Where there is a will;;Closed-Autumn

[Marlon Wagner]

Today was the day. He could feel it in his bones. He had to, if he turned around and went back to work without seeing her, again then he wasn't ever going to be able to forgive himself and would have to let Cammie kick his butt one more time. Marlon was starting to wonder if maybe she had been watching him this whole time. If she had any idea how often he came this way on his lunch breaks, how often he stood on this very spot staring at the doors as people came and went. He was fairly certain that if he stood here for too much longer that the spot under his feet would start to be worn down under his shoes. Then he really would be given away. His royal blue eyes lifted upward to scan the rows and rows of windows for that auburn head of hair. Was it even still the same brown? The color that managed to catch and reflect sunlight and yet manage to smell so nice and touch so soft. He felt his fingers wiggle against the Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands involuntarily. How long had it been since he had seen her? Almost a year. He had caught a glimpse of her before collapsing on the ground behind a potted fern plant, he had just gotten so nervous and didn't want her to see. Before that? He wasn't even sure. All he knew, was that just about every Thursday afternoon he came out there to stare at these same set of doors from the promenade. He would purchase two large latte's from the same cart who now knew him by name and had his items ready just as he was arriving. They would talk for just a little, since the man was married to some Secretary within the Ministry, billing if he wasn't mistaken they had enough to talk about. It was a medial job, but Marlon assumed that it was fulfilling enough to warrant keeping it for all these years. Once they were done, Marlon would walk over, to his spot just to the right of the main entrance and wait. He assumed that with her schedule she just never came out this way, if she even worked on Thursday's at all. He had never managed to make it into the Hospital to find out.

He wasn't quiet sure what he would do if he ever found out that Autumn knew his pattern, that she had known all along that he came by every week and waited for her. Waited to pluck up the gumption in order to go inside and have a conversation with her. In his mind, he had worked over dozens of topics, twice as many apologizes, and even more scenarios of what might possibly happen as to how she would react. Perhaps she was sitting on the third floor right now, looking out of a window watching him. Maybe she was drinking some tea and sitting in all of her scrub clad glory watching him. Perhaps it was the romantic in him, but that almost sounded like a date to him. How pitiful they both would have been, sitting in the same spot looking at each other unspoken, only so far away at the same time. His lips upturned at the corners at the thought. He could feel the steam lifting out of the cup and bathing his hands in a lightly fragrant steam. He shouldn't be here. The negative thoughts were starting to consume him. It wasn't fair, her life had to of carried on down whatever path to more wonderful things that she was destined to travel down. He had to of been just a bleak speck on the otherwise shining highway of her life. There was far too much to going on in his life to bog down another soul with, yet a part of him craved to spill to another person. To share in some not so innocent conversation, to hold his own body close to another persons. To be intimate with all of his clothing on, the same intimacy of the soul that he had only felt in reality with one other person. Was that just his childish innocence or was it something else? He should have spanned out his feelings, but then again he had his weekly date with this spot on the floor to attempt to think through his feelings. In more ways than one, this was the only real time that he got to himself at all throughout the week. His home hadn't even been his own sanctuary as it once would have been. Of course, the old drafty house never really had been enough for him. It was too large for one person, it was meant for a family, at the very least a couple. It was a house that had seen so much hate in it's years that it needed to have love in it. Love would be exactly what the peeling wall paper would have needed.

Of course, his current house guest wasn't one that bothered him. His younger sister was always welcome, she knew that but her life had a whole other set of problems, the same set of problems that had wholly derailed his own life all of those years ago. He didn't regret it for a second because he knew within his heart of hearts that given the chance, he would have done it all over again. For her, he couldn't have even blinked. If only he had made it one of his priorities to not lose all of his other relationships in the process. He had nobody to blame but himself for that one. In fact, it was one of the last arguments that he had had with his sister before announcing that she was going to be moving back into her apartment. Cammie never could keep anything from him, which was for the best. He had found out all about her little meeting with Erich, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep away from the man who turned out to be so persistent. A trait that he shouldn't have been surprised to learn, and given that they worked in the same building he would have expected Erich to have come marching up to his office at any time and yet, he never had. The worst were the letters from Erich's mother, that no doubt Erich knew nothing about himself. The woman had invited him to dinner, with promises of her famous cookies, apologizing for her sons behavior and giving him open invitations to her home and he had been forced to ignore them. To hold of those ties was the best thing for his family, the same family that at one point he had assumed that family would have included Autumn. The same woman that he was practically stalking now.

Oh how the mighty had fallen. Not even four years ago his whole life had been planned for him, he had a more than promising job that he adored, a beautiful woman that he was able to call his own and a dedicated best friend. Things had really been looking up for him, and then the Masque had happened and his world had started to unravel. His sister had forced a downward spiral on him and he shouldn't have taken everybody with him. It pained him to think of how much he had hurt the people that he had loved the most. He often sat at home toying with the open ring box that had once been destined for Autumn, thinking on that very same subject. His fingers would run over the engraved words inside over and over again until he would fall asleep from the steady clicking of the box being snapped open and shut. He wasn't a man that relied on anybody else, and he knew that everything happened for a reason, he knew that this was where he was meant to be. If nothing else, severing those ties had forced him to become all the more dedicated to his job, and those efforts had paid off ten fold, he was now a department head at one of the more important Ministry stations, he still adored his job. He didn't blame his sister for anything, he didn't like to look back, but this was the one day of the week that he allowed himself to. He brought his cup of coffee up to his lips, but didn't bring himself to drink from it, his mind didn't seem to be able to think clearly enough to complete the task, he was distracted by the sudden outburst of healer interns coming out of the doors. He scanned their smiling faces, they all seemed to be in high spirits despite the fact that it was freezing. They were all pulling jackets over their scrubs, no doubt the garments didn't stave off the cold very well. He was dressed for work himself, his black pencil tie standing out against the white oxford shirt he wore, complete with dress shoes and slacks. A larger black trench coat over that and a thick knit scarf was wedged under the collar, but not closed around his neck. A well kept mass of platinum blond hair hung down to almost his shoulders, tucked behind his ears. On days like this, he was more thankful for the scruff on his face to keep his cheeks warm, altho it didn't do much for his nose that was no doubt starting to turn red from the cold. He had been standing out here for a good twenty minutes or so now.

The group of interns passed by him without so much as a second look. What would he have done if Autumn had been the one to come out here and guide them right past him? Would she even recognize him? He had gained a fair amount of bulk since his days as a scrawny teenager, but nothing could have changed his jaw line no matter how much he had tried. He didn't think his face had changed under any influence other than time. She had to know his face, he knew that even after all this time he would be confidant that he could have picked her face out of just about any crowd in the world. Would she see him and smash his coffee cups against his chest to stain his shirt? Would she just whisper degrading comments to the interns to discourage them from ever attempting to heal him. No, he dind't think so. She had far too much class for things like that, no doubt she would see him and walk straight up to him, demand to know the reasons for his presence here for so long and they would talk. It was not how he wanted her to react, but his personal preferences on the matter couldn't be indulged because they were far too selfish. Heaving a heavy sigh he rotated his wrist to look at the large watch hidden just under the cuff of his shirt. His lunch would be over within the hour, but he didn't want to leave just let. He inhaled another chest full of the crisp air and finally allowed himself to indulge in a drink of his latte. With a rare ounce of courage, he lifted his foot to take a step toward the building only to have the wind wash his guts from him and he lowered the foot onto the same patch of entryway that he had claimed to be his second home. She was just behind those doors, he could feel it. So why, oh why couldn't he close the distance?

[Autumn Stanton]

With as many years as she had dedicated to St. Everdines, Autumn would have thought that she would have earned herself certain privileges that the interns and first years weren’t able to receive. For the most part she had. Instead of working a seven day week, she had at least one full day off. Two on a really good one. Her breaks were extended by an extra thirty minutes, giving her two hour-long breaks within her twelve hour shift. What she really enjoyed was her new access to the ninth floor food area that was usually reserved for the higher ups of the hospital. She, along with four other Healers that had been here for as long as she had, were now able to partake in the luxuries that they had dreamed about since they were interns. All except for one. No matter how hard Autumn tried she still had the misfortune of suffering through the graveyard shifts. The eleven to eleven ones were always the hardest to get through. She was fortunate enough to not have to endure more than two a week, but two were more than she wanted. They always drug on. Every time she looked at the clock, no matter how long before she had done so previously, it felt like only a minute had passed. What was even worse was that she could never get adjusted to the time change. The beginning of her shift was the time she should have been sleeping, only to awake a few hours later to head back to the hospital. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was routine, but it wasn’t and Autumn believed she was half the Healer she normally was with the lack of drive.

This shift had been particularly rough for her. Normally late nights weren’t too busy. Things from Gringotts had finally cleared up and all of the patients who didn’t require long-term care were gone. Nights were usually spent roaming around the quiet halls, sticking her head in to check on sleeping patients and catching up on books she hadn’t had the time to read. Even with her books, time still had a way of creeping along. From the moment Autumn had stepped foot in Everdines and her clipboard had been placed in her hand, she had been nonstop. Thanks to it being flu season, the hospital was short staffed. On top of her normal duties, she had the workload of at least three other Healers. To say that she was in for a busy night was an understatement. Working her butt off seemed more appropriate. By the end of the shift, if she didn’t fall asleep in one of the beds in the break room she’d be lucky. She had quickly went up to the next floor to the lockers. Grabbing her light blue robe from her tiny metal compartment Autumn changed and studied the first few duties listed on her clipboard. For the first two and a half hours, at least, she would have to check in on ten patients, make sure their charts were up to date and check on the medications they were being given to make sure they were still effective. Her and a few other Healers had been noticing recently that for some long-term care Gringotts victims stopped responding to certain treatments after awhile. It was the strangest thing. Not a single one of them had been able to understand why particular medications just stopped working when the patient had previously been responding well to them. The development brought even more work on the shoulders of the Healers, especially when it took time to figure out what could be given to take the place of the defective medication.

Autumn had finished with her third patient when a night took a turn for the worse. She was called down to the emergency room. It was anything terribly uncommon. All Healers still had to do ER duty every once in a blue moon. Tonight was just her lucky night. However, given the amount of work she already had on her plate, she couldn’t afford any interruptions. Stepping off the elevator she was only a few feet away from the door when the sound of children crying and moans of the injured came to her eyes. Her eyes widened, her pace slowing as she reached the door. She wasn’t sure if it was something in the water or because people knew that she was working, but the entire room was full with a few extra people standing since there were no more available chairs. Autumn couldn’t ignore this even if she tried to. How she was going to aid in the care of the fifty or so people in the waiting room plus have everything she needed to do before her shift was over with was beyond her. If things weren’t done come eleven the next morning, she would have to stay until thing were done or she could unload whatever she didn’t do onto another Healer. Merlin she really hated graveyard shifts. Patients of every shape and size were quickly relocated to the rooms on the first floor for evaluation. From there, they would be sent to the floor that would be best suited to tend to whatever malady they were enduring. Fortunately, that’s the furthest that most went. They were promptly diagnosed, treated, written a prescription to pick up from the apothecary and another soul would take their place in the room. The ones that couldn’t be treated within the hour were the ones she had a very good feeling would be assigned to her, despite the level they were sent to. With a sigh, Autumn turned back around to the desk in the emergency room and asked the room of the first patient she’d be seeing.

Halfway through her shift Autumn had done enough work to span an entire shift on its own. Every time she glanced at the clock she was more irritated than the last. She had practically been running all over the hospital. Why couldn’t she have anything to show for it? She hated feeling overwhelmed. It never did her any good, especially if there was no outlet to get herself back to being grounded. And if things couldn’t get any worse, two of the ten patients she had first been assigned on her list had bodies rejecting potions that had fluxweed scruples. The only good thing was that she had an intern who was willing to study the giant book of potions the hospital had on hand to see what else could be tried that had similar effects. While the woman was able to do that, Autumn was able to continue seeing patients from the emergency room and give advice to the Healer assistants sent from other Healers who needed outside opinions. Another hour or so later, a representative from billing began following her around in regards to a man on the spell damage floor who could no longer afford his hospital bills. It was to be her duty to visit the man and inform him that he would have to be out by the morning. So then fighting with billing was added to the clipboard. It had been awhile since she had felt like her head may very well explode because of work. The familiar pounding found its way back to her head. She had never been a drinker, but she wished she had a hidden bottle of wine in her locker to take the edge off. Time had passed by enough so that there were only four more hours left. However, Autumn wasn’t quite sure if she’d be able to make it if things kept up at this rate.

But she did. Her shift had ended thirty minutes ago, but she was finishing up the last task on the clipboard she had nearly thrown out the window at the beginning of the night. One more signature and she was done. Turning the last page of the release form to be sent to St. Mungo’s in London, she signed her name on the dotted line, folded the form up and stuffed it in an envelope. Grabbing the urn of wax she had been heating over the small bowl of fire on her desk, Autumn poured just enough wax on the envelope to quickly stamp it with the Everdines logo. She picked up the envelope and blew softly on it to assist in the cooling. Once assured it had settled, she placed the envelope in the beak of one of the hospital’s owls and watched it sail out of the open window near the giant curved Healer’s desk in the middle of the artifact accidents level. That was it. A huge smile perched itself on her face as she looked around the quiet floor that had shown no signs of the earlier chaos. It had been hell, but she could finally go home and take a very long and very comfortable nap. At the thought of a nap, her mouth opened for an involuntary yawn. Her body seemed more ready for sleep then she realized. Heading back towards the lockers, she slipped her slender arms out of her work robes and dropped them on the floor by her locker to be cleaned. Her fingers grasped the handle to the locker door and pulled up, opening it enough to grab her purse, navy blue peacoat and the black heels she had come in wearing. Swapping her heels for the white flats she used for work, she slid her feet into them and wiggled until they were secure. Shutting the door Autumn quickly put her jacket on and buttoned it up. If the weather last night was any indication of how it’d be outside then she would need to make sure she was as warm as she could possibly be. She wouldn’t be outdoors for very long but the cold temperatures Austria was capable of bringing was enough to chill someone down to their bones. There was no harm in taking precaution.

Pulling her hair out from the collar of her coat Autumn slung her purse on her shoulder and stepped out of the room. Little did she know that a Healer would be waiting for her. “Sorry Autumn. One of your patients from earlier isn’t responding to the new potion you prescribed. Goughlin wants you to find another one.” Her eyes trailed to the giant book in their hands. “He said you can take the book home to look through it since it’s been a busy shift for you, but he needs a new prescription as soon as you can recommend it.” So much for getting away from work. Her smiled faded, looking sad now. “Of course. Thank you.” Taking the book, she nearly collapsed from the weight of it. Her body couldn’t handle any extra stress, not enough she got a few hours of sleep. Hugging the book to her chest Autumn lowered her head and made a beeline for the door, hoping to avoid contact with anyone else who needed her before she had left for the day. The fates granted her that much. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to shake the gloomy feeling that had taken hold of her. The doors opened automatically as she approached them and was instantly hit with the cold air from Alzubra Alley. Shivering slightly, the sound of her heels clicking on the cobblestone outside of the entrance was almost deafened by the amount of noise already on the street. Many businesses had begun letting out for lunch already and well dressed businessmen and women were pushing past one another to secure a spot in line at their favorite eatery before being forced to wait longer than they wanted. Knowing full well how determined they could be Autumn would have to move swiftly and carefully until she got to her normal apparation spot.

Taking a deep breath Autumn began to head towards the left. As she was walking, the heel to her shoe began wobbling, forcing her to stop. She could almost hear the heavy bags under her eyes groan. Yet another obstacle in getting home to her bed. Sighing, she extended her left leg backwards and lowered her hand down towards her foot. Sliding a finger in between her heel and shoe, she made sure it wasn’t just her foot loosening from the heel. A strange bump she hadn’t noticed earlier was sticking up from the padding. As she pressed on it, the heel of her shoe began moving. “Great.” How had she not noticed that before?

[Marlon Wagner]

The wind was starting to pick up, that meant that he would have even less time than he normally did until the coffee got cold. Currently it was still warm, but normally he only stood here, looking miserable like he was until the drinks had gone cold as ice in his hands. That was the time that he would hand them off to somebody who wanted them rather than throw them away. Cold coffee was still good coffee. It just wasn't to his tastes, he liked it piping hot. Helping himself to one more sip, he brought a pale thumb up to wipe at his mouth absently. It might be considered self deprecating, standing out here like this, any therapist in the world would tell him how crazy it was. That there was no healthy reason for these actions. Yet, he couldn't stop. It always gave him something to look forward to throughout the week, something that no matter what was always stable. Some day, this routine would force them to interact, force them to come close and maybe even talk again but then again, maybe he would just carry on for the rest of his days coming here. He could stand here picturing her face, how it should have changed over the years, he couldn't imagine that she would have aged much. Her wonderful skin would have kept her youthful. The kind of skin that felt almost dewy to the touch, her hair would have to be loner. Every time that he thought about her she had long, flowing locks. Never with short hair, but it was hard to imagine that he would be disappointed to find if her hair was short. What if all this time he had been looking for long brown hair, and he should have been looking for a short chestnut. The realization was shocking. What if she had just passed him by, how could he be so foolish? His eyes scanned the crowd once more, even turning to look again at the group of interns. There were so many hats and scarfs it was almost impossible to even tell hair length at all. Exhaling a shaky breath he pulled the cups closer to his chest, spinning once in place to give the crowd a full once over.

Over the years he had been so busy, there had been no time for anybody else. There had hardly even been time for himself outside of this hour or so every week. He would just come to the office, work, bring more files and paperwork home, and then continue to work from there. Cammie had been a distraction for awhile out of necessity, but even that hadn't lasted forever. It had just provided him with more things to fill up his time and more often than not, give him even more reasons to wish for more hours in the day. And now, he didn't even have that. He had been forced to overcompensate at work. While his higher ups were really impressed with him, he was running out of things to do. He had even been taking on more remedial tasks that were below his job title. Anything to keep his occupied, his work load was only enough to bring home at night, not to fill a full eight hour day. Certainly, he felt bad that so many people in his department were having to pull such long hours whenever he was able to pull all of his tasks together and leave on time every day. Yet, his own superiors wouldn't allow him to stay on the clock if his work was finished, not with how many other people were requiring overtime pay. The ministry was currently stretched thin enough as it was. He didn't wish to be a burden on anybody else, but he needed something to fill out his days. As happy as he was that his kid sister was finally pulling her life together, and as nervous as he was to see her fly on her own he admired her strength to be alone in this troubling time. Still, he missed her company. It had been nice having somebody around all the time for that long. Plus she had turned out to be a hell of a cook. So accomplished in fact, that his own cooking skills had started to get a little rusty. Luckily, that was just one more thing that he now had all the time in the world to polish up again. Even if cooking for one was a little depressing.

Glancing at the cups in his hand, he managed to stagger forward on a few steps of nerve, but then another wave of people came out of the doors, and it felt like the wind was pulling him backwards. His shoulders slumped in defeat. With another glance of his watch, he might as well attempt to grab something to eat for a change before heading back to work. If he walked at a good enough pace he would be able to get into the little bistro on the corner and have them whip up something tasty for lunch to go. He might even be able to bring something back for the rest of the people in his office. Might earn him some point to hide the fact that there was no items left in his inbox for him to spend the rest of the day doing. Perhaps his secretary would be able to pull some extra work for him to complete. He hated feeling like he wasn't holding his own weight. “Just gutless” he muttered to himself. Kicking at some rubble by his feet he huddled his jacket closer to his body. He shifted his arms to hold one cup to his chest, and the other lowered to the side of his body. This was a miserable feeling. In his life, this was the one task that he didn't excel at whenever he put his mind to it. Obviously, his heart was in it and he had the dedication he just couldn't close the deal. It had been one of the things he had always enjoyed with Autumn whenever they were together, conversation was never in short supply. There were always topics to cover and she was well read enough and interested in enough of the same subjects that he was to keep things interesting. Even whenever they weren't, he could have spent hours just watching her write her papers or read her books. She had been one of the rare few women who didn't sit by him, twirling their hair and laughing at everything he said, regardless of what it was. Turning to face Alzubra once more he started in the direction of the coffee cart to see if perhaps the man would want to drink them himself, or maybe he could come across somebody better along the way. Any of these interns would surely benefit from a dose of caffeine.

That was when he spotted her. The woman seemed to be struggling with a box almost as large as his own, her long hair was falling over her face, either it was the book or her shoes were giving her problems. Neither would surprise him, the book was rather large and if she was just getting off work for the day, then no doubt her feet would have been sore. Even for somebody as active as he was, he doubted he could handle their hours that they did. He admired their dedication, and doubted very much that they were thanked often enough for the work that thy did. It wasn't often that people could say that they held life in their hands, and healers did it every single day. The very least that he could do was offer to help her carry the load. The fact that people were just walking by while she was obviously uncomfortable shouldn't have surprised him, people as a whole didn't go out of their way to help another person. The world seemed to be on a steady decline in the human kindness department. What happened next, appeared in almost slow motion to him. It was her shoes after all, and it was lucky that he just so happened to be standing so close. Her heel gave way, why woman wore those shoes an a daily basis he would never know. He increased his pace, thankful that his shoes only had the most modest of heels in the back, as was customary in mens nice shoes. He caught her by the elbow, sacrificing his own coffee cup in the process. The thing hell to the ground, lip popping off and the luke warm liquid spilling onto the ground and splashing only modestly onto the hem of his slacks. His occupied hand wrapped around and and managed to fumble her heavy book into the crook of his arm and sit comfortably. It had an impressive heft to it, no wonder she was uncomfortable with it. One glance at the title told him why she was carrying it. Once he was sure she was steady on her feet once more he moved his hand off of her elbow to move only briefly to the middle of her back, in a respectable move. He didn't want to appear forward. “You alright there?” He breezed with a smile, a laugh in his voice.

He held onto her book, surprised whenever she brought her gaze to his own, she seemed grateful, recognition must not have kicked in fully just yet. His heart skipped a beat, after years of waiting, the moment that he had been imagining for such a long time was finally here. She was standing in his arm. She was just as beautiful as he remembered and then some. Even with the small dark circles under her eyes and the withered expression on her face she was a stunning individual. He felt his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he fumbled for something fitting to say. Moving the latte to his free hand he extended it to her, fumbling for words “Uhm well, this is for you” out of all the possible sentences, that was the one that came out. He could dictate eloquent speeches in a heartbeat, but talking to her? After such a long silence, was proving to be more difficult. It was like a chunk of something or another was caught in his throat. What must she be thinking right now? How he wished that he could just peer into her mind for even a moment to see the truth, to know what was going on in her mind so that he knew how to act next. He wouldn't be able to blame her if she took off in the other direction, if for no other reason that to just not have to deal with the awkward conversation that was about to take place. Would he follow her? Would he finally have the nerve to go inside of those doors and see what lay beyond. He couldn't remember ever even setting foot inside of those doors. Not even in his youth, he had been into the infirmary at school quiet a few times with Quidditch related injuries, but nothing that would have warranted a trip to the actual hospital. If she started to move away from him, then he would be forced to hold her book hostage until she at least let him speak. He did owe her an explanation, even if anything that he could offer her wouldn't be sufficient. Straightening himself out, he righted his jacket, no longer caring in the slightest that he was going to be smelling of coffee for the rest of the afternoon. Holding her gaze he offered her a guilty nervous smile and tucked his hair behind his ear once more before running the palm of his hand over the scruff on his chin. “Hello Autumn”

[Autumn Stanton]

She was so close. Just a few more steps and Autumn would be right where she needed to go home. The image of her warm and far too comfortable bed was plastered in her mind. She had recently purchased a new set of goose feather pillows with some of the money she had saved up from her overtime the past two months. They had been expensive, but worth every galleon. As soon as her head hit the soft surface, she was instantly able to go to sleep and wake up feeling more refreshed and alert then she was usually able to. Her heavy head yearned for that exquisite feeling of comfort. Her body craved her warm comforter that enveloped her body in all the right places, making it easy to never want to get out of bed. She wouldn’t have been surprised if that was exactly what she did when she woke up. Autumn had a television in her room where she could lie curled up watching her favorite shows and movies. Naturally, she also had a small bookcase near her bed that could provide reading material if she decided to catch up on her readings instead. After the studying of the enormous book in her arm anyway. The need for her bed was slowly becoming overwhelming, making her frustration with her stupid heel that much worse. She didn’t need any further delay in getting home. Not to mention, she’d rather avoid any public embarrassment at her heel breaking off in front of all occupants of Alzubra Alley. Most would probably ignore her, choosing to remain on their paths towards wherever it was they were going. There would be those few though that would possibly stop to laugh before continuing on their way.

Sighing out of annoyance, Autumn was satisfied once she had gotten her heel to stop wobbling so much. With the heel of her foot tucked securely into the shoe, she straightened herself up and adjusted the book so that both arms were once again hugging it. For the last minute, the large book had been threatening to fall onto the dirty cobblestone street. Though it would have served her superiors right for asking her to spend her time away from the hospital working, she would have felt horrible for dirtying the pristine-looking book especially since the thing looked older than she was. A yawn escaped her mouth as she situated herself. If she wasn’t careful, she could collapse right here and fall asleep, completely oblivious to the shuffling of feet and loud chatter of the crowd. It wouldn’t have been at all unexpected if her sudden fall gained the attention of some of the Healers leaving for break and them forcing her awake once more to take her back into the hospital for observation. Autumn needed to leave just that much quicker. Besides that, a cold breeze seemed to have picked up from out of nowhere. She could feel her nose reddening at the change in temperature around her. She wished she had brought gloves. Her flesh was exposed to the algid wind which was a bit more painful since her hands were grasped firmly around the edges of the book. She did her best to tuck them underneath her arms to give them some sort of warmth from the sleeves of her pea coat. It wasn’t much, but it did help.

It was time to stop standing around. With the heel of her shoe threatening to give way underneath her weight Autumn began walking a bit faster than she had before. Apparently her efforts had been for nothing. Her left leg was shaking badly. “Come on,” she quietly pleaded with herself. Stepping into the crowd didn’t make things any easier for her. The fast pace that people were taking foreshadowed inevitable catastrophe. There was no way she could push past the crowd and make it to her spot in one piece. Sliding herself against the brick walls of the backs of shops would be easier. She turned herself around, only able to make it three steps before she felt the confounded thing give way. Her eyes widened as her body began falling. Autumn’s nightmare was coming true. A naturally shy person didn’t deal well with making a fool of herself in public. Her people skills had gotten tremendously better with her job, but not enough to laugh off something so humiliating. A gasp left her mouth as the weight of the book began sliding from her grasp. Not only was she about to fall, but so was the hospital’s potion book right in front of the building. If she was being watched, she figured more concern would be towards the thing’s well-being then her own. What was even worse was that everything felt like it was going in slow motion. It made her feel like hundreds of pairs of eyes were watching her, waiting for that precise moment for her to fall so the bodies they belonged to could start laughing at her expense. Autumn just wanted the pain to hurry up and come so she could pick herself up and run to the corner before the tears fell.

Neither tears nor pain came though. Just as she was falling to the side, a hand grabbed her elbow, preventing her from meeting the ground. Almost instantly, the weight from the book that was sliding from her arms had alleviated. The other hand of the kind stranger who had prevented her mortification had grabbed it, keeping it firmly in their arm without any hint of struggle. Autumn had not yet been able to see the face of her savior, but judging by the bulk of the arm that was holding the book, it was a strong individual and no doubt a man. She felt the color in her cheeks rise. She was grateful for the help, but because it had been a man that had saved her, her bashfulness kicked in quickly. Considering the lack of outside interaction she had with men outside of work, it was only to be made that much worse. Fright was another emotion that rose to the surface briefly. Since her near death experience at Vienna’s cemetery she had been increasingly jumpy and cautious towards strangers. Damon had wound up being much more different then he had initially appeared but it wasn’t everyday that a girl got jumped by a vampire who was more focused on satiating his own thirst then the emotions of a terrified human being. The fear was short-lived though for she was back on her feet, as best as she could be anyway, with the help of the man who didn’t let go of her until she wasn’t swaying. There was something comforting about his presence. The gentle laugh in his voice as he asked if she was alright only provided more. It was nice to see that there were still gentlemen in this world.

With a small smile, Autumn bit down on her lip as her eyes rose to finally meet the man’s. “Thank you very much,” she started, her gaze somehow not recognizing the strong jaw line, “that was very kind of you.” Her grateful look remained on her face for only a few more seconds. Then recognition sunk in. Her smile faltered. Marlon. Time had aged his features but had only made him more handsome then the last time she had seen him. His blue eyes were still as piercing as ever, gazing down at her with anticipation. The new blond scruff on his chin was not even a shade darker then his hair, a color that many witches over time had envied as it was one nearly impossible to replicate. Autumn looked down at his shoulders momentarily, knowing for sure that her face must have been as red as a tomato. Marlon always got amusement from her reactions to things. She hoped he wasn’t about to start laughing at her. While looking at his shoulders, she noticed how they had broadened. He had put on more weight though it looked more from muscle then from fat. He had always been good about remaining fit and eating healthy. That had not changed in the time that had passed. The silence between them was deafening, made worse by the fact that she was still so close to him and his hand was still on her back. Sleep deprivation was forgotten about, instead replaced by a plethora of emotions that Autumn had not dealt with in a very long time. The mere appearance of Marlon had always brought an array of feelings to her, mostly because he always seemed to appear at the strangest times.

“Uhm well, this is for you.” It was so difficult for Autumn to look at him. She chose instead to look at the cup that was extended towards her from his unoccupied hand. Light steam was coming from the hole in the lid. Something warm for a cold day. She said nothing in response, her hand having a mind of its own and taking the gift he had offered to her. However, once she had taken hold of it, she didn’t bring it to her lips. The shock at Marlon being the one to rescue her had made her numb. The reason she hadn’t see him for so long had been because of his job at the Ministry. It was the same reason they were no longer together. Although she had told him that she understood his reason for wanting to end things, she had never fully accepted it. For many weeks after that fateful day, she had sat alone, wondering what it was she had done to give him such a lame excuse for not wanting to be with her anymore. Autumn rightfully still had a lot of hurt in her heart. Work had thankfully managed to subside it, but it was still there, occasionally coming out when she was home alone watching her sappy romantic movies or noticing something that both her and Marlon would have enjoyed sharing together. Her heart suddenly felt heavier than her eyelids. Whether it was due to another chilly breeze that had just blown past, the lack of sleep still trying to remind her that she needed to go home, or the memories the sight of Marlon had triggered, her vision was slowly starting to become blurry. Her sensitivity was already trying to get the best of her.

She breathed in deeply. Whatever reason it was that Marlon was here didn’t need to cause her to start crying. Autumn knew the last thing they needed was to attract the wrong sort of attention. Marlon didn’t get angry very often, but she knew how disastrous his temper could be. She doubted he would deal well with someone intruding by seeing what the trouble was. She forced herself to look at him. He seemed just as nervous as she was. “Hello Autumn.” How she missed his voice. His deep and husky tone had always made her heart melt and always had a way of assuaging her when she needed it the most. Hearing him say her name made her breathe deeply again. It was the only way to hold back the emotions threatening to spill out. “Hello Marlon,” she finally responded at almost a whisper. “What are you doing here?”

[Marlon Wagner]

He couldn't manage to tear his eyes away from her perfect skin. It spanned the entirety of her body and yet he still liked the skin on her face the best. The supple natural pink of her lips, the slight shin that was her eyelids that was only enhanced by the light color she tended to wear. He watched as blood rushed to her face, her shy smile upturning the corners of her mouth in a way that only made him widen his own smile in return. He wanted to help put her at ease but he knew that it was going to be a little while before she was comfortable around him again. He had abandoned her time and time again after all. Trust was something that was supposed to be earned, and while at one time he had the privilege of holding her trust and her heart, he had no idea if he was anything at all to her. He wished so desperately at times that he could turn back time and relive the hours that they spent in front of the common room fire, sipping butterbeer and talking. Even more the nights whenever he could just sit there to himself in silence, watching her read. They may have been in different years but they had always been on the same page whenever it came to what mattered. With them, age really had just been a number“Thank you very much,” As he removed his arm to rest by his side he waited with baited breath, he had no idea how she was going to react and instantly his brain began to go over a number of different scenarios of the worst case kind. His smile faltered only a fraction. “that was very kind of you.” He lowered his chin and lifted his shoulders “Anybody could have done it” his tone humble because he felt that it was the truth, at least he felt that it should be the truth, that was the world that he wanted to live in. Her smile faltered and that made his to fade all together, his nerves starting to set in. It was strange that the fact that she was so nervous, or embarrassed made him feel a little more at ease. The red tint that had been confined to her face flooded to her neck and a little of her ears, forcing his smile right back onto his face and an amused chuckle to accompany it. He was determined to make this as painless as possible, at least for her. He was ready to own up to his actions and apologize, whenever he knew that she deserved so much more than that.

She had grown a little taller, or maybe it was just him who had grown more stout, it might have been her heels but she was still as radiant as ever. Still as lean and graceful as a dancer could ever hope to be. He hoped that her long hours were kind to her, and that she still had time for herself. He made a mental note to ask her about her life and well being as soon as he possibly could. All of this time he had justified his excuse to himself by adding onto it. That he was taking care of his family, that he was making money to have a family of his own later on down the line. That he had to keep stable to be able to provide for anybody. He had been so determined to have something to offer to a female, before actually becoming involved with one whenever he knew that there was only one person he was really preparing his life for. Looking back, it seemed like such a line. He had always been an over achiever, he had always been good at multitasking and making things fit into the time that he had whenever it would have otherwise seemed impossible to a lesser man. His work at the ministry should have been the same, they had separated shortly after his internship had ended and his real work had begun. He should have tried harder, he should have made time for her. Then Cammie had happened, and things had really taken a dive for the worse but like always, he had worked himself to the bone and made it work. How difficult would it have been really to have done that for Autumn? Whatever the real reason one he wasn't willing to delve that deeply into his self conscious to figure it out. Looking at her now, seeing the upstanding woman that she had become made him regret, something that he tried very hard not to do.

She had always been so kind, so understanding she would have adjusted to the long hours right? Would she had been able to sit at home eating dinners alone, going to sleep in a bed meant for two? Would she have been able to tolerate him bringing his work home with him every day? Certainly she would have tried, but it wouldn't have been fair for her. She deserved somebody who could treat her like their world, to allow her to have all of the things that she would have ever wanted and the company that she deserved. It was overly selfish of him to have come here week after week whenever if anything were to happen, he knew that the reality he had tried to spare her from all of those years ago would still come true. But he had to see her, he had to know that she was alright, that she was happy. “Hello Marlon,” Her voice caressed his name like velvet, and for a moment he felt his eyes close, just relishing in the sound of her voice. “What are you doing here?” Allowing his eyes to slowly open again he smiled, pulling her heavy book closer to his chest with ease and shrugging his coat further up onto his shoulders at the same time. “Would you believe that I come here a lot?” It was the truth, no point in attempting to deny how pathetic he was too this day whenever it came to her. He smiled awkwardly, hoping that he wasn't keeping her whenever she wanted to get home. “I'm here to see you, only I don't have a valid reason for doing so” He fumbled his words, normally he spoke in such an eloquent matter but today, nothing was seeming to come out right. “I mean to say, that I've missed you, something desperate” he admitted with a heavy tone and looked up to her eyes, losing himself in the depth of colors and emotions that he found there. “Please, permit me take you somewhere warm. Buy you something hot to fight the cold?” He wasn't sure if the hospital would have a cafe in it or not, since that would be closest and she had only one working shoe. “I'll carry you if I must”

[Autumn Stanton]

Autumn had always thought that she and Marlon would be together forever. Their romance had started out years ago at Galaxia. He had been older, but had a maturity that many of his fellow male classmates lacked. He was sincere and genuine, two traits that were a rarity in youth his age. He had always been wise beyond his years, always having a commitment to whatever it was that he found himself partaking in. Whether it was his schoolwork or Quidditch, Marlon was always focused. She found it admirable, especially since she was the same in regards to motivation. One never got anywhere in life without a little drive. It had been what had brought the two together. They had been on the same level from the beginning. Even when Ravenclaw house had discovered the two were dating, no one had really been surprised considering how similar the two were. The girls had all been jealous of Autumn for landing Marlon as he was a reigning figure in their house. However, even they couldn’t deny how natural it was for the two of them to be together. He was by far more popular then she was. The corners of the common room or library were her usual locations. She didn’t mind not putting herself out there. It had been what attracted Marlon to her though. He liked that she didn’t intentionally set herself apart from the rest. She liked how he didn’t use his popularity to inflate his ego. He had always been uncommonly humble, instead of allowing his life to be dictated by his reputation but by how he did things on his own terms not by what was expected of him.

They had been inseparable. There was that dark period that last a few months, but they picked up where they left off when apologies had been made. The pair spent the rest of their time together making up for times lost and things soon went back to normal. They were the happiest times of Autumn’s life. Marlon was always there for her and her for him. She felt like she was a support system for him when his internship at the Ministry brought instances when he was overwhelmed. She encouraged him. She reminded him that he had the motivation to do whatever he set his mind to. Anything that was difficult for him was mere obstacles thrown in his way to test him. He could jump over those hurdles and go sprinting to the next. She knew he could do it. As she had told him, he had ultimately succeeded. Marlon secured himself a position within the International Magic Cooperation level of the Ministry of Magic and was highly praised for his contributions. In return, he was there for her when she graduated Galaxia and began her own internship at St. Everdines. Their time together during her trials wasn’t nearly as much as his, but she understood. Marlon was a working man now. Working at the Ministry was very important and time-consuming. Still, Autumn couldn’t help but to be frustrated at times. There were more than a handful of occasions when his work came first and she was left alone in her apartment studying for her Healer exams by herself. She had stuck through it though and in the end, she got what she had wanted as well. They both should have been happy.

And they were, the opportunities they got to be together anyway. Autumn and Marlon’s schedules were hectic. Her work days unpredictable and his long. Their time together was limited. While she made every effort to be with Marlon when she was off of work, his priorities changed. The Ministry was slowly consuming him. He was always the first one to the office and the last to leave. She still admired his work ethic and dedication, but was slowly getting more hurt with each time he told her that ‘something came up’ and couldn’t see her. She did her best not to show the agony at not seeing him. It was unfair to allow her selfishness to influence Marlon’s success. Things kept getting worse. So bad that eventually they had no choice but to end things. Autumn felt Marlon lost sight of what was important in life. He allowed his work to take precedence over everything he knew. He had even lost his friendship with Erich due to his inability to put work to the side for just an hour or so. She had been devastated. She had tried often to tell herself that things happened for a reason, but she just couldn’t understand why this happened. Everything about her and Marlon being together was perfect. They were made for each other. But if they really were, then why couldn’t he allow himself the time to spend with her? As a few years passed she got better. She was able to fully function an entire day without thinking of him at points. Yet there were still those episodes of sadness when she saw or read something that reminded her of him. It was certain that the relationship hadn’t received the proper closure. On Autumn’s end, it never would since no efforts on his part had been made to have a conversation.

Which was why this was all so surprising to her. Was this the opportunity fate was giving them? Of all people to see on a day like this, Marlon was the one that would catch her when she fell, as he always had before. Why had it taken him so long? Autumn hoped that everything would be revealed in due time. She felt like she deserved explanations. She needed to know why after the night that she had, when all she wanted to do was go home and sleep, why Marlon was standing next to her with that awkward look on his face that he was about to come clean with something. Fate really had a strange way of working out sometimes. “Would you believe that I come here a lot?” She felt her heart drop. If that really was true, which she knew deep down was, why hadn’t he come in to see her? The pain was weighing down heavily on her body. Did he think she would refuse to see him? While she had every reason to, she never would have. Marlon held too special of a place in her heart to be one of those girls too devastated by heartbreak to affect the view she saw of the one who did the breaking. He was too good of a person. Autumn could tell that time had only changed his looks, not changed who he was. He had caught her before she had broken her neck after all. She opened her mouth to respond to him, but no words came out. The shock of seeing him after so long still made her incapable of not looking like a blushing idiot. “I'm here to see you, only I don't have a valid reason for doing so.” His words brought a giddiness to her that resembled the same she had for him when she was a schoolgirl. To know that he still thought of her…it was saddening, but in a romantic sort of way.

“I mean to say, that I've missed you, something desperate.” A gasp left Autumn’s mouth. Why was he saying this? She had never been able to deal with an array of emotions hitting her all at once. He knew that. He knew this wasn’t fair to her. “Please, permit me take you somewhere warm. Buy you something hot to fight the cold?” She was exhausted. Her brain couldn’t handle all of this. It had been overworked all night. It was impossible to process. “I’ll carry you if I must.” She couldn’t take anymore. Despite Marlon’s good intentions, he had picked the worst possible time to confront her. And if she knew anything about him, he wouldn’t stop until he got her to talk. He was waiting for her to respond. She could tell he wanted her to smile, accept his invitation and hold onto his arm as he led them to a warmer spot. Autumn wished it could be that simple. She really did. There was too much hurt to let bygones be bygones. She was just so tired. Without warning, the tears that had been threatening to spill out did. She didn’t sob hysterically, but did enough to show that she was still nursing a broken heart. Resting her arm across her stomach, she looked away and wiped daintily at her cheeks. “Maybe now is not a good time Marlon,” she said, sniffing slightly. “I’ve had a terrible night at work and I really think I should just be going home.”

[Marlon Wagner]

His own words hovered in a imaginary cloud above his heads. He waited for her to say something, anything at all only no words were coming out. He was a man of science, well as much as a wizard could believe in science anyway he did. He didn't often dare to look back and he almost never wasted time wishing that he could have done things differently. The one exception to that rule was standing right in front of him. He could see by the look in her eyes that she was not going to give him the response that he was wanting more than anything else. She didn't have to say anything, although he knew that she was going to be decent enough to lay it all out for him. Despite their difference in years, they had always seem eye to eye. Marlon was considered to be ahead of the curve in many social circles, and for Autumn to be right up there with him was a real accomplishment. Whenever he looked at her he saw sunshine, and could smell the turning autumn leaves. He could see sunsets and faded books. He saw everything that he loved whenever he looked at her. How blind he must have been to ever think that there was a priority that came before her. No explanation that he could ever give would be good enough. It was the only time where his over achieving tendency's had not worked in his favor. School had always been rather simple for him. He just seemed to get things more quickly than a lot of his peers. He had taken more courses than the rest because of his lust for knowledge, to better himself. He wanted to be the best man that he could be, the best partner for a woman, the best lover and husband. He reached high and normally things lowered themselves into his grasp without much work. He just, had a hard time organizing his priorities from time to time, sadly he had allowed Autumn to fall by the wayside, and then Cammie had entered back into his life. If only he could tell her, them maybe, just maybe she would understand. She had always insisted that she had, but he knew the truth of her words. Some hurt just runs too deep.

He didn't like to admit it, but he was only human and he was flawed, even though he did his very best not to show it. He was looking his biggest failure as a man in the eye right now and he was coming up short. It was the most miserable feeling that he had ever experienced. He could remember whenever he was at home and would come home with a 'Average' mark instead of an 'Outstanding' and being admonished for it, he also had a big black spot in his memory where it came to his family, but he felt that he had made the best out of that horrendous circumstance. He and Cammie were fine, working members of society. She had gotten her education, Marlon had finished at the top of his class and then some. He didn't like to think of that as a poor judgment on his part. Even if it had taken him a few years longer than it should have. This, this was all on him. The best that he could do would be to put himself out there, and to keep doing so until she saw reason. The words leaving his lips weren't coming out right, he wasn't trying hard enough. Normally he was so eloquent, yet somehow his tongue always managed to become tied in her presence. He could remember the very first time that he had met her. He had seen her around the Ravenclaw common a few times over the first few years of her schooling, but didn't think anything of it because of her year and shy demeanor. It had taken him time, learning her name had been the hardest part. Not because he didn't talk to her directly, but because her nose was always stuck in one book or another that she hardly spoke with anybody. After that somehow he had managed to start seeing her everywhere that he went. He saw her in the Library during study hall, and how she always picked at her meals because she was so absorbed in her reading or assignments. He had admired how the world around her always seemed to disappear and she lived in her own place. It was something that he had always envied.

He had watched her from afar for a good long while, she would come to the games where he was Seeker, but always sit in the stands alone, always reading. She was one of the only girls, even outside of his house, that didn't ever seem to faun over him. In his youth, that was something that had bothered him. He had always pretended to detest popularity, and swore never to let it get to his head. Yet, whenever he came in contact with somebody that didn't know him, or the scathing reputation that Cammie was building against all of his good work, it was frustrating to him in the way that he didn't know how to handle himself. Little did he know that for the year and a half that he was watching her, she was watching him. He had looked for a flaw, something to remove her from his pestering thoughts, he was outgoing by nature but he didn't want to ask about her for fear of her finding out. She was his sisters age for Merlin's sake, for any other woman it would have been a deal breaker. But she wasn't petty, she wasn't vain nor did she get around. She kept to herself, always was prompt for lessons and stayed up late at night only to work never to party. She seemed perfect, a girl wrapped in white. She was different than anything he had ever seen before. He tried to date women his age, thinking it was just a phase where he was wanting to get out of what was expected of him, to 'break' from the norm but it wasn't that at all. It was her.

He and a friend had worked up something in his head, a setup if you will for him to finally break the ice. They had headed down to the library to seek her out, but of course she was ready for him. She was far too intelligent no not see him coming. He had tried to be quiet about it, but people always tended to flock to him no matter where he went. Meaning that he had an audience whenever all he had wanted was to be alone with her, to hold her hand. He had approached her one evening right before the library hours were over, and had hoped to just talk to her, perhaps declare his feelings for her. Whenever he had approached her table she had set the book down onto the table, and folded her hands across it just so, and turned her annoyed gaze up at him. He couldn't blame her, she didn't know why he was there and he had interrupted what looked to be a most promising read. He had parted his lips to speak, only nothing had come out, apart from what seemed to be a choked yelp. He had choked on the most important speech yet, with women he had learned that there really was only ever one chance and if it was lost, then it was lost forever. She hadn't missed a beat, she had straightened up in her seat and told him her mind in a very soft, kind way which was strange for the words that she had used. “I really wish that you would just spit out whatever it is that you have been working on for the past week. I'm not a fan of being mocked, so please. Whatever you are trying to do to look big in front of your friends, just do it” he had been bewildered. The girl was just full of surprises. He had smiled, and that had turned into laughter which had been most vexing to her from the looks of it. He had unfastened his Quidditch 'Captain' pin from the lapel of his fresh pressed Ravenclaw robes and extended it to her. He had given her the wrong impression, of course she had seen his staring.

He had bent down on one knee that day, wanting to make a good first impression, and he had only hoped that she would take him seriously. “I only mean to formally declare my intentions to you miss Autumn. I want your hand, arm, heart and body. If only you will have me?” He had only seen successful relationships in muggle movies, and he figured if it wasn't broken, he didn't need to try to fix it. She had looked at him like he was crazy, but she didn't flinch away whenever he had fastened his pin to her collar, he had meant every word. “Please tell me you will at least consider it” And she had taken her sweet time doing just that. From that day on, her age was no longer an issue for him, it just seemed to work between them, things flowed and after many months of courting, she allowed him to make it official. He had marked that date on the common room calendar as one of the most social events of the season as a joke, but nobody but the two of them seemed to think it was much of a joke. They were the new 'it' couple, whether she liked It or not. How could he have turned his back on that? He had gotten lost within her eyes that first conversation, and he wanted to be lost in them again, forever if she would allow him. He could feel himself sinking into them at this very moment, the same surprise at seeing him in front of her now, as she had been that day in the library. She had asked him once, in the beginning why he had chosen her, and he had known that there was no choosing involved. From the moment he saw her, there wasn't anybody else. Surely she had to know that his feelings had never once wavered, never faded.

What happened next, he never could have seen coming. Never before had she said no to him. He didn't know how to handle it, she had perhaps offered alternatives to things that she didn't like, but never had he been turned down for anything. Then she started crying, and it was like his heart was breaking all over again, this was his fault. He went into a mini panic, his hands moving awkwardly around her, not sure whether he should embrace her like he so longed to do or keep his distance, she was turning away. He wanted to make the tears go away. How could he come here and make her cry, this wasn't fair to her. Not in the least. The most he managed to do was to brush a stray hair back behind her ear and then drop his hands. He didn't feel worthy of touching her any more, not even her hair. “Maybe now is not a good time Marlon,I’ve had a terrible night at work and I really think I should just be going home.” He took a small step backward, looking at the ground. His eyes were taking in as much information as they could, the number of stones beneath his shoes and the number of cracks, his eyes darting every which way so as to avoid processing her last words. “I-I understand” he nodded stupidly. How could he have imagined anything other than this outcome? “I just – I, wanted to help” he said to the ground not wanting to make her feel any worse. He lifted his heavy heart to look at her “I'm sorry to have upset you, Merde” He was screwing this up too. “Autumn, I never wanted to hurt you again” he forced his hands to stop their strange dance and sentenced them to his pockets. “Of course you have better things to do than to talk to me...If-...if you change you mind” He shrugged, attempting to look hopeful and failing, again.

[Autumn Stanton]

Autumn was far too sensitive for her own good sometimes. Her harrowing night at work didn’t help matters, but did being confronted by an ex really give enough reason to shed the crocodile tears falling from her eyes? When the ex was a person that had been in and out of her life for ten years perhaps. Also if that same ex had been the love of her life for that same time. It was hard for her to speak or ever look at Marlon without being engulfed with their former love story. She had always been convinced that the reason she had adored what she had with him had been because it was just like something out of one of her books. For the most part, everything was perfect. There were naturally the bumps in the road, but in the end, they wound up together. They had always been on a level above other couples around their ages. They took comfort in the little things. Walks around the lake during their school years or staying at home on a weekend night reading or watching one of her favorite movies from the 1930’s on. Autumn knew that they were wise beyond their ages. Their time together could be compared to time shared between an older couple who had been married for years. But that was alright with her. It was what made her relationship with Marlon so special and so deep. He had been her first everything. Her first kiss. Her first real relationship. Her first time. He was implanted in her mind, body and soul forever. Over time, it may have been possible that Autumn’s thoughts wouldn’t linger on the man as much as they frequently did, but with how recent everything still was, she wouldn’t know for a long time.

Perhaps she did have another reason for sobbing the way she was. Autumn was a frail woman. Time had better prepared her for the real world, but when confronted with such an important individual from her past, she easily fell back into the timid girl she had been growing up. Later on, she would look back at this moment with humiliation. This certainly hadn’t been the first time Marlon had ever seen her cry, but she didn’t like him seeing her like this especially when she had broke out in tears within the first five minutes of their initial meeting. She wiped again at her eyes, doing her best to breathe in and out deeply to try and slow the rapid flow of drops. The last thing she needed to do was get herself even more worked up. Her head began to throb. Bringing her hand up to her head, she closed her eyes to try and ignore the pain. Headaches for Autumn had never been the same since the Masquerade. She couldn’t remember what had happened, but she had been told that it had been a spell that she had unknowingly been thrust into the path of. Amnesia resulted from it and had stayed for nearly four months after the attack. The awful migraines came after she had regained her memory. They were rare, but when they came they seemed to make up for the extended absences. Often, they got so bad that she had to confine herself to a dark room with absolutely no light or sound whatsoever with a wet cloth covering her forehead and eyes. She prayed one wasn’t able to rear its ugly head in her direction. She didn’t need Marlon to worry about her more than she presumed he already was. Though he probably could tell that her head was ailing her. He had been at her bedside for the entire duration of her recovery and the weeks after. He had known her body better than she had.

Autumn’s sorrowful eyes opened seconds later, quickly finding their way to Marlon. His head was bowed and his body was moving awkwardly. “I-I understand. I just-I wanted to help you.” That side of him would never change. He had always been her knight in shining armor. He had been her shoulder to cry on through stressful times. He kept her safe from the dangers of the world by simply keeping his arms wrapped tightly around her. He even braved the rickety old ladders at the library to grab a book on the top shelf of the humongous bookshelves just so she wouldn’t have to. The role came natural to Marlon. She had just been grateful to be his damsel. From the way he nodded, she knew how defeated he felt. Guilt washed over her. He had so often done the same to her, but Autumn couldn’t bear to reflect the same. Two wrongs didn’t make a right. It was when he lifted his eyes to look at her that the guilt pressed even harder down on her heart. “I'm sorry to have upset you, Merde. Autumn, I never wanted to hurt you again.” His last comment drew the air from her chest. All her efforts to retain a normal flow of oxygen were in vain. Her vision blurred to the point where she could only make out the outlines of objects and people. She was glad she couldn’t see them. She could already feel their curious glances on her, wondering what was making this girl so terribly upset. If she wasn’t careful, she’d give them even more of a show when she collapsed to the ground, overcome by such emotion that she couldn’t keep her balance.

“Of course you have better things to do than to talk to me...If-...if you change your mind.” No, she really didn’t. Autumn had been dreaming of the day she’d see Marlon again. The scenarios in her mind always played out differently, but never ended with her leaving him in a mind-numbing hurt as he had done to her. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to talk to him, listen to the way his tone changed when he spoke her name. It had an entrancing and soothing effect on her. Even now, when she felt like the eyes of the world were on her and the shakiness in his voice was apparent, it was calming her. Another deep breath. She needed to remember that her brain was suffering from a severe lack of sleep and stress. She was being over-emotional. Autumn had humiliated herself from the beginning. Continuing to do so would only cause her anxiety to rise and result in a panic attack. “No.” The words came out quiet and choked, but Marlon would be able to understand what she said. Her hand brushed a round of tears from underneath her eyes, making her vision clearer. They then ran down her cheeks to remove excess mascara she could feel hardening itself. “No,” she repeated. “Please, I’m sorry. I’ve just…been here for twelve hours. I’m exhausted. Not to forget, I have a broken heel.” She attempted humor but was unable to produce a smile to make the situation a bit more light-hearted. Sighing, Autumn shook her head and hugged at her chest. She had almost been distracted enough to forget how cold it was. The sun couldn’t even help warm the thick air up.

“Maybe you’re right. I probably just need to warm up and get a chance to sit down.” Marlon would have to understand that she was making an effort to accept his invitation. “There’s a room on the ninth floor that’s quiet and also has food and drinks.” Autumn shyly looked to the side. “You’re welcome to join me. Guests are allowed only with Healers who have access to it.” Offering the first smile since thanking him, she shrugged. Without waiting for his response, her hand went into the pocket of her coat, pulling out two spare shoe covers. Her fingers were now too numb to properly hold her wand to charm her broken heel back into place so these would have to suffice until she could sit and work on them. One at a time, she took each of the heels off and quickly replaced them with the covers. They were thin but would keep her feet from getting dirty and keeping with the sanitation requirements. Placing the index and middle fingers of both hands into the heels, she began walking towards the direction of the sliding doors, glancing only one behind her to see if he would follow.

[Marlon Wagner]

Marlon had so many fond memories of the two of them, everything from the way he could remember his hand shaking before he plucked up the nerve to hold her hand for the first time, to their first kiss, to her first time. That was on of the many regrets that Marlon had whenever it came to Autumn, that she wasn't his first. He had heard about what it was like whenever it was with somebody that you really loved, how there were sparks and the bundle of nerves that refused to release themselves from one's stomach, but he had never dreamed that it would have happened to him. Of course, he was no Casanova by any means but with Autumn...every touch was like fire. The fact that it hadn't faded after all of these years had to mean something. Whenever he had caught her elbow earlier, he had felt electricity in his fingertips, a heat that spread from his palms to his shoulders. She was his essence. The reason since day one to make himself a better man. He had given that up, she surely had moved on the making some other man better than he was. If that were the case, Marlon hoped that he knew just how lucky he really was, and that he cherished her in a way that Marlon was no longer allowed. Presently, he was forced to stand here and watch her cry, knowing that he was the cause. His hand ached to cradle the side of her face, to brush her tears away and to kiss her forehead and tell her that everything was going to be all right. That he wasn't ever going to leave her again and that only if she could try to take him back, that he would do anything in his power to make it up to her. Her rejection brought the memories of that night swimming to the forefront of his mind. The emotions threatened to overwhelm him, she was always such a mystery to him. Perhaps that was why they had always worked so well together, because she was the one thing in his life that he didn't understand. That he couldn't study to the point of knowing it like it was the back of his own hand. She always managed to surprise him. She was just a walking bowl of class. He didn't deserve her...and yet he couldn't give up. She was just always so amazing to him...even that night. The night he had removed her heart from within the confines of his own chest and handed it back to her...she hadn't yelled...she hadn't shouted. She hadn't pleaded with him, she hadn't shed but one single tear before collecting her coat and being on her own way without a single word. That alone...had caused him more heartache than any fight ever could have. The fact that he had cut her so deeply as to where she had no words left to give. He should do the same for her now, to just bow out silently and go back to the office to lick his wounds. He had been coming here week after week looking for answers, hoping for a second chance and now he had gotten what he was looking for. She didn't need to make herself any more clear.

Her hand fluttered to her forehead and his stomach paned. He had seen that look on her face many times before and it never spelled anything even remotely good. She had her pride and wouldn't let him help...he knew that. She was the healer here after all. Ever word that he spoke seemed to just be making it even worse...there was no way to redeem himself now. He couldn't look away from her eyes, so much sadness there...he had promised her so many years ago that he wouldn't ever hurt her...what a liar he turned out to be. His hands flexed, to keep them to himself he tucked them into his pockets lest he touch her. He bowed his head to her, his face somber. “I apologize for taking up your time” and turned on his heel to be on his way whenever a solitary word floated over the air and into his ears “No.” His chest swelled with hope, it was all he could do and he had no control over it. He turned back around to see her wiping at her face “No,” her tone was so soft, could she really mean it? “Please, I’m sorry. I’ve just…been here for twelve hours. I’m exhausted. Not to forget, I have a broken heel.” She didn't seem to want to smile, so he smiled for the both of them. “I can fix that” his tone implying that he meant a whole lot more than just her shoe. If she wanted, that would only just be his starting point. He took a step toward her, his smile spanning clear across his face. He wouldn't miss this opportunity. Time restrictions and obligations slipped from his mind for the first time in at least five years. He could be late from a break for the first time in his life, he was finally where he actually wanted to be. “Maybe you’re right. I probably just need to warm up and get a chance to sit down. here’s a room on the ninth floor that’s quiet and also has food and drinks.” He couldn't have eaten even if he had wanted to. He was far to nervous about the prospect of what was going to happen next. He took a side step as she took her first awkward movement back toward the building. IF she had really been here for twelve hours already, this had to be the very last place in the world that she was wanting to return to. He was deeply happy that she was obliging him this much.

“You’re welcome to join me. Guests are allowed only with Healers who have access to it.” He nodded, attempting to stifle the smile that had taken the rest of his face hostage. “I would be honored” really, he was. He watched as she swapped out her shoes for shoe covers, wondering why she would force her feet to freeze whenever he was more than capable with a wand. She took off without him, she had to know that he was going to follow her. He wouldn't have been coming here this long if he wasn't going to. Doubling his pace to catch up with her he offered her the crook of his arm to escort her into the building with a humble look. It was a stretch, and he told himself that he wouldn't be hurt if she didn't accept his invitation since it was assuming a lot. “Please, lead the way Autumn” he hadn't had much experience in her place of work so she was obviously far more knowledgeable in the direction for them to go. He knew he could likely find his way up to the ninth floor but that would be it, and since she said that he wouldn't be able to get in without him anyway he decided not to try. Looking over at her he was still just as entranced by her beauty as he had been the very first day he had met her. “Thank you Autumn...” he left the statement open ended, she had to know what he meant.

[Autumn Stanton]

It didn’t take long for Marlon to catch up with her. Feeling her heart flutter as his heavy footsteps found their place next to hers, Autumn finally began to feel that sense of comfort that surrounded her whenever she had been with Marlon in the past. It was likely only temporary given that the two were currently at peace but it was without a doubt better than crying her eyes out in public. She was glad she couldn’t see her face now anyways. She could only imagine how red and puffy it was. Embarrassment was right up there with the comfort Marlon was providing. Sighing deeply, she kept her head lowered just enough to not have to make contact with anyone as she walked the two of them through the doors. She prayed they wouldn’t be stopped by any of her co-workers. The quicker they could retreat to the ninth floor, the better. Fortunately for the two of them, Autumn hadn’t noticed how busy it had been. She had been so desperate to leave the very building she was walking back into that she had avoided looking around. The waiting room was full of cries, coughs and low moans of patients who needed care. The nurses had piles of paperwork next to them at the front-desk and lines of nearly three people deep completely surrounding the wooded oval. A few Healers passed by but looked to be too preoccupied to worry about her and Marlon. Realizing how busy it was, she moved the heels in her left hand to her right to allow her free hand to grab the elbow Marlon had offered to speed up their pace. She knew how things worked here far too well.

“Thank you Autumn...” She turned her head briefly to smile at him. Autumn understood the meaning behind his words. Not to mention, she was more than delighted to hear them. However, this was not the place to dwell on them. Not when she could be taken from him at any minute. “I wouldn’t thank me until we’re away from the madness,” she told him honestly. Healers were always on duty. Just because she had barely survived a twelve-hour shift didn’t mean anything to the hospital. When manpower was needed, they called for it. If you were called and didn’t respond, your badge instantly disappeared. St. Everdines didn’t have time to wait for people who weren’t fully committed to healing the public. Autumn did and had ever since she had accepted the position. Though she’d be lying if she said she anticipated her badge vibrating to signal being needed. Once the locker room came into sight, she stopped them and turned to face Marlon for a moment. “I need to get my shoes. Wait out here and I’ll be out in a few seconds.” She placed her hand on the knob of the door and quickly slid in when there was just enough space for her body to fit through. The sense of urgency continued as she walked to her locker, put in the combination and opened the metal door. Dropping the heels to the floor, she grabbed her flats, took off the shoe covers, slid the flats on her feet and then replaced the shoe covers once more. She then bent over to grab the heels once more and closed the locker door with her arm. Walking to a corner, she grabbed another pair for Marlon to place over his own once she got back to him.

Autumn rejoined Marlon not even a minute after she had left him. Quietly closing the door behind her, she held out the covers for him. “Everyone’s got to abide by the rules.” When he took them, she looked around to make sure they hadn’t been seen. She would only be an easier target if officials knew she was already in the building. The covers were barely on his feet when she grabbed his elbow again and whisked them to the elevators. Luck was on their side. As soon as they approached the doors, they opened and stood aside to allow a masked Healer wheel an elder woman out. They entered the elevator once they had room and she stepped forward to push the ninth floor and doors close buttons. They responded instantaneously yet again and closed, leaving Autumn and Marlon alone for the first time. This sudden realization made her very anxious. Biting down on her lip, her head found its way back to its normal angle to the floor. She hoped she wasn’t standing too close. Marlon didn’t need to get the wrong idea, if there was even one. This was purely to have a much-needed conversation. He didn’t need to think that she willing to throw herself back in his arms without so much as a bat of an eyelash. He didn’t need to think she was reliving some dream of being this close to him. Most importantly, Marlon didn’t need to be aware of how desperately her heart still clung to him. The ride felt like it took forever. It didn’t stop on any floors, but certainly felt like it was taking its sweet time to get to its destination. But finally a bell sounded announcing their arrival. The doors opened to the quiet ninth floor. This part of the hospital was mostly offices of the higher-ups and conference rooms beside the exclusive break area. Stepping out of the elevator, Autumn motioned Marlon to follow her and began walking down the white hallway.

The pair finally found themselves at the secured door about two minutes later. Autumn grabbed her badge out of her coat pocket and swiped it across the small pad on the wall next to the door. The door click and her hand went to the handle, pushing it down to open it. As soon as it was fully opened, she could already hear the usual soft and relaxing music drifting through the speakers. “They really go out of their way to make this a little piece of heaven,” she explained when they both had entered the room. The walls had been painted different shades of soft blues, greens, and lavenders. It was dimly lit, but one could still easily make out the various pigments. The scent of salt-filled air and sun that one would find at a beach filled the room. The aromas changed daily but were always those that brought tranquility. “It can be a bit much,” Autumn confessed, laughing slightly as she guided them to a pair of chairs across from each other. Like the floor, the room was empty. All of the Healers must have been off attending to the crowds below or dealing with the business aspects of the hospital. Taking a seat on one of the chairs, she gently placed her heels next to it and eased her body into the soft backing of the furniture. It felt so good to sit down. So good that if she wasn’t careful she was likely to fall asleep. “There are snacks and drinks over in that corner,” she pointed out. “Blankets and pillows in the other. Feel free to get what you need to accommodate yourself.” Marlon was unlikely to take her up on her offer but at least he would know where to find what he needed if he decided to. Breathing in deeply, Autumn waited for him to sit next to her once he had made his decision.

[Marlon Wagner]

He felt like he was a school boy all over again. Stuck in the awkward limbo that was the beginning of every relationship. The point where he longed to press his own lips up against hers, but lacked the nerve or the conviction to be so bold. Where he would walk along side of her, but not dare to wrap his arm around her waist. The strange, tense feelings that one had before they had been well acquainted. The only thing that made it worse was knowing exactly how it felt to have her in his arms, so hold her close and keep her warm. The way that his arms overlapped around her back whenever she was as close as she could possibly be, the way that her head fit right against his chest and just under his chin. At least, whenever he were a young boy he had only been able to fantasize about those things. This, the knowing and not able to do anything about it was so much worse. He hated having to settle for nothing more than her dainty hand on the crook of his arm. Yet, beggars couldn't be choosers. He could make do, already he could feel a confidence in his step, and his chin held just a little bit higher as he moved. He felt like a prince with her on his arm, something to show the whole world and he couldn't have been more proud. Certainly things didn't change. The feelings that he carried for her never faded, just like his convictions over the reasons that they shouldn't be together hadn't. It was simply more logical for him to stay away, to let them both go their own ways. Yet, his heart would have none of logic.

“I wouldn’t thank me until we’re away from the madness,” Leave it to her to keep him grounded. He had started to become so self involved within his private thoughts that he didn't notice the setting he had walked into. How she managed to work around all of the sickly people on a daily basis was truly a testament to her dedication. It wasn't that he was germaphobic, it was just that he highly detested being sick. He felt the sudden need to cover his mouth with some sort of cloth but refrained. Certainly they wouldn't keep the contagious this close to the entrance, right? Exhaling slowly he looked around the space as Autumn lead them in a direction secret to him, so long as they were moving he was happy. Poor souls, each and every one of them looked more miserable than the last. No wonder she was exhausted, shouldn't he had been made aware that things were this bad at the hospital? If not, he should have been. It might not be his department but at the very least he could have helped with the overflow of patients. Were they all still fall out from Darren's attacks? Or were they victim to some other sort of bug that he didn't know about due to his lack of public exposure? Either way, they didn't have enough healers or enough beds from the look of things. He glanced at Autumn, swelling with pride to even know somebody with a heart as large as hers. He certainly couldn't have done this job. He would have to make it a point to figure out how he could help with the situation here. Certainly one of the neighboring wizarding hospitals would be able to come in and help out until things calmed down? The ministry was simply too busy to deal with it on their own right now. The other ministry branches surely had to understand that. Austria was just ground zero.

“I need to get my shoes. Wait out here and I’ll be out in a few seconds.” “Hm? Oh, yes of course” stroking at the stubble on his face he turned heel to look around the room better. It seemed to just be a simple hallway at the moment. Yet, every other minute or so another bed was being pushed past him with some sort of strange ailment. He personally could have gone his whole life without seeing the elderly witch with the oozing boils protruding from her face and been just fine. It was enough to make him almost upchuck the coffee he had consumed earlier. Bringing the edge of the scarf to the front of his face, he covered his mouth and nose with it. He was overreacting, as Autumn would no doubt tell him, but he couldn't miss any work due to illness, even if he would love to have Autumn tending to him twenty four hours a day until he was better. His job was far too important to him. With his spare hand in his pocket he saw more healers looking at him with strange looks on their face, they seemed to be gossiping a few paces down from him. Smaller, brunette witches with bright pink scrubs on. Bashfully, he dropped the scarf back down and smiled at them weakly before spinning back around to wait on Autumn. Beaming whenever she did, he faltered at the things in her hands “Everyone’s got to abide by the rules.” Puzzled, he looked at her own shoes and nodded, placing a palm against the wall and lifting one foot up to rest on his knee. Sliding the shoe cover over the patent black material he did the same for his other foot and returned to his height. Wishing that he had shoe covers for his face he allowed himself to be whisked away to the lifts by her swift steps. She certainly was in a rush, or didn't wish to be seen. He would have been happy to take her anywhere that she could have wished, they didn’t have to come here.

He was just about to open his mouth and state just that, whenever the fact that he was alone with her, sure they were having conversation, but there had been people around them this whole time. It was nice, he missed being alone with her. He could recall the time that they would be able to sit and do nothing for hours upon hours. He would sit and just watch her reading her books, or working on her schoolwork. His prolonged staring never seemed to bother her, she was always whisked away to other worlds whenever she read. He had enjoyed watching her laugh silently to herself at amusing bits, and become concerned over the parts that made her uncomfortable. She would grip at the edges of the books, her eyes scanning quickly, lapping up every inch of written word until she had learned what she had wanted from the text. It had been the most fascinating thing he could have ever watched, and couldn't help but wonder if they would ever be that comfortable with one another again. He certainly hoped so. Shifting his weight from one foot to another, he cleared his throat, attempting to come up with something not pathetic to say. By the time anything had come to mind, the lift had stopped. Was he really so pathetic that the only topic he could come up with was work-related? It was the very last thing that he needed to discuss with her. It would cut this whole talk short and that, was the last thing that he wanted. He followed her whenever she exited, willing his mouth to work. For words to form on his tongue and still, nothing.

The room was certainly nice enough, he could see himself working here, during his late hours filing away medical records or whatever they did whenever they weren't healing. He could see from the entrance to the room that even the chairs were inviting. They just begged for somebody to sleep upon them. “They really go out of their way to make this a little piece of heaven,” Marlon smiled to himself at the thought that all they needed to do to make that a reality was have her sitting in the room. Shaking his head to push the corny lines to his private recesses in his mind. It smelt like taffy to him, just the shade of anything pastel, as all good taffy's were colored. Like a walk on the beach and smiles. Some sort of enchantment, it had to be. Suddenly, he found himself wishing to know more about the hospital and the inner workings of it. “It can be a bit much,” Shaking his head, he pulled the scarf from around his neck and started to fold it meticulously. Looking around the room he searched for some indication of the enchantment on the room, was it just happenstance? “It's fantastic...does it always smell like this?” He turned to look at her for only a second “Or is it something that recognizes the mood of it's inhabitants and changes the smell accordingly?” He was missing the point, but his need to know was overbearing. “Like, paint that was infused with some sort of...amortentia potion” He ran the crook of his index finger down a clean bit of wall, and brought it to his nose to see if he could detect it. Nothing, he must find out eventually.

“ Feel free to get what you need to accommodate yourself.” Turning back to her, he noticed her sitting, and felt as if he were being rude. He couldn't afford to muck this up. Sliding his long jacket from his torso he folded It carefully around the scarf on his arm and then draped it over the back of the chair opposite of her. Lifting up his trousers at the tops of his thighs only slightly as he lowered himself into a seat to look at her, he knew he didn't need anything other than her kindness to feel accommodated. Sitting on the front edge of the chair, he allowed his fingers to interlace with each other, and hang between his knees. He could drink in the sight of her for hours. “It's truly remarkable, what you do here” might as well start slow. There were years of conversations he had missed out on, no sense in rushing the lot on her all at once. She no doubt had a lot to say as well. Glancing at the book that he had just placed on the ground next to his covered shoes he chuckled.“Do you remember, whenever we were back at school and you were reading that book that was at least the size of my skull?” He smiled, remembering the moment whenever she had first mentioned healing. “Well, it was at least twice the size of that book, you could hardly lift it” He ran his hand down the scruff on his face “You were, so stubborn, had t carry it all on your own" The memory brought a smile to his lips, that moment, was the time that he had realized just how permanent a woman she was going to be in his life. He had known that he loved her, even if he hadn't told her. But her drive, her persistence, that day had made it concrete. "And you went on and on about the qualities of some herb to help in curse victims? That would just had to see if it worked?” His smile started to fade, she had always made good on her word. Which only made him feel like more of a git for not doing what he had always told her that he was going to do, and ever leaving her in the first place. “Looks like you have really made something big of yourself here...I knew you would”

[Autumn Stanton]

Autumn’s mind had been preoccupied this entire time. Being embarrassed outside in front of the hundreds of passing men and women had been the first distraction. She had wanted nothing more than to remove herself from her surroundings, apparate home, slip underneath her covers and cry until she fell asleep. The next had come from coming back into the place where she had spent the last twelve hours laboriously working her body sore through and through. Dashing through the halls to get to the break room and up to the break room had been to prevent being seen and whisked away to work even more overtime. St. Everdines was the only exception to the law regarding how long a witch or wizard could work within a single day. The public simply came first. That was the most important message her teachers had instilled on Autumn from the very beginning. You only got to rest when things had stabilized. Even then, Healers were never truly at ease since they could be called back to work at any given time. Both of these distractions, as well as her fighting a battle with exhaustion and the duties she would have to be prepared for tomorrow, had prevented Autumn from truly understanding what was happening right now. She knew Marlon was there, but hadn’t really accepted that he was there. He had merely been a person she was dragging along to refuge. He was a man who hadn’t been her first and only love, who hadn’t playfully serenaded her when she was upset, who hadn’t gotten a job at the Ministry of Magic, who hadn’t ended their relationship because work came first and most importantly, who hadn’t broke her heart. Marlon was just that, a man.

Now, the realization was sinking in. It wasn’t easing her into the situation. It chose to hit her full force causing Autumn to began breathing in and out heavily while Marlon situated himself. She had imagined this moment for years. The time where they would finally sit in front of one another and have a conversation about everything that needed to be discussed. Of course she usually envisioned it taking place somewhere other than here, but fate always had a way of twisting things so you wouldn’t be prepared. She had frequently had the tendency to map things out for herself. The only time it had really worked had been with becoming a Healer. Everything else usually worked out completely different. The current position she found herself in was certainly a prime example. Autumn had been planning to go home and go straight to bed before waking up a few hours later to eat and search through the massive book she was being forced to take home. Clearly, that had not happened. She really needed to stop thinking she always had control over her life. It’d be much easier just to go with the flow. However, she knew that it also wasn’t a bad thing to have an idea of what she wanted to do with herself. She doubted she could ever really just let go. It was good for her own peace of mind since things were always unpredictable. It had been hard for her to get used to in the beginning, but didn’t take too much difficult in the long-run to get used to it. That’s how it was in this business though. It was always go, go go and adapt, adapt, adapt. Being here with Marlon would have to be adapted to. Hopefully he would make it easier for her.

“It's fantastic...does it always smell like this?” Autumn smiled lightly at his question before shaking her head softly. She had a feeling Marlon would have been entranced with the room. His following questions proved no differently. He had always been so inquisitive, always wanting to make himself educated about all the wonders the world had to offer. When they were younger, she would have never guessed that. He seemed like the typical Quidditch jock who was worried only for his sport games and the following he had around him at all time. Never would she have imagined the mind that was behind those stunning blue eyes. He was way deeper. Marlon was one of the smartest men she had ever met in her life. She envied his smarts. While she considered herself to be a fairly intelligent woman, there were times that she felt stupid standing next to Marlon. The facts that came from his mouth sometimes over things that people normally didn’t know made him admirable. Autumn considered him to be her human encyclopedia. The older he got the more wisdom he retained and the more she respected him. He, like her, had always had that drive. That want to know everything, but not in a way that made him superior to others. Marlon wanted to be a well-rounded man. There was nothing wrong with that. His only downfall was the way he approached his goal. Usually so focused, that everything around him needed to be pushed to the back burner until he was satisfied. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was never satisfied. If he was, then Autumn believed they would still be together. Sitting here now as lovers wanting to spend time with each other instead of exes unable to figure out where to start in their much-needed closure.

“No, it changes,” Autumn replied quietly. “It sometimes adapts to the mood of the first person to walk in after hours of the same scent, but usually has a mind of its own. It may very well change to something else while we’re in here.” Her heart began racing as she heard his footsteps approach the area she was sitting at. Biting down on her lip, she watched him as he carefully folded and draped his coat and scarf. Always so meticulous. It was nice to see that some things hadn’t changed for Marlon. She was curious to learn what, if anything, had since they had last spoken. It was unlikely, but it wouldn’t come as too great of a surprise. He was here right now after all. She had hoped, but never had Autumn really dreamed of Marlon coming to see her. Taking time from work, breaks or not, to come down to the hospital to speak with her. She would ignore the fact that it had taken a tremendous amount of time for him to do so. She had to look at the positive side of things. And the positive side of things was that he had taken precious time to presumably start making amends. The look in his eyes was evident. Even after all of the hurt he had caused her, it was still difficult to tear her own gaze from the soothing one of his own. It wouldn’t be hard for her to forget why she was upset with him. It was how he always won in the few arguments they had. She could have been so furious with him and all he needed to do was come to her, grab her softly by the sides of her face and apologize before gently resting his forehead against her own and telling her he loved her. The memory made Autumn sad. How could he have thrown what they had so easily away? It was literally like a love story straight from the books she read. Would she ever understand his reasons for being so self-absorbed?

“It's truly remarkable, what you do here.” Sweet Marlon, so complimenting. “Thank you,” she responded, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. “It’s not for the faint of heart by any means. If you don’t know how to multi-task, then you’re a goner.” Fortunately, Autumn had prepared herself since the beginning. Even back in school, she had always been able to do several things at once: eat and read, do her homework and read, and walk about Somerset with while reading and window shopping, just to name a few. “We have more stress on us then people understand sometimes,” she confided, though sure Marlon had been able to notice in the short time he had seen the hospital hallways. “I’m by no means trying to say what we do is the most important job in the world, but we see and have to deal with so many things people can’t even begin to comprehend.” She sighed. “It’s just frustrating every now and then, especially when the hospital is so under-staffed and lacking the supplies needed in order to care for the ailing. You just get used to it after awhile though.” Autumn hoped she hadn’t come off as whining. The way of life around Everdines could be difficult, but she wouldn’t change things for the world. She loved her job and what she did for a living. She would never want to do anything else. Surely Marlon would see that. After all, she had dragged them back here instead of a coffee shop or somewhere much quieter. She was pathetic, but at least she could acknowledge it. It was what made her happy though. She couldn’t be looked down upon for that.

“Do you remember, whenever we were back at school and you were reading that book that was at least the size of my skull?” Oh the memories. Perhaps not the greatest start. Autumn remembered exactly what he was talking about. It was a large book she had gotten from the medical section of the school library. It had been so heavy that she had been forced to find a step-stool to hold her weight while she struggled to get the enormous thing. She had only been fourteen at the time, but had always had an idea of what she wanted to do with her life. “The Charms professor had mentioned the book,” she admitted, “I thought it would be best to start preparing myself…three years in advance.” It had given her quite an advantage when it came to the necessary O.W.L.S needed for a residency at the hospital though. She had been the top scorer on all of them. "And you went on and on about the qualities of some herb to help in curse victims? That would just had to see if it worked?” Another sad smile fell on Autumn’s lips. “Fluxweed.” She looked down at her hands nervously. “The main ingredient in Polyjuice Potion that aids in changing a person’s appearance. I was convinced that it could be used in a potion for disfigured curse victims.” She paused for the briefest of moments. “I found out I was right a couple of years later.” After continued testing, her theory had been proven with the invention of a new potion commonly used in the hospital. Most recently on victims from the attack at Gringotts. A nice raise had resulted from the discovery as well as an increased curiosity as to what else she could create.

Marlon’s final comment made Autumn raise her eyes to look at him again. He was right. She had made something of herself here. It had come at the expense of hours upon hours of studying and labor though. “Thank you.” She swallowed before continuing. “I hope the same can be said for you? It certainly looks like the Ministry has been good to you.”

[Marlon Wagner]

He hated that he couldn't focus on the words that she was saying. He wanted to, he very much wanted to but his curiosity about the room was nagging at him. His desire to know it's inner workings was splitting his focus. He hoped that she couldn't tell, but if she could she knew enough about him to figure out why. It was an inner battle that he had to wage with himself, if he couldn't face this now, to put her first over his desire to know, then he didn't deserve the second chance that he had so desperately wanted. Still wanted. He could only imagine what she must have thought back then. Not the thoughts that she had expressed to him, claimed that she understood and gracefully had excused her from the room. He had thought it out, it was right to leave her, for her sake. The events that had been happening in his life since there were only more proof of that then he had ever dreamed of. Of course, this was the one time that his emotions were guiding his actions, of course he loved Autumn, he had always loved Autumn, and assumed that he always would. Yet, he knew what was smart, and their relationship wasn't. Apart from the fact that she made him very happy, she wouldn't have been happy over time. They would have stayed together, and as the hours that he worked got longer and longer, she would have come to resent him, and that was the last thing that he wanted. Better to hurt her once, rather than hurt her every single day. Yet, his logic wouldn't make sense to her, she was far too much of a romantic for that. He had to give her that chance to find happiness outside of him, perhaps with somebody more fitting of her age. Yet, he doubted that had happened since all of his years of standing outside of this building, not once had he heard anything about her with a man, or seen somebody besides him coming up here on a regular basis.

He listened to her talk about her job, attempting to prove to himself that it was possible. The only problem was that it was making him even more distracted, for every statement that she made, it arose another half dozen of follow up questions. Her job was very important, and he understood that. Of course he felt his job was more so, but just about any person will think that what they do is the most important. He wanted to know everything about what she did, including the reason she was taking home the book sitting by his ankles. There was more than one occasion where he had grilled her about every aspect of every story that she had told. In their youth, whenever he had gotten comfortable around her to really be himself, he could remember sitting with her by the fire, while she told him about her day and the classes, the things that she had heard and read. He would sit there, and ask her questions about every comment, or anything that he was interested in. The first few times, she had thought that he was calling her a liar, like he was checking up on her to make sure that her stories lined up. Like he was one of those overly paranoid boyfriends. He had tried to assure her it was only because he was so fascinated with how she looked at life and desired to see it through her eyes. Then it had progressed to her attempting to tell her stories in more detail for him, but that only made it worse. Over the years that they had been in school together, she had just taken to pausing at regular intervals for him to ask his questions, and appreciating that he was so interested in what she had to say. If it had been any other woman, one that didn't have the iron clad patience that Autumn showed every day of her life, Marlon was likely to drive them insane. Perhaps that was why the general population of his friends all thought that he was such a jock in school, he would only speak with people about subjects he felt that he knew everything about. That way he didn't have the desire to learn anything new from them. No doubt it made him look very simple to an outsider.

Whenever she was done speaking, he had to literally chew on the inside of his cheek to keep from rambling on about why they had to wear shoe covers and the fact that it was only mesh and the practical uses of scented wallpaper. His questions were so varied they were running together. “The Charms professor had mentioned the book,” Marlon laughed, he remembered the man, such a nervous, tittering old thing. Even though Marlon had always liked Charms as a subject, he had hated the professor and his inability to pronounce words correctly. Thankfully the Charms profession she was referring to had been replaced with a much better one in Marlon's 7th year. “Fluxweed. The main ingredient in Polyjuice Potion that aids in changing a person’s appearance. I was convinced that it could be used in a potion for disfigured curse victims. I found out I was right a couple of years later.” Her memory was so sharp that it pained him, if she could remember that so well at the drop of a hat, no doubt he was forcing her to confront all sorts of buried feelings all at once. He was being selfish again. Over the years, there were very few people that Marlon considered to really know him outside of his family. At least, know the him that he wanted them to know. There was a time that he would have considered Autumn to be one of two people who really understood him. Sure, she and Erich might have had their misgivings about him as a person due to the fact that he was generally charismatic, and very likeable, but once they got to know him they liked him. That was how it had been with most people throughout his life. He had even developed a system to sort his 'friends' and out of all of the circles that he mentally classified his friends to be in, only Autumn, Erich had moved to one of the innermost circles. The only person closer to him was his sister, and that was only because she had grown up with him, the only person in this world left living that knew of his real past. Of course, he couldn't ever share that with either of them, so he had pushed them away. But, he felt that it had been justified. At least, at the time it had been. That had been an unselfish act, breaking things off with her. At least to him it was, and he couldn't ever explain himself.

“Of course you were right” He added, he thought so highly of her, and that wasn't for nothing. He didn't do anything without a reason. He loved her above everybody else for a reason as well. He wanted to ask her about how she found out that she was right, and just what had happened with it, but he didn't have the time. Thankfully she was speaking again. There had been so much of her life that he had missed out on, and he couldn't stop from wanting to learn it all in the short time that he was able to stay away from the ministry. “Thank you. I hope the same can be said for you? It certainly looks like the Ministry has been good to you.” He took a moment to look from his Italian, hand stitched jacket down to his clothing and ended at his rather expensive shoes. Certainly a lot better than what he had been able to afford whenever he had been just starting out at the Ministry. He had been using all his money on rent, but now that he had his house and was far more stable, he was able to purchase the finer things in life. That fact that he practically lived at the office really helped things as well. Most of his disposable income went to clothing so that he could make the right impression during his meetings. Brushing his long blond hair back behind his ear he tried to smile modestly. “Well, I suppose you can say that” He shrugged “I'm very successful at my job, but, like you, it consumes most of my time” He admitted, and It was the truth. He couldn't remember when he had gotten a full nights rest. Certainly not in the last few months. “Being a healer, I'm sure you would scold me for not eating right or sleeping properly” He smiled kindly, not knowing what else to say, he could tell her about his job, but he was just so tired of hurting her.

[Autumn Stanton]

Sitting across from Marlon was creating some very conflicted internal feelings for Autumn. They had all been experienced with him at some time or another, not all at once. There was hurt. Obviously since they had never given each other the proper closure that was deserved, it was difficult to not think of the very last time they had been together. That fateful day when her whole world had changed, pulled out from underneath her without any sort of warning. The single tear that had been shed in his presence that foreshadowed the wave that came the moment she stepped out of his door. The next few weeks spent feeling numb. All resulting from one sentence. Then there was some rightfully deserved anger. The pain from being so caught off guard had never really left. Being ignored. Contacted only when he had a problem with Cammie and then never to be heard from again. Never fully getting the explanation Autumn knew she had earned from the man who had been the object of her affection for years. There was also confusion. She still had no idea why he was here. She had been able to work out that he wanted to talk to her, but why here? Why now? Why was today so special when surely so many other opportunities could have arisen in the past? There were other emotions as well, but none as prevalent as the adoration she still had for him. Even after everything that had happened, she was so easily reminded of all the reasons she had fallen in love with Marlon just by looking at him. Her heart was unable to keep its normal pace. Anytime it tried, a single smile caused it to skip another beat.

Things felt eerily normal. They were still awkward, but Autumn was relaxed. She could try to tell herself that it was just because she was sitting down after a long night of work. The truth was though that it was only half the reason. After all this time, Marlon had not lost the aura of comfort she felt whenever she was around him. It seemed like the only things that had really changed about him were his body size and the visible bags underneath his eyes. She remembered the times that they had spent a few days in a row at the other’s homes. She couldn’t recall the number of instances in which she had fallen asleep before he had or woke up for work and he was already gone. The weekend office visits that were only supposed to be an hour but wound up being six. He had always worked himself too much. Autumn had always admired his effort and commitment to his job but hated how it took priority to everything. Her job often interrupted her planned schedule for the day but never near in comparison to Marlon’s. She was curious to know if things had slowed down for him. It was unlikely with the recent activity of the Dark Lord, but she genuinely hoped his hours of sleep at night had increased. She had seen firsthand the effects of not getting enough rest. Not only from him, but from workaholic patients that had been admitted to the hospital due to exhaustion. There was only so much that potions and powders could do. Only so many that could be taken before doing damage to the human body. The last thing Autumn wanted for Marlon was to end up nursing him back to health with IVs sticking out of his arms in one of the hospital rooms for a week.

Her eyes scanned his face as he looked down to his clothing. Marlon didn’t need to respond to her question. The proof of that was displayed on his body for all to see. The fabric was expensive. Autumn didn’t need to be a fashionista to understand that. It was the type of material that could only be dry-cleaned and by the very best at that. She was glad to see that the money had been good to him. That he was financially stable. She had never worried about that for him. He had always been very good at keeping track of his finances and saving appropriately. He probably had enough now to buy that dream house he had always spoken about. The one with large fenced front and back yards. A two story with a magnificent kitchen and office he could do most of his work from. Most importantly, the various rooms that would suit a large family. A sad smile found its way to her lips at the last thought. It had been an image she had always secretly shared with him. Unfortunately, it had been shattered the moment he had said that things were over. Had he found someone else to make his vision a reality with yet? There had been no announcements in the Timestopper. If there had been, Autumn was sure Erich would have been the first one to volunteer to write it. She had not been the only one affected by Marlon’s work. Even his best friend had suffered and he was in the same building as the Ministry. Regardless, he deserved to be happy. Despite having issues with proper time management when they were dating, she didn’t want him to live a long, miserable and loveless life. She wanted him to find someone who could be better suited to his schedule. Someone who was more accepting of it then he thought she was.

“I'm very successful at my job, but, like you, it consumes most of my time.” His opinion was a fact. However, Autumn had a funny feeling she was better suited at making use of her personal time then he was. The mention of time consumption caused the smile on her face to falter slightly. The bags under his eyes had been proof of that, but hearing him say that not much had changed in regards to that drove some of the happiness away. Flashes of previous memories where their time had been cut short because of some important document that needed to be edited or meetings across Europe that were randomly called together forced her to relive the hasty goodbyes before he grabbed his coat and briefcase and apparated out of her apartment. Her eyes shut as he spoke up again. “Being a healer, I'm sure you would scold me for not eating right or sleeping properly.” He was right. Autumn knew more about the effects of not sticking to normal eating and sleeping schedules could have on a person’s life. It would be pointless to discuss it with Marlon. He could agree with her all he wanted, but in the end if his job interfered with it somehow, well, they both knew what would take precedence. Opening her eyes again, she brought her hands together and looked down at them. “Perhaps if I knew you would listen,” she said quietly, “though I learned a long time ago that you do whatever you feel is best.” It was a direct jab at the last time they had spoken, but it was bound to come out sooner or later. Expecting the conversation to continue avoiding the unsolved issues between them was foolish.

[Marlon Wagner]

As selfish as it was, Marlon didn't want to find closure. He liked knowing that if only he could say the right thing, that Autumn was still an option for him, he needed the option, he needed something to look forward to and she was like the light at the end of his tunnel. If he gave her the closure that she deserved, then she really would be able to move on and the thought of her with somebody else, made him very, deeply sad. Watching her walk out that door all of those years ago, had been one of the hardest things that he had ever had to do. The second that those fateful words had left his lips he had wanted to take them back, but there was no way to do that. Some things just can't be taken back. He had wanted to hold her, to mend her heart even though he was the one who had broken it in the first place. It was just so damn nice, to be sitting across from her again. Looking into her eyes without an agenda, without any real reason other than that he missed her so. Over the last few years it seemed like everything that he did was for business. An endless stream of business meetings and power lunches his schedule was still so jam packed that he hardly had any time for himself at all. Perhaps that was why he treasured his Thursdays so much. He had loved whenever they would just camp out in his office for hours. Back whenever he was still interning and through his first year of his paid year she would just lounge in his chairs. Often reading while he filed paperwork or ran errands. She was always the one to duck down and get them lunch whenever he would be too busy for a break, office picnics she had called them. Inside, it had killed him that he couldn't give her more time, the time that she wanted and deserved. Sure, she said that she was okay with it, she wasn't the type of woman to complain. She was the type would would keep dinner warm and waiting for him no matter how long he worked. She was marriage material, she was his one. He just wasn't hers. He knew that, and accepted it. He just didn't have to like it.

In fact, he was very surprised on a daily basis that he hadn't been admitted into the hospital for exhaustion more than once over the years. At the very least some sort of stress induced heart attack. He was in very good physical condition, something that he was proud of, he monitored his caloric intake for his height and size and knew that he wasn't at risk for anything else but he did wear his body down with the hours that he worked, and the mass of coffee that he consumed. Thought, laying in a bed being catered to wouldn't be all bad, well, it wouldn't be bad while he was in the hospital. The second that he was discharged he would be put back in from the shock of just how much he lad left to catch up on. He wanted to tell her all about his life, the things that he had been doing over the past few years. That his hard work had paid off and now he was head of the department, but that he still had higher goals. He wanted nothing more than to be minister of magic, or at least to be in a position of power. The workaholic in him wouldn't settle for anything less. He hadn't bought the dream house, he couldn't. There had been more than one opportunity for him to build it from the ground up but he just couldn't bring himself to actually do it. It was their dream, not just his. If he had bought all 3,000 square foot of it he would have been all alone. All alone in the mass of a house with nothing but his own memories to keep him company. It would have been miserable. Instead, he was still living in the house that had been handed down to him whenever his father had passed away. It was nice enough, and over the course of the years Marlon had added a library as well as a redo of his office. The rest of the house he had not touched. In fact, there was very little of the house that ever got touched besides his office and the library. The room he had set aside for his sister got some use but that was a while ago, since she moved back to her old apartment. His own bedroom, was hardly slept in. He crashed most nights hunched over his desk or on the large arm chair in his library.

“Perhaps if I knew you would listen, though I learned a long time ago that you do whatever you feel is best.” He knew that it was coming, in fact this topic was inevitable, since it was the whole reason that he was really here. Yet, it didn't make her words sting any less. Her words carried a lot more bitterness and pain than she let on. He would be naive to think otherwise. Marlon was a lot of things, some good and more bad but he certainly wasn't naive. “Right down to business I see” Marlon's eyes slowly lowered to the floor, his fingers tapping up against the knuckles of his opposite hand out of unease. He didn't even know where to start, he didn't want to apologize, but he did even if it was useless. Would she think that the words were just trivial? His lips pursed together and he let his hands dangle limply between his knees. Slowly, he lifted his royal blue eyes up to meet hers, his guilt swelling in the pit of his stomach with every passing minute. “Autumn...I” he knew how this was going to play out. She was going to stop him, and make some excuse to make him feel better. She was far too kind not to, it was just her nature but he was a man now, he didn't need her to make excuses for him anymore, he needed to take responsibility for his actions. It had been long enough. She just...didn't understand. She couldn't understand. Raking his fingers through his hair hastily, he rose to his feet and took a step toward her hesitantly. His hands were moving about like they had a mind of their own, he just wasn't sure what he should do. He wanted to embrace her, gather her in his arms but it wouldn't be appropriate. Instead, he lifted his slacks at the thigh a half an inch and squatted down on one knee in front of her. In the least suggestive manor that he could. Looking up at her impossibly sweet face he could feel his heart swelling at the sight of her. Managing a weak smile that faltered just around the edges he took her hand within his own. Cupping it with his two larger hands, keeping it warm within his grasp. “Please, I never wanted to leave you Autumn, I loved you-” he paused wanting to confess that he still did but it would only hurt her, so he kept the word to himself “I wasn't fair to you, I just- couldn't give you want you deserved”

He wanted to say so much more, but was on the verge of rambling. “I'm sure that you have questions” A few of them were very obvious “Like what I'm doing here, for starters” he managed a weak smile. And eased back onto his heels. Still sitting close to her on the floor “I just, had to see you. I-I want you back Autumn” he lifted his shoulders to his ears and let them fall slowly “I know I don't deserve it, I don't deserve your trust or your kind soul” He shook his head softly as he spoke “But Autumn, if you just...just let me try? Please, I will do anything” He brought his hands together, pleading with her. “My life just...isn't the same without you in it. I've tried for years and leaving you was the worst mistake of my whole life” he inched closer “I think about you every day” the last words were softer, more to himself than to her. “I don't deserve you Autumn, but I can take care of you now. Ask me anything, I'm an open book and in return all I ask is just a little bit of your time every week.” He shook his head “one hour” he held up a finger, negotiating with himself on her behalf “Just one dinner to show you that you come first. If you don't believe me, I'll never bother you again”