Chapter 33: Doctor Roberts
Lena woke up in the middle of the night to a stinging pain in her leg, and accompanied by another in her bladder. She glanced at the next bed to see Sirius sound asleep. Not wanting to disturb him, she swung her leg off the bed, and gingerly placed pressure on it. Gritting her teeth, she hobbled with great difficulty to the bathroom. The pain in her leg only intensified. She sat in the bathroom, unable to walk back.
Sirius heard the bathroom door close, and woke up. He gave Lena a few minutes, but when he heard the toilet flush and Lena didn't emerge, he walked to the door.
"Lee?" he whispered. Lena felt tears in her eyes.
"Siri, my leg's really sore," she said, feeling incredibly stupid.
"Ok, Lee, open the door, and I'll carry you to Madame Pomfrey," he said calmly. He heard something being dragged across the floor, and the door clicked open. Lena sat on the floor, her eyes watery and her head hung. He knew it wasn't a good time to mention it, but she was adorable. He bent down and enveloped her in a hug. "It's ok, sweetie," he said, kissing her hair.
"I'm such an idiot," she mumbled.
"Shh," he said. "How sore is it?"
"Throbbing, sort of," she said. "Stop calling me Lee." Sirius smiled.
"Madame Pomfrey?" Sirius called, placing her on her bed.
"Yes?" the nurse answered promptly.
"She is in pain," he said.
"Oh, dear, I had hoped she would be ok with my charms," Madame Pomfrey said.
"What do you mean?" Lena asked.
"You broke your leg very severely," Madame Pomfrey said. "I attempted to repair it, but it may not have worked."
"What are you going to do now?" Lena asked.
"Nothing," Madame Pomfrey said. "You need a Healer; you're going to St Mungo's."
"Nothing," Madame Pomfrey said. "You need a Healer; you're going to St Mungo's."
Lena sat in the waiting area, in her muddy Quidditch robes, drinking some hideous coffee. Sirius had Floo-ed back to the castle to get some homework, so she was working on a History of Magic essay while she waited.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked.
"The painkilling potions helped," Lena said. Sirius nodded, then spotted something by the window, and started.
"Andromeda!" he exclaimed. Lena spotted a heavily pregnant witch coming through the window.
"Sirius!" she said, looking relieved. "Can you get me a midwife? Ted is at work and I can't contact him, but I had to come no-ooooww!" Sirius looked slightly panicked, but cleared his seat of parchment and lowered her into the chair.
"I'll be back," he said. "Stay here." Lena laughed.
"As if either of us is going anywhere," she said. "How are you?"
"Ok, but I wish Ted was here," Andromeda said. "Nymphadora, dear, come sit with mummy." A little girl who looked about five stepped closer to the chairs. "Sorry, I'm being rude; I'm Andromeda, Sirius' cousin."
"He's told me about you," Lena said. "I'm Lena, his girlfriend."
"My cousin tells me nothing. Is it serious?"
"It's been seven months," Lena said. "I suppose it is." Andromeda's face tightened. Lena held out her hand. "Try breathing deep," she suggested.
"Wha's wrong wiv you, Mummy?" Nymphadora asked.
"I'm fine, sweetie," Andromeda said.
"Hello, Sirius has told me lots about you," Lena lied. "I have parchment and ink. Would you like to draw?" Nymphadora nodded eagerly.
"Thanks," Andromeda said, once the contraction had eased. "She loves to draw." Sirius appeared at that minute with a Healer.
"Mrs. Tonks, how are you doing?" he asked.
"Ok," she replied. She glanced at her daughter.
"We'll look after her," Lena assured her. "We'll be here for a while."
"Thanks," Andromeda said. "When Ted arrives I'll send him."
"Hello, Dora," Sirius said. "What are you drawing?"
"Siwius!" she exclaimed. "This is Mummy, and Daddy, and there is no new baby." The end of that sentence was said very forcefully.
"Don't you want to be a big sister?" Lena asked. "You are a very lucky girl, you know. I always wanted a brother or sister." Dora seemed to contemplate this prospect.
"Who are you?" she asked cheekily.
"I'm Lena."
Sirius picked her up and tickled her. As she collapsed in giggles, her hair turned blue.
"Our Dora is very special," Sirius explained, noting Lena's curiosity.
"I'm a merphmagus," she explained. "Look what I learned." She screwed up her face tightly and her eyes changed colour.
"That is really impressive," Lena said. "I bet the new baby will love to see that." Dora once again looked thoughtful. A Healer appeared with a trolley.
"Are you ready, Ms White?" she asked. Lena was hoisted onto the trolley, as Sirius shoved all the school things into his schoolbag and picked up his young cousin.
"Wha's wrong wiv Lena?" Dora whispered.
"She fell from her broom and hurt her leg," Sirius explained. "But the Healers will make it all better."
Lena's leg was examined, and the Healer shook her head.
"How did you do this?" she asked. Lena recounted her tale proudly. "Well, you broke about 80 of the bones in your leg; they're too shattered to be repaired by magic."
"What's going to happen?" Lena asked.
"Well, we will de-bone your leg, and then we can re-grow all of your bones, good as new. It will be painful, but at least you will be able to walk on that leg again. Now, I'll need to contact your parents."
"I'm 17, I can consent," she said, fighting back tears.
"Ok, but we can at least let them know you're ok—"
Sirius whispered an explanation in her ear, and then Healer blushed slightly.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked her.
"Nervous," she replied. "And silly."
"You're not silly," he said.
"I really damaged my leg," Lena said.
"But they can fix it," Dora piped up. "So 's ok."
"I think you're right," Lena said to her.
"I drew a picture of you and Siwius," she said. "And the new baby is wiv you."
"That's lovely," Lena praised. "Why don't you draw a picture for the baby?" Dora picked up the quill again.
"She has ink all over her clothes," Lena said.
"Nothing a couple of cleaning charms won't fix," Sirius replied. "I wonder how Andromeda is?"
"You should go to see her," Lily suggested. "Ted may not have arrived, and it must be tough for her."
"I might," he said. "Will Dora be ok?"
"Of course we will, Siwius," Dora interrupted. "Go check on Mummy. Oh, and the baby, I suppose," she added as an afterthought. Sirius smiled and kissed Lena.
"I'll be back soon," he said. He kissed her again. Dora looked at them thoughtfully.
"Are you married to Siwius, Lena?" she asked.
"No, honey," Lena said.
"He kissed you," Dora said.
"You don't have to be married to someone to kiss them," Lena said. "I do love him, though," she added, smiling.
"That's nice," Dora said. "You know what, I fink he loves you too." Lena grinned. The Healers returned and set about carefully de-boning her leg. It felt very odd.
"Your leg feels funny, Lena," Dora said, poking it. Sirius returned, looking slightly pale. "Siwius! Feel Lena's leg."
"Eww," he said, poking it. Lena smiled.
"How is she?" she asked.
"Ok, close," he said. "Ted is here now, though. He'll come along with news later. Dora, leave Lena's leg alone now."
"I need your help," the Healer said to Dora. Dora followed her to the corner of the room.
"Are you ok?" Lena asked. "You look a bit scared."
"I am never doing that to you," he said. "It was the most terrifying thing I have ever seen." Lena laughed.
"Lena," Dora called. "You have to drink—oops." She had spilled the contents of the goblet she was carrying.
When she did get to take the potion, she wished Dora had spilled it all. But she drained it anyway, and sat on her bed, feeling the odd painful twinge. After about two hours, Ted Tonks walked into Lena's room, smiling broadly.
"Daddy!" Dora said, running to her father. He picked her up.
"Hello, my little Nymphadora, how are you?" he asked.
"I've been drawing," she said. "Is Mummy ok?"
"She's fine, and so is your little brother," Ted replied.
"Really?" Dora asked. She looked thoughtful. "I might want to see him. Do you think he'll like my nose?" Ted smiled.
"He'll love it," Ted replied. He looked to Sirius and Lena. "Thank you so much," he said. "Was she good?"
"Perfect," Lena told him.
"I hear we may have a new babysitter," Ted said. "I'm Ted Tonks."
"Lena White, and it would be a pleasure. She is delightful."
"Siwius loves her," Dora informed her father. "He even kissed her."
"I'm very happy for him. Shall we go see your mum?"
"Okay," Dora said. "I have to get my pictures."
"Tell her we said congratulations," Sirius said.
Lena stayed in St Mungo's for several days while her leg was strengthened. Andromeda would visit every now and then, with the new baby.
"Oh, he's precious," Lena said. "Can I hold him?" Andromeda carefully handed him over.
"I'm just doing to nip to the loo," Andromeda said. "Will you be okay with him?"
"Yes," she replied. "Hello," she whispered to the baby, gently stroking his cheek. He opened his eyes briefly, yawned, and then closed them again. "Sleepy, are you?" she asked. Well, its good for you to be able to sleep all day, some of us have work to do." The baby stirred a little and began to whimper. His whimpers became more urgent. "Oh, what's up with you?" Lena cooed. "Well, it's not uncomfortable, so you mustn't be wet. And you don't seem to be in pain, so its not wind. Are you hungry, little boy?" she gave him her finger and he sucked energetically on it. He soon grew tired when he saw there was no milk coming from it and began to whimper again.
"Oh, dear, is he ok?" Andromeda said, rushing back into the room.
"Yes, just hungry," Lena said.
"How did you know?" Andromeda asked, getting a bottle from her bag.
"I guessed it from his cries," Lena said.
"How?" Andromeda wondered. "I can't do that yet, and he's my second." Lena shrugged.
"Here you are, Mr Tonks." The midwife that Lena had seen take her away was at the door.
"Yes, I'm just visiting my cousin's girlfriend. Lena, this is Healer Roberts, Healer Roberts, this is Lena White."
"Hello," he said. "I see he's feeding well?" Andromeda nodded. "And anything unusual?"
"No, Lena seemed to think his cries earlier were pain free."
"Do you have experience with babies?" Healer Roberts asked her.
"Not really," Lena said. "Though I have got on well with any babies I have met. I must just have a knack for dealing with babies."
"You worked here one summer, didn't you?" Healer Roberts asked. "In the apothecary?"
"Yes," Lena said.
"Have you kept Potions?"
"Of course!" she replied.
"Have you thought of coming back to us?"
Lena was startled. "I can't say it hasn't ever crossed my mind," she answered.
"Our department is hiring this summer," he said, pulling a small rectangle of parchment from his pocket and handing it to her. "Think about it, you know, if the Quidditch doesn't work out. Andromeda, you are free to leave today. Bring him back in two weeks so we can have a look at him. Bye, bye," he added, touching the baby's cheek. "Oh, almost forgot. His name?"
"Dionysus Theodore," Andromeda replied.
"Lovely," the Healer said, though Lena suspected he may not have been entirely serious.
When Lily looked back at her last month at Hogwarts, she found that most of it was spent in the Room of Requirement, preparing for her NEWTs, which seemed to loom ever larger with every passing second. But together, studying seemed like less of a chore. She helped the others with their Charms work, seeing it as practice for this time next year.
Dumbledore had sent her an owl inviting her to attend an interview in his office. It had been a relatively informal affair, she was asked about her views on how to approach teaching the subject and how she thought she would deal with unruly students. Within a week, Dumbledore informed her that she had been appointed as new Charms teacher. She was to spend summer attending lessons designed to prepare her to teach. James quite enjoyed calling her 'Professor Evans.'
Sirius had become quite enamoured with the title 'Healer White.' Lena, James and Remus had received a number of offers from Quidditch teams wanting them to try out, but they decided not too for many reasons. First, and most importantly, neither Lena nor James could bring themselves to play in any other team than Puddlemere. Secondly, they decided to leave the Quidditch world while on top form. Thirdly, Remus wouldn't be able to play, and it was as a team that they were good. So Lena had buried herself in pamphlets from St Mungo's. She had eventually settled on applying to be a midwife, meaning she too would be attending school this summer.
James, having ruled out Quidditch, still had no idea what it was he wanted to do after NEWTs. Sirius was in the same boat. They both felt slightly overshadowed by their respective others. James had entertained the idea of becoming an Auror, but decided it wasn't something he wanted to jump into. He applied for a job with the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, and he was joined by Sirius. They were accepted into the training program, which was due to start in August.
Ally and Frank, however, had applied to start Auror training. Depending on the results of their NEWTs, and some Ministry set entrance exams, they would start training in September.
Kim had her eyes set on working at the Ministry. After applying to several departments, she had been provisionally accepted at the Department of International Magical Co-operation.
Remus felt incredibly left out. There were very little options open to him. Several laws prevented him from being employed because of his lycanthropy. He would simply go home to his parents house, and toy some more with the possibility of writing.
Anyway, all of this was still a long way away. First they had to complete their NEWTs. Preparation was going well, but they would all be incredibly glad to have them over and done with.
Sorry for the delay. My laptop charger died, I was helping to organise a fantasy gaming convention, and exams are coming up. But here is the second to last chapter.
Oh, and Btw, I'm collaborating with a friend of mine, BellatrixBL on an evil story in which lots of mean things happen to Lena. (Her penname should give you a clue as to why they are so mean!) It's up on her profile, called Unknown Blood. Lena's bits will start soon. Just be warned that it happens outside of the Love, Life and Sugar Highs universe, even though Lena's in it. Oh, and don't kill me, those of you who love Lena. Trust me, this is a very fun fic to write.