II. The Trainee
18th November 1979, Sunday
Lily felt horrible when she woke up, a clear sign of having drunk too much last night. She stumbled into the kitchen of her apartment and wasn't surprised to find her roommate sitting by the table nursing a cup of coffee with a book in front of her wide open. It was rare to see Jo without a book glued to her hands. Come to think of it, Lily was pretty sure that in the three months she has spent living with Jo it hasn't happened yet.
"Was he hot?" Jo asked and Lily stilled. She turned towards her friend with her wand in hand which was the first thing she looked for once she was up. Jo raised her hands in mock surrender, not that Lily would ever aim at her. It was not like Jo could protect herself – it would just not be fair.
"Josephine, I have no idea what you are talking about," she said, but the wicked smile of her friend suggested that she knew exactly what she was talking about and she wasn't just guessing. Then again as this was the first time Lily had a one-night stand, it would be strange if Jo guessed correctly what had happened.
"Really? I would suggest checking the shopping list then," Jo suggested innocently and gestured towards the piece of paper Lily remembered writing yesterday before she went to the pub. Under the necessities, she wanted to buy was a quick and hasty message from her one-night-stand. While Lily didn't expect much out of the situation as after all, it was just a liquor-induced act of passion, she had to admit that she was a bit disappointed. If he left a telephone number she decided that she probably wouldn't have called him, but at least she could have if she wanted to. She supposed it was a question of pride – she was only good enough for him for a quickie and she didn't like that. She wanted to be the one to suggest it was only a onetime thing.
"So, how was it?" Jo raised her dark eyebrows, her eyes twinkling in good humour. Her black hair was as always in a perfect bun and Lily once again wondered how Jo was able to do that without a wand – Lily's own red curls always escaped even when she held her hair together with magic and used the most complex charms she could think of.
Lily sat down facing Jo with a cup of coffee. She was silent for a moment while she sipped on the coffee (and tried to remember where she had put the remaining bit of her emergency hangover potion).
"Good – very hot," Lily replied. Of course, that wasn't enough for her friend so she had to go into details. Some of the things Jo asked were actually exceedingly scandalous and when she pointed that out Jo just shrugged and replied that she was a medical student. That seemed to be Jo's excuse for everything.
"Well, I'm glad then that I ditched you," she said with a wink, but then she pressed her lips together. "I'm kidding. Sorry for not showing up, I got back a homework assignment and I was told that if I correct it until today I can get a better mark on it."
Lily wasn't kidding when she told her one-time lover (James the paper in front of her reminded her of his name) that she wasn't angry with Jo for not showing up. While she was at school Lily quite frequently ditched her own friends for the sake of her studies too and she understood Jo in a way few did – their situation as a Squib and a No-Maj-born was quite alike.
They were both part of two worlds, but neither accepted them entirely. Lily suspected that Jo's diligence was rooted in her fears of not belonging in the No-Maj world, the same way she always wanted to show the magical community that just because her parents were No-Majs, she was not lesser than the rest of them.
"You know I'm not bothered by it – you pay me the rent when you are hardly around and I have the entire place to myself," she joked around and Jo laughed out this time. A sudden sharp pain in her head reminded Lily of the quantity of alcohol she had consumed the night before which made her groan.
"What do you want – painkiller or hangover potion?" Jo asked her. She muttered 'potion' and her amazing roommate was so kind to her and understood her pain so well that in a minute she was back with the bottle of the remaining potion. Lily brew back it in September when she moved to London and the two of them had a wild night celebrating their new living arrangements.
"Thank you, I have to go to the hospital for the night shift and I don't know how I would have survived without this. Remind me of how shit a hangover is the next time when I want to get smashed to forget about some dumb guy. It's so not worth it." Lily sighed after drinking the bitter-tasting potion.
"Well, Silas certainly isn't worth it, on that we can agree," Jo said while she flipped a page in her book. On the next page, there was such a gruesome picture that Lily had to jump up and sprint to the toilet. However, the potion kicked in sooner than any mundane medication would and by the time she reached the toilet her queasiness was over (though her headache has only just lessened a bit so far). Lily rejoined Jo in the kitchen and once she was sure her stomach was settled she made herself a sandwich.
"You know, there is this guy at uni – his name is Matt. He is like Prince Charming," Jo said as Lily sat down at the small kitchen table to join her.
"Go for it then. Sounds nice," Lily encouraged her friend and Jo scoffed.
"You know I don't care for relationships that much. I simply don't have the time to start something serious. A fling every once in a while or an alcohol-fuelled one-night-stand as some stress relief? Sure, but not a relationship. This guy is just the romantic type you know with roses and dinners and diamond rings," Jo explained as Lily munched on her sandwich. Luckily the potion seemed to have cured all her problems and she even had her appétit back.
"Sounds too good to be true," Lily replied doubtfully. Jo shrugged while she turned a page in her book. Lily couldn't imagine how she could have paid any attention to the book while talking about boys, but knowing Jo, she actually did.
"Well, obviously he is a No-Maj and I believe there was also a girl who broke his heart so he might feel a bit under the weather. However, he is ridiculously sexy and smart – a perfect combo," Jo answered and Lily hesitated, putting down the reminders of her sandwich.
"I don't know, Josy," at the nickname she received a half-hearted glare. "He sounds great, but if he is a med student how could I explain my life? If it was a random No-Maj without any knowledge in medicine then I could always just say I'm training to be a nurse or something like that, but there is no chance that I could get away with such a lie with him if he really is that smart as you say."
Lily never had any problems with being set up with someone. Okay, it never really happened, because since she could remember it was always LilyandSilas or SilasandLily, but since her brutal break-up with the said jerk she did think of asking some friends to introduce her to a guy. It was just not as easy as most of her friends lived in the States.
"Oh, come on, Lily! I'm not asking you to marry the guy and tell him about the existence of witchcraft, I just think that after everything that jerk has put you through, you deserve a guy who would treat you well. You could always come up with a bigger lie too – he doesn't need to know that you work in healthcare," Jo protested and to Lily's greatest surprise she shut her book.
"Wouldn't I just use the boy then too?" she asked in puzzlement and Jo rolled her eyes.
"Just a few dates – you know, go to the movies, eat out at some fancy restaurant, and then stroll along the Thames. Just some simple date-y and romantic stuff, but none of the heartbreak. The guy might just turn out the love of your life and if not then the two of you say goodbye with easy smiles," Jo told her confidentially and at that moment she reminded Lily very much of her best friend, Camille. Jo's younger sister who was Lily's best friend at Ilvermorny spoke exactly like that when she had a plan. Realization dawned on Lily.
"You already set up a blind date with this guy for me," she said and Jo nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, next week – no way out, I'm afraid. He is very excited, we just have a test before it that he must study for so it can't be sooner," Jo said with a grin and Lily just shook her head.
"I had a one-night stand as you suggested. Wasn't that enough?" she asked and Jo frowned.
"Well, to be honest, I didn't think you would do it, so I couldn't exactly include it in my plans, but it doesn't really change anything other than you had some hot sex," Jo replied with a thoughtful expression. Before Jo could set her up with more guys, she realized she had to study so Lily was left alone for most of the day which she spent with some light reading and some more sleeping knowing she had a long shift ahead.
Even with her hangover magically cured, she certainly had not much spirit for work, especially as she always hated the night shift anyway. She Apparated to St Mungo's and in the tiny changing room which was for the trainees, she changed into her uniform.
"So, Lily, did you have a wild night?" Without even turning around Lily knew perfectly well that Mary was the one talking to her. She started the Healer training at the same time as Mary only she started it in the States. However, in the three months they have known each other they became fast friends.
Mary always joked with Lily that if only she attended Hogwarts like 'every normal magical person in Britain' (to which Lily then replied that she was not exactly in Britain when she started school) then they would have been friends from the first year, so Lily robbed her of eight years of friendship. Mary was also convinced that they would have been in the same house as well – that there was something 'lion-y' about Lily. Lily never commented on that and just accepted it that apparently, she looked brave.
Mary herself had a night shift the day before, so that's why she didn't even plan on joining Lily's pity party at the pub. However, she encouraged Lily to have a wild night saying that she certainly deserved it and she had to work on forgetting that jerk. She was livid when Lily showed her the wedding invitation.
Mary was leaning against a cabinet in the stuffy room. She was still wearing her Healer robe though Lily knew that her shift was over. However, Mary liked to linger around to make conversation in the changing room especially if she was there too. Her light blonde bushy hair was held back by at least ten hairclips and most probably a lot of magic as her mentor, Healer Spleen had something big against flowing hair. Lily heard a lot of stories of what caused the healer's hatred against anyone leaving their hair down, but most of those ideas were rather hard to believe. The most popular story involved a Hungarian Horntail, a pumpkin pie and a grumpy goblin.
Lily had nothing against the idea though because in No-Maj hospitals the same rule applied because of hygiene reasons. It always made Mary grumpy though, because her hair just never wanted to do what it was told – she washed her hair in Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, she always said. Luckily, Lily only needed a simple flick of her wand to have her hair in a high ponytail. It was only buns she had some issues with.
"Yeah – the guy was pretty hot," she replied as she checked her hair in the mirror. She saw the surprise in Mary's blue eyes thanks to the mirror. She turned around just as Mary squealed.
"Wait – wait... the guy you had sex with was pretty hot?" she asked like she couldn't believe Lily would ever do something like that. Lily couldn't help but look in the direction of the door anxiously, but Mary just shrugged.
"No one will come in – you know how Esther is, always about half an hour late at least," she said referring to an older trainee who was on the verge of becoming a qualified Healer and was supposed to spend the shift with Lily. "Melinda is already here – had to come early because one of the patients she looks after." Another trainee who was on the same shift that day.
"But what about Raymond? And Becca?" she asked Mary who had a wicked smile.
"Oh, just as I was to come here I saw him enter a supply closet with Rebecca. I'm sure he lasts more than five minutes." The two trainees who shared Mary's shift today had an on and off going relationship nobody ever understood, because Becca was always on the side of a professional Quidditch player and they have been dating since Hogwarts according to an interview with the couple in Witch Weekly. Mary came up with the theory that the player (Sebastian Boot) might have preferred boys to girls and kept Becca around for the image. Mary who knew Becca somewhat at Hogwarts said that Becca and Boot were always best friends but never seemed more to her and come to think of it, she never saw Boot with any girls.
Lily usually just liked to keep out of others' business. Not to mention that even after months back in Britain and being trained at Mungo's she often felt a bit out of place. Mary spoke about all of the other trainees like she had known them all her life even though she was a No-Maj-born – sorry, Muggle-born – just like Lily. Lily knew that Hogwarts was smaller than her own school, but still.
"Now, now – tell me about your hot and sweaty night?" Mary leaned forward with anticipation in her eyes. Lily sat down on one of the chairs in the middle of the room. Mary quickly joined her and turned towards her with a wide grin. "So?" Lily couldn't help, but blush.
"Well, I can't really say much – he was handsome, dark windblown hair, bright eyes, glasses and an easy smile. He had a nasty break-up too and wanted to just drink a bit, you know. But he left his wallet at home, so when I noticed the heartbroken expression on his face I invited him for a drink," Lily explained and Mary raised her eyebrows.
"Let me guess – one drink turned into two and then five only to end with drunken sex?" she asked and Lily nodded somewhat shyly. She was most certainly not a shy person, but she had a very long relationship with a guy she was sure she was going to marry, so she didn't have much experience with one-night stands or more precisely until last night she had none.
"Yeah, about right," she agreed.
"So, how was it? Are you going to meet him again or was this truly one-night type of thing?" Mary asked curiously, but before Lily could answer a familiar pair appeared in the door. Becca and Ray didn't seem like they put much effort in hiding what they were exactly doing in the supply cabinet as they looked rather dishevelled and bright-eyed.
"Oh, hey Lily, Mary," Becca said with a bright smile when she noticed them. Lily found it unfair that the girl didn't seem even a bit embarrassed that everyone knew what happened between her and Ray only minutes before. If only she was that easy-going...
The four of them started chatting about the new cases and what was happening at the hospital. Based on Ray's strange quietness and expression Lily had an idea that he was ready for round two just right there in the changing room so she gestured to Mary to hurry up and change and they left the two lovebirds alone. They both started laughing when they reached a more deserted part of the corridor.
"Well, at least they are most certainly experienced in contraceptive charms – that's never bad for future Healers, I guess," Mary said when they stopped laughing and Lily stilled.
She tried to remember back to the night before. She was fairly certain that she didn't perform the charm because she was afraid James would notice it. She remembered though that they used some No-Maj rubber barrier device she knew was called 'condom' which her apartment had plenty of because Jo couldn't use magical contraceptives. While she knew in theory what a condom was and how it worked it was the first time she ever used as before she only ever had a sexual relationship with one boy – a wizard. She was no pure-blood, she trusted No-Maj inventions, but she didn't trust random guys. How could she be certain that James applied it well or noticed if it was hurt?
"You okay, Lils?" Mary asked probably noticing that something upset her.
"Yeah, I just..." She looked around afraid of being heard. "I was with a No-Maj... I mean Muggle, yesterday, Mary. We did use a condom, you know, but this was the first time I ever had sex without using a charm and it makes me a bit nervous..." Lily confessed and Mary nodded suddenly seriously. Charms class was always one of Lily's best subject so she was always confident in her casting.
"Why not just take a Morning After Potion? You know that as long as we put it on record, we can use the potions from the Potions Supply. You are still in time, you have to drink it in thirty-six hours, I believe." Mary was right of course. With how exhausting the work could get at the hospital it was decided that as long as the employees registered their use of a potion, they could use any (of course under a normal limit). Most, of course, used simple healing potions for a cough or a bad cold, but officially everything could be used from the supply. The only restriction was that the potions couldn't be taken out of the hospital, so one couldn't just go home with a supply of every medical potion a family could need.
"I'm... I'm not sure that you know I want anyone who checks the register that I took a Morning After one. I will just buy a potion at an Apothecary or maybe brew one, though buying would be preferable because of the potion's time limit," she said, but Mary shook her head.
"Do you want to be out of time? Come, I will just write my name next to the potion. I don't really care what anyone thinks of me," Mary said simply and started pulling Lily in the direction of the Potions Supply. The room itself was big with hundreds and hundreds of potions in glass vials in an orderly fashion on long shelves. Mary knew her way around here a bit too well in Lily's opinion – when she voiced it as her friend gave her a vial of a strange pale blue liquid she shrugged.
"Ray was tasked with tagging and placing the new vials just a few days ago and you know how he is – helpless when it comes to potions so I helped him out. I really don't get how the guy was able to get an E for his Potions N.E.W.T. I still think he cheated somehow," Mary explained and Lily nodded. All the trainees knew well how bad Ray was when it came to potions, but his own mentor didn't seem to notice and that was how Ray could have ended up with a job least fitting him. To make it worse he asked the others never to mention his inability to any of the qualified Healers. Lily was glad Mary at least helped him out a bit. "Sadly, I had my own task to do, so I wasn't that much of a help, but Merlin, the guy really needed every bit of help he could get."
Once Mary signed the Registry and Lily drank the potion, she felt a whole lot better emotionally. She was most certainly calmer even though she noted a bitter aftertaste which she knew well she shouldn't have felt with a Morning After Potion. However, she thought it was just her nerves. The new Potion Master of Mungo's was none other than Severus Snape, Lily's childhood friend. If Lily knew one thing about Severus then it was that he was a potion genius. Maybe it was not even her nerves, but Sev developed a newer and better version of the potion and she just wasn't informed about it.
She thought about asking Mary, but she knew that her friend didn't like Snape very much (Lily learned her childhood friend was not always a gentleman at school) and she didn't care for potions much. While Mary with lots of studying was able to achieve an E on her N.E.W.T., it was certainly not her favourite class not unlike Ray. She was the type who was able to brew a potion she had to but just didn't have the extra knowledge to be able to change it up a bit.
"Thank you so much," she told Mary instead who just smiled and then she hugged her.
"It's really nothing. It's not like it's against the rules or something to take such a potion. Plus, you know that Spleen would make a fuss over my hair first rather than what potion I took." It was true.
Mary's mentor was rather peculiar. It was lucky that Mary – a very easy-going and patient girl – became his trainee, because very few could have tolerated him, especially at the beginning when he started shouting at Mary for the most random things. He had certain ideas and everything had to happen like he said when those matters were concerned (like tied-up hair, no jewellery, no pumpkin juice or no snacks between meals and so on) but he cared about nothing else. Mary actually said that it was pretty easy with Spleen because she learned all the points she actually had to pay attention to in a month or two and other than those she was free to do anything with hardly any supervision.
"If only Potter was like that," she joked. Her mentor, Healer Potter, was a friendly woman who by wizarding standards was not that old, but she was first surprised to hear that she had a son her age as she would have guessed a grandson instead. While she was nice and fair, she was very much by the rules when it came to the hospital and Lily didn't know her outside of it so she couldn't tell if the witch ever loosened up. Mary always said that Healer Potter reminded her of the Head of Gryffindor, her Hogwarts house, Professor McGonagall. Lily, of course, couldn't say as she didn't know the professor, but all the other trainees agreed instantly when Mary mentioned it. Lily then always felt a bit left out, she had to admit.
„Yeah – you tell me! When I learned that she was James' mother I could hardly believe it," Mary said with a grin and Lily froze for a moment at the name which was stupid, she knew as it was a very popular British name. Still, the night was still fresh on her mind.
"James Potter – you've mentioned him before. Wasn't he, like, a troublemaker at school?" she asked curiously. At first, when she realized how small and tight-knit the magical community was in Britain she kind of challenged herself with remembering everyone ever mentioned, but after a while, she gave up. She realized that she would never belong in a way the others did. In the States, she was a foreign No-Maj, a stranger. Here she was Muggle-born who didn't even attend Hogwarts, an oddity. She sometimes felt like she didn't belong to anywhere, really.
"Yes... but kind of brilliant as well. I know him pretty well as he and one of my best friends, Marlene, have been together for years. Things are a bit complicated now though... Anyways, he was a Gryffindor in the same year as we were. Now he plays professional Quidditch. He is very talented – on the national team as well," Mary explained as they left the supply room. Just as they opened the door they were faced with Healer Potter.
"Ah, Trainee Macdonald it's time for you to go home, you are in the way. Trainee Evans, we have work to do, I was just looking for you," Healer Potter said.
"Yes, of course, Healer Potter," Mary replied and Lily quickly turned towards Mary to say good-bye. They exchanged a quick hello and Mary winked at her as she left. Lily turned towards her mentor. Healer Potter probably had dark brown hair at one point, but now it was mostly grey. She wore her hair in a perfect bun which reminded Lily of Jo. She was fairly short, shorter than Lily and what Lily found the prettiest in the witch were her warm hazel eyes.
"Trainee Evans, I have a very important assignment for you. You are to spend all your shifts with our new patient, Mrs Anastasia Turner. She had a very serious potions accident and sadly was only found after many hours – her skin was practically eaten away by the acidic potion. It's a miracle she is alive. She will need constant medical attention and potions applied at specific hours, so you or Trainee Rackharrow or Trainee Strout will always have to be with her."
Indeed in the next two weeks, Lily hardly ever saw anyone else than Jo (at home), Healer Potter (when she checked on her), Becca and Ray (when they changed shift) and Mrs Turner (the patient). By the end of the second week, she was sick of the tedious routines she had to constantly do and by the non-stop chatter of Mrs Turner.
Even her date couldn't happen until Mrs Turner had left the hospital as Lily was given some extra shifts. Sadly, as she was only a trainee she couldn't really protest. Fortunately, Jo wasn't kidding – the guy was special, he was very understanding and suggested meeting exactly two weeks after she got the case of Mrs Turner.
She put much effort into her appearance. She charmed her hair into a loose and complicated bun Mary found her in Witch Weekly, (and it took her not only an hour to get it right, but some other spells too) put on some make-up and chose a navy blue knee-length lace-dress. She even put on high-heels.
She quickly opened the door when he ringed the bell. Matt was just as handsome as Jo said – he was tall, broad-shouldered, blonde and blue-eyed. He had a bouquet of – lilies. She was never practically fond of them, mostly because of thanks to her name no one ever thought of even asking her what type of flowers she liked, but some of the lilies had scents she didn't particularly like either.
She had felt a bit under the weather the whole day, but it was not exactly surprising considering that she practically spent every waking minute in the hospital locked in a room with an annoying patient for the last fortnight. However, the moment he said hello and presented her the lilies she felt completely overwhelmed by the scent and she just couldn't help but... vomit... on his dressing shoes.
As Matt was a No-Maj she had long ago put her wand in her handbag knowing that she couldn't use it with him around on their date, but not being able to part with it. Now she had to frantically look for No-Maj cleaning products (which they hardly had in the apartment, because she undertook cleaning as she was handy with household spells) and tried to clean up the mess she did. She noted that while most of it landed on his black shoes, her own dress was not spared either and it was all over the floor as well. Even the sight made her queasier.
"I'm sorry – I'm so sorry," she said, again and again, feeling completely embarrassed. Unlike Jo, she had never thought that this guy might be her soul mate, but she still thought they could have a nice night out and maybe start an easy relationship. She was pretty sure she could never even show her face again to him after this though.
"It's... it's alright, really. I'm guessing lilies are not your favourites?" he joked half-heartedly as he started scrubbing his shoes with a tissue paper too.
"I-I must have eaten something bad... or got some stomach bug at the hospital I work at," Lily muttered not even caring that she and Jo agreed eventually that saying she was a nurse wouldn't work and instead invented some office work for her.
"Uh – if you are not feeling well, we could you know... reschedule it?" he asked awkwardly and she nodded gratefully. She had a feeling that the mentioned first date would never come, but even if indeed they agreed on another date, she needed a few days to forget that this had really happened. "I will take the flowers with me then." He left the apartment pretty quickly with a lame 'I will be in contact, bye!'
She felt nauseous for the next couple of hours. When Jo came home at around ten from the library she was surprised to see her.
"Was the date so bad you are already home?" she asked and Lily just shook her head.
"I never left." She explained rather awkwardly what happened and when Jo started laughing uncontrollably she blushed furiously. However, to her greatest surprise, Jo suddenly stopped it and looked at her with a serious and somewhat frightened look.
"Maybe you are a bit nauseous because your period is coming up? Mine was just last week, so yours has to come about now," she suggested, but her grave expression suggested something more serious than the monthly pain every woman had to deal with. Lily needed a moment to understand why Jo might behave like that, but then she shook her head.
"Don't worry – I used those No-Maj condoms you have and had a Morning After Potion at work so I can't be pregnant. It must be my period or maybe I had eaten something that didn't agree with my stomach," Lily explained and Jo visible relaxed.
"Oh, okay, I was just reading about pregnancy you know for one of my classes and read that while most start experiencing morning sickness around five and a half weeks, some have it as early as week four and well, that guy happened more than two weeks ago, so you could be four weeks pregnant," Jo explained simply.
"I'm not planning to bring here a baby just yet – I would throw you out first," she jested as a response and Jo was now laughing.
"It's too bad with Matt though. I could still have him for a night though, right?" Jo asked and then they started talking about how attractive Matt was and what other men they know they could have something casual or even serious relationship with. The pregnancy topic was completely forgotten. It was statistically impossible after all.