A/N: Sorry it's so short. I just got back from a long vacation, and I'm too tired for anymore tonight.

Chapter 4: Recovery

Lily remained in St. Mungo's for almost a month. Alice had finally informed them that as soon as the magic began to come out of Lily's body on its own, she would be released.

"Come out?" Lily asked. "Come out how?"

"Well, I've never seen it done, but from the way it's described, it pretty much sounds as if it will just come out of your mouth in a puff of smoke," Alice replied.

Alice, Emmeline, and James sat in a semi-circle around Lily's bedside. Lily had finally convinced James that during the hours when she was not experiencing pain, she was perfectly able to fill out reports and do other kinds of paperwork for the Auror Department and for the Order. Therefore, Emmeline had come to bring Lily a fresh stack of papers, to pick up the ones that Lily had finished, and to have a short visit.

Lily's condition had certainly improved since the night she had been admitted to St. Mungo's. Although some hours passed when she was virtually pain free, others brought mind-blowing pain such as she had experienced when she was under the Cruciatus Curse. The pain always began in a bubbling knot in her stomach, and there was simply no way to stop it. She still ran a high fever and was extremely weak.

"'A puff of smoke,'" Lily repeated, as though the idea sounded completely ridiculous.

"That's what all the medical texts I've read say, and that's what all of my colleagues say, so, yes, I believe it will be a puff of smoke," Alice replied, grinning at her friend. Lily sighed, turning her head to look at James.

"I want to go home," she told him plainly, a thickness usually associated with tears present in her voice. "I miss you."

"I know," James said with a tired sigh. "I've been here as much as I can, love." He had indeed spent every possible moment he could in the hospital. If he wasn't working, he was at St. Mungo's, keeping a vigilant watch over Lily as she slept, filling out his own paperwork as she did hers, or simply sitting by her bedside, talking and trying to keep her mind off her present situation. For the first two weeks, he hadn't gone home a single night. He had, instead, conjured himself a cot on the floor and slept by her side. That is, he had slept every night by her side until Sirius had caught him sleeping and drooling over his desk at work. The cot, despite James' best efforts, was not very comfortable. Worse than that, though, was the fear and panic he felt when he saw his wife looking so small and weak in that hospital bed.

Insistent that James needed some good and solid sleep, Sirius had hauled James' arse in to see Lily that very day and demanded that he stop staying nights at the hospital. Lily had quite readily agreed, persisting that she was quite capable of putting herself to bed at night.

"I'm a big girl, James," she had said plaintively. Therefore, most of James' evenings for the past two weeks had consisted of a long visit at the hospital, a solitary journey home, a small, solitary meal, and a large empty bed. He was, he had to admit to himself, lonely for her.

"I didn't mean it that way," Lily said softly, startling James out of his thoughts. "You worry about me too much as it is; you're going to make yourself sick. All I meant was that I'm lonesome for you." She stretched her hand out, looking at him with the startling green eyes that James wasn't ever able to resist. He took her small hand in his, squeezing it lightly and then holding it between both of his own.

"I know exactly how you feel," he said softly.

Emmeline cleared her throat, slightly uncomfortable at being privy to such a private family moment between her colleagues.

"I have a shift starting for the Order soon," she said very softly. Sirius had recruited Emmeline for the Order soon after they had begun working together at the Auror Department.

"Thanks for visiting, Emmeline," Lily said, forcing herself to smile through the raw emotions that were racking her mind at that moment. The other girl smiled back as she walked across the room and left, nodding to James and Alice.

"I should get home to Frank," Alice said softly. "Floo me if you start coughing up any smoke. If you need anything else, Healer Fleetsking is on duty tonight for this floor." Alice and Frank had decided to move in together for the duration of their engagement.

"Alright, thanks, Alice," James said softly, not looking away from Lily's eyes. Alice left the room, too.

"You should go," Lily said after a few moments. "You need rest, too."

"I'm staying here tonight," James replied.

"James-"

"No. I'm worried about you, I miss you, and you're my wife, so I'm staying here with you tonight. No arguing." James stood, shedding his shoes and cloak. "Budge over," he mumbled. "I'm not conjuring up that ratty old cot again." Lily, realizing that resistance was futile when she was too sick to hex him, moved over in the bed, making room for her husband.

James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you, too."

The next day, while James was at work, Lily had her first experience with the strange puff of smoke that Alice had foretold. It was one of the worst sensations she had ever felt. However, the good thing was that this was a sign that she was well enough to finally go home, although she would be confined to her bed until all of the magic had been released from her body, which Alice believed would take at least a week.

Moody let James off of work at the office early that day to come and collect Lily and bring her home. James was not scheduled to work for the next two days, and Remus was supposed to cover his shift for the day after that. Alice had told them that the worst of the release of magic would occur in the first three days, and James was rather determined not to leave her side during that time.

Lily's fever had spiked again, leaving her weaker and sicker than she had seemed before, but still happy to be home. The first evening was not too terrible for her. Two more puffs of glittering red smoky magic were released through her mouth that night, and the sleeping potion that James had her take gave her terrible nightmares once she went to bed.

The next afternoon found Lily and James in their sitting room. James sat in an armchair, Lily laying across his lap, completely miserable. Her legs dangled over one side of the chair and a pillow rested against the opposite arm, supporting her back. She had laid her head on James' shoulder. She was sweating from fever, and James charmed a wet cloth to grow cool every few minutes, which he lay across her forehead, knowing that the remedy did nothing but give her a small amount of comfort.

They had been in that position for most of the day, because it was the position Lily found most bearable. At the moment, James was reading to her, his soft, deep voice nearly lulling her to sleep. He read from Oliver Twist, knowing that Charles Dickens was one of Lily's favorite authors, though he himself did not understand a word of what he was reading.

Lily groaned softly, clutching the front of his shirt with one hand and squeezing her eyes tightly shut in pain. James set the book down on the arm of the chair and gathered her more fully into his arms. Lily pressed her face into his neck, crying softly from the pain.

It began, pooling in her stomach, hot and bubbling pain. The curse, it seemed, had originally hit her in the stomach, so that was the place where the majority of her pain had been focused. The pain traveled from her stomach in a tight ball, leaving and aching trail of misery through her body as it came up through her torso. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Lily, her breath caught and she began to cough, sitting up in James' arms. She hacked and coughed for several long moments until a burning puff of smoke was dispelled from her throat. Lily breathed the smoke out, watching as it soared, red and glittering over their heads.

James placed a hand on her stomach, gently rubbing. Alice had told him that this may help to relieve some of Lily's pain, and it did work to some extent.

Still recovering from her latest excretion of magic, Lily raised her head slightly, looking up at her husband. It nearly broke his heart to see her in so much pain and misery. Her eyes were dark and dull. He pressed a gently kiss to her forehead, wrapping one arm around her, supporting her back as he held her pressed against him. His other hand continued to rub her stomach gently.

"I hate this," Lily mumbled, miserably.

"I hate it for you," James agreed, looking into her eyes and feeling a lump rise in his throat. He swallowed it quickly, knowing that this was not the time to show his own weaknesses. He kissed her again, closing his eyes and gently rocking her back and forth.

He gently moved out from under Lily, standing and leaving her curled on the chair. He knelt on the floor before her, grabbing a bottle of pumpkin juice from the coffee table and trying to be discreet as he poured a tiny vial of sleeping potion into it.

He leaned up on his knees, holding the bottle and offering it to Lily. She shook her head, closing her eyes as a few more tears trickled out of them.

"You need to drink more, love," James said desperately. He knew it was very important that she get much more sleep than she had been getting.

Lily shook her head again.

"You drugged it," she said, not accusing him, but stating fact. James sighed. "I hate sleeping potion. My nightmares are always worse when I take it."

"It's just a bit," James said, still holding the bottle out to her. "Really, it was a small vial and I diluted it so it was half water, just like Alice told me." Supposedly, diluting the potion would help prevent it from giving Lily horrible nightmares. Sighing again, James put the cap back on the bottle of spiked pumpkin juice and set it down on the table. He stood and bent down, picking Lily up into his arms. "You need sleep," he said firmly. Lily did not protest. She merely wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his chest as he carried her bridal style to their bedroom.

James placed his wife gently on their bed and stood towering over her. His gaze was very stern.

"You're taking sleeping potion, whether you think you need it or not," he said firmly. "Would you like it mixed with pumpkin juice, mixed with water, or straight? Your choice."

"Pumpkin juice," Lily muttered, not having the energy to argue with him. James pulled out his wand and waved it, wordlessly summoning the bottle of pumpkin juice that he had already prepared. Lily drank it quickly, then lay back against the pillows. James took the empty bottle from her and placed it on the bedside table. He joined her on the bed.

"I'll stay with you, love," he said softly in to her ear as he pulled her close so that she was spooned against him.

"Mhmm," Lily mumbled sleepily.

"I'll chase all your bad dreams away," James said, wishing that he had the power to chase all of the evil magic out of her body. He pressed a kiss to her hair and held her for hours as she slept peacefully.

A/N: I know, pathetically sad and fluffy. Oh, well. Deal with it. I need fluff with everything going on in my personal life right now, believe you me!

Please, please send me a review! I don't care if you just say "Cute story! I like it!" or "Crappy story. I hate it!", though I would definitely prefer the first of those options! Just please, please send me a review.

Love from

Lyny Angell