5:30 Saturday Morning

It was a peaceful Saturday morning, the sun was just beginning to take hold of the sky. The crisp autumn air blew past in a gentle wind. However, Joy knew none of this, as she was still inside of St. Mungo's. The witch had done overtime, working all night. Now it was time to go home, take a few hour power nap, and be up by the afternoon to go back to work.

Joy rose from her desk, taking a sip from a mug she kept in her office. Inside was coffee spiked with Wide-Eye Potion, something to keep her awake. She walked out of her office, stifling a yawn, just wanting to get home and be able to settle down with some Sleeping Draught. As she passed each empty office of her co-workers, Joy peeked inside to make sure the lights were off and nothing odd was in any of them.

Everything was fine, until she came to Arcturus's office. The light was on, even though no one was in there. Joy opened the door, and, just before she turned off the lights, noticed a few books sitting on her co-worker's desk. She summoned them to her, opening the first. Inside, scrawled on the inside of the front cover, was written:

Property of Arcturus Hollingbury
If found, please return to 25 Stuart Road, Acton, London.

The other two books had the same message in the same location. Well, wasn't that interesting. She really shouldn't go and return them, this was his office after all, but yet...

Joy apparated home to change out of her uniform, then went into the Sitting Room and started a fire in the fireplace. She took a jar of Floo Powder that sat on the mantle and threw some in, walking into the green flames. "25 Stuart, London." Then she was off.

She came back down in another fireplace, and stepped into an unfamiliar room.[1] "Hello?" Joy quietly called out. "Is anyone in this house awake?"

1.	You can choose what room she ended up in.

Lydia was up early tending to her dirigible plums in the backyard, pruning the bushes when Rustle charged into the garden, chomped down on the hem of her jeans and yanked hard before letting go. She raised her eyebrows at him; he meowed at her and set off for the house. Everyone in the family knew how Rustle was like; thank goodness they got him to stop scratching their ankles for attention.

Still carrying her gardening shears and wearing her gloves, she followed Rustle as he padded back into the house; she raised an eyebrow as he headed for the reception room. "Visitors? This early? Now who exactly would be walking in here at half past five in the morning?" she mused aloud.

Rustle padded back into the room, stopped and meowed - loudly, because he liked to catch the attention of everyone - at the visitor. Lydia glanced at the Kneazle. He showed no signs of distrust whatsoever, just his typical unblinking yellow gaze as he watched her alertly.

Satisfied with Rustle's lack of hostility, Lydia turned and smiled at the visitor. "Good morning, how can I help you?" She wasn't quite yet aware that she was still carrying her gardening tools, since she was still preoccupied with being wary of the visitor.

The animal that padded into the room was easily recognized by the witch as a kneazle, the lion-like tail was a dead giveaway. "Hello," Joy greeted the kneazle softly. "Are your owners awake?"

The woman that walked into the room quickly answer the question. She seemed pleasant enough, and Joy returned the smile. "Good morning, I'm Joy Torret, I'm sure Arcturus has mentioned me before. I was wondering if Arcturus was awake." She held out the three books. "He left these in his office, I figured I'd return them to him."

The witch stifled another yawn, wishing she had brought something to keep her awake. Joy removed a flask from a sweater she was wearing and drank a mouthful of the liquid inside. "Wit-Sharpening Potion," she informed the woman. The potion brought her back to thinking straight, though it didn't help her feel less tired.

Lydia smiled warmly at Joy when she identified herself, lowering her caution. "Ah yes, Arc's spoken about you to me. I'm his mother, Lydia." She made as if to offer her hand, but quickly lowered it when she realised she was still wearing her gardening gloves. She  looked down at the books and sighed a little, smiling in amusement. "Being forgetful again, is he? He's not awake right now, but if you like I can get him up. He wouldn't complain if it was his superior standing in the living room now."

She looked sympathetic to Joy taking a swig of Wit-Sharpening Potion, having been witness to her son's struggling to keep awake after a long night. "If only I could actually provide you with some proper Wide-eye Potion. Alas, while I'm good at potions I really don't have the tools for them right now.

"But yes, I'll just head upstairs and get him up for you, shall I? He went to bed early last night so I think he should be well-rested enough to get up for a while." She realised she was still holding her gardening tools and put them down along with her gloves. Her son would not be partial to her waving shears in his face while waking him up.

So this was Arcturus's mum. The woman seemed nice enough. "Nice to meet you Lydia," Joy replied.

The witch blushed slightly when Lydia referred to her as a superior standing. "Oh, no need for flattery." It was true, but Joy disliked being considered the higher rank at times when she wasn't giving instructions or assigning tasks or other duties a Healer-in-Charge would complete.

Nodding to the woman, Joy stored her bottle back in her sweater."Thank you, Lydia. I will wait here." She invited herself to settle down in the room, sitting on a chair with the books in her lap. Normally Joy would have stayed standing until someone in the house told her to please sit, but as the woman has so warmly welcomed her, the witch didn't feel as if she needed the invitation.

After a short while, Rustle ran into the living room again, this time closely followed by his actual owner. Arcturus' hair was disheveled and he hadn't changed, but he was well awake.

"Morning, Joy," he said, as Rustle rubbed himself against his ankles, purring. "Pretty early for a visit, don't you think? Are you still on shift today?"

While she was still his superior, Arcturus was far more relaxed at home. He wouldn't be too happy with a party in his house, but just a few people? No problem. It was mainly because he didn't feel that he had to guard himself against possible undetected parties outside.

He sat down in a chair opposite her, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it out. It didn't work very well. "I did leave those books behind, was planning to take them with me but I got a bit...preoccupied." In a brief moment, he glanced at the mantelpiece, where a few photo frames stood keeping an eye over the living room, and then looked back at Joy with a genuine smile.

Joy looked up at her co-worker as he entered. "Good morning Arcturus," the healer replied. "I worked overtime so today I only have an afternoon shift. My morning shift will be taken by another healer." And thank goodness for that.

Her posture in the chair when Arcturus sat across from her relaxed slightly, crossing one leg over the other and letting how straight her back was correspond to the back of the chair. Joy looked at her co-worker through mostly open eyes, doing her best to keep her eyelids from drooping and revealing her current venerability.

It took a few seconds to process what he was saying, but the witch did her best to do so. When Arcturus looked back at her she responded. "It's no trouble at all to bring them," Joy said with a smile, holding out the books.

As she handed the books over a thought struck the healer. "Exactly how early is it?" Her sense of time was gone, as there was no clock in her room except one that told her whether she currently should be on and off of her shift and where her husband, daughter, and elf were at the time.

"Oh. Mor-- And you came all the way here to return these books?" Arcturus' tone was incredulous. He took them from her. "It's about ten to six, I think..." A glance at the clock sitting on the mantelpiece told him he was right. "...yes, it is. But seriously, thank you."

He took a second look back at her and raised an eyebrow in concern. "Is it me, or are your eyes red? Haven't you had some sleep?" He doubted it. "I make my own Awakening Potions, would you like one from my stock? You don't have to pretend in front of me, Joy, we're both healers and we know how it feels like to go home in the wee hours of the morning."

Arcturus got to his feet and gave her a warm smile. "I'll be back. I actually was meaning to talk to you tod-- yesterday about something I figured I'd need to say, but I forgot. Just need to put these books down and give you the potion before you fall asleep in that chair. That's a pretty comfy chair there too, Rustle knows it."

At the mention of his name, the Kneazle looked up at his owner. The healer scratched him between the ears. "Stay with her and keep an eye out, you. And don't lick her ankles. Seriously."

He had to give Joy an apologetic look. Even Rustle looked contrite at this.

With her mostly awake brain Joy couldn't understand why Arcturus seemed so surprised at what she had done. "Really, it was no problem.... Just one trip by Floo Powder..." she replied, though her words came slightly slower than before. She maintained a rather awake complexion, which was surprising, giving her current state.

Were her eyes actually red? The witch wished she could fish the two-way mirror out of her pocket, she had put it in there, hadn't she?, and see for herself. "No, I'm fine. I have Awakening Potion at home anyway." Joy didn't want to drug herself up on potion right now, as she wanted to get to sleep soon.

Of course he had to pick now to tell her something. Joy wasn't one to get annoyed, but she couldn't help feeling a bit moody in her sleep-deprived state. The witch didn't show that she didn't feel like talking right now, simply smiling at her co-worker. She ignored the comment about her falling asleep.

"Oh, your kneazle is no bother." Joy motioned for the animal to come to her, stifling a yawn.

Rustle looked up at her beckoning fingers alertly and reached out to sniff her fingers cautiously before leaping up onto the arm of the chair and sitting down on his haunches next to her, his overly large ears perked up. As much as he couldn't talk, the overall air of the Kneazle was basically one of protection.

---

Arcturus didn't much notice Joy's reactions to his words; he was a bit too concerned. However, he was internally beating himself up for not getting to the point with her when it wasn't a) early in the morning and b) when they weren't busy or in need of rest. He'd been griping over it before he fell asleep - both on the topic and on his wonderful abundance of avoidance.

Once he'd dropped the books somewhere and picked up half a bottle of Awakening Potion and a shot glass (much to his bewilderment), he hurried back downstairs. His mother was back in the garden, staying well out of the way. He'll make it quick; once his father got up it would be endless tea for everyone and Joy would have to suffer longer.

Arcturus entered the room in time to watch Rustle's interactions with Joy and smiled at the sight. "He's taken to you well for a first time. I'm surprised, because he never is that friendly with people so quickly." Because you're a good person, he added mentally, but he just never could find the courage to say so aloud to her.

"The potion's here and so's a...shot glass, which is all I can find at this time in the morning, I don't know why I had a shot glass in my room but hey. that's me. If it wasn't me you wouldn't have had to bring the books back." He set both on a table nearby; he knew she'd help herself when she needed to. Then he sat down opposite her.

"I'll make this quick." He looked at her, his smile fading. "I haven't actually been too well lately. Nothing...serious. It's not a physical thing, I don't need to be seen to. Just a rest." At this point his mind teetered between telling her and not telling her, but his mouth completely disregarded this. "I haven't been feeling up to the job because I've lost interest in actually being nice to people for a while."

He stopped there, mostly in shock because he'd never been this honest to someone who was not his family or close friends. So he sat there for a good minute with an open mouth as he blinked.

The witch smiled as the kneazle settled next to her. She brought her hand up to stroke Rustle's fur, first moving her hand along his back gently in a calming motion just to get the animal used to her touch. Some pressure was added, giving him a soft massage.

Joy moved even further with the petting, letting her hand reach up to the animals head, the tips of her fingers grazing behind his large ears, moving down to rub his neck, massaging his back, and finishing by letting her hand glide over the fur of his tail until she reached the lion-like tuft. It was this final version of petting Joy repeated several times, each movement of her hand going together seamlessly.

Arcturus's voice broke the woman from the hypnotizing motion. "My daughter's cat is part kneazle, I'm used to the creatures." There were few things as comforting as the deep, content purr of the felines. "Rustle's a nice kneazle."

Figuring she should accept her co-worker's hospitality, the healer reached for the bottle and poured a gulp of the potion into the glass. Joy raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. Her senses had a sudden jolt, it had been a while since she had drunk undiluted Awakening Potion. The witch put the glass down and resolved to not have any more.

Now awake, Joy looked directly at Arcturus as he spoke. Her expression barely changed as he confessed, something she was rather good at. Showing the surprise she felt might offend the man. The woman's eyebrows simply knotted slightly.

"And what do you this has- Arcturus?" She hadn't said something wrong, had she? Her co-worker's reaction seemed to be at nothing. Joy began to look more concerned than confused. She reached out and took his right hand in her left. "Arcturus? Are you feeling alright?"

The sensation of her hand jolted Arcturus back into his senses. He blinked and looked down; the first thought he had was to take his hand away, but he didn't. "I'm fine, just one of those moments where my voice isn't under my direct control. I meant to ask if I could take two days off, but I forgot before I left work yesterday. I'm sorry about that."

He would have stopped there, but he felt that he owed her an explanation since she was here. "It's because I've been feeling a bit...drained and depressed lately. I'm putting most of the effort into making myself feel a bit better and I don't have the energy lately to be nice to people. You know how I am like. I guess. I'm not sure, you've never really told me." Probably because she was too polite to do so.

For this whole time, Arcturus did not withdraw his hand from hers. It was a comforting feeling. Someone familiar he could trust, having known her for this long - so it felt somewhat refreshing and a relief to say something instead of bottling it up like he was wont to do.

Joy nodded, easing her grip a little on the hand but not letting go. It seemed perfectly fine for him to take a couple days off  because he was feeling stressed or moody. Being the kind soul she is, the healer probably would have granted that to him right then and there, if he hadn't kept going.

She was a good patient listener, despite wanting to sleep. The witch looked at Arcturus as he spoke, nodding every so often to show she was listening, not showing much reaction similar to a how therapist might. As he finished, Joy gave his hand a small squeeze. "Told you what? About you not being good at being nice to people?"

"And, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you know why you've been feeling depressed lately?" Her voice became softer as she spoke, like a mother addressing a child. If Joy had been talking to her daughter by now the woman would be sitting beside her, her arms wrapped around her and her head resting on her daughter's, rocking slowly from side to side as the witch spoke to the girl.

"Told you what? About you not being good at being nice to people?"

Arcturus shook his head. "No, the fact that I like to not tell you what goes on in my head to begin with. I'm aware it doesn't actually help me a great amount, but I've had my fair share of screw-ups enough to be far too cautious for my own good." He was very aware of that, and had been trying to work on it. Whether he had had much success was debatable at best and he wasn't going to pass his own judgement on it since he knew how biased he was going to be.

"And, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you know why you've been feeling depressed lately?"

He hesitated at this. He hadn't been planning to say so, but now that she'd asked he wasn't exactly inclined to say no. She was here listening to him at 6.45 in the morning. For goodness' sake, let her have her knowledge. Just enough to not trigger any sort of unwanted reaction from him.

Just in case, he looked away from her. "Some things to do with the war. That's all. Why do you want to know?"

Joy didn't understand what fault Arcturus was stating. It wasn't like the healer asked her co-workers to spill out all of their thoughts to her. Was that the impression that he got. "I don't mind that," the witch quickly assured him.

She had said something wrong hadn't she? Her co-worker's hesitation told her so. Joy moved one of her fingers so it rubbed the palm of the hand she held back and forth, another one of the calming motions. Silently, the woman urged the man on, as she could not take back what she had said, so she might as well get an answer.

Joy's finger froze at the mention of war. Carefully, she removed her hand from his. "I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it or not." This would be an obvious not. The witch rose from her chair, showing little expression as she did. "Very well then, you can have your two days off Arcturus, longer if you need so. I'll find someone to fill your place today and tomorrow."