The Survivors

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

April 2003

It was a quiet night in the Janus Thickney Ward at St. Mungos for Magical Maladies and Injuries. A young healer was sitting at the reception counter quietly reading a magazine about a possible cure for lycanthropy on the horizon in Witch Weekly. The study was being led by Damocles Belby, a man who had originally invented the Wolfsbane potion. It was fascinating to learn how much one man had affected the field of healing in the past decade. She herself had worked on several werewolves throughout her short duration of being a fully trained healer, and they were almost always the worst cases. She had been told that in comparison to the days when Fenrir Greyback was amongst the living it was far worse, and that children came in infected often, but thankfully the man was put in the ground by Hermione Granger during the Battle of Hogwarts.

A sigh from the receptionist made her eyebrows raise, "Bored Tracey?"

Tracey Davis, a brunette thin girl, who had bangs that ended just above her brown eyes, had been the young healer's best friend in their Hogwarts years. She was currently sitting quietly reading paperwork for hours on end attempting to look busy, before she had broken the silence with her sigh. Tracey had never been the best student in Hogwarts, and didn't have the NEWT grades to get into an exciting career with the Ministry, but her connection with the young healer allowed her to work the graveyard shift with her best friend at the hospital for decent wages. Stretching her legs she stood up,"It's just quiet. All our patients are asleep, and we should be doing the same thing. You want to take turns keeping lookout?"

The idea was tempting. Tonight was supposed to be her night off, but Gretchen Bullstrode, her supervisor, was out with a sick child, so Daphne stepped in to fill the space to hopefully score points with her boss, but that meant she was close to pulling 70 hours this week, and she was exhausted, "I would love too, but we would both be fired if I was the one caught sleeping on the job."

Tracey opened her mouth to protest this then thought better of it taking another deep sigh, "Daphne you always were the more sensible one. Shall I make us another cup of coffee?"

Daphne Greengrass, the young healer in question, merely nodded her head, "Yes, but let me step off to the loo first. Keep an eye on things."

Tracey nodded her consent as Daphne stood and began walking down the hall to the closest restroom. When she stepped inside and closed the door she took a look at herself and realized that she looked awful. This was a far cry from how things were back in her school days. Her makeup was always applied to perfection, and she would never have allowed herself to step outside of the Girls Slytherin Dorm room without looking her absolute best. Today however the bags under her light hazel eyes were much heavier than usual. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but even in its current style an average onlooker could tell she hadn't brushed it properly in a few days. Her face, which was always smooth and clean, looked a little paler than usual, and she could tell the lack of sleep and stress was making her face lightly breakout. In her Hogwarts years this would've stressed her out greatly, but as a single young healer that works most hours of the day she could hardly care.

Daphne never slept well this time of year. The anniversary for the battle of Hogwarts was coming up, and the day was likely her least favorite of the year. She still had nightmares about the battle. She had been among the few Slytherins who decided to take up arms against the Death Eaters in the final battle. After the Carrow's had used the cruciatus on her sister she wanted blood, and she was determined to make sure no Death Eater would ever hurt her again. Of course having married a former Death Eater, Astoria took the chance of always being hurt by the same ones that had once tortured her, but her lips twitched towards a smile at the thought of the threat she left Draco Malfoy on the day of their wedding. She made it very clear of what she thought of his past decisions, and that he would not survive the day if he ever laid a finger on her little sister that wasn't gentle in every intention. Luckily for Draco and Astoria the Malfoy money spoiled the youngest Greengrass child, and Daphne seriously doubted the girl would want for anything ever in her life again.