Chapter 4:
Skidding into the room with harsh breathing, Hermione flushed when she brought all eyes onto her. "Trainee Evans I understand you're running a bit late, understandable as you learn your way around the hospital, but we do not need to be spending time patching up our own healers. Please refrain from running in the hall in the future, unless if there is an emergency, and even then, be more aware of your surroundings." Augusta Longbottom told her harshly. If Hermione hadn't already gotten used to seeing the older woman in the future with Neville, especially after the end of the war, she would probably been cowed seeing the look the witch was giving her. Instead, she just gave a bright smile back. For the first time in ages Hermione was feeling excited about learning new knowledge. Nothing could dim her mood today.
When Hermione had found out that Augusta Longbottom was going to be her trainer she had been shocked. Hermione had never known that the older witch had been a healer in the past. She wondered if what had happened to Frank and Alice made her retire because she couldn't help them, or if it was because she was all Neville had left at that point.
It was her second day as a trainee, her first day having been spent doing a quiz to test all of her medical knowledge and looking over the handbook. The quiz was to see if there were any classes she could miss to work on a case, or if she had attend certain seminars. It had also been a month since she and Harry had ended up in the past. St. Mungo's had accepted her application right away, but before she could start, she had to go through an intensive medical screening. Plus be brought up to date on all magical vaccines Healers were required to have, especially the Dragon Pox vaccine, which was the deadliest magical illness out there. In the worst cases symptoms could appear and only 2 hours later the patient could be dead. New variants were always coming about, so Healers had to get updated vaccines yearly.
"Sorry Healer Longbottom, it won't happen again."
"Good. Now as I was saying, today we are going to be working on the children's ward. You all will be marked on how well you deal with the children. Keep your faces under control, stay patient, and do not upset them if you can help it. It's understandable that keeping from upsetting sick children can be difficult, especially if we are bringing a bad diagnoses to them and their parents, but you will be kicked out of today's training if you are rude or overly upset the patients. These children have been through enough and need a gentle hand, we need them not to twist healers into the monsters, some of them are too young to understand exactly how sick they are. They only understand that we are keeping them from being able to go home.
"Some of the cases are hopeless without a cure, some of these children are going to die and there is nothing we can do to stop it, all we can do is make sure their last moments are as pain-free and happy as we can make them. Working with terminally ill children can make or break many healers. Most of you will be doing other specialties, but especially with the war going on it is best you learn how to treat all manners of illnesses. All Healers must have general knowledge of other specialties before you are able to pass your exams.
"Some of you are going to fail. Healing is a difficult specialty. Not only because of the knowledge you must learn, but because of the mental strength you need to not burn out. Losing someone for the first time is going to hurt, that pain will never fully leave you. Most Healers will second guess if there was something more they could do after the fact. You all, as Trainees will have to learn how to let it make you better Healers, without it making you second guess as you are working on your patient. Too big of a hesitation in the moment could be the difference between life or death for your patinets. There is an instinct many of you will gain that will help you know the best course of treatment.
"Even after you become fully qualified Healers, never be afraid of asking for help. There are some cases that will stump you, or that you'll want a second opinion on. Any Healer would prefer you come to them, even if the answer seems obvious in hindsight, then a patient passing away from something that could be prevented."
Augusta's speech had some of the Trainees looking pale, but Hermione knew that she wouldn't turn away. She never wanted to be at a disadvantage like she was after Ron was splinched again. If she hadn't had dittany in her purse at the time, she knew Ron would have died.
Hermione had already seen people die in front of her, people that she wished she could have saved. After Fred's death she had wondered if she had gotten him out of under the wall if she would have been able to at least stabilize him until they could get him to Madame Pomphrey, but they had been in the middle of a battle, and no one had been able to stop. By the time they had been able to dig Fred out it was too late. She hadn't known any diagnostic spells, although she had tried mouth to mouth, only because she knew he hadn't died by the killing curse. His face was too contorted in pain and blood had trickled down the side of his mouth, it was clear he hadn't died immediately, but she had never known whether he could have been saved. Making him the face who haunted her the most in her nightmares.
Following along behind Augusta and the other trainee's Hermione tried to make a mental map of where they were headed. In the future she had never really had many opportunities to go to St. Mungo's, so it was one place where her memories weren't able to help her. She wondered if they looked like lost little ducklings following Augusta.
"Our first patient of the day is Alina Bones, one year old daughter of Edgar and Perdida Bones, her parents have agreed to allow you to be on their daughter's case. Alina was playing outside with her mother and father when she was bit by an unknown bug, which led to her breaking out in welts. It's an allergic reaction, however Alina has been resistant to any of our known antidotes, her condition is stable for now, but the welts keep spreading. Does anyone have any ideas of what may help her? Do not be afraid to voice your thoughts, we may have already tried what you suggest, but this case is a good one to test your knowledge on."
Augusta had a lot more patience as a teacher then Hermione had expected. Looking over the little girl, Hermione had to fight to keep the wince of her face, knowing if she and Harry didn't succeed that this child would die. Even if she and the rest of the healer's could help her today, Edgar Bones's story had been a sad one in the order. Every member of the extensive Bones family, other then Amelia and Susan, would be killed in 3-4 years time.
For the first time since she was back it hit Hermione just how much of a difference her and Harry could make. She had realized she could save a lot of people, but she had been more focused on the people of her future, instead of the people of this time. Unfortunately, she knew they couldn't save everyone, their presence had already caused ripples in the time stream, so that their future didn't exist anymore. Hermione could only hope that the changes they made would be for the better.
"I read a case study once that said some magical children can not handle magical treatment until their cores stabilize as they get older, have you tried Muggle means of allergy treatment?" Hermione knew in this climate that suggesting Muggle means might not have been the best, but she also wasn't going to allow prejudice to stop her from helping her patients.
Unlike the muggle oath doctors took, Healers didn't have the same do no harm written into their oaths when they began on the path of healing. It was because too many Healers ended up going into War zones or skirmishes when Healing became a widespread specialty rather then something that was taught in individual homes. At times magical Healers were the last line of defence and had to learn offensive magic to be able to protect their patients. It was also because sometimes a patient had to be stunned or put into a full bodybind to help them, to keep them still.
It meant that Healers could be more dangerous if they decided to turn towards dark magic. They already had enough knowledge of the human body to be deadly and knew many obscure curses and counter-curses.
Turning her attention back to the other trainee's, Hermione didn't allow a moment of hesitation to appear on her face. Some were looking at her like she was scum, other's curious, and some like she was an idiot. Augusta however had a look of pride on her face that shifted into one of determination.
"Edgar would you be willing for us to try Muggle healing methods on Alina?"
"Is there any risk in using them?"
"Not if we use a potion to flush her system of the magical remedies we have already tried, just to make sure there is no adverse reactions."
"Then try it, we'll do anything to help out daughter," Perdita Bones said a steely resolve on her face. The brunette witch's hazel eyes were clear as she looked at the other trainee's as if challenging them to go against her. She was only a year or two older than Hermione and Hermione had a feeling that if they met in the future outside of St. Mungo's that they could become great friends.
"Alright, Trainee Macmillan please go get a flushing potion, Trainee Evan's what would muggle's do to treat severe allergies?" The way Augusta said it sounded like it was a test. One that Hermione hoped she didn't fail.
Thinking she tried to remember what hospital's might do if an allergy pill didn't work, "well first if it isn't a severe reaction, Muggle Doctor's may just try an average allergy pill, but most hospitals in the Muggle world, to my knowledge, will administer epinephrine if they end up with a patient appearing with a severe allergic reaction. There are also needles, nasal sprays and skin creams designed to help patients. In cases where the airway may be blocked or if oxygen levels are low, they will most likely put the patient on oxygen, which isn't currently needed in this case. Without knowing the cause of an allergic reaction, it would be best to monitor the patient's oxygen even if they seem fine when they come in."
"All good points. We shall start trying Muggle Method's both those Trainee Evans has suggested, as well as other's I know of, we just need to wait for Healer Macmillan to come back with the flushing potion. We will need to wait half an hour after administering the flushing potion, to start administering the treatment."
It had been a long day working in the children's ward, but it had been very informative. Alina Bones had reacted well to the treatment plan and was on the path to be able to go home in the next day or two. They also had been lucky enough that none of the children they had worked with today had died while they were on duty, Hermione knew it was only a matter of time, but she was glad that her first official day working with patients hadn't ended in any deaths. It felt like a good omen to her, she might not believe in divination outright, but she did still believe in good and bad omens, just not the ones Trelawney had tried to impart on her. Despite knowing that she had made real prophecies in the past, Hermione was certain that the rest of the time the Divination Teacher had still been a fraud. Ron had been better at Divination then their teacher had been!
"Who is that?" Jessica Macmillan asked her voice breathy as if she had just seen the most attractive person in the world. Hermione not really interested in attractive wizards or witches (she didn't yet know Jessica well enough to know her preference) ignored the witch beside her as she tried to make sure she wasn't missing anything from her purse. She was already running late to meet Harry and Teddy at a Chinese place to celebrate her first day, Harry had insisted he take her out tonight, even though he knew she would most likely be dead on her feet.
Harry had already started his own training 3 weeks ago, as a war time trainee Auror, he was making some good money already. They would still be living with Alastor for a couple more months, but she had a feeling that the cranky old man actually enjoyed their presence.
"Oh my Merlin, he's coming this way," Charity Zycose squealed. From Hermione's observation's it seemed that Charity and Jessica were best friends, somewhat similar to how Lavender and Parvati had been.
"An Min," a familiar little voice yelled out bringing Hermione's eyes up to see Harry walking towards her, Teddy holding onto his hand tightly and toddling along beside him. The little boy was a tad too stubborn when it came to walking, although for the moment it seemed that he hadn't inherited his mother's clumsiness. Hermione groaned as she realized that Charity and Jessica were going gaga over her brother.
"You know him Hermione? Is he your boyfriend?" Jessica asked sounding disappointed, but also seeming to really want to get to know Hermione.
Gagging at even the thought of Harry being her boyfriend, it made her think too much on Skeeter's articles, plus he was her brother which made it even grosser. "No way in Hell, that is my brother Harry and his son Teddy." Hermione didn't miss the way Jessica's eyes brightened when she found out that Harry wasn't Hermione's boyfriend. She didn't know the witch very well yet, but she knew with how oblivious Harry could be that Jessica could flirt with him and Harry would brush it off just thinking the witch was being polite.
"Hey 'Mione, figured you might have gotten distracted researching something before you left, so Teddy and I came to liberate you from your own head for a bit."
"Always the jokester Harry. Hi Teddy," she said with a bright smile as the little boy through himself at her, so that she could scoop him up into her arms. "Harry this is Jessica Macmillan and Charity Zycose two of my fellow trainee's, girls this is my younger more obnoxious brother Harry Evans, with his adorable son Teddy."
"Ouch always knew he was your favorite 'Mione. It's nice to meet you Ladies. Oh Mad-Eye said to tell you he was going to be out all night. Big case came up and the senior Aurors were called out for it. Mad-Eye said it was too big of a deal to let Trainee's in to muck it all up," but the way Harry glanced down at Teddy, Hermione was certain that Alastor hadn't used such a tame word. Harry had quickly adjusted to not swearing when he was in the toddler's presence. It had started out as Harry not wanting Teddy's first word to be a swear and by the time Teddy was speaking Harry had stayed in the habit.
Glancing at her fellow trainee's Hermione could see they were put out that Harry hadn't paid attention to them more then just a quick sentence, not even giving them any lingering looks, Harry hadn't been interested in romance in a long time. He had learned too quickly that it was his fame and fortune that many witches were after, those who weren't unfortunately were either his friends, or something more hadn't worked out. Not that Harry had been on many dates. Other then Cho and Ginny, she hadn't even seen him interested in other witches. At times Hermione wondered if maybe it was because witches weren't his interest, or at the very least it wasn't just witches he was interested in. With how stubborn Harry was she had decided to wait until he was ready to tell her. This was one instance where bulldozing Harry to speak to her could do a lot more harm then good in the long run.
Seeing that Teddy was getting restless Hermione gave Charity and Jessica a small smile, hoping they didn't think she was trying to brush them off. It would be a terrible training program if she had any enemies in it. "Sorry Charity, Jessica, but it looks like Teddy is hungry. Harry and I had plans for a celebratory supper tonight. Have a good evening."
"You too Hermione. It was nice to meet you Harry Teddy," they chimed together. Either they weren't worried about the fact that Hermione and Harry were leaving, or they were being on their best behavior in front of Harry.
Giving them one last smile, she turned around and handed Teddy back to Harry, he seemed to get heavier every time she held him. He was growing so fast. It was hard to believe he was over a year old already. It might be a ways off, but she hoped that she and Harry could give him a good Christmas. They didn't have the vast resources they had before, although she was certain that it wouldn't really matter to Teddy. If his birthday was anything to go on, he'd be more interested trying to match his hair color to the color of wrapping paper.
"How was work?"
"Exhausting. I swear Mad-Eye's harder on me just because I'm not you!"
Rolling her eyes she nudged his shoulder lightly, it would have been a lot more like a shove if he wasn't holding Teddy, "Mad-Eye is hard on you because he think's you have the potential to be great. Also he doesn't want it to look like favoritism if anyone finds out you two live together. It has nothing to do with me."
"Really? Then why is he constantly trying to compare our fighting styles?" he asked raising a brow at her. Sometimes it was hard to tell when Harry was being serious or joking around with her. A skill he definitely honed on purpose just to mess with her.
"Because he doesn't know you well enough yet to know that trying to use someone you like to make you jealous enough to try harder won't work. Alastor would have much more luck in motivating you if he found you a rival you couldn't stand, just like the Ferret used to be a good motivator." Even if it seemed like they were on their own she was careful not to say Malfoy's name, it would seem odd for them to be talking about a Malfoy when their backstory wouldn't have any indication they had met one. Even if they were able to play it off, Alastor at least would be paranoid enough to make sure they met every Malfoy he knew despite how much he hated the family.
Sticking his tongue out at her, Harry didn't say a word knowing that she was right. Although he still had that amused smirk whenever Malfoy the bouncing Ferret was brought into conversation, even if his eyes seemed sad at the same time. It was a conflicting look and one that had made Hermione wonder if Harry had ever had feelings for their once enemy.