Chapter Four: I am better at conjuring stretchers than consoling strangers
When I was back at St Mungo's two days later, I was surprised that I recognized so many faces of Healer trainees from the party. It had obviously been a success and even though I hadn't played the good host like Mary – plenty of friendly people came to thank me for inviting them. It was all well and good until I took the lifts down to the basement and was immediately greeted by a very talkative Florence. Before the party, our Rotation had mostly spent our days in relative quiet, spending the downtime between organizing bodies and Preservative Potions, doing our own thing. But now, as we waited for Healer Grimsby to show up, Florence ignored our usual routine and started to talk to me about Sirius.
"'E ees very good looking, ees 'e not?" she said loudly as the two of us organized the Potions shelves.
I shrugged. "Yes, he is," I agreed as I studied the contents of a large red bottle.
"'E did not take me back to 'is place after your party," she continued and I noticed that Timothy was listening in interest. Florence didn't seem to mind the eavesdropping and was more concerned with my opinion on Sirius' behavior.
"I think he had an early morning," I muttered, not interested in speculating over why Sirius had decided against spending more time with her. "Has anyone seen the Odor Repellent?"
"But everything was going so well!" Florence replied defiantly as Mikhail grunted and pushed a tall blue bottle across the counter to me.
"Are you talking about Sirius Black?" Timothy spoke up as I saw Mikhail roll his eyes and stomp in to the store cupboard and shut the door loudly. Privately, I wished I could join him, but as Timothy and Florence had once used the same cupboard to snog, I didn't want to give off the wrong impression.
"How many Siriuses do you know, Tim?" I shot at him, rolling my eyes.
"I'm just surprised. Black didn't go out with anyone when we were at Hogwarts together," he said, nonchalantly, though I knew that it was a strategic comment for Florence's benefit.
"What are you saying? Zat 'e ees not experienced?" Florence asked looking at Timothy curiously.
He shrugged. "He's never had a girlfriend before. Maybe he was nervous…if you know what I mean."
"You are saying 'e ees a virgin?" Florence asked in disbelief and as Timothy started to nod, I broke in to laughter. It was true that Sirius had never had a girlfriend, but he wasn't inexperienced.
"Don't listen to Tim, Florence – Sirius was just busy – I'm sure he meant no offence."
Thankfully, before the conversation could get any further, Healer Grimsby entered looking exhausted.
"I've just spent all night in the Emergency Wing. There was a Death Eater attack yesterday," He explained after he'd retrieved Mikhail from the cupboard and gathered us around. No wonder I hadn't seen Mary since the party, she'd probably been stuck at the Hospital after the attack.
"There are two families saying goodbye to their loved ones now. I need you to split up and retrieve the bodies while the other Morgue Rotation brings down the rest of the deceased. Spend time consoling the families, don't rush them – but do not prolong their suffering. When you get there, give them your condolences, quietly tell the most calm looking member of the family that you'll need to take the body in five minutes, step back and wait and then cover the body and remove it with a simple levitation charm. Can you handle that?" he said, glaring at us all intensely. We nodded in unison and he studied our faces before he nodded curtly and looked down at the long piece of parchment in his hands.
"Bardaux and Stone – I want you to take care of the Jacques family in Room 11. They're French tourists and don't speak any English. Florence can speak to them and Mikhail, the body is quite large, so I suggest you take care of the charm." Florence and Mikhail both nodded grimly before heading off upstairs.
"And Cobblesworth and Locke – you can take Archie Bones in Room 15. His wife already passed last night – but his kids are there along with some of their friends. He was a popular man, Archie…" Grimsby trailed off and shook his head. "The kids have just been through it with their mum, so they'll be ready for it when you have to take the body away. They must be about your age…"
When we made it to the lifts, Timothy and I exchanged looks of horror. We both knew Edgar Bones and Amelia Bones – two of Archie's kids. They were Gryffindors – a few years older than we were and just as well liked as their father seemed to have been. In fact, I was pretty sure that James was friends with Edgar because of Quidditch.
It was a sharp shock when we got to Room 15 for several reasons. One was the amount of people – at least twenty witches and wizards packed in to the tiny room, leaning against work tables, sitting on conjured chairs, slumped tiredly against walls. Three people were huddled around the bed where Archie Bones lay and though none of them were crying, they all held a vacant but very, very sad expression in their eyes. Another shock was actually seeing a body in this context. It was the first time that we'd seen a corpse with loved ones around it. And the final shock was the presence of Remus standing in the corner speaking to Dumbledore, our former Headmaster, as if sharing some deep secret. Professor Dumbledore and Remus both looked up as Timothy and I hovered in the doorway. After glancing at the mourners by the bed, Dumbledore said something to Remus and the two of them made their way quietly to us.
"Professor…I'm so sorry for your loss. And yours Remus…" Timothy spoke up. I was thankful because I'd forgotten Grimsby's instructions. The presence of people I knew made it feel very different.
"Thank you Timothy," Dumbledore said graciously. "I take it that you and Miss Locke are here to remove Archie's body?" he continued softly.
"Yes Sir, we're supposed to give you five minutes," I said as sensitively as I could. There was an uncomfortable lump in my throat so it came out a little ragged, but Dumbledore seemed to understand.
"I will inform his children," he nodded before striding to Edgar and leaning down to whisper. Edgar glanced at Tim and I, taking in our bright Healer robes, closed his eyes, sighed and nodded. Dumbledore then ushered everyone quietly from the room to leave the Bones to their last goodbyes.
While Dumbledore talked with some of the other mourners, Remus stayed with Tim and I.
"I'm sorry – did you know him well?" I finally said to him, taking in his tired, worried face. He sighed heavily but shook his head.
"I didn't know him at all. But I've been seeing a lot of Edgar lately – it's a big blow for him. You-Know-Who got their mother too, you know?"
"Him?" Timothy asked with a gasp and Remus gave a curt nod.
"Yeah, the Bones' are an old, influential pureblood family – you can bet He was furious that they weren't on his side," Remus said in the same blank, tired voice.
Timothy shuddered and looked at the clock before nodding at me.
"I'm going to conjure up the stretcher, so we can go in and make a clean stab at things," he said and although I doubted his spell casting, I still left him to it.
"Are you okay?" I asked, when it was just Remus and I leaning against the wall.
He nodded but his face looked shaken and troubled. "I've just…I've never seen someone dead before."
"I know what you mean," I said and he looked at me in surprise.
"But… you're in the Morgue Rotation."
"I mean…it's the first time I've seen a dead body and thought of it as a 'someone', you know? Sort of sheds a different light on things."
"Yeah…" Remus said and we both were quiet as we watched Tim struggle to conjure the stretcher. Thankfully no one else had noticed yet.
"I better help Tim."
"Yeah – I have to get going anyway," Remus said. "I wish we'd run in to each other under better circumstances. I feel bad about the way we argued last time we saw each other."
I shook my head and grabbed his hand. "No…it's okay."
He gave me a small smile before pulling his hand free gently and heading off to Dumbledore. I watched him speak to the Headmaster before heading to the Main Exit just as Edgar, Amelia and their brother that I didn't know, emerged from the room. Seeing that Timothy had yet to conjure the stretcher, I swiftly conjured one myself and nodded at him as we gave the family space to join their friends before we went in to do our job. When we returned, everyone had gone and we were left to transport the body to the morgue alone.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you liked it/didn't it like, just want to make a stranger happy...:)