Romance in the Hospital Wing
by Wo Ai Ni16
Chapter Three: Witch Weekly's #1 Eligible Bachelor?
Saturday; first week of August 1978 –2 o'clock P.M.: Hogwart's Hospital Wing
Lily wiped her forehead with the side of her sleeve and sat down in an empty chair. She took a good look at Ameile, whose wounds she just finished treating and was currently sleeping soundly. It was amazing how much they looked like each other. One can even mistake them for sisters, unlike Petunia who looked nothing like her. Ameile almost seemed like an identical twin, except that she had blue eyes, and her auburn hair was slightly lighter and straighter. Standing up, Lily decided to ask Madam Pomfrey if there were any relatives or friends waiting for Ameile.
"Madam Pomfrey?"
"Yes, Ms. Evans?"
"I finished treating Ameile Collins. Are there any relatives of hers waiting for her?"
Checking the list of the patients signed into the Wing, Madam Pomfrey said "Not at the moment dear. An Auror quickly left her here; he had to go back to help with the attack. Frank Longbottom is his name." She pointed at his name on the list of people who brought the patients in.
"Frank?" Lily said this more to herself than to Madam Pomfrey.
"You know him, dear?"
"Yes, actually. So I suppose that they will just come back once the attack is over?"
The Head MediWitch nodded in reply.
Lily looked at the clock on the wall. It was already 2:15 and the attack started around an hour ago. She sighed in worry and wondered if Frank was still fighting there, and if Alice joined to fight, praying that they and the rest of the aurors would be alright.
"Are there any other patients I can help with?" Lily asked Madam Pomfrey. The latter shook her head.
"It's alright dear, I think all the other MediWitches have it under control. We'll get busy again when the wave of wounded aurors comes after the attack is over."
This did not help in Lily's worry for Frank and Alice one bit. Turning around, she walked back to Ameile's bed and sat back on her chair. Looking for something to pass the time, Lily spotted a Witch Weekly's magazine on a table nearby. She reached to hold the copy and almost fell off the chair at the sight front cover. In big, bold letters was the title: Witch Weekly (teens version), Special Issue: Top 100 Eligible Bachelors. And covering most of the remaining space was a picture of the number one bachelor, as most of you most likely guessed—James Potter. Now it had been two years and Lily never saw him since Graduation. But by looking at his picture, the first word that came into her mind was wow. Some of you readers might be wondering now "But you said that James was a celebrity, so wouldn't Lily have seen his picture on a magazine or newspaper in the last two years that have passed?" My answer to that would have to be: Well, our ickle Lily here isn't much of a reader when it comes to celebrity gossip and whatnot. And she refuses to read the Daily Prophet anymore; all the reports of muggle killings and attacks were very unsettling to her.
Right now the face of our dearest Lily is reddening like a ripe tomato. Lily was quite ashamed at herself, having such a reaction just by a simple picture of a guy. Why would I be bothered by just a simple picture of a guy? Well, alright, a very handsome guy, but honestly! Lily shook her head in disgust and closed her eyes, refusing to look at James Potter's picture. And a picture of James Potter no less! Lily, shame on you. He's that annoying git, remember? The one who constantly bothered you in school and has no concerns for the feelings of others?...okay fine, I suppose he did improve a little bit in seventh year, but for all you know it could have just be a façade! Alright, now when you open your eyes and look at his picture you will not blush. She opened her eyes and looked down. The picture-James winked at her and grinned very..erm.. sexily. Once again the heat rose in her cheeks. Dammit, I'm still blushing! [A/N: if you guys didn't guess by now, italics in these situations are the P.O.V's of the character or conversations that the character has with his/her "inner voice"...alright? Hope I didn't confuse you.]
Lily then read the words at the bottom of the front cover: "Includes pictures of each bachelor and an interview section!" Lily frowned in thought once again. She was very tempted to go and read to see what the "git" was doing now. I shouldn't read these kinds of things though, I'm more sensible than this. Magazines like this are for heartsick teenagers. How could people think of bachelors when so many bad things are going on in Britain? And plus, what if I'm caught, people would think that I like Potter or something. She rolled her eyes at her own paranoid self. What am I talking about, I'm no longer in school, and it's not as if my (former) classmates are even here! I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a little look. With her decision made up, she opened the front cover and was given the table of contents. Skimming down the list she saw what she had been looking for "Front Page: James Potter, #1 Bachelor- page 36."
Flipping through the pages she finally found the page.
At the top was the title "James Potter #1 Bachelor" and below it was the same picture on the front cover of James in a classy, long-sleeved black collared shirt. His hair was the same as ever. Well some things don't change, Lily thought. He looked more mature though, but his hazel eyes still held the same confident, ever-mischievous glint in them. The picture-James smiled up at her and waved. There were also a couple of other pictures of James, one in Quidditch robesat his seventh year in Hogwarts, and another in formal robes, probably in some celebrity social function.
Lily began reading the interview section:
Hey guys! Sonya Patil, your fellow reporter here. Well, I was lucky enough to interview our favorite and celebrity, and top auror, James Potter this past Saturday.
Me: First off, thanks very much for giving us your time. We know you must be busy, with all these attacks nowadays.
James: (with a charming smile) It's no problem. I'm very happy to be here.
Me: Let me cut to the question all of your fans are dying to know, are the rumors true that you have a girlfriend?
James: As a matter of fact, yes.
Me: The next most popular question: who?
James: (laughing) I'm afraid I can't tell you. She made me promise not to tell anyone, afraid that she will start getting howlers and curses from my fans.
Me: (smiles) Well she is very smart then, I can be sure that your fans won't be too happy with the news and might try to do some... not so good things to her. Now for the next question how do you feel about being an auror and a celebrity at the same time? It is odd, isn't it, that your job involves so much secrecy and yet you are such a famous celebrity?
Lily jumped in her seat as a voice suddenly gasped, "James!" She quickly placed the magazine on the table, scared of being caught reading such a magazine. Lily looked around, thinking at first that a MediWitch looking through the opened curtains saw her, but realized that it was Ameile. She rushed to her patient's side, to find Ameile's eyes open in shock and confusion.
"Ms. Collins! You're awake! You're in Hogwart's Hospital Wing, remember? Frank Longbottom, an auror, brought you from the attack here. You'll be alright, don't worry," Lily said. But now she was wondering what Ameile meant by 'James', was he another James perhaps? At first she thought that Ameile caught her reading the magazine and was referring to James Potter, but she must be talking about another James. After all it was a common name...
Ameile looked at her, frowning in confusion. "Frank? Why would Frank bring me, unless..." Ameile groaned. "The idiot! I told him I would help him!"
Lily placed her hands on Ameile's shoulders and lightly shook her, "Calm down, Ms. Collins! Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine." Lily did not understand, however, what Ameile was talking about, and was now utterly confused. "What's his full name? Perhaps I can ask someone to find this James for you. But you mustn't go back to help, you need rest."
Ameile was adamant, "No! I have to help! You don't understand, I'm an auror too, and...." Ameile's eyes suddenly drooped and collapsed back onto the bed, fast asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. Lily tutted, "I told you that you needed your rest."
Lily felt sorry for Ameile. She must be very worried for whoever that James person is. Probably her boyfriend. If so, I hope he's alright. How nice, the way Ameile seems to truly love him. I'm sure they would be very happy together. She looked around at the time at the clock, "It's almost three already." Just then, another MediWitch around her age walked up to her.
"You're Lily, right?" The blonde-haired witch asked.
"Yes. Can I help you with something?"
"My name's Megan Stevens," she said quickly, shaking her hand in introduction. "Madam Pomfrey sent me to ask you to help the other MediWitches downstairs."
"Downstairs? What could they be doing down there?"
Megan smiled wryly. "The attack at Diagon Alley just finished. There are lots of wounded aurors down there and we need help levitating them up here."
"Oh! Of course I'll help you. But who shall look over my patient?" Lily said, motioning her hand to Ameile.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there will be other MediWitches up here to take care of her." She took a hold of Lily's hand and led her downstairs.
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries—3:00 P.M.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S NOT HERE?!"
"James, please, calm yourself."
Other people in the waiting room looked at the couple. A tall dark-haired man in bloody auror robes can be seen screaming at the cowering secretary at the desk. A young woman his age, also looking disheveled in her torn auror robes was patting his back and trying to calm him down- to no avail.
James turned angrily at the young woman by his side, his face a burning crimson in fury. "Calm down?! Alice, MY BLOODY GIRLFRIEND IS MISSING AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?!" He turned sharply back at the secretary. "Look here, a man named Frank Longbottom told me that he is brining her here! It's impossible that she's not here! Check the bloody list again!" The secretary whimpered and looked back at the list of admitted patients again.
Alice muttered under her breath hotly, "Well I'm glad to see you're worried about my fiancé, too."
James heard this and softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But I'm sure that Frank is alright..." James then noticed something. "Wait a second! Fiancé? He proposed to you?" Despite the current situation he smiled down at Alice proudly. "Congrats, Alice."
Alice blushed in embarrassment, but could not help but show her hand to James, revealing the silver diamond ring. "Yes, he just proposed last night."
A timid voice interrupted them as the secretary spoke, "If you excuse me, Mr. Potter, she's really not on the list but I think I may know where Ameile Collins may be."
It was Alice's turn to respond to the secretary, "Where? Where else could they have gone?"
The secretary cleared her throat as she said, "St. Mungo's currently cannot hold any more patients. Instead, we are bringing the rest of the patients to the Hospital Wing in Hogwarts. Frank Longbottom may have admitted her there instead."
Alice brought her hand to her forehead in comprehension, "Of course! I've heard Frank telling me about that place before." She held James' hand. "Come on James, let's apparate there, I'm sure Frank and Ameile are both in the Hospital Wing." James, however, was still confused. "I don't get it, why Hogwarts of all places?"
"Never mind that, let's just go." Taking a hold of his hand, they apparated together.
HogwartsHospital Wing—3:40 P.M.
Lily wiped her forehead at the back of sleeve for the umpteenth time that day, tired from rushing up and down the stairs, levitating as many aurors as she can. By this time, her heart was pounding frantically in worry for Frank and Alice. Back in St. Mungo's she never really did any strenuous work nor had any very gruesome patients, but she finally realized now the horrors of war. Most of the aurors were in such bad shape. Some looked like mangled dolls, with their limbs twisted in odd angles. But the things that frightened Lily the most were not the aurors, but the innocent bystanders that were caught in the middle of the fight. The most heart-wrenching thing she saw was a hysterical toddler crying and holding onto her dead mother. Lily felt tears go down her eyes and just hoped that Frank and Alice were in better shape than the lot that she was taking care of now.
She walked over and placed the auror she was levitating onto an empty cot. Behind her, Megan sat down and took a quick breather.
Lily looked at her newfound friend and cried, "I can't believe all this. Even in St. Mungo's I never encountered something as bad as this."
Megan tried to smile comfortingly. "Yes, this is the worst attack I've ever seen. People hysterical everywhere. My goodness, I even saw a couple of MediWitches back there trying to get a headless man to calm down. Apparently a Death Eater in the attack thought it would be funny to splinch his head somewhere else. The MediWitches are trying to ensure him that they are searching for his head, wherever that may be."
Lily shuddered at the thought of losing her head. The two MediWitches sat back to take a quick break when they heard someone shout somewhere down the ward, "GET OFF ME! I'M NOT HERE TO BE TREATED, I'M LOOKING FOR AMEILE!"
Megan frowned in disgust, "Who's that man? Honestly, the nerve of him, he's just going to make all the patients panic."
Lily frowned too. His voice sounds familiar.. "Wait a second, I think he's looking for my patient, Ameile."
"Hmph, worried or not, I'm going over there to talk to that man and shut him up. He's going to cause an uproar if he goes on like that." Megan stood up and began to walk down the ward, towards the owner of the voice. Lily decided to follow.
They saw a man arguing as Madam Pomfrey tried to take a hold of him. The man's back was facing them, but from what Lily could judge from his robes, he was an auror, and a very angry one at that.
Again and again, James tried to get Madam Pomfrey away from him. The mad woman was trying to cast a healing charm on his arm for crying out loud!
"If you would just stop fidgeting," the Head MediWitch said impatiently, "I can heal all these wounds on your arm!"
James shook his arm away from her. "Don't you get it?! I'm not here to be treated, I'm looking for Ameile! She was supposedly admitted here over two hours ago!"
Madam Pomfrey finally stopped. "Ameile? Ameile Collins is her name?"
James sighed, "Yes! Now can you please take me to her?!"
Standing ten feet behind them, Megan cleared her throat and said, "If you excuse us sir, I will gladly bring you to this Ameile Collins. But for bloody crying out loud, stop shouting! You're disrupting the peace and if you do not calm down I will be forced to place a silencing charm on you."
Lily smiled beside her friend. Just trust Megan to take care of these situations. She smiled at her friend proudly.
The man finally turned around and both witches took a step back in shock, for different reasons. Megan was in shock that she spoke against a famous celebrity, a celebrity in fact, that she secretly fantasizes of dating. Lily on the other hand, felt a lump in her throat as she looked into the same hazel eyes that were the live version of the picture she was looking in Witch Weekly just about two hours ago. After about ten seconds of awkward silence:
"Evans? Is that you?" An unbelieving James Potter said. He smiled that charming smile Lily knew all too well. She inwardly groaned and felt the heat rush to her cheeks and was embarrassingly aware of how disheveled she must have looked at the moment. Her hair was messy and she had a sweaty appearance from rushing all around the castle so much. Not that James was any better, but he looked handsome even when his robes were torn and bloody.
Megan finally composed herself and cleared her throat again, "So, shall I lead you to Ms. Collins?"
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Hi everyone. Sorry for the one-day delay. This chapter took longer than I anticipated, but here you go. What do you think?
LOL, I hope my style of putting people's thoughts in italics doesn't confuse you. I just prefer using them rather than the regular quotes. =) What do you guys think of the Witch Weekly? I have to say, I loved writing that part. I actually find it funny, how Lily turned down James' begging for dates in their school years, only to find out that he will become the Most Eligible Bachelor! =P Lily's in for a big shock at finding that the James Potter is the James that Ameile was talking about. Ha! What irony.
Well, go ahead and review. I hope I'll get a lot of reviews for this one! I worked really hard, thus the delay. And if you think that this chapter is fun, this is just the beginning, LOL -wink- Expect my next update next Friday or Saturday and if the worst happens, Sunday =( I'm sorry to say that this is how often I will update from now on. =
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To my reviewers:
h-ermione-g-ranger64: LOL, that is sooo true. Me wuved Sirius.. correction, i still wuv Sirius =) LOL and about Ameile getting jealous over James, let's just see what happens. And Ethan, hahaha, soooo many people dislike him already! LOL Pooor Ethan =D But yes, Lily and James should be together
Tiger Lily21: I know, right? Whenever I update, takes such a looong time to actually put my fic on the list of L/J fics =( It's annoying! That's why I have to wait for about a day to actually start getting reviews =P And about Ethan and Ameile, lots of people are thumbs up for them. We'll just have to wait and see =)
Lily Natalia Evans: Hahahaha =D Everyone really hates that guy, don't they? And you're right, Lily and Ethan's relationship is awkward, I mean, falling in love with the nurse whose taking care of your dad! I actually think of it romantic, in a cute, funny way
loser-me-ushi: Heeehee, well, they do sorta meet. But Ameile's kinda unconscious right now, so they did not get to talk to each other yet =P Aww, our poor Lily, finding that James has a girlfriend.. that looks a lot like her, no less... that is kinda unsettling for Lily, don't you think?
ThreeEaredBunny: Hi hi! that is so true, I couldn't have said it better ; )
cxigner: LOL, well, your wish is fulfilled! Lily does get to see how.. erm.. hotter James had gotten! LOL Witch Weekly's #1 Bachelor ain't that funny. I mean, what a way to finally get to see the guy you haven't seen in two years. Hm.. I would be frustrated, turning down a guy's offers of dates and he turns out to be the Wizarding World's Most Eligible Bachelor later!
simply irresistible: Yup, it has been very constructive, thanx very much! I'm sad that I won't be hearing from you for awhile, I hope you'll review again soon
yeen: Hiya! Again, I'm sorry for the delay.. I do hope you got to read it soon because I know it takes a while before actually posts the newly-updated fics. = Yes, my story is indeed an AU (forgot to mention that sweatdrop) But I'm glad to hear that you think that I made it real enough, that's what I always aim for =) And yes, Ameile is our other dear redhead, looks a lot like Lily actually, as I described in the beginning of this chapter... hmm (sarcastically) now why would James date her? LoL
chunhaiping: Aiya, sorry but I'm not a hundred percent Chinese... although my grandfather was part Chinese =) I hope that doesn't change your opinion on me, I do love anything Japanese, but I made my name Chinese in honor of the tiny Chinese part of me Isn't ni haw hello? I'm not sure what the "ma" part is though.. sorry! And to answer any other question, I'm not Japanese either =( unfortunately. I'm only a mere Japanese wannabe =D
Hp-Azn: Oye! Wassup? =) Heehee, I luv Beyonce! She rocks! LOL, don't worry James is fine... I think. The poor guy, he's so worried about Ameile, ain't that cute? LoL, if only there were guys like him actually exist in the world =P Review pleeeaase
Padfoot103: Thanks! Sorry for the one-day delay, but here it is!
shell: Thanks for loving me story! Heehee, well they finally met! =P
Elspeth Renee: Woo! Well, here is the chapter, and it does seem that all of my chapters are getting increasingly longer LOL
Fir3fly: Hi Hi, greetings, salutations, all that good stuff Unfortunately, I don't understand Chinese (I only know "wo ai ni" and "ni haw" for crying out loud!) Look at my response to chunhaiping up there I hope this update is quick enough.. school's been getting in the way =( I'm in a magnet school and it's hard for me -sniff sniff- But anyways! I hope you like my story (I guess you do, considering you reviewed! =P ) And I gotta say, I luuuuuuuuuuv ur story "Sacrifices for Love" it's original n also on of my favs Update that fic soon too! =D
FrEgOrGeLuVeR225: LoL I decided to copy and paste your name here because it would've taken me too long to type it! =D Thx for your review! Can you rate my story? one-lowest and ten-being the highest?
pink-ocean-mist: Hiiiiii! Don't worry I don't mind how late anyone's reviews are, the best thing is that they do review! I hope you don't get into to trouble reading at the computer. I can't blame ya, fanfics are soooo addicting! =D
Dangerous Perfection: Hey! Thx for your review, and I hope this update was soon enough
Review please!