. Saturday on October first, Harriette was spinning with excitement. The day finally arrived that she would meet her new interns who were due to arrive midmorning to start their internship. As the brisk September day's passed, Harriette had watched the leaves on the trees shift from green and yellow to deep orange and red from the window in her bed chamber. Students came and went day to day but still, she found herself with a lot of free time anxiously waiting for her internship program to start. Of course, her brilliant and overly-organized mind already had a schedule and duty chart planned out for her new interns. She had chosen two students who previously spoke to their Head of House's and showed interest in the medical field during their career counselling assessment the previous year.
Maisie Wood was an accomplished seventh year who maintained E's in all of her classes, most of which were advanced. She would no doubt make an excellent healer. Harriette's second choice was Nellie Jordan. She was supposedly a sweet but timid sixth year who also held perfect grades. Of course, her shyness may prove to be a bit of a problem. If you were going to be a healer, that could be hazardous. She would have to help the girl overcome her reticence. Regardless, she was anxious to meet them, as they were both promising young witches.
At precisely ten o'clock the doors to the infirmary pushed open. One of the two girls shuffling in looked rather intimidated while the other seemed chipper. Harriette could only assume they were her interns. The bubblier of the two had sandy brown hair and a sharp chin she recognized but she couldn't quite place the familiarity. The second of the two had beautiful bouncing dreadlocks. Despite the girl's small smile and even seemingly smaller personality, she could instantly see a resemblance to Lee Jordan in her face.
"Welcome! You must be Maisie and Nellie. You wouldn't happen to be related to Lee Jordan, would you?"
"Yes, you know my dad?"
"Oh, I did, a lifetime ago it seems. And what about you, Maisie? Do you have any parents that attended Hogwarts?"
"I sure do! Oliver Wood. He was Quidditch captain for Gryffindor!" Of course! That is where she recognized the girl's pointy chin.
"Wonderful! So I assume that professors Black and Luna Lovegood informed you about your appointed internship with me, yes?" Both girls nodded. Sirius was the head of Gryffindor and Luna was the head of Ravenclaw. It was their job to counsel the students in their respective houses on grades, career paths, and everything in between. "Right. Well starting next year, Nellie, you will have the opportunity to come back as a seventh year intern. Fifth years will be able to apply for your current position at the end of term following their OWL exams." The girl nodded again. "Now, Maisie, because there hasn't been a program before, in order to get the required credits to complete your internship, you will have to perform twice as many hours as a normal seventh year student would normally. This will allow you to advance in your Medical Training upon leaving Hogwarts. It will be stressful and exhausting, not to mention the studying and essays you will need to complete. You will be mentally, emotionally, and physically challenged. Are you sure you are up for this?"
Professor McGonagall had worked with the Department of Magical Education to come up with a credited internship program that would allow the students who completed it to enter occupational education training programs at an advanced stage. The head of the department was delighted at the idea and was amazed such a program hadn't already existed. Even the school board was all too eager to help fund the program. Needless to say everything was working out in Harriette's favor better than she had imagined.
"I am sure you are familiar with the hospital wing. Follow me, please." She started walking towards her office with the girls following close behind. "Through these doors is my office, and beyond that, my bed chambers. If I am not with you in the infirmary or here in my office, I will be in my room. You need only knock and I will assist you with whatever you may need." Stepping to the side of the open door, she raised her arm, indicating they should go through the door. "Here to the left is the storage for all the potions, elixirs, bandages and clean linens. You will have limited access to some of these as they can be quite dangerous if you do not know the proper way to handle or use them. As you complete training and studying, you will be granted permission to handle them. Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, when do we begin?" Maisie's excitement was contagious, and Harriette found herself smiling back at the little witch.
"How about right now?" While Maisie was ecstatic, she noticed Nellie's reluctance and withdrawal. Hopefully with a little time she would come out of her shell.
"I have a textbook for both of you." Harriette fetched two large tomes from her desk. She handed one titled The Healer's Helpmate to Nellie, and the other Learning the Art of Healing in a Hurry she handed to Maisie. "You will be studying from these and I will have you research outside of these texts. I will also expect essays, and I will quiz you on them as well." She turned to the sixth year girl. "During the summer I expect you to purchase the next volume to your textbook and begin to study it, Nellie. For now, I would like you to read the first three chapters and provide a one page essay on each chapter. Your internship will start during your free period everyday during the school week, and on Saturdays from ten to three. I will see you on Monday." She dismissed the younger girl but was internally kicking herself. Was that too harsh?
Over the next few hours, after explaining her expectations to Maisie, she had the seventh year switching linens on the beds and taking inventory for the wares in the storage cupboard. She also went over the different potions and supplies as well as their uses. She was impressed at Maisie's determination and ability to pick up the information rather quickly. The girl was very eager to learn, much like Harriette as a young witch.
Just as she was going to dismiss Maisie, the doors to the medical wing burst open and Sirius Black calmly ushered a hysterical child into the room. The boy was holding his hand up blubbering incoherently about missing his finger bones.
"What in Merlin's beard happened, Mr. Black?" She sat the kid in a nearby cot and had Maisie fetch the Skelegro after examining the boy's fingers. Immediate flashbacks of Harry's rubber-like arm missing his complete hand and wrist bones came to mind. Lockhart was something else.
"We were practicing transfiguring rats into goblets and Mr. Evans here managed to transfigure his own hand into one, but before I could help him, he took it upon himself to try and reverse the spell and lost a few bones." She could see the amusement in Sirius' eyes. He was hiding it well and she had to admit, it must have been quite a scene.
"Well I guess we will be more careful from now on, won't we?" She pulled the skull stopper from the tall medicine bottle and poured the boy some of the foul concoction. He managed to choke it all down. Harry had spit the potion out the first time he tasted it. "Rest up. It isn't going to feel too good re-growing those bones but it shouldn't take more than a few hours. You are lucky you don't need to regrow the whole hand!"
"Lucky, indeed." Agreed Sirius. He flashed a grin at her, and she scowled playfully back at him.
"Maisie, you are dismissed for the night. Read the first six chapters of your textbook, two page essays on each chapter, and report back Monday after classes. Off you go!"
"You are really laying it on thick, aren't you?" Sirius asked as Maisie left.
"What do you mean?"
"That is a lot of work. Do you think she can handle all of that?"
"She is more than capable. She reminds me of myself when I was in school. It is a wonder I had so much time for my many adventures with how much I studied." Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, you know how it is as a child living at schools like these!" This earned a belly laugh from the wizard. Harriette knew all about Sirius Black's adventures in Hogwarts, but she couldn't tell him that. Not right now at least.
"I suppose you are right. I must be off. I have students to teach and interns to torture with loads of studying and miles of essays." He teased. She watched his robes billow out behind him with each step he took as he walked away. From behind, he looked very similar to Severus Snape; dark hair, dramatic exit, and a quick pace that screamed egotistical. She snorted. If he was able to read her thoughts like Snape could with legilimency, he would not be amused.
Later that night after Byron Evans had been cleared to return to his dormitory, Harriette found herself in the Library. Madam Pince would be locking up soon and she needed to check out some old newspapers from the archives. She wanted to get a start on researching the past Daily Prophet articles on the last ten years and figure out everything that has happened since she had been away in America.
"Here we are dear, these are the articles from the year 1999. I have all twelve issues, but don't mind the stains on some of these. Someone had spilled their pumpkin juice all over them." The librarian floated the stack of papers to the counter, and with a gentle sweeping motion of her wand, she placed them down. Despite it being ten years, and aside from the juice stains, the papers remained perfectly crisp and white like the day they were printed. Wizarding newspapers were enchanted to remain this way so they wouldn't fade or turn brown with age.
"Thank you Madam Pince. I'll get these back to you when I am done, and I promise there won't be any new stains." The older woman chuckled and started to snuff the sconces throughout the Library. Harriette took that as her cue to leave. With a swish and a flick of her wand, the stack of papers were trailing behind her as she returned to the hospital wing.
Later when she walked through her bed chambers, she noticed a tawny owl perched atop one of the bedposts. The bird had his beak tucked in his wing, and she could tell by the gentle rhythm of his chest swelling and contracting that he was asleep. She waved the stack of newspapers to her bed, and with a soft but rapid click of her tongue, the owl popped his head up, looking around frantically. When he spotted her, he hooted in reply and fluttered down to her offered arm.
"Hello handsome, do you have something for me?" She grabbed the scroll from his outstretched leg and with another hoot, he flew to the top of the post again. She flopped onto the bed and untied the twine from the scroll. She wasn't prepared for the feeling of glee that the four simple words would give her, yet she found herself beaming. The letter read:
Thinking of you -Mickey
She found herself squealing into her pillow like a schoolgirl who had a crush that liked her back. She remembered how she felt when Viktor Krum danced with her at the Yule Ball but this felt significant compared to then. Over the last few weeks, between coming up with the internship and worrying about Naos, she had found herself daydreaming about that afternoon with Mickey, however she had only thought about the instance as a one-time thing. Hearing that he was thinking of her too sent her head reeling.
After she calmed down a bit, Harriette summoned some parchment and quill. She wanted to tell him that he was on her mind all the time, but she didn't want to come off too strong. Perhaps she would keep her reply short and sweet as well?
Not as much as I think of you -Harriette
Satisfied, she signalled to the bird and he readily received the scroll from her. She watched him fly out of her open window and into the distance until she could no longer see heart was still racing from reading his note. It wasn't logical that she should feel this way after only spending an afternoon with the man. She barely knew him. It wasn't as if they had been dating. Plus, with him being in London, and she at Hogwarts, there wasn't any real way they could actually be together. Not really.
Of course she would go and turn the situation into something to dissect and question like a science experiment. It was only in her nature. For now, she decided she would take it for what it was; the start of two people sending letters back and forth. That is of course, if he wrote to her again. For now, she would use her intellect for studying the newspapers. She had a lot to read after all, ten years of history. She snatched up the copy of the Daily Prophet on top of the stack and began to read. This would take awhile.
AN: I know I have slowed down uploading new chapters but there is good news! I have the story completely outlined and things are about to get crazy! All I have to do is write the chapters! I am however, also currently writing my own story (complete OC, not HP related at all.) So, writing will be slow. I will try to upload a chapter once a week. Thank you for the new follows and favorites! I appreciate the love so much! Enjoy!