If anyone knew anything about Oliver Wood, they knew he lived and breathed Quidditch. He wasn't fully alive until he was flying through the air, eyes tracking the quaffle, prepared at any moment to dive or twist in order to catch it. The moment he stepped onto a broomstick, he transformed into a man with a singular purpose, a singular goal.
Oliver Wood didn't know how to live without Quidditch, and yet Katie Bell was afraid he might have to learn very rapidly.
At least she no longer feared he wouldn't live at all. That, at least, represented a marked improvement from the day before. Then, she only knew the healers at St. Mungo's had listed his condition as critical. Today, they told her he would live. As for flying, or even walking, well, they couldn't guarantee any results.
He still hadn't awoken, and so she sat next to him in a hard, spindly chair covered only by a ratty cushion. She'd known Oliver for years, ever since she joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team her second year, and she knew the first question to leave his lips would pertain to Quidditch. She hoped that if she, a familiar and friendly face broke the news to him rather than a tired, strange Healer, he might not crumble immediately. He might not lose hope. She understood as well as anyone in this hospital the value of hope.
Angelina and Alicia had remained with her for the first few hours, but then Alicia had received a message from Lee begging for help with George, who'd gone nearly mad with grief in the weeks since his twin's death. They already knew Oliver would survive, but no such certainly existed with George, so she'd told them, looking directly at Angelina, to go, to help Lee. In truth, though, Angelina needed the help herself, and watching over one more friend wounded by that stupid war wouldn't provide her with any comfort. Just another reminder of what they all still had to lose.
"You'd think with the war over, this wouldn't happen."
The voice startled her, and she jumped in her chair. It came from a man who spoke with a slight Scottish brogue, similar to Oliver's, and once she'd recovered from the initial shock, she noticed other similarities as well.
A rather burly, stocky man with fair brown hair and deep brown eyes entered the room. Thought his hair was a shade lighter than Oliver's, the nose, the sharp cheekbones, the glint in his eye all felt exceedingly familiar. Too familiar.
"I forgot Oliver had a brother," she said, venturing a guess at the man's identity. "There weren't any other Woods at school, and he rarely mentioned you."
"Well, I'm five years older and fifty years wiser than my little brother, so we were never that close." He loped in easily and pulled up one of the other chairs, this one an alarming shade of puce. The chair dragged across the floor with a horrid shriek, and she winced. "Sorry," he said.
"No, I'm sorry. I should have reached out to you earlier, but honestly, it slipped my mind once I owled his parents."
He shook his head. "From what I understand, I couldn't have done much anyways. Besides, the wizarding world is small. I actually heard from Charlie before I heard from mum and da."
Now it was her turn to shake her head. "I'm sorry, Charlie who?"
"Oh, Merlin, I shouldn't have assumed you'd know. Charlie Weasley. Old teammate of Ollie's and, uh, and a friend of mine. I don't know who told him, though."
"Probably Angelina. She's been talking to George's family pretty regularly, trying to figure out how to help him." She grimaced. "Not that we've had much luck."
"This is George Weasley, Charlie's younger brother?"
"Oh yes, sorry, I shouldn't have assumed you'd know." She paused again. "I don't actually know your name, to tell the truth. That's even more embarrassing."
"It's Sean, and it's not a problem. Thank you for being here with him, Katie."
Now she blushed. "So you knew who I was already, and I'm the fool who forgot to contact his brother."
"Well, I used to come to some of Ollie's Quidditch matches when I was around, which wasn't very often, mind you, but I liked to see him lose to Ravenclaw." He grinned. "You always played quite well. You and the others, Alice and Angelica was it?"
"Angelina and Alicia, yeah." She took a moment to process the information. "You were in Ravenclaw then."
"Like I said, fifty years wiser. And a little less obsessed with Quidditch."
"Most people are," she snorted, but then she recalled the situation and her laughter halted. No one loved Quidditch like Oliver Wood, and yet he might be the one to lose it.
"How bad is it, Katie?" he asked, his expression grave.
She gulped, not knowing what to tell him, what he might already know. She started with the basics. "He's going to make it, which is, well, it's more than they could tell me yesterday. Beyond that, they don't know if he'll be able to fly or even to walk." Her eyes stung with unbidden tears. "He was hit by several curses, and they all mixed together and one of them was sort of eating away at the muscles in his leg, at least that's how they described it to me, and he wasn't breathing properly either. He looks okay now, but yesterday when they were still shoving potions down his throat and they couldn't stop the bleeding, it was just horrible. Absolutely horrible." Tears slid down her cheeks, hot and burning. "I don't know what else to tell you."
Sean didn't say a word. Instead, he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her in an awkward yet firm hug. She melted into it, releasing all of the tears and the fear from the past two days in the arms of a man she'd never met before. It definitely ranked as one of the stranger experiences in her life.
When she pulled away, she wiped her sleeve clumsily over her face, trying to clear her eyes. "Merlin," she laughed shakily. "I must look a mess."
He laughed along with her. "I've seen worse, believe me." She shot him a questioning look. "I'm actually a healer, you know. I work in Bucharest, in Romania, which is how I got to know Charlie, but I've seen people on the worst days of their lives. It's nice to know that Ollie has some people who really care about him, too."
"I had no idea you were a healer. I could try to find one, maybe if you want more specific information. They mentioned something about a masticating hex and an infinisangueo curse, and one of the potions they gave him was called Lolithorpe's brew, which sounded familiar but I kind of forget what it does, and—
"Slow down, Katie. I'll get everything I need to know later. Right now, I'm here as a brother, not a healer. I trained at St. Mungo's, so I trust the people who work here. Now breathe."
She took several deep breaths, relishing in the subtle wave of calm that washed over her. She hadn't realized she'd been shaking until the trembling halted. She chuckled nervously again. "Sorry again."
"You apologize too much, especially for someone who has nothing to apologize for." He eyed her critically. "When did you last eat something? Did you spend the night here?"
She had to think on the first question a moment. "Angelina brought me a pasty this morning when she came by, but I think that's it. That was around eight in the morning or so, I'd say."
"Well, it's currently four in the afternoon, and I assuming since you didn't answer my second question that you did indeed spend the night here, which is against hospital protocol by the way."
"Someone needed to be here," she said defiantly.
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I don't doubt that. I'm just surprised they let a non-blood relative stay after visiting hours. Still doesn't change the fact that you need to eat something. Let me take you out to lunch somewhere. You can eat and get out of this place at the same time, two birds with one stone as they say."
"Someone needs to—
"My parents will be here in half an hour. From the looks of it, he's unlikely to wake up in the next thirty minutes, but if it makes you feel better we can wait until they arrive."
She relented, "If you want to see your parents, let's wait, but otherwise we can go now, I suppose."
"I saw them earlier today, stopped by before I came here. I think your need for food is more pressing than any filial obligation I may have at the moment."
"If you say so." She glanced around and noticed for the first time a mirror hanging on the wall in the corner. She stood and walked quickly over to it and gasped. "Merlin, I really do look a mess."
"If you didn't, I'd suspect you were part veela. I can give you a few minutes to freshen up if you like."
She shook her head. "There's nothing I can really do in five minutes that could make enough of a difference. Let's just go now."
He smiled gently at her. "Great. I know a good spot not too far from here, a muggle place. They have excellent dumplings."
The sunshine blinded her when she stepped outside of the hospital for the first time in more than twenty four hours. Even though the windows in Oliver's room allowed for some natural light to filter in and augment the illumination provided by the magical lighting of St. Mungo's, none of it compared to the sun and the warmth of a mild summer day. The open clear sky acted as a balm, soothing some of the tension in her limbs. Illogically, she felt more optimistic than she had since she'd heard about the attack even though technically little had changed.
Sean noticed the change in her posture and grinned. "It's good to get out once in a while. I learned that pretty quickly when I was in training."
She smiled ruefully. "You're right, I suppose. I'm just used to discounting any advice Oliver offers me, but you're not him."
"No, I'm not Ollie. I'm not sure the world could handle two people with that much of a Quidditch obsession." He placed a quick hand on her elbow, nudging her along. "It's this way, not too far, just a few blocks."
They began walking down the streets of muggle London. Katie was English and had lived in England her whole life, but she'd rarely spent any time wandering around the capital city. The hustle and rush of all the people around overwhelmed her slightly. So many people, and so few of them knew about the hospital they were passing by just now. So few could see it.
"I hope you like Chinese," Sean offered as a conversation starter. "When I didn't feel like cooking, I used to come here occasionally. Some weeks I even came several times."
"You think they'll recognize you?"
"It's been a few years, but if Billy's still there, he might. He's the manager," he added quickly. "I spent more than a few late nights at one of the corner tables, talked to him a few times. We're taking a right here, by the way."
They turned the corner, scooting around a couple who collectively were walking five dogs. The sidewalks were still slightly damp from a morning shower and an occasional strong whiff of city smell reached her nose, but she relished in the fresh air that flowed around her. After several more blocks, Sean pointed at a small shop on the right side of the street, a rather nondescript little place.
"This is us," he said, and they crossed the road.
Once inside, her hunger pangs immediately doubled in intensity. She inhaled the enticing scent of steamed vegetables and soy sauce and hot cooking oil. Heaven, she thought, this is heaven. The restaurant wasn't terribly large, and the metal tables and chairs showed some signs of age. The kitchen was visible from behind the counter which ran along the left wall. Two cooks were frying up something in the back, most likely for the couple sitting at one of tables further in the back.
"Smells pretty good, eh?" Sean remarked.
"It smells delicious. No wonder you came here so often."
"Just wait till you actually eat the food. Then you'll really understand."
The two of them grabbed one of the corner tables, one next to the window that provided a perfect view of the street outside. Sean had already picked up two menus when they first arrived, but he didn't even glance at his as Katie perused the options. As she scanned the options, she murmured, "Shit. I don't have any money, or not muggle money."
"I've got you covered," said Sean.
"I can't," she protested.
"After sitting by my brother's bedside for the past two days, you can and you will." She didn't argue any further, but returned to her perusal of the menu.
"What are you getting?" she asked him after a moment.
"What I always ordered. Garlic eggplant and chicken with brown rice. Nothing too fancy, but still quite delicious.
"That does sound nice." She looked over the back page. "I think wide wok noodles with beef and vegetables will do for me."
"Excellent choice."
She set down the menu on the table. One of the waiters—not Billy, since Sean didn't recognize him—came over and took their order after bringing over two cups of ice water and a pitcher. Now they waited.
Sean broke the silence. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you spend two days in the hospital with Oliver? Are you two…involved?"
She snorted, nearly choking on her water. "Merlin no," she sputtered. "Just friends."
"A fairly devoted friend. I never knew you were that close."
"I'm not even sure we are." Sean shot her a questioning look.
"Care to explain?"
"Well, I hardly saw him at all last year. I mean, we kept in touch after he graduated, and he even visited me once or twice my seventh year when I was in St. Mungo's—
"You were in St. Mungo's your seventh year?"
She flushed. "Yeah. Kind of a long story involving a cursed necklace. I spent a few months here, nearly had to repeat the year."
He whistled. "That sounds horrible."
"It was." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I'm just glad I didn't have to repeat the year because, well, I'm muggleborn so Hogwarts wouldn't have really been an option for me last year, and I don't think I could go back after everything that happened in May."
"That's understandable," he said sympathetically. "Oliver visited you when you were here?"
"Oh, yeah, a couple of times when he wasn't traveling all over the place with Puddlemere. I don't really remember my first month in there anyways, so he might have come by without me knowing then. Last year, well, I couldn't get a wizarding job or anything, so I sort of laid low, tried to do some work helping friends in the order while working some shifts as a waitress. I didn't lay low enough, so I ended up in hiding for a while." She shrugged. "I didn't really see Oliver at all last year. The battle of Hogwarts was the first time I'd talked to him in person in months."
"But you're here now."
"I'm here now. I, uh, when I heard what happened, all I could think was 'Not another one,' you know? Not another friend. Alicia heard from one of her cousins who works in St. Mungo's that Puddlemere's keeper had been admitted, and she rounded up me and Angelina."
"They're not here, though."
"No, they have someone else to look after. Another friend."
"Are they hurt too?"
"Not physically, no. Emotionally, mentally, yes. It's all a little complicated."
He sat back in his chair. "There's nothing complicated about death, assuming that's what they're dealing with."
"It is for him, sort of." She swallowed hard. "You know Fred Weasley died? If you know Charlie?"
Sean's expression grew dark. "Is it George, then? Your friend?"
Katie nodded. "Yes."
"And you're not there with him now?"
"Angelina and Alicia were always a bit closer with the two of them, Fred and George I mean. They were the same year and all, and they also know Lee pretty well, who's another friend." She shook her head. "I wouldn't be any help there. Too many people. So I stayed with Oliver."
"Thank you for staying, whatever the reason." Katie blushed a little at how sincere his voice sounded. "Seriously, thank you."
"I'm just being a good friend."
"A very good one, Katie. I hope he appreciates it once he's awake, but even if he's being an ass, know that I appreciate it."
She laughed. "You think he'll be an ass when he wakes up?"
"I don't know how he'll react to his situation. He's never been the most easygoing of people."
"You could say that."
They sat in silence a moment, interrupted only when their waiter came to them bearing two steaming plates of sumptuous-smelling food. Katie dug in immediately, shoving large forkfuls of noodles into her mouth with abandon. Sean ate in a more restrained fashion, but he also had most likely eaten a proper meal today, so she found she didn't care. After she finished chewing her most recent mouthful of beef, she resumed the conversation.
"What about you?"
"What about me?" said Sean, placing a piece of eggplant almost delicately into his mouth.
"Well, I told you all about myself and my life, so what about you? You're Oliver's elusive older brother."
Sean snorted. "Hardly elusive. I just have a life in Bucharest, and like I said before, we've never been too close."
"What, you don't like Quidditch or something?"
"I played beater for Ravenclaw, as a matter of fact."
Katie regarded him skeptically. "You, a beater?"
He feigned hurt. "You don't believe me? What, do I not look strong enough for it?"
"No, you just seem, I don't know, too nice to be a beater? Like all the beaters I know take some perverse pleasure in chucking bludgers at other people. I didn't peg you as the type."
"I always saw it as more of a defensive role, really, protecting my team. Doesn't mean I didn't occasionally break a couple of limbs," he smirked.
"Well, I see that mania runs strong in your family then."
He laughed. "I don't know about that. I liked Quidditch, always enjoyed beating Ollie at it when we were kids, but I never wanted to play professionally. I figured out pretty early on that I took more pleasure in healing people than hurting them."
"How very gentlemanly of you."
He raised his hands in defense. "It's the truth. I always felt so bad if I really hurt someone in a match, always made sure to visit them later in the Hospital Wing. That's when I started talking to Madam Pomfrey about healing, and she was always quite encouraging. She even gave me a couple of books to read."
"So you train in St. Mungo's after graduating Hogwarts, and end up in Romania how?"
He shrugged. "It wasn't going to be a permanent thing at first, not really. I wanted to do some research on healing properties of this plant, leopard's bane, which is different from wolf's bane, mind you, and there really isn't any in Britain, so I just applied for some positions as a healer abroad and ended up in Romania. I found I liked it, so I stayed."
"Huh. I never thought about moving away from England."
"There's a whole world out there. I think sometimes people don't realize that, especially people who just graduated from Hogwarts. The other schools you know, like Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are more international so people don't just assume there's one country where everyone has to live. I always thought about talking to Dumbledore about that, but I never got the chance before, well, before…"
"Before he died."
"Yes, before he died. And before England went to war again."
"Well who knows? Maybe I'll end up abroad somewhere doing Merlin knows what."
"Do you have any idea of what you want to do?"
She grimaced. "Not really. I thought about a lot of things, including Quidditch, but nothing really stuck with me. It didn't help that I spent a good chunk of my seventh year in the hospital. I had different priorities then."
Sean chewed his food thoughtfully, looking somewhere over her right shoulder. She waited for him to respond, but he didn't.
"Don't suppose you have any job openings where you work?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well, you're not a trained, but there are different paths to becoming a healer, especially once you get out of England where there's really only the St. Mungo's program. I have colleagues who've taken on apprentices in special circumstances. How were your grades?"
She gaped at him. "You're not serious."
"Why not? If your grades are what they need to be, then I would see no reason why you couldn't apply for a spot."
"My grades are…sufficient for healing, I'm pretty sure."
"You have your N.E. ?"
"Seven of them. Core classes plus Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy."
He smiled at her. "Well there you go."
She fiddled with her remaining food. The idea was ludicrous. She was talking with Oliver Wood's brother, a man she'd never met before an hour ago because Oliver had been attacked and somehow she was the one sitting by Oliver's bedside even though they had barely spoken over the past year, and his brother was effectively offering her a job as a healer trainee in Romania, a job she had never considered in a country she'd never visited before. And all of this less than two months removed from the Battle of Hogwarts where she and everyone else had lost so many friends.
"I'd have to think on it," she finally said.
"Of course. I don't even know if we have a slot available, and I've already arranged to take the next few weeks off work so I can spend time with my family. If we have a spot, and if you want to take it, I would make sure you went back with me so I could orient you properly, show you around the place, maybe even use you as my own apprentice."
"You do realize you're being incredibly generous to a girl you've known for less than an hour, who explicitly told you she didn't even know what she wanted to do."
Sean swallowed the last bite of his food and sipped from his glass of water. "I know that I'm offering a potential trainee spot—which is no guarantee of you passing any exams—to a girl who spent the past two days looking after my brother when I couldn't. We may not have agreed on much, but Oliver always spoke highly of you as a person, and you've done nothing so far to make me doubt his words."
She blushed slightly. "You're not what I expected from Oliver's brother."
"Yet here I am," he said magnanimously. "Speaking of which, I'd like to get back to Mungo's, meet up with my parents and talk to some of the Healers there."
She hurriedly chewed on her last chunk of noodles. "I'll head over with you."
"No, you won't."
She glared at him. "Of course I will. Don't be ridiculous."
Sean motioned for the check. "It's not ridiculous to send someone home who spent the night sleeping in one of those hospital chairs. You need to shower and sleep and talk to your friends. Tomorrow you can come in again if you want to."
She thought momentarily about fighting his words, but in truth the prospect of her own bed (well, the guest bed at Angelina and Alicia's flat) enticed her. She could already feel the warmth it would offer the soft caress of an actual pillow and mattress as opposed to the hard wooden chair she'd slept in the previous night. She sighed.
"Fine. I'll be back tomorrow for sure, though."
The waiter brought over the check, and Sean carefully counted out the change from his wallet. After he finished, he led her outside of the restaurant and into a back alley a block away, one he assured her he'd used for apparition frequently in the past.
Before she disapparated, she looked him squarely in the eye. "Thank you for dinner."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Thank you for letting me make you take care of yourself."
She shook her head, grinning slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."
The last thing she saw before she disapparated was Sean's calm expression cracking slightly as he watched her go. She realize then how much effort he must have expended keeping her calm, suppressing his own anxiety. Too late to say anything.
When she appeared abruptly with a sharp crack in front of the door to Alicia's and Angelina's flat, she heard the sounds of a heated argument from inside. She recognized Angelina's voice instantly, and then she heard George.
So much for her sleep.