Bad ol' Puddy Tat

God, I'm such a bitch.

He'd given her one of the best nights of her life and all she'd been able to say was that she wanted nothing to do with him. Remi ran off her frustration with herself and beat her personal best mile time and total distance. It was good to know that marital problems helped her with running because at least she'd become an Olympic athlete.

Remi showered and changed at the clinic which was where most of her clothes were. No one was up at six in the morning, it seemed, and she sat down in the front office with a cup of coffee before she realized that there was a girl in the lobby.

The girl was pretty and small, with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "Oh, hello," she said simply. There was definitely an accent there but Remi wouldn't be able to place it until the girl talked more. "You must be one of the other marriage-law wives. I'm Candice Smith, Jared's wife."

Scottish? Irish? Remi almost asked how the girl knew that but then realized that there weren't many women on the reservation. Then she was just confused. "Wait, you're old enough to be married?" She looked like a child! How could the magical world do that to a young girl?

"Eighteen. Although sixteen is legal in Scotland. Nothing to stop me from being put in the pool with everyone else." She looked like a child! Hell, she was a child.

God, I'm over a decade over this girl. A child having a child? That's not right. Remi wasn't usually left speechless—unless, of course, her husband was doing delicious things to her but that was beside the point—but she couldn't find any words for this Candice girl.

"So you're the healer?" The girl was most definitely pure-blooded. Most no-maj wizards Remi knew said 'doctor.'

"Yes," she was finally able to say. I didn't know that Jared was no-maj. She filed that away for later to bring up to her husband's closest coworker. Maybe she could make a friend, too. "If you need anything, especially when you get pregnant, just let me know."

"Thank you, Healer…"

"Just Remi is fine."

"Remi," she said with a wide smile. "I actually came here to see if you needed any help. There really aren't many things to do around here. The grocery store, gym, even the restaurant are all filled with either teenagers or really old men."

The men not fit for duty had to work at all of the excess stores. That meant the elderly and the kids who had graduated but were too green or weak for their own good took all of the regular, everyday jobs. Remi knew the pain and was thankful that at least she was able to work in the clinic. "I understand. What did you concentrate on in school?"

"Potions," the girl said with a blush, "but Hogwarts had a rough go of it finding a new potions master after the war. That and technically I never finished."

Remi stared at the girl incredulously. How could Hogwarts let go of a girl without giving her the proper training to make a life for herself? Remi was a doctor, she'd been through countless years of schooling to get where she was in life. This girl had taken, what, four or five years of potions? That wasn't even considered the basics when it came to being a healer! "You're kidding me."

Candice blushed cutely, making Remi feel a little bad. "N-no, I'm sorry if that's not enough to work for you-"

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through her hair, much like her husband would have done. "Right. Um, well, until I see what you can do I can't let you make anything too advanced. We run out of burn paste quite a bit. Have you made that before?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Yes! The thick orange kind? I helped the professor make that quite a bit. You wouldn't believe how often people burn themselves on the cauldrons."

Oh, I would. "Alright. So what else do you know how to make? Do you understand Golpallot's Third Law?" The boys got poisoned quite often, surprisingly.

Candice's face fell again. "No, but I swear, I'll study whatever you throw my way! I just…I can only clean the house so much." Her eyes filled with tears and Remi found herself cringing on the inside.

"Okay, okay, you can help. Start by making ten large batches of burn paste. The ingredients you need are already laid out in the back room." That saved Remi from having to do it. She usually gave the men an entire jar instead of making them come in every single time they got burned. All they had to do was bring her replacement herbs and something she needed in her store room.

The girl wasn't bad, it turned out. The orange paste was just as good as any that Remi could have made and it saved Remi four hours of potion work that she could use to do paperwork and deal with patients. Eventually, Remi figured she could let Candice do the paperwork and sit in the front office for a few hours a day so that Remi just had to supervise and work on patients.

For the first time in quite a while, Remi didn't feel so stressed or overworked. Only one dragon was still breeding, the rest had become impregnated or already had their eggs or fell out of heat. In fact, she felt almost…good. She was relaxed and didn't feel like she wanted to kill every patient who walked through the door.

Around lunchtime, Remi actually had nothing to do. She sat in the front office and looked around, taking in everything, ignoring the throbbing ache of her pelvis and ass. She had her own clinic. She got paid a decent wage and had free reign over everything, from the awful shag carpet (which had to go at some point) to the types of potions and medicine used in the clinic. She wasn't necessarily happy, but…it wasn't awful.

She looked out onto the Romanian landscape and had to admit that it was beautiful in a completely different way than, say, New York. She could appreciate the beauty of both. And then something even more beautiful walked past the window—her husband.

When did I start thinking of him as beautiful? she wondered, feeling herself blushing as he smiled widely and laughed to one of the wranglers he was walking with. His hair was being blown about in the wind and he slid one hand in the pocket of his tight-fitting jeans. God, he could be a model. Heat pooled in her groin and she flushed, trying to get the thought of what was hidden in those jeans out of her head.

Charlie then turned and started coming towards the clinic. Remi felt herself blushing as she started organizing the papers on her desk, trying to appear busy. Sadly she'd already done everything but he wouldn't know that! She couldn't bear to face him, not after the way she'd treated him that morning.

He came in, a small chime signaling the opening of the front door. She looked up from under her lashes to see that he'd brought her lunch. Lunch! Like she wasn't the ice queen he'd come to know! "'Morning, Doc. I usually don't see you sit during the day." He got closer and leaned down, setting the bag of food next to her before he smiled devilishly. "Did I wear you out?"

The air left her body as she stared into his gorgeous blue, mischievous, twinkly damned eyes. She felt more heat pool in her core as she clenched her legs shut, like he would be able to sense her arousal. "I-I…"

Candice decided then to interrupt. Thank Merlin, child, for your perfect timing! "Remi, I finished the potions and…oh! Oh Merlin!" Suddenly the girl was standing in front of Charlie, clasping her hands in front of her as she stared up in hero-worship to the man that Remi was married to. "Charlie Weasley! I'd heard you were here, but…wow!"

Charlie looked just as surprised as Remi was. "Do I know you?" he asked not un-kindly. Remi didn't think that he had a mean bone in his body…but he did have a— No, no, back off on that line of thought!

"No, no, of course not," Candice gasped, full of nervous energy. "I didn't start at Hogwarts until years after you left, but your legacy there was amazing!" The girl's eyes flashed to Remi's. "Did you know that he could have gone professional?"

Remi looked at her husband and had to swallow a smile at his discomfort. "Ah, no, I didn't. Quodpot?"

Both of them reacted negatively almost instantly. Candice interrupted Charlie before he could speak. "Goodness, no! You Americans and your Quodpot! Quidditch! He was the best Seeker this side of the Atlantic. Shame you never went pro, Mr. Weasley, sir."

Charlie's face melted from shock and discomfort to caring and understanding. "It's just Charlie, miss…?"

"Candice Ole—" She stopped and flushed. "Candice Smith, now, I guess."

Somehow he became even more understanding. It just made Remi feel even worse about that morning and she wanted to push it to the recesses of her mind. "You Jared's new girl, eh?"

Literal 'girl,' Remi thought angrily. She wondered if Jared and Candice had had to… It made her angry and uncomfortable at the same time. Remi and Charlie were two consenting adults, one of whom had unusual tastes in the sex department. Candice, on the other hand, was so young! Eighteen was still legal age, but...it just felt wrong.

The two conversed for a while. Remi started feeling like a third wheel. Candice definitely had a hero complex placed on Charlie and it showed as she oohed and ahhed about Charlie's life on the reserve. He'd never shared anything like that with Remi.

Remi felt almost…jealous? No! She wasn't the jealous type. She picked up the book she'd been meaning to give Candice and wasn't sure if she was grimacing as she did. "Here." She interrupted the girl trying to touch Charlie's chest. "The Healer's Helpbook. If you really wanna help out around here, know that book from top to bottom. Don't try any of the spells without a licensed healer there."

Charlie stared at Remi like he was looking directly into her soul. Like he knew exactly what she was thinking. Candice just beamed and took the book with a heartfelt, "Thank you so much! I'll study it all and have it memorized, I promise." Then the girl noticed the food that Charlie had brought. "Oh, are you two going out for lunch? I could watch the front desk until you get back and send a patronus if something really bad happens while you're gone!"

The husband and wife in the room stared at each other in shock. Were they going to go out to lunch? Remi looked to the food and noticed it was only one serving. "Aren't you going to eat, Charles?"

He nervously ran his fingers over his stomach. "Already did, actually. Made you some stroganoff. All right?"

He cooked, too! Was there nothing wrong with him? He had to have been hiding an entire pleasure room with rope and whips and chains. Actually, he totally would have that. Or he had commitment issues. Or mommy problems. "Y-yes. Of course. I'll see you soon?" It came out as a question. Candice just stared at them curiously.

"Yeah." He made his way towards the door.

Remi stood up and almost too loudly said, "Charlie!" He turned to look at her, sunlight flitting across his pretty blue eyes and freckled skin. She lost her breath for a moment. "I, ah…I'm sorry."

His face melted into one of understanding again. "It's all good, Doc. Don't overwork yourself, yeah?"

The doctor watched him leave, her stomach clenching as she tried to reconcile her emotions. "…Yeah."