"Hey Mia! Come look at this!" Hermione looked up and glanced over at her friends pictures.
"Hmm, yeah Gin' it's cute," she said, returning to her paperwork. Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Hermione there's something wrong…..it's not cute!" she exclaimed. Hermione sighed and stood, snatching the picture out of Ginny's hand. Examining it she shook her head.
"Ginny, there's nothing wrong with it! She's beautiful!" she told her. Ginny took it back and looked at it again.
"I'm sure she's got a dent in her head though!"
"She isn't fully developed yet Gin! You're only 5 months in," Hermione explained, "She's still developing," Ginny frowned and looked back at her pictures.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Yes," Hermione said sounding annoyed, "Trust me…I'm qualified," she said placing her paperwork in her desk drawer.
"I still don't know why you aren't married yet. And I can't believe you said 'no' to Ron," Ginny said glancing at a picture on Hermione's desk. Hermione sighed again.
"Ginny Ron's proposal was a spare of the moment thing. We weren't even dating! He just asked me at your James' Birthday!" she exclaimed, glancing at the picture also.
"I thought you would have suited," Ginny protested. Hermione snorted.
"Please Ginny. He took me to a Quidditch game for our anniversary!" she told her. Ginny laughed.
"True. I'm glad none of my nieces or nephews are yours because they would have been smarter than their father and would have been rubbish at flying!" she exclaimed Hermione laughed.
"They would have had red bushy curls and bright blue eyes with freckles! I even can't imagine that!" she said, shaking her head. Ginny laughed and look at her watch.
"Ooh!" she shouted standing from her chair, "I got to go Harry's taking me out, we've got to drop James off at Mums and then…I don't know just wait I guess," she said, checking out her reflection in the small mirror. Hermione nodded and picked up a clipboard.
"Well I have to go to spell damage anyway. Apparently someone is missing an ear so I have to fix it," she said opening the door for her best friend.
"All the happiness of becoming a healer instead of getting married darling!" Ginny chimed before leaving the office and walking up the corridor.
"And don't forget fruit and vegetables Mrs Potter!" Hermione yelled behind her but Ginny just waved and turned the corner. Hermione chuckled to herself and locked the door to her office before walking off to the spell damage ward.
"Severus. I need you to come to the hospital wing please." Dumbledore's head was drifting in Severus' fireplace. Severus looked up from his essays and frowned.
"Why?" he asked. Dumbledore sighed.
"It's Poppy. She's seriously ill. She needs a potion," he explained, Severus gasped.
"P-Poppy? Ill?" he asked shocked. Poppy was never ill. In fact she was the healthiest woman he knew! "What potion?" he asked.
"The Draught of living Death," Dumbledore told him.
"You're going to put her in a coma?!" he exclaimed. Dumbledore nodded.
"The healers said to let her body repair itself." He said. Severus nodded.
"Who will be the medi-witch?" he asked.
"I have someone in mind. I will send her a letter once Poppy has been taken care of," he explained. Severus nodded once more before walking over to his store cupboard.
"I shall be there momentarily Headmaster once I have retrieved the potion," he said moving small vials and boxes around the cupboard. He heard Dumbledore sigh.
"I know you will Severus. Just Hurry please." He said before disappearing from the fire.
Arriving at the hospital wing Severus felt sadness run through his veins as he walked closer to the closed curtains. Slowly sliding through the curtains he sighed as sad faces turned to him. Minerva's usually strict face was etched with sadness and there were tear tracks down her cheeks. Pomona was sat next to the bed holding a withered hand of the medi-witch. Sprout and Poppy had been the best of friends during their years there. They had been like partners, especially when there were students getting petrified here and there. They had received a raise that year.
Dumbledore was stood by the bed with a worried look on his face. When he spotted Severus he smiled sadly. Severus slowly made his way over to the bed.
The usually calm, collected, stern woman he once knew looked older than ever. She was breathing heavily and was holding tightly onto sprouts hand.
"Hello Severus," she whispered. Severus' heart leapt. He had never heard her sound so vulnerable before.
"How did you know it was me?" he asked quietly. She chuckled.
"I can sense your dark demeanour anywhere Severus. I have felt it enough times when you have entered my Hospital Wing after a meeting." She said. He nodded.
"I have brought the potion Poppy," he said, removing the vial from his robe pocket. She scoffed.
"No amount of potions can cure me Severus." She told him. He looked at Dumbledore questionably. Dumbledore turned to her.
"The healers have said it would be the best thing for you my dear. It will help you get better," he explained. She shook her head.
"No Albus. This is the end for me. I have enormously enjoyed working at this school while you have been in charge and will be sorry to leave. But it is my time…" she told him, wisdom and sorrow mixing in with her words. Sprout shook her head.
"Come now Poppy dear. If you time's come then I'm the Minister of Magic!" she exclaimed but Poppy shook her head.
"Every ghost has said that they knew when their time has come Pomona. I understand now that fate has chosen someone to take my place in this lifetime as I take theirs in another. I now know that my time as a medi-witch is over. I will let someone walk these halls in my place and take care of students as I have. I now know, that it is my time," she explained, smiling weakly at her old friend. Severus' heart sank at her words. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without Poppy Pomphry. She was the first person who showed him care in his first year. He had fallen off one of the moving staircases and broken his arm and she had helped him enormously. Then once he had left Hogwarts and became a spy she had cared for him after every meeting. She had also given him advice on everything and had been a mother to him. It would be hard to let her go.
"Severus," she whispered. He walked to the bed and she took his hand. "Severus always be strong. Be the man I know you are. And take this…" she said, pushing something into his hand. Frowning he opened his had then immediately began to shake his head.
"Poppy I can't-"
"Don't you say you can't take it Severus because I need you to…I want you to give it to the woman you love…"
"Poppy I don't-"
"Don't you dare say you don't because I know you do…you did. I remember seeing you act differently one Christmas…one Christmas when I caught you with a certain someone on the school steps…" she said, smirking. Severus flushed and nodded.
"That was long ago," he whispered.
"I don't care…Give it to the woman who touches you heart," she said. He sighed and nodded.
"I will Poppy. Thank you," he said. She nodded and closed her eyes.
"I love you Hogwarts. And I will forever." She whispered, before her breathing became slower and quieter. Sprout and Minerva began to cry and Severus swore he saw a tear leave Dumbledore's eye. He took Poppy's wand and placed it in her hand before kissing her forehead.
"We will all miss you Poppy Pomfrey," he whispered. Standing up he looked at Severus "Thank you for fetching the potion Severus. I think we should write to St Mungo's and tell them that she has passed away," he said to the professors. Minerva nodded and put an arm around Sprout who was still crying into Poppy's hand. Standing up with her she pulled Sprout from the room with a last look at the woman on the bed. Dumbledore placed a hand on Severus' shoulder and smiled sadly.
"It is a gift of all gifts Severus. Like a gift from a mother to a son," he said. Severus nodded.
"Poppy was like a mother to me Headmaster and she treated me like a son. I will never forget her," he said. Dumbledore nodded and left the room, leaving Severus with the one woman he saw as a mother.
"I will miss you Poppy," he said, sitting by her bed, "And I will give this ring to the woman I will fall in love with. One day maybe. I can still remember that night as clear as day. She was the first girl who had ever shown me affection and I am glad you caught me…Glad you told me that she loved me. I didn't believe you and told you that it was just a friendly kiss on the cheek but you were positive and wouldn't back down. I hoped she loved me, but then she started to date that Weasley and I lost hope. But I promise you Poppy. I will find someone one day and give her this ring…even when I have to do it on my very last breath I will…Rest in peace my friend." He said softly before leaning over and kissing her forehead.
Walking from the curtain he took a last glance back before walking from the room.
