Chapter 119: Working Life

"I'm so tired." Janet complained. Lily, and her two colleagues, Janet Toee and Nor Farihin were walking out of their office and heading towards the staff toilet together.

"Well, at least it's the end of the day." Nor said optimistically. She was three years older and was in charge of training the two new trainee healers, namely Lily and Janet.

"I think my bed is calling for me." Lily said in a dreamy state. They were now changing up and preparing to head home after their ten hours shift work in the evening.

"Oh, c'mon. It's like only seven." Nor joked as she washed her hands and disinfected in with the Disinfectant potion.

"Oh ya, someone has a hot date." Lily teased. "What's his name? I can't seem to remember." She grinned cheekily at Nor.

"I don't know. Was his name Inshari or something?" Janet pretended to be deep in thoughts. "You know, that senior healer from that department." The three girls made their way slowly out of the office to the main lobby.

"Yeah, that guy." Lily agreed. Nor was giving her mildly annoyed but amused look anyway.

"There's nothing between us. We're just friends." Nor said defensively. "You girls, ah. I think I know of a certain Kenneth and Charlie, hmm." They were now at the main lobby of St Mungo, where patients, visitors, mediwitches and healers were everywhere.

The main lobby of St Mungo was a double height space with large fireplaces on the two sidewalls, east and west facing. The natural light from the ceiling glass and magical light was subtly controlled by magic to ensure that the illumination on the wall and textile floor covering in the foreground was of the right intensity at any time of the day.

"Trying to change topics." Lily smiled cheekily as they walked beyond the fireplaces, towards the end. People can be seen coming out from the fireplaces and one side and disappearing into them at the other side. Sometimes, if a person was sick, and travel via the Floo network, it might just get worst. But that would definitely be better than splicing due to incomplete apparition. "Alright, don't tease you for the time being. I make a move first."

"Yeah, me too. Bye girls, see you tomorrow." Nor waved bye and with a 'pop', she apparated away.

"See ya." In two 'pops', both girls apparated to their own homes respectively.

Lily dragged herself along the Black's Manor hallway and heading towards her bedroom for a refreshing shower. Can't believe it's not even eight. It already felt like two in the morning. She thought and with much effort, she managed to make her way into her bedroom.

X

"I've near been this tired." Stefanie muttered as she walked into the hallway of the Black's Manor on a Wednesday evening. She had gotten a job as a journalist for the Daily Prophet three weeks ago and she's already struggling to hit the daily datelines.

"You look tired." Lily opened her door. "Is everything alright?" She walked over and eyed Stefanie suspiciously.

"Actually it's fine." Stefanie said honestly. "I've a very sheltered life all these years, that's why I'm finding it a little tough in this working world. But everything is okay, I'm adapting. Just a little more hectic and fast paced than I thought." She leaned against the wall next to the wall and closed her eyes.

"That's life generally. Life is teaching us lessons by pushing us in this manner. Once you can adapt to this fast-paced life, everything just gets easier." Lily placed her hands reassuringly over Stefanie's shoulders and leading her into the bedroom.

"I get your point. It's like you're working longer hours than I'm but yet your energy level is still as high. Sometimes I just wonder how you do it." Stefanie sat down on one of the armchairs while Lily magicked a pot of lukewarm rosebud tea and poured a cup for her tired friend.

"Because I know that no matter what happens, I've friends like you that will be there to help me up when I fall." Lily gave Stefanie a hug as she handed her the cup.

"Thanks. Really appreciate that. I need a shower before dinner." With that, Stefanie left for her bathroom, while Lily took today's issue of Daily Prophet from the dresser and left the room.

"Yo, Lily flower." Sirius greeted cheerfully as he entered the hallway whereby Lily was about to enter her own room. James and Remus followed behind him, apparently having some little discussion. "C'mon, don't hide in your room. Let's go to the hall." Sirius then ushered everyone into the main hall.

"Hey guys, so how's work today?" Lily shrugged and looked up from her papers before she even started reading.

"Okay day." James replied on behalf of them and took a seat naturally beside Lily on the two-seater sofa. "What's new today?" He eyed the Daily Prophet that was laid opened on the coffee table.

"Yet to read and you guys appeared." Lily shrugged.

"Where's Stef?" Remus asked suddenly.

"Just went for her shower. Probably still in her room."

"Thanks." Remus stood up from the armchair where he was seated so comfortably and went towards Stefanie's bedroom.

"Don't you think time flies ever since we left Hogwarts?" Lily asked James and Sirius suddenly. "It's like before I know it, I've been with St Mungo for nearly three months." For the last three months, they had been busy with their work at their respective companies. James, Sirius and Remus were Aurors with the Ministry; Lily was a Healer at St Mungo; Stefanie was a journalist at the Daily Prophet and Arabella was with a teacher for children who have yet to reach the age to enter any magical schools. They had tried to meet up at least once a week for a group dinner at one of their house and today were one of those days.

"Well, that's life. I seldom meet up with old friends anymore unless they're working in the Ministry. It's nearly impossible with our unpredictable schedule." James said as a matter-of-fact. "I wonder if there's anything we can do."

"That reminds me. Remember Dumbledore said about the Order of the Phoenix?" Lily thought suddenly.

"That's right. It slipped off my mind totally." Sirius said excitedly. "It's definitely going to be useful with the fact that we're working at various important places. Like us in the Ministry, you at hospital, and Stef with the media."

"So what have you all been talking about? I heard my name." Stefanie walked into the living room holding hands with Remus, looking much more refreshed.

"Looking good now." Lily smiled.

"Huh?" James asked quizzically.

"I mean she looked terrible just now before her shower, really dreadful." Lily said truthfully.

"Really?" Remus asked with deep concern, looking at Stefanie.

"I'm fine. I mean that's normal for us. You guys look terribly tired at times too." Stefanie said defensively. "It's working life."

"Alright, but take care of your health and don't overwork yourself." Remus reminded.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Belle, we've been waiting long enough!" Sirius stood up from his armchair. "Let's hit the tables."

"It's normal for Sirius to hit the table, literally." Stefanie joked. Over the years, as cool and sharp Sirius was, he had the tendency to knock against the table, whether it was the table edges or the legs, or just a bump.

"Well, at least I can hit the table in many ways, literally and as a figure of speech." Sirius said wittily. "Not everyone can be like me."

"Actually no one wants to be like you." Arabella told the rest but it was loud enough for Sirius to hear her.

"Are you sure? Just let me make an announcement and I beg there'll be a queue of fans who wants to be like me, or be me if they ever have the chance." Sirius boasted. Remus and Stefanie just shook their heads in disbelief while James and Sirius laughed at his comment.

"I think I smell the black pepper chicken for dinner." Sirius sniffed as they turned into their dinning hall. On the round table, there was a spread of food, ranging from chicken to fish to beef.

"Looks great." Stefanie grinned and took a seat at the chair closest to her. "Let's start!" All six of them helped themselves with the large spread of dishes in front of them.

X

James, Sirius and Remus walked into the Auror Headquarters on a sunny Monday morning, looking a little groggy after a weekend of fun and quidditch. They had worked long and hard, with the expectation of being a full-fledged auror after a year, as Moody had told them. For some reason or another, Moody had wanted them to be fully trained within a year.

"Morning." The three guys greeted Edgar who was already sitting at the desk next to James.

"Morning guys. Have you heard about the latest attack?" Edgar asked, he looked a little stranger than usual.

"Er… Actually no." James admitted sheepishly. The three of them had totally ignored the fact that they were auror and played as if they were still kids, not caring about anything happening in this world for the entire weekend.

"There was an attack at Horizon Alley across at the other side of the country. Not a big one, but still…" Edgar drifted off. "Anyway, twenty deaths and two Deatheaters were killed and one was captured and sent to Azkaban without a trial.

"Ooh." The three guys did not know what to say.

"Were your – friends, there?" James asked in concern. His senior auror always had that upset expression whenever he had a close friend or relative killed in an attack.

"Yeah, an old friend from Hogwarts. Were rather good friends but after graduation, we kind of drift apart. Though in contact, but not as close as before. Still, it's upset to hear about his death, and his wife too." Edgar shook his head and closed the file that he was reading. "Well, life goes on. Who's keen for a cup of coffee?"

"Yeah, better get it before Moody makes that announcement." James said light-heartedly.

X

"It had been so long since we last went out together alone." Lily commented. Ever since they had started work four months ago at their respective companies, they had rarely gone out for dates.

"Well, we're busy and our schedules are rather difficult to match. I hope you understand my difficulties." James said honestly.

"I certainly understand. It's alright, I'm not the sticky type of girlfriend who needs to you to be by my side twenty-four-seven." Lily joked.

"That's my Lily." James kissed her hair and smelt the fragrance of her shampoo. "You changed the brand of your shampoo."

"Yeah, the old one didn't work too well, so I just change it last week." Lily updated him. At most they could only meet together up to three times a week, but regardless how busy, they would definitely meet at least once to keep the relationship going.

"We're here." James said and both of them stopped in front a steak restaurant named Jack's Place. "Let's go in." A waitress at the entrance led them into the restaurant. It was rather romantic as the place had a country style designed and dimly lit. On every table was a red candle on a little glass dish.

"I can't remember when was the last time we came here." Lily told him. It was a muggle restaurant and not too well known in the wizarding community.

"I think we came here last year or the year before with the rest of them." James shrugged. "Don't remember either."

"Well, let's order our food first, I'm starving." Lily looked down at the menu, which the waitress handed to her before she left to serve other customers.

X

"Got it." Stefanie flurried through a series of documents and took out several pieces of parchments from her tray and handed over to her colleague who was sitting next to her in the cubicle across. As hectic and fast-paced the job at Daily Prophet was it had a great sense of satisfaction whenever the paper was published.

"Finished." Nadine Clearwater took the stack of papers from Stefanie had brought it in for publishing. Both of them were new to the Daily Prophet editorial board and were still assigned with relatively insignificant topics. But at least it was still read by millions of wizards and witches daily.

"This is my favorite part of the day!" Nadine jumped out from her chair in excitement. It was nearly evening and time to knock-off for the day. "So where're you going later?"

"Dinner with my boyfriend. What about you?" Stefanie asked as she packed up her things and was preparing to depart from the office.

"A date with my boyfriend." Nadine smile was infectious and her happiness was radiating from her face.

"I can see your excitement and passion already." Stefanie teased. "Then get going."

"It's not for another thirty minutes after his quidditch training." Nadine said with a tinge of impatience. "So I still have some time to spare."

"Nah, not today. Another day I guess. Besides aren't we meeting again for lunch on Monday?" Stefanie smiled.

"Oh yeah, we've so got to try that new pasta store across the street." Nadine was easily excitable over simple things in life.

"Don't worry. We will. Next week alright?" Stefanie shook her head in amusement. "See ya then." She grabbed her handbag and left her desk.

"Bye. Have a good time." Nadine called from behind.

"Thanks. You too." Stefanie smiled at her favorite colleague before walking through the doors out of the office and towards the main lobby of the building where she could apparate.

"Hey, Stefanie." Stefanie turned around and blinked, taking several seconds to process that was calling her name.

"Oh, hey Mabel, what a surprise!" Stefanie exclaimed. "It had been months since I last met you." Mabel Brocklehurst was a Ravenclaw from her year and the last time they met was in Hogwarts.

"Yeah, so you are working for the Daily Prophet too?" Mabel asked. It was a busy lobby as wizards and witches were hurrying home from work, via apparation and fireplaces.

"Yup, as a journalist." Stefanie told her. "What about you?"

"I'm part of the Sales team and customer service." Mabel told her. "I think I deal more with owls and people." She joked.

"How long have you been here?"

"About a month. What about you?"

"Nearly five months." Stefanie told her. "Oh, I think I'm running a little late to meet Remus. Tell you what, I catch up with ya for lunch one of these days?"

"Sure. Bye!" Waving goodbye, she apparated back to Black's Mansion, where she intended to meet Remus.

"Looks who's late." Remus teased as Stefanie appeared with a 'pop' in the living room.

"Sorry. A little delayed." Stefanie went towards her room with Remus tagging along behind her. "Guess who I saw today."

"Who?" Remus was too tired to ask after a long day of work himself.

"Mabel, the Ravenclaw from our year." Stefanie told him as she accioed some clothes and brought into the bathroom with her. Remus was sitting on an armchair in her bedroom.

"Oh, how is she?" Remus asked, trying to muster some interest, although the last thing in his mind was ex-schoolmates.

"She's working at the Prophet too." Stefanie told him. "At the Sales team."

"I see." Remus raised his voice so Stefanie could hear him. He grabbed the latest issue of the Daily Prophet from Stefanie's desk and started reading while waiting for his girlfriend to be ready for their dinner date.

"Sorry, give me five more minutes." Stefanie looked a little flustered.

"Take your time. It's my pleasure to wait for you." Remus looked up and smiled at Stefanie who was grabbing her purse and cards and tissue and throwing them into another bag.

"Soon, soon." Stefanie walked across the room to brush her hair and set it with a touch of her wand. "Ready."

"Let's get going." Remus stood up, putting the papers aside. "I'm starving."

"Me too." Stefanie placed her hand on Remus' right elbow and walked out of the bedroom with him.

X

"Kids these days." Arabella muttered and shook her head.

"What's with them?" Lily looked up from her tea. Arabella had just popped by in the early afternoon and Stefanie was already at work.

"Can you believe how bratty they can get?" Arabella said in an impatient voice. "Oh, teacher, I forgot." She mimicked one of her students. "That's alright actually. What about those who argue back?" She took a deep breath. "Teacher, you did not say that we needed to do the homework. You told us 'don't forget your homework' and not 'don't forget to do your homework'."

"That sounds like what James and Sirius would say when they were eight."

"Honestly, the two rich brats totally reminded me of James and Sirius when they were eight." Arabella took a sip of her ice earl vanilla tea that Stefanie's house elves had made for them.

"Well, it's not like we know them before Hogwarts, but I guess there's the resemblance, somehow." Lily laughed. "They drive you nuts now, but next time you'll find them funny."

"Well, come to think about it, it was a rather funny scene. But I'm sure if you were the one trying to educate the two eight-year-olds, you will forget that you are sane. And that two kids sure know that they drive me nuts." Arabella laughed a little at the thought. "But all in all, they're alright. I'll manage through."

"Glad to hear that." Lily laughed. "Jeez, it's that late already, I think I better get going."

"You better. I'll be fine alone." Arabella gave the shooing gesture. "Have a good day."

"Thanks. You too." Lily grabbed her bag and left the dinning hall towards the living room.

It's so hard to catch them these days. Everyone is just so busy. Arabella was deep in thoughts and sipping her drink subconsciously.

"Belle!" Stefanie called out as she entered the dinning hall, where Arabella was sitting alone, looking a little off-focused.

Why did I have this feeling that something bad is about to happen? What exactly is it? I can't seem to get the exact picture. Arabella frowned.

"Belle, is something wrong?" Stefanie called again.

"Huh?" Arabella came out of her dazed and looked at Stefanie in surprised. "Stef, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Yeah, I forgot some docs, then Daisy told me that you're here." Stefanie took a seat next to Arabella. Daisy was one of the Black's family house elves and she was packing Stefanie's room when she appeared.

"Oh, right. Just day-dreaming." Arabella mustered a reassuring smile.

"But you're frowning just now." Stefanie argued. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Arabella placed a hand over Stefanie's hand. "I'm just tired. You know, children can be just so hard to teach these days." She shrugged.

"Good to hear that it's just work. Tell me more about it next time, all right. Take care, I've gotta go." Stefanie stood up, giving Arabella a hug before living her alone once again.

Where was I? Oh, that feeling. What is it? How come I just can't seem to get the exact picture of something I seen before? Arabella closed her eyes and tried to remember something she seen a long time ago. Afterall, woman's instincts could be accurate and it was rather strong.

"Arabella Figg!"

Great, just what I need right now. Arabella sighed.

"What are you doing here?" Arabella turned and asked.

"This is my house for your information." Sirius told her and sat down on the chair where Stefanie sat previously.

"Oh, right. How can I forget?" Arabella muttered. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Not now. But James and Remus is at work and Peter is busy working too, so I'm all bored here." Sirius told her. "Well, now that you're here…"

"Don't give me any crazy ideas. I'm not in the mood." Arabella put up her hands defensively, knowing very well Sirius was up to something.

"I've got this awesome suggestion." Sirius started, pretending he did not hear Arabella's protest. "There's these muggle carnival that Lily told me about in muggle London now. It has got all those cool rides and -"

"Yeah, I know what carnival you're talking about." Arabella shut him off at mid-sentence.

"It sounded really cool and she said that the ride goes three hundred and sixty degrees and they spin really fast." Sirius went on.

"You know what, I think it's a good idea." Arabella stood up suddenly. "Let's go. And please behave normally, which meant no wands and no magic and no mischief."

"Yes, madam." Sirius gave a funny salute as he seen it from muggle shows. "By floo?" He asked, since Arabella cannot apparate.

"No, muggle transport." Arabella walked ahead of him, heading towards the door that was rarely opened unless she came because all of them apparate in and out of the house.