Indecisive [ OPEN ]

[Angelina Johnson]

Angelina stood in front of the five story building. People were going in and out, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go in or not. Ever since the war had ended, Angelina couldn’t help but feel useless; sure she fought against Death Eaters, but then again so did a lot of others. She had realized a little too late, that Madam Pomfrey was the only one able to do competent healing charms. In the aftermath of the battle, Angelina saw so many faces, faces she knew she could have saved should she have been able to heal them. Some people were killed by torture, others by the Killing curse, and others, by the loss of blood. It was horrible.

She wasn’t sure what she wanted right now; with Fred and George’s shop, and the new Hogwarts being open, and some stores still shut down, Angelina couldn’t decide what to do with her life. The wizarding world was still healing from the war, even if it happened a few years ago. Many people changed, like Draco Malfoy, whom she had met at the Three Broomsticks a few days ago when Fred sent her on a scouting mission as he dubbed it. There were plenty of people working in the ministry, for Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new and great Minister of Magic. He had taken away his head auror position to help lead the wizarding world to a new era. One without much darkness.

So, thinking about Minister Shacklebolt, Angelina took a deep breath and stepped forward, finally entering the hospital. Yes; this was what she was going to become, a healer. She decided; she wasn’t going to be useless anymore. She was going to help, but just in a different way than imagined. Her thoughts moved to Hogwarts, perhaps she could apprentice with Madam Pomfrey there, and if possible, eventually take over a head nurse there, when Madam Pomfrey can’t be there anymore. Yes, she’d have to talk to Profess--Albus about it.

Tagged: Anyone
Notes: Haven’t posted with her in a while…
Song: You Make Me Feel… - Cobra Starship ft. Sabi
Credits: Insane, Lyrics to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

[nevillle]

It was true that Neville was still in training, officially, to be an Auror, but in truth, for the most part he just lacked his certificate, much like the others that had been selected after the Battle of Hogwarts. So, he was still going through training, and the training did have its intense periods, but it was not like it was continually that way from dawn until dusk. So, when Neville went to his instructor, and asked for an extended lunch break, and explained why, they gave him an extra hour. They left him to decide whether he wanted to leave an hour early or get back an hour later. He decided to leave an hour early, so he could spend a good part of the morning at the site of his destination.

Of course, ordinarily, the Auror trainers would have laughed at such a request. However, when Neville explained that he didn't really want the extra time for lunch, but to visit his parents at St. Mungoe's hospital, and have enough time to give them the attention. After all, everyone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement knew the story of Neville's parents, and how the Cruciatus curse had been used on them, but they still had not cooperated with their captors. However the curse had caused them to basically lose their minds, and such a condition was unlikely to change. Neville had only been one when it had happened, so he knew of them in no other condition.

It was always a mentally taxing experience for young Neville. When he had been younger he had gone with Gran to visit them. This was actually the first time that he had been truly alone when he had visited them. Of course there was no real communication between them. There was just a hint of an expression in his mother's eyes that told him that there was recognition there. Or was he simply wishing for it? At any rate the time to say goodbye came and he left. It seemed to be a long trip by the time he reached the 1st floor entrance, and he he was not looking up, not looking where he was going, and he ran straight into a young lady who was just entering the hospital ..... "oh .... excuse me ..... my apologies. You aren't hurt are you?," he said with some concern in his voice.

[Angelina Johnson]

As she walked into the building, Angelina was beginning to slow down. Her confidence draining with every step. She saw some of the patients, either being released, leaving, or checking in. And truthfully, it scared her. There was someone unconscious that was brought in by a co-worker, friend or family member. Apparently, it was a potions accident. Healers rushed here and there, trying to get to as many patients as possible. Angelina sighed, she had to have the worst timing ever. Today was apparently one of the more drastic, busier days at St. Mungos.

Still, as she looked around, she began to question whether or not this was the profession for her. Did she really want to be a healer? She couldn’t see herself becoming an auror; so that was out of the question. She thought about continuing on with her Quidditch career, becoming chaser for the Holyhead Harpies or one of the professional teams. Yeah, she loved Quidditch, but she also wanted a family. Not many successful Quidditch players could have families; there was too much traveling and practicing to. Those that did, she commended. It was a hard feat to balance Quidditch and personal life; Merlin knew she had trouble balancing Quidditch and her school life.

As she walked, lost in her thoughts, she ran into someone. He looked to be older than her, since he was taller than her and he had that look that meant he had gone through a lot. A look Harry Potter had a lot. When he asked if she was hurt, Angelina smiled kindly. He seemed familiar to her, and he was quite nice. “No, I’m not hurt. Thank you for asking though. Now, you weren’t hurt, were you? Well, if you were, glad to see you’re ok…and if you weren’t…well, ignore that last part then.” she laughed slightly. She had that tendency to just talk to a random person, and suddenly, they’d become friends. She was pretty sure she knew him though. He was achingly familiar. Hogwarts. Ruins. Sword. Snake.

“I’m Angelina by the way, Angelina Johnson. I was thinking of becoming a healer, so I came here to talk about it…”

[/color] she trailed off, smiling unsurely. She still wasn’t sure.

[/blockquote]

Tagged: Neville, OPEN
Notes: Sorry for the delayed reply.
Song: Somewhere - Within Temptation
Credits: Insane, Lyrics to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

[nevillle]

Neville, had, for the longest time, been one of the shorter members of his house, Gryffindor. He had been slightly overweight as well. He had definitely not been a person who stood out, or want to stand out. Actually, his main concerns was to be an embarassment for his family, his House, or his school. Depite this the great Harry Potter had taken an active interest in him. Neville had not known why, exactly, but he had assumed that it was how he had been treated by the Muggles that had brought him up.

It seemed , though, that when Neville had run across the Trio at St. Mungoe's that the condition of his parents was news to both Ron and Hermione, but he saw the understanding in Harry's eyes and Neville was aware that Harry knew and understood. It was, then, despite Neville's embarrassment in front of Gran, the connection that they both sheared. They had both lost their parents, at about the same time, just in different ways. In these teenage years, though, Nevile began to undergo a significant physical as well as a personal transformation. First was the spurt in height, where he now towered over nearly evryone.

Despite the hardships of the final year at Hogwarts, then, Nev had filled out so that he was a fairly solid young man. He imagined that both his physical and mental development had equipped him to be a good Auror candidate. He did still think about, from time to time, about returning to Hogwarts as a Professor of Herbology, his favorite subject .... someday ..... His thoughts were definitely on other subjects when he crashed into the person that had unknowingly, to him, crossed his path. He, being significantly taller and bigger had absorbed most of the impact, while she had fallen in a heap on the floor. There were more than enough Healers around, but everyone seemed to be too busy to pay attention to what was really a minor mishap.

His reaction was shock, of course, and his first reaction therefore was how she was feeling. He saw her look into his face, as if she saw something or was trying to analyze something. He saw that then she seem to have a look of recognition and then a quite beautiful smile. He instantly wondered if he knew her from someplace .... a younger student from Hogwarts perhaps? "That is a good thing. I would hate to think that my clumsiness had brought pain or discomfort to such a pretty face," he said, almost blushing as soon as he had said it. "You are quite welcome .... me .....no .... not all." He smiled back as he saw that she had a nervous laugh of her own as well. He had a feeling that this one was one who tended to talk and try to make friends when they were nervous.

This was a good thing, he thought, as had a tendency to clam up. "Angelina? .... Now that's a pretty name ..... for a pretty ...... oh ..... my name is Neville ..... Neville Longbottom. But my friends just call me Nev. A healer? That's a wicked choice for a career. I'm in training to be an Auror at the Ministry. A Healer is a good job, an important one." He looked back up at St. Mungoe's. "Its important to me anyway." He knew that he probably had a dark look on his face, but he couldn't help himself. "I'm sure after you speak to them you'll have a clear idea of what you want to do. And look what I'm doing; I'm holding you up. You would probably like to go in. Have you an appointment see someone." He hated to think that he had interfered with her plans, even though it had given him an opportunity to meet her.

[Angelina Johnson]

“Thank you,” she smiled again, a light blush against her tanned cheeks. It wasn’t as if she was embarrassed, but flattered. Merlin knew how many times Fred flirted with her, even after she agreed to go out with him. The same could be said for George and Alicia. Angelina found it cute and romantic though; almost like their relationship could last throughout anything. “Well, that’s good to hear.” she her smile only grew as he smiled back. When he introduced himself, Angelina couldn’t help the shock.

Angelina hadn’t expected this to be the Neville Longbottom she once knew, or rather, saw during Hogwarts. He was one of the shortest of the first years that walked into the Great Hall. She remembered because he was holding a toad, and he seemed nervous, more so than she’s seen anyone really. Perhaps it was because he was afraid he wouldn’t fit in, she knew she was afraid of that her first year. She remembered his baby-ish face, it was cute. Neville Longbottom, the one who always had something happen to him, whether it be being hung up by pixies, or being found petrified by Hermione Granger, who was already recognized as an intelligent witch. She had left the year Umbridge was with them; Neville’s fifth year if she remembered correctly. Boy, do the years go by fast. She would have never guessed this towering man to be the once short, trembling Neville Longbottom from his early years at Hogwarts. War did that to people she supposed.

“Well, Neville Longbottom. You’ve grown so much since I left Hogwarts, good for you. Hope that confidence of yours grew as well, huh?” She smiled broadly; more comfortable now that she could put a name, and a memory, with the face in front of her. She wondered what the twins would say in the change, but then again, they’ve probably seen Neville before; after all, he was close friends with their youngest brother, Ron, and dating their baby and only sister, Ginny. Good for them. “You want to an auror? Well, that’s a wicked choice for a career as well. I was thinking about being an auror, but I don’t think I can handle much fighting. That war was more than enough for me. So, I’ll leave it to you and your auror buddies to keep us safe, yeah?” she smiled jokingly.

As a dark looked passed over Neville’s face, as he spoke about the importance of an auror, Angelina automatically rested her hand on his forearm, as he towered over her, and smiled softly but kindly at him. “You know I want to be a healer because I like to help people? I mean, it’s not just about healing those that are physically injured. A healer, it’s so much more. You get to save lives, help people,, comfort them,” her smile was now small, as she continued on, a passionate fire lighting in her eyes. “A healer is the comfort people need to know everything is going to be all right, that it’s all ok when times are tough. Almost like an auror, you know.” she turned to him, a kind, almost encouraging smile. Good for Neville to become an auror. Merlin knew they needed as many people like him as possible.

As he spoke of holding her back from her appointment if she had one, which she didn’t, Angelina laughed slightly. Not in that mean way, but in a carefree type of way. “Oh no, I don’t have an appointment with anyone. Just came by to see if this is what I truly want to be…. But I think it’s moments like this, where you talk with the people that aren’t healers that help the most.” she smiled. “Besides, I should be the one apologizing for keeping you from wherever you need to go. You were on your way out, weren’t you? I’d hate to keep you.” The tables were turned, and now she was the one apologizing about keeping him from whatever he needed to do. Maybe neither had something to do. Oh well, having this little chat was helpful to Angelina. She only wondered if it had an impact on Neville as well.

Tagged: Neville, OPEN
Notes: Again, sorry for the delayed reply
Song: Mr. Know it All by Kelly Clarkson
Credits: Insane, Lyrics to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

[nevillle]

He found that she had a nice open smile and he returned her second smile with a broad one of his own. He saw the slightest of blushes on her face, given that she had such a dark complexion anyway. He did not know why she was blushing, though. Saying she had a pretty face was just an obvious observation. "I would expect that it would be something that you heard often, actually. I'm just relieved that I did not cause you any injury. Hmmm ... do I know you from somewhere .... Hogwarts perhaps?" Sher did seem to be vaguely familiar to him.

However, that did not make much senses to him. Someone as striking as this girl, he really should remember her, especially if she was someone that he would have seen every day. Within a few moments he had introduced himself, and it was clear, by the expression on her face that she did indeed recognize his name, but her recognition looked like one of surprise. She seemed to have definitely recognized his name, but not his appearance. He had filled out a bit after leaving Hogwarts, but he knew that he was about the same height and weight as he had been in his 7th year, and in fact he was a few pounds lighter, from all of the Auror training that he had been participating in. From all of that it seemed as if this girl had known him perhaps when he had been a young and dumpy student and had looked much different than he did now. Only that made any sense and explained the fact that she didn't recognize him, but knew his name.

"And how long has it been since you left Hogwarts. I guess its not unusual, at least for boys to change a lot in their teens. I do hope that you find that all of the changes have been for the better." He expected that she remembered the old Neville, the one that had been scared of his own shadow, and had lacked any confidence in his own abilities. He had not been that admirable of of a person back in those days, he knew. He had been quiet and aloof, but always asking about what he could do to help. If there was an accident that needed to happen it would end up being connected with him. Finally, though, his thoughts were interrupted by real conversation. This was unusual. They were actually responding to something he had said. "An Auror .... yes. In some ways it was expected path for me to travel."

After all, his parents had been respected Aurors in their time, until most of their minds had been emptied by the Cruciatus curse from Bellatrix Lestrange. At least Gran had always told him how much he had to live up to, because of the selfless example they left behind for him to live up to. "Well, I doubt if my self-confidence and self-esteem could have been much lower than when I started at Hogwarts. In many ways I felt as if there was a lot of pressure on me ..... higher expectations than some others just with who and what my parents had been. Harry, though" he mused, "always seemed to have confidence in me and what I could do. He gave me room to develop, and gradually, I guess, I showed I was able to assume some responsibility. I expect I surprised some but what I accomplished."[

He wondered silently for a few moments just how things had turned out, and if things had gone just a little bit differently at the Battle of Hogwarts how things could have been much different for them all. "By the way," he said, shaking off some of those memories, "just how far ahead of me were you at Hogwarts? Well .... thank you. Yes .... I always dreamed of being an Auror like my parents but didn't really have the belief in myself that I could do it. I guess Potter was responsible for instilling that in me Even so, I was surprised when I was asked to train to be an Auror. I would have never imagined myself as a fighter, but the Battle of Hogwarts changed. Yeah, I guess you will have to leave that to us. I don't know if I'm all that capable, but the group of us are more than capable," he chuckled. "Unless you would like to show us how it should be done," he volleyed back her joking remarks.

As the tone of her words became somewhat softer, he wondered if she had picked up on the fact that his thoughts had drifted back to his parents. Did she know that this was where they were living out the remainder of their days, closed off from the sunlight and fresh air, while he got to walk freely in the fresh air of the outside world? He wondered even more as she began to talk about the importance of Healers and healing, and talking about than just physical well-being. It was evident from the passion in her voice how she felt about it. "Most people only talk with such passion in their eyes about lovers. It makes me think that the one who is fortunate to enough spend their lives with you will be loved passionately and deeply. I have my doubts that I will be so fortunate," he said somewhat wistfully.

"I would hardly compare a Healer to an Auror. In many ways I think that healers do even more important work than aurors do." For some reason, he thought, she had brought extra emphasis to the word comfort, and there was something about her smile that seemed to change. He responded to her comment about holding him up .... "No .... no .... I had just come from visiting someone. I asked for some time off of Auror training for the visit and they granted it, surprisingly enough. I am in no hurry to return," he said as he looked hopefully back into her eyes.