To say that her friends were confused to see her up at the teacher's table at year's start was an understatement. She sat in her Healer's uniform beside Madam Pomfrey, trying to look as dignified as possible, but she couldn't help smiling at the students she knew when she caught their eye. Aquila's appointment as Madam Pomfrey's assistant was announced by Dumbledore before the feast, and she had stood gracefully, and dipped her head. It was strange for her to hear herself referred to as Madam Valentine. Her appointment had been seamless. Poppy was under far less strain having an assistant. Unfortunately, the Hospital Wing was inundated with fake illnesses and injuries as a result of Aquila's appointment. Draco Malfoy was a regular. He seemed to know the exact hours that Aquila was working. She had to take a deep breath and refrain from rolling her eyes every time she saw the boy limping into the Hospital Wing. And when the other schools arrived… Durmstrang boys would be streaming through her doors with actual injuries from fistfights and curses. They would make small talk, and try their best to be charming, but she suspected they were giving each other these injuries so they could go in to see her. The Beauxbatons boys were no better. They would try to rattle off flurries of compliments in French, thinking she wouldn't understand. Her Irish accent may have fooled them , but her perfect French took the wind out of their sails.
She had an established work schedule worked out with Madam Pomfrey. There were a couple of nights during the week where she got to go home to Oliver, and she had the weekends off entirely. She was learning so much, and she got a decent wage. In the meantime, she watched for any signs of anything amiss in the school. The obvious thing was Harry's name coming from the Goblet of Fire. That had everyone's teeth on edge. It seemed that the whole school had turned against him. Few of his friends were talking to him. Aquila believed him. There was no way he had outsmarted Dumbledore's enchantment to put his name in the Goblet. He looked as though he so dearly wished that he wasn't being forced to take part in the tournament. Whenever she saw him the corridors she made a point of stopping to talk to him, and telling him that she believed him. He seemed to appreciate the kind words, but all the same, the poor lad was miserable. And these badges in support of Cedric, the Hogwarts champion, made her seethe. Malfoy. She knew he was to blame. Badges supporting Cedric would have been fine, but the fact that they changed to say Potter Stinks whenever he would walk by made her furious.
She had tried to instigate a schoolwide ban on the badges, but for some reason that didn't happen. She didn't agree with this bullying, so she gave detention to anyone she saw in the corridors wearing one of the badges. When she stopped to talk to Cedric one time, he tried to assure that he had nothing to do with the badges.
"Well you could at the very least try to stop your friends from wearing them. I thought you were better than this." She couldn't keep the sadness and disappointment from her voice. Cedric had suddenly looked panicked.
"I told them I didn't want them to wear the badges. I can't make them stop though." He sounded quite worried.
"Cedric, he is a fourteen year old boy who's been forced into this competition against his will. You're of age. Do you think this is fair? Do you think that the boy isn't terrified? He didn't have the option of weighing up the odds of his own death. He might die, and he didn't even get the option of considering the risks. Make them stop wearing the badges, Cedric. You're a bloody prefect. Make this right." He tried to say more to her, but she stormed away from him, in a flurry of maroon skirts and apron.
She saw fewer badges from that point on.
One of the Weasley twins came in one day with a seemingly never ending nose bleed. He had a bloody smile for her. She sighed heavily and guided him over to a bed.
"What's happened, George?" She shoved a wad of tissue paper into his hand, and set about fetching a potion from a cabinet.
"You know, that's what I like about you, Aquila. Become staff and still call me by my name. The right name. How can you tell us apart?" His voice sounded quite nasal and thick.
"You didn't answer my question. What did you do?" She pulled the cork from a bottle, and poured some of the thick purple liquid into a glass.
"Experiment gone wrong. How's Oliver doing? Is he well? I miss him shouting at me first thing in the morning. Does he shout at you first thing in the morning, or…" George trailed his sentence off while waggling his eyebrows. Aquila huffed at his insinuation.
"Drink this, and then keep your mouth shut." George tried to snort a laugh, but grimaced in pain instead. He drank the mixture quickly and gagged at the awful taste of it. He stared into the glass curiously.
"What was that?"
"What did I tell you?! Keep your mouth shut!" George tried to mop up the blood that remained on his face. Much of the blood had ended up on his school jumper. He held it out and sighed heavily.
"Mum is going to kill me. Can't get blood out." He sounded crestfallen. Aquila was reminded that everything the Weasley children owned was third hand, and hand-me-downs. She felt a little pity towards him.
"That's not so. Soak it in cold water. It'll come right out. The sooner the better." She held a shallow bin on her hip, and gathered the many bloody tissues.
"How do you know that?" Aquila had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.
"I'm a woman, George. We're all very familiar with blood." She carried away the bin of bloody tissues to dispose of them. George looked mildly confused for a time, then he blushed, understanding finally dawning on him. He coughed, in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. She came back and sat on the bed opposite to him.
"Speaking of women, what's the story with you and Daisy. Your little Hufflepuff crush." There was some mocking in her voice, but it was time to iron this confusion out, she thought.
"What? What are you talking about? I don't have a crush on Daisy. You're crazy." He made to leave.
"Sit." she said in a stern voice. He sat at once, a slight look of worry on his face. "You like Daisy. That's abundantly clear. You don't have to lie about it. I'm not Fred. I already know." She noticed that he looked exceptionally uncomfortable. He was still trying to deny it to himself, that much was clear.
"She's dating Cedric. Champion of Hogwarts." It was the closest thing to an admission as she was going to get.
"She doesn't like him. It's going to fall apart really soon, if it hasn't already. Be ready when it does. You need to just accept that you like the girl." She had given Cedric every chance with Daisy, drawing the others away when he came to talk to her, but now it seemed it was to be George's time. He had nothing more to say. She took a breath. "Just remember. You're the only one she lets touch her." Aquila got up, and set about making sure the Hospital Wing was in order. She folded down the beds, and kept an eye on George, who was staring at his shoes, thinking. She didn't have time to be worrying about school romance dramas. But she was so invested. George eventually left the Hospital Wing with a joke and a laugh, but his heart wasn't in it. The day was done, however, and it was time for her to go home. Poppy said her goodbyes, as Aquila left the Hospital Wing to make the long walk to the school gates, so she could apparate home.
There was a chill in the air that made her shiver. She pulled her coat up her collar to protect her neck from the cold. Once beyond the gates she thought of Oliver in their home. She took a step forward and turned in the air, the sounds of the night being sucked away from her to be replaced by the gentle music coming from the living room. She smiled, and started to undress. She pulled on her pyjamas and headed out into the living room. Oliver lay on the couch with his eyes closed, listening to really old muggle music from the sixties. She lay on the floor in front of the couch, leaning her head against him.
"Hello Nurse." he said, in his best flirtatious tone. She giggled at that. She could hear him turn her head to look at her. "How was work?" She smiled, enjoying the domesticity they had developed together so quickly. She was very caught up in it. The knowledge that he would be there at home made the wait worthwhile.
"It was fine. Malfoy only attempted to limp in once today. And George Weasley came in with a nosebleed, and left with some advice." Oliver sat up, beckoning to sit next to him. She slid up onto the couch, and he put his arms around her as she lay back into him.
"Stop your wheedling. If it's going to happen it'll happen. And isn't she dating Diggory?" Oliver started to rub the tension out of her shoulders and the back of her neck. She let out a long sigh, and a moan.
"Forget about them. The kids can figure it out themselves." She sighed again. He kissed the back of her neck and a shiver went down her spine. "I wish I never had to leave…" she murmured. She closed her eyes, enjoying the relief of having the pain massaged away.
"Your work is important." She sighed again. She loved the sound of his voice. And he was always so supportive of her.
"How was practice today?" she asked.
He stopped rubbing her shoulders, and slowly and methodically took her hair down for her, undoing the braids.
"It went quite well actually. Harper was injured so I had to step in for the whole practice. I made some very good saves." He ran his fingers through her hair, shaking out the waves of her hair.
"You're going to be a Quidditch super star in no time." she said quietly. She was very sleepy. She leaned all her weight against his legs, and closed her eyes again.
"Come on. Time to get you into bed." Oliver stood up, expecting her to stand with him. She fell back instead.
"Can I not just stay here?" she said, sleepily through a yawn. Without so much as a warning, he scooped her up into his arms.
"No. You'll wreck your back. You're coming with me." He sounded stern, but she knew he was being caring.
"Oliver. Before I fall asleep, I want to say two things to you. First, I love you. So much. And second… I want you to come to the Yule ball with me. Okay. I'm gonna sleep now." She nestled down into his arms as he walked.
"Of course I'll go with you. And I love you too, my bright star." The tenderness in his voice caught her off guard, but she had no time to dwell on it, as she fell solidly asleep.