A Marauder's Guide to Falling Apart

Chapter Twenty Six

Despite the fact that Patrick offered a sincere apology for his behavior, she was still weary of him for the remainder of the week that they worked together. He kept to himself most of the time which seemed quite odd compared to his regular demeanor.

She didn't bother to tell Sirius about her conversation with Patrick because she didn't believe there was a point. It wasn't really keeping a secret from him; Sirius wouldn't believe Patrick's version of the story anyways, so what was the point? She did feel a little guilty about not telling him that Patrick had asked her out, but since she hadn't agreed she continued to remind herself that she wasn't doing anything wrong.

Thankfully Patrick did not press her further when she informed him that she was just much too busy. She figured that he knew she was lying; Marlene was a terrible liar. But he was respectful of her decision and said he hoped they could try again at a later time when she had more free time.

Marlene's third rotation was in the Bugs and Disease unit on the second floor. Her preceptor for the term was a short and burly man probably in his early forties named Archer Claven. He was much different than either Donna or Patrick in the sense that he seemed not to care much about anything at all. It was obvious that he didn't have much passion for his job, and even less so for teaching. Instead, he allowed them free reign over the unit.

Marlene found that she had more success observing a red headed healer named Clover, and trailed behind her during rounds whenever possible. Thankfully, Clover didn't seem to mind much and was always available when the students had questions to ask.

She had thought that the Potions and Plant Poisoning placement would be her least favourite of her training, but she was very wrong. By far she detested Bugs and Disease the most and had begun counting down the days until summer break.

"I told you it was awful," Emmeline smiled sadly from the opposite couch of their living room. Marlene was a month into the unit and couldn't imagine the thought of spending another two before the term was over. 

"The unit itself isn't the problem," Marlene sighed.

"Yeah Claven is a bit of a tool," she laughed. "He taught me in my second year when he used to train in the Artefacts Accidents department. That was back before Mathalda left her position in Magical Bugs and he transferred over. I'm afraid I didn't learn a heck of a lot. I spent more time playing wizard skittles with a few of the other trainees in the supply closet. We had a great little gambling scheme going on."

"That's awful," Marlene said disapprovingly despite the fact that she would much rather play games than be tossed into treating patients she was not equipped to handle.

"Just stay on his good side and you'll be fine," she shrugged. "He likes to fly under the radar so don't cross him."

"He doesn't strike me as the type to enforce discipline," Marlene thought back on how loose Claven was with regards to his students. He basically paid them no attention whatsoever unless it was to pass off an unwanted task.

"It's not him that you worry about. It's administration. If there seem to be problems in the department then Claven is quick to throw anyone he can under the bus to save his own arse."

"Sounds like another certain person I work with," Marlene said bitterly, now thinking about Natasha and her incessant determination to point out all of Marlene's failures. She had been hopeful that eventually they might be able to be civil towards one another, but Natasha was dead set on making Marlene miserable.

Their conversation was interrupted by a swift knock at the door. It was very late in the evening and both girls were already in their pajamas and getting ready for bed.