Memories of a Headmistress: The Second

A/N: Wow, I haven't written anything in a long time. Since my last story was so depressing, I thought I'd do one that was a bit happier. This is still in my little universe of stories, and my site. Again, Harry Potter and all its characters belong to JK Rowling and her publishers as well as Warner Brothers. I'm just playing around.

July 28, 2006

The day started out normal enough. I woke up at 8 a.m. like I normally did, and followed my routine. But I had the distinct feeling that something today was going to change my life forever. Harry was already gone when I woke up. He normally was lately, but I had a feeling it was because he was trying to hide from his birthday in a few days.

Ever since the end of the war, Harry had been a lot more playful as if trying to recapture something he should have had when he was younger. Of course, he could be serious when he needed to be, but he was a much happier person than he was when I met him nearly 15 years ago. For some reason, Harry had the ridiculous notion that if he didn't celebrate his birthday, he wouldn't get older. And since I was the most likely to celebrate his birthday-despite that there were some out there that thought his birthday should be a holiday- he was avoiding me. I figured I could play along for a few days.

I made breakfast in my little flat attached to my office and looked over my appointment book as I ate the toast and enjoyed my tea. I'd decided to go for a more bland breakfast since my stomach had been upset lately. I wasn't sure what it was that I'd eaten causing me to be nauseous occasionally. It was probably why I had a healer's appointment circled in red for today.

Most of the day was pretty boring. I had to discipline a few students for fighting in the halls. Unfortunately, instead of using magic, it had been a physical fight. I wasn't sure why so many students preferred to do things by the muggle method now that they were at a magical school, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I'd also answered a few owls from a few researchers who needed some advice and apparently thought that I could be of help since I was still referred to as the Brightest Witch of the Age, a title that sometimes annoyed me. After all, what was wrong with my name? Titles only made people expect things from you and they always forgot that I was only a 26 year old woman, thrust into things that no one should be shoved into. Then again, after meeting Harry, it was something I should have suspected.

At 2:30, I rolled up the scrolls I was working on, put my robes back on and left my office. I greeted a few students as I walked through the halls since it was a break between classes before I finally reached the grounds. Once on the grounds, no one bothered me and I was able to make it to Hogsmeade with no distractions. It made it perfect for me to apparate to St. Mungo's once I'd passed the apparition barriers.

The waiting area wasn't that full, which I thought was a good thing as it meant people weren't getting hurt. I'd seen enough death and devastation to last a lifetime. I checked in at the reception desk and sat down in the lounge, briefly thumbing through a magazine while I waited to be called for my 3 p.m. appointment. I didn't wait long before hearing the nurse.

“Mrs. Potter, the healer will see you now.” I smiled at the lady, happy she wasn't gushing over my last name. And if she was, I was grateful that she kept it to herself. The room I was shown into was empty so I took a minute or two to observe my surroundings. I took my robes off and hung them up, leaving myself in muggle jeans and a t-shirt. After the war, I'd gone back to wearing mostly muggle attire. It was my tribute to my heritage. Plus, I'd never really understood wizarding fashion, especially since it seemed to be a few centuries behind. The healer soon strolled in and greeted me professionally.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Potter. I'm Healer Wildes. So, can you tell me what's been bothering you?”

“I've just been feeling a bit peaky the last couple of days. I wasn't sure if it was because I'd eaten something bad or if it was something a bit more serious.”

The man smiled at me, before writing something down on his clipboard. It was surprising how much alike healers and doctors were. Though healers were much faster and the procedures usually hurt less. “Well, I'll run a couple tests and we'll see if we can get to the bottom of this. It would be a travesty to have the esteemed headmistress to be sick and away from her duties.”

Suddenly, I felt a whole lot more relaxed. I nodded and let him wave his wand over me a few times. Unfortunately, diagnostic spells were only visible to the caster so I couldn't see what he was looking at or what he was writing on the clipboard.

“Okay, now I'll need a small blood sample to conduct a final test on. Then we should know what's wrong. But from what I've seen thus far, it's nothing serious.”

He took a pin out from his pocket and I held my finger out to him. The prick of the pin stung slightly but I continued to hold out the finger as some blood dropped into the small vial he pulled from his robes. Mentally, I thought of a few good jokes Ron had told me about wizard robes to take my mind off the throbbing.

Once the healer felt he had enough, he healed the little prick with his wand and exited the room with the vial. Most people thought I was a really patient person, but I hated hospitals and couldn't wait to get out of here. So I tried to think of different things to do to think of a way to pass the time while the healer was gone. I hoped it wouldn't be too long though because I'd seen how fast healers could work on minor cases like whatever I had.

I was proven correct as the healer walked back into the room not more than 5 minutes after he'd left. I had to admit, while wizards were behind the times in fashions and thoughts of equality, the medicine was definitely far better than that of the muggles. The man's wide smile calmed me as there was no way he would be smiling if it was something bad.

“Well, you're not dying. You don't have food poisoning or any kind of illness.”

He paused for effect before continuing, “But you will need to come back once a month and then 2 or 3 times a month for check ups. Congratulations Mrs. Potter, you're pregnant.”

The man took hold of my limp hand shaking it before exiting the room to attend to other patients. I sat in shock for a few minutes, still trying to process the concept. Harry and I hadn't even discussed more children since our first son had been murdered just before he was born last year. But as I got used to the idea, a wide smile to rival that of the healers broke out on my face.

I picked up my robes as I left the little room to head back to the school. The only thing I could think was that I had just found the perfect gift for Harry's birthday. Now, if only I could track him down.

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