Hi everyone! I'm a board-certified physician assistant with a creative side. These short stories that I write are all centered around a specific medical diagnosis, but use the Harry Potter characters to help bring awareness and "life" to the disorders that people around the world live with every single day. In writing these stories, I hope to advocate for those with medical conditions and promote representation for all. I don't own the rights to Harry Potter, I have no conflicts of interest, and my stories are not intended to be used as medical advice or treatment. Please talk to a licensed medical professional about any health concerns you have.
Today was going to be a great day.
Lily Evans was sure of it. From the moment she woke up, she felt ready. Ready to take on Professor Slughorn's potions exam in third hour, ready to finally finish the charms essay she'd been working on for nearly two weeks during free period, and she was ready to finish the day by watching James practice Quidditch. In between these major events, she planned to be able to get most of her homework for the week done as well. Not to mention, finally give her owl the bath that it desperately needed after flying back and forth to James' house carrying letters all summer long. She quickly wrote everything out on a scrap piece of parchment entitled 'to-do today' and tucked it away in one of her notebooks. Lily's busy day could not start off slowly and she wasted no time in hurrying to breakfast, potions book in hand, to review the chapters over some eggs and porridge.
Almost as soon as she opened her book to begin reading, distraction number one entered the Great Hall tailed with loud laughter and disheveled robes. "Evansssss..." the unmistakable voice of Sirius Black rang out as he seated himself across from her, grabbing a bagel on his way down. "Good God, she's already got a book in her hand. Someone stop this girl. She's no better than Remus." Looking over to Sirius's right, a tall lanky Remus Lupin was taking a seat beside him, a potions book in his hand as well. He nodded in greeting to her. "Perhaps now's a good time for some self-examination, Black." Lily retorted. "If everyone around you is preparing for the exam, maybe you should too." Sirius scoffed. "I'll worry when Prongs worries. Right, Prongs?" James seated himself beside Lily, wrapping an arm around her and placing a kiss atop her head. He gave a crooked smile and shrugged at her raised eyebrow. "I'm not worried," Peter reached across the table for a slab of butter for his toast. "I'm worried, but at this point what's studying more going to do? Either I know it or I don't." Lily sighed. "Did you even review at all last night before bed? Did you look at the notes that I gave you all?"
"I looked at them, I just didn't read anything." Sirius admitted.
"They were lovely notes Lily. I just can't get anything to stick longer than a second in my head." Peter complained.
Lily opened her mouth to comment again when suddenly something very shiny on the right caught her eye. "What was that?" she asked, looking in Remus's direction. He glanced up from his book. "What was what?" Lily scanned the table where she knew she saw the flash. "That bright light, that reflection. Like something glared. Did you cast a spell?" Remus looked around too, knowing full well that there was nothing flashy about him, and settled on picking up Sirius's hand that was resting on his shoulder. "No. Did the light catch one of Sirius's rings?" he asked. But what she'd seen wasn't in the area of Sirius's hand, it was lower, almost near the table, where the book was resting. There was nothing reflective that could've caught the light there. Suddenly Lily saw a twinkling sparkle again out of the corner of her right away which swiftly disappeared as soon as she turned to look at it in full view. A sinking feeling entered her gut. Oh no, no, not today... she thought. It wasn't Sirius's rings that were catching the light, it wasn't anything catching the light at all. She knew what was coming - - she just hoped that it would stay at bay until she could get through her busy list of things to do.
Later that morning, Lily tied her hair back as Professor Slughorn began passing out the scrolls for the exam. She took a deep breath and tried to loosen the tension in her jaw as the scroll landed in front of her. She could already feel the pressure starting to build behind her right eye. Just get through the exam, she told herself. Just do your best on the exam and we can rest it off later if it gets worse. She pushed through and by the end of answering all of the written questions, her headache was in full swing; a pulsating, blinding pain behind her right eye that seared through her head and the lights seem far too bright. She somehow managed to get through herbology, though by the end, the smell of the dirt and soil was making her nauseous. Lily hurried out of the classroom, not even waiting back for James, and made it to the girls' bathroom just in time to empty the contents of her stomach. As she washed her face, she made the decision to forgo heading to the library to finish the charms essay she'd desperately wanted to and instead opted to head back to the dormitory for free period to see if she could have a quick rest to get rid of majority of the migraine. She'd had enough in her life to know that at this point she needed to lie down where it was dark and quiet and get a little bit of sleep in order for it to have any chance of going away.
Thankfully, there was no one in the commonroom when she arrived, and she tiredly collapsed onto the sofa with her books on the coffee table and her bag beside her. She buried the right side of her face into her arm as she settled in to block out as much light as possible from her right eye. The nausea still hadn't resolved even after throwing up once. A few minutes of quiet rest passed before she heard the portrait open and soft footsteps enter. Too exhausted to look up, she remained where she was and didn't pay any mind until she felt someone draping a big throw blanket over her. She peeked her left eye open slightly. "Oh, thank you, Remus," she murmured when she noticed who it was. "What are you doing back here?" Remus straightened her books on the table and set her bag up straight. "I was just coming to take a nap. The moon's in three days, it's killing me this time. Is it a migraine you've got?" he asked in response, using a quiet voice. Lily nodded. He too suffered from migraines and understood what she was going through. "Caffeine helps sometimes; would you like some chocolate?" he went on, rummaging in his bag. Lily shook her head. "No thank you. I just need to rest. Which is unfortunate because I had a lot to do today and here I am laid out because of a headache." She pulled the blanket a bit closer. "Sorry to complain so much," But Remus just smiled and patted her shoulder, telling her he understood exactly how she felt.
Lily eventually was able to fall asleep and missed her final class of the day. However when she woke up, she felt slightly less pressure behind her eye and wasn't as nauseated as before. She didn't get up until around dinnertime, when she felt someone gently stirring her awake from a deep sleep. It was James, dressed in his Quidditch uniform and accompanied by Sirius, Peter, and Remus. Practice must've already been over. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly. Lily sat up, rubbing her eyes and squinting against the attacking light. "A bit better, it's just taking its time in going away. But I'm less dizzy and don't feel so sick." she admitted. Without words, Sirius thrust a piece of paper towards her, a familiar piece of paper. "What's this?" she asked. Suddenly it dawned on her. It was her 'to-do' list, however there were lines through everything she'd written down. "We divided and conquered for you, Evans." he said. "Credit goes to Remus for swiping the list while you were sleeping. But he brought it to us and we took care of everything you had to do for you. I brought your Divination homework over to be turned in even though you weren't in class. Peter tried to give your owl a bath, but James had to help him out."
"It bit me!" Peter wailed.
"Remus finished his charms paper early so that you could see how he wrote his and model yours after it. And James ended practice early anyway because it started raining so you didn't miss much."
A smile spread across Lily's face as she looked at her completed list and at the boys in front of her. "Thank you so much!" she cried. James embraced her. "We just wished there was a way to make you feel better. Come on, you should get something to eat and then get to bed so that you can really get rid of this migraine for good." Lily grimaced, unsure if her stomach could tolerate food just yet despite the nausea being resolved. "I don't know about eating right away..."
"Then we'll bring you something. But you can't not have anything." Remus said.
Lily smiled. James laid her back down and covered her with her blanket again. "We'll see you in a bit, love." he said, placing a kiss on her cheek. The four boys left through the portrait hole and she settled back onto her sofa. Of all the migraines she'd had in her life, she'd felt the most cared for in this one. Her most productively unproductive migraine yet, thanks to her small group of friends that loved her.