It's nothing, really! (Caroline)

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Even an invincible being like Anthony could be hit by those minor ailments that usually affected people.  It was a little unusual for him, though, because Ant was a really outdoorsy person.  One would've thought that he would be more immune to colds and allergies than most people.  Sadly, he was on the same wavelength as they were on that issue, and he wasn't pleased by it at all.  He enjoyed being outside and doing his groundskeeper duties, so being deterred by a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, and a sore throat was not helping him at all.

He didn't allow those to stop him from doing his job, of course.  Being the tough, action loving man that he was, nothing could really intervene between him and fun physical work.  But that wasn't too say that it didn't make him feel uncomfortable! Uncomfortable was what he felt, and it served to distract him from what he was doing, sadly.  But no worries! There was the hospital wing where he could get a potion or something for his cold.  Say what you wanted of magic--and usually Anthony thought that it made people lazier than usual--but the medical abilities of the magic world were so much better than those in the non-magical realm!  He was sure that the healers in the infirmary would have him feeling better in no time.

Anthony had been making his way to the hospital wing.  Once he reached the door, he opened it and stepped in, closing the door behind him.  Maybe a little too roughly, but Anthony was usually a little too rough for his own good.  He was nice, though, so that made up for his hard edges.

Once he turned away from the door, he looked at the room in front of him.  It was as he had remembered it back in the days when he had been a student.  Such a reckless person like Anthony definitely would've made occasional visits to the hospital wing, and sadly he never learned to curb himself from those hurts and injuries.  It only got worse as time passed--the good thing was, though, that there wasn't a lot of risk taking to be done as a groundskeeper.  Anthony had focused that on his IA job, but now that the IA was no more, he was back to not having anything action-packed and heroic to do.  He probably should find one soon, but for the first time in his life he was actually content to just remain in his current job.  He did, after all, enjoy being a groundskeeper, surprisingly.

Anyway.  He looked around to see if he could find someone, a nurse most likely, to help him.  "Hey! Anyone here?" he asked, expecting a nurse to magically appear.    

@caroline   

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Cold and flu season was a nasty time. Couple it with Quidditch season and it was the Hospital Wing's busiest time of the year. Caroline was busy giving out potions to mend cold and flu symptoms left and right while also mentally preparing herself for the weekend's upcoming Quidditch game against Slytherin and Gryffindor. And knowing those two houses, there was bound to be a few injuries. The Wing was finally empty for once as Caroline had done her best to shoo everyone out and recommend bed rest in their own beds, instead of taking up her beds that would certainly be occupied by the weekend. Caro was a caring soul but she was also very professional, and all business. She went fast paced most of the time, but she was always very careful to pay attention to what she was doing when she was taking care of patients. Needless to say, she was glad to finally have a little window of time for a break.

Caroline had retired to her office, just at the end of the Hospital Wing. She never closed the doors, though. She never knew when someone might come rushing in in dire need of her attention. She sat at her desk, simply doodling her hornbill, Billius, on a notepad when she heard someone enter her Wing. She waited for a voice, her eyes looking around expectantly. When she heard one, her eyes narrowed a bit, curiously. It was not the voice of a student, but one of a ground man. One she recognized only barely as the groundskeeper.

Caroline got up and exited her office, her chin up as she entered the wing. Her brow furrowed slightly, as she was all business. "I'm here." She said, folding her arms in front of her, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow. "What can I help you with?"

@anthony

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And then a nurse came, and Anthony wondered if she was looking at him like that because she was speculating why he wasn't a cutesy student.  She was most likely more used to having those young ones visit instead of a full-grown, rough-hewn man with an equally unsophisticated way of speaking.  In fact, he wondered if his earlier words constituted as rudeness to the more uptight, professional people roaming about his place.  Anthony personally was brusque and liked to get to the heart of the matter, but he didn't want to upset anyone either, and so he tried to remedy that with a cheeky smile, albeit one on a face tortured by allergies. 

"Oh, nothing much.  Just something to combat this common cold," he said.  "It's actually not anything huge...could be worse.  In fact, it's almost unnoticeable, but, sometimes it can get kinda pesky, you know?" For some reason Anthony felt the need to let others know that the allergies weren't getting the best of him at all, or at least appear like that and emphasis that fact.  It almost felt like if he didn't say that, then his sense of endurance and bravery would be questioned.  He was embarrassed to think that he would let something as small as allergies bother him--even if they did! But male pride--not to mention, Gryffindor pride--was quite suffocating.     

@caroline 

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Caroline let a small smirk appear on her lips as the man in front of her explained to her what was wrong. So it was just a little cold? Caroline had to admit, having a grown man come to her asking about something for a cold was a little funny. She chuckled a bit, shaking her head before she made her way back into her office. "Right this way," she gestured for him to follow her. Caroline's office was same old one that healers like Madame Pomfrey had inherited through the ages but with a new twist. She had decorated it more colorful rustic chic, as was Caroline's style. She motioned for the groundskeeper to take a seat at the lightly wooden table in the corner of her office. With the flick of her wand, a tea pot and two small cups appeared on the table in front of him as she continued over to the back of her office. Behind her desk was a large cabinet and as Caroline opened it, she scanned the contents of the cabinet for just a second before spotting exactly what she needed and walking back over to the man.

Caroline took a seat across from him and set the small medicine container on the table. She tilted her head to the side and looked at the man. "Now, I don't know how you feel about muggle products but..." she slid the medicine over to him across the table. "These work wonders. Will have the cold subsided within a few hours." Caroline was a halfblood, so she had grown up around both magical and non-magical remedies. While she usually aired on the side of caution and used mainly magical remedies, she believed that the simple things (like the common cold,) could be helped without magic. She reached for the teapot then and began to pour tea into the two cups. "Care for some tea?" She offered.

@anthony