May 16th, 1888 - Hogsmeade Hospital, Magical Bugs Ward
Finlay Connolly

She's talking to angels, counting the stars / Making a wish on a passing car
She's dancing with strangers, falling apart / Waiting for Superman to pick her up
In his arms, Yeah, in his arms, Yeah, waiting for Superman
Waiting on Superman - Daughtry

It wasn't often, but it did happen every now and then; Nathalie would get an owl early in the morning, long before her shift at the hospital was due to start, asking her to go to Hogsmeade instead of into London. Truthfully she didn't mind all that much, Hogsmeade seemed to be a little quieter than St. Mungo's- or as far as hospitals went anyway. Not that her ward was all that busy on any given day, but apparently they were short in Hogsmeade and Nathalie was going to be spending a couple of days there. It really wasn't any inconvenience, she knew people in the other hospital and enjoyed seeing them when she was there. Plus when the director owled you personally, you went!

She'd dressed and eaten as fast as she could before snatching a few snacks from the kitchen to get her through the day before stepping into the fireplace and announcing her destination. Nat arrived in a clumsy flourish to Hogsmeade Hospital and hurried up to the Magical Bugs ward hoping she wasn't too late (though it had been a last minute summons really!) and slammed into a cleaning cart as soon as she rounded the last corner.

Her bag of snacks dropped and scattered as she went sprawling on the floor without any semblance of grace. Her first reaction was to groan; her elbow had hit the floor rather soundly, but it was quickly followed up by a laugh and sigh. It would serve her right for rushing! Sitting up, Nat cataloged some future bruises and looked around to collect her snacks.

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

Finlay was running late, as per usual. He'd spent far too long in his greenhouse cultivating what he hoped would be a new species of fire-retardant rose bushes - a new bud had sprouted and he had lost time whilst examining it. He had cleaned off, shoved his healer robes on and floo'd clumsily to his floor. Unaware that he still had dirt in several places on his face - including the tip of his nose - he'd had to halt his brisk stride when he nearly trampled a fellow healer sprawled upon the floor.

"Er... do you need some help, miss?" He asked as he took in the scene - snacks scattered all over the floor, the cleaning cart askew, her tiny feet visible from beneath her healer robes. Without waiting for a response, he reached for his wand. And then promptly and horrifically discovered that he had forgotten it on the desk in his greenhouse. His knees cracked as he bent down and began scooping up the snacks with his hands, "I'd have these all collected sooner, only I um.. I seem to have misplaced my wand." What kind of a healer didn't bring his wand to work with him? Some help he'd be! Now he'd have to have a rather embarrassing conversation with the head healer and floo back home to retrieve it.

  

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perfection by Bee

As Nat looked up toward the voice who had stopped to help her, a bright smile appeared on her features. "Finlay!" She all but squealed in delight as she found she recognized her former classmate and fellow Magical Bugs healer. Of course she forgot all sense of propriety in seeing her old friend, but this was Nathalie and frankly it was to be expected.

"That would be lovely, but not necessary." Nat assured him as she tried to locate her own wand. Thankfully it had survived the fall, unlike her beloved troll whisker wand, and with a quick flick of her wrist, her snacks began to place themselves back in her little bag. "You're going to have a time today without your wand." She teased as she held out a hand to be helped up.

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

He'd been so flustered that he hadn't even truly looked at the woman to see whom it was. It was only when she'd said his name that he looked at her and his heart immediately did that fluttery thing that he had become slightly addicted to, "Nathalie!" His head was rushed with the familiarity of their interactions. They'd been such good friends back at Hogwarts, had seen each other here and there but he'd left her alone once she'd made it clear she was going to marry not-him. That hadn't ended well and perhaps a bit secretly, Finlay had been relieved for it. Just a bit, though. He hadn't wanted his friend to go through such heartbreak.

He reached out to help her up, belatedly realizing he should have wiped his hands on his healer robe first just in case his palms were sweaty. The brief physical contact distracted him enough that her comment about his wand went entirely unregistered. Once she was steady, he released her and ran his hand through his hair. The casualty of his voice felt forced as he said, "So uh.. what, what are you doing here? Did you transfer from St. Mungo's?" He winced inwardly at the hopefulness he heard in his voice.

  

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perfection by Bee

With all of her snacks now neatly back in their little bag, thanks to a quick little charm, Nathalie eagerly accepted Finlay's help up, brushing at her skirts once she was righted. "Thank you for your help." She tossed him a warm smile and double-checked for injuries. Bruises certainly, especially on her ego, but she'd survive. "Oh no, Mr. Keene asked me to fill in today since you were short-handed." She beamed, more than happy to help.

"We're light in my ward, so I thought it would be nice to come over, given the chance." It was always refreshing to take to a new spot, to learn new things and she always came back from Hogsmeade with new ideas and a new perspective on her own ward. Not that the two hospitals were all that different, but Nathalie rather thought variety was the spice of life.

"What about your wand, won't you need that today?" She teased lightly, as he'd just mentioned it a moment ago. They would certainly be even more short-staffed without that! Not that Finlay would be useless, he would of course be able to handle a lot without it, but their job certainly was easier with it!

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

At least she hadn't seemed to notice the hope he'd given away. Right. Friendly coworkers. He could do that. Play it cool, Finlay.

It was disappointing that he wouldn't be able to expect to see her around more consistently, but at least she was around for now. It wasn't often that magical bugs became a flooded department. He found himself wishing that something highly contagious would go around, just so she'd have to stay for a bit longer. Nothing harmful or destructive, but just enough so that a person would have to have some hospitalization to be mended.

"My wand? Oh yeah, definitely," He grinned sheepishly, "I'll floo back and grab it in a minute — so have you been? It's been a while? Everything going well? At St. Mungo's? With your family? With.. life?" Why was he asking so many questions?!

  

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perfection by Bee

Amused by him, affectionately of course, Nat stowed her own wand in her pocket again. "Busy, as always. Doing alright, can't really complain." Work was pretty much all she did, aside from a few social things on her calendar here and there, much to her mother's chagrin. Nathalie loved her work, so it wasn't a bad thing in her opinion, but her mother still wished she'd gone the debutante route. This was a far more productive use of her time, especially after her attempts at romance.

"What about you? How have you been, and your family?" Finlay's family was even larger than her own and eccentric to boot, but Nat found it rather endearing. It was nice to see him though. While Nat loved St. Mungo's and would never leave, sometimes it was nice to see her friends in Hogsmeade; she didn't often have enough of an excuse, other than to come see Ada, to be in Hogsmeade. Speaking of, she should probably owl her other friend to see how she was doing.

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

Finlay hadn't expected to laugh, but he did anyway. He tried to cover it up as an odd sort of way to clear his throat. This only made his breath catch and he was forced to cough a few times, his hand raised in a fist over his mouth as he turned away from her. He cleared his throat for real this time, and then as if nothing at all had happened, replied casually, "Oh you know, the same. We're doing well. Maeve is Maeve-ing, Brighid is Brighid-ing, Domnhall is Domnhall-ing..."

Then it hit him - he did have some interesting news on the family front. It was likely that she had heard about it already, but was just being polite. "My cousin Lorcan got married to the bakery woman unexpectedly. Er.. I mean Magdalena. Backus I think is her last name. Or was. Guess it's Byrne now. Anyhow, she has a bakery in Diagon Alley. I haven't met her yet. The family isn't so happy about it, but I figure I'm sure he had a good reason to just run off like that. No courting, no introductions, nothing. It's a mystery." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked off into the distance a bit dreamily, "I'm sure there's a great love story to it, I just haven't had the chance to ask."

  

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perfection by Bee

Nat could only assume her question about his family had prompted some sort of amused response as she watched Finlay work his way through it, his answer finally coming around in generalities, but not entirely unlike something Nat would say about her own siblings. "Well I'm glad to hear your siblings are doing as well as ever." She chuckled, content to leave it at that, when Finlay apparently had more to share.

Lorcan Byrne, married? "Stop it, he did not!" Nat was not a gossip, but she was very well acquainted with Lorcan and his flirting. It had never been bad for her, but he was pretty insistent when he wanted to be! "You must be joking, I've never met a man who flirts as much as he does, I'm pretty sure he's attempted with every woman who works at St. Mungo's!"

Oh Nathalie wasn't so sure it was a romance, just knowing Lorcan like she did, but she sincerely hoped it was true! "Well, I'll have to make sure to congratulate him next time I see him." In truth she hadn't in a while, but she thought he might have said something!

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

Her shock and amusement at the news was about the same as his level had been — although he'd been much more confused.

"Apparently St. Mungo's was the wrong stomping ground," He grinned, arms still crossed over his chest, "He just needed to visit a bakery. It's a crazy kind of magic isn't it?" Again, his voice turned warm and dreamy.

He'd once had fairytale, happily ever after thoughts about Nat, despite their being too close in age. He'd never have been able to support her right out of Hogwarts. She'd been wise to search elsewhere. Besides, she'd never seen him as more than a friend --- perhaps a brother-type, which was even worse. He hadn't made his feelings known to her, either. That was on him, but she'd been so enamored with her fiance that he hadn't wanted to make things awkward between them. He'd lost her as a friend anyhow... though that wasn't directly related... sort of...

  

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perfection by Bee

"I would have never imagined, he once cornered me in the supply closet of my own ward!" Nothing serious and just harmless flirting, but Nat was always amused more than anything else when Lorcan had turned his attention her way. He wasn't anything she couldn't handle at the very least. A flirt he may be, he was not menacing in anyway. Nat would have to pry at him just a little; turn about would be fair play after all.

With that solidly keeping her amused, Nat could only shake her head and chuckle. "It's a wonder any of us get married, I feel like I'm married to this job most days." Which she was not complaining about, not in the slightest. Thank Merlin she had something to keep her occupied. After losing Watson and then Kingston turning out to be a disaster, Nat had sworn off trying to find actual romance in her life. Having purpose at the hospital was enough, it would  have to be.

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

"Did he really?" He asked with some alarm. He hoped nothing untoward had happened. Finlay would have to have a word with his cousin about such things, even if it had happened years ago. You didn't just corner a lady in a closet... in fact, you didn't corner a lady ever. She had brought it up as if the happening had been amusing rather than horrible, so perhaps she was exaggerating it a bit. Yes, that's what it was. She was trying to be funny about it.

He forced a far-too loud laugh, just as she got out the thought of her being married to her job. That was inopportune timing. Finlay stopped laughing abruptly, his ears ringing as the elephant in the room (her last fiance) made itself very apparent. He cringed. Then he coughed. Awkwardly, he pressed his lips together and pat his thigh absently with his hand. His brain screamed at him to say something. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I'm married too. To the job, that is. Our job. It's a wonder more healers don't just marry each other. Would make it easiest. I think we'd probably see each other more at work than we would if one of us was home all the time."

  

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perfection by Bee

Nat was still musing over ragging on Lorcan to really noticed Finlay's awkwardness. Of course she'd never really noticed it, he'd always been like that. It was endearing really. In fact all she found in the conversation was two commiserating colleagues.  "Imagine if you worked opposite shifts, you'd never see one another!" Of course she and Watson had almost been in the same field, but he'd been practicing muggle medicine and she hadn't actually gone into healing just yet. Of course if he hadn't vanished, she likely wouldn't have gotten into it at all. Silver linings, after all.

Nat laughed lightly, thinking about how she and Brendan hardly saw one another, despite the fact that they shared a house! He, in an administrator's position had more regular hours, whereas she could easily be all over the place in her schedule. Nat did envy him that, but she would never want his job. She was far too practical. Though she supposed, when spinsterhood finally claimed her, years down the road, she wouldn't mind taking a less active role in favor of being the assistant healer in charge or more. Annabelle Bones was certainly an admirable woman, Nat wouldn't mind being like her one day.

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

"From what I hear about marriage, that might be for the better," He chuckled and scratched a brow, "The less you see of each other the more you get along." Was he really trying to tell Nat jokes about marriage? Bad marriage? Though, what was good marriage anyhow? What did he even know about it? He knew what love was, certainly. His family liked to say he fancied himself in love with a new girl every week — untrue! Still, he held the belief that a marriage should be based off of love - or at the very least - friendship. It wasn't the 1860s anymore. People should marry for reasons that weren't financial or political.

  

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perfection by Bee

Nat used to have some more idealized ideas about marriage but she'd learned better over the years. "Yes well, it certainly doesn't work out for everybody." It hadn't for her- twice in fact, or nearly anyway. Her smile was a little wry, but she managed to keep the bitterness out of her voice. Nat was quite content with her life at the moment, she didn't have too much to be bitter about. Not really. There was no need to dwell on or get upset about what wasn't meant to be however.

"You should probably go get your wand to get the day started." Nat chuckled, circling back to the initial part of their conversation. It would be incredibly hard for Finlay to get his work done without it! Nat couldn't even imagine doing her job without it! What would they be reduced to without it? She could scarcely imagine!

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“It's alright, yeah I'll be fine
don't worry about this heart of mine.”

deep quote code by Soph ♥

"Right, good idea," He nodded earnestly and gave her an awkward little wave, "I'll see you around, Nat?" Of course he'd see her around! They had literally just discussed that. He rubbed the back of his neck, waved again - this time even more awkwardly - and then shuffled away so that he could floo back home for his wand.

  

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perfection by Bee