Chapter Seven “ An Everyday Story
England and America are two countries divided by a common language.
George Bernard Shaw
When Cho first met Robert, she knew she wasn’t going to like helping in the Order’s hospital. After one day of working there she changed her mind “ she hated it.
It was weird walking through the Ravenclaw Common Room on her first night. The domed ceiling daubed with stars, the arched windows giving spectacular views of the mountains, the elegant marble statue of the House’s founder. It was all so strange, yet achingly familiar, all at the same time. She’d never expected to see this place again. And now she was going to live in it.
The night before Cho started working at the hospital she unpacked the rest of her things (she’d been putting it off for ages) and grabbed her alarm clock. It was blue, decorated with plastic clouds. There was a Seeker on one hand and a Chaser on the other. Some friend or other had given it to her for a birthday present (they’d been observant enough to realise she was keen on Quidditch). It was recently developed, with a new type of alarm that only the owner could hear. Would half five be the right time to set it? That gave her thirty minutes to get up and changed. And she didn’t want Robert to have any excuse to tell her off. Cho was determined not to like working in the hospital, but somehow Rob Moore’s good opinion seemed to be worth having.
She put her alarm clock on the little table next to her bed and changed into her pale blue pyjamas. After brushing her teeth, Cho carefully selected the clothes she’d wear tomorrow (her mum had always said first impressions were everything) and climbed into her four-poster bed.
***
Cho felt like she’d only been asleep for two minutes when her alarm clock went off. It smashed the peaceful, dreamless slumber with a shrill ring. She groaned, put a hand onto her bedside table and groped around for the switch, promptly knocking it onto the floor. Stifling a yawn, Cho leaned over the edge of the bed and felt for the alarm. At last. Silence. She flopped back onto her pillow. Her eyelids felt weighted down and her legs were so heavy. Cho yawned again and rubbed her eyes. If she just rested for a minute…
Cho jerked awake abruptly. She felt like she’d just been slapped. What time was it? She hunted desperately for the clock (which was still under the bed) and brought it closer to her face. She was only just able to read it in the early morning light. Five to six?
Cho threw the heavy blankets back, all traces of tiredness banished. What had she done with her clothes?…
Cho sprinted down the staircase leading up to Ravenclaw Tower. She shrugged a jacket on over her shoulders, and swerved to avoid a collision with a sleepy brunette. If Cho had the time she would’ve stopped to apologise. She was lucky; the corridors were practically deserted. Big surprise. Cho couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to be up this early.
She checked her watch again. Already, she was seven minutes late. Robert Moore was going to kill her!
The door to his office was open, and he was, mercifully, getting something out of a filing cabinet. That meant Moore had his back to her. She crept in silently. If she could just pretend she’d arrived just a little bit earlier, but hadn’t greeted him yet…
“You’re late,” he remarked, without turning round. Cho hadn’t made a sound, she was sure. Did he have an in-built employee tracking system, or something?
Moore slammed the filing cabinet shut, “I told you to come at six am. The time now is quarter past.”
He tossed a tattered folder onto his desk.
“I’m sorry. I overslept.”
Robert seemed unimpressed. He looked at her closely, “Have you had breakfast?”
“Yes,” she lied.
Cho coloured. She’d never been a very convincing liar. And there was something in Robert’s look that told her he didn’t believe her for a second.
“You need to eat something. If you faint on me…”
“I won’t!” She protested. “I’m never hungry in the morning.”
He looked disgusted and threw himself into a chair. His hands crossed over his chest as he surveyed her without closing his eyes once. Finally, Robert blinked and looked away, “On your own head be it!”
“That’s fine with me!”
There was a pause of a few minutes. He was obviously struggling to find something else to say. And Cho wasn’t going to help him. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. There was something very satisfying about being able to answer back to him.
He rubbed his stubbled chin, hesitated and gestured to a chair near his desk, “Sit down.”
It sounded more like he was addressing an animal, but Cho obeyed anyway.
“So, if you’ll get out your notebook, we’ll get started. No matter what your parents are, you’ve still got a lot to learn.”
She felt panic well up inside her like a flooded river, “You didn’t tell me to bring a notebook.”
Cho started to fiddle with the ends of her glossy black hair, which was something she always did when she was nervous. The memory of their meeting kept on replaying itself in her mind. Had he said anything?
“Yes I did.”
“You really did not,” she replied stubbornly.
“I shouted after you to bring a notebook.” His face had suddenly become dark. Cho could tell they were the threatening clouds before a massive storm.
She knew it was probably best to admit to defeat and beg for mercy. But she didn’t care, “Well I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
He rolled his eyes, “Go and get one quickly. And something to write with.”
When Cho returned, armed with a notebook, a cheap biro and some coloured pens, Robert was leaning against the filing cabinet looking grim. She sat back down again quickly. Maybe she was a coward, but Cho thought she’d had enough Moore-bating for one day.
“So, can we start now?”
She opened the ring-bound notebook with a rainbow cover and grabbed her biro, “I’m ready when you are.”
Robert started pacing the room, up and down in front of her. It was very distracting. Cho bent her head over the desk so her fringe flopped in front of her face.
“I’ll start showing you the ropes. When you arrive, on time, in future, will you get “ what are those for?” A look of pure disgust dominated his face, as he pointed to her pink, turquoise and purple pens. “I’m not expecting you to colour in.”
“They’re for underlining titles and highlighting words,” Cho said defensively. “I find it much easier to learn if there are colours “ it helps me remember things.”
Robert snorted and carried on talking. Her page was filling up fast, and Cho knew she was in for a hard day’s work…
***
Five days later saw Cho waiting impatiently for dinner. Once it reached six o’clock, she’d have a whole weekend of peace. Although Robert wanted her to look in on Saturday in case he needed her, she was basically free until Monday. That was two days to do exactly what she wanted!
Robert had finally stopped testing her mercilessly on where all the medicines were located. He’d obviously given up and gone off to some distant part of the hospital. That meant Cho had free reign of the office until he came back.
She drew her diary out of her rose coloured shoulder bag. Laying it down on the desk, she opened it at a fresh page. There was so much to write. Life had become so hectic ever since Cho had joined the Order, there just hadn’t been the time. And now she didn’t know where to start.
Everything had certainly got much more exciting, and at least she wasn’t still stuck moping at home. Cho had to admit it wasn’t quite as bad as she’d expected. She actually spent a lot of her days amusing herself in his office. Cho was lucky they had so few patients (there hadn’t been a major battle for ages, according to Robert). Moore was a hard man to please, and anything less than perfect wasn’t good enough. But she’d rather be with him than someone like Marietta. Robert was completely tactless, and very bad-tempered, but at least he was honest. Though she still didn’t like him.
Cho gave up trying to write something. Instead she leaned back in her chair to think about all the surprises which five days had brought her…
***
“Right then,” Robert said, two days after she’d started work, “let’s see how your plant-cures are getting on.”
He summoned a chair and sat down opposite her. Cho didn’t feel a desk was going to be enough protection if she got them all wrong. Feeling nervous and slightly sick, she closed her rainbow notebook. How could he expect her to remember all the hundreds of plants and every single thing they cured? Cho folded her arms over her white sequinned top and met his gaze without blinking. This was possible. She could do this.
“You may need to remember these, just in case. I’ll give you a plant and you can tell me what symptoms it cures. Alright. Mandrake.”
That was easy, “People who’ve been petrified.”
He nodded, “Grittlewood.”
“Depression. Malnutrition.”
“And?”
She shrugged, “No idea.”
“Fever!” he said, as though it was the most important thing she could ever know. “Aletthew.”
She knew this. Cho remembered what page it was on. She was sure it was underlined in purple ink. What did it cure? Her hands flapped uselessly just above the desk. What was it? “Heartburn?”
He shook his head, “Most poisons, but not-” he broke off and looked at her meaningfully. Was Cho supposed to know this, too?
“Don’t have a clue.”
He sighed and moved on, “Apolianne.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t know these at all,” Moore accused.
“I do! If you gave me a written test I’d be fine. I just…can’t do them, you know, like-”
Cho broke off. He was laughing. Actually laughing at her. Of course, the whole situation was so desperately funny. “Forgive me for not laughing. I was worried my head might fall off if I did!”
Robert flicked his fringe out of his eyes, and suddenly became serious again. Ignoring her last comment, he replied, “What like this? Under pressure? What use would a written test be? Do you think you won’t be scared when someone’s dying? Grow up!”
Cho hugged herself, “I’m doing my best!”
Robert opened her notebook and shoved it under her nose. He stood up and kicked the chair aside. Blinking furiously, Cho tried to concentrate on the garbage she’d written.
“Well, you’d better try harder!” Robert slammed the door shut. He crossed the room and started feverishly rifling through files.
Cho squeezed her hands into fists. Scowling at her lap, she did her best not to sob. Big, hot drops of water fell onto her arms. She tried to brush all the tears out of her eyes before Moore noticed, but he’d already turned round with his arms full of heavy books. Abandoning all pretence, Cho covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She couldn’t care less about what he thought anymore.
Robert’s arms dropped to his sides. All the books he’d been carrying fell to the floor, but he didn’t seem to notice. He approached the desk cautiously and sighed.
“I’ve made you cry now, haven’t I? I’m sorry,” he patted her almost gently on the back. “I didn’t mean to. But you have to understand how important it is you know them all perfectly. We don’t get second chances.”
Abruptly, Cho stopped crying. It was almost like she’d just run out of tears to cry. She nodded, thinking that for once they understood each other. Sort of. Cho rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, wishing the office had a box of tissues somewhere. She grimaced when she saw what her wet mascara had done to her top.
Robert promptly put himself back into disgrace with his next sarcastic and unhelpful comment, “Make a mental note: if you’re planning to cry, don’t put so much makeup on!”
***
The afternoon after ‘The Mascara Incident’ (as Cho had christened it) saw her languidly revising more medical stuff. She was seated on a chair that was practically falling apart beside the largest filing cabinet. Moore was leaning one hand against the desk, while the other was rummaging inside one of the drawers.
Cho tried to ignore the noise he was making. It reminded her of scrabbling mice. She stuck both fingers in her ears just to make a point. He crossed the room to the door and pulled a black jacket out from behind the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Out for a walk in the grounds. I always have one after lunch on Tuesdays,” Robert replied, as if she should already know this. “Do you want to come?”
Let’s see. A walk in the freezing cold, when the autumn chill is well and truly here and all the soggy leaves are flying everywhere. Not to mention going with a man who’ll probably test me on plant cures as we’re walking. Compared to staying here in the warm, doing whatever I feel like until he comes back. No contest.
“I’m fine here thanks. But,” she hesitated and did her best to sound casual, “how long do you think you’ll go for?”
“Half an hour,” Moore answered, before closing the door behind him.
Cho could have sung! She had a nice big break from learning things, and she knew exactly how long he’d be gone for. Knowing Robert, he would return in exactly thirty minutes, which meant she could pretend she’d been working all the time if she wanted to! This was going to be so fun!
***
The first day Cho actually had some patients was on Thursday. She had just successfully recited the twelve things she was expected to do in surgery when the door was flung open. In burst Ron, panting heavily. He sank down onto his knees and took in big gulps of air like a fish.
Immediately, Robert jumped up and ran forward, “What is it? What’s happened?”
He helped Ron up. Cho noticed he had flecks of blood in his red hair and on his t-shirt.
“There was a scrap. Moody and Lavender are ok but Sirius…” He wheezed, “His leg. I don’t know what spell it was but it’s bleeding all over the place. And I think the bone’s been shattered!”
Robert stood up straight. Cho could tell he was going to give orders. “You!” He pointed at her, “Get me some clean bandages. Ron, where’s Sirius?”
The red-headed boy clearly looked unnerved, “In the Entrance Hall. We-”
But Robert had already dashed from the room. After a few moment’s hesitation, Ron followed him. Cho ran to the biggest, floor-to-ceiling cupboard. She threw the door open, making it slam against the wall. What kind of bandages did he want? She pulled out a pile and threw it onto a table.
What was the other thing? Water! Cho fell down onto her hands and knees and groped around under a chest of potion bottles for the tin water bowl.
Robert had taught her the spell for making liquid a couple of days ago. What was it? Cho closed her eyes and tried to slow her madly pounding pulse. A thousand different words came into her head. Think! Then suddenly she knew what it was, and a few seconds later Cho was carrying a bowl filled with water.
Robert raced back in, “They’re bringing him up. Have you got everything? Good.” He turned to go but changed his mind, “Please don’t tell me you faint when you see blood!”
Cho felt slightly alarmed, “I…don’t know…”
He swore loudly and stuck his head out of the door, “In here. Can you manage…?”
Sirius limped in, with one arm over Ron and the other over a girl Cho thought was Lavender Brown. There was a creak as Robert unfolded the operating table, and gently lent him onto it. She noticed one of his legs hung loose, and was bound tightly with what looked like the ragged sleeve of someone’s shirt. It was only then Cho noticed Robert had a big rip taken out of his top.
Moore took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. “Right then, let’s take a look,” Cho could almost taste the sick feeling that was welling up inside her. Was that sickeningly sweet smell blood?
Robert carefully bent down over the leg. He peeled off the soggy layers of cloth, and dropped them onto the table. “Could you sponge him off, Cho? This is really going to hurt. Try and keep him calm, if you can.”
She picked up a squishy yellow sponge, dipped it in the water and dabbed it on his forehead. How was she supposed to stop him from panicking, when she was so scared herself? Cho whispered a load of rubbish in his ear. Her mum always said you had to treat injured men like babies.
There was only one more layer left. Robert dipped his fingers in the bowl of water before starting to peel it off. Sirius cried out in pain. His eyes were wide and staring, looking imploringly into her face. It was funny, Cho had only met him twice at lunch, and both times he’d been flirting with different girls. Even though the first time she’d thought he was after Harry’s blood, he’d always seemed really cool and relaxed. Now he was shaking, crying from the unbearable pain in his leg and mouthing words she couldn’t hear.
“Finished!” said Robert triumphantly, as he pulled off the last, soggy rag.
It revealed what was left of Sirius’ leg. Somehow it looked like a drawing in one of her mum’s medical books. One with all the skin flayed off. But this was much worse. It was only hanging onto the upper part of the leg by a piece of skin and a thread of muscle. There was blood dripping everywhere. Ripped nerves and muscles were slowly sinking onto the table. The shattered bone showed up against all the redness. Little pieces were stuck to the nerves, and smaller bits floated on the pools of blood.
Cho dropped her sponge, and put her hands over her mouth. She didn’t want to see it, but her head refused to move away. Robert moved the leg slightly, and there was a horrible crunching noise.
The freezing cold floor seemed to roll sideways and strike her on the temple. Someone called her name. She tried to grab onto something solid, but then the whole room vanished into darkness.
***
When Cho opened her eyes, she was sitting in the corridor with her back against the wall. She stretched her arms out in front of her and blinked slowly. The blurry shapes seemed to be coming into focus. Cho realised with a start the black and skin-coloured fuzz beside her was Robert. He was kneeling beside her, looking concerned. Silently, he handed her a steel cup of water.
“Drink this.”
It took several attempts to get her hand in the right direction (her arm didn’t seem to be doing what her brain told her to). Cho finally closed her hand round it and lifted it towards her lips. The cold water seemed to flush all the fluff out of her brain.
Then she remembered.
“Sirius! What’s happened to him?”
Robert sat down next to her and smiled, “He’s fine. After you fainted I repaired his bones, re-worked his muscles, connected his nerves and healed the skin. He’s sleeping now.”
Cho nodded and, for want of something better to do, took another sip of water. The right side of her head throbbed painfully. She presumed that was where she’d fallen, and closed her eyes.
Robert saw she still wasn’t cheering up. He leaned forwards in a confidential manner, and whispered, “That Lavender though. She really fancies herself as a romantic heroine, doesn’t she? Kept on plaguing me during the operation, sobbing and wailing, ‘Oh Moore, will he be alright?’”
He got up onto his knees, clasped his hands to his chest, looked upwards pathetically and moaned, “Oh Sirius! How can I bear to live without you? If you die, life will be meaningless for me! I shall jump off the Astronomy Tower rather than be parted from you forever, my darling!”
Cho folded her arms and did her best to look severe, “I’m sure she wasn’t that bad!”
“How do you know? You weren’t there!”
She rolled her eyes, “It’s impossible to argue with you, so I won’t bother.”
***
Cho was suddenly jerked out of her day dream by someone calling her name. She sat up quickly, and rubbed her eyes. Robert looked round the door.
“Ah, there you are. I just wanted to tell you that you’re free to go down to dinner.”
“Really?” She felt like doing a victory dance.
Jumping up, Cho grabbed her diary in one hand and her bag in the other. She was half-way to the door, when all her drawings fell out of her journal. They were only tiny sketches (because she would never have the patience to do something much bigger) of people and objects when she found them. Even though they were just silly little things, she’d never let her parents or friends or anyone else see them. She dropped down to pick them up, but Robert got there first.
He scooped them all up in his hands, and picked one to look at it closer. Her face burning, Cho made a swipe to recover them, but Robert just held them higher so they were out of her reach.
“Give them back. Now!”
Ignoring her, Moore looked closer at the drawing in his hand. It was of a brunette who’d fallen asleep in the Ravenclaw Common Room. She was sitting by a table, resting her head on her hands, “Hmm…interesting subject. Not sure you’ve got her right arm quite in perspective. It looks a bit short to me.”
Cho wanted to scream. She made another grab for them, but he was so much taller than her it was easy to keep them out of her reach. Moore turned to another one, “Your diary?” He studied it, frowning slightly, then passed his judgement, “The lines of the book aren’t quite parallel.”
“They’re mine, Robert, and I don’t want you to look at them.”
He turned to a third one of someone reading at mealtime. Cho stamped her foot, “Please give them to me.”
Moore smirked and dropped them into her hands. Immediately, she stuffed them back into her diary and stowed it away in her bag. Without giving him another glance, she swept from the room, wanting to cry and scream at the same time.
***
Her bad mood lasted about halfway down the corridor. There was no point feeling annoyed, it was the weekend, after all. And she was determined to have a good time tonight!
Cho sped down the marble staircase, and half-ran across the Entrance Hall. There was a hum of chatter coming from the big double doors on her left. She went through them into the Great Hall. Cho felt suddenly shy as she entered. There was no one for her to sit next to. None of her old friends were here (obviously) and she would rather walk through fire than talk to them again. Because working at the hospital was so enclosed, she never really met anyone apart from Robert. And she wasn’t sitting next to him. There wasn’t anyone else. Of course she recognised lots of people, but being a Popular Girl meant you hardly spoke to anyone. She was just about to go and sit by herself at one end of the table, when the most welcome voice she’d ever heard called out,
“Hey Cho! Why don’t you come and sit with us?”
It was Hermione Granger, waving an arm enthusiastically in the air. A disgruntled Ginny tried to pull her friend’s hand down. Giving up, she whispered in her ear. Hermione shrugged, and beckoned to Cho.
“Hi.” She approached the crowded table. “Is it ok if I sit with you?”
Hermione nodded eagerly, which made her brown hair bounce around her face. Seeing she was never going to win, Ginny slouched and looked as grumpy as she possibly could.
“Hungry?” Hermione offered her a bowl of vegetables.
“Half-starved. Robert practically works me to death!”
“Ah yes, the infamous Robert Moore. We’ve heard lots about him, haven’t we, Ginny?”
The red-head shrugged her shoulders, and carried on ferociously spearing her chips.
Hermione sighed, and carried on, “So what do you think of him?”
“I can’t stand him!” Cho snorted. “The way he never seems to shave properly. And his hair looks like he’s been pulled through a hedge backwards. His smirks drive me crazy. He’s got this annoying way of smiling at you which says ‘I know much more than you ever could’!”
Even though she was only talking to a couple of girls who were younger than her, it felt nice to get rid of all the anger in her system.
Ginny looked distinctly unimpressed, “Is that it?”
Cho felt a bit confused, “Why? That’s not enough for you?”
“Well, all I’ve heard so far is that he smiles strangely, has messy hair and doesn’t shave properly. Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that he might have better things to do with his life than perm his ears?”
Hermione blushed and elbowed her friend sharply in the ribs. There was something very irritating in Ginny’s defiant glare. Cho put another spoonful of tomato soup in her mouth and got ready for war.
“He’s stubborn and bad-tempered. And rude. If things don’t go his way he gets sulky, and he always thinks he knows best! And he’s completely tactless. Happy?”
Cho threw down her spoon into her empty plate, and walked out as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. She stomped up the huge marble staircase. Who did Ginny think she was? She didn’t know anything about working in a hospital, or Robert!
Now Cho didn’t know where to go! She didn’t fancy anymore snide comments from Ginny, so she couldn’t go to her dormitory. And it was too cold and dark to go outside. Cho sped up. It felt nice just to be walking after being cooped up in Robert’s office for a week. She stormed past the library door, then walked backwards to face it. Why hadn’t she thought of going to a place she loved so much?
Cho tried the iron handle. Was it locked? No, the door easily swung open, with its familiar creak. She stepped into the deserted library. It had never been this empty before, as far as Cho could remember. There were always lots of people, especially in the summer before exams. Now though, it didn’t seem like it was visited much. Maybe it was just because everyone was at dinner, but somehow the room seemed lonely.
She walked up the narrow space between bookshelves, enjoying the coolness and stillness. Normally she would hate the quite that filled every narrow space and made the air seem heavy. But now it seemed…peaceful. The shadows made by the bookcases didn’t seem threatening. And the chairs were just inviting her to sit down.
Cho perched on the edge of a seat next to one of the ‘private study’ desks. She felt very calm, as though all the anger inside her head had slowly been seeping away. Now that she came to think about it, maybe Ginny did have a point. Not about Robert. Cho knew she was right about him, but maybe when it came to Hermione. She’d been really nice to Cho, always chatting to her and sitting next to her at meals. So why had she never made any effort to be friendly back? Hermione seemed a perfectly pleasant girl. She would definitely be a better friend than Marietta or Ellie ever could be. So why hadn’t she been sociable back?
She leant forward, putting both elbows on the desk. There was nothing for it but to admit the truth: she’d judged Hermione because she hadn’t been cool at school, and she didn’t make any effort to be pretty (or at least, not usually). Cho wanted to kick herself. All this time she’d been flattering herself that she was better than the Popular Girls. Now she realised she was worse.
They didn’t pretend to be anything better than silly, shallow, superficial girls. Cho had made herself believe, just because she was slightly different to the usual mould, that she cared more about people’s personalities. Well, she’d just proved herself completely wrong. Brilliant
Cho made a sudden, silent resolution to change. She was going to find Hermione, and sit down and talk to her about something. No matter how many Ginnys insulted her. As she left the library, Cho smiled to herself. She felt like she was just about to make a new friend.
Roses and Thorns by Phoebe Gruzelier
Chapter Notes: Just a quick appology: I swapped this chapter and the final installment of Hermione's trip to St. Mungo's before I realised that she was going to be in this one. Just to make it clear, this happens AFTER she gets back from seeing Cassandra, and I'll be writing that chapter next.
Hope you like the LONGEST CHAPTER yet!
This chapter has to be dedicated to my faithful reviewers, who make all the hours spent slogging on Microsoft Word worthwhile!