October

It was the third time this week Professor Negan had broken a bone.

He had been foolishly showing students several extremely dangerous Quidditch moves, that Dumbledore would surely fire him for encouraging the kids to use in matches, when it had happened.

But the onslaught of pain was all worth it, just to give him the chance to spend time with her again.

Negan hadn't been able to get her out of his head since that first day of term. And as September had slid into October, he had managed to see very little of the blonde woman. And so getting himself hurt might have seemed idiotic, but it was still a good opportunity to guarantee that his path would cross with the blonde nurse's.

So smirking to himself as he clutched his painful arm, Negan headed up the winding staircase that led to the Hospital Wing.

At the top he used his wand hand to shove open the large cherry doors ahead of him with a creak.

The hospital wing was almost deserted, save for a couple of sleeping kids settled in the beds at the far end of the expansive room.

The last of the pink tinged sky was just about visible through the large arched windows at that end of the room, drawing Negan's eye there. So much so in fact, that he didn't even notice a figure walk into the room, her green eyes on him.

"Again, Professor, really?"

Negan gazed around, that grin reappearing on his face as he spotted her there, Madam Blake, looking like a vision in blue today, with her blonde hair pinned up and back like it always was, with a white nurse's apron over the top, accentuating her slender waist.

Negan gave a small apologetic shrug.

"Guess I'm not as resilient as I used to be, Doll," he uttered.

But Blake merely smirked, shaking her head, moving close to him, and lightly touching his broken arm, causing Negan to wince in pain.

"Sorry," she murmured back, her eyes never leaving his robed-limb. "Hmmm. Looks like another shattered bone. You ought to be more careful, y'know."

But Negan's dark eyes flickered up and over Blake's face.

"Why, when I've got such a wonderful damn nurse to take care of me..." he growled back in a devilish tone, that caused the young, blonde woman to gaze up at him, a smile dancing its way across her lips.

"Well you're going to use my entire batch of Skele-Gro if you keep this up, Professor," she tutted gently, leading him over to one of the beds on one side of the room.

He saw her chance a glance up at the far end of the hospital wing, before helping Negan ease himself down onto the edge of one of the beds.

She stood before him like a vision now, pulling out her wand and waving it with a small flourish, as a large bottle sailed its way over to them from the cabinet behind her.

She plucked a stone goblet from the nightstand beside her and reached for the bottle, pouring the steaming liquid into it, until the cup was almost full to the brim.

"Here, drink. Seeing as it's only shattered, it should heal in twenty minutes or so," she muttered handing him the goblet. And as Negan reached out to take hold of it, his thumb gently brushed hers.

The dark haired man raised his eyes to Blake's face to see her flush a soft pink colour and pull her hand away, busying herself with smoothing down the bedcovers of the bed behind her.

And so Negan, hovering for a long moment, gazed at her, before he lifted the cup to his lips, draining it in one.

The Skele-Gro tasted damn horrible, and burned his throat as he gulped it down, but he was used to it by now, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and getting to his feet with a groan.

"Ugh, tastes like sh-" he began, before a scolding look from Blake over her shoulder stopped him mid-sentence.

"Shhhh," she murmured gently. "There are children here, Professor."

But Negan merely offered her a bemused frown in return.

"I've told you, you can call me Negan, Peaches," he chuckled.

But Madam Blake gave a light shrug standing up straight and coming to face him once more.

"Only when you start calling me Blake, and NOT the name of a fruit, Professor," she teased back, brushing past him, her hips sashaying lightly as she went.

And Negan was quick to follow her, earning himself another scolding look from the blonde.

"You know, you should be sitting down, resting," she uttered in a quiet voice, gesturing with her head back over to the bed Negan had just vacated.

But Negan merely grinned.

"And miss the Halloween feast?" he said incredulously, leaning back on his heels as he spoke. "Nu-uh, a damn broken arm ain't gonna keep me from that pumpkin' pie. It's just like the one I used to get when I was over in Massachusetts playing Quidditch for the Fitchburg Finches. And I ain't gonna miss that for the world."

Blake smiled at him gently, tilting her head.

"So, shall I see you down there, Darlin'? I can save you a seat," he said, stuffing his one good hand into his front jean pocket a little nervously.

But Blake's smile faltered a little as she shook her head. "I-I can't," she murmured, sounding a little sad. "Not while there are students up here who might need my care. Perhaps next time."

Negan gave a slow nod. And before he could say anything else to her Blake had hurried away up the far end of the wing to check on the sleeping children.

Leaving Negan gazing after her longingly, letting out a sigh as he disappeared back off through the large cherry doors and back down the winding staircase.

It was almost midnight by the time Blake made her final rounds of the day. The sick students had had their final doses of medicine and would be ok until morning.

And so making sure that all the windows were secure and there would be nothing left that would disturb her patients, Blake headed over to the door to make one last check.

But she stopped, frowning now, to find the large cherry doors surprisingly, left slightly ajar.

They certainly hadn't been like that an hour ago.

Blake pulled her wand from her pocket, holding it aloft as she reached the door, placing her hand silently upon the brass door knob.

With a sudden tug, her heart pounding, she pulled the door wide open.

But to her surprise, there was nothing there.

She rolled her eyes, about to mentally blame Peeves the poltergeist, but she stopped suddenly, noticing suddenly a small object that was sat on the floor, just outside on the small landing.

And Blake at that moment couldn't help but give a wide smile of realisation as she saw now exactly what it was….

...what was sitting, perfectly, on a golden Hogwarts crested plate outside her door.

A slice of delicious-looking pumpkin pie.


Are you guys liking this so far? Do you want me to carry on?