Over the next hour, employees started filling in the cubes around her, and Anne came and met with her to get updated on all of the current projects the department was tackling. They went down her list, person by person, to make certain they were on the same page. "So make sure Houston is on top of this, I want his report by the time he leaves the office today— if he has to stay late, I don't care, it's overdue."
"Will you be… in the office all day?"
"I'm not sure yet," Liv said, trying to remain as neutral as possible. "I've got a lot on my plate right now… but I am always available by mail, if anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to have them write me, and I'll get back to them quickly. I'll pass that on to everyone when I meet with them, but in case they forget."
"How is he?" Anne asked, tentatively. Liv knew that someone would ask her, but she hadn't yet thought of the perfect answer.
Liv took a deep breath, before looking up at her. "It's too soon to say, Anne. I'm sure when Rutherford has more information, it will be shared with the office."
Anne nodded, and left her be to start her meetings. Before lunch, she was able to get to nearly everyone, doling out new assignments, reports, and status updates. Only one person remained on her list, and that was the meeting she was dreading the most: Houston.
"You wanted to see me, boss?" he asked, walking in the door with a certain swagger she hated. Endlessly cocky, it wasn't hard to dislike him, but she took a deep breath before reminding herself to be professional.
"Yes, come in," she said, grabbing the file she had scrawled his name on. "I just wanted a status update on the report for Mecca-Orrisy's case."
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I've been working on it. Anne said you wanted it by the end of the day?"
"Well, I would've liked it last week when it was due, but yes, the end of the day at the latest," she said, trying to be firm but not an asshole.
"Alright," he said. "Do you have anything else for me?"
"Yes, when you're done with that, please see Bradley. I want you scoping the field with him, he's working on a new case. It's pretty routine, I don't think you'll have any issues with it."
"I'm senior to him," he said. "Shouldn't he be working under me?"
"If you'd wrapped up Mecca-Orrisy, I would've given it to you, but crime doesn't wait," she said, shrugging. "I've spoken with him and he'll be happy to get you up to speed with what he's been working on. I'm sure you'll be of great assistance to him."
He nodded curtly, obviously displeased with this announcement. She ignored it for now. "Evanson said you might have something you wanted to discuss with me?"
His cheeks grew a bit flushed, and his eyes narrowed. "I just expressed my frustration with the obvious favoritism that happens in this department when you're sleeping with one of Rutherford's sweethearts."
She laughed. "Well, if that's what you need to tell yourself as to why you are not the one taking over for Kensington in his retirement, Ben, by all means. It certainly has nothing to do with the three verbal warnings and two written warnings I've issued over the last few months that your work was late or of subpar quality. Nothing at all."
She couldn't help but smirk, as her last sentence hung in the air between them. "But look— I'm willing to look past that, if you can start delivering what we expect of you and turning your work in on time. Do that for a few weeks, and I'll start giving you higher profile cases, but when I'm running this department- you're going to have to earn it. That's all."
He left, and for a moment she felt very pleased in how she had handled that. She'd been continually displeased with his performance, and if he wanted to improperly blame her success on her ties to Harry, well, she didn't really have the capacity to be upset by it at the moment. She would not entertain the notion that anything but hard work and being in the right place at the right time had gotten her a major promotion.
She packed up her bag with work, and glanced at the clock. It was about lunch time, and she hadn't eaten all day and hardly anything the day before. The last real meal she had was the breakfast sandwich Harry had brought her. She decided to find some lunch before she moved her work to the hospital, so once she made it to ground level, she set off in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
Neville looked excited to see her, and immediately poured her a glass of wine. "You're only allowed to sit down if you promise not to sneak me galleons this time."
"I take it you've heard what's happened?" she asked, sitting down at the bar and accepting the drink.
"Yeah, Hermione was in here this morning on her way to pick something up in the shops," he said. "It all sounds so… awful. Is he awake yet?"
"No," she said, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a slow sip of it. "They don't expect him to come to until at least tomorrow. It's a waiting game right now. I haven't eaten a meal in… too long, do you serve food this early?"
"Of course," he said. "What do you want? I'll make anything."
She was cheered up by his willingness to accommodate her, and flipped through the menu. She came here because she wanted something that tasted homemade, not some sandwich that had been sitting in a cardboard box for three days, waiting for someone to purchase it. "Shepherd's pie?"
"You got it," he said, and left her be for a few minutes. She sipped at her wine, slowly, as she felt it hit her head quickly. She didn't have anything in her stomach which was making her head feel extra light. She was able to take deep breaths and enjoy the silence for a few minutes, as she pulled out her planner.
Nearly everything on their schedule could be adjusted to accommodate Harry's injury— everything except Teddy's departure for Hogwarts. He was supposed to spend the next weekend with them, grabbing last minute items, and Teddy had requested an afternoon long hike and camp out on Saturday. That simply wasn't going to happen before he got on a train, exactly one week later. Liv sighed, trying to figure out how exactly to minimize how Teddy would be affected by it all.
She could take him shopping as they had planned and get him organized, and she could probably manage the hike, but she knew it wasn't about the action of hiking. It was about time with his godfather, and Liv had no clue how to replicate that. Harry would probably be awake by then, but what condition would he be in? It was anyone's guess.
Neville came back with her food, then went to tend to a few customers. On a Tuesday, there wasn't much going on in the pub, for which she was grateful. The rich, comforting food was exactly what she needed, and she could feel her body accepting fuel happily. Her mind felt clearer, and she felt ready to tackle things.
"Do you want another glass of wine?" Neville asked, as she continued to pick at her food.
"I'd better not," she said. "I still have a lot of stuff to take care of today, but that was exactly what I needed, Neville. Thank you."
"Of course," he said. "Let me know if there's anything we can do to help… I know the timing on this couldn't be worse."
"Yeah," she agreed. "Still not sure how we're—uh, how I'm going to break the news to Ted that this weekend isn't going to look like how he's dreamed it up to look."
Neville nodded in understanding. "He's a good kid. He'll understand. You can bring him here and we'll fix him up something nice."
"That's sweet of you to offer," she said. "Do you accept tips when children give them to you?"
He laughed at her. "Perhaps. If I'm helping teach good manners, y'know."
She smiled, and was very grateful for having a friend in Neville. "You're absolutely certain I can't—"
"Nope, get out of here," he said. "Have a nice afternoon, I hope you have good news for us soon."
"Thanks," she said, gathering her belongings. "Me too."
—
She spent the entire afternoon at his bedside. Hermione joined her for awhile, doing her own work from across the room without much conversation. Liv needed silence right now, desperately. This morning, waiting another day or two seemed doable, but as the afternoon passed, her resolve was dissolving. She took a walk for some fresh air at one point, and Holly stopped by in the evening so they sat in the waiting room together for a few minutes.
"No change?"
She shook her head. "Tomorrow, maybe. Do you want to come back with me?"
Holly wasn't good about seeing people injured, and Liv wasn't surprised when she turned the offer down. "I really just stopped by to check on you. I have more work, if you need it, and some more calming draught…"
"You're the best," Liv breathed, taking the small vial from her. A single drop under her tongue wouldn't put her to sleep, but it helped slow everything down enough that she could handle things better. "Is it alright if I sleep at your house again?"
"Of course, Liv," Holly said. "Whatever you need. Here, take my key, in case no one's up when you get there."
"Thank you," she said, slipping the key in the pocket of her jeans.
Liv trekked down to the cafeteria to get some soup and a cup of coffee before they stopped serving food for the night. She wasn't hungry, really, but the drying air of the hospital left her wanting more fluids. The chicken and wild rice soup looked acceptable.
She made her way back up to the ward, where she found Ron heading out. "Everything okay?" She asked, reading the confused look on his face.
"I was coming to look for you, he's starting to wake up."
She ran back towards his room, feeling awful that she hadn't been there when he awoke. All the hours she'd spent by his bed, and in her ten minute absence, things had happened.
The Healer was standing over him, evaluating the response of his pupils.
"What happened?" He groaned, his eyes unfocused. She dug his glasses out of her work bag, and handed them to the Healer.
"You were injured on the job, Mr. Potter," the Healer said. "What's the last thing you remember?"
He looked around at them, but his eyes still seemed to not see. He didn't focus at all, but groaned in pain. Liv held her breath as she waited for them to evaluate him. His eyes were open, he was awake. This was what she had been hoping for since Monday afternoon, but it didn't reassure her at all. She had expected him to wake up as himself.
"How did I get hurt?" He asked, untangling his hand from the sheets and bringing it to his head, where he'd hit it on something.
"Someone hit you with a curse that's damaged your nervous system," she explained. "I see that you can move your right arm, but what about your left? Can you raise it for me?"
"But what happened?" He asked, as if he hadn't heard a single thing the Healer had said to him.
She gnawed at the skin on the inside of her lip, anxious at his uncertainty. What if this was who he was now? What if the Harry she'd fallen in love with was gone forever?
"Love," she said, stepping forward. "We can talk about what happened later. Can you move your left hand like the Healer asked?"
He looked in her direction, but it felt like he looked right through her. It made chills run down her spine, and she decided she needed to step out of the room. She walked to the bathroom for use by visitors and splashed cold water on her face. Everyone had been right... him waking up was just the beginning.
When she'd dried off her face, she found Ron and the Healer waiting for her in the hallway.
"Well," she said, her face excruciatingly neutral. "I think he's in okay shape."
"He keeps repeating himself!" She said.
"Yes, so he realized he is hurt," she said. "And he has verbal skills. Sometimes they wake up and can't speak, don't know what year it is. This is just the beginning... give it a day or two, he'll be in a much better place. He's still coming out of sedation. Give him time."
"Okay," she said.
"But I think, so as not to overstimulate him, it may be best to let us continue to evaluate him and come back tomorrow. We don't want any setbacks."
She nodded, and didn't feel like going back into the room. She wanted to see him, but not the him that couldn't even focus his eyes on her. Not right now. Maybe tomorrow, after some time for reality to sink in.
Ron grabbed her bag for her, and they walked out together. Liv had no clue what to say to him, so she stayed quiet.
"Are you holding up okay?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I'm getting through it."
"I think the Healer's right, for what it's worth," she said. "Hermione's been doing her reading on these kind of things and it seems like the first two days will show a lot of improvement."
"I really hope so," she said. "But what if he never wakes up?
Ron just blinked at her, confused. "Liv, he's awake."
"The him from before," she said. "The him I fell in love with."
"Oh," he said. He considered it for a moment. "I've known him for almost twenty years and that's never occured to me, and I've seen him through a lot."
She knew that was Ron's best attempt at reassuring her.
"He'll be up and the nurses will be begging you to take him off their hands in a few days. Just wait."
"Okay," she said, before they nodded at each other and went their separate ways.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry for missing my regular Monday upload this week! Consider this for Monday, and I'll get up Wednesday's chapter tomorrow. Please let me know what you think! Eternal gratitude to potter-reading-coastie, my inimitable beta.
