Romance in the Hospital Wing
by Wo Ai Ni16
Chapter Two: Dates and Surprise Attacks
Saturday, first week of August 1978—1 o'clock P.M.: Leaky Cauldron, London
Despite his hectic schedule (yes, even Aurors have schedules) James was able to set aside the next day for his date with Ameile. Sometimes he would contemplate his feelings for her. He was sure that what he felt was much more than friendship with Ameile, but was it love? Whenever he would think these things another redhead would always pop into his head. He would then drop the subject and quickly look for something to occupy his confused mind. Nonetheless, he cared about Ameile a lot and never wanted to see her upset. That is why he faced a more than disappointed Alastor Moody when he requested to have Saturday off. It was easy for Ameile to get off easy since there were plenty more Spy Aurors that could fill her in. Field Aurors like James were hard to find nowadays, so it was more difficult for him to get an extra day off.
But now here he was at the Leaky Cauldron, stopping by at the bar since he was a few minutes early. Tom, the innkeeper, was happy to see his friend.
"James! What a pleasant surprise. I haven't seen you around for a long time."
"It's good to see you too, Tom. Moody's been good enough to let me out an extra day."
The elder man nodded his head, as he served a foaming mug to a customer. "Though I'm sure he wasn't so happy to let you off, huh?"
James smiled, "Yeah, but in the end, the guy was good enough to give me a break."
Tom nodded his head as he continued to serve the orders from his customers. "I'm surprised he did that, with all the attacks happening all around the place. Chaos everywhere, I'm telling you." He shook his head sadly. "Not good for business, either. Why, I've been having fewer customers each day. Oh, by the way, would you like something to drink?"
James declined the offer with a wave of his hand, "No thanks, I'm just here for a cordial visit."
A harsh, raspy voice interrupted their conversation, "Excuse me, but can I have another serving of vodka?" The owner of the voice was a hooded man two chairs away from James. He didn't even notice the man was there. James looked at Tom as the elder man frowned.
"I'm sorry sir, but I believe you've had enough," Tom said tentatively.
James frowned too. He didn't like the bad aura coming from the man.
The hooded man simply grumbled and stood up and sat at a far corner of the room. James took a quick glance at his watch and stood up too.
"Excuse me, Tom, but I got to go. I'm going to be late if I don't hurry." Tom nodded his head as James left and went to the back of the inn. Counting the bricks on the wall he tapped his wand and the entrance to Diagon Alley appeared. James started to walk at a brisk pace towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. He tried to ignore the excited whispers around him as he passed the numerous shops and stores. Honestly, I'll never understand what's the big deal...
As I mentioned before, James was never able to walk through a public place (a magic place that is) without getting unwanted attention from the people. It is not unusual if ten minutes later a reporter or photographer started to bug him, either asking what his latest adventures were like (which James could never describe in detail since all his missions should be kept confidential) or asking him to sign a couple of photographs. He sometimes tried to wear a disguise, but somehow people could always tell it was him. Let's just hope that the media will not ruin his date with Ameile, though some of you readers might just hope that they will, thinking that James should be with Lily in the first place anyway.
James was just about to turn the corner to Florean Fortescue's when he felt a gentle tug at the back of his robes. Turning around, he saw a little girl in ponytails smiling up at him. Another autograph, I'm sure, he thought to himself. But how could he resist such a cute little girl? Bending down he reached the little girl's height and asked, "What can I do for you?" The little girl smiled again, revealing one missing front tooth and simply showed James a photograph of himself and shoved a quill in his hand. "Okay, will signing my name be enough?" The girl nodded her head enthusiastically as James quickly signed the picture. She quickly hugged him and skipped into a nearby shop, showing the autograph to a woman who must be her mother.
Now that he was already five minutes late, James finally rounded the corner and reached the ice cream parlor. Upon seeing a redhead, he quickly walked up to her and covered her eyes. "Guess who?" He whispered in her ear.
Ameile snorted, "Honestly, James, the game's getting old. And you're five minutes late."
James took a seat across from her. "A little girl asked for an autograph, how could I resist?"
"Fine, fine. Anyway, I ordered you a strawberry sundae."
"Thanks." James looked around at his surroundings. The ice cream parlor rarely changed, except for the notices the Ministry posted: Bellatrix Black, Wanted; Due to the increasing number of attacks, the Ministry is enforcing a curfew... He then noticed a certain, dark, hooded man. Isn't he the guy from the Leaky Cauldron? James frowned, but couldn't help feeling shivers go down his spine. Maybe he's just being paranoid.
"Something wrong?" Ameile asked, sipping her milkshake.
"It's nothing... but, is it me, or is it getting colder?"
A waiter came up to them and said, "Here's your strawberry sundae, Mr. Potter." He was about to hand James' order over when a blinding green light came from no where, forcing James to close his eyes tight against the brightness. He could hear people screaming around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw the waiter lying down lifeless, his eyes open wide in horror.
"Oh shit! Ameile, are you alright?" Ameile was thoroughly shaken, but quickly nodded her head. Both of them took out their wands.
"James," Ameile said, looking somewhere behind him.
"What?" He turned around and saw dementors, dozens of them, with even more Death Eaters starting to apparate. People began screaming and running for their lives. Some were smart enough and disapparated, but the rest could not, unable to leave their children behind. Beams of light in different colors were flying throughout the air as witches and wizards started to shout curses and hexes.
"Morsmorde!" Someone near them shouted. It was the hooded man that James had seen in the Leaky Cauldron. Damn, I should've known better, James cursed to himself.
Ameile began to stupefy a couple of approaching Death Eaters. James hexed a couple more himself and produced a patronous to ward off some dementors. He quickly grabbed Ameile's wrist and dragged her with him throughout the chaos.
"James, let me go! I will help you fight them off, I'm an auror too!" Ameile shrieked indignantly.
"There's no way I'm going to allow you to risk your life here!" He yelled back. He dragged her even more forcefully to an alley when he felt her hand slip off his girp. "Once more, Ameile, I'm not going to–" All the color drained from his face when he found Ameile lying two feet behind him. Someone must have sent a curse at her.
"No, no, no!" He quickly felt for her pulse. She was alive.
"James! Is that you?" James looked up to see Frank Longbottom looking down at him. "Frank! I'm so happy to see you, it's Ameile, she's been–"
"Say no more, I'll take her to St. Mungo's," Frank bent down and held Ameile's limp body in his arms.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, now go!" Frank quickly apparated while James went back out in the streets and into the chaos.
12 noon: St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries—Mr. David Aberforth's Private Room
Lily hugged Sarah for the third time in the past hour. Sarah was never good in saying good-bye. And now that Lily was leaving going to leave for Hogwarts' Hospital Wing, she could not look at Lily without getting teary-eyed. She's quite the drama-queen, crying over the silliest things. Nevertheless, she was Lily's best friend (along with Alice) and Lily tried her best to cheer her up. "Come on, Sarah, it's not as if we're saying good-bye forever. I'll see you in a month, maybe even sooner!"
"A month!? Lily, that's too long!" Sarah buried her face in her white apron, part of the St. Mungo's uniform, as fresh tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her dark brown curls shook as her shoulders moved along with her sobs.
"Well, Ethan, you can't say I didn't try," Lily said as she turned to the man next to her. The tall gentleman smiled down at her sympathetically. He looked like a twenty-one-year-old version of Mr. David Aberforth, with straight light-brown hair, and twinkling blue eyes. His name is Ethan Aberforth, the son of David Aberforth, and as you folks might have guessed, he's Lily's fiancé. And just like what I have done with Ameile and James, let me give you background information on how Lily and Ethan got together.
They met around two years ago, with Lily fresh out of Hogwarts and a new MediWitch in St. Mungo's. Mr. Aberforth senior was her first patient, and Lily treated him well. That is when she met Ethan, a young handsome man who was worried sick over his father. He would visit him everyday, from 6 to 8 in the evening. And just like how Ameile fell for James, Ethan immediately fell head over heels for the MediWitch who took such great care of his dad. Romantic, don't you think? ;; [note: the author is laughing hysterically at his point] The thing is, Mr. David Aberforth was never the healthiest man and in a few weeks, he had to go back to the hospital. He was such a constant patient that the family decided to buy him a private room where he could stay. This somehow made Ethan happy, although he's too ashamed to admit it, since he will be able to see Lily practically everyday. Sometimes the two would talk together, and they quickly became friends. Ethan just gave it a couple of more months, and he finally popped the question. Lily was, to say the least, surprised but accepted his proposal all the same. Did she truly love him, though? Lily would never admit it, but every time she thought of love, James would always appear on her head. -Sigh- Our poor confused characters... will they ever get it straight and end up with the right person? Well, this author is determined to do just the thing. Now, on with the story!
Lily hugged her fiancé once and walked over to Mr. Aberforth senior and did the same. The elder man smiled up at her and kissed her on the forehead. "You take care of yourself, now. I wouldn't want anything to happen to my future daughter-in-law."
"I'll be fine, Mr. Aberforth, and I'm sure you'll be fine too, Sarah is here to take care of you."
Her future father-in-law smiled at her and gave her a pat on the back.
Lily turned to Ethan, "Well, I suppose we should get going now. Better early than late."
Upon hearing this Sarah gave an all-out wail and flung herself on Lily. Lily saw Ethan roll his eyes behind her. It was hard for Lily to keep her patience with Sarah sometimes. She can be so childish! "Honestly, Sarah! I'll be fine, and you'll be alright! And Alice will always visit you, don't cry so much!"
"Okay, fine, go! But promise me you'll write at least once a week, and do visit me before August is over!"
Lily took this chance to grab her suitcase (all her belongings were charmed to fit in it) and hooked arms with Ethan and waved goodbye before disapparating to Hogsmeade.
Hogsmeade: 12: 45 pm
Upon reaching Hogsmeade, the couple walked at a brisk pace towards Hogwarts. It was easy to find their way to Hogwarts; just simply follow the roads that will take you closer to the humongous castle.
Ten tiring minutes later, they were able to walk up the castle's front steps to find Filch waiting outside for them in front of the wooden doors.
"Lily Evans," Filch said in a raspy voice. "You're early, but no matter. I'm here to escort you to the Hospital Wing. But the man, he has to go. Dumbledore's strict orders."
Ethan stiffened as he heard this, but just shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye now," Lily said sadly.
"Yeah, well, you go on ahead. Don't fall in love with anyone while I'm away, okay?" He added the last part jokingly.
Lily snorted, thinking that the whole idea was absurd. "Goodbye, Ethan, I promise to write to you as much as I can." And with a quick kiss on the lips, she followed Filch to the Hospital Wing.
"I have to warn you, it's pretty chaotic in there... lots of patients for the first week the Wing's been opened to public patients," Filch muttered. He was considerably nicer to Lily since she helped him in her younger years at Hogwarts (before she was on friendly terms with James). She had always helped him catch the Marauders after their pranks.
He left her in front of the Wing while he gave her suitcase to a house elf to be left in her chambers.
The caretaker was right, because the moment Lily opened the door, it looked like chaos. She could hear sobbing and screaming everywhere. Many MediWitches in mahogany red uniforms were running around, trying to attend to all the patients. Some parts of their bodies were mangled, and Lily winced when she saw a little boy with an arm missing.
A familiar-looking woman came up to her. It was Madam Pomfrey. "Evans! There you are. Just what I need. I need you to quickly attend to a patient. Don't mind about your uniform now, just use a sterilizing charm." She quickly ushered Lily to one end of the wing, in front of a group of white curtains. "Well, here's your first patient. It's terrible, absolutely terrible, a day attack just occurred in Diagon Alley. Oh, what this world has gone to." The Head MediWitch kept muttering to herself.
Lily looked at the white curtain in front of her. This, and only my first day on the job. With a deep breath, she opened the curtains and stepped inside. "Manus Sterilus," Lily muttered as she felt her hands cool as they were sterilized. She cautiously walked up to the patient and looked down at her. The woman was probably her age, maybe a year or two younger. Lily gently pulled down the blanket that was covering the patient to get a better look. The woman's eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow. She was actually really pretty, if it weren't for the nasty bruise on her left temple. Lily felt for the woman's pulse. Upon her touch, the woman's eyelids opened, revealing beautiful light blue eyes. She looked up at Lily, who smiled down at her.
"If you can, can you please tell me your name?" Lily asked kindly.
The reply was barely more than a whisper, but Lily's sharp ears were able to hear what the young redhead said. "Ameile Marie Collins."
-------------------------------o
Hiya people! Whadddya think? Oh by the way, a belated HAPPY NEW YEAR! to you all! =) Oops, before I say anything else, I made a mistake in chapter one, where I gave Ameile a description.. at first I put that she's a redhead, but in the description I accidentally wrote that she had dark brown hair =( -grabs pillow and smacks herself repeatedly - Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! –sigh- Now that that's out of my system... on with the author notes!
-Dun dun duuuuuuun Lily and Ameile meet! How will she react if she finds out that Ameile's James' girlfriend? O.o
-Will James be alright? =( I hope so...
-How will James react if he sees Lily?
-Will Lily still have that old hostility towards James or will she forget their past differences?
All for you guys to find out in the next chapter! Speaking of my next update... you guys might have to wait until next Friday... now that vacation's gonna be over, i have a load of schoolwork to catch up on... please forgive me =
To all of my reviewers: I'm glad you guys liked my fic... I'm curious to see what you guys think of my OC's (original characters). I did my best not to make them cliché... not to mention that I also did my best to give them "British names"
---------------------------------------o
To my reviewers:
ThreeEaredBunny: Oh my! I forgot to include my response to your review in the first chapter... somehow I skipped it, so sorry! Anywho, thanks for your review and your compliments, I appreciate it a lot! I hope you update UR fanfic soon
princessemily: Thanks for your review... continuing Although you might have to wait for next Friday for my next update =(
ThreeEaredBunny: I'm so happy you like my story so much =) and my writing style, I wasn't sure if people will like it or not.... and I whole-heartedly agree: Lily and James forever! Woooooo!
tRuE2U: That is a good suggestion.. hmm..... will they end up together or not? I'll never teEelll =P Thanx!
auroraborealis: Aw, that's not a stupid question at all! I didn't even know myself until maybe two months ago.. and I've been on for a looong time.. it's hard for me to explain, so here's a definition I got from a website: A mary-sue is like an author's self-insertion of himself/herself in his/her story. Mary-sues are original characters that are usually perfect, make the story corny (in my humble opinion), and just make you want to tear your hair off in frustration =P
ShangLady Knight: Thankiii! I really need the encouragement.
Snapple: Oh, sorry about that, the website automatically spaces it out that way... dunno why, exactly scratches head
Tiger Lily21: For me, no couple is better than Lily and James! Tee hee =) (although i do wish that James was mine! LOL)
toriisen: Thank you so much for your review! =D
mintytoothpick: I hope it gets better, lol. I'm doing my absolute best!
Tanya J Potter: Thanks for your review, I hope you like this chapter too
h-ermione-g-ranger64: Lol, yea I did put that foreshadowing in the prologue to give people a hint (although the summary really gives it away).. I love Sirius... why did he have to die? =(
princessemily: Yes indeed, what do you think about Ethan? =P I did finish the backbone, although the actual chapters themselves I have yet to write =X
BiNka: This is still pretty quick compared to the usual time it takes me to update... usually every weekend I will update my fics =)
munkylover256: Thanks for your review, I hope you like this chapter Keep reviewing, please
ButterflyKisses: LOL, I can't believe people do not like Lily's fiancé even when they haven't met him yet. tsk tsk... poor Ethan, he feels so unloved -hugs a sad Ethan- What do you think of him now?
Hp-Azn: Oooh thanki! I hope you like this chapter too
Lily Natalia Evans: LOL, well now that you met him, what do you think about Lily's fiancé?
FallenFlower: I'm glad you love it, I hope you continue to review!
Indiangurl: Thanks so much for your review, I'm glad you're going to let James shine soon, he's one of my favorite characters! I hope you update your story soon!
Dangerous Perfection: I'm glad you liked the first chapter, how about this one? =)
Nicole Kim: Wow! I can't believe people love this fic so much (and only 2 chapters!) I hope you will continue loving it! Keep reviewing, please! =D
pinkoceanmist: I hope this was soon enough for your liking and that you will continue reviewing... LOL I never thought of it as a cliffie =P
Thanks for all of you people who put my story on their favorites list and/or put me on their favorite authors list! I love you guys!
Review please! =)