When Will My Life Begin

[Kathleen Simpson-]

Kath could not decide if she was happy that things had gone back to normal at her father's home or if she preferred her younger siblings to be there. Whilst she adored them, she did not get nearly enough sleep with them being there. Juggling spending time with them and working was something that she was not used to. She had ended up sacrificing sleep which had, admittedly, made her a bit cranky and increased her stress levels. She had not eaten much the past few days, either. Anxiety did not sit well with her.

The bags under her eyes seemed a permanent feature on her thin face.

The young healer plopped herself down in the staff room of the hospital during her scheduled break time. She had brought a few slices of bread and cheese, but they did not appeal to her. Instead, she decided to stare at her boots, which peeked out from underneath the hem of her simple dress and healer robes. She hoped Ned wouldn't magically appear. He made her uncomfortable like nobody's business.

  

[Anne Peterson]

Annie was actually surprised when her brother had showed up on her door step over the break. He hadn't replied to her threats, and he wasn't around when she'd gone looking for him. And the one thing that Anne simply did not have the time, nor Patience for, it was looking around frantically for Harry. Her job and life was far too busy for her to be worried about a seventeen year old child, not that Nora had understood that very much.

Walking into the staff room on what would more than likely become a five minute break, Anne smiled at Kathleen. If not for the two of them, the room would be empty, and so Anne took the moment to not be concerned with the prying eyes of the world around them. There was Kathleen, and there was Anne, two people who'd been friends for years now it seemed.

"Hey," she greeted, pulling out a full fledged lunch that Nora had packed for them that morning. Annie had bread, cheese, an apple, and a few slices of meat that must have cost her best friend a pretty penny. "I haven't seen you in awhile, did you have a nice holiday?" Following her question, Anne picked up a piece of the bread and cheese, and bit into it. There was no time to not eat, the next crisis would be occurring any second now.

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

Kath looked up as another staff member entered the room. She brightened as she recognized Annie. They'd been almost close in school and though they worked together now, they were often busy and so did not have more than a few minutes of conversation here and there. At least, that is what it seemed like to Kath. She felt like she didn't have much time to do anything, even.

She greeted Annie with a smile on her lips, "Hello Annie." Her day seemed infinitely better now that her friend had appeared, even if it was only brief. "I did! The little ones were quite happy to be home. We had a nice family dinner and exchanged gifts. I think everyone was quite cheerful over it." She did not mention the awkwardness between her father, step-mother and his mistress, as that was neither here nor there.

"The girls had plenty of stories to tell me," Kath continued, "It made me miss Hogwarts, just a bit. How about you? I hope you had a good holiday as well?" She noticed the rather large meal that Annie had brought with her, but glanced away from it disinterestedly.

  

[Anne Peterson]

As Kath went on about her holiday, Annie munched on her food. After working for what seemed like an eternity without a break, she was grateful for a moment to put something into her stomach. "Sounds like a lovely time." She said after a a few moments. Anne had never experienced such a family holiday, the most it'd ever been was her father, Harry, herself and, occassionally, Nora. However, Christmas was the one time of the year that Annie felt it necessary to be around family, and so she frequently fought for it to be a joyous time.

"Mine was mostly quiet. My brother, Harrison, came to stay with Nora and I for some time." Annie said cheerfully, "Except the poor bugger got sick with something for the last part of the break and wouldn't let Nora or myself heal him." He was so down the last week of his stay, it was all Anne could do to even get him out of his room.

Looking over at her friend once more, Anne noticed the obvious lack of food entering her friend's mouth. Without thinking twice about her actions, which she really ought to have, Anne slid her apple across the table to in front of Kath and stared pointedly as if to say "you're going to eat that, right?"

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

Kath listened interestedly as Annie went on about her Christmas. It seemed a bit odd to the blonde girl to have a family so small when her own was quite large. She wondered what it would be like, to only have one sibling and a friend to live with. It would be terribly quiet. While she would probably get more rest that way, Kath knew full well that she would never trade any of her siblings or "extra" family members for anything.

"Poor lad," She commented. It would be horrible to have been looking forward to holiday from Hogwarts to only be unable to enjoy it. She hoped he felt better now. Either way, he was back at Hogwarts.

Kath glanced down as the apple rolled her way. She stopped it with her hand and gave Annie a weak smile, though it did not reach her eyes. A self-conscious blush rose to her cheeks as she said, "Thank you Annie, but I'm not all that hungry at the moment. I'll save it for later."

  

[Anne Peterson]

Annie was genuinely concerned for Kathleen's eating habits. After being friends for so long, Anne had caught into Kath's patterns and recognized when the blond was falling into another bout of whatever it was that consumed her during the harder times of life.* It disturbed her, but that could've just been due to Annie being overly sensitive to those around her throughout certain times of the month. "So long as you eat it, I don't care when you do."

Brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face, Annie chuckled at Kath's use of 'poor lad'. "Poor lad, indeed. He was probably not even sick, just wanted to avoid me." Anne knew she wasn't Harry's favorite person in the world, such wasn't even a hidden secret. Their rivalry ran too deep, their differences had created too deep a divide between them, and the death of their mother...no, it wasn't fair of Anne to blame him for that.

[* Wow, run on. I'm sorry <_<]

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

Kath nodded and hoped that the subject would drop. She would make sure to leave the core lying around in a basket somewhere in the staff room so that Anne would see it. It was sweet of her friend to be so concerned about her. Belonging to such a large family, the healer often felt that she was overlooked. She was quiet and kind and would never speak up if she felt that she needed more attention or acknowledgement. In a way, it was nice to have someone that looked that closely at her. However, it was also a bit off putting as Kath did not want anyone looking too closely at her issues.

"Oh I doubt that," She replied reassuringly, "I am sure he was happy to see you. Brothers can be a bit funny about it, that's all." Kath was aware of the elder girl's family history, but did not believe that after all this time, anyone in the family could still hold a grudge.

She glanced at the door to the staff room before speaking up once more, "I have volunteered to work at Mrs. Riley's infirmary in Irvingly. Once it opens, I'm set to work on Tuesdays." Kath found the idea rather exciting. She had family that were muggles and muggleborns, and she herself was quite a mix of a halfblood. Working with muggles in a new town sounded like quite the adventure.

  

[Anne Peterson]

She did not believe for a second that Kathleen was going to eat the apple, but Annie felt uncomfortable pushing it any further. They were only friends, she had no right forcing Kath to do anything. She could make suggestions left and right, however none of them ever had to be taken seriously. Even if the serious suggestion was about something as important as eating.

Much like Kath clearly didn't want to discuss her eating habits, Annie didn't want to discuss her brother. They didn't get along, they'd more than likely never get along. There was nothing else to say. "Yeah," she mumbled, "I guess you're right."

The news of Felicity's infirmary had been passed around the hospital for days now, not that she'd paid it too much heed. There was enough things happening around the hospital and at home for her to even consider transferring a day to Irvingly and helping the muggles. Anne had nothing against muggles, she was simply too settled in the way her life was currently going to truly desire changing it all. "Have you? I heard about that, it should be an interesting endeavor. It's a pity that her husband left the hospital, though. He would've made a good director, I think."

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

"I am quite looking forward to it," She admitted, though she did dread traveling that far. Kath was not the strongest at apparating and so would choose to use the floo network. She disliked getting covered in soot - especially when she hadn't even gone to work yet. Apparating would have been much cleaner for her, however she was far more worried about splinching herself than being sooty. She knew magic well enough to dust herself off, anyhow.

Kathleen mildly replied, "Oh yes, it is. I didn't know him very well, but I hear he was quite good." She did not mention that her father had taken the position as Hospital Director. Kath was quite proud of him, though it only would afix him into a place to put more pressure on her and what he thought she ought to be doing. She hoped it would keep him busy and he would not mention marriage to her for a long while. It was something that she had no interest in.

"How are your potions coming along?" She asked curiously. Anne had always been quite fond of them. She knew her friend practiced on the side and planned to have a shop of her own someday. It was quite an ambitious goal for a woman to have, but Kath was fully confident that if anyone was able to do such a thing it would be Annie.

  

[Anne Peterson]

Traveling to Irvingly sounded like a pain. You couldn't apparate onto the streets, instead there was a closet in the casino that you could appear into. And then not only was there a closet, but the floo network was connected in there somewhere, and it all made Annie's head hurt. She'd just stay in Hogsmeade until her circumstances changed and she was needed elsewhere. "You'll do well there, it'd be nice to be the only healer of your profession working at once." She replied.

Wiping off the grease from the meat onto the handkerchief Nora had been wise enough to pack, Annie wondered what Nora was currently doing. Her best friend had seemed odd during the week that Harry was with them, and even more so since Lock's visit. Was Nora becoming involved with Lock? Why did that oddly not upset her the way it ought to have? Ever since coming across Lock those few weeks ago she'd been convinced that she liked him, but maybe that was all due to her increasing worry that she'd never wed. Annie was, in fact, twenty. Something had to give, right?

Potions. Now that was a topic that Anne could go on forever about and not even realize it. There was so much work that had to be put in, so much precision. She couldn't make a single mistake lest the cauldron might explode in her face. "Oh, they're coming along frustratingly. This one that I'm currently working on, this twenty-four hour rouge one, has this coloring issue that makes your face several different colors at once. It's truly obnoxious. I've given my roommate quite a few laughs because of it." She ranted, and then blushed at the end of it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that."

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

"There could be a market for that," She said jovially, "Perhaps the Hogwarts crowd might enjoy it. I could send some samples to my sisters." Kath fully expected them to turn around and send them right back to her. Gemma was far too pretty and a bit too vain to want to be silly. Louise was too young, but she also seemed like she wasn't the type to want to be silly. She was quite serious for her age and had high aspirations - she'd already spoken of wanting to become a prefect one day.

Continuing on a bit more serious note, she said, "I like hearing about it Annie! Though I may not be the best test subject, I'd be more than willing to assist." Kath wasn't horrible at potions. She couldn't be. As a healer, she was expected to do well in them. Despite this, she did not find her passion in them as much as her friend. Kath's passion was in people - in helping them and making them happy. That was where she liked to be. It also would be nice to spend more time with Annie. She found she quite enjoyed the other healer's company and would not be opposed to having more of it.

"Sadly, I am not one for makeup and the only thing I can do with my hair is this chignon," She motioned tiredly toward the hairstyle she wore every day, "So other than the technical side of it, I'm afraid I won't be of much help."

  

[Anne Peterson]

A blush crept its way across Anne's cheeks as Kathleen excitedly suggested shipping off samples of her potion. Beauty potions were Anne's only way of cheerfully remembering her mother, and none of them were ready to be sold yet. They all still had their kinks that made her want to scream in frustration. "Oh, no, that's okay, Kath." She said as she distractically toyed with the crust of her bread that she hadn't eaten. "They're, uhm, they're not ready for the general population."

Would Nora be okay with Kathleen helping her with some potions? She'd have to be, really. The house was technically rented by Annie, not that she truly ever saw it that way. Kathleen might even have some ideas that Anne would never think of, so if Nora had a problem with it she was just going to have to find some other way of dealing with it. "If you'd like to help me, though, I could certainly use it with some of them. There's this other one that I've been completely stuck on for weeks now."

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

The prospect of helping Annie work on her potions seemed exciting. Kath found that she quite looked forward to it. It would be far more enjoyable than her potions class ever was, of that much she was certain. Besides, the two could enjoy each others company (along with Nora's, if she was so inclined) and reminisce on their Hogwarts days. It sounded like an evening that Kath would be more than happy to take off of work for.

"I'd love to!" She replied enthusiastically, "What are you stuck on? Perhaps together, we might find a solution." It was far fetched especially since Kath didn't know much about beauty potions, but a girl could dream couldn't she? It never hurt to have a fresh pair of hands or a mind with new ideas around, either. Maybe she wouldn't find the solution, but she might inspire her or give her an idea to go off of that would help her find the problem.

  

[Anne Peterson]

Anne had completely forgotten to compliment her friend's appearance as she was downing upon herself. If Kathleen really wanted to come across as beautiful, which Annie already believed Kath to be, then it didn't take much to learn. It was too late now, though, for her to voice such opinions. Maybe after potion making Anne would give Kath some pointers and do her friend's hair for her. Girls did that sometimes, right? Granted Nora and she hadn't done that since their school days, but it could still happen now.

She grinned at Kathleen's enthusiasm and began to open her mouth to speak when the door to the staff room burst open. "Miss Primpernelle, it's Mr. Keene, his face erupted in boils again and we cannot figure out what it is." One of the interns yelled too excitedly and then regained her composure. Turning back towards her friend, Annie smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Kath, these boils he has are full of poison that can kill him if untreated. I'll owl you and we can set up a time for you to come over?" She asked while cleaning up her mess of food.

Standing now, Annie turned towards the intern and said "I'll be right there" causing the intern to turn on her heel and leave the room. "Make sure you eat." Anne told Kath, "You can't do this to yourself again."

  

[Kathleen Simpson-]

Kath looked up immediately at the intern's entrance. She was used to hospital emergencies, though Annie had to deal with them far more often due to the department that she was in. The blonde nodded at the mention of owling to set up a time, "Sounds lovely." She was quite looking forward to having a day to herself, rather than spending it with her tension-filled family.

She blushed softly when Annie bluntly pointed out the fact that she hadn't ate. Kathleen had hoped that nobody would notice. She even pretended not to. The Hufflepuff disliked that she could not control herself at times, but she felt no need to try to change it. She would be just fine.

"I will," She promised, though she immediately felt guilty for lying. The other healer disappeared around the door frame. Kath looked at the apple in front of her. She would make sure to dispose of it with magic so that Annie would need see it in any of the rubbish cans that were set around the hospital.