Over breakfast the next morning, a house elf brought two notes: one for Lily, and one for James.

"It's from Duncan," James said, after skimming the note's contents. "There are some muggleborns arriving from England at the end of the week. He wants us to help get them to the castle from their portkey location."

Lily looked up from her own note abruptly. "They haven't caught the traitor yet. Severus Prince is going to be waiting."

"I know. But I'll still go."

"I will too, of course," Lily said.

She was already standing up, her breakfast abandoned with the open note beside it. James recognized Cait's elegant scrawl.

"It's not for a few days," James reminded her.

"I know. Cait needs my help. Apparently an entire family is ill now."

James could only stare, open-mouthed, as Lily started to change, and for once, he wasn't staring in admiration.

"You can't mean…" he began, then tried again. "You're not going, are you?"

"Of course I'm going," she said, lacing up her bodice. "I'm Cait's partner-"

"Unofficially," James interrupted. "And aren't you the potion-making side of the healing? You don't know anything about healing spells, or…"

"Cait's been teaching me. And besides, it's dragon pox. She'll need all the help she can get."

James stood and caught her hand before she could leave. "Lily, don't go."

"I'll be back soon," she said. She brought his hand to her lips and pressed her lips to it. "Besides, aren't you practicing duelling today? You'll be busy enough without me-"

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it," he said tightly. "Dragon pox is contagious. You could get sick."

Lily sighed. "I know. But it's not fair to make Cait do all that work alone. I'm not going to let people die because I'm too afraid to help them. It wouldn't be right."

"Can't someone else help Cait?"

"It would be selfish of me to make someone else take the risk."

"It's selfish of you to take the risk. You're going so you can feel good about yourself? Fine. But you're going to get sick, and when you do, you're going to spread it to me as well."

There was a beat of silence, in which James had plenty of time to contemplate how badly he had just messed up. Lily pulled her hand away from his.

"I'm sure I can stay with Cait while dragon pox is an issue," she said coolly. "Is that less 'selfish?'"

This was really not the outcome James had expected.

"Lily, wait… I said that wrong. You're not selfish. I am, because I care about you too much to watch you die. Please don't make me watch that."

She softened, and he waited with bated breath. He wasn't above begging on bended knee, he decided, if it came to that.

"Okay," she said. "I'll ask Cait if she can use another assistant, and I'll try to help on the potions end."

He pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you."

By now, brewing potions in the infirmary had become a soothing routine for Lily. Although creating the perfect potion was a challenge that required creativity and problem-solving, there was still something calming about it. Unlike some other branches of magic, potions had always seemed logical; if she got the ingredients and their ratios just right, she would end up with the proper result. It would be wonderful, she thought, if life were that neat.

Today, her heart wasn't quite in what she was doing. Cait was off risking her life, while Lily stayed here. James was off practicing duelling, which she wouldn't have minded doing herself, if she hadn't been needed here. She knew that what she was doing was important, but it was hard to feel that way when what she was doing was so mundane.

She was adjusting her hair again when the door opened. She turned around, expecting to see James. Instead, she saw Anne supporting Cait. Lily hurried to help, and together they got Cait onto one of the beds.

"I'm fine," Cait said, her voice a bit hoarse. "Just felt a bit faint suddenly."

Lily looked closely at her friend, and her heart clenched. Her skin was covered in faint spots. Even as Lily watched, she started shivering, and Lily was struck with a surge of guilt, because she should have seen the signs. Yesterday, Cait had been freezing and pale and sniffling, and while she had claimed it was because she had been out in the rain, Lily should have suspected something. She'd known an illness was going around. What if Cait never got better, all because Lily hadn't seen the signs early enough?

Anne murmured a quiet spell, and the room got slightly warmer.

"Try to rest," Anne said.

In answer, Cait closed her eyes, pulling the blankets up to her chin.

Lily had never really spoken to Anne. While Anne had congratulated her quite warmly at the wedding, Lily hadn't entirely been able to get past the memory of Anne kissing James so enthusiastically. Any perceived enmity was forgotten now, though, as she and Lily crept just outside the door to talk.

"You were helping Cait today?" Lily asked quietly.

Anne nodded grimly. "I didn't really know what I was doing, but there wasn't much to do, in the end."

"The wizard recovered?"

"No. He died."

Lily inhaled sharply. "And his family?"

"We did what we could for them, and then Cait started to feel faint."

Lily glanced back through the infirmary door.

"What do you know about dragon pox?" asked Anne. "You know a bit about healing, so I just wondered…"

"I don't know too much, really," Lily said, although this was a lie. After she had learned James's parents had died from it, she'd gone to the Hogwarts library and read about it with a morbid curiosity. "I know that it starts with spots, fever, and some respiratory issues. Then your skin takes on a greenish tinge briefly, and that's the worst of it; after the green goes away, you recover… or you don't."

"And do you know how to treat it?"

"I know a few potions that can help with some of the symptoms."

Anne hesitated. "I'll be frank with you, Lily. I don't know anything about dragon pox. I was helping Cait today, but I'm rubbish at potions, and…" she took a deep breath. "I know you'd rather not be involved in treating this, but… honestly, I think you're the best healer we have in the castle, because you're so good with potions, and…"

"Of course I'll help," Lily said.

She said a silent apology to James, and then retreated back into the infirmary to continue making her potions.

Lily tentatively unlocked the door to her room. She had worked late into the evening on potions and tending to Cait, and she felt dead on her feet. The room was so quiet on the other side of the door that she wondered if James was napping, but as the door creaked open, she could see James sitting at the table, his head in his hands.

"I suppose you've heard what's happened," she said cautiously. "I did wash my hands well and keep my distance as much as possible, but do you want me to sleep somewhere else tonight?"

She trailed off, waiting for the rage, but it never came.

"No," he said, lifting his head. His eyes were red and swollen.

"You're not angry?"

"I was at first," he said dully. "But then I thought, if I was in your place, and Sirius was in Cait's… I'd do the same thing."

"That's very mature of you."

"You sound surprised."

"I'm not, really."

She was amazed to find she meant it. The James she had known even a year ago probably would have reacted immaturely, but the man she had married always seemed to pleasantly surprise her.

"So it's okay if I touch you?" she asked.

He nodded, and she moved behind him, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his cheek.

"I love you, James," she whispered.

Abruptly, he stood. He guided her so that her back was pressed against the wall, and he kissed her fiercely. He moved his lips to her neck; she gasped as his teeth scraped lightly against her skin. His hands were already fumbling at the laces on the front of her dress, and she batted his hands away, knowing she would make quicker work of it.

This time, making love was different. So far, sex between them had been gentle, but tonight, it was far more rough. When they had finished, they lay beside each other, gasping.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" James asked worriedly.

"Are you kidding? That was amazing," she said.

He held tightly to her hand. Suddenly, his eyes were bright.

"If you die on me, Evans-"

"Potter."

"What?"

"You should be calling me Potter now," she said.

She saw a flicker of a smile. "I keep forgetting."

He fell asleep soon after. She felt his breaths even out, her hand resting on his chest. Guilt consumed her, even though she knew that she couldn't have abandoned her friend with her illness.

"James?" she whispered.

He didn't stir. She gave him one last kiss on the cheek, and then she fell asleep in his arms.

The next morning, Lily arrived at the infirmary to see Anne asleep in a chair next to Cait, whose skin had definitely taken on a greenish tinge. Lily listened for a moment to her friend's laboured breathing, her heart heavy, before tiptoeing past them to her cauldrons.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her. She wasn't a healer, not really, so why did she think she could help her friend survive this? She reminded herself sternly that she had no choice; she was ill-equipped, but she was more capable of helping than anyone else here. Before coming here, she had tried to convince Duncan that he should try to bring in a healer from elsewhere, but Duncan had claimed that bringing in strangers could be dangerous for the muggleborns he was still relocating. Lily had been too tired to argue, and so she was back here, facing her utter inadequacy.

There was a quiet knock, and Lily turned to see James standing in the doorway.

She held a finger to her lips, and he nodded, moving towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I'm here to help."

She stared. "But don't you want to stay away from…"

"I figure that since you're here, my chances of getting dragon pox are pretty high anyway. I might as well be useful." When she didn't answer, he hurried to add, "I know I'm not as good at potions as you are, but if you tell me what to do, I- oof!"

Lily hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

By the end of the week, the infirmary was packed with sick witches and wizards. The number of beds in the small room had doubled, and there was hardly room to walk around. Cait was still in one of the beds, although she was starting to look more like herself; the green had nearly disappeared from her skin, and her cheeks were a slightly healthier colour.

"I'm very lucky," Sirius told James. "Cait and I were, well, drinking together. We drank from the same flask, and-"

James recoiled.

"Don't worry," Sirius said quickly. "I had dragon pox as a kid. You can only catch it once."

He had to work hard to hide how pleased he was that James was concerned for his well-being. His happiness quickly disappeared, though.

"So… you and Cait?" James said with a grin. "I could see it."

"Nah. I'm not into blondes. Her main attraction is her seemingly endless alcohol supply."

James scoffed, and Sirius quickly changed the subject.

"So, tonight, we're going to help those muggleborns. Is Lily coming?"

"No," James said, sounding relieved. "Duncan says that with dragon pox, and her being the only healer in the castle, sending her out to a potential fight would be a bad idea. Lily's quite upset about it, but I think I was able to convince her that Duncan has the right idea."

"It's too bad that Lily's upset," Sirius said, a bit disingenuously.

"That was extremely unconvincing."

"I just don't want you distracted," Sirius said. "And you have to admit, it will be nice to go on a mission together without some girl tagging along."

"Lily isn't 'some girl,'" James said. "She's my wife."

Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I know, Prongs."

"But you're right. It will be nice to know that she's safe… or as safe as you can be when you're helping to treat people with dragon pox."

Sirius felt a surge of anger towards Lily for putting James through this. James had told him everything, and so Sirius knew that despite James begging Lily to not put herself at risk, she was doing it anyway. She knew that his parents had died from dragon pox, and she was still putting herself in a position to catch it.

"Well, I'll see you later," James said.

As he walked away, Sirius couldn't help noticing that he stifled a sneeze.