Sick Valentine

A/N: Just a little one shot because it's Valentine's day.

The characters belong to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Lily Evans spent her second last Valentine at Hogwarts boyfriendless, best-friendless, and worse of all sick. No charming Nicolas Jones from Ravenclaw (well, he wasn't exactly her boyfriend), no Severus Snape (she used to exchange chocolate with him on Valentine days, though when she asked who gave him those chocolate he wouldn't answer), but a burning throat and a running nose. She stayed alone in her dormitory all day until Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald returned, both of whom were nice enough to end their Valentine dates early to keep her company.

'Kenny gave me a huge box of chocolate,' Mary said as she lifted the beautifully wrapped cream-white box and looked at it searchingly. 'I don't think I can finish everything before Easter.'

'Well, that's what I'm for, isn't it?' Marlene said happily as she tugged the box away from Mary and was untying the silk pink bow on top of the box. 'I'll help you finish it before –'

Marlene was interrupted by the sudden knocking coming from the window not far away from Lily's bed. Mary and Marlene looked around while Lily, who had herself draped in her red velvet blanket and whose vision range was blocked by the curtains that hung from the four-poster, sat up a bit straighter and leaned forward to look at the window on her right. The face she saw grinning at her through the glass did not make her feel any better.

'Good afternoon, ladies!' James' voice was muffled as there was a glass window in between him and the three girls inside the dormitories. 'Would you mind opening the window?'

'Should I?' Mary asked, glancing at Lily and Marlene.

'I don't have the strength to get into a quarrel with him now,' Lily sighed, 'so do not open that window.'

Marlene turned to face the guy with messy jet black hair hovering outside the dormitory window on his broomstick, light wind gushes blowing his black cloak, shook her head and gave him an apologetic look.

'I'll just hang around until you guys open one of this doors,' James was shouting a bit louder than he should have. Before they knew it, he was flying around and tapping on every window there were in the dormitory. 'Don't you love the sound of my finger tapping on the window?'

Taking a deep breath and holding back the sickness that was squirming upwards to her mouth because of the anger, Lily grabbed her wand and waved a bit too violently. All the windows flew open and wind travelled into the room. 'Now, what do you want, Potter?'

'Hey, you opened the window,' James smiled. 'Ladies,' he looked at Mary and Marlene, 'would you give us a moment? Wouldn't take long. Oh, and Marlene, Nolan is waiting for you on the first corridor to the left of the Fat Lady's corridor. I saw him carry this big heart-shaped box.'

'Bloody hell, really?' and with that she darted off sniggering.

'I'll be just outside,' Mary said to Lily as she followed out, too.

Lily waited until the door was closed and asked, 'What is it?'

'Happy Valentine's Day!' James exclaimed. Lily couldn't see what he was doing or whether or not he was still hovering by the window next her bed, for James was suddenly quiet. Lily narrowed her eyes and slowly leaned by to look when suddenly her face hit a shoebox-sized box that was flying towards her.

'INCOMING!' at the same time, James yelled out loud, as if a cannonball was plunging at Lily's face.

'MERLIN'S BROKEN WAND, POTTER!' Lily cried in astonishment. It took her a few second to actually see the beautiful dark blue/purple box that was sparkling here and there like it was sprinkled with stars. She gave James a questioning look and went to pick the box up. Viewed closer, Lily realised that the box was enchanted so that it looked like what Lily imagined the universe would be when seen from outer space. Patches of amethyst coloured clouds floating around in the deep, dark, cold colours; stars, shining, turning, winking at Lily from what seemed like thousands of light years away; all made so real that Lily was temporarily lost in it.

'Like it?' seeing her crystal clear eyes gleaming and widening with enthusiasm, James felt content and proud. 'Took me a while. And there's chocolate inside it.'

'Thank you,' Lily said rather forcefully and harshly, but she genuinely meant it.

'Anything for you, Evans. I had to give to you like this, you're sick in bed and I can't go up the girl's dorm,' James furrowed his eyebrows, looking annoyed, 'that staircase just won't stop turning into a slide.'

Drawing up the image of James Potter repeatedly slipping down the slippery slide and then hurriedly scurrying upwards again only to be spewed out, Lily couldn't help but laugh a little. Seeing her like that, James jovially veered in to get closer the window and was about to lay his hand on its sill when a huge force pushed back out into the air. James fell off his broom and was plummeting down towards the not-so-soft grass ground before he realised it. He screamed at the top of his lungs, not knowing what exactly to do.

'Aresto Momentum!' Lily frantically dashed to the window and waved her wand. James slowed down and landed on the ground with less of an impact than it would've been for a man falling from the seventh floor of a building onto the hard ground. 'Are you okay?'

'Sure,' James tried to shout back. 'Don't worry about me, Evans. And don't be ill.' He waved goodbye at her. He couldn't see her clearly from such a distant but he was quite certain that she smiled.

'No boys around here, especially you, Potter,' James could hear Lily's last words before she closed all the windows.

'Sick Valentine, mate,' Sirius, who was standing below the Gryffindor tower on the ground the whole time smirked, looking as carelessly handsome as always. 'You were screaming like an eight years old girl, y'know.'

James laughed.