WHO: Charlie Spinnet and his older brother Daniel!
WHAT: Daniel's taking care of Charlie
WHERE: St. Mungo's, Daniel's office where Charlie is holed up.
WHEN: Today!



With his eyes glazed over, Charlie wavered on his feet, trying his best to listen to his brother’s words. He took a sip of the water Daniel had given him and placed it uncaringly on the side table. Even the water tasted funny with this blasted fever.

“You need to sleep for more than an hour at a time, Charlie,” Daniel said, shaking his head as he flipped over the pillows on the bed. Or, well, the couch. It was the best makeshift bed they could handle in the hospital, as Charlie had refused to be admitted. If he was able to stand, he didn't need to take up a room for someone who couldn't. "You're lucky I've got an office or I'd be strapping you to a gurney in the loony bin for acting this way."

"Thanks," Charlie mumbled, sitting back down on the couch once the sheets had been tucked in. Daniel stood and let out a breath, eyes examining his brother carefully. His office in the hospital wasn't the most mainstream of places to hole up, but with the patient admittance still rising, the healers had to do what they could. Charlie's fever had managed to stay consistent, and as long as he wasn't falling into slumbers he couldn't wake from, Daniel deemed the containment of his little brother a success.

Daniel let out a breath and put the back of his hand to Charlie's forehead. "You're still too hot to go see her."

The whine the younger brother let out was long and heart breaking. Charlie dropped his head in his hands and began to take deep, uneven breaths. Daniel was used to dealing with frustrated parents, but this was his little brother! Charlie had been here literally since day one of the virus' outbreak because of his girlfriend, and now with neither of their conditions getting better, they had to take the appropriate precautions.

"Relax, Charlie," Daniel said, sitting beside his brother and rubbing his hand on his back. "Things are getting better. We're managing to stabilize the virus more consistently."

"She's going to die," he moaned, hands pressing hard into his eyes. Daniel gaped, startled by the bluntness of his words. "She's going to die thinking I---I cheated and----I love her, Danny!"

"She's not going to die," Daniel said evenly. The past month had been the most draining of his career. Not only with Charlie, but the abundance of patients, and then the news that Delilah was suffering from the disease as well. In Istanbul! The last thing he needed was for one of Charlie's minor delusions to rile up once again. He'd already had to calm his brother down after he burst into the bathroom wailing about having been traded to the Woollongong Warriors. "Penny's going to be fine."

"Then why can't I see her?" Charlie asked loudly, lifting his head. "If she's not going to---" A look of realization seemed to come over him and Charlie stood quickly. The quick movement caused him to stumble over to the desk and Daniel shot to his feet.

"Charlie, relax!"

"She's dead, isn't she?" Charlie shot accusingly at Daniel. He gritted his teeth, his hand running through his hair and leaving it sticking up at all angles and directions. He grimaced, pressing the heels of his hands to his temples. "She's dead, that's why I can't see her, oh, she's dead, Penny's dead---"

"Charlie!" Daniel exclaimed, taking his brother by the shoulders. "She's not, I swear it!" He watched as his brother lolled his head miserably back and forth, tears streaming down his face. Most of his brother's delusions had been easily handled, but this one—Daniel couldn't take Charlie to see his girlfriend, it could make both of their conditions worse, it just wasn't safe. "Penny's not dead, Charlie, she's alive. She's alive!"

"How can you be so sure?" Charlie groaned, sinking back to sit on the edge of the desk. Daniel kept his hands tightly on his brother's shoulders to keep him upright. "She wouldn't wake up, she couldn't wake up…"

Daniel put a tight arm around his brother and hefted him up. This was not going to last long; the fever-induced panic had helped exhaust his brother, but the sleeping potion Daniel had poured discreetly into his drinking water had ultimately done the trick. It should have worked a bit faster, though.

"Merlin, Charlie, when did you get so heavy?" he muttered.

"Muscle…" Charlie mumbled, slumping onto the couch before Daniel could put him down. The healer let out a heavy breath, unconsciously mimicking his brother's nervous habit by running a hand through his hair. Hopefully Charlie wouldn't remember this little outburst, but what if he did? His word wouldn't be enough to prove to him that Penelope Fawcett wasn't dead. Daniel sat back against his desk, studying his brother. The delusion had solved the problem of Charlie's sleeplessness; perhaps he had to accept one small victory at a time.

Now, to respond to respond to one of the twelve owls Nora Peakes had sent in the last three days and order some goat feed for Octavius' child. Daniel came around his desk and dropped into the seat with a great sigh. He'd never stop taking care of these Raggedy Little Gryffindors, as he had so affectionately called them so many years back.