A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Jessi: Because you weren't able to come over today, I got to write a whole chapter!

Chapter 3: Midnight Maladies

Lily walked slowly through the dark hallways of Hogwarts. There wasn't a single lamp lit along the corridor, but Lily found herself enjoying the solitude of the darkness. A dark figure stepped out of the shadows, a tall boy with black, spiked hair and a piercing in his tongue. He wrapped his arms around Lily from behind, kissing the back of her neck underneath her shiny black hair.

Lily next found herself in a graveyard. She was alone and there was an eerie, misty feel to the place. She looked around, searching for some kind of answer to why she was here. Then, she saw the gravestone in front of her. It read: "Rest In Peace, Harold Swiften. Devoted and Loving Son. 1956-1978" Lily fell to her knees, sobbing. She had taken his life. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Harold stood behind her. He looked as though his flesh had already begun to decay. He was a sickly green color and there were patches of dead, rotting skin on his once handsome face. Lily wanted to wretch at the sight and stench of him.

"

Lily awoke with a scream, home, safe in her bed at home in Godric's Hollow with James. He also awoke at the sound of his wife's scream, sitting up quickly, instinctively grabbing his wand off of the bedside table.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, looking at Lily, his face twisted with fear for her safety.

Lily sat breathing deeply, trying to push the horrible image of Harold's dead body speaking to her out of her mind. "I-I had a dream," she mumbled, looking back at James, her face pale and white. James pointed his wand at the lamp, igniting it, then set the wand back on the table and pulled his wife into his arms.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, gently rubbing her back. Lily started to nod her head, hoping that it would ease her pain to re-tell the story of what she had seen in her nightmare. But, she suddenly found herself unable to move, unable to speak, unable to think at all. A blinding pain had suddenly erupted in her stomach, pulsating, slowly at first, then rapidly, spreading through her body. It felt as though she had been hit with the Cruciatus Curse again and again and again. Lily screamed.

"Lily! What is it? What's wrong?" James asked, frantically, shaking her. Her face was scrunched up against the pain and she writhed around in his arms. "Lily? Lily, what's wrong?" Her held her face in his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes.

Lily could only manage to choke out a single word.

"P-pain."

And then her world went dark.

James was utterly panicked. He had no earthly idea what was wrong with his wife. She obviously been in terrible pain, though he had no idea what had caused it. He wondered if it could have been related to the nightmare she's had, or it if was completely unrelated. He wondered if she had been injured in the battle earlier. His mind flitted to all sorts of horrible places, but he forced himself to concentrate on what he knew. Lily was in pain, and had most likely passed out from the intensity of that pain. He would take her to St. Mungo's.

When he arrived, James immediately pushed his way to the front desk, holding his still unconscious wife in his arms.

"I need to speak to Healer Alice Davies, immediately," he told the Welcome Witch who was seated at the desk. James assumed that Lily would prefer to be treated by her dearest friend, and he was also aware that her injuries may have been sustained during the battle they had fought while on duty for the Order that morning. James didn't want to take the risk of anyone else finding out that they were members of the Order of the Pheonix. It was far too dangerous to let that sort of information fall into the wrong hands.

The witch sighed, as though she would have preferred to be anywhere but there, and picked up a telephone receiver.

"Paging Healer Davies, Healer Alice Davies. You're needed at the Welcome Desk immediately," she said lazily into the receiver.

A soft pop sounded and Alice apparated into the lobby, standing right next to James with a clipboard in her hands.

"James?" she asked, clearly surprised. "What's wrong?" She looked worriedly at the unconscious Lily in his arms.

"This has to be done in private," James muttered to her. Alice's eyes widened with the understanding that this pertained to Order business and ushered James and Lily behind a door next to the Welcome Desk and down a hallway into her own office. She sat behind her desk and bid James to set Lily down on a sofa near the wall. James took the seat across from the desk.

"What's happened?" Alice asked urgently.

"I have no idea," James replied. "We were asleep, and Lily woke up because of a nightmare, and then she just started screaming and screaming and when I asked her what was wrong, all she could say was 'pain' before she passed out."

Alice furrowed her brow for a moment, then her eyes widened. "You were in battle this morning in Liverpool, right?" she asked. James nodded. "Was Lily hit by the Cruciatus Curse?"

James racked his brain, trying to remember back to the battle that morning. "Yes," he said. "She was."

Alice jumped up from her seat behind her desk and rushed over to Lily. "Crucio Renovo," she muttered, pulling out her wand and beginning to inspect Lily.

"What's that mean?" James asked, standing also and moving over to them.

"Move back," Alice snapped. She pointed her wand at Lily and murmured, "Rennervate".

Lily woke, blinked twice, then threw her head back and began to scream again in agony.

"Stupefy," Alice said quickly, and Lily lay motionless and soundless again.

"What's wrong with her?" James asked, unable to deny that he was frightened for his wife.

"I'll explain later; right now, I have to get her upstairs and start working on this before it gets any worse. Locomotor Lily." As she cast the spell, Lily was lifted off of the sofa and was bewitched to fly behind Alice as she left the room. "Call anyone you like, you can use my fire, but stay here and wait for me, James," she said seriously, slamming the door as she left.

Confused, terrified, alone, and exhausted, James sank back into the chair, put his face in his hands and shed a few small tears.

James called Sirius, Remus, and Emily to come to the hospital. Peter had a job working the night shift at Gringott's, so he wasn't able to come. They sat together in Alice's office, waiting.

Emily had brought a cook book with her, which she held, pretending to be reading. In actuality, she was glancing at her watch every three seconds, anxious for Alice to return with news of her daughter-in-law. She had been in such a panic when James had called her that she hadn't even bothered to put on her dressing gown before apparating to the magical hospital. So, there she sat in her frilled green nightgown and slippers, her hair in curlers.

Sirius had brought along a package of cards, a set of Gobstones, and his Wizard Chess set, all in hopes to distract James from his worry. James had been completely uninterested in those activities, preferring to pace around the office, cursing every few moments under his breath. At first, Emily had given a soft sigh of irritation each time she had heard her son curse, but this had happened so often that night, she had decided to give up her motherly indulgence for the night, figuring it a great waste of time.

Sirius and Remus were sitting on either side of Alice's desk playing Wizard Chess and trying to stay out of James' way. Their friend was beside himself with worry about his wife, and they both knew better than to try and calm him. That course of action would likely result in a duel which none of them wished to participate in.

It was nearly five o'clock in the morning before Alice entered the room, looking as tired as they all felt.

"What's going on?" James asked, stress evident in each syllable.

"Lily has a condition called Crucio Renovo," Alice said. "It happens most often in witches who have two muggle parents, but even then it is very, very rare. As you all know, the Cruciatus Curse causes its victims to experience an extreme degree of tortuous pain. Crucio Renovo is a continuation of the curse. The magic used when the Cruciatus Curse is cast is stored up inside the witch's body. Until the negative magic can all be released, the witch experiences constant pain, akin to a seemingly everlasting Cruciatus Curse." She paused to take breath, but James jumped in.

"What are you doing to treat her? Isn't there something you can do to take away the pain, some sort of spell or potion? She can't just lie there in constant pain, that's-". He broke off as Emily rose, placing a hand on her son's shoulder.

"I'm sure," she said calmly, "that Alice and her colleagues are doing everything in their power to keep Lily as comfortable as possible. Please, continue telling us everything you know, Healer Davies."

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," Alice said with a sigh and a small smile in the other woman's direction. "James, we have given her every kind of pain killer known to magic-kind, but there is no way to completely counteract that level of powerful magic. All that we can do is wait until the magic releases itself from her body. There are ways to help that process along. Crucio Renovo targets a particular area of the body, usually the place where the spell actually hit the victim. In Lily's case, the pain is localized in her stomach.

"Our goal at the moment is to keep that high-level of magic out of her vital body organs, especially her heart. This is a very serious condition, I won't lie to you. If not treated properly and immediately, it does kill. However," she added, holding up her hand to stop James' comment. "you managed to get Lily here just moments after the symptoms began, and I was able to diagnose it quickly, as I knew that Lily was a Muggle-Born and that she had been in battle earlier today. I have every hope that she will make a full recovery. However, that will take some time. We are doing everything we can to get Lily well and out of pain and home as quickly as we can. I love her, too, she's my best friend," Alice said.

"I know you are," James replied, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Thank you, Alice." He smiled tightly at her, and received one in kind. "Can I see her?" he asked anxiously.

Alice hesitated.

"She's still in a lot of pain and very unstable right now," she said slowly. "Maybe just you, for now, James? The rest of you can come upstairs to a waiting room near Lily's ward, if you'd like. There's free coffee up there and the tea room is quite near."

Emily squeezed her son's shoulder, and he turned to look at her.

"I think I'll head home, James, now that I'm convinced that Lily's in good hands and not in any immediate danger. Floo me if anything changes?" she asked. James nodded, embracing his mother and kissing her cheek.

"I'll take you home, Emily, then come back here and wait," Sirius offered, rising from his seat.

"Thanks, Padfoot," James said.

"Not a problem, mate."

Remus sighed tiredly. "It's a full moon tomorrow," he muttered, "so I really ought to go home and get some rest, if you don't need me, James?"

"No, go, that's fine," James said. James, Sirius, Emily, and Alice all knew about Remus' lycanthropy. Lily was unaware of it, though she and Remus were good friends, and James was certain that she would not care or, indeed, feel any differently at all towards Moony. He was extremely sensitive about the subject. Emily had been good friends with Remus' mother before Mrs. Lupin's death, so she had known about his lycanthropy for years. Alice had been let in on the secret by Dumbledore. As part of her work for the Order, she was to help Remus out during his transformations, using her skills as a Healer and always keeping her eyes and ears out for any new breakthroughs in the science and study of lycanthropy.

Remus smiled weakly and turned to the fireplace. He, Sirius, and Emily departed.

"Come on and follow me, then," Alice said grimly, leading James out of the office, down the hall and towards the wards.

"She may be asleep, and, if she is, I'm going to have to ask you not to wake her," Alice cautioned. "The body heals best when it is able to sleep, and Lily didn't get any sleep at all last night. She is extremely weak and still in a considerable amount of pain. She's also running a high fever. It's nothing to worry about, very characteristic of her condition, but it may make her a little loopy." James nodded, trying to absorb all of this information at once. They stopped in front of a door. "I got her a private room, partly because of the severity of her condition and partly because of the need for privacy. We don't want anyone finding out who exactly is in the Order of the Pheonix, do we? Anyway, it's right through here. You've got about ten minutes, then I'll have to kick you out, because Lily truly does need rest. I'll be back." With that, Alice departed down the hallways. James hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened the door and walked into the room.

Lily looked very small in the large hospital bed. Her hair was wet from sweat and matted. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing was uneven and a bit sporadic, so James was fairly certain that she wasn't asleep. She looked very, very small.

James approached the bed cautiously. Her face was shiny with sweat and very red. There were already dark circles under her eyes. She lay perfectly still in the bed, save for the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed uneasily.

"Lily?" James whispered her name very softly. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, slightly confused.

"James?" she croaked out his name, her voice dry and weak.

"Yeah, it's me, love. Hi. How are you?" James had reached her bedside now, and he knelt next to her, his eyes boring into hers.

"I've been better," Lily replied softly. She winced as she spoke, a spark of pain shooting through her stomach. James smiled sympathetically.

"Will it hurt if I touch you?" he asked, hesitating again.

"No," Lily said with a soft groan of pain.

"Good," James replied, reaching out, gently taking her small, warm hand in his. He raised it slowly, pressing his lips to the back of it, then holding it against his cheek. He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing that, by that simple action, he could transfer her pain onto himself and bear it willingly so that she wouldn't have to. He gently kissed her palm, then let their hands come to rest on her bed, interlacing his fingers with hers.

James went to floo Moody as soon as he left Lily's room.

"Hey, Moody," he called from the fireplace. The older Auror looked up from the paperwork in front of him, glaring down at James' head in the fire.

"What do you want, Potter?" he growled.

"I just wanted to let you know that Lily's in St. Mungo's. She's got something called Crucio Renovo." Moody's eyes widened at the words.

"She's got Crucio Renovo, and she's still alive?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, um, yeah," James replied.

"Damn. That's a serious condition, Potter."

"Yeah, I know," James muttered. "I wanted to talk to you about work, though." They had completed their training program several weeks before and now worked full-time for the Auror Department. The hours were somewhat irregular, but Lily and James had been lucky so far to have been able to spend a good deal of time together, even at work.

"Well, it's obvious that she won't be working for quite a while," Moody growled, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, but I was wondering if I could have some time off as well," James said, uncertainly. Moody pulled out the timetable of schedules from a drawer in his desk. He flipped a few pages until he found Lily's name and grabbed his quill, notating that she would not be in to work because of her severe illness. He would find someone to replace her shifts later. He glanced down to James' name.

"How much time do you want, Potter?"

"As much as you feel like you can give me without seriously docking my pay," James replied ruefully. Moody chuckled at that.

"Well, you aren't due to work until tomorrow, but I can give you tomorrow off for sure, and definitely Thursday. You'll have to come in on Wednesday, though, because we'll already be short-staffed that day. Lupin won't be coming in because of-"

"The Full Moon, right." Today was Monday, so he would definitely have today and tomorrow with Lily. It depended which day she would come home know if he needed to beg for Wednesday off or not.

"And you're only scheduled for a five our fact-finding shift on Friday, so you can just forget it as well. Prewitt can handle it on his own," Moody said gruffly. "We'll just take it a week at the time."

James nodded meekly. "Thanks, Moody," he said.

A/N: Well, I think that this qualifies as one of my fastest ever updates! Go, me! If anyone is curious, as far as I could find Crucio Renovo means something like "Torture renewed" in Latin. I'm not a Latin student, so I had to rely on an online translator site. Hope everyone enjoyed this chappie!

Please review. I don't care if you just say "Cute story. I liked it." or "Crappy story. I hated it." I'd prefer the first choice, but please be honest! Just lemme know that you've been here and you've read it.

Love from

Lyny Angell