Enjoying Spring (F, Allergies, HP- Lily Potter)

[Dusty15]

He’tshh!

Lily Evans buried her pink nose into her handkerchief and stifled a sneeze as she dug through her trunk at the end of her four-poster in Gryffindor tower.

“Where the bloody hell are they?” she muttered to herself, shoving aside piles of books and bits of parchment. She pushed over her cauldron, hearing a crunch of glass and plastic. Underneath she found what she was looking for: a bottle of Muggle allergy medication now crushed at the bottom of her trunk along with two bottles of some gooey, green hair potion. She’d tossed the bottle into her trunk the previous morning in a rush to get ready, and now she’d destroyed the whole thing.

“Shite,” she grumbled, sitting back on her heels with a sniffle. Squinting her eyes shut, she scrubbed at her nose, trying to calm the itch that burned in her sinuses. Practically all of her life she’d relied on these little blue pills to get her through spring. While she was away at Hogwarts, she always brought a supply from home and her parents would owl her refills every few weeks. It’d been ages since she’d done without them and now, at barely nine in the morning, she was already feeling miserable.

There was no way she could hide in her dormitory all day either. Spring meant preparation for final exams and her classes were so demanding that missing a single one meant falling behind. As Head Girl, she couldn’t risk that.

Shutting her trunk, she rose and crossed to the tower window, shutting it tight to keep out the pollen from the Scottish highland fields. The glass was already coated with a faint yellow powder and Lily felt her eyes tear with the anticipation of a sneeze.

Hehh..het’shxttt! Ts’hxt! Ttt’shhht!

She sniffed erratically, trying to stop the tickle.

Ehhh….hehh….heh’txxttt! T’shttt!

Collapsing onto her bed, she wiped her nose, taking a shuddering breath. The fit had left her feeling spent, but she was already running late for Potions class. She gave her nose a good blow and retrieved several fresh handkerchiefs from her wardrobe, tucking them into her satchel with her textbooks before hurrying off to the dungeons.

It was mercifully cool and dark down there, with little risk of running into pollen unless they were using plant cuttings for their potion work. She slid into her seat across from her boyfriend, James Potter, as Professor Slughorn began speaking.

“Oy, Evans,” Sirius Black hissed from behind her. “You been crying over Prongs or something? Your eyes are red.”

“Shove it, Black,” she retorted, discretely wiping a bit of lingering congestion from under her nose.

“Your eyes are red,” said Remus, her potions partner. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, cutting up her salamander skin with precise slices. “Must’ve rubbed them too hard when I was washing my face.”

Thankfully they weren’t using plants in the lesson and Lily escaped class with only two lingering sneezes from her earlier attack. She brushed them off as simple reactions to the cauldron smoke and kept the teasing Marauders at bay for the time being, but a she had a growing sense of dread about her next lesson, Care of Magical Creatures. The majority of the time, the class was taught out in the school grounds, where fields of grass and blooming trees threatened her nose.

“Ready, Lils?” James was saying, planting a kiss on her cheek and elbowing a snickering Sirius as he did so.

“Yes, coming,” she said, gathering her books and bag. She followed her classmates down and out the front doors of the school, down the steps and out towards the Forbidden Forest. It was a clear, sunny day with a light breeze; perfect allergy weather. They’d barely made it halfway to the paddocks near the Caretaker’s Hut when Lily felt her nose begin to run and her eyes begin to itch.

She paused, trailing a little behind the group as she rummaged in her satchel for a handkerchief.

Heeehh’tshii!

Her head snapping, she sneezed freely into the spring air, blinking away allergic tears as the sneeze caught her off guard. Carefully tucking the handkerchief over her nose, she sneezed again, this time a little more discreetly.

T’shhhxxt!

“Lily?”

James had slowed his pace and returned to her side.

“I’m fine,” she said between sniffs. “Just had to sneeze. Caught me off guard, that’s all.”

She faked a broad smile and tucked the hankie into the sleeve of her robe, walking with him to where the rest of the class was gathered in front of Professor Topkins, who had a small cage with several gnomes inside.

They were each instructed to partner up and take a gnome to release into a patch of the vegetable garden for observation of their behavior.

“Work with me,” James said, intercepting an attempt from Remus to get Lily's attention. Remus usually worked with her when Sirius and James were paired, since they were less likely to be distracted by the antics of the boys and wouldn’t have to pair with Peter, who usually struggled with lessons.

Kneeling in the dirt alongside James, Lily opened her satchel and took out a sheet of parchment for notes.

“I can’t believe we’re doing gnomes as sixth years,” James grumbled. “I was getting rid of these in our yard back home when I was seven.”

“Not everyone grew up wizard,” Lily reminded him distractedly. Her nose was now running freely and she sniffed wetly. She was sure her eyes were now pink and teary, and she struggled against the urge to rub them.

“No need to get upset,” James said, misinterpreting the look of allergic misery on her face for sorrow. “I just meant that this’ll be an easy lesson for me. You can let them out and watch if you like.”

Lily shook her head, trying to get words of explanation out before her hitching breaths culminated in….

Het’shxxt! T’shhhhhhooo! Hehh’tshooo!

She sneezed a triple into the sleeve of her robe, the sound throaty and irritated.

“Bless you,” James said. “Are you getting a cold?”

“No,” she managed to croak. “Must’ve gotten something up my nose. No bother.”

Her cheeks flushed and she wanted to run and hide in her room. It was embarrassing that her boyfriend had to see her all snotty and red-eyed like this. She turned her head down, focusing on releasing the gnome from his cage and watching him begin to dig near a patch of cabbage.

Nose dripping into the soil, she tried to sniff quietly but it echoed with a loud slurp. The pollen outside was now firmly settled in her nose and she pawed at it with growing frustration. Extracting her handkerchief from her sleeve, she could no longer stave off the approaching attack.

Tucking the cotton square over her nose, she turned away from James, shoulders hunching over.

Hehhh’hestchhhh! T’shht! Ets’choo! Heh…hehh…hhhtsch’hooo! Hii’kxht!! Tshhh’khhht!

She felt James’ hands on her shoulders as he crouched in front of her. Blinking away allergic tears, she looked up, dazed.

“I thought so,” he said, wiping a tear away with his thumb. “You’ve got allergies. Let me take you to Madame Pomfrey.”

“I’m okay,” she said, sniffing in rapid, hitching inhales. “I….ehh’tshxxt! I had an accident with my pills I usually take and my mum will send me more tomorrow.”

“Lily, for being such a smart witch, you’re rather thick,” James said with a grin. “There’s potions for allergies. You don’t have to get your mum to send you muggle pills.

“What?”

“Of course, silly,” he said. “Sirius takes one. Poor bloke could barely step outside without his eyes swelling shut if he didn’t. Don’t tell him I told you though.”

“That was rather stupid of me,” she said, wiping her nose. “And to think, I was going to go on like this all day. Alright. Ask Professor Topkins for me?”

“Of course,” James replied, planting a kiss on her brow. “Get your things.”

As he retreated, she turned away from the class and gave her nose a hearty, congested blow, feeling the tickle subside a little. James returned a moment later and took her hand.

“C’mon.”

He led the way up to the castle, but halfway, Lily stopped in her tracks, breath coming in wild huffs again. The sodden handkerchief she had was practically useless and she turned to sneeze into her sleeve.

“Here,” James said, reaching for one in his robe pocket. Gently, he pressed to her nose in time to catch two loud, explosive sneezes.

Heh’tschii! Etschiii!

“Bless you,” he said, pinching the handkerchief and pulling it away. “Let’s get you inside. Poor love.”

“Thangs,” she said, nose now blocked. They continued on their way to the infirmary, entering the waiting area. Madame Pomfrey took one look at Lily and went to the stock room to retrieve a potion.

“You’re the third today,” she said, pouring a glass of purple, fragrant liquid. “The pollen’s rather bad out there.”

Lily tipped the glass to her lips and drank, feeling the potion slide down her throat, soothing the scratchy feeling as it went. Almost instantly, she felt her eyes and nose relax and the irritation begin to disappear.

“You know,” she said. “It’s amazing, even as a sixth year, the things I’m still learning about being a witch. I should’ve found out about this a long time ago!”

“Well, you can enjoy spring once more,” James said, kissing her on the cheek. “C’mon. We’ve got gnomes to observe.”

[guynextdoor]

Great story. Pls more

[zneeze]

Awww Very cute! I've always loved your style of writing, Dusty, particularly the sneezes themselves And you've ended it in such a way that you can either continue if you have the inspiration or leave it as a cute little one-shot All in all, very nice fic! Thanks!

[count tiszula]

Wonderful fun [though no magic]. Yes, we quaint British types often find we've got blooming pollen from the blooming trees up our blooming noses; and those with blooming hay fever just have to blooming well sneeze it out.

You know, one of these days one of the more inventive pupils at Hogwarts is going to find a spell that counteracts some of Madam Pomfrey's potions.....

[Whysprr]

This is really good! I would love it if you decided to continue

[queenie]

Would like to hear more from Sirius. Or... let's say there's a potion interaction. And then someone who's on a lot of potions, say, a werewolf maybe? might not be able to take the allergy potion anymore. HMM... you've given me a minefield of ideas.

[sneezytwilight]

OMG This is amazing!! Absolutly agree with the above! A second would be lovely!

[Dusty15]

Thanks all! I couldn't resist a little story about Sirius' hayfever, which is referenced in this fic. It's freshly posted and called 'Spring Fever'. Enjoy!