A/N: Ok, first of I'd like to say thank you to ellie black and Archer117 for their kind reviews on the last chapter; I really appreciated it guys. Secondly, thanks to everyone who put this on story alert! And now, on to the second chapter. I actually quite enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Any mistakes will still be my own. And once again, please review, because your feedback can help improve my writing. Plus it makes me happy!

Of Promises and Plans

Lily had tried. Really, she had. She had tried starting an essay for Charms. She had attempted to make a new roster for prefect duties. She had tried falling asleep in front of the fire. She had been a little too successful at that. But the knowledge that she could be in class learning valuable knowledge was just too much. Twenty minutes after James had left, Lily found herself donning her robes, sliding her Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts book into her bag, stuffing tissues into her pocket, and attempting to make herself look somewhat presentable. This last task she gave up on quite quickly.

Once she felt prepared, she walked to the Portrait and slowly stepped out, glancing to her right to make sure no-one was approaching. Before she could take a step further however, she felt a tickling in her nose, and to her horror she sneezed. Extremely loudly.

"Gesundheit!" The portrait said, smiling at her. She muttered a thank you and was just about to leave when she felt a presence near her. A human presence. Believing it to be a teacher, she spun around, ready to give them her best, most innocent Lily Evans grin and head on her way. To her dismay, it was not a teacher. It was much, much worse.

"Hello Lily."

Lily gulped, the look of anger and disappointment on James' face already causing the guilt to come creeping in.

"J-James. And Remus! What a surprise, I wasn't excepting you back so soon!" She said, giving them a hopeful grin. Neither returned it, although Remus did seem slightly amused.

Very slightly.

"You know, it's strange. I was just telling Remus that the Head Girl was doing very poorly, and as a result she promised me that she would stay in the common room until she felt better. Remus found it quite sad that I nearly missed my breakfast trying to convince her, didn't you Remus?"

"I did indeed, James," Remus said gravely.

"I never promised anything," Lily felt the need to point out. James barely seemed to hear her.

"Lily you're sick. You're in no state to be gallivanting around the Castle!"

"I would hardly call going to class gallivanting-" Lily objected, but was cut off.

"You're in no state to be moving! You should be tucked in bed sleeping this off, not sneaking off to classes!" In any other situation, Lily would be touched at how much James seemed to care about her health, but at that present moment all she could think about was that he telling her what to do.

"It's none of your business what I do Potter! It's my life and-" Lily was cut off by a fit of coughing which racked her body violently. Exclaiming, both James and Remus grabbed her and careful moved her back into the Common Room.

As Lily lay on the couch, catching her breath, James and Remus were quietly discussing their options.

"-Not skipping class for a whole day James-"

"-Can't leave her here unsupervised-"

"-The hospital wing?"

"No!" Lily exclaimed loudly as she caught the last two words. "Not the hospital wing! Don't make me go! Madam Pompfrey will just make me stay in bed without any of my books, and then she'll force medicine down my mouth. Please not the hospital wing!" Her eyes flickered between James and Remus pleadingly.

Remus sighed.

"Lily, we don't have much choice. You can't be left alone; your actions haven't exactly proven you're trustworthy-"

"I am trustworthy! I merely had a… momentary lapse of judgement!" Lily protested. James looked at her skeptically.

"So if we leave you won't try and sneak out to class?" James asked her.|

"I won't," Lily said firmly.

"Do you promise?" James questioned, emphasizing the last word. Lily sighed.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes I promise!"

"Now say it in a full sentence."

"Don't make me slap you-"

"Lily."

"Okay fine! I, Lily Evans, promise that I will not leave this common room for the duration of my sickness."

"Now pinkie swear."

"What?" Lily stared at James' pinkie which was currently waggling in her face. She looked at Remus quickly to see if they were joking, but his face was serious. Lily cautiously lifted her own pinkie and hooked it around James'. They held their pinkies together for a few seconds before James' lowered his hand, leaving Lily feeling curiously as though she had just made a legitimate pact. James smirked at her bemused expression.

"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way." He ran up to his room, leaving Lily to glare at Remus for siding with James. He merely shrugged at her apologetically.

"He's right, you are sick. I know from experience that staying in bed makes you feel better." He said, recalling his own experiences of being sick, as well as the days following a transformation.

"He's not an expert on everything. He's not an expert on me," Lily said dismissively. "And therefore he has no idea how I deal with sickness."

"Unless you are not human Lily, I'd say rest and recuperation is always the best medicine." James' voice joined the conversation as he came bounding down the stairs, a book and a piece of parchment clutched in his hands. "Ready to go Moony?"

"Yep." The two boys turned to leave, although not before making sure Lily had enough blankets, pillows and tissues around her.

"Oh and Lily?" Lily looked up at James' voice. He flashed her a cheeky grin. "I may not be what you'd call an expert, but I think you'll find that I know you better than you think." With a quick wink, he was gone, leaving Lily sitting on the couch, furiously trying to ignore the warm feeling in her stomach.

Directly outside, Remus turned to James.

"I don't trust her." He said immediately. Call it gut instinct, but he was positive Lily would try sneaking out again. He just hoped James wasn't too lovestruck to see that.

"I know. She'll definitely try to leave again. Takes her education far too seriously, that one" James agreed. Remus looked at his friend, surprised.

"You know James; you're going to make an excellent dad one day."

An eerie silence fell in the corridor. Remus turned to James, who was staring at him on horror.

"Don't say things like that Moony!" He exclaimed loudly, one hand clutching his chest. Remus blinked.

"But it was a compliment?"

"You're implying that I'm mature, and… and responsible!" James looked at the words coming out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Remus was struggling not to laugh.

"Ah, so sorry old chap. I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes, well…" James still seemed slightly shocked.

"So what are we going to do?" Remus asked, trying to draw James back to their original predicament.

"Do about what?"

"About Lily, James!" At the mention of his beloved, James snapped back to attention.

"My dear Moony, I have a plan." James brandished the parchment he had been clutching. A slow grin spread across Remus' face.

"Prongs, you're a genius. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Old age starting to get to you. Or perhaps you're just spending too much time around Padfoot."

"James, I'm only 17 days older than you."

"Details. Shall we blame Sirius then?"

"Oh, we'll definitely blame Sirius."