Author's Note: Some of you say you have some guesses about James' illness. I'm sure that, after this chapter, a lot of you who have no idea will probably get it. Anyway, please review. :)

"James—James Potter."

James vaguely heard his name being called by an unfamiliar voice. He opened his eyes slowly, carefully sitting up.

He was surprised to see a crowd of about ten girls surrounding him. Had he been unconscious for a while? Did he just slip in and out after only a few minutes? Had he been gone so long that his friends were worried?

No. James remembered, with an uncomfortable drop of the stomach, that his friends were probably anything but caring, as Sirius had probably told him the nasty things James had said.

"Give him some air!"

Whoever she was, James was thankful for her. She moved everyone else further away so that James could stand up. He was still shaky, and therefore, he was a little afraid to walk back into the castle alone.

"Are—are you okay, James?" Melissa Thompson asked. James recognized her as one of the girls who wrote him love letters back in their second year.

James nodded. "Yeah. Thanks," he said, beginning his walk back into the castle without so much as a goodbye.

James felt that, if he could just get in and into bed, he'd be fine. He could rest and relax with no more worries of passing out. He concentrated on nothing but his footsteps as he got closer to the school.

He breathed a sigh of relief after opening the door. It seemed that everything was more complicated. A simple walk, once taken for granted, had become equivalent to running a marathon.

What James had not expected was a swarm of students in the corridor, which had been pleasantly empty when he and Sirius had walked outside. Everyone had been in class at that time.

Sirius. James let his mind stray from the students in the hallway and his footsteps in order to think about what an arse he'd become.

James knew the problems Sirius had faced that had led him to eventually running away from home. He remembered when he showed up on James' doorstep, blood rushing down his arm, saying, "I cut it off."

James shuddered at the memory. At the time, he didn't know what Sirius was talking about, but he learned, later that night, that Sirius had been unwillingly branded with the Dark Mark.

James had told him it didn't matter, that he knew Sirius didn't want it, and there was no way it would change their friendship.

It took a lot of lying to hide it from everyone else, though. When Sirius showed up to school at the beginning of sixth year, he still had the marks of the knife he had used, and there were rumors going around that he'd been cutting himself.

James knew that implying Sirius had been cutting himself was a stupid idea, but when his attack on Sirius' homosexuality didn't work, he knew that would.

Purposely hurting your own best friend. That's when you've gone lower than low.

James hadn't gotten very far into the school when he was called back by one of the girls.

"James! James, come here!" she said anxiously.

James slowly turned around. He'd only gone fifteen steps. He could still practically see into the girl's eyes!

Fifteen damn steps.

"What?" he asked, motioning for her to run over to him. The easy manner in which she did it made him envy her.

She looked so happy to be standing close to James. He had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "Here," she said, handing him a large piece of chocolate. "Amy says you should eat this. It helps."

James shook his head, handing back the chocolate. "That's—that's more of a Dementor thing."

But the girl was persistent. "It should help."

James sighed. "You won't leave until I take this, will you?" he asked. James admired determination, but if this was how Evans felt, he understood her annoyance.

She handed it to him again. "I won't leave until you eat it because you're so stubborn."

James wasn't sure if she was kidding or not, so he took the chocolate she offered him, slipped it into his pocket, and began to walk away.

"I was serious," she said.

James tried to smile when he turned around to face her, showing her it wouldn't be an issue. However, it turned into more of a scowl when he put a small piece of chocolate into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. James continued with small bites until he was finally done with the whole slab she gave him.

The girl nodded, looking pleased. "And you should probably head down to the hospital wing to see what's what."

James nodded, though he planned on doing nothing of the sort. "See you later." Merlin, he hoped he wouldn't.

James was more miserable than he had been a minute earlier. With that damn piece of chocolate, all of his hard work felt ruined.

He tried to think of anything but the chocolate in his stomach. Even thinking of Sirius made him feel better. "Just a bit more," said James, counting the steps silently. "Getting closer."

James was so angry the girl had forced him into that. Honestly, who did she think she was? Remus? Chocolate doesn't solve everything.

In fact, in some cases, it makes things worse.

"Much worse," said James, kicking the staircase to take out his rage.

Finally, he made it to his common room. James pushed past any student who got in his way, ran faster than he had in weeks (courtesy of how furious he was), up the stairs to his dormitory.

However, as soon as he got to his room, he put his ear up against the door, hearing his friends' voices.

"I can't believe he would say that," said Peter softly. They were obviously discussing what he had said to Sirius earlier.

"I know," said Remus. "The other day, I asked him if he needed help with his homework…because he looked completely frustrated, and he practically screamed at me, accusing me of telling him he was stupid and all of this crap."

"Oh, yeah…and the other day in Potions, his sleeping draught turned the wrong color, and he like started crying, and he asked Slughorn if he could leave," said Sirius incredulously.

James breathed slowly in and out, trying not to be heard.

"Who is he?" Sirius asked. "He's certainly not James anymore."

James knew he couldn't walk in at that moment, so he went back into the common room, thanking his ill feelings again for his sudden strength. He ran back through the curious groups of people, and he left the common room in search for another bathroom, obviously unable to use the one in his dormitory.

Finally, he walked into the one near the Transfiguration room, wobbly from all the running.

There was a boy he didn't know standing by the sink, but James didn't care. What did it matter if one boy heard him vomiting inside a stall? Maybe the kid would just assume he had the stomach virus.

James didn't particularly care what the kid thought. He was just glad to have finally found the bathroom. After going so long without a bite, he wasn't about to let that chocolate ruin all of his progress.

He slammed the stall door shut, and he pushed the lock over.

"Hey," said Gavin, coming up behind his girlfriend, kissing her on the cheek.

Lily smiled. "Hello," she said.

Lily moved over on the couch, making room for Gavin to sit down beside her. He gladly did so, putting his arm around her shoulders. "What are you reading?" he asked curiously.

Lily laughed. "I don't think you want to know," she said, pulling the book farther away from him.

"If you tell me it's Hogwarts A History, I'm taking it away," he warned, attempting to grab it from her hands.

Lily hid it under the cushions, shaking her head. "Nope," she said. "It's uh—it's Hogwarts A Future," she said, attempting to keep a straight face.

"Oh, really?" said her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow.

Alice looked up at them from her chair while she attempted to do a crossword puzzle. She rolled her eyes, but had a small smile on her face. Though they were disrupting her, she had to admit that they were kind of cute.

Gavin leaned over her to grab the book, pulling it away from Lily's grasp. "Hmm, just as I suspected," said Gavin, shaking his head in disappointment. "Lily, Lily, Lily, haven't you read this enough?" he asked rhetorically.

"No," she said, trying to grab it, but he held his arm too high. "Give it baaack!" she begged, laughing.

Gavin smiled at her, leaning in for a kiss. "Tell me you love me," he said.

"I love you," said Lily easily, kissing him quickly. "Book?"

"Tell me you love me more than reading about Hogwarts."

Lily bit her lip. "Honey, I don't know about that," she said teasingly. "It might be a stretch."

Gavin pretended to be disappointed. He cleared his throat. "Well, I guess you won't be getting this back then," he said, running away with it.

"No!" said Lily, getting up to chase him.

Lily followed him up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, into Gavin's room. He jumped onto his bed, shoving the book under his pillow.

Lily rolled her eyes, sitting down on his bed as well. Gavin pulled her effortlessly into his lap.

Lily, forgetting about her book momentarily, got lost in the feeling of being in Gavin's arms. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

Only a few moments later, she remembered what she'd come up for. Reaching skillfully behind him, she grabbed the book. She stared back at him triumphantly, and she stuck out her tongue.

"Maybe—just maybe—you're tied with the book."

Gavin laughed. "I can deal with that."

Gavin's roommate, Frank, walked out of the bathroom, faking disgust. "You two make me sick," he said, shielding his eyes.

Lily laughed. "Well, I've got to get back to my reading anyway," she said. "See you later, Frank. You coming down with me, love?"

Gavin looked thoughtful. "So I can watch you with your other boyfriend," he said, glancing at that book. He laughed. "I guess so."

Frank rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "He can't bear to spend five minutes without you."

"How long has it been since you and James took your walk?" asked Remus suddenly.

Sirius continued flipping through a Quidditch magazine, intending to ignore him. "I know it's been a while, Moony," he said eventually. "He's probably just avoiding us."

Remus supposed that was probably true, and he decided to continue with his homework, assuming that James would come back right before curfew, and he would tell them he was tired, and that would be the end of it. However, Peter said something that really hit him.

"He thinks we don't care about him."

Remus turned to Peter, who had been sitting on his bed, knees to his chest, worrying about James since the moment they came back from class.

"Remember?" Peter went on, turning to Sirius. "When you told him that we had noticed his problems, but we didn't say anything, he said that we didn't care about him. How could he think that?"

Sirius shrugged. "He was just trying to make you feel bad, Wormtail. Don't let it work."

Remus looked concerned, though. "Sirius, what if that is what he thinks? Maybe that's why he's been being weird."

"No!" said Sirius loudly, shocking his friends. "Listen, I know James like the back of my hand. If there's anything he's good at, it's this. He's being manipulative. There's something wrong with him, and he doesn't want us to know, so fine. I say we leave him alone."

"I didn't know you were so easily defeated, Padfoot," said Peter, angry that Sirius was turning James out when he obviously needed him.

"I didn't say I was giving up. I'm going to find out what's wrong," he said. "I'll just do it in my own way. Don't worry."

Remus and Peter didn't protest. As long as they knew the situation was under control, they figured they'd leave it be.

"So, are we still going into Hogsmeade tonight?"

All three boys turned in the direction of the doorway, where James was standing, clumsily leaning against the doorframe.

"Where—where were you?" asked Peter.

"Your face is all…flushed," said Remus.

"I know," said James, shaking his head. "I was taking a walk outside, and the wind was unbelievable."

"Wasn't when I was out there," said Sirius.

"Yeah, I know," said James, staring at Remus and Peter while he said it. "That's why it was weird. You know when you get those weird, random rains? Well, that's how it was with the wind. It's pretty calm now."

James walked over to his bed, falling down onto his stomach comfortably. "So, yeah? We going?"

"We thought you didn't want to…" said Remus slowly, glancing at Sirius.

"No, I do," said James, his voice muffled slightly by his pillow. "I just want to rest for a while. Then, I'll go."

"Okay," Remus replied uneasily. "We'll let you get your rest then."

James hated throwing up. He hoped he never passed out again. Not eating completely was much easier than getting rid of food, especially a huge slab of chocolate. Who the hell did that girl think she was?

"We just have to be back in time for me to patrol with Evans."

Author's Note: So, I'm hoping most of you know what's going on with James now. Hopefully? Lol. Aww, it's rather sad, isn't it? Please please pleaseeeee review! Oh, and I'm craving a really good, possibly fluffy, but it doesn't matter, really, Lily/James story. I tried looking for one today, but I wasn't very successful. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love it! Thanks. :)