons.

"She's the captain, her decision betters yours!" Harriet counters, now getting annoyed by her brother's stubbornness.

"Funny thing, she hasn't made her decision yet" Harry bites back.

Harriet notes how although Harry's tone had been distasteful, he hadn't raised his voice like she had. Undoubtedly because he couldn't. She sighs and closes her eyes, trying to regain a sense of calm – it wasn't fair to yell at him if he couldn't yell back. "Harry, please" she begs before she opens her eyes. "Did you not listen to anything I said last night?"

"Did you not listen to me? There is no time" he makes the mistake of shaking his head, prompting a dizzy spell to wash over him. With a quick breath he grabs onto the back of a chair to steady himself until his vision clears.

"Please, Harry" Harriet's voice draws his attention to her now standing in front of him, holding his face in her hands, drawing his eyes into hers. She sighs feeling the heat of his skin on her hands before she reminds him, "you were so ill last night."

"Listen to you sister, Harrison" Captain Hook's voice startles Harriet from behind her. She'd been so focused on Harry that she'd missed their father entering the room. She steps back from Harry as he approaches them, allowing him to take her place.

Standing in his daughter's previous spot, the Captain places his hand on his son's forehead. Harry tries to shy away from under his touch but he roughly grabs him by the shoulder to hold him in place. "To bed with you. I won't have any child of mine wondering the streets in such a state of weakness" he says as he withdraws his hand before turning to Harriet. "See to it that he gets there."

Harriet nods to her father, taking hold of one of Harry's arms and preparing to drag him to his room before he can protest. But before they can even take a step forward, their father abruptly leaves them, stalking out the main door without a word.

Pausing for a second, Harriet watches the door swing shut. It wasn't uncommon for their father to leave the ship without an explanation, but something about this time felt different. The haste in which he left set her on edge, whether it was because he was disgusted at his son's apparent weakness or whether it was because he was going to help them, she wasn't sure.

The day went slowly as Harriet watched over Harry. She was glad that they'd managed to get him back to bed since he'd been out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. Uma hadn't minded that he'd missed the crew's meeting. CJ having been sent to tell her about Harry's absence, had come back with her well wishes and some food from the chip shop for them that Harriet had managed to get Harry to eat some of.

Their father still hadn't been seen since he'd left the ship that morning and Harriet was beginning to wonder if he had left because he was disgusted by the state of his son. The prospect made her sad as she drifted off into a day dream, listening to her brother's wheezing breaths as he slept.

A sound of a door shutting from another room is enough to pull Harriet back to reality hours later. She turns around hearing heavy footsteps behind her to find her father walking into the room. Seeing him approaching quickly, she pulls her chair back from the bed to give him room.

He doesn't spare her a glance as he makes his way to Harry's bed where he roughly clasps his shoulder, "wake up, boy."

At the gruff voice of his father and his rough grip, Harry stirs from sleep. Beginning to sit up the movement agitates his lungs and sets him off coughing into his fist.

"Help me sit him up" the captain instructs to his daughter and they each take hold of one of his shoulders to haul him up.

Harriet winces as Harry continues to cough, the sound grating and deep within his chest. Turning to the windowsill beside her she takes the cup of water from the edge and goes to bring it over to him.

"Leave it" her father puts a hand on the arm holding the cup, not taking his eyes off Harry. "We have to keep his airways open."

Harriet nods and places the cup back on the windowsill as Harry's coughs die down, fading back into crackling breaths. When she turns back, she sees her father pull out a small flask from his coat pocket.

"What is that?" she asks, eyeing the clear liquid that she somehow knows isn't water.

"Medicine" is all he says as he pulls the cork off the bottle.

Harriet pushes her chair back further and stands up, walking backwards couple more steps feeling like the glass might shatter if she got too close to something that special. "How did you get it?" she asks breathlessly.

Medicine was rare on the Isle, no one really ever saw it, much less could afford it. Even if they sold one on Captain Hook's fancy telescopes, their money still wouldn't even come close.

"Let's just say someone owed me a favour."

Harriet doesn't push her father for more of an explanation - mostly because she didn't want to know, as he lifts the flask to Harry's lips allowing him to drink down its contents.

"How does it work?" Harriet asks retaking her seat in the chair now that she deems it safe to be near the flask.

"He needs rest" Captain Hook says as he takes the flask away from Harry, placing it on the floor before feeling Harry's forehead again for fever. "Has it gone up?"

It takes awhile for Harriet to register that her father was talking to her, still being distracted by empty bottle on the floor. "Uh, no. It's been going down since last night."

"Good" he nods. "He should be over the worst of it."

"What is it?" Harriet wonders. She's seen plenty of sick people around the streets of the Isle but not many as sick as Harry.

"My best guess would be pneumonia."

Harriet solemnly nods her head at her father's words. It wasn't often that you would hear the word 'pneumonia' around the Isle and associate it with someone living. "CJ can't know, even if the medicine works" she says, knowing that the diagnosis would only frighten her sister further.

"It will" Harriet is comforted by the words of the older captain as he helps Harry to lie back down on the mattress before turning to her. "Go get some rest yourself, lass. I'll watch him from here."

Harriet hesitates in her seat, shocked at her father showing a caring nature. She debates whether to turn down the offer and pretend it never happened, but it wasn't until that moment that she realised how tired she was. She'd barely slept the previous night and worry had also taken its toll. Slowly she nods as she pushes herself out of the chair, allowing her father to take her place.

As Harriet leaves the room and sleep takes him, Harry thinks to himself that never in a thousand years would he have imagined that he would fall asleep with his father watching over him.