Fix You [Max]

[Rowena Jones]

Rowena Covington huffed angrily as the mouse continued to stare at her blankly, still and unblinking. It hadn't worked. Weeks of research wasted. She turned back to the images floating behind her and studied the blinking lights that outlined the neuropathways of the animal's mind. It should have worked! She knew her spellwork was impeccable so it couldn't be the problem. And the combination of spells was flawless according to her calculations. Which only left the potion. Bloody things! They were going to be the bane of her existance weren't they? Every time she got close to a breakthrough, she was always held back by them.

And now she was going to have to go and find Jackson and ask his smarmy annoying face for his help. She'd have to put up with his condescending attitude because he still didn't understand how a woman, younger than him as well, could have been put in charge of a whole department. Oh, Rowena couldn't wait until she became Chief of Medicine. She was going to show that little pig.

And it was much better to deal with him than that bloody Kameren with his Empathy, which made him the darling of Mungos. Urgh. She just couldn't stand him. Hadn't been able to at Hogwarts, where he'd effortlessly lorded over her in Potions and somehow had equal grades to her, even though he was always with that Eden. It just hadn't been fair that he could have both. So yes, she would take Jackson any day over Max freaking Kameren.

She turned back to the mouse and put him back in his cage with the other mice. As usual he did not react as the other mice came over to say hello. Rowena sighed. She filled up their food and was about to finish cleaning up the room when a young Trainee Healer came running through the doors.

"Healer Covington! Come quick!" he cried and turned back without further explanation. Rowena tutted as she grabbed her wand and ran after him. She'd have to fix that. He should at least give her a bit more information to go on! They sped down the corridor and arrived in a room full of people with two Wizards screaming and sobbing. There was blood on the floor and at least five other grown men were standing in the room making it impossible for her to see anything! Oh for goodness sake!

"Alright everyone. If you are not medical personal or needing emergency medical attention, get out of the room. We will be outside to ask questions and update you as soon as possible"

[Max Kameren]

Max could always tell when he was about to be called for at Mungo's. After several years with the hospital he knew the layout by heart, physically and empathically. Always just before he would be called, he could feel the conflict starting. Like a long arm, reaching out from the hospital room in question and slapping him on the back of his head with hot fingers.

Then the sparks would come, flashing green and blue, his Mungo's code. The sparks whizzed into the small Potions Master's office and circled his head a few times before flying back out, urging him to follow. He sighed, putting down his potions knife and lowering the cauldron next to him to a cool simmer. He took a deep breath in the musky, windowless office. Max closed his eyes in a moment of meditation: time to keep the peace. As Mungo's Potions Specialist this wasn't really in his job description. It was the one thing about healing he dreaded, but when he was called on by other healers to use his ability to help, he always would. Max was usually only called on when there wasn't another option, so he never said no.

Marking the page he left in his potions book, Max quickly shrugged into his green Mungo's robes over his muggle clothes and whisked down the hallway. The sparks soared ahead of him only as a formality, as he could always tell where the problem was when he was called to soothe a patient. Or in this case, he dreaded, several patients.

The sparks went out in front of the room in question, but one didn't need to be an empath to see this was the room the commotion was coming from. There were so many people in the room Max didn't even bother trying to step inside; he leaned on the door frame, counting the heads of seven loud and angry men; Bryn, one of the Trainee Healers for the Magical Injuries wing; and.... Rowena Covington. Shit, he thought to himself, this suddenly got harder. Max wasn't entirely sure why Rowena hated him, all he knew was that it predated Mungo's and even his Empathy. Back then, he would have described her as a little high-strung. Now, he would describe her aura as the feeling of a piano wire slowly tightening itself around his neck. So, always a pleasure to work with.

Max spun off the door frame and leaned with his back against the wall of the hospital room. It was white-hot in there, Max could feel the tensions. He wrapped his long fingers around the cool metal doorframe, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He focused on the sensation of coolness, calmness. When he let it settle in his chest, he pushed it outward; this was the tricky part.

The emotion was like a tide that he had to control, pushing it one way or another to try to reach everyone he needed to be affected by it. But he knew there was one person in the room he desperately needed to avoid. Max had only had to use his Empath abilities on a call with her once early on into working at Mungo's with Rowena, and he had made a grave mistake. No one, besides maybe his mother, had chewed him out so aggressively as Rowena Covington when he accidentally projected an emotion onto her. Since then he tried to close himself off when interacting with the Healer-In-Charge as much as possible, using humor as a defense mechanism. Unsurprisingly, that never really went over well either.

He pushed the emotion through the room, doing his best to swerve it around the space to avoid Rowena's and Bryn's auras at any cost. The argument slowed slightly and the voices dropped by a decibel, but Max's silent push for calmness didn't have as strong of an affect as he'd hoped. He didn't think it would, with him hiding in the hallway. It always tended to work better with direct contact, but Max wanted to give this a try before entering the scrum.

Ms. Covington took advantage of the slight lull to make her plea. "Alright everyone. If you are not medical personal or needing emergency medical attention, get out of the room. We will be outside to ask questions and update you as soon as possible."

"Like hell we're leavin' with George's arm lookin' like that!" a large, scruffy man in the middle of the fray slurred in Rowena's direction. "An' with feckin' Harold, the crim'nal, sittin' right there with noone takin' him in? Feck off!"

Well, here we go. "Gentlemen!" Max boomed in his warm Scottish lilt over the quarreling voices. He put a hand on the scruffy man's should and felt it loosen slightly as he sent a wave of calm through him. "Please, if you could wait out in the hall while my colleagues tend to your friends, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!"


Scruffy Man stared up at him woozily, confused by the sudden change in his own mind from firey to cool. As Max turned from him to try to affect another brawler, he felt a strong pain on the left side of his head, just above his ear. Was it a wave of rage coming from his Empathy? No, he soon decided. It was just a fist.

[Rowena Jones]

"Like hell we're leavin' with George's arm lookin' like that!" a large, scruffy man in the middle of the fray slurred in Rowena's direction. "An' with feckin' Harold, the crim'nal, sittin' right there with noone takin' him in? Feck off!"

Rowena turned to the speaker, retort ready on her lips when who should enter the room but Kameren. Who the hell had called for his assistance. Her golden gaze fell upon the Trainee. Bryn. What had he done, just called the entire staff to this emergency?! Bloody hell. Who was teaching the boy?!

At least his presence had explained the small lull moments earlier and the hint of emotional change she had felt waft through her. She smirked at the memory of the telling off she had given him when he had first tried that trick on her. No one, and she meant no one, would ever play with her emotions like that. She had made that point perfectly clear and it appeared Max had remembered that well enough.

"Please, if you could wait out in the hall while my colleagues tend to your friends, it would be much appreciated! Thank you!"

Urgh. It was so much easier to calm people down when you had Empathy on your side. She had just said the exact same thing but with his powers, Rude and Scruffy would quite possibly listen. At least she thought that would be the case until a fist went flying towards the other Healer and hit his head quite soundly. Immediately Rowena flicked her wand towards the offender.

‘Petrifucus totalus’ followed by a quick ‘Molliare’ incapacitated the man and cushioned his landing. Without pausing for breath and ignoring the man now lying on the floor, Rowena turned to Max, casting a critical eye over him. She may not like the guy, but she was a Healer first and foremost.

‘Sit down and tell me if you experience any dizziness or confusion.”

“Oi, lady, what about George?!” interrupted another one of their delightful guests. Rowena whirled around and strode the two steps needed to get her up close to the speaker. She winced as she smelt the alcohol on his breath, but forced herself to glare at him through the fumes.

“George, as you can see, has a lobster claw instead of an arm. Now in a normal case, I would just be able to reverse it, but from the dust I can see on your sleeve there, I suspect that this isn’t just a spell gone wrong is it? No, you had to go and mix PixieDust with whatever alcohol you decided to drink tonight. And then you had to get into a fight, because, you are all such big manly men, nevermind the fact that you are all Wizards and actually have the ability to seriously hurt each other! And I suppose that you didn’t realize that a side effect of PixieDust is that it can actually make usually temporary spells permanent when it is in the bloodstream. So congratualtions, George is now the proud owner of a lobster claw.”

The man sputtered and finally had the sense to look worried. “Please lady. I- er, we, we were just celebrating… He can’t have a claw! He’s supposed to get married on Sunday! Oh Merlin. Laura is going to kill me.”

“My name is not lady. I am Healer Covington and you will address me as such or Laura will be the last of your problems. Now I will take care of it, but it’s not going anywhere anytime soon and my colleague has just been punched in the head so unless you want us to press charges, get out of this room.”

With that Rowena turned to Bryn. “Get them out of here and make sure Feisty Guy here” she pointed at the man on the floor, “is put somewhere where he can calm down. Then get a detailed account of exactly what happened so we can ensure proper treatment. I’m guessing amputation, but I don’t want to assume anything yet.” She rolled her eyes at the looks of horror that reached her after the word ‘amputation’. “Oh calm down, growing limbs back is the easy part. Have you forgotten we have magic?”

[Max Kameren]

Max held his head for a second until the spots in his vision disappeared, trying to shake off the surprise hit. Scruffy jolted with Max, accidentally absorbing some of the surprise as Max was touching him when he was punched. Max got lucky; he was so much taller than the wizard who punched him that it was an awkward angle to reach his head. The hit was much lighter than it looked and sounded. He opened his eyes and looked around in time to see Rowena take down his attacker. Great, another thing she could lord over him.

As the Puncher went down, the rest of his group quieted. With Ms. Covington taking one of them down so quickly and easily, they knew she meant business. No one wanted to be next.

‘Sit down and tell me if you experience any dizziness or confusion.”

"I'm fine," Max replied gruffly, waving her off. He stepped back by Bryn while Rowena told off their patients, trying to regain his mental hold on the atmosphere of the room so he could try to help again. Bryn mirrored Rowena's actions, trying to test Max for concussion, but Max brushed him off too. He needed to focus; calm wasn't going to work here. He needed another angle to try to help.

“Oi, lady, what about George?!”

“George, as you can see, has a lobster claw instead of an arm. Now in a normal case, I would just be able to reverse it, but from the dust I can see on your sleeve there, I suspect that this isn’t just a spell gone wrong is it? No, you had to go and mix PixieDust with whatever alcohol you decided to drink tonight. And then you had to get into a fight, because, you are all such big manly men, nevermind the fact that you are all Wizards and actually have the ability to seriously hurt each other! And I suppose that you didn’t realize that a side effect of PixieDust is that it can actually make usually temporary spells permanent when it is in the bloodstream. So congratualtions, George is now the proud owner of a lobster claw.”

"Please, read them the entire textbook." Max rolled his eyes ever so slightly, muttering under his breath.

“Please lady. I- er, we, we were just celebrating… He can’t have a claw! He’s supposed to get married on Sunday! Oh Merlin. Laura is going to kill me.”

There it is. Max smirked, and a lurching twist hit the atmosphere in the room. Guilt. The shoulders of the men tensed, and several started shifting uncomfortably.

“My name is not lady. I am Healer Covington and you will address me as such or Laura will be the last of your problems. Now I will take care of it, but it’s not going anywhere anytime soon and my colleague has just been punched in the head so unless you want us to press charges, get out of this room.”

Max's smirk grew slightly when he noticed none of the men who were previously so angry now couldn't look Rowena in the face. On her orders, Bryn led the four remaining non-cursed men out into the hall, each slumped with their tails between their legs. Even the stunned man who punched Max in the head mumbled out a muffle 'I'm Sorry' while being levitated out of the room. Guilt, brilliant. He'll have to remember that one for next time.

With the room emptied and Bryn taking accounts from the drunken horde outside, Max stepped in to assist Rowena with her examination. He stood a step behind her, examining the two woozy Wizards. They were laid out on parallel beds: the aforementioned man with the lobster claw for an arm and his adversary, a man whose face currently appeared to be nothing but a swarm of bees. 

"I’m guessing amputation, but I don’t want to assume anything yet.” She rolled her eyes at the looks of horror that reached her after the word ‘amputation’. “Oh calm down, growing limbs back is the easy part. Have you forgotten we have magic?”

"Don't know if you'll want to amputate in his friend's case, however," Max quipped, stepping closer to Bee-Face to better examine his swarm. The bees seemed to be a part of his facial features, squirming beneath his skin. "I could put together a topical paste for him, to combat the transfiguration." Bee-Face leaned warily away from Max's examination.

"But what about me?" George stammered, his lip quivering with worry as he flexed his lobster claw. "Cant I get a paste? Why amputation?"

Because your friend just punched me in the head, Max thought to himself, shrugging. "That would be up to your physician." His bright green eyes darted pointedly at Rowena.

[Rowena Jones]

"Don't know if you'll want to amputate in his friend's case, however,"

“Oh I don’t know. He might deserve a good amputation after all this mess,” Rowena smirked teasingly, before abruptly realizing who she was talking to. She glared at Max, was he using those damn powers again, but she sensed nothing untoward. Concentrate Ro, she thought to herself as she ignored George’s stammering.

"I could put together a topical paste for him, to combat the transfiguration."

“I suppose that would work. I can probably freeze them to give the paste time to work.” She said before turning to the patient. “Now, I will ask this once and once only. Did you also have PixieDust? Because if you did and I do this, then his potion may make the bees disappear, but their shape will forever be left in your skin. And I’m supposing you wouldn’t want that.”
The patient tried to speak but the bees made it very hard to do much of anything. Rowena rolled her eyes. “Just shake your head ‘yes’ or ‘no’” She added in exasperation. He shook his head emphatically. “Good.” She waved her wand in a complex motion and watched in satisfaction as the bees froze. “Your turn” she said to Max before turning to George.

“And as for you, this isn’t Transfiguration. It’s actually a curse, and not one that should be thrown around in a fight.” She said, throwing an annoyed glare at Bee-Face. “Transfiguration is a mutable subject which means tha-“ she caught herself. She had heard Max’s muttering earlier. “In short, your arm no longer exists anymore so we will have to grow you a new one. Can’t do that with all this in the way” she said waving in the direction of the claw. “Don’t worry, I’m sure our Potions master here can give you an excellent numbing potion. You’ll barely feel a thing.” She didn’t add that he probably deserved to feel a bit of pain. “We’ll just need to get you..” she glanced at the claw, “or a family member to sign off on the procedure and we can get started. Who should we contact?”

George winced in displeasure. “Well if it’s th’ only way, then Freddy can sign. Urm, ‘e’s th’ one who punched yer friend, sorry ‘bout tha’. He’s me broth’r.”

Now it was Rowena’s term to wince at even the idea that Max was her friend. That was never going to happen. Speaking of the Potions Master, “Kameren, we need some sobering potions. Oh and sort out that consent form too.”

[Max Kameren]

“I suppose that would work. I can probably freeze them to give the paste time to work.” She said before turning to the patient. Max nodded, throwing green sparks down the hallway to notify his assistant to bring their mobile potions cart. He pulled a small, brown leather-bound book and a pencil out of the pocket of his robes and began taking notes on Bee-Face's condition.

“Now, I will ask this once and once only. Did you also have PixieDust? Because if you did and I do this, then his potion may make the bees disappear, but their shape will forever be left in your skin. And I’m supposing you wouldn’t want that.”

Max looked up from his notes with an arched brow. In what world was that a side-effect of pixie dust and de-transfiguration paste? He knew potions weren't her strong suit, but Merlin, was he glad he had been called on now. His empathy wasn't meant to soothe drunken imbeciles, but this was one thing he definitely had a handle on.

The patient tried to speak but the bees made it very hard to do much of anything. “Just shake your head ‘yes’ or ‘no’” He shook his head emphatically. “Good.” She waved her wand in a complex motion and watched in satisfaction as the bees froze. “Your turn” she said to Max before turning to George.

As the bees had now stopped moving and Bee-Face could move his face freely, he now felt compelled to get his side of the story out. "I don't even know this blighter, all I know is he was in my seat at the bar and wouldn't move. I asked him nicely, but when his friends started shovin' I had to fight back didn' I?"

"Yeah, mate, sure. This definitely looks like it was worth fighting over a barstool." Max gestured to his face as his apprentice, Harper, entered the room pushing a metal cart with a cauldron built into it. He thanked her and informed her on their diagnosis, setting her off searching through Max's ingredients chest for what he would need to make the paste. With Bee-Face dealt with, Max started preparations for sobering potions on the cart while listening into Rowena's conversation with George.

"We’ll just need to get you..” she glanced at the claw, “or a family member to sign off on the procedure and we can get started. Who should we contact?”

George winced in displeasure. “Well if it’s th’ only way, then Freddy can sign. Urm, ‘e’s th’ one who punched yer friend, sorry ‘bout tha’. He’s me broth’r.”

Now it was Rowena’s term to wince at even the idea that Max was her friend. Max wrinkled his nose: the feeling was mutual. “Kameren, we need some sobering potions."

"Already on it."

"Oh and sort out that consent form too.”

He paused mid-measuring, shooting Rowena a skeptical glare. That was far outside his purview, and Rowena was definitely outside her authority to order him around in that way. She may be technically above him as the head of a department, but Max wasn't in her department. Instead he took a step back and leaned through the doorframe, beckoning Bryn closer.

"What do you need? Covington on the attack again?"

"Well, yeah, but I can handle that." The two spoke in hushed voices to the drunken horde couldn't hear. "You need to unfreeze Drunky McHead-Punch, we need him to sign a consent form for his brother's amputation. I've got sobering potions on the way in a few minutes for all of them."

"Got it." Bryn nodded and turned on his heel towards the petrified-puncher in question.

Max turned back into the room and continued the sobering potion, setting a small cup of it aside for when Bryn brought Freddy back in. He didn't look up to see if Healer Covington had a problem with his handling of the situation; he simply assumed she probably did.

[Rowena Jones]

Rowena rolled her eyes as Max leaned out the door way to talk to Bryn. She snorted softly as she noted he ignored her instructions and just passed on the task to the trainee healer. Granted, maybe she had been a bit above herself to ask him to do such a menial task, but still, she was a head of department and she didn’t need him giving the message to the trainees that it was ok to ignore her instructions.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he returned to his potion making and sighed. She didn’t like him. Never had. And deep down she knew the distaste between them was on her, that it stemmed from the jealousy she had harboured since Hogwarts. Jealous of his ability with potions and of his easy friendship with Eden. It wasn’t fair that being social and making friends was hard for her and for a brief moment she missed James. He hadn’t always gotten her, especially at the end, but he had tried. They had tried together to build something. And she did miss that, the company. Having someone to bounce ideas off of. Her research had faltered since he had left and she had found herself isolated again. Damnit, her dad was right… she did need to make a bit more effort. But, first of all, she had to deal with the drunken idiots before her.

“How long until that numbing potion is ready?” she asked Kameren as she critically regarded the claw in front of her. She supposed she could find the brewing time somewhere in the depths of her mind, but she was suddenly tired and well, that’s what he was there for after all. “Oh, and have you seen Jackson today? I need his advice.”

“Jackson is out all week and the next Healer Covington,” Bryn interrupted as he came back into the room, followed by Freddy. “He’s on his honeymoon.”

Rowena couldn’t help but let out a groan. How was she going to do anything now? She needed a Potions expert to look at her potion and tell her what was wrong with it? She couldn’t lose two weeks! Kameren was not an option. He’d probably sabotage everything out of spite.

“Why don’t you just ask him?” Bryn asked as he came over to her, nodding his head in Max’s direction. “It’s for your project right? I heard you helped restore people’s memories, the cases everyone thought were too far gone, like those hit with the Cruciatus Curse. . Merlin, I’d give anything to be on one of those cases…”

“You’re rambling Bryn.” Rowena muttered as she examined George’s arm, “Yes it is for that, no I can’t ask him, and give it a few more years and you’ll be able to help. You’ve only been here two years.” She smiled at him encouragingly. Let it not be said that she could not do her job well. He was a bit over-excitable and maybe not always great with the details but he would learn and he was good with people. Certainly better than her.

“Ok, we’re going to cut here.” She said pointing to an area an inch above where the orange from the lobster claw faded into human skin.

[Max Kameren]

“How long until that numbing potion is ready?”

“I keep a stock in my office, it's coming with Harper.”

“Oh, and have you seen Jackson today? I need his advice.”

“Jackson is out all week and the next Healer Covington,” Bryn interrupted as he came back into the room, followed by Freddy. “He’s on his honeymoon.”

Max put a hand on Freddy’s shoulder and a sobering potion in his hand, somewhat roughly. “Drink.” Clearly lacking the earlier fight he had in him, Freddy did what he was told. Max held him there, looking at the old muggle watch on the inside of his wrist to wait for Freddy to sober up. “You’re ready to sign in 30 seconds."

Max rolled his eyes at Rowena’s groan. It was an objective fact that he was a better Potioneer than Jackson, it was known throughout Mungo’s. Hell, even Jackson knew it. Max could more than handle whatever Rowena wanted to throw at him. But, knowing the Senior Healer and knowing how she felt about him, he would wait for her to ask. Whatever she was brewing wasn’t going to keep for another week and a half, they both knew it. The more pride Rowena had to swallow, the better in his opinion.

“Good to go.” Max pushed the permission forms into Freddy’s hands as Rowena and Bryn muttered in the corner.

“Wait, what’s this?” Freddy looked woozily down at the parchment, his eyes widening as he read the details.

“It’s the only way your brother’s going to have two normal arms for his wedding. Sign it.” Max turned away as Harper returned. She took his place at the potions cart, the two moving in sync as Max took the numbing potion from her and opened the lid, stepping into the huddle over George. "He's got a form for you, Bryn." Bryn stepped away to get Freddy's paperwork and Max pulled out the small, square brush used with the numbing potion: it wasn't consumed, but rather allowed for more accurate numbing than a spell by being painted directly onto the area that needed numbing. Tonight when he got home, Max would get to tell Eden that he painted today, too.

“Ok, we’re going to cut here.” She said pointing to an area an inch above where the orange from the lobster claw faded into human skin.

Max nodded, moving in steadily with a gloved hand to paint off the area Rowena noted. When he painted a circle around George's arm, the rest of the claw below his mark would also go numb. He put the lid back on the jar and pulled off  the glove on his right hand, waving it over the painted mark. He smiled up at Rowena with a bit of snark; this was normally something done with a wand, but Max was good enough with wandless magic that he didn't need it. He knew that would bother her. 

With Max's wave the circle and everything below it took on a blue sheen, like ice. Max turned to meet George's eyes as he grabbed the small part of skin that was part of the numbed area. "You feel this?"

George's eyebrows were raised with bewilderment at what was happening in front of him. "N-No."

"Good. Drink this." Max pulled another cup of sobering potion of the cart, where Harper was ladling them onto the table like they were at a house party. "It'll sober you up."

"Do I want to be sober, with what's about to happen?"

Max shrugged, turning away to distribute sobering potions to Bee-Face and the rest of George's drunken party out in the hall.

[Rowena Jones]

Urgh. She couldn’t believe him. Bloody wandless magic. Did he have to be such a show off?! She glared back at him. Prick. Her fingers flexed as she fought the desire to punch that stupid smirk off his face. One day. One day, she would be Chief and then they’d see how smarmy he would be. Unbearable jackass.

As much as she wished he would screw up, maybe mess up that wandless magic and do some more spell damage that she could then waltz in and fix, she had to admit that this time he had done a good job as she watched him ensure that their patient could feel nothing. She couldn’t help the small grin that escaped as she watch George take the situation in.

She actually enjoyed this part of her job, the people watching. Seeing how people reacted differently to all sorts of situations. It was amazing how many ways people could react, from tiny children being silent, wide eyed and curious about the blood spurting from their limbs to days like today with big grown men almost bawling at the thought of cutting off an arm. This was when you saw people at their most human, with their every emotion at the surface. When she thought about it that way, it must be awful for Max. Ha! He deserved it the insufferable jerk.

"Do I want to be sober, with what's about to happen?"

“Probably not,” Rowena acquiesced, “but you have to be so drink up.”

She watched him carefully as he threw back the potion and counted the 30 seconds for it to take effect. She glanced at the doorway. She’d sent for the surgeon as soon as she’d decided amputation was the only option, but they did like to take their time. Not like she had anything better to do…

Albert Schwaller waltzed in like he owned the place. Rowena scowled as he gave a cheery grin and hello to Max and then Bryn before nodding politely in her direction. She nodded back in greeting, politeness must be observed after all, before gesturing towards the patient.

“He’s all yours Albert,” she said, “We’ve numbed from this area, so we just need it removed then I can start the growing process.”

The surgeon nodded as Rowena stepped back to give him the area he needed. That was another thing that wasn’t fair, she reflected. She had been here for ten years! Ten! And bloody Kameren was already more friendly with the other senior staff than she was. It irked her so much that everyone just loved him and he had to do nothing to earn that. They just liked him. She heard it all the time whenever she went to grab coffee from the staff room. ‘Did you see how quick he was with that potion…’, ‘Max Kameren is such a sweetheart…’, ‘Best potioneer we’ve had in years…’ It wasn’t that people weren’t nice to her, they were. But it was a distant sort of nice. Polite rather than genuine affection. And Rowena didn’t know how to fix that. She’d have to if she had any chance of becoming Chief, but it was one of life’s big mysteries to her.

A girlish scream dragged her out of her personal reflection and she giggled as George fainted dead away at the sight of his now missing arm.

“All done,” said Albert as he glanced at his now prone patient, “Are they keeping the claw?” He waved the mentioned object towards the group huddled outside the room.

Rowena shrugged and was about to mutter a quick ‘Evanesco’ when Freddy gave a quick shout.

“Don’t ge’ rid of it! Tha’s like a trophy! ‘ow many people can say they go’ a lobster hand on their Stag nigh’?!”

“Not many,” Rowena agreed passing the claw over. She was about to wake George so she could continue her work when her wand suddenly started vibrating furiously.

“No…” she whispered in dread, “No, no, no, no…” She spun to Bryn. “Get Healer Abbott and tell her to start the regrowing process. She’ll know what to do. I need to go. I’ll come back to check as soon as I can,”

She glanced at Max. Damnit. She needed him. “Kameren, I need you. Follow me,” she said before swallowing her pride, “Please.” And then without waiting to see if he would accept or insult her, she strode out towards her office.

[Max Kameren]

Returning to the cart, Max continued making Bee-Face's paste with Harper, watching her prepare ingredients and instructing while he enchanted and ground them with a pestle in a large stone mortar that had magically replaced the cauldron. He felt Albert coming down the hall and stopped. "Harper, we're going to need to move. Now." Maybe it was the blunt force trauma from earlier, but it hadn't dawned on Max until just now that there was about to be an amputation in the room. "There's an empty room two doors down, that'll be good enough."

She nodded and began stowing ingredients and strapping down their cutting board for travel. This was not the first time they'e had to make an abrupt change to their environment so Max could concentrate.

With Harper setting them up in the empty room, Max braced himself for the another awkward social issue he had at the hospital, this time unrelated to his Empathy: Albert Schwaller. Broad and jubilant with a warm heart, Albert was the visual and personal opposite of your typical Healer-Surgeon. He was also the beloved husband of Milton Bonham, head of the hospital and great-great-great-grandson of St. Mungo himself. Through his father's prolonged illness, Max had known Milton and Albert since he was nine years old; of all the people at the hospital who took a friendlier tone with him than other Healers, Milton and Albert were the worst. Milton understood, and after several years of training took a more business-friendly tone with Max. There was no telling Albert anything.

"Max!" Albert grinned wide when he turned through the door, affectionately gripping the taller Potions Master by the shoulders. "Good to see you bauy! How are the girls?"

Max smiled sheepishly down at his old friend, nodding his head. Every time. "They're good, they're all good. But I have to go."

"What, you don't want to stick around for the fun?" Albert leaned in and winked cheekily. He released Max's shoulders, laughing as he stepped towards the patient. "Good evening, Healer Covington! I'm guessing that your crustacean friend is our patient? I'm sure that's a firm handshake!"

“He’s all yours Albert,” she said, “We’ve numbed from this area, so we just need it removed then I can start the growing process.” The surgeon nodded as Rowena stepped back to give him the area he needed. 

That was Max's cue to go. He slipped out the door, walking quickly to the room Harper was set up in. He was pleased to see she'd set everything up wonderfully, and was already finishing up preparing their ingredients. "Sorry about that, Harper. You're a saint for moving us."

She shrugged and smiled, but when she spoke Max couldn't hear her. He nearly jumped out of his skin with the shock, like someone had turned on an electric buzz-saw inches from his ears. He leaned back against the door for support. Harper's brow furrowed and she stepped towards him.

"NO, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! I'M FINE! SORRY, IT'S THE SURGERY!" Max didn't realize he was yelling until Harper winced. He opened the door he was leaning on, slipping back out into the hallway. With the drunken horde in the hospital room to watch their friends' traumatizing bachelor party, Max had a place to wait out the amputation alone. "STAY HERE, CRUSH THE PASTE PLEASE! ADD TUBERWORM MUCUS WHENEVER IT STARTS TO LOOK DRY. WHEN THE HORSEHOE CRAB SHELLS ARE GRAIN-SIZED, IT'S READY." She nodded, perturbed.

Max spent the next few minutes frozen against the wall in the hospital hallway, his hands over his ears. He never really knew how each emotion would manifest itself, it varied from person to person. He did, however, know the general feeling it would have. And a conscious surgery was never good. Though it wasn't great for George he was sure, Max could finally breathe again when the unfortunate bachelor passed out. He rubbed his temples, waiting for the ringing to leave his ears.

His relaxation would be short lived. The piano wire was back, tightening. Rowena was panicking. Did he even want to peek in and see what the problem was? Max contemplated turning back into the room with Harper to hide from Rowena before he was robbed of that choice.

“Kameren, I need you. Follow me,” she said before swallowing her pride, “Please.”

What was going to be a biting retort froze in his throat with her plea. He let out a sigh, nodding. "Send sparks for me to follow, Harper can apply the paste on the other blighter." He spun on his heel into the empty room to update Harper and check the paste. When it looked ready, they separated: Harper went to apply their makeshift bee-removal paste on Bee-Face, and Max followed the sparks to whatever crisis, Max was sure of which there were many, was currently bothering Rowena Covington.

[Rowena Jones]

"Send sparks for me to follow, Harper can apply the paste on the other blighter."

She nodded, waving her wand quickly as she almost sprinted away, a bright trail of sparks trailing her. She hoped he wouldn’t be long. Now was not the time for him to be spiteful. Please let it not be too bad, she pleaded as she turned the corner towards her ward.

Accidental Spell Damage was written in large gold lettering above the door way and several healers jumped out of the way as the Head of the Department strode through the doors, eyes flicking back and forth critically. A couple of Aurors from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes were huddled in a corner around a patient and as they saw Rowena they moved towards her.

“Not now gentlemen,” she said waving them away, “medical emergency that cannot wait. Not even for you.”

Merlin, if she’d known how much of her time would be taken up by paperwork and the DMAC when she’d been promoted she might have thought twice about accepting the position. It felt like there was a new incident every day with that lot.

She grimaced as she passed a victim of an obvious Shock spell but nodded in satisfaction when she saw the Healers around the patient. Shock spells were nasty business, supposed to only be used by professionals but there was always someone. The patient would forever have a weak heart now but they should be able to stop the tremors. She’d trained those Healers herself. They knew what they were doing.

She pushed through the door of her office and glanced around the sparsely furnished room. A series of seven lights hung against the wall and three of them were flashing furiously. Three?! Rowena took a shuddering breath as she organized her thoughts.

No one was dead. That was a good start. She was just deciding which emergency needed her attention first when Max came in.

“Are you ok? You left the room quickly back there?” she asked him not turning to look at him quite yet. “Not that I care or anything. I just need you at your best for this.” She was a bit shaken from the shock of so much going wrong so quickly and did not want him to see that emotion so clearly written on her face. Oh, fuck. He was an empath. He didn’t need to see her face. Screw it then. A deep breath and Rowena squared her shoulders as she turned her gaze up to look at Max. For a second, she wished she could know what he was thinking and then changed her mind quickly. Urgh. Who knew what went on in that impossibly frustrating mind. Better not to know.

“Ok. This way,” she said, leading him through a small door to her private laboratory. She turned to the man standing in one of her most private places. “I know you don’t like me and I know you probably don’t give a shit whether any of this works or not, but for once in your life I need you to help me. Can you do that Max? Because if you can’t then you shouldn’t be here after all,” her voice was soft but firm. This was her life’s work. This was as close to vulnerable as Max Kameren was ever going to see her. She didn’t wait for his response. Either he left and she dealt with everything by herself or he stayed and helped.

The first thing she noticed was the current attempt at the potion was a violent shade of yellow and bubbling furiously, spilling over the sides. It was supposed to be a peaceful shade of blue and definitely not bubbling. It shouldn’t have even developed to the next stage yet! Why had Jackson gone now of all times?!I mean really, did he really need to spend more time with his wife?! Surely the evenings were enough.

“Can you do something about that please?” she asked before turning the second cause for alarm.

The mouse was seizing. The fits were lasting 3 seconds each time and the poor animal was panting on it’s side, the other mice now staying far away. Rowena’s hands flexed as she searched for a way to fix it. Damnit. This had never happened before. How did they calm epileptic patients? She scoured her brain for the answer. Urgh. Potion. Ok. She grimaced. “Urm... actually, could you help with this first?”

Merlin. This was torture, needing his help so much. She was going to have to think of a good few insults soon or he’d actually think she appreciated him.

[Max Kameren]

“Are you ok? You left the room quickly back there?” she asked him not turning to look at him quite yet. “Not that I care or anything. I just need you at your best for this.”

Max had caught up rather quickly and followed behind quietly, letting Rowena do her thing. She was all nerves underneath a thin layer of professionalism, more so even than usual right now. After all he'd been through since first responding to Bryn's call this evening, he was running low on patience for Covington's passive-aggression. He let out a deep sigh, smiling with an aggressive strain. "I'm fine, Covington. What do you need?"

“Ok. This way,” she said, leading him through a small door to her private laboratory. She turned to the man standing in one of her most private places. “I know you don’t like me and I know you probably don’t give a shit whether any of this works or not, but for once in your life I need you to help me. Can you do that Max? Because if you can’t then you shouldn’t be here after all,” her voice was soft but firm.

Alright, that was it. Max could feel there wasn't anyone within earshot, and he was just about done. He couldn't in good conscience let whatever she was making to help the hospital's patients go bad, but he was ready to stop biting his tongue. "Whatever, Rowena. If you need my help it usually helps to not berate me while you're asking." He crossed over to the closet door in her private laboratory and knocked a special code on the closed door. When he opened it it was the closet of his office, with a second potions cart inside ready to be wheeled out. He looked around with a sigh. "What is this? What are you doing in here?"

“Can you do something about that please?” she asked before turning the second cause for alarm.

Max stepped in for a closer look, pulling out is leatherbound notebook and pencil once more. His eyes fell on notes in Jackson's handwriting. This didn't look like a typical healing potion. "What is it supposed to look like? Are you trying to invent something? What've you done since Jackson lef - "

“Urm... actually, could you help with this first?”

Max rushed over to the mouse cage where Rowena was standing in front of their 'patient'. It was seizing; Max winced with the poor animal's pain. His empathy didn't work on animals, but he had never been good with seeing animals suffer even as a child. "Yeah. Do you have an eyedropper? My potion vials aren't made for mice." Max pulled open the left breast of his robes, where sewn in were several small vials of potion for emergency health situations. He didn't like surprises around Mungo's, and sometimes summoning his cart took too long.When he was presented with an eyedropper, Max filled it and handed it off to Rowena to administer. He inspected the rest of her test subjects closely before turning to look at the whole operation.

"Now, actually answer me or I can't help you. What is this? What are you trying to cure here? Why would you get Jackson involved in this? He's a damn good craftsman, but he can't invent potions, he doesn't have the creativity for it. And you don't have the knowledge to help him." Max was getting himself wound up with his annoyance and the lingering ringing of the amputation, his voice getting harsher with each question. He threw up his hands in exasperation. "What's your problem? Why, for Merlin's sake, do you seem to think I don't give a shit about what happens at this hospital?! I will help you do anything, anything you need of me to help you with a patient. But I could do it so much better without having to fight you the entire time!"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Usually in these situations, he was able to catch himself. This time he went too far. "Sorry. It's not you, it's my fault, from the amputation.... thing. I'm sorry." Max waved it away, turning away from Rowena back to Jackson's notes. He pulled his potion cart closer and started trying to reverse-engineer his fellow Potions-Master's notes in tense silence, his back to Rowena. 

[Rowena Jones]

"Yeah. Do you have an eyedropper? My potion vials aren't made for mice."

Rowena passed the requested tool and watched in silence as Max administered the potion, smiling when the effects stopped and the poor mouse drifted into sleep. She didn’t like animal testing, there were too many nasty surprises when it came to new spells and potions, she’d experienced a few of them herself when her spells had backfired, but they were an unfortunate necessity in this field. She took the mouse out of the cage and placed it in a separate enclosure so it could recover away from the other curious mice. She was just pouring out some food for when it woke up when Max spoke up.

"Now, actually answer me or I can't help you. What is this? What are you trying to cure here? Why would you get Jackson involved in this? He's a damn good craftsman, but he can't invent potions, he doesn't have the creativity for it. And you don't have the knowledge to help him."

Rowena bristled at the insult. Sure, he might be right but damnit, she’d still gotten an E in her Potions Newts. He didn’t have to make it sound like she was totally useless! She was about to cut in with a furious ‘fuck off’ but didn’t get a chance as Max continued his tirade.

"What's your problem? Why, for Merlin's sake, do you seem to think I don't give a shit about what happens at this hospital?! I will help you do anything, anything you need of me to help you with a patient. But I could do it so much better without having to fight you the entire time!"

Wait what? What was happening here? Why was Kameren having a meltdown in the middle of her emergency?! Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she realized she must look like a gaping fish and she turned away to putter about with a few papers on the desk, trying to give herself time to sort through the swirl of emotions. She hated outright anger. It wasn’t an emotion she’d experienced a lot throughout her life. Exasperation and dislike sure, they’d become quite common since leaving the Muggle world at 11, but anger required people to actually care enough to lose their temper and Rowena had only ever had James and her parents get that close. Her parents would never raise their voice to their precious daughter so really it was only James who had subjected her to the stormy rage of anger.

"Sorry. It's not you, it's my fault, from the amputation.... thing. I'm sorry."

Damn right it wasn’t her fault. Argh. She couldn’t decide just how she was feeling, torn between hitting the most frustrating man she had ever known and acknowledging the difficulties of the job. What was happening? Was he projecting his obvious mess of emotions on her? It would explain the odd mood in the room, but she could usually sense it when her emotions were being manipulated. She wasn’t a control freak for nothing… which meant it was all her.

“I... I ju-“ she stuttered, confusion clouding her mind. “I don’t understand,” she said finally with a sigh looking towards Max, who was standing with his back to her looking at Jackson's notes. It was probably for the best. Looking at each other while having such an emotional outburst would probably not end well. She turned to look at her own notes before continuing. “It’s nothing to do with the hospital, and I know you care about the patients, but you just never liked me…” She frowned. “This is the way it’s always been, it’s what we do. We glare and insult each other when no one else can hear and then just stay away from each other as much as we can. So why would I ask you to help me? I would never think you’d willingly want to spend time with me. And this… this is personal. Mungo’s lets me do this because it’s helped with severe cases of patients who have had too much exposure to spells like Obliviate, Legilimens and even the Cruciatus. They’d never agree otherwise…”

She glanced at the burnt mess in the cauldron and gave a heavy sigh, disappearing the failed experiment with a swish of her wand. Luckily she’d saved several vials of the previous attempt which had at least been promising. She was starting to realize that she couldn’t do it alone… and Max was right. Jackson hadn’t really done more than what she was capable of by herself. She needed a true expert... She needed Max.

“…I’m trying to cure Alzheimer’s..,” she said softly. “It’s a muggle mental illness. They slowly lose all cognitive function, don't recognise people or remember much of anything,” she clarified, not sure if he’d know about it. “We don’t seem to get it, something to do with modified magic genetics, but my…”she paused. Did she really want to confide in Max Kameren of all people? Wasn’t this why she had ultimately resigned herself to Jackson despite his sexist ways and inferior knowledge in Potion creation? Fuck it. Might as well go all in now. “My mother has it. I’m trying to save her.”

[Max Kameren]

Sometimes Max wondered if he should yell more often, especially when presented with Rowena’s brand of migraine-inducing passive-aggression. Half his life was watching people bite back their emotions, trying to deal with life on their own until it eventually broke them. He didn’t have the patience for it any longer. It seemed Rowena didn’t deal often with actual confrontation, as his outburst had evacuated the room of her panic in exchange for still shock. He didn’t look up, just continued comparing Jackson’s notes to the souring potion in front of him. Let Rowena process on her own.

“I... I ju-… I don’t understand,” she said finally with a sigh, “It’s nothing to do with the hospital, and I know you care about the patients, but you just never liked me…”

What? Max shot a skeptical look at Rowena over his shoulder. From Hogwarts up until their working together at Mungo's, Max had never really disliked Rowena. Why would he? She was a Ravenclaw, he was a Gryffindor. They barely saw each other, and when they did come head-to-head in classes, Max always thought of it as just friendly competition. It was only years later, coming to Mungo’s and actually feeling Rowena’s reaction to him that he started to dislike being around her. That shift had been as jarring to him as this was for her, now.

“This is the way it’s always been, it’s what we do. We glare and insult each other when no one else can hear and then just stay away from each other as much as we can. So why would I ask you to help me? I would never think you’d willingly want to spend time with me. And this… this is personal. Mungo’s lets me do this because it’s helped with severe cases of patients who have had too much exposure to spells like Obliviate, Legilimens and even the Cruciatus. They’d never agree otherwise…”

Max was learning a lot about Rowena today. What had always felt to him like ribbing a competitor for the fun of it apparently went much deeper for her. If he had known, he would have laid off sooner. In some cases, his empathy didn’t tell him as much as he thought it did. “What are you trying to cure here, then?” He asked quietly, trying not to upset the current aura in the room. One wrong move and the piano wire would tighten again, he knew.

“…I’m trying to cure Alzheimer’s..,” she said softly. “It’s a muggle mental illness. They slowly lose all cognitive function, don't recognise people or remember much of anything,” she clarified, not sure if he’d know about it. “We don’t seem to get it, something to do with modified magic genetics, but my…”she paused.

“I know what Alzheimer’s is.” Max stated quietly, still without looking up. She was sharing a little, he would too. To keep their playing field equal, of course. “My gran had it, when I was a kid.”

“My mother has it. I’m trying to save her.”

Max let out a deep sigh, his pencil pausing on his notes. He finally turned around, meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry.” It was a wonder to him that she would think this isn’t something he would understand. His family’s trauma was well-documented and remarked upon frequently; Max just assumed most of the time that everyone knew his story, but it appeared Rowena genuinely didn’t know anything about him if she didn’t think he was familiar with the ambition to save a terminally sick parent. They were more alike than Max had originally thought.

“I - “ He quickly corrected himself “ - We can save this potion, though. It’s basically an Orientation Draught, meant to cure vertigo. It won’t cure Alzheimer’s yet, but I think Jackson had a good eye for where to start.” Max cocked his head towards the table and pointed at a section of Jackson’s notes, beckoning Rowena closer. “One of you mixed some mood stabilizers in, though. Those don’t keep more than a few days, that’s what’s souring the potion. You’ll have to restart, but when you master your base formula it’ll be easier to experiment anyway.” He circled the Orientation Draught’s formula and kept his eyes down on his notes. “I can show you how, if you want.”

[Rowena Jones]

“I’m sorry.”

Rowena blinked, and it was as if all the breath left her in one go. He actually sounded like he understood. And then pieces of the puzzle started to come together. Snippets of conversation from around the hospital. ‘Curse Kameren’, ‘White Death’… and Max had been around the hospital a lot. Even before he worked here. She’d known about it of course. Curse Kameren had been a big deal in the Wizarding World. But she’d just never thought of Max in that way before, as a proper human rather than her intensely disliked competition. Her focus was always so narrowed in on her own life that she often missed what was going on around her but now surprisingly, she realized they were very alike.

She almost let out an exasperated sigh. What was going on here?! She didn’t know how to deal with this huge change of events. How was she supposed to act around him now? Oh, she would kill for some of that Honeydukes chocolate right now. There were, what felt like, butterflies in her stomach and Rowena realized she was nervous. She wasn’t sure how to be friendly, if that’s what this was going to be, with Max. She suddenly missed the armour of insults that kept them at a distance of each other but she steeled herself and moved closer at his beckoning.

She grabbed her own notes from the desk and wordlessly passed them to Max.

“One of you mixed some mood stabilizers in, though. Those don’t keep more than a few days, that’s what’s souring the potion. You’ll have to restart, but when you master your base formula it’ll be easier to experiment anyway.” She watched as he circled the Orientation Draught’s formula and kept his eyes down on his notes. “I can show you how, if you want.”

Did she want? Could they actually work together without ripping each others heads off? Was she willing to accept maybe she had been wrong about Max Kameren from the start? Dear Merlin, could they actually be friends?! Rowena shook her head. Baby steps Ro. Baby steps. Let’s first try and relax a little. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. She moved a little closer. Think of it as an educational experience.

“Yes please,” she said finally, wincing at the soft nervousness obvious in her voice. “I added the mood stabilizer,” she added with a grimace. “The emotional pathways were lighting up like fireworks. I thought it would help calm the test subjects down.” A wave of her wand summoned a vial full of periwinkle blue liquid. “This is a sample from the last batch before I added it though,” Another wave and the cupboards lining the walls opened to reveal hundreds of potions sitting happily in stasis, in various colours of the rainbow.

“And this, urm, this is every variant I’ve ever done.” She said quietly. “There’s notes specific to each one under the bottle. And the spell work research is over there,” she pointed to a bookshelf filled with thick heavy tomes. “Currently, the spell work is to fix the failing DNA strands one by one, but it doesn’t stick, so the potion is supposed to help that. I’m starting to wonder if it shouldn’t be the other way around though? Use the potion to fix and the spells to cement the healing?”

No one could ever complain that Rowena Covington wasn’t thorough in her work. She glanced up at Max and before she lost her nerve added almost cheekily, “You sure you can handle it?”