Potion Shopping (Open)

Merideth inhaled the scents of the inside of this shop. Some people might call it overwhelming, but she rather liked it. Perhaps it was because she was a Healer at St. Mungo's, perhaps it was because she was usually having to make potions for her patients in the maternity ward of the hospital. Whatever the reason, Meri loved this shop.

She had measured out a scoop of Doxy eggs, and some dragon livers. Now she was working on the debate over whether she really needed the frog spleen or not. She couldnt remember if she had just bought some or not. Shrugging a moment later, she added it to her basket, and moved on to the less used ingredients for her potions.

The shop keepers of the Apothecary never really bothered her all that much. They knew that she was always in there for a while, and she usually bought quite a bit to replenish her ever dwindling ingredient stores. She eyed the Essence of Belladonna with distaste. She'd found that it was really unneccessary for her potions, as it just served to make morning sickness worse, instead of better at times. It was for this reason that she passed it instantly and moved onto the small batwings that she preferred instead.

She was counting out the three dozen that she needed when she heard her name. Looking up, she smiled.

"Well, hello! Fancy meeting you here!"

Merideth

Norah's morning sickness had finally set in, and she was not happy about it. She still had not missed a day of work, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she had to start calling in sick. And she needed the hours. She was supporting herself, and pretty soon she would be supporting a child as well. Her baby's father was still at Hogwarts, so she didn't want to ask him for a handout. He didn't have any of his own to give, she supposed. And she certainly wasn't going to ask that pompous dickhead, Caleb Valari, for help. He was a major asshole and she would live on the street before she would stoop to that level. Her baby was a different story. If he or she needed help that she couldn't give of herself, she would certainly do what she had to do. But the thought of that man being her baby's grandfather made her cringe.

She had come to the apothecary because she was worried about people at work finding out about her condition. And she knew that she could make a simple anti-nausea potion herself. But she wasn't expecting to see someone she knew. She blushed and smiled, then called out, "Hi Merideth!"

She immediately regretted it, thinking she should have called her Healer Spencer. Norah knew that Healer Valari and Healer Showers would have demanded it, but Merideth Spencer was much nicer than either one of those men. Maybe she wouldn't mind. And maybe she would also not judge her for her condition. She was a maternity healer after all, as well as a mother. In fact, Norah knew Zoe from school, though they were more acquaintances than friends. Norah thought Zoe was nice and all, but she had been a Gryffindor. And as Norah had been a Slytherin, it was difficult to nurture that relationship without being judged by everyone.

Norah moved closer to the healer and picked up a jar of something she didn't easily recognize. She still had a lot to learn.

"Do you know what is best for early morning sickness? I, uh...I would say it was for a patient, but you might see through that rather quickly. So I suppose I might as well just tell you. I'm eight weeks along. And this little one is driving me mad."

Norah

Merideth smiled. She'd seen Norah speaking with Nick Valari a few times, and she thought that she had an idea of what had been going on, but it wasn't her place to pass judgement. Norah was an adult, and Nick was over the legal age of consent. Neither one of them had done anything wrong in the least. Meri just hoped that the baby would be welcome, especially since Caleb Valari was very much considered an ass by most of the staff of the hospital.

She took hold of Norah's arm and led her gently to the shelf behind them, showing her the raspberry leaves, peppermint, basil and ginger root. She picked through some of the selection and brought up a few handfuls of the raspberry leaves as well as peppermint and some ginger.

"These are the most effective," she said softly to the young woman. "Make them into teas and sip slowly to help calm your stomach. The raspberry is good throughout your pregnancy, so drink plenty of it." She smiled at Norah.

"You can talk to me if you need to, Norah. That's what I'm there for. Do you have a Healer that you're seeing for your pregnancy?" She hoped that Norah wasn't going to have to go through this alone, and would be there if the other woman needed a friend.

Norah looked at the shelf of items that would help with her morning sickness, then back at Merideth and she felt sudden tears fill her eyes. She hadn't realized until this moment that she had absolutely no one to talk to about her pregnancy. She wasn't on speaking terms with anyone in her family, Nick was busy in school, Caleb wanted to fire her. And in reality, she was scared. Technically she was an adult, but in her heart in this moment, she was just a scared, lonely little girl. And she wasn't really ready to become a mother. But she couldn't go back now. All she really needed was someone to give her advice, or maybe just a shoulder to cry on.

She looked up at the senior healer and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be weepy. It's these blasted hormones. I'm just really grateful to you...I don't have very much support in this whole situation. Valari wants to kill me, or at the very least hand me over to the muggle police. And honestly, he can. I looked up the law a bit too late, and the muggle age of consent is eighteen. But I'm not a muggle, and I didn't know. But it's not as if I could use that excuse when I'm thrown in their jail. And Nicolae is in school. I don't want to be a burden to him."

She felt her body shudder, and before she could resist, she wrapped her arms around Merideth and started crying. She held tightly to her and hoped that she wouldn't start getting sick again from the hard sobs that were wracking her body.

"I'm so scared! I think I need to quit my job and move away...I can't afford going to jail when I'm pregnant. I wish Nico was older...oh God, why did I do this?!"

Age of consent was eighteen? Oh, of course! Norah had to be speaking of the Position of Trust Law. Normally, it wouldn't have mattered that Nicolae was 17, but since Norah was a nurse in St. Mungo's, that raised a whole new issue. Meri hadn't been with anyone but Ethan before. Oh, sure, she'd been interested in her cousin's husband Aiden when they were all in their early twenties, but then she'd seen Ethan Spencer, and all that had been over.

She held onto the younger woman consolingly. She needed to worry about her baby now, not Caleb Valari. That mean old man! Meri fought to hold back a giggle. Caleb was by no means old, but with that cane he had, he'd earned the name, and some of the Healers had remarked time and time again that they'd love to knock it out from under him and run.

"Norah, calm. First thing's first. The baby. Do you want the baby? If not, I'm sure there are families that would be more than happy to adopt it. And for Nick, I know things look bleak right now, but have you talked to him? Maybe he's just as scared as you are. And about Caleb..... Just remember, he may have some secret himself tucked away somewhere. I don't personally know what, but I'm sure he has to!"

She gave her friend a hug and smiled at her, hoping that this could be resolved to please everyone.

Norah took a deep breath and pulled back to look into Merideth's face, and she had to return her smile. She just couldn't help feeling better with an actual friend on her side. Of course Nicolae would also be on her side, but he would have to deal with his father as well. And she was determined to not make him choose. She loved him too much to tear him up like that.

She thought about Meri's last comment about Caleb certainly having something about his past that Norah could hold over his head. She hadn't ever really blackmailed anyone before, so she doubted she would have the stomach for it. Then again, this was Caleb Valari she was talking about. The man deserved whatever he got. But she wasn't sure she should be the one to hurt him. She wanted to focus her efforts on her child, and that meant taking it day by day and seeing how things turned out. Worst case scenario, she would leave until the baby was born, and then return to give Nico the choice. She really didn't want to do that, but if it was the safest option, she would do it in a heartbeat.

"I very much want this baby. The only option in my mind is to raise this child. He or she wasn't planned, but I already love my baby. I know it won't be easy, but I am going to give my baby the best life I can possibly give. I was thinking of moving to a private practice as well, that way Caleb can't get to me so easily. But I think it all depends on Nico. He's still deciding what he's going to do. And I support whatever decision he makes."

She wiped her eyes and finished collecting the necessary ingredients for her situation.

"And as for that old grouch Valari...overall, I'm just going to try to ignore him as much as possible. If he does follow through with his threat about the police, I'll just go on the run to Fiji or something. There are worse things, right?"

She attempted a smile, but she was still scared to death. So many things could go wrong here, it was overwhelming. But if she continued to remember she was not completely alone, she knew she could survive.