Many weeks had passed since the Hogsmeade trip, it was nearly winter and the trees had lost all their leaves, there were no longer birds singing such happy songs, the sky threatened rain every day and even Lily was feeling the effects of winter far more than most.
Nearly every night she lay awake shivering before being able to get to sleep. She had faced the fact that her illness may be incurable now. She was sure the healers at St. Mungos knew what she had but just wouldn't tell her. All they had said was, to cure this, you need to find the cure yourself and it may not be what you expect. She was muggleborn and not used to dealing with wizard illnesses but even the healers had seemed shocked at her diagnosis during the summer. How was she supposed to find a cure for an illness she knew nothing about or what the cure was even like. She didn't even know its name!
She was getting much worse and she knew she must find the cure soon but she didn't know where to start. Each morning she now woke up with a headache and a strong desire to be sick. But she held it back, she didn't want her friends to see her so vulnerable and she didn't want the boys to find out.
She knew James had started to become suspicious as on their nightly patrols he always cast her worried looks; she knew it was because she was looking so different. She no longer looked her happy, chirpy self but a pale, haunted girl who only seemed to still hold life in her eyes.
She had tried hiding it from her friends but one morning in mid November she woke up feeling particularly sick and with a very strong migraine and she realised this time she was actually going to throw up.
She rushed to the bathroom as quickly as she could, she hoped to do it quietly but in her haste she had made quite a lot of noise, waking Lisa and Kiara up. They came into the bathroom to see Lily had just been sick in the toilet.
Lisa looked at her, concerned etched all over her face, "It's getting worse isn't it Lily?" was all she said.
Lily nodded her head sadly.
"We saw how you were becoming but we didn't know how to talk to you about it. You haven't really mentioned it since September," Kiara said worriedly.
"We ought to go to the hospital wing Lily, I'm sure Madame Pomfrey has got some medicine for these symptoms even if she doesn't have a cure for this illness," Lisa added sadly.
Again, Lily nodded and allowed herself to be helped out of the bathroom. She was glad of the help; she thought she might fall over if she tried to walk by herself. She was feeling so weak from just being sick. She carefully got dressed and, trying to look casual leaning on Lisa should anyone see them but actually for support, she walked to the common room and managed to make it to the hospital wing.
When she got there Madame Pomfrey gave her a sad look and merely said, "You should have come to me a while ago Miss Evans. I can help relieve your symptoms."
"Do you know about my illness?" Lily asked a little shocked.
"Professor Dumbledore did brief me. I do need to know about it as I am going to take care of you," she replied helping Lily get into a bed.
"You need some proper rest. I'll give you some dreamless sleep potion and you can have all day to recuperate and I think I ought to keep you in tonight as well just for observation," she cooed.
Madame Pomfrey then looked at the door where Kiara and Lisa were still standing. "Out with you," she said to them a little half heartedly.
"She is going to be alright isn't she?" Kiara asked.
"She'll be fine after a good days rest. Now off to class with you."
After they had left she turned back to Lily who said, "This rest is all very well but this headache's killing me and I really feel sick."
"Don't worry dear; I'll give you something which should make you feel a lot better. Hang on one minute."
She went into her office and came out with two small bottles of potions. One was blue and one was purple.
"The blue one's for the headache and the Purple's ones for your stomach. You better have the purple one first otherwise you'll be feeling even sicker. But I do warn you dear, they don't taste very nice," she said as she handed the purple one to her. Lily held her nose and downed it in one. She scrunched up her face as the strong foul taste hit her and then feeling a bit stronger held out her hand for the other one for which she did exactly the same.
"That's to make you feel better. Now for some dreamless sleep." She handed Lily another potion bottle which Lily yet again took and downed in one. As soon as she finished it she suddenly became very light headed and all she felt before falling into a deep dreamless sleep was the hitting of her head on the pillow.
The marauders walked into their first class of the day, charms, to see Lily wasn't there. James immediately worried. He had been concerned about Lily for several days now. She didn't seem to be herself and she wouldn't tell him what was wrong.
They took a seat near Lisa and Kiara at the back. "Where's Lily?" James asked them worried.
"In the hospital wing," Kiara replied.
"Is she sick?"
"Well, what do you think?"
"No, I mean how badly?" he said frantically.
"She'll be fine with a days rest. Don't worry James," Lisa intervened.
Lisa then turned to her boyfriend, Remus and noticed he too also looked a little pale. "Are you alright sweetie?" she asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine," he lied glancing up at the other marauders who gave him significant looks. The full moon was tonight and they all knew that he was not fine. He never was at this time of the month.
Later on that day after classes had finished the group excluding Lily were all sitting around in the common room until Remus said with a slight tremor in his voice, "You know what? I'm really not feeling so well actually." This was the second time he had had to lie to Lisa but he wasn't as close to her then as he was now. And he did feel guilty although he knew it was probably not best to tell her quite yet.
"I'm gonna go to the hospital wing."
"Do you want someone to go with you?" Lisa asked concerned.
Remus looked into her caring face and answered, "No I'll be fine." He knew the other marauders would join him later under James' invisibility cloak when everyone else was in bed.
And with that he walked out of the portrait hole and marched to the hospital wing. When he got there he took a quick look inside to see who was their. He knew Lily would be but hopefully she would be asleep. Madame Pomfrey always made sure the curtains were drawn around so no one would see him enter. He had to be careful though.
He saw her come out of her office and head towards him. Silently, she led him out on to the grounds and helped him into the whomping willow. She gave him a sorrowful smile and then left.
This was it, the time he dreaded. The most painful moment in his life which he would have to recall over and over again during each transformation.
Back in the seventh year Gryffindor boy's dormitory the other three marauders lay awake in their beds waiting for the time to leave.
James checked the time. Midnight. "It's time to go," he whispered to the others and they all got up carefully out of their beds. They covered themselves with James' invisibility cloak and once outside in the grounds transformed into their Animagus forms. They then went to Remus' rescue.
Lily woke up with a start. She couldn't remember what had woken her but it felt like night. She must have been asleep for a long time, yet she was still tired. As she saw the full moon shining through the window she heard a loud and long howl coming from the grounds. She looked at the time. It was two o'clock in the morning.
Ignoring her tiredness she got up and went to look out the window as she heard another howl coming from the edge of the forbidden forest. She could just make out a hunchbacked figure entering the forest but she was too far away to see any features. And as she kept watching she saw three smaller figures entering behind the first but still she was too far away to see what they were properly.
After staring out at the stars in the night sky for a while she decided to turn back to bed. And with exhaustion she climbed back into her comfy bed and fell asleep straight away again.
Lily was getting ready to leave the hospital wing feeling so much better. Some of the colour had returned to her cheeks and she felt more refreshed than she had in weeks. Kiara and Lisa were waiting for her outside the door.
She turned to leave but Madame Pomfrey said, "Can I have a quick word with you please Lily?"
"Sure."
"You must realise Lily, that this is not a cure. This will simply relieve your symptoms for now but as your illness becomes stronger they will have lesser and lesser effect. You cannot rely on this."
Lily stood there looking quite stunned before her face turned back to normal and she replied calmly, "Iknow."
A/N So there you go, you found out a little bit more about Lily's illness.You ask and i deliver.Eventually. You shall learn a bit more about it further on.You may have been expecting something a little bit more dramatic and to tell you the truth so was i but it just doesn't fit in with the story if i didn't do this. I have a feeling some of you are getting bored with it but it does get better. Hopefully you will like the next chapter. It involves christmas, jealousy and a bit of unexpected romance. But you will have to read it to find out exactly what happens.
Please Read and Review! Pretty Please! And thanks goes out to all my lovely reviewers. Your comments and constructive critism is greatly apprecaited. Thank you again!