Author's Note: First off, let me say thank you for all of the reviews! They really are a drug, so keep them coming!! Second, I'd just like to mention that I never understood how people complained about character's not behaving, but now I do. A certain James Potter and one Albus Dumbledore REFUSED to do anything I asked of them. Pffsh, men. And finally, my plan for this story! I'm thinking two more chapters of LGJ, and then perhaps a sequel of sorts, with much more of a plot, and needless to say, longer than 4 chapters. Let me know what you think, and I hope you are loving Lime Green Jello!







Chapter 2

Of Portraits and Prefects



It was 8:30, and James Potter was on a warpath. Lily was in the hospital wing, THE HOSPITAL WING, for Merlin's sake, and there was very little he could do about it. If she was going to choose to work herself beyond the brink of exhaustion, if she was going to kill herself to make others happy, he'd let her. However, he was NOT going to let his prefects drive her any further than she drove herself, and this was the exact reason that James Potter could be found pacing the floor, none too far from an extremely ticklish pear, awaiting the appearance of one Hufflepuff prefect, Amos Diggory. Sprout nor Flitwick had mentioned anything to James about Diggory or Vance missing their weekly rounds, so they must have been keeping up the façade that they were still doing them. This in mind, James knew it was only a matter of time before that selfish, no good, self absorbed – prefect who he had to be civil to if he wanted to maintain his position – walked out of his common room to 'go on patrol.'

"Dearie, if you keep pacing back and forth like that, you'll be sure to put a rut in the floor," James was startled out of his personal berating of his prefects by a painting of a kind old lady in a rocking chair. Funny, he didn't remember that painting being there, in fact, he didn't remember that painting at all. "No, no, no, that won't do at all. You must sit down, take deep breaths, and think calmly. That's it, love. Relax."

Who was this woman, my grandmother? James was a little taken aback by the painting's forwardness, and regardless of her politeness, he felt she was being very rude. Oh, come on James, you're just taking out your anger on the painting. Save it for someone who deserves it." Despite how much he really didn't want to, James took a few deep breaths and sat down directly across the hall from the painting. Not wanting to get involved in a staring contest with a painting of an old lady, he closed his eyes and took a few more of those deep breaths the lady had insisted upon. Subconsciously, James assumed what Sirius liked to call his "I am now going to brood on the horribleness of my life" position. He pulled his legs up close to his chest, forming a perfect isosceles triangle with the ground, and rested his elbows on his knees, letting his arms hang out over his toes. As he let his head fall back to rest on the wall, his negative thoughts drifted away from Amos and onto himself.

How did I let her get that far beyond her breaking point? James had been keeping tabs on Lily since the beginning of the year; he was fully well aware of her inability to say no to anyone. There were a few instances when he'd noticed someone asking Lily for help and he'd jumped in to take the job, knowing that she was already over-extending herself. Why hadn't he had the sense to stop her from taking on that peer tutoring session in the beginning of the year? He was full well aware of how hectic their seventh year was going to get, he should have stopped her. He shouldn't have let her work herself to the point of exhaustion.

Unaware of the watchful eyes of the knitting lady, James' mind traveled back to Lily's bedroom, less than an hour before.

"Lily?" Was she even breathing? "Lily?"

He saw her steps falter only moments before she lost control, and thanks to his Quidditch honed reflexes, was at her side before she had the opportunity to add a fearsome headache to the exhaustion she was already feeling. He currently was supporting her unconscious body in quite an awkward position, one arm around her waist, pressing her to his side, causing him to be severely unbalanced. Realizing that he should probably lay her down, he picked her up in what would have been considered a romantic sweep if she, of course, had been conscious. As he walked over to her bed he noticed that she wasn't as light as he would have expected. Apparently Lily Evans had curves hidden underneath her black Hog – pause, rewind. Why did he care about her curves? They were friends, that's all, and he was happy with it. Well, at least they were friends before this whole fiasco.

He laid her down on the bed, carefully resting her head on her pillows. Making sure she was in no danger of sliding onto the floor, he ran down to the common room in search of his wand. Finding it hidden underneath his forgotten pile of cards, he hurdled back up to Lily's room. Upon reaching her bedside he gently flicked his wand, "Ennervate."

Lily's eyes flickered open and she managed to mutter something incomprehensible before slipping back into oblivion. James had never known someone to pass out again after being awakened, but he chalked it up to shotty spellmanship. He tried again, but this time he got no reaction from her. His heart beat a little faster, realizing that he wasn't helping her at all. He tried a third and fourth time, but to no avail. By this point his heart was pounding, worried that Lily was seriously ill. He could only think of one more solution to her problem, but she wasn't going to like it.

"Sod it." James knew she wasn't going to be happy with what he was doing but, well, she already wasn't happy with him. He scooped her up once more and rushed out of the room. In a few short moments James had maneuvered both himself and Lily out of the portrait hole and into the hall. Normally, James cursed the fact that his new common room was located on the first floor, miles away from the sanctuary of the Gryffindor tower, but tonight he was okay with being that much closer to the hospital wing.

As he made his way quietly and quickly to see Madam Pomfrey he secretly hoped no one would be out and about at the moment. For one thing, he really didn't want to have to explain to anyone why he was 

caring an unconscious Head Girl around Hogwarts. More importantly, however, he knew that Lily would be livid if anyone saw her in such a weak state, especially a prof-

"Mr. Potter? Can I ask what you're doing?"

Of all the professors, in all of Hogwarts, it had to be him. Lily was going to kill him. Good-bye Hogwarts, good-bye Quidditch, good-bye moonlit romps with the Marauders. After Lily found out that her weakness had been discovered, James was a goner. He slowly turned around, coming face to face with twinkling eyes and a long silver beard. How did Dumbledore manage to be everywhere in the school, especially when he wasn't wanted? Knowing full well that his face was bright red from running, but slightly more flushed from being caught in this intriguing situation, James hurried his explanation, in hopes to get to the hospital wing that much faster.

"Well, you see, Professor, Lily had a lot of work to do, but she was knackered, so she fell asleep, and then I woke her up to give her dinner, but she got angry with me, because I should have woken her up, and then I told her she didn't know her own limits, and then she yelled, or at least tried to yell, but she couldn't yell very much, because she was so knackered, and then she fell and didn't wake up."

"I see…" Dumbledore's gaze lingered on Lily's limp figure, concern showing in his eyes. "Well, Mr. Potter, we should get her up to see our Madam Pomfrey then, shouldn't we?" With that he hastily strode in the direction of the hospital wing, while James followed closely behind him. Walking behind him, James could see Dumbledore searching around for something in the deep pockets of his robes. After a few brief moments the old man pulled his wand out, performed a complicated sequence of flicks and twists, and a blue light flew out of his wand.

In no time at all were nearing the entrance to the hospital wing, where an extremely anxious Poppy Pomfrey was waiting at the door with a lantern in hand. "Where is she, Albus?"

"I see you got my message; she is right behind me. Mr. Potter was kind enough to carry her all this way." Dumbledore motioned with his hand behind him, just as James turned the corner.

"Mr. Potter carried her? Surely you can't mean that it was," Poppy's eyes widened in shock. "MISS EVANS" At the sight of Lily in James' arms Madam Pomfrey quickly stepped to the side in order to allow James to get through the doorway easily. "Please, Mr. Potter, put her over here on this bed. What happened?"

James placed her delicately on the bed, trying to prevent any additional aches and pains, and then turned to give Madam Pomfrey an explanation. "Well, you see-"

Dumbledore cut him off. "It seems, Poppy, that Miss Evans has finally reached her breaking point. I daresay that she reached it several weeks ago, her mind just didn't let her body know."

"What did I tell you, Albus? At the beginning of the semester I told you that there was no doubt in my mind that she was going to be in here multiple times from exhaustion." Poppy had a slight annoyance in her tone.

The two seemed to have forgotten that James was in the room. He was watching Lily, trying to gauge how extreme her meltdown had actually been. The face that was usually so rosy and full of life was pale, marred by dark circles under each eye. Her hair that was always a mass of bouncy, fiery curls was lifeless, lying limply around her shoulders. James reached out to take her hand, in what he imagined would be a comforting gesture, but quickly drew it back, when he felt the icy temperature of her skin. If it weren't for the shallow breathing he heard from her lips, he'd have thought her dead.

"This girl does too much! She wants to help everyone, you know that, Albus! This was the exact situation I feared when you appointed her Head Girl; I've disagreed with it from the start!" Poppy had always had a soft spot for Lily, that girl worked herself hard and was always eager to please. Over seven years she'd grown into a competent young woman, always offering help when needed. Unfortunately, she never did know when to stop.

"Poppy, you know I had my reasons – " At this point James felt the need to return the favor of cutting Dumbledore off.

"EXCUSE ME!" James startled them both back to the current situation, with the Head Girl passed out in a bed next to them. "If you don't MIND, could you please do your JOB?" Did I just say that? Did I just yell at the nurse and headmaster? I did. Bollocks. James was sure he was going to get a month, at least, of bedpan cleaning for that. Well, at least he wouldn't have to complete the month – Lily was going to kill him anyway.

"Oh, Miss Evans!" Pomfrey quickly came to her aid and began taking her blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature. Throughout her whole assessment she clucked and muttered incomprehensible words, all the time a frown growing on her face.

"Her blood pressure is too high, too high indeed. This girl is taking on too much work; she needs to slow down. And her heart rate is very faint, very faint indeed. What seemed to happen is her heart didn't give out, but simply decided to take a break. It slowed down rapidly, slowing the blood flow, which is probably why a simple Ennervate charm wouldn't wake her up again. She's going to have to rest, she's going to have to rest quite a lot." With that, Pomfrey turned around and walked to the stock room, in search of a potion for Lily.

"Err…sorry for yelling at you, Professor." James was looking at hi s feet, where the toes of his shoes were competing in an epic battle for being on top. He remarkably resembled a five year old who knew he had done something wrong.

"My dear boy, it was good of you to yell at us. Sometimes us ancient folk get wrapped up in our own little personal disputes and need to be pulled back to reality. Don't worry about it." Dumbledore's eyes regained the familiar twinkle, as he chuckled at the mannerisms of his Head Boy.

"Oh…well…ok." James looked up at Dumbledore, and, upon seeing the twinkle that had returned, decided now was as good a time as any to ask a favor. "Professor, can I ask you a question, well, more like a favor?"

"Well, you've just asked me a question, but I suppose that I have time for a favor."

"Umm, you see, Lily isn't going to be very pleased about being in the hospital wing. She thinks it's too white and too clean. And she's already not happy with me, because of the whole me not waking her up thing. And well, I was wondering, could you not mention that you saw her tonight?" With this Dumbledore gave him an interested look. "She's going to kill me if she knows that a professor saw her like that, especially you. She doesn't want anyone to think she can't handle her job, and well, I rather like my life right now, and would love to not die."

Dumbledore chuckled at the boy's reasoning, and so decided to humor him. "Alright, I won't mention anything to her. However, I'm leaving up to you to keep her from doing this to herself again. She needs to learn her limits, what she can and can't handle. I don't enjoy being questioned in my choices of Heads, and I'd hate to have to remove her from her position-"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! SHE'D DIE!"

"Mr. Potter! I'd thank you to not disturb my patients while they are resting!" Madam Pomfrey had returned from her potions closet, with a tray of rather nasty looking potions in tow. "If you can't keep your voice down, I must ask that you leave."

"But-"

"No buts. Please escort yourself out of the hospital wing. You can come back in the morning, after Miss Evans has recovered." With that, Pomfrey turned her back to him, effectively ending the argument.

"Professor, please don't say anything – my life depends on it." After receiving a wink from the headmaster, James left the hospital wing and headed for the basement. He had some prefects to take care of.

So there he was, waiting not so patiently for one good for nothing prefect. He seriously couldn't comprehend what would possess Amos to put all of that responsibility on her. How could he be so selfish? Lily couldn't possibly handle all of her responsibilities plus his! His thoughts went back to her frail figure lying in that bed in the hospital wing and how small and fragile she looked in it.

"Achew!" A quiet sneeze pulled him out of his reverie.

"Bless you," James subconsciously replied. The sneeze came from the knitting lady across the hall.

"Oh, why thank you dearie, you're very kind." The lady gave him a soft smile he couldn't help but return. Her smile turned to concern when she noticed that his smile was a little strained. "Something bothering you, love?"

Caught off guard by the portrait's concern, James replied without thinking. "There's a whole lot of somethings bothering me. I can't deal with all of this. It's too much. Some people don't do enough work, some people do too much work, and the people I lo- the people who are my friends are getting stuck with all of the nasty side effects!

"I mean, seriously, is it that hard to keep your hands off of somebody for, oh, I dunno, THREE hours, while you're supposed to be doing rounds? And another thing – is it too much for people to just ask for help every now and then? One person doing the jobs of four is just absolute insanity!"

"Absolute insanity, Potter? Last time I checked, talking to people that aren't there is a sign of absolute insanity…" Amos Diggory had just walked out of the Hufflepuff common room, with his better than thou attitude, and let the painting of Nicolas Flamel slam behind him. "Can I ask what you're doing here at such an odd hour? Surely even a Head Boy as important as yourself gets a rest at times?"

Oh how he strongly disliked Amos Diggory. IMPORTANT? Damn right he was important. And he was going to show Diggory how important he was right now.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO-"

"Mr. Diggory, Professor Dumbledore would kindly like to see you in his office." James looked around for the source of the disembodied, yet familiar voice, but he couldn't find it. "Mr. Potter, kindly return to your residence."

Amos pushed past James in an abrasive manner, muttering something about meddlesome portraits. James continued searching for the source of the voice, but there was no one else in sight. James' first thought was that it had been the knitting lady, but the voice didn't sound like hers.

"Mr. Potter, kindly return to your residence." This time the voice was a little less polite and a little more authoritative, but he still couldn't place it. Now puzzled by this mystery voice, and equally angered by the loss of a good yell at Amos, James made his way back to the Heads residence.





Author's Note the Second: I also wanted to let you know that the meaning behind the title for this was originally going to surface in Chapter 1, when it was just meant to be a oneshot. However, Lily really wasn't cooperating, and thus the momentous "lime green jello" conversation that I've been writing in my head for a week now, has been getting pushed farther and farther back. But don't fret, my dearies! It shall come. It shall come. Oh, and I'm going to plug a friend's fic shamelessly right now, so please bear with me! You should all go read One Month to Change Your Life, by LilyandJames2790. Tis good!