You Look Familiar... [Derek]

“Hello? Is there anyone here?”

Eleonora was walking through the empty hospital wing, her left hand holding tightly onto a spot on her right upper arm. She had discarded her torn jacket and her shirt was now soaking up the blood that flowed steadily. A large tear in the fabric of her white sweater revealed a deep wound, nearly four inches long. The angry red flesh mixed with the red of her blood, creating an injury that looked much worse than it was. Probably. That will be another scar, Eleonora thought sadly.

The blaring florescent lights overhead reflected off the too white walls, giving the room a sterile feeling. This was its intended effect, made to have patients feel clean and healthy. The pressed white cotton sheets were tucked tight under the sides of the bed, its pillows appearing to be made of stone for how soft they looked.

She sat on the edge of a bed, her right arm  raised above her head in an effort to stop the bleeding she hadn't been able to magically fix. She thought she had an above average control of healing spells but most of the injuries she sustained were above her power level. Little cuts and bruises were fine, she could deal with those. But big bleeding gashes, that was another story.

Sitting and waiting for a healer to get to her, Eleonora again scolded herself for not being as careful as she should have been. Sometimes she forgot she was working with such dangerous creatures. She had such a hold over many of them, it was like they understood each other, that occasionally she viewed them more as other humans than animals. She certainty knew how to deal with them better than humans, at least.

Unfortunately at times like those she let her guard down and something like this happened.

It wasn't like that with other people she met. She rarely let her guard down, then. They were more mysterious, more dangerous than the creatures she worked with. She could never figure out what they wanted, what they were thinking. Eleonora didn't want to take a chance of saying or doing the wrong thing around them; it was much easier to get hurt by people than by animals.

It was not long before a man emerged from a door farther down the wing. He was dressed in the robes of a healer and headed her way. Eleonora tried to give a weak smile as he sat down but it turned into more of a grimace. She took in his kind face with a sense of deja vu but attributed it to the fuzziness of her head that blood loss had created.

As the man cut the sleeve off her sweater Eleonora looked away, embarrassed. The criss- crossing lines that ran up and down her arm were vivid against her pale skin. She didn't like others seeing her scars, afraid that they would be disgusted. As he washed her wound Eleonora couldn't suppress a wince of pain. The feeling was bearable but only because she had had worse and knew how to control her pain.

When the healer spoke it was slow and deliberate, as if he was afraid she wouldn't understand. Her head was spinning a little as she listened but not enough to affect her hearing. She looked back to him and into his eyes for the first time. Their brilliant blue danced in front of her and she felt herself sway involuntarily. Yet she did not look away, certain she knew those eyes.

Eleonora realized she had been staring and quickly averted her eyes. Her voice was meek and laced with pain  as she spoke. “No, I've always been fine...I just couldn't fix this one myself. I was, well, I was...” she struggled for a moment, thinking back. She was trying to give Polaris a medicine she had made up to help him recover from an injury. The hippogriff obviously did not think it was necessary and had lashed out at Eleonora quite suddenly when she was applying the cream. Admitting this to the healer was not high on her to do list. Who knew if he would report the animal for such an injury? It really wasn't Polaris's fault anyway, he was simply acting out his nature. Knowing she had to change her story a bit, Eleonora again looked away from the man, hoping he didn't catch her lie. “I accidentally cut myself out by the forest. I was working with the hippogriffs and slipped...into their talons.”  

She sounded like an idiot. Eleonora pursed her lips and tried to control the rising color in her cheeks as what she just said played through her head. There was no doubt he would know she was lying. That or think she was some clumsy silly girl. Either way, she wanted to avoid those luminous eyes of his.

Relief washed over her as the healer did not comment on her story. Eleonora was certain she had not fooled him but he was being kind and letting her get away with her lie. She watched with curious eyes as he applied an ointment to her skin and began his healing spells. The wound slowly stitched itself together, leaving an angry red line where before had been open flesh. He was gentle and cautious with his movements, taking care not to hurt her further. The pain had subsided under his delicate care and Eleonora took a calming breath. She was in good hands. It was not often she had encountered a healer so diligent in their patients comfort. Many of the nurses that had treated her at St. Mungo's had only their job in mind. Maybe that was where she had seen him before. She was, after all, a frequent visitor to the hospital.

Eleonora unconscious flinched away from his arms as he helped bring her legs up onto the bed. She was not accustomed to people touching her. Shying away from physical interaction was not a conscious decision, it was just something that did not often present itself in her life. She tried her best to not look uncomfortable as she let the healer position her on the bed.

As she laid there, her eyes switching from the ceiling to the mans smiling face, Eleonora felt her body return to normal. The room was no longer spinning and darkening along the edges. She let her eyes close for a minute while the man asked her about food. She was hardly hungry but knew that healers tended to force food and water upon their patients, supposedly as part of the healing process. She didn't want to make any more trouble for him so she opened her eyes and looked over to him, ready to answer.

“Thank you,” her voice was like the rustling of leaves that carpeted a forest floor, quiet and earthy. “I'll eat whatever is easiest.”

She was having a hard time looking at him without wanting to look away. He was very handsome and here she was all covered in blood and dirt. Story of my life, Eleonora thought with a small sigh. It was then she realized she had not introduced herself. He probably thought she was being rude, now. Why didn't these normal courtesies stick in her mind like they did for other people? She was always forgetting something important.

“Oh! I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Nora.”

The light was twinkling in the healer's eyes as he introduced himself and Eleonora couldn't help but mimic his smile. Combined with his thoughtful words and playful eyes she was put at ease. It was no wonder he had become a healer. He was perfect in his role. Eleonora wondered if that was all it was, just a role. She hoped this was his real personality shining through.

Eleonora perked up at his words about food. A proper dinner? She was more prone to forgetting her meals and having a bar of chocolate at midnight than sitting down and having a real meal. And the last time she had sat with someone and eaten together, well, she didn't even want to think back that far.

As Derek had a hushed conversation with a house elf Eleonora studied his back, trying to make sense of her muddled memory. Derek...bright eyes...a little too handsome. There was something there, way back in her mind. A flashback was trying to surface but her head was still too fuzzy and the memory too vague. She tried to push it back again as he turned back to her, his lips parted into a friendly smile.

Despite herself, Eleonora laughed. The story of her coming to work here was more and more ridiculous to her the further away the incident became. Stealing two hippogriffs and telling off the head of her department at the ministry seemed like a funny story that happened to other people, not her. “Well...I kind of...left my old job at the ministry in a hurry. With two hippogriffs. And no notice. And no plan...and here I am. Lucky I guess. There aren't many places for a girl and her hippogriffs to go other than here.”

While she had been telling her story a strand of her hair had found its way onto her finger, twirling and twisting around it. She looked at it now, noticing how her nervous gesture had been going on without her knowledge. She left it fall back into place, the loose curl framing her face. A moment had paused since she had spoken and she decided that it was only polite to ask him the same question. Eleonora was surprised to find she actually wanted to continue her conversation with Derek and not run back to her solitude.

“Have you been a Healer long? You're very good at it, I hardly felt anything.”

Eleonora brushed off his compliment, attributing it to the fact he didn't know the whole story. “Oh, they're not full grown. They were just a few weeks old then, but they are growing so fast. I think they will be ready to ride in a month or so.” Her eyes lit up as she spoke about her creatures. They were truly dazzling to her and she had grown very attached to them.

When he spoke of being a healer for so long Eleonora was impressed. She was happy that someone else had found their calling in life and had known so early. To be able to enjoy a job for so many years showed great dedication and love. She believed Derek was down playing his skills as he spoke; there was much to be proud of in his position. Anyone who could care for others the way he did was worth much.

The question he posed for her was one easy to answer. One of the few things Eleonora could talk about at ease was her love of all creatures. “I've always been fond of animals, even as a small kid. It was just natural for me to into a field involving them after I left Hogwarts. There really wasn't any other option in my mind.”

Her words were finished as two plates of food appeared on the table next to the bed. Eleonora's eyes went straight to the large piece of chocolate cake, its gooey frosting calling out to her. Would Derek think her immature for eating the cake first? She polietly declined his offer for help as she pushed herself up a bit more, only wincing once.

As they both took a moment to pick up the plates of food that had appeared Eleonora quickly did the math in her mind of Derek graduating in '92. He was five years older than her and they must have been in Hogwarts at the same time. With a sudden flash of insight the vague connections snapped into place in her mind. Oh no. Oh please don't let this be who I think it is, she thought as a blush spread over her cheeks.

She was transported twelve years back to when she was a tiny second year Hufflepuff, hair wilder and more tangled than underbrush. She had been a scrawny child who seemed perpetually smeared in dirt and bringing small critters in the the castle. With no friends and no ability to speak to anyone without a squeak of fear, she had been somewhat of the outcast. Now enter the dashingly handsome seventh year quidditch player who always seemed to have a smile flickering in his bright blue eyes. If Eleonora had ever worked up the courage to talk to him she would have spontaneously combusted.

“You...didn't happen to be in Hufflepuff did you?” Her voice was suddenly meek, the comfort she had been building up with Derek receding. Hopefully he wouldn't remember her and she could do back to acting normal and not devastatingly embarrassed at her younger self. Why should he remember her anyway? Surely she was forgettable.

Eleonora looked down at the mountain of food on her plate. Even though she had access to this type of meal whenever she pleased, her requests of the house elves were usually more along the line of, 'Oh just an apple, please,' or 'Is it ok to have ice cream for breakfast?' And of course it was, so her meal cycle was a bit off.  After a consideration of etiquette, she deemed that Derek would think of her however he pleased  and that she wasn't going to suffer looking at the chocolate cake the whole meal for his sake. It was pure luck that Eleonora was left handed and able to eat without troubling her healing arm. She sunk her fork deep into the moist sweet and reveled in the way it melted on her tongue. She was feeling better already.

As she forced her eyes to meet Derek's again she chided herself over her feelings. What did she have to be embarrassed about? The way she was years and years ago was not how she was now. She was no longer the nervous little girl she was afraid Derek remembered. Experiences and age had matured her and changed her, for the better. She was a strong, independent woman, damnit. She was not going to let her old fears get the best of her this time.

“Yes, I was.” She forced her words out, determined to get back her comfort. The healer was being so friendly and they seemed to have things in common, it was a good opportunity for her to make a friend. Though the thought was stress inducing, it was something she needed. She could only talk to her hippogriffs for so long before she longed for an answer.

“I'm afraid I wasn't much good to the house, either. The most I ever did was accidentally set a blast ended skwert loose in the girls dormitory.” The memory made her giggle and she shoved another piece of the cake into her mouth to stop herself. “I remember you, though. I was young when you graduated, so you probably don't remember me.”

Her eyes lingered on his as she spoke and Eleonora imagined that he must have changed as well. The passage of time had a way of sneaking up on people and subtly altering them. The slow changing of their face, the lines that started to appear, unwanted. One day they would look at themselves in the mirror and hardly recognize who was looking back. More so than the physical though, were the changes that took place within. Ideals and values shifted and faded while parts of a personality there were once prominent disappeared altogether. It made Eleonora feel her age as she realized how much she had changed since the last time she had sat in the Hogwarts hospital wing. She knew before her time at the school was done more change would shape her into who she would one day become.

Realizing she was spacing out, lost in her own thoughts, she slowly shook her head to refocus. How did people keep conversations going? Maybe she should ask Derek another question. "Do you still play qudditch at all?"