Who: Hippocrates Smethwyck and Rachel Englewood
What: CRACK CRACK CRACK Smeth finds out that it's Rachel's birthday!
Where: St. Mungo's
When: Today!


Rachel woke up with a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew it was something. And it wasn't the fact that it was her birthday, although that was part of it.

Slipping into the routine that had been developing over the past few days, Rachel thought about what could be causing her such negative butterflies in her stomach and constantly came up with a blank. She didn't even know how to put the feelings into words, let alone talk about it with someone.

On the way to work, she attempted to shake the feeling but it felt eerily like she was slipping back into the ice persona she finally had learned to shelve and she didn't like it. It was a lot more imprisoning being able to act however you wanted, however ironic that was, and these last few months had increasingly shown her the error of her ways.

Adjusting the collar of her purple robes, Rachel was once again ready and waiting for when Healer Smethwyck arrived-- a tradition to she expected to continue for a good long while. She was a Ravenclaw, after all, and a bit of an obnoxious one at that.

Just like every morning for the past three days, Smeth woke up, Apparated to Muggle London, and slipped into glass front of the derelict Muggle department store that hid St. Mungo's from the rest of the Muggle world. There, like always, he met Rachel, already in her purple robes. "Good morning, Healer Assistant," he said cheerfully, crossing the room as he slipped into his green robes. As he drew closer to her, he couldn't help but notice the less-than-enthusiastic expression on her face; she looked downright glum.

He paused, slipping his wand into his front pocket of his robes. "Is something wrong -" he started, before something in his head clicked. It was the twenty-second of August. Something tugged at his memory, but he couldn't figure out what...

OH.

The twenty-second of August! He had made a mental note of it in his head when Rachel had handed him her application, complete with her birth date, and he had noted it was quite close.

Today was her birthday.

"Miss Englewood!" he exclaimed, a smile lighting his face. "Happy birthday!"

Her eyes widened. How--but-- not even her parents had said "good morning" to her, let alone "happy birthday!" In their defense, they had been very asleep, but she doubted it would have been until mid-afternoon when she was already at work that the thought would have dawned on them. Especially not because she had forbidden her mother from arranging a party.

And she couldn't explain the way nervous had seeped into her system and was fanning out right in the pit of her stomach again.

That didn't stop the smile from coming, either. "Th-thank you, Healer Smethwyck! I had almost forgotten, actually! I only just now remembered."

And it wasn't even that much of a lie. It almost bothered her how readily she was starting to embrace her feelings all of a sudden.

Smeth reached out and give her a small squeeze around her shoulders. "I only remembered because I saw it on your application form and I remembered the date because it was so close," he confessed. "I'm sorry that you have to work on your birthday, but I think we'll be able to leave an hour earlier today, if that helps."

Their day started as usual, with the exception of a rather nasty case of someone with Vanishing Sickness who didn't quite want to be cured. Rachel and Smeth had to bar the door and chase down the rapidly vanishing patient, and thus by lunchtime, they were both a bit tired.

Smeth snuch a peek at his watch. It was nearly time for lunch, and he had a little... something up his sleeve. "Hey," he said casually, his expression utterly nonchalant. "Mind if you save our table at lunch? I, er, have a bit of an errand to run but I'll be back as soon as I can!"

In his mind, he was already calculating what type of Muggle shops were down the street.

"Go, go, I'll hold down the fort," Rachel said absently, looking at the table with a slight frown. "And keep an eye out for rapidly disappearing patients," she added under her breath, despite the reassurances Smeth had given her about it being cured for good.

It might have been comical on another day, but there was still something gnawing at her. Having Smeth constantly talking to her kept her mind off her own dysfunctional problems and it was easy to lose herself in studying cases and trying to pick up as much as she could about the magical medicinal world.

But now, with Smeth gone and no filing to do or Vanishing Sickness to monitor, she had to carve out some time to deal with whatever was bothering her. Part of it was the fast friendship she and Smeth had forged, and she couldn't help but wonder if they were so eager to escape their respective problems that they threw themselves into a new friendship with all their maniacal might. She wanted it to last and be genuine, but she still couldn't get over the paranoia about people knowing what had happened to her after Hogwarts, or judging the way her former self used to act. She was feeling remorseful, damnit, and it was not a feeling she particularly enjoyed, so it would be nice if people acknowledged she wasn't a screw-up anymore.

Rachel thought idly of the impromptu birthday bash Giada and Graeme were throwing her with a smile. She liked princess parties. If that couldn't take her mind off her issues, she needed more serious help than self-analyzation.

Smeth had nonchalantly and casually walked away from Rachel but the second he was out of her line of sight, he had dashed off, taking off his Healer's robes as he powerwalked away. On the side of the street where Purge and Dowse, Ltd lay, he knew that there was a bakery, a toy shop, and a small grocery store, respectively.

He hadn't really stopped to really give it a more serious thought, but he could not deny how swiftly he and Rachel were becoming friends. Was it rebounding, the way he felt so attached to her? He was convinced that it wasn't, as he was firmly intent on not dating anyone for awhile, he wanted to just focus on his friends, family, and work, and not on anything the least bit romantic.

Still. They had become closer than ever over the considerably short span of three days.

It was a bit over a half an hour, amazingly, when he returned, panting and a bit flushed. The man moved fast. He slowed to a stop at their table and set down the things had he gotten in front of her.

"Sorry I couldn't give a better birthday celebration," he said, unable to resist bright smile on his face. "But I thought I'd give you this anyway - plus as a reward for being the best Healer Assistant I have had so far."

He had placed a small slice of tiramisu in front of Rachel, a single candle stuck in it. He slid into the seat in front of her, and with a flick of his wand, he lit the candle, and then handed a medium-sized purple paper bag to her. "Happy birthday!"

It all happened so fast that she blinked and Smeth was literally standing there with her favorite dessert, a bag her favorite color, and he even stuck a candle in her tiramisu.

She blinked, saw Smeth, and was amazed, dazed, and horrified that her eyes were starting to prickle. She could not cry in front of Smeth, that'd be horrible, and then he'd get the impression she didn't like what he had done, and she'd cry even more because she was a big idiot and oh my god, would her head just shut up for a second so she could open that bag?

"Smeth, this--this is just-- my favorite dessert! My favorite color! You charming, charming man, you're practically dangerous! I-I can't even come up with the proper words to thank you right now," she yelped as she rather thoughtlessly flung herself out of the chair and right at Smeth in a shocking display of unchecked emotion. She pulled away slightly to look at the bag on the table. "You even got me a gift. I can't believe that. What is it!"

The grin on his face had to be a mile long, he knew it. Squeezing her back, he reached over and took the bag. "Well, it's really nothing much," he confessed. "Just... here! Open it!"

Grinning, she opened it and took out a pack of the same shiny silver juice pouches they had yesterday! She saw the name on them now, Capri Sun, and lots of German words she didn't understand with a cheeky orange staring at her. She started giggling and she placed them on the table.

Then she pulled out something soft and furry-- a stuffed animal! A doe! One of her favorite animals! It was so cute and fuzzy and eurgh! "SMETH, THANK YOU SO MUCH!" she cried as she gave him another hug, still clutching the stuffed toy. Oh! She was forgetting something.

"Hang on, the card! Read it to me!"

He didn't even realize that a doe was one of Rachel's favorite animals, he had grabbed it because he remembered Rachel exclaiming loudly about a small doe that had appeared outside (before expressing her disgust about fleas and ticks) after his O.W.L.s Shrugging modestly, he took the card and cleared his throat dramatically, big green eyes twinkling with delight. His present was nothing big, but she really seemed to like them. Which for some reason, made him feel all good and really, really, really happy.

With another rush of affection, he took the small, purple card out and scooted his seat over to Rachel so that she could also see the large, rushed scrawl. Well, he had been in a rush.

"Hey Miss Healer Assistant Rachel Englewood! Hope you like what I got for you, even though they're really small. I'm so glad that you enjoy St. Mungo's and being my assistant. Here's to more happy working memories! Happy twentieth birthday! - Healer Smethwyck."

She grinned a big fat old grin and felt a big rush of impulse she hadn't felt in a long time, and even if she had felt it, didn't do much about it.

Except in this case.

"Healer Smethwyck," she said suddenly, timdily, "I-my friend Giada--you remember her, right? Giada Vance? She and her boyfriend are throwing me a little party... I-would--would you like to come? I know it's very sudden and you in all likelihood have plans and/or would like a night off--and it's Princess themed," she mentally winced at the last part, as it probably would not entice a male to come. "But... I'm sure they wouldn't make you wear a crown. For long."

For someone who had grown up with two very girly sisters, Smeth was no stranger to things girly. Or princess-themed. He made a little face, pretending to think about it. For a second. "Well, if it's not for LONG!" he said playfully. "I'd be glad to come, and we'll have plenty of time, since our shift ends at four today."

He glanced regretfully at his watch. "Buuuut we have to back and check on our Vanishing friend. Where and what time is the party?"

"It's at Giada's place, hang on, here's the address," she reached into her bag and grabbed her quill and a scrap of parchment to scrawl on it. "It's starts at 7, and honestly, I have no idea how long it'll go. But you can always duck out early," Rachel grinned. "When I say "not long" I really mean nearly the entire duration of your stay there."

She pushed the scrap over to him and placed the quill back in her bag, along with the purple bag containing the gifts and card, minus the deer. "And than you, Smeth, for the gifts. They were lovely and exceedingly thoughtfu--" She blushed from some crazy unknown reason and changed topics mid-word, finishing with, "Now, I bet you a galleon our vanishing patient shows up in Pediatrics..."