So many reviews, I feel so loved. Well here is chapter ten and it's not very important and will be short. Well actually all my chapters are pretty short but this one will be shorter. This chapter is really a connecting chapter to the big events in chapter eleven and twelve. Now its shout-out time!
Isy Black: Yeah you reviewed again! Well I can do that to Fred because it's my story and everything will work out in the end. Just watch and learn!
Fred and George Rock my World: Thanks for reviewing! Is this soon enough for you?
Euraphadriel: Thanks for the review! Yes, Angelina is and awful person but things will get better.
KitKat001: Thanks for another review! I think the way Alicia's going to make it up to George will be good enough! HINT HINT!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter because I'm not J.K. Rowling-ish enough.
Chapter 10- Deadlines and First Dates
She was sure her plan would never fail. Walking down the corridors she was wondering why no one had thought of the plan before. Maybe it was because it would be a waste of time and money to go that and far and try to save one patient when there were hundred others. Besides, she was sure the healer lived over seas and it was expensive to buy a Portkey that far.
She knocked on the door of Dr. Chang's office hoping she wasn't busy. "Come in," came her voice.
Alicia entered her office and saw Dr. Chang was writing some health reports. "How can I help you Alicia?" she asked looking up and then back down to her reports.
"I wanna try curing Fred Weasly," she said. She got right to the point, no beating around the bush.
"Alicia, you and I have already tried. All of the Junior Healers we have asked world-wide don't even know. How do you plan on curing him? We have obviously tried everything we can," Cho stated flatly.
Alicia had planned on her saying something like that. She had a solution though. She was going to go to an award-winning doctor, one that invented much medicine, one that wrote books, one that founded many hospitals all over the planet. "I'm going to go see Poppy Pomfrey," she said awaiting her response.
Cho looked up from her papers. Everyone knew about Madame Pomfrey now. After leaving Hogwarts she went on to create medical history and cure hundreds of diseases. "Madame Pomfrey?" Cho asked absolutely shocked. "Alicia, she's not just going to see any willing healer who has a question. She is at the most highest status a healer can be at! She is like the Pope of medicine!"
Alicia knew that. In the magical world a there was four different stages of healers. The first one was a trainee where all healers began as someone's apprentice. After the trainee stage was the Mediwitch and that was the stage that Alicia was at. This was the stage where that taught he apprentices. The next stage was the Junior Healer. This was the stage that Cho was at and they supervised the lower levels and took care of more advanced procedures. The last stage was Advanced Healer and Madame Pomfrey was one of the five qualified ones in the world. They finalized important medical decisions around the world and took care of the most deadly and contagious diseases.
"Cho, weren't you her apprentice during her short time as a Mediwitch here at St. Mungo's?" Alicia asked. Cho was trained by the finest and was the reason she got promoted so quickly. "Maybe you could ask her for a very small meeting?"
"That is ridiculous. You know where she is right now? Egypt! The hospital obviously can't pay for a Portkey to Egypt so are you really going to spend 500 galleons to save one man?"
Five hundred galleons was a lot of money. Ever since Madame Pomfrey opened a hospital in Egypt prices had been raised on Portkeys there because so many doctors and patients had gone to such a fine hospital. "I can spare it," Alicia croaked out but was unsure she could.
"Don't forget you need a Portkey back! Sure it's not as expensive but they are about 200 galleons. Do you really want to spend 700 galleons?"
Alicia gulped. She didn't know it would be that much money for a couple of day in Egypt. No she thought! I can't give up because I have to save Fred for George! "I'm willing to pay if you're willing to book meeting."
Cho sighed. "I know you are great friends with the Weasly twins so I'll book a meeting for you but I'm only giving you two days. It's all I can give you with the shortage of doctors in my department. "Cho sighed again and walked over to her fireplace that was connected to the Floo Network. It was expensive to even take the Floo Network to Egypt but was cheaper for only your head.
"Pomfrey hospital!" Cho screamed and threw some silver powder in to the fire. Then she stuck her head in it. Alicia couldn't hear what the other person was saying but she could hear Cho say, "I need a small appointment with Madame Pomfrey. Yes. No, we could not find any Junior Healers that could help. Okay, thank you." Cho took her head out of the fire.
"Well?" Alicia asked excited.
"Well, I spoke with her secretary and she says you can have about ten minutes at seven in the morning tomorrow. It seems she was pretty free tomorrow."
"Yeah!" Alicia screamed and threw her arms in the air.
"Don't forget, I want you back the day after tomorrow."
"If I have an appointment tomorrow why are you giving me an extra day?" Alicia wondered.
"Well, you're not going to be back there anytime soon so you might as well enjoy yourself." Cho smiled. "Now you better get home and pack if you're gonna get a Portkey today," she advised.
"Thanks," Alicia said before skipping out the door.
When Alicia arrived she had to pack in and hour and then had a little time to pick up something to eat. After packing some robes and clothing, a hairbrush, some hair ties, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a swimsuit just in case she decided to go swimming she grabbed some canned food and a can opener and threw it in. She was not going to spend more money there on food.
After she stopped at the Hogsmeade bank, Stonewall, and picked up 750 galleons she noticed she only had a couple of assorted coins left. "I gotta stop shopping," she told herself.
She charmed her trunk so there were wheels which made it a lot easier to drag it to the Portkey store. "Hello, how can I help you today?" asked the balding man at the counter.
"I need a portkey to Egypt," she said.
"That will be," he paused to check his chart," Five hundred galleons. Would you like us to book you a Portkey in Egypt?" he asked as Alicia forked over a bag with five hundred galleons in it.
"Um, okay."
"Where would you like to lead?"
"Back here, Hogsmeade," she said to be specific.
"Would you like us to book anything else?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah a hotel," she requested.
"Any hotel in particular?"
"The nearest one to Pomfrey Hospital will do."
"Bob! We need a potkey to Cairo and book one back from there and a room at the Waldorf!" the man screamed to a man in the back room. Then the man took out some parchment and wrote the address of the Waldorf hotel. "What's your name and when will you be coming back?" he asked.
"Alicia Spinnet and Wednesday, July 15," she answered.
The man finished writing and then handed her the piece of parchment. It read:
Waldorf Hotel
72 Pharaoh Road
Cairo, Egypt
One Portkey is booked in Cairo, Egypt to the magical town of Hogsmeade on the day of July 15, 2005 in the name of Alicia Spinnet.
Hogsmeade's Portkeys
Samuel Hanson
"Please sign at the bottom," he directed handing her a quill. She signed it and then Bob walked out with a cowboy hat. "This is the address to your hotel," he said pointing to the top,"That hat will take you to the Cairo Portkey store and when you want to come back just show this to them."
Alicia took her trunk and went to hold the Portkey. When she did she felt she was being pulled from behind her navel as she saw the ground underneath disappear. Then she felt the ground underneath her again and her legs started to wobble. When her eye sight came back she grabbed the counter beside her to steady herself.
"Hello there," a dark haired Egyptian women said from behind the counter. Her English was accented.
"Hello," Alicia greeted putting the cowboy hat on the counter. In Hogsmeade she had left at eight o'clock so it must have been ten o'clock here.
"What is your name and where did you coming from?" the women asked. She obviously didn't speak English often.
"My name is Alicia Spinnet and I came from Hogsmeade," she answered.
"Okay," the women said writing it all done on a piece of parchment. "When are you going back?"
"Wednesday, July 15, 2005."
"Okay, do you need any help with anything?"
"Yes," Alicia paused to take out the parchment the man, Samuel, had given her. "How do you get to the Waldorf Hotel at 72 Pharaoh Road?"
"Walk east until your second left and turn and walk straight until your fourth right and urn and walk straight until you see it," she answered and handed her a map. She took out a quill, dipped it in some red ink and circled where the Waldorf was.
"Could you also circle the Pomfrey Hospital please?" Alicia asked and watched as she re-dipped the quill and circled the hospital that was not more than a mile away from the Waldorf.
She thanked the lady and walked out the door. She looked on the map and started to walk the way it directed. In ten minutes Alicia found the Waldorf. It was a large hotel about ten floors with the Egyptian flag on the flag post outside the doorway. There were also some plants in the front and some of them were even magical.
Alicia looked at the foyer of the hotel and walked past the gift shop to the front desk where some tourists were checking in. "Hello," the Egyptian man said. His English was also accented.
"I have a hotel room booked," she said.
"What is your name?" he asked looking at a piece of parchment with a bunch of names on it.
"Alicia Spinnet."
"Here you are. You are on the eighth floor in room 8825," he said handing her a key.
Alicia took the key and went up the elevator while levitating dragging her trunk with her. Walking down the halls she found her room beside Room 8823 and opened the door with her key. On her left was a closet and to her right was a bathroom. She walked in further and beside her was the bed. In front were some chairs and a table. Behind it was a large window.
Alicia turned on the light with a flick of her wand and plopped down on the bed. She decided to shower and then brush her teeth. After she changed into her pajamas ad picked up the telephone on her night table. She opened her trunk and took out a can of ravioli. Then she conjured up a bowl and poured the ravioli into it. Then she heated it up with her wand and poured some water in it and started mixing it with some utensils she brought.
After eating her ravioli she picked up some parchment and a quill at the table and wrote a letter for a walk up call to her room at six o'clock in the morning. Then she folded it up into an airplane and charmed to fly towards the front desk. She brushed her teeth and lay in bed at eleven o'clock.
Back in Hogsmeade at nine o'clock Angelina and George just finished having dinner together. "Where do you think Alicia is?" Angelina asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know. She won't be farther than Scotland probably," George replied.
"When she comes back are you going to tell her you still love her?" Angelina asked. George had told her during dinner.
"Yeah, but she won't feel the same," he said. Even though he had told her he still liked Alicia Angelina could tell him she felt the same.
Their mindless conversation continued as they talked about many random things but Angelina was bothered. She still hadn't told George about Elijah but she was scared that he might get angry at her for dumping her brother. They were very protective of each other even though Fred was unconscious.
"Uh, George, I gotta tell you something. Now I told Alicia and she didn't think the best of my decision so after I've told you, you have every right to be angry."
"Okay." He sat up straighter and faced Angelina interested in what she was about to say.
"Well the other day I met a guy, named Elijah, at the Three Broomsticks and well we started talking and we really hit it off. Then I realized I was getting old and I wanted to settle down soon and start a family and I just couldn't wait for Fred anymore. So earlier tonight I broke up with him."
"You what!" George asked shocked.
"I broke up with him. Then I wrote a letter to Elijah and we have a date tomorrow."
"Why do you still have the ring?" George asked looking at her ring finger.
"I don't want to give to him while he's unconscious. It's so important."
"Huh…"
"Huh? What do you think George?"
"I can't say I totally respect your decision but I get where you're coming from."
"Thanks," she said and hugged him and he hugged back.
Alicia awoke with a start as a sound close to an air horn filled her room. "Stop, I'm awake!" she yelled out and the noise stopped abruptly. Getting up she went and got changed. "I hate mornings," she muttered to herself while getting ready.
Once outside of the hotel Alicia followed the map towards Pomfrey Hospital that was about a mile away from the Waldorf. She walked down the dirt path and thought about her dear friend Angelina. I wonder if she's going to wait for Fred she wondered while continuing to walk.
While walking Alicia realized that she had forgotten to eat and was now very hungry. So she stopped at a little café for some coffee and a bit of breakfast. After being seated and ordering Alicia decided to read the paper in Egypt. This idea was horrible though because there were no papers in English.
Eating her doughnut slowly since she still had a lot of time left she over heard a conversation. Two middle-aged were talking in English surprisingly. "What's the operation for?" asked the skinnier women of the two.
"I don't know. The stupid doctors can't explain anything. And it's so expensive! I'd rather let him die and get another husband then pay those awful prices!" said the other women. Alicia guessed they were talking about her husband having an operation.
"Ida, don't joke about these things. This could be really serious! Don't you have an alternative other than the operation? I'm sure you can have him take pills or something," said Ida's friend.
Ida looked at her friend sternly. "No, he has to do both. That pig-headed doctor says it's serious and after the operation he still needs to take pills. Stupid idiot of a husband! I told him to lose some weight."
"Why don't you just go to that hospital at the edge of town? Well it's not really a hospital but the couple that works there offers cheap health care and it's very safe," Ida's friend suggested.
"What's it called?"
"It started with a 'j'. I don't know. John's Hospital? I don't remember…"
Alicia quickly drained the rest of her coffee when the two women started a new conversation about washing white robes. She got up, left six Sickles, and continued her journey to Pomfrey Hospital.
Alicia stood outside the hospital. She was in a magical village that was not accessible by muggles so the hospital wasn't needed to be hidden like St. Mungo's. "I can't believe I'm going to see Madame Pomfrey," Alicia told her excited self.
She walked into the main entrance and saw a crowd of people in the waiting room. There was about twice the average amount of people at St. Mungo's hospital daily. Ignoring it she went to find Madame Pomfrey's office.
After following the many arrowed signs she located her office at the back of the hospital. Walking up to her secretary's desk Alicia noticed the many chairs for her clients were all empty. She found this strange for such an important person.
"Excuse me? I'm here to speak to Madame Pomfrey. I have an appointment at seven," Alicia stated.
"Oh, I'm sorry but she's away. There seemed to be a terrible emergency in Mongolia and she just needed to be there. We're sorry for not alerting you sooner," the secretary said.
"Oh, okay." She tried smiling but was unsuccessful. She was very disappointed, not only did she waste seven hundred Galleons but she was no longer able to cure Fred. George's going to keep being angry at me and Angelina's going to marry that Elijah guy she panicked.
The secretary seemed to read her mind because she offered a solution. "If you really need to meet and Advanced Healer there is one in another town. If you're lucky you could snag five minutes."
"Where is she?"
"Madame Anthony is right now in Alexandria." Madame Anthony was the youngest and the newest Advanced Healer. The disease in Mongolia must have been serious if they decided on Pomfrey rather than Anthony.
"Thank you," Alicia said and rushed out the door but before she could do so the secretary spoke again.
"You could use my fireplace if you like."
"Okay." Then Alicia took the Floo Network to St. Lyle's Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.
It was eight o'clock at night and Alicia had sat there for more than twelve hours waiting before they kicked her out because they had no more time. So she walked down the streets the Portkey store to go home early. It wasn't like her to give up so early but currently, there were no more solutions. A letter to an Advanced Healer was a waste of parchment since they never replied and she missed her only chance of meeting one.
After apparating from Alexandria back to the hotel and packed all of her things and dragged her trunk to the store. Outside the store was a sign though. It read:
Portkey Store closed for the holiday of rest. We will reopen on Wednesday.
Sorry for any problems.
"Sorry my ass," Alicia muttered as she was walking back to her hotel. Looks like she was going to have to stay until Wednesday.
Angelina was nervous. She had never been through a date without her friends. Obviously George wasn't helpful. ("It doesn't make you look fat, it makes you look pregnant!") So she had decided to wear a white t-shirt and some jeans. "Wish me luck," she said to her cat Lucy.
She was meeting Elijah at The Magic Wand which was a nice comfortable place that she loved. After apparating there she saw Elijah sitting there waiting for her. "Angelina!" he yelled to catch her attention.
"Hey!" she said and sat down across from him.
While eating through her salad she and Elijah talked about many things but Elijah seemed to be talking most of the time. When Elijah left for the bathroom Angelina wondered why she wasn't enjoying herself. It was great food, a wonderful guy that kept the conversation going, and Elijah was really cute. Why wasn't she having fun with Elijah like she did with Fred? Why was her laughter hollow and meaningless? Why didn't she want to talk to Elijah?
"Angelina?" Elijah had come back during her thinking.
"Yes?" she asked trying to sound cheerful.
"What's wrong? You don't seem to be enjoying yourself," he said.
"I don't know, I guess it just feels weird dating again and just getting the idea that I'm single again."
"Maybe you don't want to be single?"
"What do you mean?" Angelina asked bewildered.
"I mean maybe you broke up with your fiancée because it would make the most sense and be the most logical. Maybe you don't want to go around explaining that you don't know when you're getting married anymore. You want to have a normal relationship again. But inside you want to be with Fred, you want to wait for him."
"Yeah, I think you're right. Do you mind if I leave so early? I just want to go home." Right now Angelina needed Alicia or Katie to help her sort out her emotions.
"Sure," said Elijah with an understanding smile on his face. Angelina got up and dropped two Galleons to pay for her share of the meal. She needed to go home now.
Look how long it is! It took a while to write but I hope you're happy! I'm about three quarters through HBP and by the time I add the next chapter I will be done the book. Reviews are appreciated. I also have a question. In the second book I think it said that Dumbledore was the Transfiguration teacher. In the sixth book when he went to get Tom Riddle he said he was the Headmaster. Could you answer that for me?