September 1947


Ro's hands were on her hips as she surveyed the Quidditch team potentials stood before her. Including the existing reserve players she had a good handful of people after each of the Beater and Chaser positions she had to fill, meaning the decision would be a tricky one. Edwin Doyle had been on the reserve list since Ro had been on the team so she knew he'd be desperate to finally get a place, Xander Flaherty was a good friend of Malcolm, Emery, and Winston so she knew he had to be a decent sort, Cyril Hadian and Verity Arundel were the third year duo that Ro often saw flying from the dormitory window so she was looking forward to seeing how they performed, and second year Ada Nicholson looked so tiny against the older boys that Ro wondered how in Merlin's name she and Minerva had made it onto the team when they were that small. They'd already completed a few laps of the pitch as a warmup but she had something a lot more challenging planned for the next task.

"Right then you lot, let's see how many of you can really fly!" she said, grinning as she cracked her knuckles. With that she gave a nod to Ernest who was stood a few paces behind her, and at her signal he unlocked the trunk that they'd wrestled five Bludgers into about half an hour ago. Several people winced as they started rocketing around the Quidditch pitch, but they quickly mounted their brooms and took off when she shouted "They'll only get you faster if you stick around down here!"

Minerva chuckled from where she stood a few paces behind her. "Are you planning to pick teammates by a process of elimination?" she asked dryly.

Ro shook her head. "They're not real Bludgers, I don't want to pack them all off to the Hospital Wing just yet or Poppy might murder me. Marilyn found some practise Bludgers at the back of the Quidditch shed that are charmed to stop a foot away from anyone without a bat," she explained, pausing a moment before she added "Haven't told them that though. It'll make for a good game of dodgeball!"

"Well I'm certainly glad that it was Fleamont and not you running my tryouts," Larry laughed.

"Come on you lot, where's your sense of fun?" Ro retorted playfully, turning her head from where she'd been keeping an eye on the team hopefuls to give her existing teammates a teasing glare. "Once we're done here it's back up to the Common Room for birthday celebrations!"

While her initial plan had been to have the Team tryouts the weekend after her birthday, Marilyn Douglas the Flying Instructor had already booked the pitch that day for the first years' first flying lesson so she'd ended up sacrificing the afternoon of her seventeenth birthday to assess her new players. With a great deal of self-control she hadn't even opened any of her presents before going down to the pitch to meet Marilyn get the dozen Cleansweeps and uniforms ready for the day. But once everyone had touched back down after an hour of drills and practise games, she left the hopefuls with the promise that they'd know the results within a few days and headed eagerly back to Gryffindor Tower.

"What did you think?" Minerva asked her, sat on the sofa that was hidden beneath the girls' staircase in the Common Room. It was tucked away enough that no-one in the Tower would hear their conversation unless they really tried to listen in, but Minerva had cast a silencing spell around them anyway to be certain.

Ro hummed in acknowledgement of the question, unable to answer straight away due to the large mouthful of birthday cake she'd just eaten. "Mhm- good actually. We've got a few really strong candidates," she said. "It'll be good to get some lower years on the team at last, you're still the youngest and you've been playing for four years already!"

Footsteps above them preceded Poppy and Irma's arrival; they'd offered to fetch Ro's birthday presents from the dormitory while Ro put her feet up. "I can't believe you didn't open any of these this morning," Poppy said as she put the couple of brown paper packages she was carrying onto the coffee table, squeezing onto the sofa besides Ro while Irma perched on a footstall. She looked a lot more comfortable in herself now that the marks from her father's abuse were fully healed rather than just hidden under a flimsy concealment charm. But there was still a tension in her shoulders whenever she and Septima were in the same room, and the absence of her and Millicent at Ro's birthday celebration was painfully noticeable.

"Believe me it was a struggle," Ro grinned, pushing the plate of cake towards Poppy and Irma. Cleatus had told her that the house elves in the Hogwarts kitchen would gladly provide cake for anyone coming of age, so they'd stopped by the castle basement on the way back from the tryouts.

The nearest parcel was addressed in Kurtis' handwriting, which was a watch just as she was expecting. It was tradition to give witches and wizards a watch when they came of age, but Kurtis had outdone himself with the leather strap and hands in the shape of Snitch wings. Erika and Tavin had clubbed together for their gift, which only after reading the attached card did Ro realise was an instant camera. The only cameras she'd ever seen were the bulky sort that took ages to develop, but Erika explained in the card that this new sort had just been released by a Muggle company and she'd adapted it to print the moving photographs that she was accustomed to from her childhood.

"We could start a scrapbook with that," Poppy commented, watching as Ro took the camera from the box and pressed the on button. The sudden loud click of machinery made Irma jump, but she shook her head quickly before any of them could comment on it.

Ro glanced at her before nodding eagerly. "That's a brilliant idea! We should all round up some childhood photos too, make it a proper chronicle." She thought briefly that it would make a better home for the Hooch family photo from 1935 which was still in its shattered frame from the day of her mother's death. Hoping to distract them both, she looked over at Irma again and added "I'm still waiting for those photos of you in a ballet tutu!"

Irma chuckled, just as heavy footsteps thudding towards them announced the arrival of Larry, Ernest, Cleatus, and Maggie. "Ohhh she's a jolly good fellow and so says all of us!" Maggie bellowed, as Larry handed Ro a heavy box before sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Minerva. "That's from me and the boys, congrats on reaching adulthood and all that but I want some back when you crack it open!"

Maggie's words made a lot more sense when Ro opened the box to find a bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky. "Cheers Maggie and boys, might save this for when we win the Quidditch Cup again!" she said, knowing she was being cocky but figuring that winning every one of her last four matches meant that she had some right to be.

"Here here!" Larry shouted, which quickly turned into a squawk as he unbalanced himself and ended up falling partly onto Minerva's lap.

Both Cleatus and Ernest hooted noisily as Minerva kissed Larry's temple, before standing to give him her spot on the sofa and sitting on his lap instead. In an attempt to cover his embarrassment he asked "Speaking of which, what did you think of the tryouts?"

"I've already narrowed it down to a couple for each position so I want your input now," Ro said, figuring that they may as well talk about it then since they were all together. Even though Poppy and Maggie weren't on the team and Irma wasn't even a Gryffindor she knew that none of them were going to let the cat out of the bag before she made the official announcement. "Beaters first; I'm thinking Xander Flaherty. Cyril Hadian put up a good fight, he'll be on the reserve list for sure, but Xander just had the edge on him. Thoughts, Ernest?"

Ernest nodded. "He's agile, he's ballsy, and he's got a good thwack. That's all I'm after," he said with a grin, not wavering as Ro gave an exaggerated groan.

"Well, that'll have to do," she said; she'd wanted Ernest's opinion more than anyone's as the existing Beater but supposed she'd got what she asked for. Next she turned towards Larry and Minerva to ask "What about the Chasers?"

Larry looked a lot more thoughtful than Ernest had done before speaking which was a reassuring sign. "Edwin's alright but with no disrespect to him that's all he is. He'll be no star player," he said, and Ro had to agree with him. "I liked Verity Arundel and Ada Nicholson though, and they're young enough that they won't be too set in their ways to adapt to how Minerva and I play."

Ro hummed in thought for a moment before nodding. "I'm with you there. Though I'd worry about Ada on the team against Slytherin, I know me and Min were that young when we joined the team but she's so much smaller than the rest of us she'd be an easy target for them. Maybe once you three have bogged off," she added with a cheeky grin directed at the seventh year boys.

"Says you who got knocked unconscious by Nott in your first match!" Ernest pointed out to the laughter of nearly everyone present. Poppy just gave a pointed hum from where she was squashed between Ro and the arm of the sofa.

Putting an arm around Poppy in a wordless apology, Ro shrugged in the face of Ernest's smug expression. "Touche," she said, before continuing with "I stand by my point though, I think Verity should be the third Chaser. Any disagreements?"

Minerva shook her head as she said "None from me."

After glancing around the rest of the team and receiving no protests, Ro gave a satisfied nod. "That's that sorted then," she said, reaching out with her free arm for another unopened present. This one was from Irma which she could easily guess was a book, but she grinned when tearing off the paper revealed a signed copy of the newly released 'Beating the Bludgers; A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch'. Minerva's gift was also Quidditch related; a set of leather arm guards and fingerless gloves with her initials printed on in gold foil.

"We went into my Uncle Matthew's shop again while you and Poppy were distracted by the Eeylops show window," Minerva said, exchanging an amused glance with Irma. Ro recalled on their trip to Diagon Alley how they'd been captivated by the young eagle owl chicks, who bore little resemblance to her brother's grumpy adult who'd been responsible for taking the bite out of her ear that had never healed over. "He customised the gloves, and I told him that the Rocket is still flying as well as the day we picked it up."

"Works like a charm does that beauty of a broom," Maggie sighed, her voice full of longing.

Ro laughed at the expression on her face. "You can have that broom over my dead body," she said, before picking up her present from Poppy. It was the smallest parcel she'd been given so far, and her mouth fell open a little when she opened the jewellery box to reveal an ankle bracelet. Immediately she knew where she'd seen it before; the Covent Garden markets while they'd been in London over the summer. She hadn't given them much of a second glance back then, but the intricately knotted black cord and yellow crystals had her immediately captivated now that it was in her hands.

Poppy's voice was nervous when she spoke, breaking the silence that had descended between them while everyone else continued chatting in the background. "I don't know a lot about Quidditch but I wanted to get you something that you could keep for a long time. I didn't think you'd wear a necklace but you could wear an anklet while you're flying and it won't get in the way" she explained in a hurried rush, meeting Ro's gaze with a shy smile for a brief second before she looked away. "It matches your eyes too."

"It's beautiful," Ro said, smiling at both the present she'd been given and the rosy blush colouring Poppy's cheeks. "Honestly, it's perfect. Thank you so much."

The nervous smile on Poppy's face widened into a happy grin, and when Ro tugged her into a proper hug she wrapped her arms tightly around her in a firm embrace. "Happy birthday, Ro," she whispered, her breath warm against Ro's neck.

Ro couldn't bring herself to say anything, hoping that her gentle squeeze said what she couldn't find the words for. There was a lump in her throat as she looked over Poppy's blonde head to everyone around her, from Larry and Minerva sat talking quietly to each other, to Maggie and the rest of her Quidditch team laughing loudly, and Irma just sat quietly with a content smile on her face as she drank in the warm atmosphere. Suddenly she found herself thinking back to her mother's death so long ago when she'd wondered how she would ever be happy again, and wished that she could show her younger self just how much she had to look forward to.

Now that the tryouts were over and she had a Quidditch team to practise with, life at Hogwarts continued on just as it always did. The jump from OWL level work to NEWT level work was just as big as Kurtis had warned her it would be, especially in Transfiguration where she'd worked hard enough just to get the OWL. The only thing that was different from any other year was the continued absence of Septima and Millicent. She'd never properly appreciated how much of a constant presence they were in her life until now that they were gone; they kept to the other side of the classroom in the few lessons they shared, and ate their meals at the Ravenclaw table. While Millicent would always say a brief hello every time she passed them in the corridors alone, Septima continued to regard her sister just as coldly as she'd done on the train and would blatantly refuse to look at Ro, Poppy, and Minerva. And as much as Ro sometimes just wished that they could forgive each other and move on, she didn't think she would be able to forget how much hurt she'd caused Irma in a hurry.

September turned into October, with Minerva's coming of age at the start of the month giving them another reason to celebrate. Not long afterwards was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, with Minerva leaving them for her long-awaited date with Larry so it was just three of them wandering around the village.

"This time last year we were waiting for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to arrive," Poppy said, both looking and sounding uncharacteristically melancholic.

Irma sighed, meeting Poppy's expression with an equally solemn look. "How much has changed since then," she murmured quietly. Ro had to suppose she was right; if someone had told her a year beforehand everything that would happen in the upcoming twelve months, from making friends to only lose them before losing some of her existing friends too, then she would have refused to believe it. Almost as if she'd been reading Ro's mind, Irma added after a moment "This year's been a lot, hasn't it?"

Huffing, Ro shook her head. "'A lot' hardly covers it. I'd go for a bloody great pile of-"

"Language," Poppy jumped in lightly before she could continue, nudging Ro in the ribs with the beginnings of a smile on her otherwise glum face.

"Hmm. Well you get the point," Ro conceded.

For a moment she felt as though Poppy and Irma's sombre mood had descended like a cloud over her as well, caught up in thinking about Svetlana and Reynaud's deaths and Minerva's grief and Irma's abuse and Septima's betrayal. But then she shook her head, stopping in her tracks and forcing a grin onto her face. "Come on you two, I know it's all a bit grim but chins up! We're in Hogsmeade, let's go have an adventure!"

The unconvinced look that Poppy and Irma exchanged brought her back down to earth, and she admitted defeat with a shrug. "How about a Butterbeer instead then?" she asked.

Poppy giggled, giving Ro a smile that was only a little tampered by her lingering nostalgia. "I think we can manage that," she said, glancing over at Irma. There were still shadows dancing in Irma's eyes but there was a spark of warmth there too, and some of the weight seemed to fall off her shoulders as Ro lead the way towards the Three Broomsticks.

Whereas Halloween at the end of the month was usually something to look forward to halfway through the first term, the memory of the previous year's Halloween made it a tough day for Minerva especially. While her nightmares were far less common and far less frightening since coming back to Hogwarts than they'd been over the summer – Ro suspected that had a lot to do with the support of a certain Defence professor – they returned in full force a few days before the 31st. It was no surprise when neither Minerva or Larry made an appearance at the Halloween feast, and when Ro and Poppy hurried back to the Tower after the meal they found Larry sat in the armchair by the fireplace with Minerva asleep on his lap. Knowing that the rest of the House would be in the Great Hall for a while yet, Ro and Poppy just sat down on the sofa opposite them and let the quiet in the Common Room envelope them as well. When Ro caught sight of Minerva's face, tear-stained yet peaceful as Larry held her in his arms, the sigh she let out sounded sad enough that Poppy found her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

But the onset of November gave them all something to bring the smiles back to their faces, and that was the first match of the Quidditch season. Even though she missed Nancy and Anthea's presence on her beloved team, Xander and Verity had quickly proven themselves to be worthy replacements for the departed Beater and Chaser. Xander's jokester attitude meant that he had been quickly adopted into Ernest and Cleatus' little clique, giving Ro one more person to tease between practises, while Verity was an earnest and hard worker who looked up to Minerva much like an older sister. Altogether, it was a team she knew would do her proud in the almost dreaded first match.

"Why do we get to play Slytherin first every year," Ro grumbled as she walked past the sneering faces of Abraxas Malfoy and Owle Bullock on her way down to the changing rooms. "I mean, what a way to get people's confidence up! Why can't we play Hufflepuff in November for once?"

Minerva hummed in agreement. "It would certainly be an easier start for the new players, but I suppose they could be saying the same about us. From what Irma's told me they have three new players since we last played against them."

Ro frowned as she tried to work out who would have left the Slytherin team in the last two years. "Well Orion Black and Alexia Yaxley graduated last year, that's one Beater and one Chaser same as us. Bullock and Malfoy are our year and the other Chaser is the year above us, so the last one must be the other Beater. Fingers crossed that gives us some sort of advantage."

The fact that Slytherin had two new Beaters managed to ease Ro's worries a little, since Nancy's precision as a Beater had been almost legendary and she knew that despite Xander's skill it would certainly be a blow to the team. But when they walked onto the pitch upon Marilyn's whistle, she was surprised to see a familiar player wearing the second Beater vest alongside newcomer Reginald Vanity. It seemed that Owle Bullock had decided to switch away from his longstanding position as Seeker, since wearing the number 7 along with an arrogant smirk was Cygnus Black.

There was no time to rethink her tactics; after touching her ankle bracelet for good luck before shaking Captain Lament's hand and taking a sliver of joy at how he quaked under her sharp glare, Ro and her team were airborne. But while she was used to having agility firmly on her side against Bullock's larger size, the much younger and smaller Black meant that she was being pushed to her limits as soon as the game began. His near immediate dash for the Snitch gave her an early scare, saved only by Verity's slightly unorthodox method of hurling the Quaffle right in front of him.

With her heart hammering in her chest, Ro gave her a terse nod of thanks before her focus turned to tracking down the Snitch. In between scanning the skies for the faintest hint of gold she kept an eye on how her two new teammates were doing too; Verity was mostly flanking either Minerva or Larry, only branching away from them whenever Gryffindor had possession and were moving towards the goalposts, while Xander was doing a good job of mirroring Ernest's moves on the opposite side of the pitch to keep everyone covered. Black seemed to be sticking close to one of his teammates too, staying right behind Bullock now that he didn't have the Snitch in his sights. Ro was immediately reminded of the match in her third year when Bullock and Lestrange had cheated together to catch the Snitch, and while she didn't think even Slytherin would be stupid enough to try the same trick twice she was suspicious enough to keep a close eye on them.

While carefully watching Bullock and Black it was clear that Bullock was far better as Beater than he had ever been as Seeker. Not only could Black outmanoeuvre him with ease, but Ro was quick to notice the strength in his hits since most of the Bludgers seemed to be shot in her direction. Briefly she wondered if he was after revenge for the last time they'd played when she'd knocked into him and stolen the Snitch from right under his nose by pure accident. But if he wanted to spend the entire game trying to take her out then that was fine by her; she'd just rub it in his face by catching the Snitch before his shadow did. Provided he didn't take her out first.

Her amusement towards his tactics turned into outrage though when Verity ended up being the first casualty of the match. Ro had ducked the Bludger aimed at her without even thinking there could be someone behind her and at the quiet cry of pain and gasp from the audience she turned to see Verity dangling from her broomstick, both arms and one leg wrapped desperately around it with the other leg hanging limply. Without thinking about her own safety she quickly flew over and dragged Verity back up onto her broom, letting herself pause for a moment longer when she saw Ernest guarding them from the corner of her eye.

"It hit my ankle but I can carry on!" Verity insisted before Ro had time to ask the question, determination in every line of her expression.

If the Bludger had hit her anywhere else then Ro might have protested, but she supposed that an injured foot wouldn't stop her from flying as normal. "Fine, but let Minerva and Larry take the lead and we'll get you checked as soon as we're grounded," she said, giving her youngest player a stern look until she nodded in agreement. While Ro knew she'd have said the exact same in Verity's position, she couldn't help but feel some sort of responsibility over the safety of her younger players as their Captain. Clearly Poppy's influence was rubbing off on her.

Even with Ernest keeping an eye on them Ro knew they couldn't safely stay in one position any longer, and was proved correct when a Bludger tore through the air where they'd just been seconds after they parted ways. They'd been playing for well over half an hour by then and the score was in Gryffindor's favour by a narrow margin, and now one of her players was injured Ro was determined to get the game wrapped up as soon as she could.

Her excitement at spotting the Snitch at last was dampened by the fact that it was less than ten feet below Black, but he was too busy keeping near the Beaters to ensure that he didn't get singled out by Ernest and Xander to notice it. Though Ro had the advantage of seeing it first, she knew the moment she made a move for it then he could pluck it out of the air in an instant. While thinking fast as to what the best approach was she thought back to her favourite tactic she'd used on every House bar Slytherin so far, and with a shrewd smile she suddenly accelerated towards an imaginary point a few feet above Black's head.

She vaguely heard Bullock's shout of "Move it!" to Black over the wind rushing in her ears, but just as Black appeared in her vision she suddenly changed direction. Aware of the Slytherin Beaters just below her she angled the Rocket downwards rather than dropping in freefall like usual, and as Bullock and Vanity scattered they cleared the path perfectly for her to grab the Snitch. As the crowd exploded into cheers she was close enough to see the expression on Bullock's face, and she met his fury with a grin and a wink before leaving the Slytherins behind to join her own players.

Everyone else had already landed by the time Ro flew down, other than Verity who was hovering on her broomstick with obvious reluctance to put any weight on her injured foot. After hugging Minerva and Larry and high-fiving the other boys she pushed past them towards Verity, who was looking a little left out in the wake of everyone else's celebrations. "Let's have a look then," Ro said, her voice gentle as she held out her hands.

Verity nodded, taking Ro's arm for support as she slid off her broom though gasped out when her foot hit the floor. "Easy now, you're alright," Ro said, taking as much of her weight as possible as she helped her to sit down.

Poppy's timely arrival onto the pitch came just as Ro carefully eased Verity's boot and sock off, and it was a mere couple of seconds before she said "Broken ankle. I'm not sure I can fix it though, not without knowing exactly which bone is broken. I don't think I can remember what the Latin words for those bones are either."

"Don't worry, we'll just take the scenic route via the Hospital Wing back to the Tower. This lot can set the afterparty up while we're gone," Ro said, glancing over her shoulder with a grin at Ernest and Cleatus' shouts of affirmation.

"Madame Quinine will be able to fix it, won't she?" Verity's nervous voice brought Ro's attention back to the task in hand. Her face was looking slightly grey, most likely from the shock of her first Quidditch injury.

Ro nodded, still smiling reassuringly. "Course she will. You'll be back on your feet in no time, but you've earned the right to take it easy for the rest of the day."

When Verity gave a hopeful nod, Ro carefully pulled her up to stand on one foot before picking her up piggyback style. "To the Hospital Wing!" she shouted, and as Verity laughed she left the rest of the team behind as she and Poppy headed for the castle.

With a good lead over Slytherin already in the bag, Ro was as happy as she could have been with their first steps towards the Quidditch Cup. As usual the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw match was the following weekend, and Ro wasn't sure whether she was attending as a friend to support Septima or as a Captain to assess the opposition. There hadn't been that many changes made to the Ravenclaw team since their friendly match the previous year, but since Hufflepuff's Captain Sophie Sommerby had stepped down to focus on her NEWT studies she was more interested in watching their team. The new Captain was Alfred Diggory, fellow Seeker and fellow sixth year, so she knew that their match in May would be a highly competitive but hopefully fun one.

The one development in the Ravenclaw team that did catch her attention actually occurred after the match, which was finished by a very impressive Snitch catch from Nina Hilliard. Ro and Minerva had been about to head back into the castle when she saw Septima fly over to where the Ravenclaw seeker Philip Ackerley had just landed below the goalpost, and instead of a celebratory hug the pair kissed before walking towards the changing rooms hand in hand.

"Seems I'm not the only person who's found romance then," Minerva commented quietly, touching Ro's shoulder lightly to draw her attention from where she'd been staring after Septima and Philip.

Ro said nothing at first, staying quiet as she followed Minerva out of the stands. "No," she said after a while, not bothering to keep the bitter note out of her tone as she added "Seems she hasn't been missing us much either."

Irma had a very similar reaction when Ro and Minerva broke the news to her upon returning to Gryffindor Tower, where she and Poppy had stayed in the warm rather than go to the match. Poppy had been pleased for her, though there was sadness in her gaze as she voiced her empty congratulations. Ro was too stuck on thinking about how selfish Septima was; she'd dragged Millicent away from her friends only to go and get a boyfriend rather than stick by Millicent like she'd stuck by her. The more time that passed since the twins' argument the more Ro was starting to wonder if she'd ever known the real Septima at all.

The only class that Ro now shared with just the Ravenclaws was Defence Against the Dark Arts, so when Professor Merrythought asked the sixth years to join up into groups of four for an out of lesson activity Ro immediately raised her hand to ask if their fourth person could be someone from a different house. To her relief the Professor said without her even needing to hear the question that Irma could be in their group, so Minerva jotted all of their names down on the signup sheet that was passed round the class.

"Now you're probably wondering what activity we're doing and why we can't get it done in lessons," Professor Merrythought said as she collected the sheet of parchment from the last person. "That reason is the same reason why it's more important you signed up alongside friends than just those in your House. In this last month before term ends I will be beginning to teach you Occlumency."

A few whispers echoed around the classroom at that, some sounding confused though a few sounded surprised. Ro knew what Occlumency was as Kurtis had attempted to learn the skill for his Auror training, but he and Erika had wholeheartedly agreed that the Hooch's made bad Occlumens due to the whole family's tendency to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

"Occlumency is the art of closing one's mind against anyone trying to read your thoughts," Professor Merrythought continued, clearly expecting the class' confusion. "It's a hard skill, one that not everyone can master, but it's something that I like all my NEWT students to have a good attempt at. But the intrusive nature of the Legilimens spell I have to use to open your minds means that it isn't suitable for the classroom. So once the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins have sorted themselves into groups then I'll give each group a time outside of lessons to come down to my office and we'll give it a go. There'll be plenty of camomile tea and calming draughts for anyone who needs them," she finished with a laugh.

As always, the Professor's sense of fun took away any apprehension Ro might have felt at getting her mind read. The lesson timetable was handed out during their next lesson, so Ro, Minerva, Poppy, and Irma all went down to her office during the one free period they all shared.

"Afternoon ladies, come in and sit down," Professor Merrythought called when Ro pushed open the door that had been left ajar, motioning towards the armchairs from where she was stood over a cauldron at the kitchenette.

Ro made herself comfy on one of the sofas, with Poppy and Minerva sitting down either side of her and Irma perching on the arm. That had become their usual seating arrangement when by the fireplace in the Common Room so Ro was amused to see them instinctively fall into the same arrangement even outside Gryffindor Tower.

The sound of heels clicking across the room brought Ro's attention back from where she'd been looking around the office. "Tea first, then we can get started," Professor Merrythought said, levitating a mug of camomile tea into each of their hands before sitting down opposite them. Ro had never been the greatest fan of either tea or coffee so just took a tentative sip, while tea enthusiast Poppy took her mug eagerly. After a moment of quiet Professor Merrythought asked "Is there anyone who would prefer to go first?"

"I don't mind," Ro said, shrugging her shoulders. She wasn't expecting to be very good at it, but she'd always been an open person so didn't have anything she desperately wanted to hide. Everyone in the room knew what her darkest moment in life had been and she trusted her Professor with the memory.

Professor Merrythought nodded. "Alright then Rolanda. Come and stand in the window facing me," she said, continuing on as Ro stood. "The biggest mistake people make when learning Occlumency is that they think actively about supressing their memories. And, as you can probably imagine, thinking about something makes it all the more obvious to the Legilimens! So just try to empty your mind instead, think about nothing. It's not as easy as it sounds."

"Got it," Ro said, closing her eyes and exhaling before she met Professor Merrythought's gaze.

"Ready?" she asked, and at Ro's nod she lifted her hand and wrist to touch her temples before she said "Legilimens."

Immediately Ro could feel an extra presence in her mind, as if her own conscience had been joined by a nosy friend. But rather than focus on that slightly odd sensation she tried to deliberately think about nothing, though every so often she'd see an image from her past flash behind her eyes as Professor Merrythought presumably found something else. The harder Ro tried to stop thinking about anything the more frequently the images came up, until she couldn't resist asking "What am I doing wrong?"

Professor Merrythought laughed, and Ro's shoulders relaxed as the connection was broken and she had her head to herself again. "You made the second biggest mistake – you were actively thinking about nothing. The trick is to not think at all, so when you tried harder to think of nothing you actually made it easier for me. But the positive is that you knew I was there straight away, so you'd always know if someone was trying to open your mind even if Occlumency isn't your strong suit."

"I guess that's a good thing," Ro shrugged, grinning at the Professor.

"It is," she agreed, "if you know someone's attempting Legilimency against you then you can do something about it. Knowledge is power."

Ro hummed in agreement. "My family have never made good Occlumens according to my brother so at least that's something."

"Well the Blacks have always been notably good at it so this should be interesting," Irma added dryly. If they had been anywhere else then Ro would have rebuked her for putting herself in the same category as Walburga, Orion, and Cygnus, but for the moment she only fixed Irma with a frown.

"In that case, would you like to go next?" Professor Merrythought asked.

Irma's wry smile fell at that, but she nodded and stood up all the same. Ro found herself nervous as she sat back down, and the worried look on Poppy's face told her that she shared the same feelings. No-one other than the three of them knew what Irma had endured during the summer, and unless Irma was as good as Occlumency as her maternal relatives were then they were risking someone else finding out.

As Professor Merrythought spoke the incantation, Ro's gaze nervously darted between her and Irma for the first sign that something had been let slip. Irma's face was the picture of serenity at first, and Professor Merrythought just looked as though she was concentrating from her slightly pinched brow. But then a flash of pain crossed Irma's expression, and the Professor's frown deepened into a look of true concern.

When Irma suddenly flinched at nothing, it was clear enough to Ro that she was having to relive the memory of what had happened through Professor Merrythought's probing. "Stop it!" she shouted, jumping up from the sofa and startling them both. "Please, don't make her go through that again!"

"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to see anything you weren't comfortable with," Professor Merrythought said, sounding shaken as she dropped her hand from her forehead.

Irma took a few stumbling steps backwards, and as Ro feared she flinched again when Minerva went to move towards her. "Sorry," she muttered, making a visible effort to let Minerva take her hands and sit her down.

Ro looked back over at Professor Merrythought as she sat down too, leaving her standing like a guard dog between them. The deathly silence continued a minute longer until the Professor said "I promise you I didn't try to find it. I wouldn't ever try and take advantage of anyone like that – I deliberately avoided any memories from two years ago when I was working with you, Rolanda, so you wouldn't have to relive that awful year. But the more you tried to supress the memory the more space it took up in your mind until it was all I could see." She looked upset enough that Ro believed her, dropping her defensive stance to sit back on the arm of the sofa.

Quiet fell again other than Irma's ragged breathing, until Professor Merrythought spoke again. "Irma, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need to be completely honest with me," she said, her voice firm yet gentle. "Was that your father I saw in your memory?"

Irma gave a slight nod.

A look of fury crossed Professor Merrythought's face, but unlike Ro had done that day she managed to disguise it under a look of practised calm. "Did he hurt you badly?"

Another tiny nod came from Irma, as if she thought that telling the truth to a member of staff would get her into trouble.

"It was the day of our OWL results, Professor," Poppy said, glancing over at Irma and waiting for her permission before she continued. "Ro and I were both at my house, and Irma arrived at my door after running away from home. She stayed with us until we came back to Hogwarts."

"I'm glad," Professor Merrythought murmured. Ro thought she looked tired suddenly, the same weary look in her eyes that had been there in the aftermath of the third Triwizard task. As if she was tired of not being able to protect the students who she obviously cared so much about. But then her eyes shot open and she continued with a certainty in her voice that told Ro before she'd even finished speaking that she'd put the pieces together. "You failed your Arithmancy exam, didn't you Irma? That despicable man thought he would punish you for shunning his legacy didn't he?"

Irma's eyes squeezed shut as she nodded, making Poppy and Minerva tighten their hold on each of her hands.

"Well, I'm sure your friends have told you this countless times my dear but please know that you did not deserve to be treated like that. Any worthy parent would be proud to have a daughter such as yourself, and if he dares to feel ashamed by you carving your own path in life then he doesn't deserve you."

Ro hummed in agreement at Professor Merrythought's gentle words, ever grateful for her support of Minerva and now Irma too. There were the beginnings of a smile on Irma's face as her teary eyes met the Professor's resolute gaze and she whispered a soft "Thank you."

There was quiet for a minute or so before Professor Merrythought spoke again, frowning slightly as she asked "Does your sister know?"

Irma shook her head, the look of slight panic returning to her face. "No," she said, "I didn't tell her before I ran away, I just left and didn't think of the consequences. And now I've got nothing to prove it, she'll never believe me and she'll never speak to me again."

Ro had been waiting for Professor Merrythought to protest Irma's statement, but once again she was surprised at the Professor's belief and understanding when she only asked "Do you want her to know the truth?"

"I haven't completely decided," Irma admitted, seeming calmer as Poppy rubbed soothing circles into her upper back and Minerva's hand lingered on her knee. Ro couldn't help feeling helpless from her position a few feet away but she trusted her friends to look after her. "I didn't at first. But I want her to understand I'm not making it up. Once she knows what really happened, then she can decide what she thinks of me."

"There may be a way to show her."

Ro's head whipped round to stare at the Professor, and in the corner of her eye she saw both Poppy and Minerva do the same.

"Hogwarts castle has something called a Pensieve," Professor Merrythought continued, her voice utterly serious. "It has been on the grounds since the school's founding, and has remained in every Headmaster and Headmistress' office ever since. It is a way of visualising memories so that they can be viewed by a third party."

Her words hung in the air, punctuated only by silence as Irma looked conflicted. Several moments passed before she lifted her head and said "I want to show her."

Ro's heart clenched nervously, and she glanced over at Professor Merrythought to see a similar look of concern etched into her features. "Are you sure, my dear?" she asked, "Please only do so if you want to do this for your own benefit, you don't need to prove anything to anyone."

Irma gave a firm nod, looking surer of anything since she'd turned up bruised on Poppy's doorstep three months ago. "Yes."


Author's Note:

When I starter writing this chapter it occurred to me that I haven't written a Quidditch match in almost exactly a year and a half! Chapter 46 was the last one which was completed at the very end of 2017. It was good to get back to the sporting antics, first with Ro's tryouts then with a match at long last. Plus we've introduced the two new members of the Quidditch team - Xander is the cheeky little brother of the team, a definite prodigy of Ernest in particular, while Verity is a real sweetheart who tries her hardest all the time and pretty much wants to be Minerva. I loved writing Ro's overprotective side come out around Verity and the image of her carrying Verity up to the Hospital Wing really made me smile.

And now two of our main six (sort of) are legal adults! They feel a million miles away from the 11 year olds who I first starting writing nearly 4 years ago. I thought long and hard about what birthday presents Ro would receive, and after a bit of research worked out that the first polaroid cameras were released in the UK earlier in 1947. The mentioned scrapbook will certainly become a thing, I've put together my own since coming to uni with my very modern polaroid camera and figured it would be something nice for the girls to do. I spent an age thinking about what Poppy could get her that was meaningful enough and think I settled on something good.

So Minerva's grief and Irma and Septima's issues continue throughout this chapter, and it was certainly odd to have Septima and Millicent completely missing from an entire chapter. And funnily enough we have the second chapter in a row ending in Professor Merrythought's office - wow she is a saint with looking after her students. I toyed with a few ideas of how to start mending the twins' feud and thought this was the most logical route, and it meant we got a nice Occlumency scene too. I know it wasn't on the curriculum in the 90's but what with Professor Merrythought being an actual competant DADA teacher (and an ex-Auror according to AYT canon now I think of it) I figured it might be something she'd try to teach.

Next chapter's a really fun one, but I have to write a 2000 word essay on treating vertebral fractures with stem cells for my end of year uni project before I can get moving with it! Considering my average chapter is 7000 words these days it doesn't feel too daunting but please send me all your writing vibes!
Until next time :)