A/N: I had fun writing this one. There's a bit of borderline naughtiness (not much) so you can look out for that. Thanks to dance4ever95, theHalfBloodPhoenix, bloodyhell-ronald and Neko-chan2604 for reviewing the last chapter.


Sick


James Potter was a miserable human being who swore that as soon as he could move without the goddamn room spinning, he was going to hunt down Sirius and flay him alive.

He had quidditch practice yesterday and during the practice, he gave Sirius his wand to hold onto. Of course, both of them had forgotten and Sirius had only remembered when he was safe and sound inside the castle's walls. And where was James you might ask? He was outside, in the midst of a storm, clearing up after practice without a wand to cast a single spell on himself leaving him at the mercy of the squall. When he had finally- oh sweet Merlin and Circe finally- finished repacking, James was cold and miserable and felt as though he was drenched to the bones.

And that was when the first sneeze hit.

It was practically a Hogwarts curse that whenever you get wet in the rain and sneeze immediately after, you were, without a doubt, going to get sick. Even the worst Divination student in the world could have told you that. Which is why James panicked. He had a quidditch match on Saturday, damn it! He couldn't get sick now! Unfortunately, fate had other plans for him. During the trip from the quidditch pitch to Gryffindor tower, he counted at least fourteen more and the beginnings of a cough as well. When he finally stumbled up the dormitory steps, he was bleary eyed and his throat had a permanent itch. He searched around for some Pepper up potion, but obviously since fate was being a little bitch to him, there wasn't a single vial in sight.

(Well there was one that he found in Peter's trunk, but even though he wasn't a potions master, James was absolutely certain that it wasn't supposed to be congealed like that)

Which is why, the next morning he walk up with a stuffy nose, nearly no voice whatsoever and muscles that hurt even if it was to just breathe. Remus told him that he ought to stay in bed, but James ignored him. He promised Lily that he would meet her early this morning to discuss planning another prefects' meeting. However, as soon as he through his feet over the edge of the mattress, a wave of dizziness hit him so hard that he didn't know which way was up and which was down. He soon conceded with Remus and crawled back under the covers where he was certain he was going to die.

The door to dormitory opened causing James to hiss like an angry cat as he burrowed under his blankets. A tinkling laugh sounded from the doorway and he patted around for his glasses before poking his head out to the side to see his uninvited visitor. Standing right there was Lily Evans in all her glory. She was wearing her uniform and her hair was bounded in a high pony tail. A messenger bag hung off of one shoulder and she had her wand grasped in her hand. James was suddenly aware that he was in a ratty pair of flannel pyjama pants and an old t shirt with pillow creases on his cheek and a horrendous case of bed hair while Lily Evans was with him. Alone. In his dormitory.

Merlin help him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His voice was gravelly and cracked in some places. It hurt to talk. "Don't you have class?"

"Charms in fact," she said easily, flicking her wand so a tray flew on to his bedside table. There was a platter of sandwiches and a flask of pumpkin juice. Normally James would have welcomed the food, but just the sight alone made his stomach churn uncomfortably. Lily seemed to realise this (or just noticed that he was rapidly turning green) and riffled around her bag before tossing him a vial with a light blue potion. "That should help," she said. He uncorked it and downed it in one go, ignoring the bitter aftertaste. His stomach calmed at once and he shot her a grateful look.

"Do you by chance have anything for sore throats in your bag of tricks?" he asked, wincing slightly. It felt as though his throat was rubbed raw. Lily nodded and tossed him another vial, though this one was lilac in colour. He took that as well. "Lily Evans, you goddess," he said appreciatively, finally being able to talk properly.

Lily blushed slightly at the compliment and continued looking in her bag for something. Eventually she pulled out three more vials of an amber coloured potion, one that James knew to be Pepper up potion. She walked over to his bed and daintily seated herself on the edge, toeing off her shoes.

"How come you're not awing Flitwick with your charms prowess?" he asked as she made herself comfortable. He tried to ignore the fact that she was sitting next to him in bed in an empty dormitory. There was a fine line that he walked when it came to flirting with her. He had to watch out just in case he crossed it.

Mind out of the gutter, Potter, he thought as her shoulder rubbed against his. There had to be something wrong if that was all he could think of while he was sick in bed. He really was head over arse.

"I told Flitwick that I had super important top secret Head duties to discuss with the Head Boy," she said easily, passing him the tray. "And we were only reviewing today, so I was able to go freely. I think Sirius wanted to say something, but I may or may not have silenced him before I left the room."

"Face it, you realised how bland your day would be without me. I bet you were begging Flitwick to let you go," James teased.

"Oh, of course. My days are considered worthless if I don't see you glorious face," replied Lily, rolling her eyes. "Really. My world revolves around you, Potter."

"I knew it," he said happily, reaching over for a vial of potion. She slapped his hand away.

"You shouldn't take it on an empty stomach," she said. "It works better if you eat something first."

"Yes Nurse Evans," James said.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Nurse Evans?" she said wryly. "Fantasise much, Potter?"

James smirked at her before deliberately- and torturously slowly- looking her up and down. By the time his gaze had settled on her face, her cheeks were bright red. "I have to admit though, in those fantasies you were always in a sexy little nurse outfit. And I wasn't feeling like shit. Quite the opposite, really." He sneezed, which served to prove his point.

It was silent for a bit, only punctuated by a small coughing fit. James thought that he may have crossed the pre-established line, but soon enough Lily laughed and put a stop to his doubts.

"Prat," she said fondly. "Now eat so you can take your potion. We don't need Gryffindor's star chaser out of the game on Saturday."

"I don't care if I could barely move Evans; there is no way in hell that I'm going to miss that quidditch match," James said solemnly.

"You might not care, but if I don't think you're well enough I will tie you to this bed. I'm not going to have you faint in the middle of the game and fall of your broom," said Lily sternly as she poured out a glass of pumpkin juice for him.

"And what are you going to do once you have me all tied up and at your mercy, Ms. Evans?" James asked, still smirking at her.

Lily glared at him. "If you don't shut up and eat I will push this sandwich down your mouth."

"So you're into gagging?"

He got a slap on the shoulder for that one from Lily who was blushing once more. Her expression was adorable and James laughed as she tried to formulate a sentence. He leaned over her lap and grabbed the glass of pumpkin juice along with a sandwich. The dormitory was quiet as he ate. He could have sworn that Lily was humming but when asked she just looked at him strangely. When he was finally finished eating, he leant over to get the potion. However, Lily had the same idea and both of their heads knocked together. James hissed in pain and, on reflex, turned towards Lily only to find her face right in front of him, so close that their noses brushed. He sucked in a breath and Lily's eyes were widened while her mouth was hanging open slightly. The previous joking environment vanished and was replaced with something else. Neither knew what to say or do and ended up staring at each other like that for a good few seconds before James made the mistake of glancing down at her mouth.

He didn't know what happened next- maybe he moved, maybe she moved. Nonetheless, he certainly was not complaining. He didn't know what happened, but he did know that he was kissing her and she was responding rather enthusiastically. Her hands had come up around his neck and he shifted so that both of them were now sitting up, instead of him half lying on her. James lost track of time because he'd be damned if he thought about anything else while he was snogging Lily Evans. He'd wanted to this for years and now he was finally getting his chance.

When they finally did separate, his back was up against the head board and Lily was perched on his lap. His hands were firmly grasping her hips and hers were still around his neck. Amidst their- ahem- activities, Lily's shirt was rumpled, her hair was a mess and her neck tie was nowhere to be found. Neither said anything. James brushed a wayward curl out of her face and kissed her forehead. She linked their fingers together

"Bugger," she swore once she noticed the time. "Transfiguration is going to start now." It took them a while for her to disentangle herself from James, as he did not seem to want to let her go and kept on distracting her by kissing any available body part such as her neck and wrists. Lily grabbed her bag and passed her hand through her hair a few times to untangle it. "Where'd you throw my bleeding tie?"

"I don't know," James shrugged as he watched her from the bed. "Use one of mine."

"It's too l- aha!" She grabbed the scrap of scarlet and gold silk and began knotting it hastily. "I'll see you later!" she shouted as she ran out the door. "And don't forget to take your potions!"


During the course of Thursday evening and the entire of Friday, Sirius continuously badgered James as to why Evans ran in to the Transfiguration two minutes late, blushing and dishevelled. James, of course, did not tell him anything, but he was sure that Sirius was forming his own conclusions and had enlisted the help of Remus and Peter to try and crack him. He had asked if they snogged, but, as he did with all the other theories, James simply hummed noncommittally and continued to ignore him.

It wasn't until the quidditch match that he confirmed or denied Sirius' suspicions. James had fully recovered and Gryffindor had properly trounced Ravenclaw in the match. Everyone was cheering and running out on to the field as the seven Gryffindors floated gracelessly down to the pitch. Only a few minutes after his feet had touched the ground was James accosted by Sirius.

"I knew it!" yelled the latter. "I bloody well knew it!"

James looked at him confusedly. "Knew what?" he shouted over the din.

Sirius grinned at him and disappeared for a moment, only to reappear holding on to Lily's wrist. Lily, who was clutching a handkerchief and whose nose was red from being rubbed raw. She coughed and sputtered, trying to yell at Sirius for grabbing her, but was unable to do so as her voice was barely a whisper. When she noticed James standing a few feet away, she blushed bright red and glared at Sirius.

"You snogged Evans," Sirius said triumphantly. He turned to Lily. "It was obvious when you came running into class was shirt half open. I swear, even McGonagall knew you had been busy with someone."

Lily squeaked indignantly. "My shirt was not undone!" she croaked.

James threw an arm around her shoulders. "Ignore him!" he yelled over the noise. "He's just jealous that no one's snogging him."

Sirius tried to refute that statement, but the couple ignored him as James had swooped down and kissed her hard on the lips, right in front of Sirius, Remus and more or less the entire school. She made a soft noise of protest and pushed him away.

"You'll get sick again," she said, her hands still resting on his chest.

James grinned at her. "Well then maybe this time you'll wear the sexy nurse outfit while you take care of me," he said as he leant down to kiss her again. This time she let him.


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