Tick Tack Toe

Just a silly idea I had. Please tell me if you liked it!

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It was Christmas Eve at Grimmauld Place. Harry still felt oddly guilty about the events which had led up to his and the Weasleys' spending the holidays in the old house, but just now he was looking for Sirius and didn't spare a thought about the attack on Mr. Weasley's life.

He was about to head up to Sirius's room to look for him when he heard voices coming from the drawing room.

"Why won't you tell me what's bothering you?" Remus Lupin's voice asked.

"It's nothing," Sirius's voice answered in a reassuring tone.

"Nothing! You've been squirming since you sat down. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong...nothing I can't handle."

Harry thought maybe he should try talking to Sirius later, but by this time he'd forgotten all about what he'd wanted to talk about, and was now thoroughly curious about why Remus thought something was wrong with his godfather. He approached the drawing room door slowly.

"All right, if you must know," Sirius said in an annoyed voice now, "I stepped on a tack earlier, and it's still throbbing a bit."

"A tack?"

"Yes. A tack. In my big toe."

"Come off it, Sirius. That can't be it."

"Why not?"

"You've been in your shoes all day."

"Oh...well, no, I haven't. Padfoot went out in the garden for a bit today."

Harry decided he had eavesdropped long enough and stepped into the room. In the moment before Sirius looked up to greet him, Harry thought he did look quite nettled.

"Harry! How is everyone? I hope they don't mind this horrid house..."

Deciding not to let Sirius dodge Remus so easily, Harry replied with, "Is something wrong, Sirius?"

Sirius looked first flabbergasted, then indignant. "Who's the guardian here? Nothing's wrong that you need to worry about."

Harry shook his head. "I won't accept that. Because I'm going to worry now until you've convinced me it's nothing to worry about."

Remus smiled and nodded at Sirius.

Sirius swore. "The two of you! All right, fine. But if you breathe word of this to anyone else--anyone--I'll sic myself on you and tear your throats out." He took a deep breath before saying very quietly, "I've got a tick."

Eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Is that all?" Remus asked. "Is that really it?"

"Yes, dash it, that's it."

"Can't you get rid of it?" Harry asked, making up his mind not to laugh, no matter what.

"It's right in the middle of my back. Can't reach it properly as a dog or a human. Can't see what I'm doing."

Remus didn't seem to think laughing was inappropriate. "Poor Padfoot," he chuckled. "I suppose you picked it up when you were out in the garden? Well, Harry and I will get it off for you."

"No!" Sirius said, sounding alarmed. "I don't want anyone pulling a tick off me...it's disgusting. It's embarrassing. It's too awkward for words."

"Not as awkward as walking around with it all day," Remus pointed out.

"Now that's disgusting," Harry concurred.

"Couldn't we get it off with magic?" Sirius fairly pleaded. "Maybe a Summoning charm?"

"Like anyone would want to Summon something like that," Harry said, wrinkling his nose.

"I think we'd better not," Remus said. "I wouldn't want to risk something going wrong. Imagine if it grew or multiplied because we tried the wrong spell..."

"All right!" Sirius exclaimed. "Let's just get it over-with as soon as possible."

Remus stood up. "I think I saw some tweezers around somewhere. I'll hunt them up. Harry, you take Sirius up to Buckbeak's room; we aren't likely to be interrupted there."

"Mind you don't say anything," Sirius warned as Remus left the room. He stood slowly and walked beside Harry.

"Does it itch?" Harry asked, purely out of curiosity. He had, fortunately, never had a tick before.

"Yes. Terribly. And it hurts, too. Really, really frustrating to feel an itch like that and not be able to get at it." Sirius sounded more and more irritated as he spoke.

"I'm sorry. You really ought to have told someone right away."

"I feel sorry for dogs who can't turn human--half the time their careless owners don't find the tick until it's chock-full."

Harry shuddered at the unpleasant image. "I'm glad you didn't wait more than a few hours."

"I suppose I will be, too, when it's all over."

Remus met them at Buckbeak's room and Sirius locked the door behind them.

Remus smiled sympathetically at the patient. "Cheer up. This will soon be merely--"

"Something we never speak of again," Sirius interrupted.

"Er...right."

Harry lost a little of his resolve and smiled a bit at his godfather's whining, but he stopped when he saw the tick. All he could say was, "Oh...Sirius..."

"Nice little chap, is he?" Sirius muttered.

But in less than a minute, Remus had pried the nasty creature off.

"Are you sure you got it all?" Sirius asked.

Remus studied the tick. "Yes, it's all here. I don't envy you one bit. But it's all gone, now, so you can relax."

Sirius did relax a bit then. "Remember what I said," he warned. "No telling anyone. Not even your best friends, Harry. I don't care if they don't know me well--I've got my pride."

"He won't tell anyone," Remus said. "Don't be ridiculous. Not much to tell, really. Just a tick."

Sirius looked as though he didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved. "Well...thanks, anyway."

"Any time," Harry said, just managing to keep a straight face.

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That evening, just as Harry was about to drop off to sleep, he suddenly sat up in bed. "Ron! I completely forgot. You'll never guess what happened today! But you've got to swear you won't tell anyone--not even Hermione!"

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The End

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