Lenora nearly forgot why she had even ventured into this shop, too engrossed in the conversation at hand. Reading was something she could do at home if she had wanted to, and she had plenty of time to study later. Oh, that’s right…studying…because school was almost out. Things were about to get very busy around the home soon, she noted, which was exactly what she was looking forward to. She knew she’d be working a whole lot more, for the same pay, but the pay never did bother her at all. She would have worked there for free if she had to. Of course, no one could really afford to work for free, which was highly disappointing. They had been lacking volunteers at the home, people thinking they were far busier than they actually were. No matter, she was still going to do her part.

“You must be really busy at work,” Lenora stated, nodding her head in understanding. “I suppose if you work out, it can balance it out, right?” she suggested, wondering if the woman even had time for that. “Four? That’s still exciting! Brothers? Sisters? Both?” she asked curiously. The redhead smiled at the compliment but otherwise, didn’t comment on it, never really certain how to take compliments without getting slightly awkward. “Oh that’s wonderful! It’s good to hear that at least some of the Quidditch players are willing to do that. Are they usually okay to deal with? The players?” she asked curiously, recalling in her school days that the players that got injured were typically very irritable if they had to go to the Hospital Wing for some reason, whatever it may be. She never minded when she had to make her way in that direction, but to each their own.

“That is just so awesome,” Lenora smiled widely. It was almost a sad fact that the woman would probably start getting a lot more work from the impending war that everyone would have been daft to miss. “Do you ever get people from across the world? Can you speak multiple languages to communicate with them?”

Busy, wasn’t a foreign concept for Alex it was something she was very used to, though she wouldn’t have it any other way. She assumed that it must be the same for Lenora as she knew that they only had two people working at the home and were severely lacking volunteers. She of course had no idea how many children were at the home but going by the number of kids she treated she assumed it was plenty and that never sat well with Alex. She of course had her parents still but to think that so many children were growing up without parents. But she could tell that the redhead was doing her best given the circumstances and to make the children feel a part of something, no matter if it fell into the traditional description of a family or not.

“Some days I’m flat out, others aren’t so bad, but it’s never boring, I can tell you that” she smiled. She arched her brow and smirked as Lenora spoke about working out, it was something that didn’t do, ever, her sister hated her for it. “My work out isn’t what others do, it involves rushing between different patient rooms” she laughed even if it was the truth. “I have an older brother than me after me is another brother and my younger sister” she replied happily, it wasn’t everyday she got to talk about her siblings. Really she wasn’t sure if Ryder even knew much about them. Again, thoughts of him started creeping into her mind. “They are pretty good, the girls more so than the boys” she smirked before speaking on further. “The guys have this nasty habit of after visiting the kids trying to sweet talking their way out of taking potions and such and then occasionally they try to make pass at me, though I never go anywhere with that” she told the redhead. Alex had never dated a patient and never would. She was going to hang out with Ryder soon and didn’t know if that crossed the line or not but they were just hanging out as friends, it wasn’t a date.

“I’ve never considered it to be awesome before, I guess it is” she chuckled. Alex had managed to tame her magic down considerably during her years at Hogwarts. She thought about Lneora’s question. “I do sometimes, I treated an old lady a few weeks back who was visiting her family here from Spain, it was an interesting experience since I speak no Spanish whatsoever” she replied, shaking her head in amusement.

There was just something thrilling about meeting all of these different people throughout her days that Lenora just absolutely adored. Every person was so unique from the next, each going through their own hardships or challenges, their own pleasures and joys. It was interesting to her to see the different mindsets, to hear the different perspectives that were shared. Never once has Lenora turned down a conversation, especially with someone as pleasant as Alex.

“Well, I do appreciate all that you do; Healers are remarkable, really,” Lenora stated sincerely, a smile wide on her face. Lenora laughed at her comment about working out, figuring that the woman really was busy with work all of the time. It was easy to do if someone was so passionate about what they did, finding a great need in being available at all times. “Really? That’s awesome. Do you get along well with your siblings? Do you get to see them often? I don’t really see my siblings all that often anymore; I suppose that happens when they’re mostly all still at Hogwarts,” she shrugged, finding that she really did miss her siblings. Lenora laughed at the description of the behavior of the Quidditch player males, amused by it. Boys will be boys, she mused to herself. “Some genders never change,” she joked.

“Oh dear; how do you communicate in situations like that? Do you have translators at the hospital or do you just have to wing it?” Lenora asked curiously, finding this all to be so very fascinating, as she had with most things. She supposed that meant she was easily excitable, but she couldn’t help it, finding herself so excited for whatever anyone she was talking to was excited about.

It wasn’t every day that Alexandra met new people in random places. Sure she met people in her work but that was a given. She was enjoy Lenora’s company, she was bubbly and lively much more so than Alexandra herself. Which, the brunette found very welcoming. She was finding that even though they had just met, the redhead was a very relatable person. Maybe she should sit alone in bookstores more often, who knew who she might run into or meet next. She laughed in her head at the thought.

The healer was thrown off when Lenora talked about being appreciative of the work she did. “Its always been something I wanted to do and I probably do it until I’m 70” she laughed but knew full well that could be the true since magical folk lived longer than muggles. “But thank you, that is kind of you to say” she replied blushing slightly since Ryder had said something similar to her recently. Of course the circumstances had been different with him. Alex nodded in reply to the redhead’s question. She missed Andrew or Andy as she called since he didn’t live in England anymore, well for the time being anyway. “Ethan and Melody I see about every two weeks, we have dinner with parents. Andrew, my older brother not really because he lives in France with his wife but they are about to become parents so I may be seeing them soon” she grinned. The prospect of becoming an Aunt excited her. The brunette’s eyes widened slightly at the thought of all of Lenora’s siblings being at Hogwarts. “All of them are at school? Wow your place is going to be a lot rowdier soon” she laughed assuming that the school year was nearly over and that the kids would be home for summer. “You’re right, they still act like they are still in school, well some of them anyway” she chuckled. That was something she had noticed with Ryder, just how much he had matured.

“We do wing it, but with this lady a lot hand actions were there” Alex smiled at the memory. “Turns out she just had bad case of food poisoning” she explained, which was easily fixed with a simple potion. Wanting to take the spotlight off her, she thought of something to ask Lenora. “So do you have many kids at the home that don’t go to Hogwarts yet?” 

Lenora was realizing that perhaps she really did need to get out more often, if only to use this as a wonderful opportunity to meet more people, more potential friends. It had been quite a while since she had met a new person and she was remembering just how much she had enjoyed it. People were fascinating, each with their own stories and laughable moments. Each person was completely unique and how could she not find meeting them to be enjoyable?

The redhead laughed along with the woman’s comment, nodding her head in understanding. “It’s so great to work somewhere that you love. I hear that not many people get that opportunity. Was becoming a Healer your dream job? Like, did you always want to be a Healer or did you think of becoming something else before?” Lenora asked curiously. “Parents? That’s so exciting! Niece? Nephew? Not sure? Babies are so wonderful,” she beamed, already feeling excited for her new friend. “Yes, they’re all at school. Well, scratch that. Logan, my sibling closest to me in age, is 20 and most definitely not still at school. The others though, are. They are in between fourth through seventh years…it feels like so long ago since I was a teenager…and now I feel old for even saying that,” she laughed lightly. Lenora really did love her extended family though, and the summertime still felt so far away since they weren’t home yet.

Lenora took a moment to count in her head how many kids they had at the home now. “We only have seven that aren’t yet in school. We will possibly be getting in an infant next week as the mother doesn’t want custody, unfortunately. We have two toddlers, a six year old, a seven year old, two eight year olds, and an eleven year old,” she explained, smiling fondly.

The healer was have a great time with Lenora, how could she not, the redhead was bubbly and easy to talk to, which was a remarkable finding since they had only just met. Alex could already see herself hanging out with the other witch more often. Perhaps that was a bit presumptuous on her part but she tended to foresee things like that. It wasn’t often that the former Gryffindor actually ran into people around her age outside of St Mungo’s but she found it was happening more regularly of late. First Ryder, then Amaris and now Lenora, made her wonder who she may see next.

“Yeah, I don’t think I could see myself working anywhere else unless I got a job in another wizarding hospital but I love England too much” she laughed. It was true, she had been to other wizarding hospitals, going with her sister in law on one appointment to the hospital in Paris and she still thought that St Mungo’s was the best. Obviously, it had that reputation amongst the general magical population too. “I did always want to be a healer, it makes for interesting stories when my siblings and I get together” she smiled, it was true since they all worked in different fields. “What about you? When did you realise you want to work with orphans?” Alex asked inquisitively. She laughed at how excited Lenora was over her becoming an Aunt very soon. “Her healer is eighty percent certain it’s a girl” she replied. Andrew would be fiercely protective of his daughter if Alex was correct. She too was rather excited for her older brother. “My sister is 20 too, perhaps they were in the same year” she wondered. “Are your siblings in the same house?” she asked in amusement, if that were the case she pitied their head of house. Of course she knew that siblings did get sorted into different houses. However, all the Wilcox siblings had been in Gryffindor. “And please, you’re not old!” she said shaking her head.

She listened closely as Lenora explained how old the other children who were still yet to start Hogwarts. “So I’m guessing the eleven year old will start Hogwarts in September? And why doesn’t the mother want custody? if you don't mind me asking that is” she asked, knowing that a number of factors could be swaying such a decision.

It already felt as if she had known Alex for forever, sitting here and chatting as if time was not all that important. She was certain that they both probably had other things that they had to do, but it didn’t really matter. It was always important to make time for people before someone became a total recluse. People were so important in life, no matter what. The world may be falling apart and things may get crazy, but if one did not make time for people, were they even really living at all?

“England is home,” Lenora agreed, smiling widely. She absolutely loved her home, not even able to picture living in another country, either. Though, she supposed that was mainly due to the fact that leaving the children she presently worked with was just heartbreaking to even think about. “Interesting stories? How so?” the redhead asked curiously. She let out a heavy sigh, trying to remember back to a time before she had wanted to work with orphans. “I think I had wanted to be a daycare teacher, at first. Well, before then, I suppose I wanted to be a princess, like every little girl,” she grinned. “So let’s see…I think when I was in fifth year and one of my close friends had been an orphan, I was just starting to see the need. They didn’t feel all that wanted as they were tossed around and I absolutely hated that. No child should feel unwanted. I came from a family where family was so important and there was so much love…I guess I just wanted everyone to feel like they belonged somewhere and so I started to volunteer at the home until I could become an employee,” she grinned fondly. “Oh, a girl? How exciting!” Lenora smiled happily. “Not all of them; they’re pretty separated amongst the houses, for the most part,” she shrugged. “Oh, that would be interesting if they were all in the same house,” she laughed, trying to think how that would even work. They all loved each other, but even that would be a bit much.

“Yes ma’am; he will be starting come September. He’s really excited, and nervous,” she grinned. “I keep telling him that the sorting isn’t bad, but I think the older students have made him think it was ridiculously hard to be sorted and that he might not get accepted and have to be working with trolls instead while at school,” she laughed, shaking her head. “Unfortunately I can’t share those details; confidentiality and everything, but I’m hoping that a bit of convincing will help her to realize that being a mother is blessing and not a curse,” Lenora shrugged, really hoping that she could convince the woman that it was okay to be a single mother and that she would receive help. Right now, the mother wanted to give up the child and have nothing to do with the child. Lenora was at least hoping to get the mother involved until she would maybe decide she was capable of being a mother.
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The healer smiled back when Lenora agreed that England was home, Alex of course agreed with her though she had travelled a little to various parts of Europe. For Andrew now Paris was home and she was almost certain that Ethan would one day call somewhere tropical home. She smiled in amusement when the redhead asked what she meant by interesting stories. “Well I do see some interesting things at St Mungo’s, like this one little girl wanted to turn her younger sister green but she wasn’t able to using magic so she decided to paint her green” she laughed lightly shaking her head. And it was probably better that her parents brought her into St Mungo’s since would be easier to explain to a healer what happened than to a muggle doctor. It really was a funny case and it made her job more fun and rewarding even. Alex gave Lenora her undivided attention as she talked about what she wanted to be before working at the home. “I don’t know any girl who didn’t want to be a princess, it would be super cool” she grinned, agreeing with the other woman. She could tell the Lenora really had passion for looking after the orphans ensuring that they felt part of something. “Lenora that is so awesome” the brunette told the girl sincerely. “Yeah I think my brother will be so protective of her. My dad was like that with me and my sister, with the boys, well he didn’t both so much” she said thoughtfully. “Imagine what kind of trouble they could get into if they were in the same house, they would drive their head of house mad” Even if she and her siblings had all been in Gryffindor, they all had different personalities and had never been at school at the same time to cause trouble together.


“I think every kid is nervous before they start school” she nodded smiling. She laughed at the mention of trolls, she knew that was common, the older students trying to scare the younger ones. “Oh of course” Alex nodded, knowing all too well about healer/patient confidentiality. “I hope you’re able to convince her” she said giving Lenora her full support. Having been present for many births Alex had seen for herself many wonderful moments when witches and wizards became parents for the first time.
"It's sad when situations like that arise"  she smiled sadly. 

Lenora let out a laugh at the story shared, amusement written in her features. “She painted her sister green? Green with envy, I suppose?” she joked. “Talk about a bit of sibling rivalry gone wrong…I guess just taking a bath wasn’t useful to remove the paint?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow. It seemed like a bath could have gotten the paint off easily, unless it was paint that was magical of sorts. Perhaps they had gotten the paint from one of the joke shops making it near impossible to remove. “Do you work mostly with any particular age group or are you more versatile in St. Mungo’s?” Lenora asked curiously. “It seems to be the usual case of fathers and daughters,” Lenora agreed, nodding. That’s how she had been with her father, as well, before he had passed away. She was his little girl who could do no wrong, though her mother made sure that Lenora got close to equal treatment as her brothers had. “Oh Merlin, we would be hearing from the Head of House on a near daily basis. They get into enough trouble at home during the summers,” she laughed, shaking her head. Their house was definitely busy with sounds and pattering feet.

The redhead nodded her head in agreement with Alex. “Yes, I think I bit off all of my nails before I reached the hat, I was so nervous,” she recalled, trying to think back to when she was that age. It seemed like so long ago, though she knew she wasn’t exactly old. “Yes, certainly. I think women get really nervous…which I can understand. It’s a lot of work trying to raise a child, a lot of responsibility. I just wish they had more faith in their capability of doing so.”

The Healer smiled brightly and nodded her head. She had been made aware of that exact saying while she had been treating the young girl. “That’s precisely what their dad said” she told the redhead. It really had been a scene with the parents both worried and trying to stifle laughter at the same time, the older sister confused as anything and the ‘green’ sister in a constant flow of tears. “Well their mother is pregnant with baby number three at the moment so I hate to think what they could do together to their future brother or sister” Alex chuckled. “Sadly for the little girl it wasn’t as simple as bath, since it was paint charmed to adhere to any surface, so a series of potions and creams were needed, it really wasn’t a pretty sight” she recalled shaking her head. “I work with all ages, from the young to the very old” Alex replied smiling happily. “I actually treated an old friend of mine a few days back, a dragon burn but he’s better now” she immediately bit her tongue, she hadn’t meant to think of Ryder at that exact moment but the bloke was never far from her mind. And really she hoped he was okay now, oh well she would see for herself when they met for putt putt. The brunette smiled at Lenora’s words about fathers and daughters. She couldn’t have agreed more at that statement. “Well their head of house could just write a big collective letter at the end of each week” she joked. Though it would make sense too and it would stop their parents receiving so many owls.

“Exactly, some kids bite their nails others like me shake uncontrollably before the sorting. I still have no idea how I made it into Gryffindor” she said, it really was lost on he,  still, why the hat thought she belonged in that house. She had read Hogwarts: A History beforehand and thought she would be better suited to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. “Yeah they get so overwhelmed, I’ve seen it the few times I’ve delivered babies” she informed Lenora. Seeing parents with their newborn made Alex wonder if she would ever experience something like that, maybe one day.