Disclaimer: I'm not writing this to make any sort of money, it's just for fun and all that jazz. This also means that I do not own anything remotely related to Warner Brothers, Harry Potter, Starbucks or Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.
Note: The beginning of this chapter is just James' version of what went on last chapter, but then will work past and have both Lily and James. Just to clear up any confusion, when they talk to each other, they'll use V and J, but I'll be using James and Lily to signify who is speaking. K? Hope that's not too much trouble for people. If it is, so sorry.
Note to Cecilia Orechio: yes, they probably would recognize each other in a world that was not fan-fiction, but my story needs them to have lives that have been really busy since Hogwarts and so they don't remember a lot of people. But don't worry, Lily chastises herself later.
When James woke up, he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was standing outside of the building where he lived and hearing someone running up behind him, muttering a curse. He was just coming home from Quidditch practice for the Falmouth Falcons and he was caught off-guard, wand in his pocket. He knew that if Moody found out about that, he would be very angry and probably spout off about constant vigilance or some tripe like that. Deatheaters were always around and so he was supposed to be on guard at all times. But for some reason, his brain was filled with red glossy hair and a pleasant female voice. He also remembered something about being wheeled into St. Mungo's emergency ward, where photographers snapped away at him.
Opening his eyes, he shook his head gingerly as his vision focussed. He immediately spotted a woman standing by his bed.
'Who would want to do something like this to you?' she asked, turned away from him. 'You seem like a nice enough guy, but then anyone can appear innocent when they're unconscious.'
'They were Deatheaters if you must know,' James said groggily, causing her to turn and smile brightly at him. As she spoke, he recognized the red hair and pleasant voice from his thoughts as he had regained consciousness.
'You're awake! Much quicker than I expected though, but that's always good when it comes to injuries and your long-term recovery. How do you feel John?'
James' brow furrowed, as he sat up. This must be his Mediwizard, but did she just call him John? He guessed his hearing was a little off after the head injury. As soon as he had started moving, the woman crossed to his side and gently helped him sit up. James tried to respond to her, but it took a couple of tries as her hair was swinging in front of his face, filling his nose with the scent of almonds and vanilla. 'Like I was beaten up by a bunch of Deatheaters.'
This caused the woman to laugh. 'Can I get you anything? I've already given you your meds for the night, and you shouldn't be in any pain. Some of your bones are still knitting together and so I would advise you to limit your movement. Okay John?'
There, she said that name again, and James was relieved to find out that his hearing was fine. To clear up the matter, he asked, 'why do you keep calling me that?'
'It's the name your agent gave us, in replace of your real one. For security or publicity reasons or something. But he said that you would also respond if we called you 'J.' Would that be alright?' she asked, leaning over him again to make sure all of his machines were fine.
James could've slapped himself for his stupidity over the name issue. Of course he would have a fake one in a public hospital, as he didn't need to draw attention to himself as a Quidditch player or member of the Order of Phoenix. 'J?' he pondered over that, but it was close enough to James that he wouldn't have a problem. 'J would be fine. But I'd like to know what to call you, especially if you're going to be the Mediwizard taking care of me,' having searched for her non-existent name-tag.
This question obviously put this woman at a loss for words, giving James a minute to study her. Widely-known as a 'player', James was used to hitting on everything female that walks on two feet, especially if they were as beautiful as the woman standing in front of him. But for some reason, he felt no urge to try any of his lines on her, and was continually stuck on her striking familiarity.
'Call me V.' Her melodic voice dragged him from his thoughts, and caused him to smirk.
'V?'
His healer smiled back, revealing pearly whites. 'Yeah, I like to keep it simple and casual between myself and my clients, and so I give them the name I'm known by around here.'
James' perpetual grin widened. 'Well, V and J. What a team.'
His words apparently reminded 'V' that she was supposed to be taking care of him, and she suddenly switched into healer mode. 'You need to get some rest and I need to go check on some things, so I'll leave you alone. Don't strain yourself and don't even think about getting up,' she admonished him. 'I know what you celebrities are like. You think nothing can stop you. But you were hit by an extremely powerful curse wielded by an evil wizard, and it's going to take you a while to recover. So just lie there and sleep.'
Still grinning, he decided to tease her a little. 'Yes, mother.'
As V walked over to the door, she shook her head. 'I see I'm going to have a difficult relationship with you, Mr. J.'
Something about her long red hair swishing along her back as she walked away made James call out to her. 'Sorry V, but you look awfully familiar. Do I know you?' he asked. 'From outside the hospital I mean. My memory's pretty fuzzy right now; I think my head was knocked about a little.'
Smiling softly, she shook her head. 'I don't think so. I remember pretty much everyone I meet. I guess I just have one of those faces. Besides, you probably just recognize my face from the Daily Prophet a few years back. I discovered a cure for something big and was all over the news for awhile.'
'That's probably it,' James said, sinking down onto his pillows. He would've remembered if she had been in his circle of friends or if he had ever dated her, at least, he hoped he would've.
'Please get some more rest. You'll need your energy tomorrow because officials from the Ministry will be here to question you; standard procedure in all assault cases especially those including Deatheaters. I'll be back to check on you in a few hours before I go home, but if you're in pain or need anything else before then, just press that,' his healer said, pointing to the glowing green button on the metal siding of his bed.
Suddenly exhausted, James just nodded and, closing his eyes, settled back on the bed, missing as 'V' quietly left the room, a smile of anticipation on her face.
Lily woke up from a quick cat-nap the next morning when her country view suddenly switched to a bright tropical sunrise, courtesy of her colleague Matt.
'Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty. Your celeb patient should be waking up soon and so I thought you might want to go grab a coffee before dealing with him. But Mr. Smith is the only patient you have to work with today.'
Straightening her robe, Lily passed by him and patted him on the cheek. 'What would I do without you Matt?'
'I don't think you want me to answer that question.'
She yawned as she made her way up to the tearoom on the 5th floor. That nap had given her a bit of energy, but she was still fighting a wave of exhaustion.
'What can I get for you, luv?' the attendant asked.
Lily knew she needed to kick her coffee habit, as she drank so much of it that it had probably replaced the blood in her veins.
'I'll get an extra-large black apple-cinnamon tea, double cupped with the bag in, please.'
'Of course,' the matronly woman replied.
Though there were healers she knew in the room, Lily chose to bring her steaming fragrant drink over to an empty corner of the room to relax in silence before she had to go see her new patient.
James woke up the next morning when a nurse came in to give him his Blood-Replenishing Potion. He tried not to gag as he forced it down, but the taste of copper, dirty socks and mud was almost too much to handle. James still tasted it at the back of his throat an hour later when he heard a knock at the door. He hoped it was the beautiful healer from the day before and so tried to put his hair into some type of order, but was disappointed when he looked up to see his agent Dan Donahue bustle through the door. Dan quickly shut the door behind him.
'James, you're up! That's great. How're you feeling? He asked, but didn't wait for the answer before he continued. 'That's great. Look, for security reasons and so the damn papers stay away, I've registered you under the name John Smith, alright?'
'Very creative, Danny,' James smirked, though it hurt his face to do so.
'Hey, it's not my business to come up with cool fake names for you. Okay, I owled your coach and told him that there was a death in your family, and so you'll be taking a bit of time off, which oughta cover you.'
'Who died?' James interrupted.
Dan waved a hand at him. 'Not important, we'll figure that out later. Next, I also owled Remus, Sirius and Peter concerning your condition and what happened so that they know you're alright, but they'll see you when you get out of here as to not draw attention. The Ministry also knows what happened, but they'll be keeping it hush hush, and will be sending people by to take care of business.'
'Is that everything?' James asked, exhausted by the other man's endless stream of words.
A pad of paper appeared, and Dan read through it. 'Yep. Only thing I can think of is that you have one hot Mediwizard taking care of you!'
James smiled, the redhead instantly jumping to his mind. 'Yeah, V is nice. But I'm convinced I know her from outside of the hospital. She's very familiar.'
His agent looked confused. 'What's with all this 'V' stuff? I thought her name was Li-'
'Good afternoon gentlemen.' Lily's voice preceded her as she banged open the door, effectively breaking up their conversation. Walking over to the bed, she picked up James' wrist, feeling for his strong steady pulse. 'Mr. Donahue, I'll need to re-examine the patient.'
Dan just stood there, hands in pockets until Lily looked at him pointedly. 'Alone, if you don't mind,' she said, small smile on her face, echoed by her patient.
'Oh sure,' he said. 'Anything you say.' And he was gone.
As Lily examined James, he became a bit uncomfortable with her clinical air. 'Can you at least pretend that this isn't routine for you, like you actually enjoy having to spend time with me?'
'Being a healer is my job, J, and I have to keep at least a little detached from my work or I'd go crazy with all of the horrible stuff I see everyday,' she replied.
'Hey!' he said, mock affronted. 'I'm not that bad looking.'
Lily laughed. 'You know what I mean. If I became emotionally attached to every patient I took under my care, I'd be in the Janus Thickey Ward upstairs.'
'Well, I'm not dying, I'm not horribly scarred, and the last I checked, my insides weren't hanging out, so I think you're safe enough to at least try to like me. I am quite charming, if you get to know me.'
Finishing her examination, Lily put away her wand. 'I'm sure you are. And I'm also quite sure that you're used to getting everything you want, women included.'
James grinned, settling back against his highly heaped pillows. 'Being a Quidditch star does come with a few perks, and girls do like the athletic ones. But it's not like I ask them to throw themselves on me after matches and show up in my hotel bed.'
Lily just raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.
'Okay, okay, you caught me, sometimes I do.' James held up his hands as if to ward off her glare. 'That expression on your face looks awfully familiar. I used to get it from a girl at school whenever I was doing something stupid.'
'Well, I gave it a lot in my time. The 'I-can't believe-I'm-hearing-or-seeing-what-I-am' expression is practically burned onto your face when you're put in charge of a bunch of healers-in-training, especially when they first get here.'
'V, how long've you been here?'
Lily stopped by the door, and, checking her watch, came back to sit in the chair beside his bed. 'Do you mean in terms of being a Mediwitch, or how long has it been since I was at home?'
James laughed. 'Both, I guess.'
She settled back in her chair, adopting the casual attitude that her companion held. 'I've been at St. Mungo's since I finished my training at age 20. But I haven't been home for about 3 days,' she sighed.
James took in her tired yet still attractive appearance. 'Okay, new question: how long has it been since you've slept?'
Rubbing a hand over her face, Lily shrugged. 'I caught a quick nap in my office earlier today, but besides that, about 2 days.'
'Why that long?'
'It's always like this when I get a new patient, especially one in critical condition like yours was last night. Things get crazy, but they calm down after awhile. Don't worry about it.'
'How do you stay awake?' James asked amazed, as Lily started poking him gently with her wand again, while she was still seated, starting some new tests. 'Pepper-Up Potion? Uppers?'
'Nope, I do it the Muggle way. Lots and lots of coffee. Do you have trouble staying awake in your... whatever you do?'
James looked confused. 'In Quidditch? Why would I have trouble staying awake in Quidditch matches?'
'Not in Quidditch. It's not hard to figure out that you're involved with the Ministry somehow; no regular Quidditch players are targeted like you were.' Lily looked quite smug.
'Good for you. I think I'll have to keep a little more guarded around you, before you figure out any more of my secrets, like my real name.'
'How about you answer the question, and I won't dig for secrets about my newest celebrity patient and then share them with the rest of the hospital staff. And trust me, I work with a lot of curious people. Do you have trouble staying awake in your other line of work?'
'Me?' James exclaimed. 'No way! I'm on top of things all of the time,' he replied, unconsciously messing up his hair.
Seeing this, Lily sat up a bit straighter in her seat. That gesture was oddly familiar. 'You know, you really do remind me an awful lot of someone I went to school with.'
James smiled softly, the same pondering expression on his face. 'You too. Something about that disapproving sceptical look you gave me a minute ago...whatever. But since we're on the topic of people, can you tell me about yourself? I'd love to know a bit more about the woman who has her hands up my shirt.'
Lily blushed, but decided to go on, both with the questions and her tests, also curious to know more about her patient who came with a hidden name and history. 'Okay, but I'm just going to keep it at basics, but no names. I don't want to intrude on the privacy your agent is striving so hard to maintain. I am a muggle-born and I have one sister who, to put it mildly, is not so fond of our world. Your turn.'
'That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?'
'For now. Why don't we just alternate so we learn about each other little by little instead of one of us just talking on for a half-hour?'
'Good point; you're quite the logical one. Alright, I'm pure-blooded and I am an only child. Though my best friends feel like my brothers sometimes, especially as one of them lived with my parents after he was disowned by his family for holding different views about the fate of those who weren't pure-blooded.'
A troubled look passed over Lily's face, as this tale seemed to be one she was already acquainted with. 'How horrible! I know my parents didn't always understand what it's like to have magic and didn't always agree with my ideas on the subject, but they'd have never disowned me. Your poor friend.'
James waved off her sympathy. 'Don't worry about him. Besides, he always maintained that he disowned them, and he's alright now. Perhaps even more pigheaded after the fact. But enough about Si- I mean, him, let's get back to you.'
Lily looked weirdly at him, quite aware that her patient had been about to reveal a name of someone quite close to him. 'Alright, what else? I want to get a kitten but my hours here at the hospital are too crazy to even think of it, and before I became a Mediwitch I wanted to either be a singer or become a Charms professor.'
'I have a white owl named Tuttle-'
'Tuttle?' Lily interrupted, laughing.
'Hey!' James looked a bit offended. 'It's a plenty respectable name.'
'For a Dr. Seuss character maybe'
'What?' James was very confused.
'Muggle thing, never mind. But please continue.' Finished with her tests for the time being, Lily sank back down into the chair by James' bed.
'Like I was saying before you so callously interrupted me, I have a white owl named Tuttle that I got last year for my birthday after my old owl passed away. But I've always wanted to be a Quidditch player since I was little, or an Auror like my father was.'
'Was? What happened?'
James got quiet and suddenly very interested in his fidgeting fingers in his lap. 'He, uh, passed away. He and my mother were killed, actually, in that raid on Diagon Alley last year.'
Lily's heart leapt into her throat and she felt like smacking herself. 'I am so sorry; I shouldn't have brought that up.'
He looked up at her, his eyes glistening slightly. 'Why should you be sorry? You had no way of knowing.'
'I should have been more sensitive, though. But I can identify with what you're saying. When I was 19, my parents died in a car crash on vacation in America. A drunk driver hit them when they were driving to the airport to come home. I just felt lost without them, so I threw myself into training to be a healer.'
Without realizing it, James had reached over and took one of Lily's hands into his and gently squeezed it. 'That must've strained the relationship between you and your sister even more.'
Lily laughed hoarsely. 'You have no idea. You'd think that the loss of your parents would bring you together and let you bond over your common grief, but not with her and me. Instead she just turned to her new boyfriend Vernon, and with their joint hatred of all things magical, has pretty much cut me out of their lives. Sure, I'll get the odd card or Christmas present when my sister remembers how we used to like each other, but I don't see her.'
'Do you miss her?'
'Of course! I mean, she is my sister, but I don't miss the yelling or the name-calling or the ignorance. Sometimes, with my way of life, I think I'm better off without her.'
"I'm sure she'll come to her senses and realize how she needs you in her life. I mean, why wouldn't she? I've only known you for a day and I think you're bloody brilliantly fantastic.' James squeezed her hand again.
A faint blush stained Lily's cheeks.' You do?'
He nodded. 'Absolutely.'
James was about to add something else when a nurse walked into the room, disrupting the little domestic scene. Blushing even harder, Lily tugged her hand out of James' grasp before her colleague could see.
'I've brought your Mr. Smith's Blood Replenishing Potion, Healer.'
'Thank you, Jane. Just leave it on the table. I'll make sure he takes it.'
When the nurse had left the room, James turned to Lily with pleading eyes. 'Do I have to take it? It tastes ruddy awful.'
'Of course you have to take it. Right now it's the only thing standing between you and an early grave.' Lily had taken on her brisk professional tone, as to distance herself from the emotional scene she had just been a part of.
'I don't think that potion is the only thing. You'd never let me die, would you?' He intensified his puppy-dog expression.
'That all depends.' Lily smirked.
'On what?' James asked with trepidation.
'On how much you had annoyed me that day.'
'How do you know that I'll annoy you everyday?'
Lily shook her head, an all-knowing expression on her face. 'I know your type, J. You get people to like you by cracking jokes or playing pranks. With the people who are tough to crack, you annoy them until they break or kill you. Trust me; I went to school with a whole of bunch of people like you. They loved to play pranks on everyone, even their own housemates.'
Curious, James asked the obvious question. 'What school did you go to?'
'Uh uh,' she wagged a finger at him. 'Too personal. If I told you that, you'd try to figure out what age I was and if you'd ever gone to school with me. Then if you knew people I'd gone to school with, you'd probably ask them questions about me.'
'I would never!' James put a hand on his chest.
'You would so!' Lily said, laughing. 'You have something do with Aurors, and so you'll immediately want to know everything about everyone that you're in contact with. I bet no one can keep secrets around you.'
'No one until you. Unless I just didn't care to know someone's secrets.'
'It's nice to know that I'm the first one you've yet to crack.' Lily grinned widely, capturing James' attention. But it was broken when he let out a huge uncontrollable yawn, causing her to laugh. 'Why don't you just get some more sleep?'
'Are you going to leave?' he asked, the puppy-dog look back on his face.
'Well, I was going to run the results of my tests down to the lab, but I can come back after if you'd like.'
James just nodded, a small smile appearing.
Seeing as there were no current demands on her time, Lily decided that she would sit with J as he asked for a little bit longer as he had this calming effect on her. Coming back from the lab, she entered his room to see him already asleep, slightly propped up by his pillows. His ever-present cocky expression was gone, replaced with an innocence that was quite endearing. Smiling, Lily sat down in her chair by his bed and started on some paperwork.
A few hours later, the same nurse from before entered the room with a few scrolls of parchment.
'Healer Evans, I mean, Lily, I have the information about Mr. Smith that your test results mapped out. I'm also supposed to tell you that when you're done with this parchment, you have to go home, Head Healer's orders. Lily, you're so exhausted that you're going to fall over. We can all see it. Do yourself a favour and just go home, alright?'
As she spoke, Lily could feel her eyelids drooping. 'Thanks for this, Jane,' she said, holding up the parchment. 'And I'll be heading off in a minute. Suddenly I have this longing for a bubble bath, flannel pyjamas and a huge bowl of Half-Baked ice cream.'
'Well, you deserve it. You've been here for 4 days and you're scheduled again tomorrow night. Get out of here. If I'm lucky, I can follow your example and get out of here in about 2 hours.'
Jane left as Lily turned to look through the parchment. Besides the complete shattering of his collarbone, her patient's broken bones weren't that serious and most were healing nicely. The collarbone was a bit tricky and so it would have to be monitored for at least another few days, as well as the gash on his stomach created by the Concerpo curse was in danger of being re-opened if J engaged in most activities. That above anything would keep him in hospital for another week, and a piece of Lily was quite glad that he wouldn't be leaving for awhile.
Her attention was drawn by noises of J waking up. She threw a tired smile at him as he squinted sleepily up at her through his hair. 'Good, you're still here,' he yawned. 'You just can't be without me, V. I understand. I am devilishly handsome, after all.'
'And modest too, I see. But I'm actually about to leave for the night after I give you an update on your condition.'
James started to bolt up, but the pain in his stomach slowed him down. 'You're leaving? Why?'
'Going to miss me already?' Lily teased, gathering her things.
For some reason, James started to blush. 'Well, you are really the only human contact I've had since I got here.'
'What about your agent Mr. Donahue?'
'Oh, I wouldn't exactly call him human. Agents are really their own species.'
This statement caused Lily to laugh as she reached the door. 'I have another shift tomorrow night and so I'll be back to see you then. In the meantime, a nurse will give you your Blood Replenishing Potion every few hours. Ok, quick update. You are in stable condition, but if you do anything to open up your stomach wound, the condition can change very quickly and you could be in trouble, especially if I'm not around. Your collarbone is also not healing as quickly as the rest of your bones so be careful. Have you ever broken your collarbone before this incident?'
James frowned. 'Yeah, when I was 9. Why?'
'That explains it. Previously broken bones always take longer to heal, even with magic.'
'So what does all of that stuff equal in hospital stay time?' he ran a hand through his hair.
'All in all, I think you should be here for about another 1-2 weeks, if you don't strain yourself.'
'And you'll be here while I'm here?' James put an endearing smile on his face.
'I'll be here most of the time, yes. You really are going to miss me, aren't you? Seems like someone has gotten a bit of a crush on their Healer,' Lily said in a sing-song voice.
'Also seems like I'm not the only one in this room with abounding self-confidence. And for your information, I do not have a crush on you. I just think that you're a cool bird and wouldn't mind you hanging around in my room while I was here.'
Lily stepped out the door, with a smile on her face and called over her shoulder, 'see you tomorrow Romeo.'
Grabbing her purse from her office, Lily waved good-bye to her colleagues as she headed for the exit. Blending right in with the crowds that passed by the deserted department store, she was delighted to see that a Starbucks had just sprouted up across the street. Hardly heeding the traffic, Lily made a beeline for the caffeine hotspot and was relieved to see that there was no line. Reaching the counter, she rummaged through her purse for money while placing her order. 'I'll get a tall, skim-milk mochaccino with one sweetener and whip cream please.'
After paying and receiving her drink, Lily took a seat by the window. She fully relaxed, taking a whiff of her steaming beverage. 'At least the good things in life never change.'
Authour note: hey, I know the ending was a bit stupid, but I love Starbucks and a bunch of my friends and I would go during our lunch period if I ever had the car, which I did frequently. We went so much that the people behind the counter knew what we wanted as soon as we walked in. But you should never assume that just because someone wants skim milk and a sweetener, they don't want whip cream. Hey, I think I deserve the whip cream. Love you Starbucks crew! Even though the message is pointless and boring those of you who aren't in the crew, which is everyone. Seriously, that was pointless. But in the next chapter, I hope to get a little more into the J/L relationship and maybe someone will recognize the other! Well, we'll see. I also apoligize for the complete randomness of a lot of this chapter. I know it goes every which way, sorry!
Steph, you better appreciate your little bit in here, cuz I slaved over it. And you're not even around to praise me, boo hoo.
