Wish Me Luck

And it began.

The doors of the facility magically opened on their own. Ryan Reagan walked into the building with a cup of butterbeer in his hand. This was his first day on the job as administrative intern. He was working under one of the two most powerful people in the Wizarding World; Khaat and Robert Lupin. Khaat ran the hospital and was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Robert Lupin was the Minister for Magic and the Chief of Staff. Two high-positioned individuals, both of whom he had to adhere to.

Ryan saw the job advertisement in the Daily Prophet. He was surprised at how quickly he managed to secure a job opportunity, considering he had just graduated from Hogwarts. The job paid well and he would get familiarized with very skilled wizards. After all, they did save lives on the daily basis. As long as being employed in the sterile workplace paid the rent on his apartment and gave him a continued learning experience, he would continue to work there indefinitely. But for some reason, Ryan felt he would not last that long.

As he continued walking, he received multiple smiles. He returned them modestly. The place smelled of latex and cleaning products. Ryan approached the front desk. "Hello, I'm Ryan Reagan. I'm supposed to be starting my new job today," he said to the secretary sitting behind the counter.

"Yes, sir. Your shift does not start for another hour," she replied.

That meant that Ryan had gotten out of bed and rushed to the hospital for no reason. He sighed lightly. "But in the meanwhile, please take this survey issued by the Ministry for new St. Mungo's employees." Ryan accepted the clipboard with the survey attached to it and a quill. He took a seat in the lobby, hoping time would pass as fast as it did when he was under pressure this morning.

Mari was doing rounds checking if the patients needed anything, they all complained of several things, some were thirsty, some needed help walking to the bathroom. In dispite of how many hours she was already here last night, Mari's patience was endless. Patients liked her for it. She finished changing sheets in 3 rooms and measuring temperatures.

It was still 4 hours untill this shift ended which would make it 16 in total. It was a busy night. Mari was just passing by few feet away from the secretary so she heard what the man said. He wasn't a patient as she first assumed, rather a new employee. Khaat told her to look out for him this morning, but with all the work she completely forgot.

As he sat down, Mari aproached him trying not to startle him. She stiffed one final yawn when she finally decided to speak up. "Hello you must be Ryan, Khaat told me to look out for you if I was still here when you showed up." she said in her usual polite and cheerful manner though how she managed to remain cheerful when basiclly one foot in bed was still a mistery even to herself. She did hope however that she wasn't too straightforward. Some people didn't like her fearlessness.

Brian was a bit frustrated this morning. He'd heard the promises from the clerks in the records department now for weeks. The promises had yet to yield the birth certificates for his infant twins, though.

He was back again--before his shift was due to start, and he fully intended to either find the birth certificates or chew sufficiently one someone from the hospital records department until they coughed them up.  How hard could two pieces of paper be, really?

He wished Khaat or Robert were back at their posts to deal with this themselves, but such was not yet the case. One of the nurses had suggested that he check with Khaat's secretary.  Then another nurse had said that wouldn't do any good because her new assistant was brand new to the job this morning.  

To Brian, that really was refreshing. He was hoping that this assistant was competent enough to make this one of his priorities in the next few days since it was clear no one else was.

He saw the young man sitting with a clipboard, and saw Mari approach. Brian went over to introduce himself.

"Hello, Mari. Mr. Reagan?" he asked. "Brian Quinn., head of security. Good morning, and welcome aboard. You're Khaat's new assistant, aren't you?"

As he responded 'yes' and 'no' to the survey, a woman approached Ryan. He placed the clipboard down on the chair beside him an stood up.

"Yes, hello. I am Ryan. Nice to meet you," he said to the woman with his hand extended. "What's your name?" he asked her.

The atmosphere was uncharacteristically friendly for a hospital. Ryan assumed this placed to be strict and dull. But, as he saw heard the cheerful ring to the nurse's voice, he knew that he could relax himself a bit. He breathed in through his nose, and out through his mouth. The stiffness that was set into him was gone.

Another man approached Ryan and greeted both of them. "Good morning, sir. Yes, I am Khaat's new assistant," he replied to the officer.

Mari smiled to him when she saw him relax and accepted his waiting hand giving him a handshake. "It's a pleasure Ryan, my name is Mariana Diggory, but everybody calls me just Mari and since we'd probably spend a lot of time together just call me Mari." she said politely and perhaps a bit too formally, but since Brian presented himself with his full name, she felt it was polite to do so aswell.

"I'm a nurse here. You could say we're both new though I used to work here before, but I wasn't in a country for over a year so this is my 1st week here. I don't understand a lot about paperwork, but if you need a tour, I'll be happy to show you around. I know this facillity as a palm of my hand." she continued chatting conversationally trying to ease him more. She vividly remembered her first day here and knew it was a bit scary.

She smiled as Brian aproached tham. Even though he was often here, she rarely saw him though she did see Khaat around more. "Hi Brian, or should I call you Mr. Quinn now?" she joked messing with his hair. "You look like you could use some serious sleep.." she commented smiling remembering how many kids he had, and shuddering at the thought of having half so many.

"Mr. Quinn?" Brian laughed. "Nah. I save that for the press. Not for friends." He did sometimes end up as the spokesperson for the hospital or for the Lupin family, but it was about the only time he preferred formality.

"Khaat mentioned she was finally getting a new assistant. She was hoping to be here today, but she sends her apologies," he said. "She's having more trouble with her shoulder. It hasn't ever been pain free, but its really flaring up for some reason. I told her I'd come and get her some pain potion. I was hoping I could find some of that double strength stuff Robert brews.

"Mari, if you're going to take Mr. Reagan on a tour, might you see if you can light a fire under the clerks in the records department? There were never birth certificates issued for the twins. Apparently, according to St. Mungos, my sons don't exist. If you can't find them, would you be kind enough, Mr. Reagan, to issue new ones for them?"

Mari snorted.. "And this because you spend so much time holding press conferences?" she laughed keeping it down for the sake of patients. "If you want help finding it I can help you. I have a key to Robert's office." she offered furrowing a brow. What happened to her friend still made her blood boil in anger. "Is Robert here? I don't remember seing him around here since I came back?" she asked though she remembered Khaat saying something about he was sick..

"In other words you want me to scare tham into doing their job? Works for me, am I not the scariest monster you ever beheld?" Mari asked smiling before she started pouting like a child. "Aren't you coming with us?" she asked confused.

Ryan nodded as Brian spoke. "Let Khaat know that I do hope she gets better," he said. Brian was a very casual person compared to others that held his position. This day was going well so far. Besides the lack of sleep he had gotten, but the excitement of starting a new job filled the energy gap.

"If Mari gives me a tour, I will be sure to search for the birth certificates, sir." Ryan chuckled as Mari joked with Brian. The two seemed to be close friends. The jobs that Ryan had during his teenage years did not allow co-worker friendships, at least not while working. Come to think about it, the places that Ryan chose weren't the most Hogwarts student friendly.

"If we do not find the birth certificates, I will issue new ones for the records department. May I have the names of your two children?" Ryan asked.

"I'm sorry, Mari," Brian said. "Robert is on medical leave. He has been for some time--since someone attempted to assassinate him some time ago. Personally, I think he's getting better all the time, but I think he would like it to all be faster.

When Reagan offered to issue new certficates, Brian smiled. "You know, I think just issueing new ones would be far easier. Their names: Daniel Elias Lupin, and Benjamin Nigel Lupin. Birthdate: March 21, 2027. Time,...um...she didn't exactly have a clock with her. Daniel's birth time, 10:42 am. Benjamin's birth time, 11:57 am. Birthplace: London. Mother's name and Occupation: Khaat Lupin, Chief Warlock. Father's name and Occupation: Brian Quinn, Auror. Uh...if I left anything out, do just send a paper bird to my office."

He pointed out the little enchanted paper blue birds that flitted through the hallways to deliver the little messages that were written on them. The birds delivered in house messages, unraveled themselves to the receiver, and, when the receiver so chose, they would resume the paper bird form. It wasn't unusual for a staff member to hang onto a paper bird almost as an office pet and allow the bird to ride on its owner's shoulder during the work day before being filed accordingly at the end of the shift. It was a bit of nonsense, but Robert had always seen it as harmless nonsense that lifted the spirits of staff, so he had left them have the little birds.

"Mr. Reagan, so you know-- Khaat does slip in sometimes to work, but she does not want to be seen, so if she does come in, it will be at a time when most of the staff wont expect her to be here. She will certainly be accompanied by bodyguards. She will want to be in her office and she will be depending on her guards, and you, if you're here in those hours, to deter others from her and to help her get her work done. She can be in demand when she's here, and she's still recovering from her own wounds. She isn't going to want to be distracted unless its completely unavoidable."

He sighed. He sounded much too formal. "Okay," he said. "Let me put that in English. Khaat was attacked awhile back by James Blood. He disfigured her face and her neck and crushed her left shoulder. Her left arm is paralyzed, and her neck and shoulder and arm hurt constantly, from her neck down to her fingertips. Unless Robert gets well, it is very likely she will have to live as she is, and she it utterly humiliated by it. She doesn't know to cope with people staring. They used to stare because she was famous. Because she was a Lupin. Now they stare because they think she's freakish. She doesn't want to be someone else's freak show entertainment. She hides her face and her left arm. Heck, she hides that even at home.

"That's why she will come, sporadically, at odd hours, work for awhile and then take work home with her. She'll send me or someone on staf to deliver her bag to you so you can get her work and handle the rest of the bits on those things. She may want you to repack the bag by the end of your shift so one of us can pick it back up again.

"Its not you," he said to Reagan. "Its her. Once she gets used to you and finds you're going to not continuously be overcome with what you see, you'll find he will try very hard to go back to being just herself.

Mari was dissapointed, she contacted Robert previously to offer him her assistance in anything he might need. After all she had two strongs arms and two strong legs. He was too vague in his reply though he didn't refuse her help. She just assumed he would find a way to contact her if he needed it.

Brian's story seemed a little more harsh than Khaat's though she assumed her friend tried to downtell the situation. His words seemed to make her even more angry at this James Blood who she fortunately didn't know and never wanted to meet in person yet at the same time she wanted to meet him and destroy him. She was thankful that her anger didn't show on her face.

"Ready when you are.." she said inconspicously, she wasn't a participant in this conversation so she was filling the chart in her hands while she waited for them to finish. She was due to her 20 minute break anyway, so she was in no hurry whatsoever. She leaned against a wall trying to give tham some privacy even though she already knew everything Brian was saying.