a rising sun

Matilda was taking a walk outside, mindful of the icy path. The wind had picked up and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself, when suddenly and out of nowhere a person had slid in front of her. Clearly having fallen because of the ice, she extended out a hand to help. “Happy New Year,” she responded. “Are you alright?”

Phoebe smiled, and pushed her kitten away who was battering at her ankles and took the woman’s hand. “I’m alright, I slip pretty often, which isn’t very good. But I’ve a high pain tolerance, this is nothing,” the Hufflepuff dusted off her think linen pants of snow and dirt. Then she looked down, “My flowers...” they were crushed and sad looking, scattered poppies and violent that her cat was batting at.

“Yesterday.” Annie answered, sitting down next to her friend…girlfriend…or maybe something else. She sat cross legged, her dress draped over her knees. She didn’t know where to begin. Would it be better to just launch into everything? But what was everything? “What about you?” She asked, finally, “Did you have a good Christmas?” Not exactly the hitting questions she wanted to ask. But Annie was sure about one thing: That she was sure about nothing. 

“I had a marvelous Christmas, I went back home with Bella my cousin, dodged my father for most of the winter, healed some winter illness on the way back. It was nice. Relaxing even.” she had also dodged around the letters from her ardent fiance, much to her chargin, she hadn’t wanted to deal with him at all. But she wasn’t about to tell Annie that. “What did you want to chat about?”

Rosie fell when the door opened, her palms scraping against the floor as they moved to support her. She ignored the question as she crawled out of the room, to the outside wall of the hallway. She took in shuddering breaths, finally feeling cool air in her lungs. After a moment, she could answer. “Rosie. Slytherin.”

Phoebe stood, peering in the room the cats were hissing into, her spine tingled and she hissed, “Sit tight then Rosie, I’ll be there in a second,” the girl wasn’t hurt, shaken up. Drawing her own wand she stepped a foot into the room before something reached for her-- Fear Being. She’d heard of these along her travels, but had yet to encounter one  “Expluso!” the being scuttled back, it wasn’t the right spell, but before it could strike she was stepping back out of the room and slamming the door shut and striding back over to her patient.

“Hey, hey....” she hushed the girl, hands going to her shoulders. “Deep breathes, can you breath with me?” she knelt down, the felines meowing, the kitten she didn’t know nudging between them. “Breath in... and out. In... and out.”

[ ask first, break rules later ]

“I can’t wait! I thought coming to Hogwarts would be enough, that I would get enough experiences and go back home happily, but now that I’ve been out here, and met so many great people, can you really see me at my mother’s beck and call again?” the image was horrendous enough to make her shudder, it’s not possible for her to go back to a limited experience after spreading her wings so wide.

“I am very sneaky when I want to be. We don’t even need to ask Miss Hufflepuff for permission.” she said with all of the confidence of a woman who didn’t learn her lesson in detention. 

“I cannot imagine that at all, which is why we’ll have to make sure that we go have as many adventures as we can together,” Phoebe pulled back to muss Bella’s hair with a bright smile, this was the lightest she’d felt in at least a year, it was disconcerting how easy it was to push away darker notions from her mind. “Hogwarts is amazing, I almost can’t help but think what the world would be like with it around now. How many students can learn here, how safe it’ll be for our kind.” Phoebe had been run out of many villages for Healing, as many arrows aimed at her retreating head, Hogwarts could provide a certain level of sanctuary. 

“Hey now,” Phoebe tutted, crossing her arms, “I do not want to go sneaking around Miss Hufflepuff, she is a lovely woman.” she did not want to be the one breaking rules, “I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. If she’s not then we can go sneaking about. Best to cover all our corners.”

Keep reading

[ helga is touching phoebe who might combust ]·

“I’m sorry for startling you.” she says approaching the counter where Phoebe was working, “I hope nothing was broken?” everything appeared to be in order, and she was impressed, if not a little confused with the girl. Quick as lightning to grab things, but flustered at her presence. 

“Oh, no!” resting a hand on the girl’s shoulder, she drew soothing circles on the skin there, hoping the girl would relax a bit, “I am feeling perfect, I just miss my brother.”

Phoebe gave the Founder a fond smile, but waved her hand over her work, it righted herself with a whispered word of power. “It’s not a big deal, I just get a little... involved with my work, the quiet is nice, it helps me focus. I can be a little scatterbrained,” Phoebe had long since learned to enjoy soft moments, “nothing has broken, don’t worry Miss Hufflepuff.”

The Healer’s face flushed at Helga’s soft touch, and gently leaned into it, it was soothing, nice. “Oh, that I understand,” Phoebe reached up to gently rub at the back of Helga’s hand, her voice dropping, “I don’t have any siblings, but I am very close to my cousin. Missing family, it’s odd, you know they’re there and they love you. But you still want to be around them, physically,” Phoebe flushed a little suddenly realizing she had probably spoken too much.

Phoebe tutted as she helped the teenager sit down, she noted several footsteps running from the courtyard, his wrist was so obviously sprained and Phoebe plucked her wand from its holster. “This won’t hurt a bit,” she dragged the wand tip around his wrist, it was glowing a faint lavender, there was a vile little pop of noise, then the boy sighed. “There we are, now, go see one of the teachers. We cannot have people getting pushed about,” she took his wrist and bent it a little, “you’re all patched up,” she patted the top of his head as he ran off, a look on his face as he reached for a knife at his belt. “No stabbing people! Why are people always getting into fights.” she was exhausted, but she wasn’t a teacher and wasn’t going to go chasing after kids. Getting up and wiping dust from her pants she turned to find someone peering at her from beside a pillar, they were watching her wand. Phoebe recognized her, a fellow Badger, they hadn’t gotten a chance to speak just yet. 

“Like what you see Cora?” her smile was playful as she approached. “Did you need something?”

“Careful, it’s slippery!” she was cheery, light, and she picked up one of the transfigured flowers, a poppy, “Happy New Year?” Her head smarted as she sat up, but nothing was broken, no bleeding, just a chill and pangs of pain, which were kind of normal now. 

Rosie isn’t sure how long she had been in the room. It could have been minutes or hours, she wasn’t sure anymore. All she knew was that she was slumped against the door feeling cold and numb. Her sobbing had finally stopped, though tears still ran down her face, but she had yet to stop rattling the doorknob in hopes it would open. The crickets had yet to stop and she swore she was losing her mind as she heard the words pathetic whispered over and over again.

Daisy had been mewing at her for two floors, tangling around her ankles and batting at the hem of her loose breeches. It wasn’t until she reached a door, that she noted another kitten, scratching at it, while Daisy looked beseechingly up at her. So Phoebe quirked her brow up, “You dragged me up two flights of stairs to open a door for a cat friend?” she was bemused by her newfound companion, but decided to indulge the felines and turned it. There was resistance as she frowned and tugged hard, and a figure came sprawling out while both cats hissed at the room but Phoebe was already kneeling down, “Hey, are you alright?” her fingers went to the girl’s tear-streaked cheeks as she pulled her wand out to try and aid. The room was empty, seemingly, but there was a sharp distasteful aura in the air. She hissed at the feeling before returning her glace, “I’m Phoebe Pyrite, I’m a Healer, what’s your name and House?” if the girl couldn’t answer Phoebe was already making contingency plans to move them.

@phxxbepyrite

Annie felt different. She had gone home for the holiday, just for a few days. She had seen her brother and guardian. But she hadn’t told them about Phoebe or the attack she’d suffered in the woods. It was the first time in her life that her brother didn’t know exactly what she was thinking. She wondered if he had not lived his own life that he hadn’t told her about while they were separated. The result was that she felt entirely alone. 

And she still had to talk to Phoebe. Her feelings on that matter were not better. Still they had to do it. Who could she be honest with? Was Phoebe the person to trust with her weakness? She’d never felt so vulnerable. She saw Phoebe across the courtyard and crossed it. She couldn’t avoid her any longer. 

“Phoebe?” She said quietly, “Are you busy? Do you mind if we talk?” 

The holidays were nice, her time spent with Bella and her father’s side of the family was well received. Telling stories about her travels, her healing, they took an interest in the girl that was often dropped at their doorstep for months at a time. Phoebe couldn’t be happier, nor felt as safe as she did.

She had managed to avoid her father the whole of winter break, though she learned that he knew that she was residing at Hogwarts. Which simply meant that he was lurking and waiting for the chance. Which meant her fiance was still lurking about and she did not want to deal with him, with his waxing poetic about the life they would lead, and their children. Maybe in another life, she’d be charmed. So she kept away from the estate and hopefully out of his reach. 

Thus, Phoebe was out in the courtyard, idly turning snow into charmed moving animal sculptures, trying to enjoy the last wisps of holiday gentleness before being thrown into the medley of Healer training and coursework.

“Hmm?” she flicked her eyes up, and mouth quirked into a smile, “Hey, when did you get back, of course, we can talk,” she flicked her wand to deposit the snow on the ground.

Delilah looked about as undignified as one could get for the French. Her hair was messily thrown across her shoulders and her dress looked more like a black slip than an actual dress, but classes weren’t running at the moment and she had more important things to attend to. Like people watching, and gnawing away at her apple. It wasn’t lady like, and her mother would be scolding her for hours about it. But her mother wasn’t here, gratefully and so she wondered the halls of Hogwarts, her arms swinging casually. 

Phoebe had spent most of the day bent over, her back was aching something fierce and her neck creaked each time she looked about. Her kitten Daisy kept tangling up in her feet, and while adorable she was exhausted, working in the infirmary alongside the Master Healers was equally rewarding and exhausting, she had every bit of drive to learn all she could, but potions she came to realize was not ever going to be a love of her’s. The Hufflepuff turned the corner to find someone who looked absolutely ruffled, and it was a little concerning, she looked fine, but the messy look about her and the amount of ... skin shown, it made her flush a little. “Miss?” she stopped her, with a gentle touch on her wrist, “Are you alright?” her kitten mewed, and sounded equally concerned, “Aren’t you cold? Do you need a coat or something?” her brows furrowed in concern.

Phoebe was darling with her eagerness to learn, and Eleonora’s returning smile was one that also shined. But she somewhat shrugged off Phoebe’s compliment, though she was prideful, she still had moments of humility. “I’ve simply been practicing for a very long time.” Her studies hadn’t only taken the magical avenues. There’d been a time when Eleonora had transfigured herself to look like a man in order to be allowed into the Schola Medica Salernitana. It was a Muggle school of medicine, and the very first of its kind. “I’d love to show you everything I know, and I’m certain the other Healers here are of a similar mind. I believe there are currently three of us Master Healers, currently.”

Eleonora shooed Phoebe’s words of idiocy away with a wave of her hand. “To be fair you did hit your head.” There was still a bit of a teasing tone to her words, though. Of course, all her little jests were entirely in good nature. Eleonora herself had been preparing to dry and clean Phoebe of the potion, but she was beaten to the punch, apparently. Instead, she cleaned her own self up with a wave of her wand. “You’re perfectly fine, Phoebe,” she offered with an amused grin. “You introduction will certainly be memorable.” Her smile grew a little softer as Phoebe spoke of healing, and their shared passion. “That’s as perfect a reason as any. And its admirable that you are mostly self-taught, then? If I understand correctly?”

Phoebe’s smile was no doubt wide, bright on her face as she thought about Healing. She wanted to do a good job, she wanted to save people. Phoebe wanted so much, the world was beautiful but dark and wartorn, there was only so much the young woman could do to mitigate the damage on bodies and minds. She could hardly handle her own damage, but she had a talent for the complicated patience that came with Healing. “Anything you can teach me I will learn, I promise. You won’t waste any time with me. I’m no Master,” she waved a hand, “but I can be of some help, I’m sure I can show you all a thing or two. I’m not one for potions, but the way they heal in the Far East focuses alot of the flow of energy in the body and wandless magic.” 

The Hufflepuff ran her hands over her stomach, “Well a smacked head is hardly the worst that’s befallen me,” she had to joke and make light of her precious gruesome injury, otherwise, the memory would drag her further down. She offered Eleonora a soft smile, she enjoyed the playful jabs, which was a nice change of pace. “Well, I suppose memorable is better than being forgotten.” Phoebe leaned down to grab her back, it too was wet with the potion so she waved her wand over it. “I learned from books when I was young, my father had an extensive library from his travels, he wasn’t much for actually reading he just like... accumulating. I taught myself that magic with my mother’s old wand, then when I left to visit my mother’s family they taught more formally. Then the war came,” Phoebe lifted her bag up over her shoulder, “then I had to be taught very quickly. So anything I learned was practiced quite quickly, and then when it was over I learned more. I’ve been traveling a year, I spent time in France and healed in wizarding villages before making my way to Hogwarts. How did you get into Healing? It’s a difficult subject to Master, I’ll be lucky to be seen as one.” there was a trace of admiration in Phoebe’s voice.

“We all have our past. It’s good that we can learn from it.” He smiled and offered her a seat. “If you don’t mind, will you share some knowledge with me? I will do the same for you. I specialize in medicinal herbology, dealing with potions and the likes.” He grabbed a book, and then remembered the other thing he wanted to say. “If you are interested in learning, would you be interested in helping out in the hospital wing as well? We have some healers helping out as well, and I’m sure you can learn from them too. I don’t know if you have met them yet, perhaps you have.”

Phoebe smiled as she took the seat, letting her satchel come to a careful fall on the ground, “If that is true then I have a wealth of knowledge, I am young but my experiences have... aged me.” she was vastly different from the girl who ran away from home, and the woman she now was. “My specialization deals with war wounds, I am not as learned in potions as I ought to be, taking potions onto the battlefield is highly difficult.” Phoebe blinked and then stood up, her hands clasped together in bright excitement. “Could I? Is that alright. I would be so very interested and happy to help out in the Hospital Wing. I mean my work is with some grisly injuries, but I can learn and practice. I’m diligent. I oh... um I met Eleonora, she healed me after I had a spill and she spilled a potion on me. She was very kind to me.”

[ cousins being soft & g o o d ]

“I know, it’s a family trait.” she teased right back, blissfully happy now that they had settled their differences (she had let go of her ego and petty grievances) to be part of each other’s family once again. And unlike the rest of Phoebe’s family, Bella is determined she won’t let her down. 

“I will. I am not letting you out of my sight!”

Phoebe let out a laugh and gathered Bella in her arm, happily pressing her cheek against her hair. “My jokes, however, are usually very good.” she had to defend herself, even though she knew she was kididng herself. She had missed Bella, she loved her maternal family, they were kind and good, interesting, but Bella was special and she ached to see her again. It was a fleeting thought, that she may never see her again when she was in the war. But she was back.

“We’ll travel together, and I’ll take you to see what I’ve seen, the world is beautiful Bella, and you’ll love every second. However I do need to eventually leave your sight, we aren’t in the same sleeping quarters. Though I doubt Miss Hufflepuff will mind if you come stay a night or two.”