A/N: Another short one. The next couple will be longer. That said, I hope everyone likes the absurdity in spite of the brevity.

February 20, 1978

A bout of flu had struck the student body like a bullet. One day everyone was healthy and the next, fevers were rising. Nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn't cure with a dose of potion, and by lunchtime everyone had returned to normal.

Everyone that is, except James and Sirius. When everyone first started to showcase symptoms, Marlene and Lily had shared harrowing stories of their own childhood flus, discussing how most people conflated flus with the common cold but once you'd experienced the full impact of two weeks of symptoms, you never made that same mistake again. The boys had been intrigued. Enough so that when Pomfrey spooned the cure into their mouths, they'd held it until her back was turned and they could spit it into the rubbish bin.

It was safe to say they were regretting their decision now.

Rather than hole up in their dormitory like any sane person would – though they'd proven they were anything but when they refused their medicine – James and Sirius had decided to sweat out their germs in the middle of the common room. They reigned like very pale, very weak lords over their housemates. Pureblood students approached every few hours for a report on the terrors of the flu, hanging off every word of Sirius's affected whisper.

Lily returned from class to see they hadn't moved a centimeter from where she'd last left them. Stuck by the chills, Sirius was wrapped up in every blanket from his and James' bed plus a quilt that Shelia had been kind enough to drape over his feet. The opposite, James ran a high fever and lay on the couch dressed in nothing but his undershirt and pants.

"And your body really aches, like for no reason?" a starry-eyed first-year asked them.

Without opening his eyes, Sirius murmured, "Yes. It's like running twenty straight miles. That's not the worst of it, though. The worst is the fever. The hallucinations."

"Drama queen," a third-year muttered as she passed Lily towards the portrait hole. Lily didn't disagree.

Lily loved James. A lot. To the point that she was often shocked by how much she missed him when they were separated by classes or how much her heart swelled when he smiled. Her love, however, was not enough to make her want to touch his sickness-ridden body. She'd discovered yesterday that James craved physical affection when he was in pain, and she dreaded the cuddles he would inevitably demand.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, side-stepping the crouching first-year to sit on a wicker-back chair at their sides.

"Like time's lost all meaning," Sirius said as James replied, "It hurts."

James' voice was nasal and weak from his blocked nose. Every breath he took came belabored out of his open mouth.

"Now would be a good time to remind you that you brought this on yourselves," Remus said sternly. He and Mary were busy at a game of chess. Equally matched, neither of them had touched a piece in five minutes, just staring at the board, considering.

James whimpered at the unfairness of it all and closed his eyes. With his lower lip jutting out and his hair slicked back with sweat, he looked boyishly innocent. Sighing, Lily lowered to her knees at his side and sorted through the bag of supplies she'd brought for her ailing boyfriend. She'd brought aspirin, chicken soup, and plenty of water amongst other essentials. A wet towel in hand, she began to mop at his brow. James shifted eagerly so that his head rested against her arm, and she allowed him the contact despite her misgivings.

The towel was warm and as she massaged it against his sinuses, He looked peaceful except for the two spots of red color on his cheeks.

"Sirius, try to take a shower at some point today. The steam's good for opening up your sinuses," Lily ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Leaving the hot press to James' head, she rifled out the container of soup and spooned them each a portion. James wrinkled his nose, not hungry in the slightest, but she convinced him after talk of electrolytes and chest mucus that he didn't understand. The basic treatments her parents had taken for granted were treated like the highest wisdom from her ailing patients.

Suddenly, James drew a great, sucking breath through his left nostril. He shot straight up, surprise quickly replaced by pure elation.

"I can breathe again!" James shouted.

"Keep the warm cloth on you and you may be able to clear up the other nostril, too," Lily said.

James smiled widely. "This is because of you? Merlin, marry me you goddess of a woman!"

Lily looked at him in all of his ill glory, the boy who had stripped down to his pants in the middle of the common room, who had chosen to have the flu for kicks, and couldn't go a minute without coughing violently into the crook of his elbow – the kind of coughing where she could hear the mucus grinding about in the back of his throat.

"Not to kick a man when he's down," Lily said, "but hard pass."