A/N- Third chapter already! That means we're half way through. Once again like to thank my reviews, because you guys are awesome and pretty much what inspired me to keep posting, so thank you! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Of Senility and Soup

"Sirius, you have turned me senile," Remus announced as he and James slid into their seats. The room was filled with quiet chattering as class had yet to begin. Sirius was lounging back on his chair, the front two legs off the floor, looking utterly relaxed.

"Have I?" He asked lazily, twirling his wand in the air. Remus kicked the chair and after a loud slam, all four legs were once again on the floor.

"Yeah. You have."

Sirius shot Remus a hurt look, which turned to a point as he was ignored. James rolled his eyes. He was quite sick of pouts.

Before the conversation could continue any further, Professor Flitwick entered the classroom. He collected their homework before beginning the class. James was hardly paying attention however, as he was focused on the very special piece of parchment in front of him. This handy object would let him keep an eye on Lily at all hours of the day.

The Marauders Map.

It was halfway through the lesson when Lily moved. James, who was on the verge of daydreaming, snapped to attention

"Moony, she's on the move! I have to go and stop her!" James whispered, making a move to get up. Remus grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" They both stared at the little Lily figure on the map.

"James, she's going further in to the Common Room. She probably has to use the bathroom or something." Shaking his head, Remus turned back to the front of the classroom, only to be interrupted by Sirius.

"What are you two whispering about?" Sirius asked him quietly, keeping an eye on Flitwick. While Remus explained the situation to Sirius and Peter, James kept a close eye on Lily, who had apparently gone to collect something from her bedroom. Sighing, his head was soon filled with the image of Lily, smiling, laughing, her hair shining in the sunlight, her eyes gleaming with happiness as she called his name…

"Prongs."

James frowned. Since when did Lily call him Prongs?

"Prongs!"

And why was her voice suddenly so low, she had sounded fine this morning. Albeit, slightly congested…

"Prongs!" Someone was hissing his name. Someone who definitely was not Lily. Jerking his head up, he noticed Sirius motioning his head to the front. James looked up to see Flitwick gazing at him disapprovingly.

"Uh sorry Professor. Just have a lot on my mind, it won't happen again." James apologised sincerely. Flitwick, somewhat appeased, resumed teaching. James shook his head slightly. Have to focus.

By the end of the class, there had been two more possible Lily-sneaking-out incidents, both which proved to be false alarms. James had asked Remus if he could just go stay with Lily several times, but Remus refused, saying his education should always come first. The group headed for their next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. For James, the lesson could hardly have been any slower as he counted the minutes until lunch when he could check on Lily. He was on the verge of banging his head on the table and yelling in frustration when he noticed that his watch had stopped, and rather than having another half hour left they only had five minutes. Mood improved, he resumed his Lily-watch. According to the Map, she was still in the Common Room; however he knew she was planning an escape. It would only be a matter of time.

Indeed Lily was planning an escape. Or at least, she had been. After walking up to her room several times, she had been lying on the couch, snuggled up in her blanket, thinking of a way to get out of her promise to James without actually breaking it when-

She had fallen asleep.

It was an hour later when she woke up, her nose completely blocked, and shivers travelling through her body. She stumbled off the couch and reached for the nearest tissue box. After clearing her nose as well as she could, Lily curled back on the couch, but found she couldn't obtain the warmth she had previously felt. The chills left her feeling cold, and she was struggling to wrap the blanket tighter around herself when the common room Portrait opened.

"Hey Lily, how are you feeling?" James' voice asked her kindly. She blinked blearily up at him, and he blinked.

"Wow, you look a lot worse than when I left you!"

The glare Lily gave him was a clear indication that he should not have said that.

"Oh, errr, I mean…" Crap crap crap! James thought in his head. Note to self: do not comment on a girl's appearance when she is sick. Especially not when that girl is Lily. Dammit, why didn't Sirius warn me about this? Although I suppose in his defence, he's never been in a relationship long enough to have a sick girlfriend. Wait, why am I backing Sirius? No, must be mad at Sirius for spoiling my chances with Lily! And Remus! He reads all those books, I'm sure one of them would have valuable information on girls! Speaking of girls….

James looked up at the object of his affection and was met with a raised eyebrow.

"James Potter did you just block me out?" Lily asked threateningly, although the effect was somewhat diminished by her congested voice. James' eyes widened.

"What? I would never block you out Lily! I was merely distracted by the gorgeous ray of beauty that you shine on everything surrounding you!" James cried joyously, waving his arms around. Lily's eyebrow remained elevated.

"Siriusly. No wait, I mean SERiously." James nodded to himself, not realising that both words sounded exactly the same when spoken aloud. Lily could feel her eyebrow creeping up to join her hair.

After a slightly awkward pause, Lily decided to ignore James' last few comments and restart the conversation.

"Did you speak to Alice or Marlene by any chance?" She asked. James' eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah! I spoke to them in Charms. They said that they would drop by straight after dinner." Lily's smile faded slightly.

"They-they can't come any earlier?" She asked quietly, before chiding herself for sounding so childish. James looked sympathetically at her.

"They wanted to, they really did. But they both slept in and missed breakfast, and neither of them have any free periods today. But they promised they'd be up as soon as they could," James said comfortingly. Lily sniffed slightly before rubbing her eyes and sitting up straighter.

"No, that's fine" she said, trying to give James a convincing smile. At that precise moment, a loud crack filled the room. Lily let out a loud shriek and leapt at the nearest thing that could protect her. Which incidentally, was James.

It took a few seconds for Lily to realise that the cracking noise posed no threat to her, and she reluctantly detangled herself from her saviour. And then realised who it was.

"Oh!" Lily felt a blush spread across her cheeks, mirroring James' own cheeks. Coughing slightly, she turned to see two house elves standing before her, each clutching a tray.

"Mister Potter sir, we brought your lunch!" The smaller of the two squeaked. James thanked the two elves profusely as he relieved them of their burdens. With another loud crack, they disappeared, leaving behind a very confused Lily.

"Did they say lunch?" She asked. James, who was trying to fit the trays on the table, which was no easy task considering the number of book, nodded.

"Yeah, I went down to the kitchens and asked if they could prepare lunch for us. You didn't think I'd make you starve did you?"

"The kitchens are run by... elves?" Lily asked dazedly as she sat down in the seat James offered. He sat opposite her.

"Well yes dear Lily-kins, how else did you think the food was prepared?"

"I-I never really thought about it to be honest" Lily admitted, shamefaced. James patted her hand consolingly.

"Don't worry, I don't think many people know." Lily smiled sheepishly before removoing the cover of her tray.

"Well I should warn you I'm not hungr- oh my, is that chicken soup?" She breathed deeply (or at least as deeply as she could) and immediately heard her stomach grumble in hunger. James grinned at the sound as he opened his own tray of soup and bread.

"That's all you're eating?" Lily asked, confused. James looked at his meal.

"Well yeah, I was worried that if I brought something else up the smell might make you sick or something" he admitted. Lily smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I mean it, for everything. I'm a wretched patient, I complain too much, and I'm grumpy, but for some reason which I cannot fathom, you're sticking through it. So thank you." Lily told James sincerely.

"After handling six years of you screaming insults at me, this is actually rather pleasant," James told her honestly, and then ducked to avoid the cushion she threw at him. Lily found herself laughing properly for the first time that day, for once the thought of her missing classes overrun by the overwhelming smell and taste of the soup.