When Aunt Flo Comes to Town
Characters: Poppy Pomfrey, Druella Rosier, & Original Female Character (Irene Benjamin)
Upon hearing the doors to her infirmary swing open, Poppy looked up from her task of re-making the hospital beds. Just past the threshold stood two young Slytherins. The smaller one, first year Irene Benjamin, was a familiar face. In her four months at Hogwarts so far, she'd visited Poppy on numerous occasions after accidents in her Flying, Potions, and Herbology classes. Honestly, what was wrong with the girl? Her sister and brother combined had not reached even a dozen visits between them in the six and seven years they had been under her care. Letting the pristine sheets fall from her fingers, it was on the tip of Poppy's tongue to ask what Miss Benjamin had done to herself now when she saw the familiar trails of tears were not on her face, but the other girl's.
'Oh dear, what's it this time?' Poppy wondered as she hurried toward them to begin a more scrutinizing inspection. When she could find nothing visibly wrong with the crying girl, she asked, "What's wrong ladies?"
Irene, averting her eyes, whispered, "Rosier was bleeding."
Poppy blinked. "Ah," she murmured. "From where?"
Face going bright pink, Miss Benjamin gave an unhappy sigh. "From down there," she answered, gesturing in a sweeping motion to the region below her stomach.
Poppy nodded, everything finally clicking into place. "I see," she said, her earlier worry dissipating almost entirely. Though, more confusion was beginning to take its place. If it was just Miss Rosier's monthlies, why were they both here? And what of the tears on Miss Rosier's face? Were her cramps unusually painful this month? "Why have you two come here? Does Miss Rosier need something to alleviate the pain?" she asked as she looked back toward her office where she kept Pain Reliever potions. If that didn't stop her tears, Poppy would have to start asking some rather uncomfortable questions.
Miss Benjamin shrugged. "She might," she said. "But that's not the problem. Erm, I don't think anyone's ever explained to Rosier about–"
"Benjamin said I wasn't dying, is she right?" Miss Rosier interrupted, a half-wild look of terror in her eyes.
Oh. That was the reason for the tears, was it? Internally cursing the girl's parents for willfully leaving her in the darkness about the natural progression of female development, Poppy began to shepherd the girls toward an open bed away from the few being used across the aisle. Tugging a curtain around them closed for privacy, she had Miss Rosier take a seat. "Yes," she said, "Miss Benjamin is correct. You're far from dying Miss Rosier."
Nodding at Miss Benjamin, she let the younger girl slip out as she took a seat beside Miss Rosier and conjured a book of anatomical diagrams. Opening it up to a familiar page, Poppy began, "You see, Miss Rosier, when you become a woman…"
-v-v-v-
Just as the silence drawing on between them was about to become worrisome, the girl beside Poppy lifted her wan face to meet's Poppy's steady gaze. "This is going to happen every month?" Miss Rosier whispered.
Poppy brushed a sympathetic hand through the girl's dark locks. Growing up could be so hard. "Yes," she answered.
Turning her head, Miss Rosier dropped her gaze back to the book laid out in her lap. Absently, she traced the shape of the human uterus on the page. "That's disgusting. Is there a way to make it stop?"
"No, not really. It will on its own someday, though."
Perking right up, Miss Rosier asked, "Oh? How long will I have to wait?"
She was going to be sorely disappointed by her answer, Poppy realized. This was something to keep in mind for the next time she was made to explain menstruation to a student. Pussyfooting around about when menstruation ended would only deepen their unhappiness. Standing up, Poppy gave the girl's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Unfortunately, it will be quite a while. If you are fortunate, it will be in no more than four decades. Though, I've heard of some women having their monthlies well into their seventies."
"That's - That's -" she sputtered in dismay.
Giving the girl a sympathetic smile, Poppy said, "I know it's far from fair, but it is what is. Why don't you come with me so I can give you supplies for your monthlies?"
Her shoulders slumped; Miss Rosier slid off the infirmary bed and followed behind Poppy as they headed toward her office.
This one is kind of the first half of a two-shot rather than a one-shot like the first story. The next chapter will also center around Poppy and Druella Rosier. To those of you who are familiar with some of my other works, can you guess where you've heard of Irene before?
Thanks for reading and please review :)
