Alice would be loathe to admit it to anyone, but she was beginning to realize she had nowhere she felt safe anymore. School used to be her safe haven, her place to focus solely on her education and not the greater terrors of the world. Then, when she left school, Hogsmeade had become such a place for her - a place full of happy memories and beloved friends. The town itself might've continued to serve for such a haven were it not for the miseries of this past summer. Sloane's death had tainted everything, her friends' homes, shops, even the lake and the forest. Alice would've chosen to avoid the town altogether were it not for Calla's insistence to see her on Hogsmeade weekends. And now, she no longer had London either. Not when the destruction could still be seen on buildings and she still awoke screaming with terrible nightmares.

Nowhere was safe.

Still, she had to press on and continue living. Calla would notice if Alice began avoiding town again and it wasn't as though she could simply stop working at the hospital. Secure or not - Alice didn't have a choice, which was how she found herself in Hogsmeade after the end of her shift. The apothecary in London hadn't yet reopened - its damages insurmountable in the face of such destruction. There was one in Diagon Alley, she supposed, but Alice tried to avoid the Alley whenever possible.

"Hello Lester," she greeted, her surprise at seeing a friend evident in the small jump she gave at the greeting. "How are you? Is your training going well?" He didn't look well, she noted. Previously, she would have mentioned it to Sloane or Edison or Cameron, seeing as she and Lester weren't the closest of the bunch, but now...now there was no one else left outside of school she could ask. "Are you alright?"

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