It was a lovely morning and as usual on Sunday mornings, Poppy made her way
to Minerva's rooms for their routine Sunday tea. She knocked on the door
lightly and waited. Minerva opened the door and ushered her inside, to
where Poppy noticed the tea and cakes had already been set on the table.
"I expect Ro, Pomona, Irma, and Celene are on their way?" Poppy asked conversationally as she sat in her usual spot, on the window seat, leaning her arm on the window sill. Minerva nodded and moved towards her to sit in the chaise just opposite the window beside the lovely cherry wood book shelf. She glanced at the younger woman and seemed to be thinking deeply.
Poppy tilted her head, looking wonderingly at the older witch. Minerva looked a little too pensive for her peace of mind. "Something wrong?" She asked, sitting up straighter and brushing back her curly tawny ash colored hair over her shoulder in one fluid motion.
Minerva glanced up, and smiled the tiniest of smiles. "Oh it's nothing, really. I was just pondering over everything that's happened lately. Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban... and well, I was just thinking too, over Harry's running away from his muggle relatives. It was such a good thing that Cornelius found him..." Minerva said quietly, looking down.
The school mediwitch rose and moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder softly. "I know. It was quite a scare. The poor boy..." Poppy murmured quietly. It HAD been quite a scare. Poppy had grown quite fond of Harry in all the times he'd been in the hospital wing with a plethora of injuries. He certainly reminded her of another former student that had also made frequent visits to the hospital wing. Who had been in her care for nearly the whole of his schooling. Someone she had come to care for greatly.
Minerva sighed, bringing Poppy back to earth, to the here and now. "I only hope this whole thing will be sorted out. That boy has enough on his plate as it is." Minerva mused aloud sadly and then seemed to remember something else entirely. She blinked, turning to Poppy with a small smile. "I almost forgot to say, Albus has found a new appointment for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position." She commented, sitting back in the chaise.
Poppy quirked up an eyebrow. "Really now? I do hope this person is an improvement over the last two." The mediwitch smirked, thinking of Quirrell who'd been quite possessed by Voldemort and of Gilderoy Lockhart who'd lost his memory after being the failure of all failures. "Yes, quite an improvement, and I am sure you'll agree." Minerva laughed, adjusting her emerald green robes.
Poppy's eyebrows arched even higher. "We'll just have to see if I agree or not. It'd be nice to know who I'll be agreeing or disagreeing in favor of, you know." She retorted, very curious now. She moved towards the window again, her own gray-teal robes rustling a bit in the breeze that filtered in through the window, just a little amused that Minerva in her own way had picked up Ro's habit of teasing her. It's like in those muggle cartoons she'd heard about, the carrot dangling from the stick ploy. "Well I know you'll be agreeing as Albus requested one Remus J. Lupin, and he naturally accepted." Minerva finally replied.
Her heart skipping a few beats, Poppy turned away from the window to face Minerva, willing herself to keep a casual and clear expression. No one knew. No one needed to know. "Really? That's delightful. I admit, a definite improvement." She smiled her trademark smile. The transfigurations professor returned that smile. "Yes, indeed. I just wanted to tell you now before the others came. I know he was a favorite of yours." Minerva told her, getting to her feet just as there was a knock at the door. "That'll be the others." She murmured and went to admit them into the room.
While she did that, Poppy turned back to the window to look out on the grounds. Could Minerva possibly know? No, she couldn't. It was a safely guarded secret. No one could have known. Could they? She hadn't revealed anything had she? Poppy sighed and leaned her head against the stained glass window, wondering if anything would change. She wondered if they even could.
"Si seulement..." Poppy murmured to herself as her friends entered the room: Ro, the pert faced lean and average height flying instructor, Pomona the shorter and stocky happy rosy faced Herbology professor, Irma the flinty and angular faced school librarian, and Celene the dark haired and nymph-like Astronomy professor.
"Oh you're here first as usual, Poppy," Ro rolled her yellow hawk eyes, "did we miss anything?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that evening, when Poppy returned to her rooms, she pondered a little more. As she dressed and readied herself for bed, she paused by her open window. The stars were shining brightly and she could just make out Celene atop the Astronomy tower stargazing as she usually did. Poppy wondered vaguely if there wasn't something more to Celene's stargazing. Maybe she was searching the stars for her special person. She was the most romantic of the group after all.
Smiling a small smile, Poppy waved away the thought and moved to the mirror to brush out her curly hair before she went to sleep. It certainly helped and made it less of a mess in the mornings. Once she'd finished she set down her brush and paused, staring at her reflection for a few moments.
She took in her grey eyes and soft features, her curly tawny ash colored hair, and her tall and very well shaped frame. She didn't quite look it but she was forty three. It's funny, but most witches and wizards don't start showing their age until considerably later in life. Maybe it was the fact that their life spans were considerably longer than that of muggles. Her own mother had been quite something. At nigh onto sixty she didn't look too far from late thirties. It certainly seemed that she would be inheriting that trait from her mother, she thought ruefully. It was even more amusing that aside from her ashy colored hair, that surprisingly enough had nothing to do with age, she looked barely into her late twenties herself.
Shrugging, Poppy turned away from the mirror and from her musings and went to her bed, pulling back the blankets to slip under them. As she lay there in the dark, with the moonlight spilling in through the stained glass window, she wondered if Remus' impending arrival would complicate things for her. Even more frustrating to her was the fact that in the deepest part of her heart, she welcomed the complication.
"Si seulement..." Poppy murmured, closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her.
"I expect Ro, Pomona, Irma, and Celene are on their way?" Poppy asked conversationally as she sat in her usual spot, on the window seat, leaning her arm on the window sill. Minerva nodded and moved towards her to sit in the chaise just opposite the window beside the lovely cherry wood book shelf. She glanced at the younger woman and seemed to be thinking deeply.
Poppy tilted her head, looking wonderingly at the older witch. Minerva looked a little too pensive for her peace of mind. "Something wrong?" She asked, sitting up straighter and brushing back her curly tawny ash colored hair over her shoulder in one fluid motion.
Minerva glanced up, and smiled the tiniest of smiles. "Oh it's nothing, really. I was just pondering over everything that's happened lately. Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban... and well, I was just thinking too, over Harry's running away from his muggle relatives. It was such a good thing that Cornelius found him..." Minerva said quietly, looking down.
The school mediwitch rose and moved towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder softly. "I know. It was quite a scare. The poor boy..." Poppy murmured quietly. It HAD been quite a scare. Poppy had grown quite fond of Harry in all the times he'd been in the hospital wing with a plethora of injuries. He certainly reminded her of another former student that had also made frequent visits to the hospital wing. Who had been in her care for nearly the whole of his schooling. Someone she had come to care for greatly.
Minerva sighed, bringing Poppy back to earth, to the here and now. "I only hope this whole thing will be sorted out. That boy has enough on his plate as it is." Minerva mused aloud sadly and then seemed to remember something else entirely. She blinked, turning to Poppy with a small smile. "I almost forgot to say, Albus has found a new appointment for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position." She commented, sitting back in the chaise.
Poppy quirked up an eyebrow. "Really now? I do hope this person is an improvement over the last two." The mediwitch smirked, thinking of Quirrell who'd been quite possessed by Voldemort and of Gilderoy Lockhart who'd lost his memory after being the failure of all failures. "Yes, quite an improvement, and I am sure you'll agree." Minerva laughed, adjusting her emerald green robes.
Poppy's eyebrows arched even higher. "We'll just have to see if I agree or not. It'd be nice to know who I'll be agreeing or disagreeing in favor of, you know." She retorted, very curious now. She moved towards the window again, her own gray-teal robes rustling a bit in the breeze that filtered in through the window, just a little amused that Minerva in her own way had picked up Ro's habit of teasing her. It's like in those muggle cartoons she'd heard about, the carrot dangling from the stick ploy. "Well I know you'll be agreeing as Albus requested one Remus J. Lupin, and he naturally accepted." Minerva finally replied.
Her heart skipping a few beats, Poppy turned away from the window to face Minerva, willing herself to keep a casual and clear expression. No one knew. No one needed to know. "Really? That's delightful. I admit, a definite improvement." She smiled her trademark smile. The transfigurations professor returned that smile. "Yes, indeed. I just wanted to tell you now before the others came. I know he was a favorite of yours." Minerva told her, getting to her feet just as there was a knock at the door. "That'll be the others." She murmured and went to admit them into the room.
While she did that, Poppy turned back to the window to look out on the grounds. Could Minerva possibly know? No, she couldn't. It was a safely guarded secret. No one could have known. Could they? She hadn't revealed anything had she? Poppy sighed and leaned her head against the stained glass window, wondering if anything would change. She wondered if they even could.
"Si seulement..." Poppy murmured to herself as her friends entered the room: Ro, the pert faced lean and average height flying instructor, Pomona the shorter and stocky happy rosy faced Herbology professor, Irma the flinty and angular faced school librarian, and Celene the dark haired and nymph-like Astronomy professor.
"Oh you're here first as usual, Poppy," Ro rolled her yellow hawk eyes, "did we miss anything?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that evening, when Poppy returned to her rooms, she pondered a little more. As she dressed and readied herself for bed, she paused by her open window. The stars were shining brightly and she could just make out Celene atop the Astronomy tower stargazing as she usually did. Poppy wondered vaguely if there wasn't something more to Celene's stargazing. Maybe she was searching the stars for her special person. She was the most romantic of the group after all.
Smiling a small smile, Poppy waved away the thought and moved to the mirror to brush out her curly hair before she went to sleep. It certainly helped and made it less of a mess in the mornings. Once she'd finished she set down her brush and paused, staring at her reflection for a few moments.
She took in her grey eyes and soft features, her curly tawny ash colored hair, and her tall and very well shaped frame. She didn't quite look it but she was forty three. It's funny, but most witches and wizards don't start showing their age until considerably later in life. Maybe it was the fact that their life spans were considerably longer than that of muggles. Her own mother had been quite something. At nigh onto sixty she didn't look too far from late thirties. It certainly seemed that she would be inheriting that trait from her mother, she thought ruefully. It was even more amusing that aside from her ashy colored hair, that surprisingly enough had nothing to do with age, she looked barely into her late twenties herself.
Shrugging, Poppy turned away from the mirror and from her musings and went to her bed, pulling back the blankets to slip under them. As she lay there in the dark, with the moonlight spilling in through the stained glass window, she wondered if Remus' impending arrival would complicate things for her. Even more frustrating to her was the fact that in the deepest part of her heart, she welcomed the complication.
"Si seulement..." Poppy murmured, closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her.