A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Seven

Marlene woke up bright and early. It was a strange feeling to wake in an unfamiliar room, but she was starting to get used to the feeling as nothing would ever quite compare to her childhood home or at Hogwarts. She knew that a few days in her new bedroom and she wouldn't be quite as disoriented to wake up in it.

Emmeline was already in the kitchen cooking eggs when she entered. She was whistling a catchy tune as she moved through the tiny kitchen with ease and didn't stop when she caught sight of Marlene watching her.

"There's extra towels in the closet beside the bathroom," she said when she had finished her song. "You'll learn to take your shower as early as possible. The guy that lives above us is a hot water hog. There's barely any left if you leave it too late."

"Thanks for the tip," she replied. Emmeline hadn't been joking; by the time she was a few minutes into her shower the hot water was already running low. After Marlene had showered and gotten ready, she pulled out the lime green uniform that she had picked up in Diagon Alley. She admired how she looked as a new mediwitch in the bathroom mirror. The color felt unnatural to her as she was accustomed to wearing black robes while she was at school, and it did nothing for her pale complexion. She pulled her hair back into a loose braid and sighed.

"Green really isn't your color, is it?" Emmeline said from the doorway.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," Marlene grumbled but Emmeline's laughter eventually caused her to smile.

"Come on, I'll walk with you. I don't start until nine but I don't mind being a little early. Jeremy might even let me start early - I'd love the overtime."

The walk to the entrance of St. Mungo's was only about ten minutes. By the time they had arrived in the square it was bustling with people on their way to work. The streets were lined with cars with barely any space between bumpers and the sound of roaring engines, occasional honking, and the chatter of animated business folk power walking down the side walk filled the air around her.

"I dislike the busyness out here," Emmeline chimed in as they strolled up to the deserted department store titled Purge and Dowse, Ltd. that disguised the entrance to the Hospital. "But it really does make entering work more inconspicuous for us. Nobody will ever notice you disappear. Unless you've sprouted two heads that is - not likely you're easily able to avoid that one."

When they entered, the inside of the Hospital was just as Marlene remembered it. She was able to admire her surroundings a little more now that she wasn't a patient. The white walls didn't feel quite as constraining as they had nearly a year ago when she had last paid it a visit.

"Has an entire different feel when you're not a prisoner to the white rooms, doesn't it?" Emmeline leaned over to whisper in her ear as though reading her mind.

"Very much," Marlene nodded. But she wasn't there to admire her surroundings and her mind raced back to the paperwork she had scanned over at least a dozen times the night before. "Where's room W252?"

"Oh the training room. Here, I'll take you myself." Emmeline beckoned her and Marlene followed as they moved around the spiraled marble staircases and towards a long winding corridor at the back of the building. They trudged down two flights of stairs that were nowhere near as miraculous as the ones in the main foyer. They arrived in a basement corridor that seemed to be filled with numerous offices and meeting rooms. The hallway was quite busy with agitated Witches and Wizards, some of which were wearing the same green uniform that Marlene and Emmeline were sporting. Others were in full white uniforms and the rest a mixture of business attire or casual dress robes.

"I try to avoid coming down here," Emmeline whispered under her breath. Marlene had to lean in to hear her properly. "This is where they shoved all the offices. Everyone always seems so unnaturally unpleasant. And don't even bother smiling at anyone, it usually only earns you a scowl."