-I'm Not Looking for Love at Hogwarts...So Don't Fall For Me-An HP Spinoff-Part One-Hundred-Twenty-Three|END|:The End's Not Near

Running swiftly down the corridor, your light green scrubs swishing as you ran, you ignored the angry retorts the portraits were yelling at you. Turning left, right, and then left again, you sprinted into a room where your oldest sister, Becca, sat in a bed, looking quite flushed and breathing in a rhythmic pattern, clutching Charlie's hand tightly. Panting, you cast her a grin.

"I got here as fast as I-" you panted, "could. As soon as I heard-"
"Nichol!" a sharp woman's voice cried from next to the bed. "What are you doing here?" Healer Bentley, a short, pudgy, stern looking witch was your Healer-In-Chief of the ward you resided in for that week. She got on your nerves and you on hers. A lot.

"This is my sister and she's having her baby."
"I realize that this is your sister and she is definitely going to be having her baby, but you are an intern, a Trainee Healer and have only been here since August mainly learning and watching doing minor hands on work," she told you over the top of her clipboard. "I'm sorry, but you are not helping to deliver your sister's baby."
"But--" you protested.
"No 'buts', Nichol. You are a Healer-In-Training. Now go see if Healer McStacy needs help with Mr. Arcter's bandage changes. Go help him. You may see your sister once the baby has been delivered." She motioned for you to move out of the room. Scowling, you turned to Becca who just shook her flushed head and mouthed, "Just go." You turned around moodily from the room and stomped out, the door closing with a snap behind you. Fuming, you crossed your arms over your chest and plopped down in a chair next to the door.

There was no way in hell you were going to go and help change Mr. Arcter's bandages. Changing them would have been the fourth time that week. It was his fault he had gotten in a fight involving a hinkypunk that had unleashed a plant that made him sprout enormous boils all over his face. Who cared? The stupid git deserved it for trying to feel her up every time she went into his room.

As you started to impatiently tap your foot on the hospital floor, an elder Healer passed, casting you a stern look, making you stop abruptly.

Don't get you wrong, you loved being a Healer. The rush and excitement of a new task everyday, always being on your feet, and running all throughout the hospital. It prevented you from thinking about too many other things. You just wished (even though you were a Trainee Healer, and would be until that next August) they would start giving you harder tasks to do. Ever since beginning there nearly four months before in August, you had done everything they had asked you to do seamlessly. Well you had to, being a Healer, obviously, but it still seemed easy for you. Nevertheless, it was fun.

When you first took your entrance exam at the Ministry, you had met a girl named Leslie who you had taken an immediate liking to. She had long blonde hair with a purple streak down the middle and a nose stud. Normally you were wary of blondes, -- especially now -- but Leslie had proved to be funny, sarcastic, and had passed the exam along with you, sending her -- along with you -- into Healer Training. You had become close with her over the past few months and the tow of you made it a habit to mock the older Healers and laugh at the type of things the patients got into as long as it wasn't too life threatening.

There had also been a boy named Ethan whom you had met during your second week when working with a man who had fallen through a Vanishing Door. He had made an attempt to flirt with you, -- truthfully, not very well -- but you had quickly put an end to it. You were good friends with him now.

At that moment as you sulked in the chair outside Becca's room, Leslie walked past. Noticing you sitting there, she grinned merrily at you.

"Bentley won't let you scrub in, eh?" she laughed in her Scottish accent. You rolled your eyes.
"No," you grumbled.
"Oh, cheer up, Nat! You're gonna be an aunt," she told you simply. Sighing, she added, "Besides, knowing you, the baby would probably come out with a second head because you'd get too overexcited-"
She ran away, laughing, as you chucked your clipboard at her where it fell on the floor with a loud clatter. You smiled, though, shaking your head.

It had been a long week.

Sighing, you rubbed your eyes tiredly and covered your face with your hands, hunched over, and blocking all light from your eyes.

The Daily Prophet had reported Monday that some ex. Death Eaters had been stirring up some trouble and had been seen torturing some muggles. The Aurors, luckily, had shown up and managed to place them in Azkaban where they belonged. But that isn't to say the Death Eaters didn't put up a good fight. Two or three of the Aurors had been brought into Mungo's for some nasty spell damage.

Whenever you heard things like that show up in The Daily Prophet, you always held your breath, releasing it after knowing everyone was okay -- relatively, anyway. You saved a few of the articles when they were on this subject, especially when there was any mention of him. You smiled at how well he was doing.

Thinking about him always made your stomach flip and especially when people talking openly about him, your face always burned. You hadn't managed to see much him over the summer. Especially once the two of you had begun your jobs, you knew there was no way you would see him very often. Then again, during the summer, you could have made a better effort to try and see him, as Becca accused you of not doing many times. You hadn't deliberately tried to not see him, you just always seemed to just barely miss him whenever you could have seen him.

Over the summer, you had kept to Becca and Charlie's house. Hermione had happily stayed with you, too, and the two of you had enjoyed many bright, sunny days, relaxing and sitting out on the porch or lying by the pond drinking lemonade, reading, and laughing happily. You had even helped Becca and Charlie clean up the house more. More than once, Jason, Ginny, and Ron had shown up. Harry, who hadn't come a lot, had come twice upon which both times you had been out getting groceries.

You hadn't meant to miss him both times! It had just happened. You told this to Becca who had just shook her head, muttering something about acting like a childish school girl.

To Becca's -- and Hermione's -- immense happiness, though, you had ended up going to his birthday party at the end of July. Partly because a) Becca had forced you to and b) Hermione needed someone to go with her and she had pointed out that he had sent you an invitation which she so courteously R.S.V.P.-ed for both of you.

So, you went. You would have gone in sweats and a t-shirt, too, but both Becca and Hermione had picked out your outfit to wear and done your hair and makeup.

It was such a waste and pointless of them to do that, though. You hardly saw him all night. There were so many people there that you weren't even sure if he saw you. You compromised by instead of leaving right away, which your better half wanted you to, you stayed and talked to Ron, Ginny, and a few other people from school that you hadn't seen in a while.

It wasn't that you didn't want to wish him a "Happy Birthday" which Becca also accused you of not doing later on, but he had just always been surrounded by people talking to him animatedly. You didn't want to bother him; instead, you ended up leaving about an hour and a half after arriving, placing your card on the table where the presents went. You went to bed feeling quite horribly and waking up the next morning hating yourself even more.

"You could have at least said 'Hi', Natalie," Becca scolded as the two of you saw on the porch drinking your morning tea. You hugged your knees to your chest as you heard the click-clack of the metal knitting needles that Becca had made flash in the air to form tiny booties. Your oldest sister was knitting. Booties no less.

"It doesn't matter, anyway," you mumbled glumly, watching some birds float on the pond.
"Yes, it does! It means a lot! Especially to you! It means that it's not awkward for you two!" You had sighed irritably and said nothing, knowing it was all -- unfortunately for you -- true.

By the time your birthday came around a few weeks later, you had already taken the Mungo's exam and had been training there for a week, getting accustomed and the feel of everything. You had a party combined with Jason, hosted at Becca and Charlie's house. Jason, by then, had entered the Department of Magical Games and Sports and had, by the sound of it, basically just goofed off the whole time, which he told everyone that was what he did best. He had a lot of his co-workers there who were really funny. When Ron, Hermione, and Ginny showed up, Ginny wished you a hasty "Happy Birthday" and went straight over to Jason who, in turn, pulled her into him, kissing her cheek. They were getting along so well and taking it much slower than before.

You saw Harry walk up the drive with a few other people -- Jason's friends, you suspected seeing as you recognized none of them -- and when he caught your eye, waving, you felt truly horrible as you waved back. He was better than you had been at his party already. You sighed and turned away.

As the night wore on, you kept an eye out for Harry. He moved through the crowd, talking and laughing. You loved watching him laugh, his smile...

You went into the kitchen much later where Becca was busily preparing more food for everyone. You had gone in there to just get more drinks -- and avoid watching Harry all night.

"Have you talked to him yet?" she asked you suddenly. Your stomach turned over.
"Who?" you asked in a would-be nonchalant voice. Becca didn't reply, but merely turned and glared at you. You looked away and shook your head once. "No."
"He came in here earlier to talk. He's so charming..." she smiled. "He asked about you. First thing, too," she added.
"Oh," was all you found you could say.
"You're avoiding him, aren't you?"
"No!" you lied indignant. She raised her eyebrows.
"Uh-huh..." she said skeptically. Turning, she handed you a plate of sandwiches. "Take these outside and set them on the table."
"Okay," you said softly and turned to head back out of the house and into the yard.

Not really watching where you were heading, you walked down the steps of the porch but tripped on the last step.

"Oh, sh--" you began, but someone caught you gracefully. The sandwiches were okay, too. Looking up in surprise, you eyes met a pair of bright green ones. Standing up hastily, you adjusted the tray of sandwiches on your hand, your face blushing immediately.

"Harry...um...hi...thanks..." you stammered. He grinned nervously.
"No problem. Happy Birthday, by the way," he told you. You tucked a stray pice of hair behind your ear.
"Oh, yeah...Thanks." You were fully aware of how much your stomach was flipping annoyingly and how you wanted to go crawl in a hole somewhere.
"So," he began casually. "How've you been?"
"Fine," you spoke too quickly. He nodded. "I have to--" you broke off gesturing wordlessly and lamely at the tray of sandwiches, pointing in the general direction of the table that was laden with all the food.
"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled looking awkward all of a sudden. "I-I have to get going, anyway..." You bit your lip.
"Oh. Okay. I'll-I'll see you later, then, Harry."

You had watched him nod, something like disappointment in his face, and walk away that night, feeling much worse than you had before.

"Nat?" a voice said from somewhere above you. You looked up, your eyes becoming slowly readjusted to the bright hospital light as you saw Jason and Ginny holding hands in front you along with Ron and Hermione beside them. All four of them looked frantic yet somewhat excited. You grinned at them.

"Hey! How are you guys?" you asked eagerly.
"Where's Becca?" Jason asked ignoring you.
"I'm great! Never better! Wow, you look good! Gee, thanks, I--"
"Nat," Jason spoke sternly, glaring. "Shut up." You rolled your eyes.
"She's in there," you pointed towards the door and the four of them made a move as if to enter it. "But, no one can see her yet," you stopped them. "Even I can't. She's having the baby now.

Jus then, as if on cue, your mom, dad, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley raced up, panting, and sharing the same frantic yet excited looks as everyone else.

"Natalie-" your dad panted, "where's your sister?"
You pointed glumly towards the door. "In there. You can't see her now, though. She's in labor."
"Oh, my-" Mrs. Weasley gasped.
"Why aren't you in there?" your mom asked you. You opened your mouth to speak but Jason replied for you.
"Mom, do you really want Natalie delivering your grandchild?"
"Hey!" you cried indignantly as everyone else laughed softly, but you were shushed quickly by a passing Healer. Rolling your eyes, you sat back down in your chair after having stood up when your mom and dad walked up. You started to tap your foot impatiently again. The group soon lapsed into silence again, pacing around each other. Mrs. Wealsey suddenly glancing around, spotting Ginny, it seemed, for the first time.

"Ginny!" she cried. "Why aren't you at school?"
"Oh, mum," Ginny said rolling her eyes a little. "Can't you see that this is more important that that?" she said as if it was so obvious. Her mother said nothing and you saw Jason grin at Ginny.

You were about to suggest that they all go up to the tea room for some tea after twenty minutes of uninterrupted silence, when the door to Becca's room opened revealing Healer Bentley, smiling.

"Congratulations," she told the waiting group. "It's a beautiful baby girl."

Everyone smiled and your mom hugged your dad. Ignoring Healer Bentley's mild protests, they all hurried to enter the room. You followed them all last, quite aware of Bentley's disapproving glare at your retreating form.

Resting in Becca's arms, Charlie sitting next to her, was a tiny bundle of blankets where you could just spot a tiny baby head already sprouting red peach-fuzz.

"Oh, my," your mother cooed, edging slowly forward. "She's gorgeous."
"Yes she is," Charlie murmured. "Like her mother."
"Say hello, Katherine Diane Weasley," Becca sang softly. You stood near Becca, admiring the tiny baby in your arms. She was adorable.
"November twenty-five..." Jason murmured thoughtfully. "Nothing too special about that birthday."
"It's a month before Christmas!" Ginny said happily. Everyone laughed. You thought back to September when Bill and Fleur had had their baby. Adrian William Weasley. He had been adorable, too, with a strawberry-blonde patch of hair on his head.
"Poor Cassie," Jason murmured. "She was really excited and now she can't be here."
"I've arranged it with Professor McGonagall to send her as soon as lessons are finished," your mother said aloud. "I canceled all of mine."

There was a soft knock on the door, just then. You turned, grinning, to find your stomach given an almighty flip.

Harry was standing in the doorway, looking in on the group.

"Hi," he said as everyone turned to him. "Um...I-I heard about the baby and I thought I would come by to congratulate you--but if you're busy-"
"No, no, Harry! Get in here!" Mrs. Weasley cried walking towards him and pulling him into the room towards the bed. "You're family, anyway..." Your mom and Mrs. Weasley hugged him while your dad clapped him on the shoulder. When he caught your eye, you couldn't turn away. Instead, you smiled, fully aware of how awful you must look in your light green St. Mungo's hospital scrubs, not having showered properly for two days, as he grinned back at you.

Everyone talked and laughed for about twenty more minutes while Becca allowed everyone to hold Katherine. Harry walked up to you after you had passed her off to Hermione and touched your hand softly. A jolt went through you like an electric shock.

"Come on," he murmured so only you could hear. "Let's go get some tea..." You nodded, smiling slightly.
"Okay." Slowly, the two of you backed out of the room quietly and as unnoticed as possible. Before you were fully out the door, though, you thought you caught Becca's eye and she smiled at you.

Out in the hallway, you and Harry smiled at each other and walked to the tea room on the top floor in silence. When you entered, you found only two of other people in there and you picked out a table for two while Harry went to get you some tea.

When he came back, he set the tea down and smiled at you.

"Hi," he said softly.
"Hi," you replied back.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Great," you replied being not entirely truthful. You could have been better.
"You look great."
You grinned and blushed. "Thanks, Harry. So do you."
"So what's it like," he gestured around him, "working here?"
You shrugged. "It's tough. I have the worst Ward Leader, but...Yeah...I manage and it's always busy. People coming and going, getting fixed and stitched up, whatever. You're always on your feet. But I like it. It keeps me going," you finished. He smiled. "What about you? How's it being a big top Auror?" you grinned. He sighed, letting out a small laugh.
"It's tough. Very tough. I have to study all this material and they test me on my endurance and my ability to not crack when under pressure. It's good, though, and I love it. It's a thrill, I guess," he told you. You nodded.
"I see you in the paper all the time," you told him. He shrugged and nodded. "It's nice."
"Yeah. I guess so." You looked away, twirling your tea, not having taken a drink from it yet. He hadn't changed. He was still so charming, sweet, modest...handsome...

"I really missed you, Nat," he said softly. He placed his hand softly in yours, rubbing it gently with his thumb. It was tingling like mad and the rushing feeling had returned that you knew oh-so-well.
You looked at him. "Yeah...me too."
"It's so great about Bill and Fleur and now Becca and Charlie."
You nodded, a lump seeming to form in your throat. "Yeah." You wished it could be great for the two of you, too.
"I-I went to your birthday part, you know," you began hesitantly, trying to sound casual, yet looking away from him once more, your hand still resting comfortably in his.
"I know. I saw you," he said calmly. Your stomach dropped. So he had seen you?
You looked up. "Oh, well...I-I didn't -- Sorry I didn't say anything to you, but you-you looked busy, you know? Talking to everyone..." you said somewhat lamely. What a stupid excuse, Natalie, you thought to yourself.
"Oh, Nat," he said softly making you look up at him once more. His green eyes were so mesmerizing. "Why would you ever think I would be too busy to talk to you? You were the only person I wanted to talk to that night." You remained silent, averting his eyes.
"That's no the real reason you didn't talk to me, is it?" he asked softly. You looked up and slowly shook your head.
"No," you muttered and swirled your tea once more. "The truth is, Harry, I wasn't ready to see you again. I-I wanted to...I missed you...But I wasn't ready..I knew that if I did, talk to you, I mean, I would want you. I would want you back, but everything that had happened was still so clear, so fresh, so real...I-I didn't trust myself, Harry, to not talk to you without wanting you in every way possible..."

For a moment, all Harry could do was stare at you. You looked away and stared into your now cold cup of tea, pleading silently for him to say something...anything...so you wouldn't feel so stupid for basically just pouring your heart out to him...

"Harry?" a voice said above you. You looked up to see a young woman with brown hair and a pretty face walk up to where you and Harry were sitting. He let go of your hand.

"Hey, Caitlin!" The woman grinned.
"Hi! I thought that was you! What are you doing here at St. Mungo's?" she asked. Her eyes swept over to you and she smiled pleasantly at you. "Hi," she said softly to you.
"Hello," you replied back quietly.
"Er...well..." Harry began casting you a strange look that you couldn't interpret before he looked away, "my friend's sister had her baby today."
"Oh!" she said happily. "That's great!"
"What about you?" he asked. "Why are you here?" She laughed a little bit.
"Oh, I'm just visiting my grandmother," she said in an offhand sort of way.
"Is she all right?" he asked. She laughed again, waving her hands as if to brush it quickly aside.
"You don't know the kind of things my grandmother gets into," she told them laughing. He laughed softly, smiling at her.
"Well, I'll see you later, then?" she asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"Nice to meet you...um..."
"Natalie," you supplied for her when she reached over the table to shake your hand. She waved goodbye once more and Harry sat back down now surveying you very carefully. Finally, you took a sip of your cold tea, finding nothing else better to do with your hands in the meantime.

"I know what you're thinking," he muttered. You eyed him, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "And she's only a co-worker from work."
"She seemed nice," you said nonchalantly, setting your tea down.
"Oh, come off it, Nat. I know you well enough by now to know that you don't just call someone 'nice' upon firs meeting them," he told you. You stared at him right in the eye, now.
"Maybe I've changed, Harry, over the past few months. Ever think of that? I'm not the same jealous, irritable girl I was last year at Hogwarts, okay?" You had no idea why you were getting all defensive all of a sudden, but he had no right to just judge you by how you had been before you had left Hogwarts and took a break from him. Plus, you found yourself annoyed that he had called you his "friend." Then again...What else would he have called you? This-Girl-Who-I-Used-To-Date-And-Loved-But-Haven't-Talked-To-For-The-Past-Five-Months-Until-Now? Sounded really great.

You glanced hastily at your watch, standing up, not wanting to sit there any longer with him.

"I have to go," you said quickly. You really didn't, but obviously Harry wasn't ready to do this anymore. You had thought he might have been. You had thought maybe you were, too. He wasn't, obviously, so you definitely weren't.

"Nat--"
"I'll-I'll talk to you later, Harry." You began to walk away, but Harry was quick. He stood up and grabbed you around your forearm, not hard, but enough to make you stop, turn, and glare as angrily as you could at him. It was hard when your face kept burning and your stomach kept flipping.

"No, Nat," he snapped. You were surprised to see hurt and anger written in his eyes. "I've let you walk away too many times, listening to you mutter, "I'll talk to you later." What if there is no 'later?'"
You stared at him, shocked by how he was addressing you. Finally.

"If you had talked to me that night at my birthday party, I'm not sure I would have even been able to trust myself, either. When I saw you walk in, a part of me wanted you right there and part of me prayed you would leave early so I would not have to watch you walk away again, making up some half-baked excuse as to why you're leaving again. I have missed you so much, Nat. There are so many nights I have been hardly able to sleep with the mere thought of you. No one can ever replace you. Ever. For some reason, I believe we were made for this. We were made for each other. Someone just entangled our hearts somehow and said for us to be together...forever...and I'm not letting you walk away from me again. It's ridiculous to think that I even let you do it the first time."

Staring in disbelief at the man standing in front of you, basically proclaiming his love to you, you scowled while still staring angrily into his eyes.

"Well thanks so much for all of that. Are you planning on kissing me--" But before you could complete your sentence, he had done just that.

He kissed you.

You were caught so off guard that you hardly noticed the rushing, jolt of electricity that had seemed to course through your body as he pressed his lips to yours, hard and passionate.

It was like nothing you had ever felt from him before. Ever.

Wrapping your arms around his neck, his wrapping around your waist, he picked you up and twirled you around, lifting you momentarily off the ground. You smiled under his kiss.

When the two of you broke apart, your arms were still wrapped around each other except now you were both grinning.

"I love you, Natalie Nichol and I am never letting you go again," he told you, his green eyes sparkling magnificently; exactly the way you loved them.
"You better no because I'm not leaving again." You leaned in and kissed him once more. This time it took a while for the two of you to surface. You were smiling the whole time.
"We should go back," you whispered when you broke apart once more. He rested his forehead against yours.
"Do we have to?" he asked. You nodded.
"Yes, unfortunately. People will start talking."
"Let them," he whispered mischievously and pressed his lips to your neck, moving them carefully along your jawbone.
"I-I get off at six...and...Becca and Charlie won't be-be at the house...They'll be here...Come over for dinner...okay? I'll-I'll make it..." you stammered. You were having great difficulty thinking with Harry kissing your neck and playing softly with your hair.
"Or we could order in?" he suggested gazing at you lovingly. You nodded.
"We could do that. And then," you added as an afterthought, grinning, "I could make...breakfast?" He smiled, kissing you once more. You could never tire of him kissing you.
"I do like the sound of that, very much," he murmured through your lips.
"Mmm...Me too..."

Kissing you once more, he linking his hand in yours, entwining his fingers with yours. The two of you walked slowly back to Becca's room together, hand-in-hand.

It seemed to you that the best thing that had ever happened to you was happening all over again. Everything seemed to finally be back in its proper place. Everyone seemed to be, finally, truly happy.

As you entered Becca's room with Harry's hand wrapped tightly in yours, you didn't mind if you were in your ugly light green hospital scrubs or that you smelled badly of that strange hospital smell. Everything seemed so much brighter now that Harry was once more with you by your side. You could not help but think that despite all the stubborn refusal to not fall in love at Hogwarts, plus everything else that had happened, you had managed to fall in love -- completely head over heels in it -- and manage to finally find a magical, fairy tale ending.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
I will miss writing this.

This one was TWENTY!! notebook pages and NINE!! Microsoft Word pages!

RESULTS!