Lexus gave the older witch a toothy grin. She had helped her into a sitting position but also wasn't eager to rush her out of the tent just yet. No one reacted to the procedure the same and it was important to gauge how your patient was responding before you moved onto the next one. It seemed Duerr was responding well but Lexus suspected she wasn't quite ready to stand just yet, opting for some idle chit chat in the meantime. Had she been the only Healer on Duty she may have cut the conversation short. However today was more about the community than anything else. If they were going to try and convince the public to donate on a regular basis, being curt and dismissive of them wasn't going to help anyone.

"You are my fifth donation today." She spoke slowly counting the different witches and wizards she had seen herself, "However we have a handful of Healers working the donation tent." She nodded over to Jordyn and Virgil, "And at least one in training." Lexus had yet to formally meet the student Healer-in-Training but had seen her hard at work since the tent opened that morning.

Lexus let out a wistful sigh, "I think this is incredible, I hope they succeed. It's really heartwarming to see the community band together like this to help others." She left it unsaid that she wished more efforts like these would be made to help the Werewolf community. Although she couldn't really complain. She had managed to complete her training and become a full fledged Healer despite her affliction. There was a time when something like that just wouldn't have been possible.

There they were reassuring young Kelvin Watkins that he’d be fine once he got something sweet to eat and sat down for a bit, when behind them a willing volunteer did exactly what Watkins didn’t want to do. Virgil Carstairs landed on the tent floor with an ungraceful thump, though Cepheus was sure aspiring healer, Jordyn had done her best to break his fall in the circumstances.

Stood clasping the sugary treats, conversing with Kelvin in the procured chair, it appeared Ayla hadn’t noticed immediately, for which Cepheus was thankful. He didn’t want Kelvin to turn round. He gave her a somewhat awkward double thumbs up and slipped back into the tent proper.

“You both alright?” He asked Jordyn, swiftly crouching by the crumbled form of young Carstairs. Hopefully his benevolent father wouldn’t choose this moment to sweep back into the tent, he hoped. Virgil’s blonde hair was drooped over his face like a golden curtain and he looked deathly pale. Thankfully there was not a gush of blood around him.

“Did he just go out like a light when you started?” He asked as a follow up, helping to negotiate the unconscious, heavier-than-anticipated (as all unconscious people were) student into a more comfortable position so he could come round. Ceph’s wand flicked at Virgil’s feet which were lofted into the air in an effort to bring blood back to the head. If he hadn’t been so worried about the student coming to, he might have made a rudimentary comparison to sleeping beauty.

“Virgil, are you with us?” Cepheus asked, and reached out to gently shake a slender shoulder, leaning over.

If one counted the kidnapping in February, this was the third time Virgil had fainted this year.

Not that he was keeping count right this very moment. The Slytherin found himself rising to consciousness in a gradual manner - first the murmuring undercurrent of thoughts hovering about his mind, and then actual sounds. People speaking. Concerned or hushed voices.... beyond that, the more indifferent tone of people in the tent going about their business. Ah, that's right. He was in the tent when he passed out. Awful, awful red tent.

The idea of it was almost enough to keep Virgil from opening his eyes, except he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder that refused to be ignored.

             "Virgil....you....us?"

A frown blackened his brow, God, that voice. He blinked his eyes open and pulled away on instinct from the hand on him as the world came back into focus. The face of Cepheus Gamp hovered above. Virgil startled instantly, sitting up in clumsy half-control of his limbs and knocking heads with the older wizard.

"Fff--!" he bit his tongue. Shit! That hadn't been intentional. Tasting blood, Virgil laid down but rested back on his elbows. He rubbed his forehead gingerly and stared at Ceph and Jordyn from behind the fringe of blonde hair that had fallen into his face.

Why was nothing easy? The young wizard hoped they attributed his flushed cheeks to embarrassment rather than... whatever he was feeling right now. Whatever it was the sight of Cepheus did to him. "I'm so sorry," he muttered and averted his gaze, "Nobody tell my father."

“Oh yes, Head Girl and Healer to be.” Professor Duerr agreed with Healer Dale. “I am sure she’ll go far after Hogwarts.”

“… It’s really heartwarming to see the community band together like this to help others.” Camille’s warm smile brightened at Lexus.
“I entirely agree my dear,” she replied, “it is heartening to be here in such better circumstances. It must be terribly taxing to be a healer moving from crisis to crisis. This must be a rare oasis of fortune and calm.”

Her words came coincidentally at the moment Virgil decided to slip to the floor, but Camille was looking the other way, thinking whether she would venture to stand and slip her jacket back on now.

“I only hope the newspapers and the wireless report this as good news later today. We could all do with a little better news, keep the dementors at bay.”

Cepheus let out a dull exclamation of pain as their heads met and he sat up and rubbed his forehead, blinking in surprise. The younger wizard did the same, both of them looking a bit dazed. Ceph’s discomfort passed quickly and he rebalanced in his crouch beside Virgil, flicking his wand to release the charm lifting Virgil’s legs.

“Don’t apologise,” he dismissed Virgil’s response, “are you alright?” The Being Division’s gaze ran up and down Virgil, assessing whether he was back with the land of the living or still looked dodgy. He was all a bit rumpled from the unorganised descent, and terribly pale. “Perhaps not today, you look a bit under the weather.” Cepheus reached out and gently gripped Virgil’s right shoulder which was nearest to him.

Behind them, another potential donator had entered the tent, and Cepheus was keen for them not to be worried by the scene, but at the same time, concerned that Virgil wasn’t alright.
“Do you think you can stand? I’ll help, find somewhere to sit for a bit and gather yourself.” He withdrew from the crouch, and offered both hands to haul Virgil up from the floor, hoping he wouldn’t faint straight over Ceph’s shoulder again, but at least he was unlikely to be too heavy if he did.

As his legs lowered to the ground and it became apparent nobody was going to go running for Edgar, Virgil felt the anxiety in his chest ease up some. He was still nauseated by the thought of what had happened and being inside the tent but being in proximity to Cepheus was... antidotal. It was giving him an altogether different kind of anxiety, especially with his hand on his shoulder, which the Slytherin didn't mind in the least. In fact he was almost disappointed when Cepheus had to get up and break off physical contact.

That was when Virgil realised he was being spoken to and should actually respond, or they'll really think he's left his senses.

"Oh, right. Yes," he drew in a breath and grasped the older wizard's hands to pull himself up. It took two tries - he hadn't realised how weak his legs were - and when Virgil did manage, he promptly half-leaned half-fell against Cepheus. "Sorry, sorry," he muttered with a full on blush.

Perhaps (just perhaps) that had been intentional. How else was he going to confirm that the Being Division head smelled like... something citrusy, and woody. He breathed in again. Something heavenly. Shit. Definitely not telling Ari about this. He tried to right himself as he spoke, "Can we get out of this tent?" a swallow, looking around with new self-consciousness as more donors streamed in.

"It's the red light. I just need some fresh air," Virgil reassured both Cepheus as well as Jordyn and her supervisor. He looked around for his jacket, remembering the rain.

Perhaps getting Virgil up off the floor had been a bit premature, Cepheus thought as the younger wizard leaned on him.
“Can we get out of this tent… I just need some fresh air.”
“Er, sure…” the Division Head replied, and shot Jordyn an apologetic look. “There’s a way out the back.” He gestured in the direction, hoping to both avoid the general public noticing Virgil was taken ill and any awkward encounters with Hogwarts staff.

Exit Virgil and Cepheus (for now, maybe)

Ayla watched as Cephues departed to attend to other things, smirking a little at the awkward thumbs up he had given. She simply shook her head and turned her attention back to Kelvin. Her smirk grew to a smile. She purposely focused her attention on her fellow fifth year. She had been avoiding looking into the tent. Though she was happy to be near her cousin again she was just as happy to put distance between her and the Head Girl. There was nothing wrong with Jordyn, and they had gotten along well enough during their last encounter, there was however the unfortunate fact that Jordyn was dating Ayla's ex boyfriend. The less reminders she had of that, the better.

This left the Hufflepuff to focus solely on her task at hand. She continued to hand out the sweets to those coming out of the tent. She looked to Kelvin once more, "feeling any better?"

Her brow furrowed as she caught sight of Cephues helping Virgil sneak out the back of the tent. Her gossip riddled mind instantly screamed scandal but she just as quickly dismissed it. Virgil Carstairs was the last person she wanted to know anything about let alone any weird gossip. She found the older Slytherin rather off-putting. He was certainly amoung the list of Seventh years she was happy to see graduate.

Lexus shrugged, "I prefer keeping busy." Busy was certainly the name of the game when it came to the Healer. She had spent the past eight months or so doing everything she could to keep herself Busy, joining IDREAD, applying for the position within the new Potions Department, coming out to the blood drive. The less time she spent on herself and the more she focused on others helped her keep her own demons at bay.

She gave a toothy grin, "Well if they don't I'll certainly be sending them a strongly worded letter about it." She paused momentarily to make sure the commotion with their Healer in Training's patient was taken care of. It seemed Jordyn and the man from the beings division had it well under control.

She eyed the flow of volunteers entering the tent, "make sure to have something to eat and drink, okay? If you'll excuse me." She motioned to a volunteer that didn't have a Healer to help them, "Duty calls. It was very nice to see you again Madame Duerr."

“Duty calls. It was very nice to see you again Madam Duerr.”
“And you Healer Dale,” Camille smiled, slipping on her jacket again and leaving the witch to her work. Even if she had just done something rather simple, she felt altogether better for the donation, like she’d done something bigger. It was little things like that which made her feel rather more integrated into society over here. She rather liked Hogsmeade as a community.

And when it was term time, there was always a particular community to bump into. As Professor Duerr stepped out she encountered two familiar faces. It was easy to spot Ayla what with her startling colour hair, and Kelvin was one of her OWL students, and a very good one at that.

“Ayla, Kelvin, how lovely, were you donating too? How very good of you.” She peered at Kelvin, with all the concern of a mother, “oh dear, are you not feeling yourself young man? Is everything alright, you two?”