What's Your Story
Late August 1978
They're almost month in to their apprenticeship when Davies suggests that they get drinks.
They spend most of their days together anyway, unless they're assigned to a different ward, so no one's actually made an effort to spend more time together. It's not that they don't get along, as a matter of fact they do, exceptionally well, that is. It's just that work takes up most of their energy so they're not particularly inclined to do anything other than go their separate ways when they clock out.
For the first week, Mary crashes the moment she heads back to the apartment and skips dinner altogether. She barely sees Marlene even those they're living in close quarters. Work is less draining now, a few weeks in, but it still takes a lot out of her and she feels it pump the energy out of her some days. She tries not to let it get to her, the mortality of it.
As to the three of them, they've never actually spent time together outside of work so when Davies suggests drinks after work on a Friday, they oblige. The way Davies says it, it's more of a demand than a suggestion but he says it in that goofy way he always does and Mary rolls her eyes while Williams laughs at the other girl's reaction.
"Only if you're buying." Williams says with a grin on her face and Mary high-fives her as Davies' eyes widen dramatically. She supposes she could use a drink after the week she's had so she agrees.
Soon enough, they're at the Leaky Cauldron where Erik's ordered a bunch of greasy fried food and three beers. It's the first time she's seen them outside of their healer robes and it feels weird. Erik's version of muggle clothing is a very fancy floral shirt that makes it look like he should be vacationing on a beach. Williams is sporting a simple jean-jacket and Mary thinks she looks much more prettier than when she's in her healer robes.
The three of them get to know each other aside from the bits and pieces that they've only glimpsed working together. Mary learns that Davies' parents used to be Aurors but are now retired, which also means that he's pureblood. It's not exactly new knowledge to her, considering she's learned how to spot a pureblood during her seven years at Hogwarts. It's a bit of a survival skill, to say the least. Williams is half-blood, her mother's a witch who died when she was young and she was raised by her muggle father.
They've both graduated from Hogwarts for a while - Davies for five years and Williams for three. She supposes that to mean that they were all at Hogwarts together at some point, though they've never crossed paths.
She also learns then that it's not that common for wizards to start an apprenticeship at St Mungo's straight out of Hogwarts, which she kind of guessed when she only recognised one person from her year at the initiation, which she supposes was a sorting of sorts, when they were assigned to their wards. She wonders whether she's made the right choice, jumping into work so quickly right after school.
Davies got an internship in the Ministry fresh out of Hogwarts, at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He'd transitioned to a full-time job there before he realised that pushing papers at an office wasn't something he could imagine himself doing for the next twenty years or so. He didn't manage to get this apprenticeship at St Mungo's on his first try, but eventually, he got the letter notifying him that his apprenticeship was due to start late July. Williams took a few years off and spent it in the muggle world, before realising that as much as she missed it, her muggle life, her abilities were much more well-suited for a job in the wizarding world. After all, she'd spent seven years learning how.
In the course of month since starting the apprenticeship, Mary's been to the Dangerous Ward once, a term the three of them agreed upon considering "Dangerous' Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites" a mouthful. Williams tried calling it the Bites Ward, but the term didn't stick. She's also been to the Poisoning Department twice and she's yet to fill in for someone at the Magical Bugs ward, where William's been there four times and she thinks that they're playing favourites. Williams' never been to any of the other wards. Davies has been to each ward a total of once and he comes back every time with an exaggerated performance as he cries and sobs and he greets Mary and Amelia, clumsily leaning in for a hug which they always avoid as he misses by millimeters and stumbles. It's becoming sort of a routine now, and his upbeat demeanour rubs off on the other two girls. He says he likes the Janus Thickey Ward the most and Mary thinks she feels the same.
For some reason, the three of them just click when it comes to work. While Healer Bailey's a pretty decent teacher, she has a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to work. She's made it clear from day one that she expects professional behaviour from them at all times. While they're always welcome to ask questions where necessary, she emphasises that time is of the essence when it comes to healing. So when the healers tell them to do something that's well within their limit, there isn't time to hesitate so she trusts them to follow orders.
It's the little things they've started doing for each other, when she sees Davies freeze up at the sight of a particularly nasty wound, she volunteers because she's just better suited for this, the blood and gore and she summons the blood replenishing potions and starts working. When she unconsciously takes a step back with patients that come in with delusions after being tortured and feels like she can't take that feeling of helplessness, it's Williams who steps in and helps Bailey diagnose whatever curse or hex they're under. When Williams hesitates to cast certain healing spells even though she's gotten the diagnosis right, they catch her eyes when Bailey's not looking because it's still daunting, holding someone's life in your hands and they all just need a little reassurance sometimes, that they're not botching it up.
Part of her hasn't realised that there'd be that many patients at St Mungo's. The sheer amount of wizard injuries there are - and she only sees the ones caused by spell damages at the Janus Thickey ward. Even though they're only apprentices, they get called from bedside to bedside across the huge room as the healers yell for another set of hands to perform procedures. Part of her expected it to be like the way Madam Pomfrey was, but then she learns that most of the time, she's learning by watching and no one has the time to slow down for them. It's a stark contrast from school, and she hopes that she's doing things right, because there's no one there to grade her work now.
That and the fact that she's still trying to grasp the fact that she holds lives in the palm of her hands. One wrong move and she's just as capable of ending lives as she is at saving them. She wonders if that'll ever get easier with experience, the fear of holding that in her hands and the blood she might get on them. That she will eventually get on them.
At the Leaky Cauldron, Ames talks about Great Yarmouth, about her hometown and how she misses the sea. Erik grew up in Edinburgh, before Hogwarts, and his Scottish accent's still there, it's just faded. Maybe it's all those years being away from home, being at Hogwarts. They're all living in London nowadays and their nostalgia's when it comes to home something they all share.
Most of the talking that night is left to Davies and Williams. Mary's content to let them reminisce about their old Hogwarts days, even though they're in different years, a lot of their memories are eerily similar. They reminisce about the professors, their favourite classes, the underground duelling clubs and the not-so-secret activities behind the greenhouses. It's genuinely amazing how many memories are held within the walls of Hogwarts and how many of them are shared between the three of them, even though they've never met before.
They talk and they laugh and Mary thinks that she needed this. She's needed this for a while and for a moment, it feels like that there isn't a war raging on, literally. That or maybe it's just the alcohol in her that's putting her in a really good mood.
Eventually, with a few more drinks in them, Davies starts looking at her with this curious look in his eyes. He tilts his head and leans it against the palm of his hands, his elbow propped against the table.
"What's your story?"
Mary blinks at the question.
"I don't...um, I don't have a story."
"C'mon, everyone has a story."
Mary knows that Davies is a little drunk, evident by the drunken smile and the fact that he's trying really hard not to slur his words. She's a little more sober than she's used to on nights out, so the question hits her in a weird way, and not necessarily in a bad one. She supposes that Davies is right, that everyone has a story. She's just not sure what hers is.
"Let it go, Erik. Mary's just being mysterious, that's all." There's a twinkle in Williams eyes as she says it and they move on easily. They order another round of beers.
She's a little more drunk by the time she staggers home that night but it's the kind that makes her feel like she's floating a bit. She apparates to the alley behind their building and waits out the nausea before heading back to the flat.
For once, Marlene's home and Dorcas' there as well. Mary doesn't say no when they ask if she wants a glass of wine and she can see that they're halfway through the bottle they're sharing. Mary situates herself between the two on the sofa, to Marlene's protests and Dorcas' amusement. She leaves the sofa momentarily to switch out the album they're listening to for Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
They catch each other up on how they've been. Dorcas is a lot more talkative with a few drinks in her system. Marlene keeps getting distracted in the middle of the conversation as she sings along to the music.
Thunder only happens when it's raining
only love you when they're playing
Say, women, they will come and they will go
When the rain washes you clean you'll know
At some point during the night, Marlene and Mary have started using their wands at microphones as they duet drunkenly to Stevie Nicks' voice. Dorcas has a smile on her face as she sits on the sofa and observes the two. Marlene tries to drag Dorcas up to dance, but she stays rooted to her seat. So Mary and Marlene keep it up, and Marlene attempts to serenade Dorcas. They do so until neither of them can stand still, either from the effects of the alcohol or from laughing too much.
By the end of the night, Dorcas is in Marlene's lap and they're all happily drunk on the sofa, reminiscing about some of their favourite Hogwarts memories. Eventually, when Dorcas starts stifling a yawn, it's their cue for the night to end.
Mary lays in bed later that night thinking about Davies' question. She's not sure yet, what her story is, but maybe someday she'll figure the rest of it out.