Begin the Begin ((Julia and Heidi))

[Ben O'Leary]

"The paper. I just had the paper!" Ben rifled through his folder anxiously, random scraps falling to the ground. "Where... did I put... the paper!?" As he stood at the fifth floor registration desk in St. Mungo's Hospital, other healers who passed by gave him looks of curiosity as he wrestled with the stack of forms and lists of instructions. His training guide was a mess, and he only made the disorganization worse as he thumbed through, looking for his first day assignment sheet. "Here it is!" he exclaimed excitedly, holding the paper up for the passing woman to look at. She merely walked faster when Ben, in his bright green healer's robes, smiled widely at her. "Right..." he trailed off, realizing that he should clean up the mess he had made. Finally gathering up his folder with all the important paperwork he needed for his first day in training, Ben took at look at his schedule and then turned to the secretary who had been sitting at the desk the whole time, watching Ben's crazy acts from her seat. "It's two o'clock, right?" he asked. "I'm supposed to meet my resident at two o'clock. Why isn't my group here? Where's my resident?" Ben's worried tone of voice and constant questioning only evoked a look of disgust from the secretary. A few seconds of silence passed before Ben turned from the desk. "Why does everybody look at me like I'm an idiot...?"

As Ben took another look at his schedule to make sure he had the right place and time, a blur of green caught his eye. He looked up and saw the back of a woman, she had long, dark hair, and she seemed to be going somewhere rather quickly. "Hey... you..." he began, quickly rushing to catch up with the girl. "Do you know where you are going? I have this paper and..." Ben stopped. He caught up with the girl and was at the point where he could see her face. He knew her. He knew that face. "Hey! You are brilliant girl. You're that girl from Ravenclaw who was brilliant. You graduated from Hogwarts, right? I'm Ben. Ben O'Leary. Remember me, from Hufflepuff?" Ben didn't give the young woman a chance to get a word in. Taking a quick breath, Ben proceeded with the questions. "You must be an intern too. Are you going to meet with your resident? Who do you have? I have Dr. Raines. I hear he's tough? Wait... do you even know where you're going?"

[Julia Wong]

I wonder if we get to practise any procedures today. All those other interns look nervous and in beyond their depth, should be easy to get in on the action. Can't wait to show them what's what and who's the person to beat over here.

Julia had been here an hour ago, poking her head into rooms and trying to sneak peeks at the charts of the patients before she was shooed out by nurses and other doctors. She'd been wondering if she had prior knowledge about cases whether the doctors would let her in on the operations. As she walked down the corridors she was going over the most common Reversal spells she knew and the various potions for the different common ailments when she had her train of thought interrupted by the most unwelcome intrusion.

"Hey, you?" Julia repeated. Disdain drifted from the two syllables but her fellow – ha – intern was busy yakking like a teenage girl and didn't notice. He knew who she was it seemed. She allowed herself a moment of self-pride – she hadn’t worked her tail off just to be recognised but it was always nice to get credit from other people. She acknowledged the fact with a superior smile and raised an eyebrow when he made the same statement twice.

Please, as if I'd recognise a Hufflepuff. "No, but all the huffing and puffing was a bit of a giveaway," she said, her eyes drifting disapprovingly over his mussed hair and sweaty hands. He looked like a deer in the headlights. She almost felt a little pity for him; she knew this program was gruelling, though maybe there was more to him than what met the eye, not just anyone made it into St. Mungo's trainee program. Almost.

"And to answer your last query, I always know where I'm going. You know how many interns are going to make it through to next year? 7 out of every 10; of the other three, two repeat the year and the other picks up another profession, usually men pick up carpentry and women needlework. So to do this, you have to have a really good idea of where you're going," Julia rattled on not taking a minute to pause, and although she was doing exactly what he had, the stream of speech from her and its tone was almost intimidating rather than the flustered babbling of Ben. "Our resident's coming along in a few minutes; we're supposed to be talking amongst ourselves. Everyone's in the next room clucking like a group of hens," she said. "I'm going in," she said and without further ado she left Ben standing there and rushed inside, making her way to the front of the group.

[Ben O'Leary]

Ben didn’t think that the girl seemed very nice. He hadn’t really known her from Hogwarts, aside from the fact that she was top of her class in Ravenclaw. Still, he wasn’t expecting this somewhat cold and cutting personality. He didn’t let it bother him though as he was too busy worrying whether or not he was even in the right place. As she continued with a slew of statistics regarding the rate of program completion, Ben starred at her with a confused look. Was she implying that he wouldn’t make it? As she finished her well rehearsed statement, Ben shook his head and replied rather confidently. “I know where I’m going. I mean, in life, I know where I’m going. I may not know where I am going right now, but...” She didn’t even give him a chance to finish before explaining that everyone else was waiting in a nearby room for their resident. With that, she took of, leaving Ben behind to process what had just happened. “Wait for me!” he protested, rushing to catch up with her.

As Ben entered the room on the heels of the girl, he stole a quick glance and the other few interns who were waiting there. They had all been conversing amongst themselves as the girl had explained, and so Ben followed her, taking a seat beside her. “You didn’t tell me your name,” he informed her rather bluntly. He had remembered that she was brilliant, but her name had evaded him. “Out there, when you said that only 7 out of 10 will finish... were you implying... oh, nevermind. You know, I have this whole thing memorized, front to back, and I knew what I was doing out there; I just didn’t know for sure where I was supposed to be since everyone else was in here.” He doubted that she was interested in his rambling excuses, but Ben felt the need to explain regardless.

“So are you excited for our first day?” he questioned anxiously. “I heard that the rumor is that the attending healer chooses an intern on the first day to assist with a major surgery. One time, the intern was in the middle of performing a reduction spell on a tumor, and I heard that she mistakingly shrunk the patients heart so small that it took the team two hours just to be able to find it and fix all the problems that it caused. I sure hope that if I get the chance to assist that I don’t make a mistake as big as that.” Ben wasn’t really looking at the girl by this time as he was thinking to himself what he would do if he got the chance to help. He was confident in his skills, but Ben got nervous easily in stressful situations. It was something he knew he would have to work on a lot now that he was a healer.

[Julia Wong]

Julia knew she couldn’t possibly be giving off some sort of friendly vibe, yet it seemed Mr. Nervy over here possessed a thick skin. "Oh no, of course not," said Julia sarcastically, her denial obviously fake from her tone. "And of course you did," she said in the same tone. "Is that true?" said Julia for the first time revealing the slightest interest in what Ben had been saying. I wonder what I'll be doing then. Julia laughed when she heard the rookie's mistake. She might make small allowances for a mistake out of nervousness for others though not herself, but Ben's story was too much. It must have been mortifying for the intern in question. "There's no room for nerves in this profession," she said, giving Ben a look out of the corner of her eye. It was awfully difficult not to pass judgment on him, and Julia found herself wondering absently once again about how he'd managed to get into the scholarship program. "And the name's Wong. Julia Wong. I'm sure you won’t be forgetting it any time soon," she said with a small smile to herself.

I wonder specialty I'll end up choosing – wonder how many different cases we'll get to work on today. Something from Spell Damage or Artifact Accidents I hope. "I'll tell you what I'm excited about – getting through our intern months and finally becoming residents." Julia didn't think she was looking too far ahead. She also didn’t think she needed to be looking at the person on her side to know he was probably thinking she was.

[Ben O'Leary]

At his mention of the chance that one of the interns might get to assist with a major surgery, Ben noticed that the girl finally seemed at lest somewhat interested in what he had to say. It was quite obvious by this time that she was rather determined, or at least she was acting the part rather well. She would likely be successful though, as she seemed to have the nerve and ambition. If her skill was anything above average, she would surely shine among the group of interns as she had at Hogwarts. For some, this might have made them jealous, but for Ben, it just meant that he would continue to befriend the girl. He wasn't necessarily planning on using her strenghts, but he always knew it was good to have friends who were capable of helping in a bind. This girl seemed like she could be one of those friends, if only she were a little more personable.

"Yes, it's true," he said, notcing her stare when she mentioned the fact that there was no room for nevers in their profession. Ben was aware of this enough, not needing her to point out his areas of weakness. Finally, she offered a name, to which Ben easily rememberd from Hogwarts after finally hearing it again. "Yes... Julia," he repeated, figuring that he would at least stick to a first name basis for now. In his eyes, they were still peers, no matter how superior Julia seemed to present herself.

At the mention of residents, Ben didn't have a chance to reply to Julia's comment because at that moment their own resident entered. In a very quick and confusing manner, names and assignments were being shouted out so fast that Ben's eyes went back and forth as other interns seemed to rush off, knowing where they were going. Then, he heard his name, and his attention shifted directly to the resident so that he could be sure to catch what was being said. "O'Leary, Wong, Davidson. Dr. Taveras has requested three interns to assist with one of his long term cases. The three of you should report to his office on the second floor."

Ben glanced over at Julia, happy to have been assigned with her. He wasn't sure who this Davidson was, but that didn't matter. He wasn't sure who Dr. Taveras was either. "You know where his office is?" he asked Julia, who seemed eager to get going. Then, another male intern passed the two of them, and Ben noticed the name stitched onto his healing robes. "That's Davidson," he said. "We should follow him." He looked over at Julia, wondering what she was thinking. Then, he grabbed his folder and rushed out the door and letting Julia decide for herself what she would do. If Davidson knew where he was going, then Ben would follow him.

As he rushed out the door, he was so focused on making sure he didn't lose track of Davidson that he smacked right into a passing Healer. Her own papers went flying, and Ben cursed under his breath. "I'm so sorry," he said, flustered as he scrambled to gather the papers. He was so busy frantically trying to hurry up the process that he didn't even bother to look at the woman. "I'm such a... soo... sorry... I..." he finished picking up the last of the papers and went to stand up to give them to the woman when his head collided with hers, making the situation even more chaotic. "Agh... I'm such an id..." He stopped. The girl had stood up, and Ben got a good glimpse of her face. With his one hand on his head where he had bumped it, and the other holding the stack of papers, he just stood there with his mouth wide open, looking at none other than Heidi Fleming.

"What are you... I mean... I didn't know that you were...."

[Heidi Rebecca Fleming]

Heidi gazed in wonderment at her surroundings, in awe of the grandness of St Mungo’s. It was huge to say the least, and even though she was only in the entrance hall of the wizard hospital, she already felt dwarfed. She was extremely glad she wasn’t a dwarf either, otherwise the hospital would’ve been like a massive giant of a building to her. Stood still in the middle of the marble flooring, Heidi watched as several healers passed by her, and the brightness of their lime green robes surprised her. They looked exactly like her! Or rather, she looked exactly as they did! The sight caused Heidi to halt for several more seconds, before she managed to gather her composure. In her head right now there was only room for one word: Wow. Her eyes swept along the marble flooring, the group of lists to the right, the reception desk to the left as several people, patients and healers alike, buzzed around. Feeling overwhelmed, Heidi observed her surroundings once more before carefully and gingerly pacing over to the woman behind the reception desk. “Hi,” Heidi began nervously, though her voice was forcibly confident. “I’m starting my internship here, do you know where I should go to meet my attending?”

The lady across the desk looked up and smiled kindly at Heidi. She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties. “Just a general internship?” She questioned, to which Heidi nodded her affirmation. “I see. Most likely you will be on Floor Three… the main healing department. The other floors have specialties and so on. I wouldn’t wander into them if I were you. What’s your name, dear? I can find out who your resident is.” Heidi gave it gratefully, receiving the answer with a thank you. “My pleasure. Welcome to St Mungo’s, I hope you have a good internship.” Heidi smiled back and left the desk, heading for the elevators. The receptionist’s friendly attitude helped buoy her spirits. The fact it was about six in the morning didn’t deter Heidi’s self-assured stride either; she was too excited to sleep anyway. Heidi had woken just after four o’clock, barely fatigued and raring to go. Maria had helped her prepare for her first day, adjusting her new robes and making sure her hair wasn’t in the way. Smiling to herself, Heidi joined the throng of people waiting for the elevator, and ushered into the next one with them. Squashed somewhat, Heidi managed to push the right button to take her to Floor Three through the mass of bodies, and clambered her way out, smoothing herself down as she went.

Heidi glanced round the corridor, lost and looking for directions. She had landed in an area similar to the Ground Floor, where there had been an identical reception desk. This led off to several corridors, which Heidi wished not to wander down in case she got lost and never found her way back again. From her position, she could already see several healers hanging around with clipboards and accompanying patients, either outside their rooms or walking down and past the corridors. Taking another moment to adjust, Heidi finally walked up to the busy receptionist to ask her where she could find her attending. However, the lady here wasn’t quite as helpful and friendly as the last one, and Heidi eventually left rolling her eyes once her back was turned at how horrible she just was. Still, the receptionist had provided Heidi with a route and directions to follow, so it was still okay. Heidi walked briskly past several rooms, open and shut, occupied and empty. Her gaze lingered curiously on the patients and healers that passed by without a sparing glance, though some of the men did cast a more than necessary glance at Heidi. Ignoring the attention, Heidi stalked right by; this was something she experienced frequently in the streets.

Heidi was just about to turn another corner, remembering the receptionist’s words, when someone smacked right into her, coming from the direction straight ahead rather than from behind the corner. The papers Heidi had been holding in her hands that included vital medical notes and application forms were knocked away and floated to the floor as she reeled, stunned from the impact, which had not been too forceful. Momentarily dazed, Heidi immediately bent to the floor to retrieve her stuff, only just about registering the flustered apologies from the other person. “It’s okay, it’s fine.” Heidi found herself repeating to silence the obviously blind passer-by. Judging from the swish of green Heidi detected from the corner of her eyes, it was a healer – a very clumsy healer at that. He was also attempting to shuffle her papers together frantically, which Heidi would rather do herself. “Honestly, it’s fine, I can do it my--” However, it was then the man chose to try and stand up, his head hitting her jaw in the process. Screaming in surprise and pain, Heidi’s hand flew to her fresh injury, whilst the other healer apologised even more. “Ow…” Heidi groaned, fingering her jaw. “That’s gonna bruise…” She muttered more to herself than anything, before quickly standing up and leaving her papers to the man who obviously wanted to keenly tidy them. Heidi brushed herself down slowly, regaining her balance as she watched the healer below her straighten himself. Wanting to get a good glimpse of the face of the man who had been so clumsy, Heidi was more than shocked when she saw a very familiar visage staring at her in just as shocked an expression.

“B-Ben?” Heidi managed stutter in utmost surprise, her eyes wide as they stared at her neighbour. “Ben?!” She repeated again in mere disbelief. He was obviously just as shocked as she was, because he seemed incapable of forming English words that made sense too. “No way!” Heidi finally started to say in incredulity, an unconvinced smile on her face. “No way, it’s really you! Ben! My neighbour!” Heidi shook her head some more. “But I thought… you were a vet! I thought you were a muggle!” Heidi couldn’t believe it; the truth was just not settling in. She barely noticed the other person standing behind Ben. All she could see, all she could think about, as the man before her, who was just as in shock as she was.

[Ben O'Leary]

"Yeah... I.... vet, no!" Ben simply gave up with trying to formulate a comprehensive sentence and he allowed himself to laugh nervously at the irony in this situation. He hoped that Heidi wouldn't be upset that he had lied to her, though he figured she would understand. She had lied to him in return. They both had to lie; neither of them had a clue that the other was not a muggle. "It's me," he finally said, smiling now as he stopped the bit of laughter that he had allowed to help calm himself from the shock and surprise at finding Heidi worked at the very same place as he did. It was only a few seconds later too that Ben felt a wave of ease rush over him. He knew Heidi was a great person and he had enjoyed meeting her just days prior. If there was one good thing in all of this shock and irony, it was that Ben knew he was really not alone for sure now. He had a friend in Heidi even if all else failed.

Speaking of friends, Ben realized that Julia must be somewhere behind him, and then when she came out of the room, he hurried to introduce the two women. "Heidi, this is Julia. Julia, this is Heidi.... my neighbor." He was still getting over the initial shock, and so he probably sounded a bit crazy as he made the introduction, babbling in his usual Ben-like manner that showed he was very obviously flustered. "We are both on our way to Dr. Taveras' office. You know where that is?" Ben figured Julia could care less about listening for instructions from Heidi, but no that Davidson, the guy they were supposed to be working with, was gone, Ben knew he was lost in the massive hospital, and quite frankly despite Julia knowing everything, he was afraid to ask her.

((Wow.... this is really short, I know. I just kind of blanked out of Ben for a while, and I really didn't want to go much farther since it would involve me needing to g-mod you, Julia, a bit. Hopefully whoever posts next can work with this. ))

[Julia Wong]

When Ben bumped into another person Julia looked up to the sky and rolled her eyes. She was inclined to just leave him and go on her way then she realised that this other person was also an intern. She knew her type, blonde, big breasts, all the right curves – she was probably depending on her looks more than her skills to get where she wanted – which right now was probably Julia's destination as well, and she'd be damned if she let anyone with less skill than her get better surgeries or anything of the sort. Crossing her arms over her chest Julia watched her two other "fellow interns" thinking this was high school as portrayed in movies, or as some of her rather less intelligent fellow pupils at Hogwarts had behaved. They both seemed to have turned into puppets, and if they didn’t close their mouths soon, they would be catching flies.

Julia gave Heidi a big fake smile after Ben introduced them. "We really should be moving," she said, immediately after which she walked briskly down the corridor to the resident's office. She couldn’t resist giving Ben a quick nudge in the ribs and making fun of him as they walked, the women on either side of him. "I thought you batted for the other team, but just when I thought you'd reached your maximum nervous point, you went into naked-in-front-of-the-crowd mode. Do you look out of your window when she's not watching you hoping to get a glance of her changing? Or do you leave flowers on her door with notes from an anonymous secret admirer?" she whispered.

They reached their destination and Julia ran her hands over her robes. She looked at Ben out of the corner of her eye disdainfully. "Don’t babble, don’t look so awed, and stop fidgeting! I wonder how you hold your wand still enough to carry out any sort of healing spell!" She rapped on the door with her knuckles.

[Heidi Rebecca Fleming]

Heidi continued to stare in amazement at Ben, still struggling to find words fitting for the situation. Her eyes ran over his identical healer robes, bright green and totally unflattering on him. Quite honestly, he looked more like an imposter in the hospital – someone who had slipped on green robes to pretend they were a healer in St Mungo’s. Frankly, Heidi thought maybe Ben had just randomly wandered in here. It was all a big mistake, wasn’t it? Ben certainly cast a rather odd image, with his short stature, unruly brown hair, and that ‘deer caught in headlights’ look in his eyes; no, he looked and acted nothing like a healer. As he too tried to come to terms with their awkward and surprising situation, Heidi’s eyes slipped to the woman standing beside him, and almost balked at the familiar sight of none other than Julia Wong. The haughty-looking oriental Julia was a fellow graduate of Hogwarts, and had been in Ravenclaw, like Heidi. She had been in the year above, notorious for her no-nonsense, sarcastic and harsh attitude to people in general, as well as for her startling intellect and ruthlessness. In a way, Heidi had idolised Julia a little – perhaps every girl in Ravenclaw did, because of the way she was – cold and successful. She could do what no woman could possibly do – be unemotional. Heidi rather wished she was like that, but she had always been the emotional type – crying and feeling sorry for people.

Heidi realised Julia probably didn’t recognise her though; instead, the fellow graduate was giving her the ‘up down’ look – what Heidi knew contained the thought process of ‘bimbo with no brains’. Frowning at Julia’s scrutiny, she turned back to Ben for the time being, deciding to ignore Julia mutually. What was there to say anyway? Heidi had never spoken to her before, she merely knew of her. Anyway, Heidi’s idealism had been wiped away a long time ago; she held no lasting feelings of idolising for Julia Wong. Heidi cracked a small, amused smile as she watched Ben finally say, “It’s me.” He was a funny person despite how clumsy he was, she decided again. Maybe he was a healer here – maybe this was all a big coincidence. It certainly seemed it, with Julia standing beside him looking somewhat miffed. Heidi wondered how on earth Ben had ended up with Julia anyway – it was the oddest pairing anyone could have offered. But, Ben proved that he knew Julia and this wasn’t just a crazy fluke, by turning to the other woman and introducing her out of the blue. Heidi tried not to seem surprised, pressing a smile to her lips to try and be friendly. “Julia? You know, I think I know you. You went to Hogwarts, didn’t you? Were you in Ravenclaw? Because I remember being in the year below and hearing things about you. It’s great to finally meet you.”

Heidi extended a formal hand for Julia to shake, but she seemed too preoccupied or perhaps was too arrogant to take it. Instead, she swept past Heidi, stating they had to be on their way. Heidi’s hand dropped to her side, not particularly disappointed – she hadn’t expected anything more. Rolling her eyes to herself, she caught Ben’s eye and smiled a bit – he was still looking as awkward as ever. She could barely believe this coincidence – the way they had so flawlessly lied to one another. The thought made Heidi want to laugh out loud. She nodded at Ben’s question, but Julia was already leading the way, so the two of them followed her side by side. “So, you’re an intern here too?” Heidi asked Ben as they walked, keeping up with Julia’s brisk pace, flashes of events passing them, but she didn’t have the time or attention to gauge with interest. “I can’t believe we managed to lie to one another and now we’re working together. Such a coincidence, huh?” Heidi said, noticing Julia whispering to Ben on the other side and frowning again a little. She was beginning to dislike Julia somewhat, even though she barely knew her – how had she ever looked up to this person? Was it just for her intellect? Heidi shook her head in disbelief; how things changed. Julia struck Heidi as quite ruthless – in too vicious a way. This was evident when she snapped snidely at Ben just as they reached the office door, and Heidi opened her mouth to defend her neighbour, automatically stepping on front of him. She didn’t know either of them too well, but she knew for sure that Julia was being too harsh, and that her anger would not take it.

“Excuse me, what right have you to reprimand him like that? Are you his attending? His resident? No. Then I suggest you leave Ben alone, because you know what? All three of us are on the same level here – we’re all lowly interns. And if you think you have the right to boss him around, you’re gonna have to go through me first.” Heidi’s voice was not loud, but it was quietly angry, with a threatening, demanding tone to it. She wasn’t happy; she hated bullying, and no one bullied her friends. Just then though, the door swung open, and Heidi looked across to meet their resident.

((Are we going to have Miguel meet them? Because technically Heidi doesn’t meet Miguel until ‘The Heart of Reunion’, the day after this post.))