Chapter 3

"Thank you for taking Teddy, Andromeda" Ophelia sighed in relief as the hyper little boy took off running to his bedroom. His knapsack fell to the floor when he rounded the corner, spilling its contents over the carpet.

Andromeda stared in his bedroom direction with affection, "It's no bother. He reminds me so much of Nymphadora when she was his age."

The last few weeks had been very stressful for Fee and if it weren't for Andromeda, she wasn't sure how she would have managed juggling Teddy and working at St. Mungo's full time while trying to write a proposal to implement the R.J. Lupin Foundation in London. Not to mention, Healer Doss was making it his personal mission to undermine her authority at every opportunity and put her at odds with the rest of the staff. And to top it all off, her nightmares had started to return. Things she hadn't thought about since the war started to creep their way back into her mind and set off a flood of emotions and memories in the most unexpected places and unfortunate times. She had spoken to Hermione about some of it, even Harry but, she felt like it was something she needed to overcome on her own with time. The entire situation was draining her, and Andromeda must have seen it when she came to see Teddy a few weeks before because she offered to take him for two weeks to give her a much-needed break and Fee didn't hesitate to take her up on the offer. She loved Teddy so much but, he was a handful at the best of times, and she wasn't feeling like herself.

"He didn't cause too much trouble then?"

"Oh! there was more than enough trouble to go around!" Andromeda's eyes sparkled, "but no damage was done and that's all that matters."

Fee shook her head in amusement, "Thank you again, Andromeda."

Andromeda nodded, "Don't hesitate to reach out, Ophelia. You're just as much a part of my family as Teddy is."

"I will."

It was strange to think of Andromeda as family. Sure, she was Tonks' mother but, she was also Bellatrix's Lestrange's sister, and she used to find the resemblance both uncanny and unsettling but, quickly learned that the resemblance was all Bellatrix and Andromeda shared. Andromeda loved Teddy so much, and if Fee needed anything, she knew she could send word to Andromeda, and she would drop everything to be there to help. It was comforting knowing that Teddy had such a strong support system behind him.

Ophelia quickly mixed a few dried ingredients together in her mortar before grinding them down with her pestle. She quickly transferred them to her cauldron, the liquid inside turned a pale, translucent blue color and let off a sharp herbal scent that seemed to linger in the air. She took a glass bottle out of the cabinet in the wall and filled it with the potion, placing a wood stopper in the opening, and labelling it with dark red ink. She took the glass bottle with her as she walked down the hall and into the room of one of her patients.

The elderly man, Mr. Morrow, had been admitted a few times in the last month complaining of transient pain. Healer Doss wrote the man off, saying he was after pain potions and nothing more but, something about the way the man cried out during the physical examination Fee gave him caused her to think there was something else going on. After speaking to him for quite some time, she learned a great deal about him. Mr. Morrow used to be a professional Quidditch Player for the Chudley Canons, a Chaser, until he was injured by a bludger during a game, and he was never able to get back full function of his left arm. In fact, he had been injured several times in his quidditch career, some of the injuries had never received medical attention and he frequently waved her off, stating "I'm no wimp!".

"What's that?" he mumbled pointing at the glass bottle in her hand.

"I have a theory Mr. Morrow. You told me you started having this pain after injuring your neck and back in a quidditch match when you were younger, and you didn't receive treatment until it started to cause you pain. I think there may be something there that didn't heal correctly and that's what is causing your pain now." Fee explained, taking a seat across from him.

He didn't say anything at first but eyed the glass bottle and it contents curiously. "I don't want any pain potions! It gives me night terrors!"

"It's not a pain potion. It's something that will help your muscles relax and heal any kind of damage that may be present. You just take a small amount every day until it's gone, and you should notice improvement within a couple of weeks."

"You're trying to sell me a miracle aren't you, girl!" he scoffed at her.

"It's not a miracle, it's medicine and you don't have to take it but, it is your best option. There are only a few side effects- you may have a slight increase in appetite, and a bit of a fever and you may have some insomnia, but they should clear out after about a week."

"And I should notice improvement after a couple of weeks, you say?"

"That's right. So, what do you say, Mr. Morrow?"

Mr. Morrow scratched his head and then gave her a nod, "I'll give it a chance, I suppose."

Fee smiled and handed him the bottle, "All of the instructions are on the label, Mr. Morrow. I'll set up another appointment in a couple weeks' time to check in and hopefully by that time, you won't need anything else from me or any other Healer here. How's that sound?"

Mr. Morrow sighed as he hobbled out of the room towards the exit with the potion in hand, "I'll see you in a couple of weeks then, my dear."

Fee made her way to the front desk to hand off Mr. Morrow's file to Gisela to put away. It was almost the end of the day and there was a general lull that seemed to fall over the hospital at this time. The staff would often congregate to their small social circles for brief moments between patients or grab a snack to eat while doing their paperwork in preparation for the night shift.

Healer Doss was there at the front desk, leaning against the side speaking to Gisela who looked slightly uncomfortable. Gisela looked up when she saw Fee approaching, quickly putting distance between herself and Doss. Doss whipped his head around and straightened his composure, a condescending sneer took over his expression, reminding her of Draco Malfoy.

"You sent that old beggar home with pain potions, didn't you? You know, he's just going to be back for more." The tone in his voice was full of disgust for Mr. Morrow who was barely out of earshot.

"He's my patient, Doss. Not yours. If I want your consultation on a patient, I will ask. If you ever discuss patient information again, out in the open for everyone to hear like you just did, I will report you to Mrs. Sharpe for breach of confidentiality. Are we perfectly clear?"

There were mixed looks of surprise, discomfort, and glee on the faces of the staff having heard Fee's retort. Doss, on the other hand, looked murderous as a red tinge crept up from under the collar of his shirt and his ears burnt with embarrassment.

"Are you threatening me?! Everyone knows I'm right! He's a regular in here!"

"And what's more important to you? Being right? Or the care and privacy of the patient? And it's not a threat. Patients have a right to privacy, and you are violating that right. This is the only time we are going to have this conversation, Doss."

Doss looked as if his head was about to explode as he yanked a chart from Gisela's outstretched hand and stomped off in the direction of his office, cursing Ophelia's name as he went. It took everything Fee had to stay calm and neutral in her tone. Getting angry and upset when handling workplace conflict never ended well, and Doss was the type to match energy which was terrifying considering how high strung he already was.

Gisela stood up, a strange and distant expression on her face as she passed her another chart over the desk, "Room four. Another regular. Spell damage after an experiment gone wrong. Doss refused to take him."

Fee took the chart and gave it a quick glance before looking back at Gisela, "Thank you. Gisela…are you alright?"

The brunette shook her head and gave her the best smile she could muster, "Of course. It's nothing."

Fee didn't believe her. Something about her demeanor was off. Gisela was always very upbeat and cheerful but in the last couple of weeks, she couldn't remember seeing her smile or hearing her laugh with the other medi-witches once.

"I know we don't know each other that well but, if you need someone to talk to, my office is always open, and I happen to be a very good listener."

Gisela nodded and slowly took her seat behind the desk once again as Fee turned and approached room number four and her new patient.

Ophelia read over the admission information in the chart once again as she reached the patient's room. The patient was male and admitted after a cauldron of potion with an unknown nature exploded. Listed below were injuries associated: extensive burns on hands, arms, and chest, and several lacerations. Fee quickly came to a halt outside the door when she read the patients name, Fred Weasley. Fee's heart hammered in her chest with dread as she opened the door and walked in.

There, sitting in the bed with his raw arms out in front of him and his blistered chest open to the cool air, was Fred Weasley. His face was contorted in pain, his forehead was covered in sweat, his breathing was fast and erratic, and his body was shaking involuntarily as he was shivering but seeing how badly he was burnt; Fee knew that wasn't the case. She quickly went to the shelf by his bed and took a pain potion out, pouring the vibrant purple liquid into a cup and holding it up to his lips for him to drink, which he did greedily. "It will help with the pain, Fred." She told him.

After a minute or so, Fred began to relax, and the shaking began to subside, and his breathing had begun to return to normal. He raised his head to look at her, his eyes widening before looking a bit embarrassed.

"I thought Doss was my Healer?" he asked.

Fee, who had already started to gather some bandages and ointments from the cabinets, stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him, surprised and hurt, "Something urgent came up for Doss," she lied, "but if you prefer to have him, I can go-"

"No! I…that's not what I meant." Fred sighed and shook his head.

She took that as permission to continue and set her supplies down in the table by the bed. "How exactly did this happen?" she asked softly as she began to apply bandages over the lacerated areas on Fred's chest after mending them the best she could with a simple charm. He winced in pain when the bandage brushed up against one of the burns.

"Experimenting at the shop. I thought I had that bloody cauldron under control-"

"But you didn't." Fee finished for him.

"I was standing in front of it when it exploded. I would've tried to heal everything on my own but, there's no way I can hold a wand right now."

Fee shook her head as she was better able to examine the burns. "Oh Fred, these burns on your arms and hands are really bad!"

"I'm not leaving the hospital tonight, am I?" he asked grimly.

"No, you're not. Do you want me to send an owl to anyone for you?"

"Could you send word to George. Bloody git! He'll be in a right state when he sees the mess I made in the office!" he joked.

"I will" Fee grinned.

They didn't talk much as Fee continued to treat Fred's burns. Every once in awhile the silence grew uncomfortable and one of them would make a comment, usually about something trivial until the silence overtook them once again. Fee tried her best to focus on the job at hand and not on the fact that she and Fred hadn't been this physically close to one another since before the war.

"So…are you seeing anyone?" Fred let out a sharp hiss in pain as Fee tended to his burns.

"We're not having this conversation, Fred" there was a warning in her tone.

"You know, we used to be able to talk" Fred pressed on.

"Do you really want to talk about this when I'm charge of your pain potions?"

"Well, if you use them against me, I'd have you thrown into Azkaban" he joked, a grin crept across his face.

Fee paused as she registered his joke, a small grin gracing her own face before it was quickly replaced by a serious expression, "I wouldn't even know where to start..."

Fred stayed quiet but waited for her to continue when he noticed her demeanor had become tense, like she was trying to figure out the right words to say.

"I was in love with you…" her words were quiet but there was a slight, nervous shake to her voice when she spoke and she looked directly at him as she continued, "But you…did you even care?"

His chest tightened at her words and a sense of shame washed over him as he tried to digest the words that she had just spoken. "Ophelia, hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do."

"Then why did you do it?" her voice trembled.

"Do what?" The voice startled them both and Ophelia and Fred whipped their heads around to see Stella standing in the doorframe dressed in a fitted navy skirt suit and looking quite concerned as she rushed towards Fred's bed, barely allowing time for Ophelia to get out of the way.

Ophelia quickly gathered the remainder of her potions and bandages and began disposing of them, quietly, while trying her best to avoid meeting Fred's eyes as she could still feel him watching her closely.

"You should've told me, Fred! I had to find out you were in the hospital from George!" Stella fussed.

"Stella, I'm not about to keel over! I'll be home by tomorrow." Fred's tone was sharp and there was a bit of anger in the way he looked at his girlfriend but Stella didn't seem to notice.

"Is that true, Ophelia? Will he be home tomorrow?"

Ophelia gave her a brief nod before turning to Fred, "He should be. I will let the medi-witch on night duty know to give you're pain potions throughout the night but you should be able to go in the morning. You'll have a bit of a burning sensation in your hands for a few days and some of those lacerations will need to heal on their own but, you shouldn't need any additional treatment." She said what she had to and began making her way to the door before she was drawn into a conversation with Stella.

Fred watched Ophelia retreat to the door as quickly as she could before he or Stella could protest. Stella was making herself comfortable in the armchair beside the bed, muttering about how she wouldn't be leaving his side all night, but he was annoyed and angry with her presence more than anything else.

He woke up this morning to yet another article about his family on the front page of the Daily Prophet and this time there were no number of apologies or promises that Stella could use to justify her most recent betrayal. There on the front page of the Daily Prophet was a photograph of his brother, Percy, with a title that read "Weasley Woes!". Stella went on to write about his late brother's accomplishments, as well as his falling out with the family. She and Fred had talked about Percy on a few occasions when they were getting to know each other, and he never expected to see his family's private affairs out in the open like this. Sure, Stella had written about the family before, small little pieces of public knowledge that were bothersome but never intrusive. This was something else entirely. This was hurtful and after they had talked about her overstepping boundaries with her writing already. There was no coming back from this.

"You should leave, Stella." Fred said, not a trace of humor in his voice.

"Don't be silly, darling! I'm staying put until you get all clear in the morning." Stella told him, a soft smile on her face as she looked at him affectionately.

Fred motioned to the bedside table where a copy of the Daily Prophet lay folded. "Percy was my brother, Stella. We may not have gotten along but he was family, and he died a hero."

Stella looked back at him, her eyes falling and looking very uncomfortable and guilty, "If you just let me explain-"

"NO! I don't want to hear any more explanations! People are going to read your article and think of Percy as some traitor! Did you even think about how I would feel reading it?! Or how my family- How my parents would feel when they open the post and see this?!" He tried his best to keep his voice under control, but his anger was getting the better of him.

"I…I didn't think…I just got carried away-"

"You always do. But, this time…this was too much, Stella. I don't think we should see each other anymore." He said it as plainly as he could and left no room for interpretation.

"I know I messed up but, Fred…" Stella's eyes were glossy and her lip quivered as his words began to set in. He was ending things.

"I won't be discharged until morning, so you have until then to get your things from my flat. George and Angelina will let you in and you can leave your key with them."

"I…I am really sorry, Fred." She sniffled as she gathered her things and made a quick escape out of the room and towards the exit.