February 28, 1888 — St. Mungo's ~Medicinal Room

Being an hospital intern had been something Bella had never imagined she'd actually be able to do, and as such she always wore a smile on her family—or at least almost always. There were times when patients died, children grew sicker, and mass tragedies that she was being trained to prepare for, but most of her time—at least at the moment—wasn't spent personally tending to the needs of every last person.

Her mentor for the day had sent her to brew a calming draught, which in itself wasn't at all unusual. What was unusual was a potion that still seemed to be simmering without any direct supervision. Knowing better than to mess with others' creations, she'd decided to go about her business.

However, a scent soon filled the room that wasn't typical even for a room that was generally filled with potions and various plants. It was rotting and gross.

Turning to face the source of the scent, she could barely see what was happening to it before a blast of potion flew threw the air and landed at her feet. She squealed at a pitch she hadn't been even thought herself capable of mustering and attempted to flee; however, her feet remained firmly in place, trapped by the hardening potion.

She reached for the wand in her pocket, but let out a gasp as she realized it wasn't there, but rather on the table where she couldn't reach it.

"Is anyone there?" she called, trying her hardest to keep a cool demeanor. "A potion's exploded! I'm stuck!" The door was cracked open, and there weren't many people—patients included!—who passed through that hall. Someone was bound to hear her!

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Richard had just been going about his daily routine and one of those things was brewing up some of the potions and antidotes that tended to be needed on hand in his ward. He was just a few feet away from the door when he heard a screech of some sort. Moving immediately towards the source of the sound which was in the potions room, he saw that it was left ajar.

Stuck? Confused, Richard pushed open the door and was assailed by the stench coming from the room. "What on Earth," he couldn't help but murmur as he pulled out his wand so that he could attempt to come to his friends aid. "What kind of potion did this?"

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Mr. Gladstone (both a friend of hers and a healer-in-charge!) would have been atop her list of people most likely to help her in this situation, so she breathed a sigh of relief when he appeared. At the same time, though, her cheeks reddened that it was him rather than a female healer—or someone whose opinion she didn't care about—who'd found her!

"A failure of a potion if you ask me," she mumbled, staring down at the goop that had stuck to the sides of her shoes. "It looks like someone was brewing it and then forgot it." Completely reckless behavior, she'd wanted to say, though refrained from letting her frustration show.

"My wand's over there," she said, pointing towards the counter, "so I can't really get rid of it."

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

He could see that. It had likely been left by one of the more unfortunate interns. They did get those sorts every now and then. Well, they'd be dismissed by the end of their internship if they hadn't learned from their mistakes by then. Richard just hoped it wasn't someone from his department.

"Don't worry, I'll save you," Richard promised with a smile as he got his wand out and worked at vanishing the potion from around her feet so that she could be freed.

  

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Bella stood there, cheeks flushed red and arms wrapped defensively around her abdomen, quite helplessly as she waited for Mr. Gladstone to solve her little issue. Maybe it was because she didn't like being useless, or maybe it was because the thought of him just standing there looking at her while he fixed the problem was an idea that made her self-conscious. Rather than meeting his eye, she stared longingly at the hawthorn wand that she'd stupidly left off her person.

There were many witches and wizards who used their wands for everything, but Bella really didn't unless she thought it would be much quicker or much easier to do so. She picked up things and even cleaned things with her hands; her mind just didn't jump to the thought that magic would be useful. Maybe she'd learn from her mistake today. Maybe not.

"At least comfort me by telling me you've gotten into similar situations before," she lightly teased, lifting up her robe ever so slightly — but not enough to where he could see her ankles or anything! — so he could finish with the potion. "I feel like I'm always the one to get in sticky—" Literally. "—situations."

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Richard wasn't looking at Miss Scrimgeour so he didn't really notice her discomfort, his eyes on the potion as he cleared it off from the floor. There was no way that Richard would ever clean any sort of potion off of anything with his hands. It was too dangerous given the reactions some potions could give to a person, some even fatal.

"Not really," Richard said honestly, not one to tell lies. "But I was promoted ahead of my seniors so that's a given. And besides, this incident isn't your fault. You were just in the room as someone elses mistake imploded." Finally unsticking her feet, he reached over for her wand and handed it to her. "Now, let's get the rest of this cleared up."

  

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The infallible Mr. Gladstone, her mind echoed, nearly letting a giggle slip out at the thought. While his accomplishments were definitely impressive, Bella would've much preferred to hear that even the greatest are, at times, victim to the mistakes of others — and even themselves, in less dire cases. But no matter how kind and charming Mr. Gladstone may have seemed, she knew he was a man, and men didn't like to admit their faults. Maybe he had a bunch of long-forgotten mistakes from his youth (or maybe it was just wishful thinking, but she was susceptible to that).

Mr. Gladstone didn't seem very responsive to her teasing, probably because he took his work seriously, even when someone's life wasn't on the line (at least she hoped he hadn't recognized the potion as a life-endangering one!). It was sad in a way, because it wasn't like she really spoke to him outside of work. He wasn't unkind though, so none of her anxiety alarms were set off, and she plucked her wand from his grasp with a smile on her face.

"I suppose we should. Mr. Jameshill would have my head if he found a speck of potion still anywhere, really," she agreed, her eyes following the potion splatters. "Don't let me keep you, though; I can clean this up myself. I'm a big girl," she added, beginning to separate the potion-splattered cauldrons from the clean ones.

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

"He'd not hear a word of your possible connection from me," Richard assured with a wink. He waved off her urging for him to let her go at it on her own. "Nonsense, I enjoy the work. These days I feel like all I ever see is paper work. It's enough to make one go cross-eyed!" He was exaggerating, the sign of which showed in his jovial tone and smile.

  

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Bella watched him over her shoulder as she separated the cauldrons, unable to a wide smile off her lips, nor the giggle from escaping her throat. He really was cute, she thought — a thought that brought a subtle rosy color to her cheeks.

She beckoned to him with her pointer finger, motioning for him to join her at the counter.

"If you like the work so much, you can clean up the potion while I reorganize the ingredients, then," she directed in a teasing manner. "I know the plants better than whatever that is, I admit."

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Richard chuckled at her words. "Uh uh, you can delegate tasks all you like when you become an assistant head," Richard said, never having been one to think that such positions were solely for the men of the hospital. "As it is, I can take care of this gunk," Richard said, vanishing the mess with a wave of his wand. A vanishing spell was simple enough though sadly, that now meant that he could go on his way.

  

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Assistant head? That was likely. The hospital already favored men for promotions, and she firmly believed that any woman they promoted would have to be of spotless reputation (or at least better off than hers). No matter how old she got or how much time passed, her reputation would always have stains from the past.

"Well I doubt that's likely to happen anytime soon, if ever," she pointed out, organizing the last of the herbs while Mr. Gladstone chose the vanish the mess. "So giving orders to those who won't take them too seriously will have to suffice for now," she added, giving him a playful wink.

When the job was done, she turned to look at him. "I suppose you have people to go boss around. I also suppose Mr. Langley might have my head if I'm gone any longer," she sighed, glancing towards the door.

  

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Richard chuckled at her words and nodded in agreement. “Ah, yes. How will the department survive without me?” he said in jest. “Well, I’ll be seeing you.” With one last smile the womans way, he took his leave.

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wrap ;)

  

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