Broken

[Alice Hills]

Alice walked into the hospital wing with a nervous smile on her face. She hadn't found the need to come here before and didn't know any of the nurses or anyone in there. Wandering past the clean and fresh beds, she walked up to a study where a nurse was. Clutching her middle finger on her right hand, she sighed. It was stupid really, she had been walking up the stone steps and had tripped, landing on a single finger at an odd angle. Originally, she had left it, deciding that it would heal soon hopefully. After all, it only ached a little. But, when it had started to swell within minutes, Alice decided to take a trip down to the hospital wing to check it out. Smiling weakly to herself, she held out her left hand and knocked on the door. "Hello?" She asked, her voice more of a quiet call in the big room. After knocking, she continued to hold her right hand with her left one, trying not to look at it too much. She wasn't squeamish with blood or broken bones, her dad was a doctor and he had knocked that out of her quite early on. But she also knew that she couldn't go around all day with a swelling hand, and that magic could fix the bone within seconds. Smiling at her luck of being at a magical school, she started to turn away, thinking that she was being ignored on purpose because she wasn't allowed in. Biting her lip at the thought of disturbing the staff unnecessarily, she started to walk towards the door, setting her mind on finding an older student who could probably mend the bone as well.

 

[Aisling Finnigan]

Aisling was sitting at her desk, writing out an inventory of the items in the hospital wing, potion ingredients, remedies. She was hoping that if she saved a bit of the budget she could afford to bring in a special care unit for serious cases. She frowned, trying to remember the amount of skel gro she had, and walked to the back of the wing, rummaging through the press, she found five bottles. Within this time, she heard a knock on the door. "Hold on a moment." she called,as she replaced the bottles and cleared up her things. She rushed toward the door, just in time to see her charge turn away. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was just fixing some things in the supplies." Aisling smiled. "I'm officially called "Madam Finnigan", but you can call me Aisling." she smiled, placing a hand on the young girls shoulder she steered her into the room. She gave the girl a once-over, immediately noticing how she cradled her left hand in her right. "I assume you've hurt your hand-have you sweetie?" she asked, crouching down, to get a better look. "Do you want to take a seat?" she asked, gesturing toward, the large, comfortable armchairs at the side of the room. Upon arriving, Aisling had found that there was no comfortable place for patients to sit and eat. She had arranged for some coffee tables and chairs to be arranged, away from the beds, for slightly, less-serious patients to wait. "Would you like some hot chocolate?" she asked, she had, in fact, been about to make a pot for herself, and when she was a kid, she was always given it when she was upset or sick.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice jumped but smiled shyly at the nurse who steered her into the office, and within minutes, she was seated on a comfy armchair and being offered hot chocolate. At the mention of the drink, her deep-brown eyes lit up and smiled, amazed that she had found some of her favourite drink in the school. Smiling shyly, she nodded. "Yes please." Another weak smile appeared at the causality of the name, but then her attention turned back to her cradled hand. Holding it out, she became shy once more before talking. "I tripped. I think it is broken, but i don't want to make a fuss." She added, feeling it important to add that detail on. The nurse would probably mend it for her and send her away, and Alice swallowed the feeling of rejection that engulfed her in a wave, before smiling again. "Im Alice. Im a 1st year Ravenclaw." This introduction had been made many times, but there was still the essence of pride in her voice as she introduced herself to this new woman. To be a Ravenclaw had been amazing for her, and she was delighted to tell people this when she first met them. Of course, she had to be careful about boasting, because some people didn't make it into the house that Alice adored, and this could strike an off note with them. Looking around the room for the first time, she took in the surroundings of where she was. The room looked clean, and had large armchairs around - the ideal place for someone to come and sit to chat. It looked very homely and made Alice smile despite herself.

 

[Aisling Finnigan]

Aisling smiled down at the young girl. She loved kids, always had. It was strange though, this girl seemed shy and quiet. Most kids her age would be babbling by now, before they knew it, they had told you most of their life story. This girl seemed different. "Coming right up." Aisling grinned, flicking her wand in the direction of the kettle it began to boil. She already had the mixture ready, and pouring a little water, mixed with the mixture and warm milk, she prepared the hot beverage. Then she turned toward Alice. "Would you like marshmallows and cream, maybe some chocolate dust?" she asked.

When the hot chocolate was ready, with all its condiments. Aisling brought the two mugs over to a table. She had hers with just cream and chocolate dust-she didn't like marshmallows. "Now lets see about this hand of yours." she smiled, her Irish accent warm and welcoming. She took a gentle hold of Kate's hand, twisting it gently from side to side-yes it was definitely broken she took out her wand and spoke firmly and surely. "Brackium Emendo." She stayed silent for a moment, listening for the tell-tale click of her arms. When she heard it she looked up and smiled at Alice. "Now, that should have worked, it didn't seem like too difficult a fracture." she smiled, turning Alice's arm around, to check for the signs of a remaining fracture-there were none. "Now." she smiled, sitting back. "Do you want to stay for a while, sometimes with bones they can be freagile for a while, so I don't think you should be rushing off any time soon." she grinned, sipping her hot chocolate and winking at Alice.

 

[Alice Hills]

Alice smiled gratefully and took the cup offered to her. Sipping it quietly with one hand, she held out the other one for closer inspection. Swirling the cream and marshmellows around, she waited until her fingers were mended before looking back up. Turning them over and over, her face a picture of pure amazememt, she smiled and bent her fingers, as if to test they still worked. Happy that they did, she made to get up. "Thank you very much, and thank you for the drink." She began. looking down regretfully at the half drunk drink that she thought she had to leave. However, when the nurse said she could sit down, she nodded and smiled again, retaking her seat and sipping her drink again. It was very nice, and felt good against her sore throat. Leaning back in her chair, she relaxed and smiled a warm smile. It was nice in the nurses office, warm and cosy, and somewhere where Alice could forget about the things that bothered her. Smiling at the thought of this, her face began to cloud over. Remembering the trouble that had annoyed her before she had broken her fingers, her hand instinctively flew to her pocket, clenching inside it and her face becoming one of a child about to cry as their food is stolen. Forgetting about the nurse being in plain sight, Alice bit her lip and blinked back the stinging tears that threatened to flow.