Midnight Tea (Selena, Morgan.)

"There hasn't been much to do tonight, and I don't expect it to pick up any time soon. Just remember where the medication list is, and I will know if anyone doesn't receive the right potions. I'll see you in an hour," Alexis said to the intern that would be taking over for the next hour. The poor girl had received the same grilling every time that she had arrived to relieve the brunette, but she simply answered with a 'Yes, ma'am' every time.

Alexis closed the door to the Janus Thickey Ward behind her and used her wand to lock the door. She always felt bad about locking the long-term patients away, but she knew that it was for their own good. She had been working for the past six hours and it was time for her lunch break. Well, more like midnight snack break, as she was working the night shift.

The woman walked through the Spell Damage ward toward the staff access staircase. She was almost there when she noticed another person in the same uniform as her heading in the same direction. "Are you on break, too?" she asked.

"Yes, Mrs Morrison. I am completely sure that there will be no further complication concerning your backside." Selena said with a patient smile. The elderly woman in front of her was a patient that came by almost every day with some sort of ailment.
Today she had claimed to have been hexed by some old hag on her way back home from work. But upon closer examination, the young healer had found nothing, but a mild case of Lumbago, or better known as lower back pain. A clear case of Munchausen Syndrome, if you asked her.

Still keeping her professional polite expression on her face, Selena lead the woman towards the exit of the ward and reassured her patient once more that a hot bath and an early night would be all she needed.

Then finally, the young woman could go on her break. "I will be in the staff room, Jane. If there is an emergency, call me, okay?" she told the medi-witch that was on duty that night, before heading towards the staircase where she ran into one of her colleagues. "Yes, finally!" Selena answered her question. "I really need some tea, or I'll fall asleep."

Morgan had just dropped of a few files pertaining to some patients she just finished checking up on. "Please make sure these make themselves back to the patients in question after the needed potions have been added to their daily regimes," she said with a smile to Chrissy, who nodded and took the files, setting to work right away getting the needed documentation ready for the next round of 'potion hand-outs'. Smiling at the Medi-Witch, Morgan turned to head to the staff staircase. It was a late night, that was for sure. But, she wouldn't exchange it for anything.

Pausing, she noticed two of her schoolmates up ahead. Quickening her steps, she jogged up to them. "Fancy meeting you two here! Shall we all take some time for some tea? I bet we can all use some after a busy night like tonight," Morgan said happily.

Alexis smiled and nodded in understanding. It had definitely been a full on night in the ward. She had even had to go out into the general Spell Damage area when all of the other healers were swamped. Sometimes the Thickey ward really was very calm. At least most of her patients were used to what was happening. "I swear that everyone decides to get hurt at night!" she responded, referring to the patients. She had placed her foot on the first step of the staircase when she heard somebody speak.

"Morgan!" she said, smiling at her former house mate. It hadn't really surprised Alexis when Morgan became the Head Healer at the hospital. "Oh, definitely. I wonder if anyone would notice a nip of pepper up in my cup." She laughed, before taking to the stairs again. While there were elevators in the building, Alexis personally preferred to take the stairs. It was better than holding the elevator up if a patient needed to use it, and the little extra exercise probably did her good.

Selena nodded in agreement with Alexis. "That's so true..." she said, and it was true that especially in their ward many patients were admitted during the late evening and night. Probably because the criminals came out in the dark and cursed their victims, she pondered. Or because they were bored during the night and couldn't sleep, like her dear Mrs. Morrison, Selena thought and snorted very un-ladylike.

She turned when she heard someone approaching them from behind and smiled when she saw Morgan, a girl she had gone to school with. "That sounds like a great idea! Sometimes I have the feeling that the night shift never ends." she said, groaning slightly at the thought that she still had more than three hours before she could finally go home to get some sleep.

For now though, she would have to make do with some tea, so she followed her colleagues to the stairs. "I hope they have some chocolate cake. I need sugar." she muttered under her breath.

Morgan nodded in agreement and took the stairs following the others. She didn't normally work the night shift, but she took her turn, like all the others, working the dreaded night shift. "Cake sounds amazing right now! And, honestly, so does a little pick-me-up, if you will in the tea cup," she mused lightly. Reaching the top, and exiting the stairwell, she asked them both, "How have things been on your wards? At home? Whatever?" Sometimes, especially when working this late, it was good to just talk. It helped that the three of them had gone to school together and Selena had married her cousin, which made her happy. Even if she hardly saw or spoke to him anymore, she was happy knowing that he had someone to look after him.

Alexis had to admit that cake sounded good to her as well. She looked around the staff room, which was always quieter at night than during the day. There were plenty of tables free, so rather than claiming one, the woman decided she would grab some food first. Her eyes quickly landed on the kettle that was charmed to always be full and she started toward it. She walked over to the bench and picked up a small plate and placed a piece of cake on it, before beginning to make a pot of tea.

Looking over at Morgan, Alexis smiled. She knew that the other woman was trying to keep them, and probably herself talking. She didn't mind though. "Oh, it's been pretty quiet in the resident ward. They're all sleeping peacefully. I've popped out a few times to help in the emergency a few times to assist there." Alexis snorted quietly, before adding, "And home life? Well, I go home to shower, sleep and eat before returning back here."

As usual, at night there was not much food on offer, but luckily there was some cake, which Selena put on a plate and then grabbed three cups and set them on one of the tables where she sat down to wait for the tea to finish brewing.
She looked over at Alexis and nodded slightly, thinking about how often she only got time to take a quick shower before falling asleep as soon as she had returned home from her night shift.

Selena sighed tiredly and ran a hand through her hair with a yawn. "Not much different for me at home. Luckily, my children are old enough to stay on their own for a few hours. My oldest, Mio, is going to Hogwarts now and with Severus teaching at the castle, it's only me and my two girls most of the time." she told the other two women, smiling.
"Just yesterday, they dressed up in my clothes and pretended to be models. That was too cute!" Selena laughed, feeling much better already just talking to someone about something other than patients.
"At work, well, we did have quite a few emergencies lately and I have been working night-shifts for the last four nights already, so it was quite tiring, but tomorrow is my last and then I'm off for two days luckily." she grinned slightly at the thought of a well-needed break.

Morgan followed the lead of the other two and grabbed a plate, dishing up some cake for herself and joined Selena to wait for the tea to finish brewing. It was nice to just chat, even if it was late at night and all three of them, likely, would much rather be sleeping. "I hear that. When I work late, that generally what it feels like: here, home, shower, sleep, back to work. Hardly a spare moment to be spent with Remus or Chandra, but, it's nice that they understand," she mused. "I will say, I do appreciate having two healers like you both on staff. It makes things run so much smoother when I don't need to babysit people and tell them how to do their jobs. Thank you for that. Keep up the good work, ladies," Morgan added happily with a sigh, as she started to relax as they sat in the empty staff lounge.
 
Hearing about her cousin working at Hogwarts now, her grey-blue eyes lit up. "That's fantastic news. Next year, he might be able to keep an eye on the youngest Lupin," Morgan teased as her daughter would be starting there next year. "How are your three, Selena? I mean, other than starting school and whatnot. Driving Severus bonkers?" she asked with a chuckle. It pleased her to know that her cousin had not only found someone special, but made her a second cousin to three children.

Selena smiled at Morgan and inclined her head slightly. "I can only give back that compliment. It's easier to work here when things are organized nicely by people like you, Morgan." she told her honestly.
With St. Mungo's being the largest wizarding hospital in Britain, there was always a lot of work to do, patients being admitted and dischared, healers and medi-witches and -wizards starting and finishing their shifts and all of that had to be organized to run smoothly, so that all patients could be treated to the best capability.

But even though it often was quite a lot of stress to work at such a large hospital, Selena still loved her job. Taking care of other people and developing cures for curses with her colleagues was what she always had dreamed of doing.

With a sigh, Selena leaned back in her seat and put her legs up on another chair to rest her aching feet. "Honestly, I couldn't be happier. The children are ... well usually quite well behaved and to my surprise, Severus has settled into this family business with more ease than I had expected." she chuckled a bit. "I mean, you know him, Morgan. He's not one for great declarations of love or overly emotional behaviour and so, but he is a very loving husband and father. And I think my girls might take after him. Especially Rachel has his temper." she said with a groan, but then smiled at Morgan.
"I'm sure Severus will be delighted to teach your daughter when she joins Hogwarts next year. Do you already have an idea which she might be sorted into? After our son was sorted into Gryffindor, Severus is more determined than ever that at least one of the girls will be sorted in his house." she said grinning. "And how is Remus doing? The last time I saw him was at your wedding. It's a pity we lost sight of each other after school. I'm sure Severus would love to talk to you again." she added softly. After all, Morgan was the only family her husband had left beside her and the children. But as they had been settling down in their family life, raising three children, they had been somewhat neglecting their friends.