au where Lily's a nurse and James is a patient

Influenza- the reason Lily hadn't slept in 24 hours straight. Bloody brilliant, influenza.

She was in the on-call room of St. Jude's, finally getting ready for some sleep when her pager went off. Had she mentioned how fucking brill the flu was this year? She yanked her hair back, and readjusted her stethoscope. Looked like it was going to be another hour before sleeping.

Down the hallway.

Dodge the old man pissing himself that shouldn't have been out of bed.

Ignore Mary shouting at her about shift switching.

Orderlies throwing paper balls into the bin.

Finally the patient's room. Who was it? The clipboard that sat just outside the door was missing, meaning there was already a doctor in there. Absolutely fucking wonderful. You know, Lily really wondered about the doctors at this hospital. Paging her on her break, but probably not needing her at all. She pushed through the door, rant ready, when she saw an empty room. Well, not empty, but void of a doctor. Then where was the—?

Oh. The chart was on the edge of the bed. She huffed, stomping over to grab it and figure out what was wrong. "Did you push the nurse's button Mister…?" She flipped through the chart. "Potter?"

"Yeah,"

"Are you in need of assistance?" Without lifting her eyes from the chart, she read over it. Drunken bar fight. Quoted saying 'the other guy is worse'. Noted: the other guy was worse. Lily cracked a grin.

"Well first I was just going to ask if I'm allowed to use the bathroom, but now I'm pretty sure I need your number."

"Excuse me?" Lily's eyes lifted up for the first time. She blinked, taking in the good looking man lounging before her. He had messy black hair that stuck up at odd angles, though she wasn't sure if that was from the bed or just natural. His eyes were hazel and sat behind rectangle glasses that suited him nicely. His bottom lip was swollen, and there were stitches just along his hairline on the right side. He had an arm tucked behind his head, and he was grinning. Mouth pulling up just slightly more on the right side, Lily found herself marveling at the dimple that formed just above. Really fit…

"Your number, love." His smile grew just slightly. "Whenever I see a pretty girl I just have to ask."

"You don't need my number then, if you've got so many." Lily found herself blushing, though it was completely unprofessional. Another glance at his chart, twenty four. He was her age. He was her ruddy age.

"You'd think so," Something in his tone made her look up. His smile had faded just slightly, but he was still looking at her just as intensely.

"Mr. Potter—"

"James,"

"Mr. Potter," She continued with a huff, some of the old sleep deprived annoyance creeping back into her voice. "Do you have a real medical problem I can help you with?"

"Yes," James said. "I think my heart stopped when you walked in."

Despite it all, she laughed. "I'm going to leave now Mr. Potter."

"No, don't." He grinned.

"Goodbye," Lily rolled her eyes, walking out to loud protests. She stopped at the nurses' station just outside the room, face still burning. A nurse with long blonde hair glanced up at her arrival, grinning in amusement.

"Wotcher, Lil."

"'Lo, Marlene." Lily ran a hand through her hair, pulling a few strands free from the bun, and handed the chart to Marlene. "Flirty, that one." She gestured with her thumb to the room she'd just exited.

"Not really." She shrugged, filing the chart properly. Turning back to Lily, she leaned forward on the counter along the station.

"What do you mean?"

"He's actually pretty quiet when I'm in there." Marlene shrugged. "Why? What'd he do to you?"

"Nothing."

"You're as red as a tomato."

"It's warm."

"It's 20 degrees."

"I think I forgot something in the room…"

"Like a snog." Marlene laughed.

"Shut it, McKinnon." She called over her shoulder, reentering James Potter's room.

His voice reached from his bed, 'round the corner to where Lily was standing. "Whoever it is, I don't want you unless you're the pretty nurse."

"My name is Lily." Lily stepped into his line of sight, hanging around the edge of the bed.

"Hi, Lily." He smiled.

She had to swallow a couple of times before being able to get any words out. "You were in a bar fight?" And with that, she sat at his bedside, ignoring how bloody tired she was. He told her all about the day, and she laughed upon hearing how he'd accidentally pissed off an entire university's football team. He talked about how he and his three mates were up against thirty something guys. He lifted his broken arm like a trophy.

Really fit, she thought for the second time.

"And now I'm in here and my mates are off in another room somewhere." James shrugged. "Don't mind much because I've got a pretty nurse."

Lily blushed again. "I'm sure they're fine."

"Well I'm not. I'm hurt, right here." He pointed to his lip. "And someone's got to kiss it better."

"You think I will?" She snorted.

"Well I physically can't." He grinned playfully.

Oh it was one kiss, what was the damage, really? Besides she was technically done with her shift anyway… And she really wanted to kiss him. With a sigh, she propped her arm against his bed and leaned forward. He sat patiently, but as soon as her lips touched his, she knew this wasn't going to be a touch and go sort of thing. Slowly they started moving together, and her hand came to rest on the base of his neck. His good one, threading through her hair. She got lost in the overwhelming sense of him.

It could have gone on like that, probably farther too, if someone hadn't cleared their throat loudly. Lily jumped around to see Marlene standing at the edge of the bed, grinning like a madwoman. God help her. As Lily took the walk of shame past her, Marlene sent her a look that said "we're talking about this later." Of course they were. What were best friends for anyway?

"See you tomorrow, Lily." James shouted at her back.

She turned slowly around to match his gaze and smile. "Night, James." James Potter.

Saying he was her new favorite patient would be appropriate.