Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

29 January, 1979 - Unprepared

The winter passed without much interest except for the increase in the number of patients that passed through the Mungo Bonham ward and the decrease in the frequency of letters from Lavinia's old friends.

In the ward, more and more people came in with poorly cast spells and damage from the aftermath of duels. There was almost always at least one hit wizard in the side room and at least a half dozen beds were always occupied in the main ward. Even so, it wasn't unmanageable and so far Mr. Hayes didn't seem to think they'd come even close to what the peak inflow of patients would look like. Though Lavinia agreed, she also privately hoped he was wrong. She didn't want to imagine that the world could get worse.

If she was honest, she knew the reality wasn't terrible. Most of life in the wizarding world went on as normal. There were still normal patients in the hospital and normal problems in everyones' lives. And there were still normal joys. Lavinia still went home every night to a boy who loved her and a friend who cared. On a surface level, life was almost normal.

But things were changing. Sirius and Remus left more often on missions for the Order and Lavinia was left alone more and more often. James and Lily and Peter stopped by more frequently and Lavinia knew that at least part of it was to make sure everyone was still alive and unharmed.

Peter especially seemed to be in a state of near constant panic. Lavinia couldn't blame him. She wasn't entirely sure he would have signed up for the Order if he'd been on his own. But he followed James and Sirius like they were saints and whatever they did, he followed suit.

She did what she could to try to help him, but she knew there wasn't much for it. She couldn't stop the war. She couldn't prevent the deaths and terror or any of it. She herself was afraid and she knew it wasn't getting better any time soon.

So she made sure Peter knew he was always welcome to stop by. She couldn't imagine living on her own right now, which Peter was. She didn't think she'd have been able to manage it and frankly, Peter didn't seem to be coping particularly well. He did take her up on her offer, however, and there were several nights when it was four of them sitting down to dinner. Other nights, they were three, with either Sirius or Remus missing. And some nights, it was just Lavinia and Peter, the house feeling a bit cold and empty as they did their best to fill the silence.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lavinia tried to get Peter to open up. Part of her thought that if he could just give voice to his fears and understand that she wasn't going to judge him for them, then he might at least feel a bit better. He might be able to handle them more easily knowing he didn't have to pretend to always be brave.

Thus far, however she hadn't managed to get anything out of him and all her attempts had led to was a display of false bravado that did more to convince her that he was petrified than anything else. But she also knew better than to push. So she offered him company and meals and did her best to provide a counterpoint to the blind bravery the other Marauders so often displayed.

In mid January, Lavinia experienced something of a shock and a rather unpleasant one at that. A patient had come in, a woman whose family had been targeted by Death Eaters. They had left her dead husband and children in their wake and the Dark Mark flying over the home. The woman had been brought to them unconscious and it hadn't taken much to determine that her condition had been the result of a poorly cast killing curse.

Mr. Hayes had looked at the woman with a kind of bone deep exhaustion that had told Lavinia all she needed to know about this patients' chances of recovery. They'd done their best, giving her restorative draughts, healing charms and spells and potions. And eventually, Mr. Hayes had simply shook his head and reminded them all that if their patient didn't want to fight, there was nothing they could do. The woman had died later that day and there had been no family left to claim the body.