Gaston leaned against the wall, his eyes tightly closed against the sudden wave of wooziness that threatened to overwhelm him. The charms professor was looking worse for wear lately. He was pale and thin and his once bright blue eyes were now sunken and rimmed in dark shadows. His hair and beard were longer than normal, and there were a few gray strands mixed with the black.

It seemed the lack of food and sleep over the past few months were catching up to him. The dizzy spells were getting worse, but he tried to ignore it. At least if he was tired and starved, it distracted him from being sad. He considered paying a visit to the hospital wing but decided against it. There was no need to annoy River when he had real emergencies to attend to, and besides, he couldn't heal a broken heart. He would just go back to his own office instead.

The hall spun as Gaston blinked and he wobbled unsteadily. He tried to grab onto something for balance, but it was too late. He fell and was out cold.

Sleepless nights had been a regular thing for River ever since he started working at Hogwarts. Not that he hadn't experienced the lack of sleep thing, considering that he was a Healer, but he thought it ridiculous that his paperwork and keeping up with minor accidents seem to be never-ending. Now, this...this is exactly why he held that first seminar of his; to get the kids deal with their own boo-boos if it isn't too serious. See, the school may be a first-class wizarding school, but there was no way it would produce incapable and wailing students all the time, just because they scraped their knee. Entitlement was a no-no for him, and perhaps his colleagues shared the sentiment, yes?

Speaking of colleagues, River had Gaston's medical record on his table, checking and cross-referencing past records from his home country. From those records, River was able to back-track key personnel that would help him understand...Gaston's case. Professor André Evremonde had been a big help since the Healer made contact, and, after exchanging a healthy amount of correspondences, River gave his word that he will look after the man's former Charms student.

Sighing, River sat back in his chair, squeezed his eyes shut and reached behind his spectacles to massage his brows. The day hasn't ended yet, and there he was, wanting to go under his sheets and call it a day. The portrait of Healers gave him a concerned look, and River was quick to catch the unwanted attention and waved them off. "I am fine, just exhausted," he said grinning at the ever-helpful group of medieval healers. "Why don't you get some fresh air, Healer Reed? You've been cooped in this office for hours already." the lead Healer advised, and River absent-mindedly nodded. "A good stroll will do wonders, yes," River replied as he slowly stood from his seat and quietly exited his chambers.

With his hands tucked behind him, River hung his head in thought and appreciated the fact that he's a lucky fellow. Everything had been wonderful in his life, including his own mishaps. The Healer was about to turn a corner when he caught sight of something...or someone on the floor. River ran to the person at full speed, and turned the man onto his back and quickly realised who it was, despite his unhealthy appearance. River turned his head towards the direction he came from and summoned his dogs with a sharp whistle. Busting out of the doors were his two furry, humongous rescue companions, each carrying their first aide jackets. "Roscoe," River gestured his dog to sniff out Gaston's pockets for anything, while he placed his index and middle finger against the professor's neck. "This is not good," a weak pulse was never good, and the fact that Roscoe did not bark any response only confirmed River's suspicion. The Healer quickly hooked Gaston's arm around his neck and scooped the man off the floor. Noting how light Gaston was, River dashed back to the Hospital Wing with Roscoe and Bumi in tow.

Finding time to juggle school duties, with the IMPS training, IMPS anxiety, family, girlfriend and other interpersonal relationships hadn't been easy. That he'd added hospital wing time with Healer Reed was just the cherry on top of an incredibly busy term Levi hadn't actually planned for but had somehow gotten stuck with. Not that he was complaining; it was a pretty good opportunity but an additional hour of sleep or two wouldn't actually be a bad idea.

Which was exactly what he was heading out to do after he left the hospital wing. Except his messenger bag decided to, finally, rip at the seams down below and with a loud noise, his books dropped down on the marble floor.

Levi stared down at them, unimpressed. Then he stared at his bag, equally unimpressed.

"I suppose I could just leave you all there to find your way back to the common room."

Now that Henry was taking classes at NEWT level, he found that even though classes were more difficult, it also freed up some time in his schedule. He wasn't taking as many classes as he had last year but he also had to make it a point to use his open time wisely. Much easier said than done though.

Today he had leisurely made his way from the library towards the third floor after doing some extracurricular research, though he couldn't quite remember why he needed to come to the third floor. Maybe it would come to him if he kept walking further down the corridor.

But the clatter of books falling onto the floor did nothing to help jog his memory, though it did draw his attention and he looked up ahead of him. Ah, Levi. Henry kept walking in the other boy's direction.

"That's probably unlikely unless they suddenly sprout legs," he said with a chuckle, nearing him just in time to hear Levi's words to his fallen books. "I think your poor bag's had it." How many books did he need to carry around at one time anyway? But he did cast a levitation charm to lazily pick up a couple, offering to divide the load.

As much as he shouldn't be near the Hosptial Wing, Eddie felt drawn to the area. He knew that older girl wasn't even there, had she even come back yet? He wasn't even sure nor did he really care, but what he cared about was the exact things that happened to her? Was it the poison or was it the fall that caused the most damage? What would need to be fixed to make the potion better?

As he slowly walked the corridor he thought of these things. The cat that he had worked with was probably off to his owner again, which was another reason he was there. After tweaking the potion again it still didn't do what he wanted, so something was needing a change, but what? He had to get answers that were in the hospital wing, but how could he get close?

Could he fake sick?


Fake wanting to know more about healing?


Just go in to act like one of his friends had gone there, or so he thought?


The options were endless, but which one would get the healer to trust him the fastest. Which would be the one to bring him where he needed and get him what he wanted. The thirteen-year-old stopped and bent down to tie one of his shoes.

Exploring the castle had become more than just a thing Emmeline did when she was bored -- it was a necessary distraction. From stupid feelings, letters, meetings, and homework and stuff. She couldn't think about any of that if she wanted to find a secret passage in the castle before term ended! Today, she'd decided to visit the third floor corridor and look for clues, partly 'cause both Professor Marchand's office and the Hospital Wing were on this floor. Which meant two of the only three grown ups she really trusted lived up here. Not that she wanted to see the inside of the Hospital Wing in a someone's-hurt way for a looooong time. But she thought maybe Mr. Healer wouldn't mind a visit if she gave up on finding clues.

Maybe. There was always Roscoe and Bumi if Mr. Healer was too busy, maybe. Plus, Phantom lived here too. Anyway, the first year was very absorbed in thoughts about the staff and their pets that lived on this floor when she almost ran riiiight into someone. She'd managed to stop in time, yes!!!! Emmeline was constantly running into people, but mostly things. Her thoughts tended to run off in different directions and her feet just kind of carried her, you know? Anyway, she couldn't see the boy's face but it would be totally rude to just almost run into someone and NOT say hi so, "Hii!" Nope, she wasn't going to say anything else 'till she saw who it was.

What the ?? He had been tying his shoes and now he saw feet next to him. Who was watching him or even following him? That was something he would find out. Glancing up he tried to analyze the girl in his head before standing. Gryffindor robes, around his age, the girl of course, but what was her reason for being here? What would he say was his? Things that crossed his mind as he finished with his shoe and stood up. He wasn't one of the tallest second years, but he wasn't the shortest either.

"Hello"


The response was short, but it had a tone of politeness in it. He wasn't sure what to say or what she was doing here, but he wasn't going to be the one to just come out and ask either. None of his business. Plus asking a question meant you wanted to talk and honestly Eddie wasn't really one to like to socialize. He liked keeping to himself, which meant not many knew him that well. It was a good thing of course.

The first year's face lit up as she recognized Eddie, the Slytherin boy who had sent Miss Olivia flowers in the hospital wing. He'd asked her to give them to Miss Olivia, did he remember? She gave the second year a bright smile 'cause that had been super nice of him!

"Whatcha doing?", she asked curiously. Not that she thought being on the third floor was weird or meant anything, but that was how people started conversations, mhm. At least, older kids were always asking her what she was doing whenever she ran into them outside of lessons. She paused for a few seconds before adding in a rush: "It was super nice of you to send flowers to Miss Olivia like that." She always got a litttle nervous talking to new people, so her words came out super fast sometimes. Everyone had always been able to understand her, though, so hopefully Eddie wouldn't mind too much.

He watched her as he stood and thought about why he could have been up here. "I was following a cat, it's a fluffy one.
Been wondering the corridors alone for awhile. I thought following it could lead me to maybe it's owner so I could tell them to watch their animal a bit more. Don't want it hurt or lost." Or stolen for potion experiments,
which would be what he would do if he got ahold of a stray. He glanced down the corridor and back to her again. "I think I lost it though, have you seen one?" Not that he was really following it.

"Oh well it was scary what happened to her and my mother always said girls like flowers and when you are sick you should send them." This was true he did learn that from his mother, but he wanted information and didn't get it. "How is she doing? Head better?" At least he might get some info out of her, but he'd have to be careful what he asked.

"Have you seen her? Is she back?" That was eager he needed to tone it down.

At the mention of a cat, Emmeline's eyes widened a little. She hoped it wasn't Bonsai or Phantom getting into stuff. But that was so, so nice of him to follow the kitty and make sure it was okay! She grinned at him and answered promptly, "I hope the kitty is okay. Like half the professors have pet kitties, so maybe it was one of them. Could've been Professor Marchand's kitty, actually." Which would make total sense since his office was on this floor and all. She shook her head when he asked her if she'd seen a kitty, but she would definitely keep looking for it while she roamed the corridor.

"Uh huh, it was SUPER scary, " she began. Emmeline paused for a few seconds and scanned the corridor to make sure they were alone before lowering her voice and going on: "Mr. Healer said she was poisoned too. So that's extra, extra scary. But she's okay now." Her forehead crinkled a little in confusion when his voice got all excited. But then: flowers...being all excited about Miss Olivia being back... Maybe Eddie had a CRUSH on Miss Olivia! The Gryffindor gave him a biiig grin, 'cause that was cute. Miss Olivia was a little old for him, but she was super nice and pretty and Emmeline could totally see why Eddie would have a crush on her. "Yeah, I've seen her and she's back at school. She's way, way better now."

She said kitty a lot, did she know? He just nodded and kept his eyes on her. He wasn't sure where to go with this conversation, but he knew it was as far from the hospital wing as possible. "Yeah, probably just a professors, so it probably has tons of charms to protect it or something." He hadn't thought about that before, this girl seemed to be useful even without knowing it.

"She was what?" He could play the part of being surprised, it wasn't hard at all. He had worked his deception on his parents and sister for years. His uncle said he was the best out of the cousins. He planned on continuing with that streak.


Oh, what was that look for? He just kept looking at her and even maybe looked down feeling a little uncomfortable. She noticed his eagerness, but he wasn't sure how he would explain it. "I think I'm going to head down the corridor if you are walking that way."