Who: Mandy and Ginny Where: St. Mungo's When: Christmas eve, 1998 What: Ginny is in St. Mungo's spending time with all of her loved ones who are asleep. Right now she is visiting Michael Corner. Backstory of how Mandy and Ginny became close friends! Rating: G Status: Incomplete
It was Christmas Eve and the second war had been over for a couple of months now, but Ginny was not feeling at all festive. The fact that so many of her loved ones and people she cared about were in St. Mungo's in coma like states did not do anything to make her happy. Instead of spending her Yule holidays happily with her family, she was here in St. Mungo's.
She had her brother Charlie, her mother, her ex-boyfriends Michael Corner and Harry Potter, Hermione and Luna. She also had grown close to Michael's best mate Terry and having them all in the conditions they were troubled Ginny. The fact that the healers had nothing they could do was awfully worrisome and made Ginny feel sad, depressed, frustrated and angry at the whole situation.
That was why Ginny was here in St. Mungo's on Christmas Eve at 7pm. Right now she was in Michael and Terry's Mungo's room. She was sitting by Michael's bed and was talking to him as if he could hear her. She knew he was asleep or in a coma or whatever explanation the healers had, but it made it easier to deal with this way.
"Michael, why did you have to take that potion? I miss you, you bloody prat!! You and your cocky, whinging and complaining self." Ginny said in an angry tone, as if this was his fault in any way. It was just then that she heard a knock on the door and turned her head to see who was there.
There really hadn't been many days when Mandy hadn't visited Terry and Michael. With two of her closest friends in St. Mungo's, there wasn't a moment when she didn't think about either one of them. Six months had passed since they'd been put to sleep but to Mandy it was almost as if it had happened yesterday. She was sure that whenever they were to awaken, for them it would be just like yesterday as well. She could only hope that they would finally come out of it really soon.
The last six months had been a real roller coaster for Mandy. There were so many days and nights where all she could think about was Terry and Michael alone in dreamland with no idea of the world swirling around them. It hadn't helped that shortly before Terry had been hit by that final hex he'd told her he loved her too. It had been the best and yet the most horrible moment in her entirely life. She'd only been calmed by the fact that the healers were able to save Terry, although that quite quickly turned into a nightmare when the two days later no one had woken. Terry wasn't the only one she was there for though. She had other mates under the potion, but by far the one she was concerned the most about was Michael. He wasn't just Terry's best friend but her own as well.
Today, however, wasn't just another visit to the hospital. It was Christmas, and Mandy had every intention of seeing Terry and Michael before going home for the holidays. Mandy was supposed to be at the dinner table that night by 8pm although her mother had nearly had a fit when Mandy said she wouldn't be home until shortly before. Christmas Eve was a big thing for Mandy's family, but she had too see them tonight.
Mandy hadn't expected to see anyone in Terry's room. She knew that Lisa and some of the other girls often popped in for a little bit, but she had hardly expected anyone to be sitting there at the moment. Seeing the ginger haired girl seated next to Michael, practically yelling at him, Mandy nearly jumped to the defensive. Honestly! As he had anything to do with it. Deciding
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said softly as she stepped into the room. "I just -" she trailed off and looked over at Terry's bed as if that would explain what exactly why she was there.
Ginny was not expecting anyone to be there either, which was why she jumped a bit when she heard the female voice. At first she thought it was one of the healers, but she knew who it was once she took, the time to look the other person over. She had not been close with Mandy in school, but Mandy was one of Michael's friends, so she knew who she was.
Ginny followed Mandy's gaze from her to Terry and then back to Mandy. She gestured to a chair and tried to smile, though she was far from happy. "Oh it is okay. I could use someone to talk to. It gets lonely sitting here after a while." Ginny said, sighing heavily as she turned to look at Michael's sleeping face.
Mandy recognized Ginny the minute she turned around. How could she not. She looked a lot like Ron, and they did say that ginger hair tended to lead to a Weasley. It wasn't that she minded, Mandy had never had any problem with Ron, although she'd never really gotten to know him all that well over the seven years at Hogwarts. She knew Ginny even less, then again she had always been crap at making friends. Her Ravenclaw classmates seemed to be an exception to this little point.
Shooting Ginny a small smile, Mandy nodded. Her own smile wasn't genuine either, for one it wasn't the happiest of circumstances and she didn't feel entirely comfortable being in the room there with Ginny, but she also didn't want to be rude. So with that fairly obviously fake smile, Mandy took the empty seat next to Terry. "Yeah, I know what you mean, it is a little difficult."
Ginny was a very social girl, so she knew who everyone was. Well she knew most people in her year and the year above and below her. That was not to say she was friends with them, but she knew who they were if she had to point them out to someone else. It did help that Michael chatted about Mandy quite a bit to her while they were dating and while they were friends.
When Mandy smiled at her, she knew the smile was not genuine. For one, the smile did not reach her eyes and it appeared strained. "I have so many people I care about asleep. The war is over and I should be happy and celebrating. Instead I can't." She said in a rather sad sounding voice as she grasped Michael's hand. "I never imagined I would miss Michael as much as I do. He always made me laugh or want to pull out my hair in frustration." She added, smiling as she thought of Michael.
Looking up at Terry, Mandy sighed ever so slightly. She reached out to gingerly touch his immobile fingers, wishing there was something she could do for him. Sometimes she really wished she could have traded places with him. Mandy slowly removed her fingers as if she were doing something she shouldn't. "I know. It's so hard not to think they could just wake up tomorrow or the day after."
She then looked over at Ginny, then quickly at Michael. Mandy had never seen anyone on that good terms with an ex-boyfriend, but she supposed it could happen. Then again she'd never really spoken to Michael about Ginny. Girls were hardly a topic of conversation among the lot of them. Except maybe some good-natured ribbing. She smiled ever so slightly as her eyes ran across Michael's rather handsome face. "Yeah, he's really good at getting under your skin, that one."
"Oh, while we were dating, there were many times I had to keep myself from hexing him. I usually settled for cursing at him or withholding affection. That usually did the trick." She joked, a smirk coming to her lips. She then shrugged, "We are just far better mates than we were as boyfriend and girlfriend."
Ginny then brushed her hair back and turned her full attention to Mandy. "Have the healers told you anything concrete about when everyone will wake up or are they being vague to you too?" She asked Mandy, hoping maybe the other girl heard something she didn't. It was killing her to not be able to do anything for them. Seeing Harry like he was was killing her the most. Ginny was just way Mandy was towards Terry or even worse. She spent a majority of her time with Harry. She would even spend the night in his room at times, sleeping next to him, as it made her feel a tiny bit better. The healers would try to get her to go home, but she always refused to leave his side.
Mandy smiled a little at Ginny's words, hearing her describe Michael. There were many times when Mandy had wanted to hex Michael herself, but then that was a common reaction to Michael, you either wanted to hex him or kiss him, there was hardly any in-between. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.
At Ginny's next question, however, Mandy shook her head. She supposed the healers were not too pleased to speak to the family members. Then again, Mandy was technically not family, though Terry truly had no one left. It hurt to know that as well, and she caught herself looking up and over at Terry again. "They're pretty vague to me too," she said frowning a little. "My friend Lisa's training to be a healer so she's tried telling me what little information she gains, but I don't think they're really getting very far."
Ginny saw Mandy smile and it was a real smile, which made Ginny feel good. Thinking about Michael made Ginny smile and laugh. Thinking about Harry, her mother and brother especially, made her sad, but with Michael she tried to think about her happy memories. That usually worked.
Ginny then sighed sadly when Mandy shook her head. She knew she was foolish to think that Mandy had heard anything, but it still made her sad to know that her loved ones were probably stuck like this for Merlin knows how long. "I am glad your friend Lisa wants to be a healer. Up till this happened I had wanted to be a professional quidditch player. But now, I am also starting to give being a healer more of a thought."
The same thought had crossed Mandy's mind more than once, and each time she looked at Terry part of her wondered if she could have helped any as a Healer. Then reality set in, and Mandy came to the realization that it wouldn't do much good to give up her life's ambition for something wherein she wouldn't even be able to make the slightest difference. "I understand the feeling," Mandy said, smiling a little. "I was like that for several months, wondering if I should quit cursebreaking training," she shrugged her shoulder, "it's just something I've wanted for ages, and you should only do it if it's something you've wanted forever."
Ginny looked at Mandy as she gave her advice on what she should do. Ginny nodded and sighed, "I love quidditch but after all this happened I guess I want to do anything I can to be close to everyone, to help them in some way. I have a couple of months to figure all this out in any case." Ginny murmured and then sighed deeply, "Thank you for talking and spending time with me. It was helpful to get my thoughts out." She said, feeling honestly thankful for Mandy showing up and having someone to talk to.
Nodding, Mandy gave Ginny another small smile. She could understand the feeling. As much as Mandy adored flying and Quidditch, there were few things she cared about more, a part of her knew that it was not really the safest and smartest choice. it was for this reason she never bothered and was quite sure she never would. "No worries. I'm sure you could have used a little talkative company as much as I could have."