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A Visit to St. Mungo’s


Lily had never been to St. Mungo’s. She didn’t even know where it was, which was why, despite how she was sure to be judged for it, she had finally written Ali an owl and asked if she could meet her in London on one of the days during holiday. Ali had quickly agreed and they’d made a time and place to meet. Ali arrived va the Knight Bus, but Lily stuck to her ordinary Muggle Bus, thank you very much.

They walked along a muggle street until they got to a rather run down area in the city. Lily looked about nervously, “Ali, are you certain we’re going the correct way?” she asked nervously.

“Yes,” Ali said, “In fact, here we are.”

They were standing in front of an old department store that had closed ages ago - Purge & Dowse, Ltd. Lily stared up at the store front, covered in cobwebs and outdated clothes on a dummy in the window and she made a face, “Ali?”

“Relax…” Ali said, laughing, and she stepped up to the window, appearing to look closer at an awful pink skirt suit that hung on the mannequin’s frame. “We’re here to visit James Potter,” she whispered to the glass. Lily looked around. There weren’t any muggles about to think they were mad, at least, the area was surrounded by vacancies all about and this particular store dismal enough that nobody who did pass this way spared it a single glance at all. But perhaps if they had they would’ve been quite amazed for as soon as Ali had told the dummy what it was they wanted, it beckoned them forward and Ali grabbed hold on Lily wrist, “C’mon,” and pulled her along behind her… right through the glass and brick storefront as though it wasn’t there at all...

Lily felt the world shiver a moment as they stepped through, and then -- there they were, in a pristine white room with gold and silver accents about. There was a queue of seated witches and wizards with various odd little ailments lining a wall - one gentleman had a very large plant gnawing on his left leg and was now flicking casually through a magazine. Beside him was a witch trying to hold up an extremely huge wart that was easily the size of a futbol and Lily tried not to stare at a body which appeared to have no head at all… She scrambled to stay close to Ali as Ali walked up to a large reception desk emblazoned with an emblem of a wand and bone crossed over one another. Below that, in silver and gold letters, read, St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

The reception witch had on a pair of hot pink-with-rhinestones glasses, held ‘round her neck by a sparkling chain. She looked up at Ali as she stepped up to the desk and asked, “What can we do for you today, young ladies?” She wore a pair of lime green robes that had the emblem sewn into the chest. A small badge read that her name was Gladys.

“We’re here to visit James Potter,” said Ali.

Gladys spent a moment shuffling some parchment and finally said, “Ohh yes, here he is. Potter, James, Accidental Near Deadly Hex --”

“Accidental my arse,” murmured Lily and Ali elbowed her to be quiet.

“Fourth floor, second door on your left, dears,” Gladys said, and she smiled.

“Thank you,” Ali said and she tugged Lily away down a corridor.

Lily looked about at all the things there were to see… long rows of portraits lined the corridor, each labeled with the name of various celebrated Healers - some she even recognized from portraits at Hogwarts. There was always somebody going by with strange magical ailments - such as a man who was hiccupping bubbles that they passed in the hall, or a witch who was holding a large paper bag over the top of her head carefully, and Lily could see the bag was moving, as though something inside of it were pressing against the inside in an undulating motion.

They came to a large gold lift and Ali stepped inside.

The list of floors was most interesting to Lily, who read them over: G - Ground - Entrance & Reception
1 - First Floor - Creature-Induced Injuries, Dai Liewellyn Ward
2 - Second Floor - Magical Bugs and Diseases, Dragon Pox Specialities, Quarantine Department
3 - Third Floor - Potions and Plant Poisoning
4 - Fourth Floor - Spell Damage, Janus Thickey Ward
5 - Fifth Floor - Visitors’ Tearoom, Gift Shop, Waiting Lounge
6 - Sixth Floor - Owlrey, Floo Network Access

Below was a handwritten notice, spellotaped to the wood panelling: Access to the Floo Network has been temporarily disabled, so sorry for inconvenience. But the notice had been there for some time now as it was yellowed and the spellotape was starting to peel away.

Ali pressed her palm to the fourth floor button and the lift’s gate closed and it rumbled, carrying them upward until it opened with a series of creaks and groans on the fourth floor. They stepped through and Lily followed her down the hall, past a lime green door labelled Janus Thickey Ward, Authorized Visitors Only Please and on to the second door on the left, which was purple and Ali pushed it open.

It was a small ward, six beds with curtains that pulled ‘round to create a privacy screen, but seeing as there was only one occupant, there was no need to have bothered with the curtain. Lily felt a lump rise up in her throat and suddenly she felt quite embarrassed to be there, uncertain what she was even going to say at all anyway, but Ali pushed her forward and Lily stumbled, her mary jane shoes scuffing on the tiled floor and a witch sitting in a chair beside the bed turned to look about.

Dora Potter had kind hazel eyes that were exactly the same color as her son’s, that was the first thing that Lily noticed about her. She looked at the two girls with a slight expression of surprise. “Oh… hello,” she said, “Can I help you?” She was holding her son’s hand as he lay in the bed, asleep.

Ali nudged Lily.

“Hello… I’m Lily Evans and this is Alice Prewitt,” Lily said, “We’re school mates of James’s and we were, um, we were in the area and wanted to… to see how he was doing…” Lily bit her lip, blushing.

Dora smiled, “Well that’s so very sweet of you. I’m his mother, Dora… He’s sleeping at the moment, but I’m sure he’ll be really pleased to hear that you popped in.”

Lily inched a bit closer and as she did James came into sight, his face turned to one side, features a tad bloated as he was on a potion drip to stay hydrated. His glasses rest on the very tip of his nose, and his mouth hung open just a little bit. He had on a pair of purple ward pyjamas, which were left open at the chest and there were a great many bandages forming a slash across his bared torso. It gave Lily the chills to see it. James must’ve been sliced right open, as though with a sword. It must’ve been a horrific sight...

Realizing she’d stared at James Potter’s torso far too long, she cast her eyes away.

There was a collection of little gifts and trinkets on his nightstand - a golden snitch with its wings collapsed, a tiny glass deer, a couple chocolate frogs, a fancy sugar quill, a tiny tree with little bity turnip-shaped fruit upon it in a little brown pot, a tiny model broom that hovered and zipped about in circles above the other items, and amongst it all was his wand. Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out a little notecard she’d brought along, wrapped in a yellow envelope. “This is for James,” she said, holding it out to Dora.

“Of course,” Dora said, taking the little notecard. “I’ll that he gets it when he wakes up, Lily.”

James stirred slightly in his sleep and Dora squeezed his hand gently.

“Thank you,” Lily said.

Ali asked, “Will he have a scar?”

“Most likely,” Dora replied quietly.

Lily swept her palm over her cheek, clearing away stinging tears that had formed there. He’d be permanently marked and it was her fault, she thought, and she hugged herself, her palms closing over her elbows. She chewed upon her lower lip. She suddenly wished very much that she’d never come here. She didn’t belong standing beside James Potter’s bed. It was her fault he was laying in it, her fault that Severus and James had dueled at all, and she’d been so horrid to him… She remembered him the way he’d looked in the wand glow in the Trophy Room Passageway, back at the start of term, when she’d pulled him aside to talk about Remus and Sirius and his messy condition… She could see the stupid grin and the way his lip caught on his tooth in her mind’s eye and she could see the way his eyes had glowed and glistened…

“Why are you so mean to me, Evans?” his voice echoed in her head, a mish-mosh of all the things he’d said that day sort of swarming about. “Give me a chance… I have never once called you a freak… Love… I’m not making fun of you, I - I’m not joking… Give me a chance… Evans.”

Lily shivered.

Suddenly, she needed air desperately, and she said, “I hope he feels better, thanks Mrs. Potter,” and she hurried to the door, wrenching it open and rushing out into the corridor.

“Sorry, thanks Mrs. Potter, bye,” Ali said, running after Lily.

Dora watched them go.

“Ev… ans?” James’s voice was faint, barely a whisper.

Dora tturned to face him, clutching his hand, “Mummy’s here, dear.”

James mouth moved slightly again… and he fell back into a deeper sleep.

Meanwhile, in the corridor, Lily had paused to catch her breath, leaning against the wall across from the lime green door of the Janus Thickey Ward and she had her palm against the wall, supporting her up. Ali came about her and bent forward slightly so she was looking up at Lily with an expression of worry on her face, “Lil, are you alright?” she asked.

Lily nodded, “Sorry, I just… I got a bit dizzy in there is all.”

“You’re pale.”

Lily said, “I feel flushed.”

“He’s going to be alright, Lily, they’re very talented here, they’re going to be able to help him,” Ali promised.

“He’s going to be scarred,” Lily whispered. “And it’s still bleeding, what if the spell made it so that it won’t ever stop and he just bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and runs out of blood? What if it’s… it’s permanent?”

Ali shrugged, “It’s going to be healed. If they were worried it would be a permanent damage, he’d be in there --” she said, pointing to the green door they were standing opposite to, “That’s the ward they put all the permanent damage patients in.”

Lily swallowed back the tears.

“It’s going to be alright.”

Lily nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. He’ll be alright…”

“Come end of holiday, when we all go back to term at Hogwarts, he’ll be back to his usual self, annoying you the same as ever.” Ali smirked.

Lily nodded. But as annoying as James Potter was, she couldn’t help but think that she felt so guilty about Severus Snape and what had happened that she would’ve given just about anything at all in the whole world to have had him wake up while they’d been in there and grin at her stupidly and call her love.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Ali suggested, “We’ll go to Diagon Alley and I’ll buy you a butterbeer float at the ice cream shoppe.”

Lily sniffled and asked, “Can we go by muggle bus, though?”

Ali laughed, “You really, really hated the Knight Bus, didn’t you?”

“I never want to set foot upon it again in all my life,” she replied with a sad little laugh.