Poppy POV (Before Dinner)

I quickly swept out of the twin's bedroom and down to hall to speak to Severus. I knocked on the door to his private potions lab and it immediately opened. Severus looked scared, almost.

" Is something wrong, Poppy?"

" No, of course not. Well, not exactly. You need to speak to those children of what they endured during their time with their family. Anne hugged me for a split second and then seemed to realize what she had done, she hopped away and looked like she was expecting a punishment. Those poor children have never had their own clothes before, their toys, they didn't even have toys at all." Severus sat politely, silent at his cauldron while I ranted. " Severus, I didn't think about it too harshly when it first happened, but Harry looked absolutely mortified when I suggested them getting a bath. You don't think their aunt and uncle . . . they couldn't have."

" We can only hope they didn't, Poppy. We won't know the full extent of the abuse until I speak to them, but I'm waiting for the proper moment."

(Present)

We sat in the Great Hall and continued to eat our dinner while receiving curious stares from the staff.

" Mr. Hagrid?" I asked shyly, trying to ignore all the eyes that looked to me when I spoke.

" Yes, Anne?" He asked, jumping at the excuse to talk to me.

" What kind of job do you have? Are you the gatekeeper? Madam Pomfrey told me that you were the gatekeeper, I think." Hagrid smiled merrily, " Aye! I'm the gatekeeper. What caused Madam Pomfrey to bring me up in conversation? Harry was absolutely fascinated when Madam Pomfrey was telling us about dragons she saw when she was young. She told us you know quite a lot about them and other animals." He seemed even more happy at the mention of dragons if that was even possible for him to look happier.

" Yea' I know all about them, dragons. Fascinating creatures, they are. I can see why you were so interested, Harry. You two should come down to my hut tomorrow and I can introduce you to some of my animals.

" Yes, please," Harry said to Hagrid, eager to see animals. I looked to Severus though,

" Can we, sir?" He looked down at me, smiled quickly and nodded.

POP! Winky the house elf appeared.

" Master Snape. You are needed immediately in Master Dumbledore's office!" The elf looked nervous. Severus looked apprehensive.

" Pomona, if you don't mind, can you deliver these two to my quarters after you finish dinner?" Pomona smiled warmly and agreed politely. " Do you two know the password?" We both shook our heads no. He was deep in thought for a moment. Probably trying to think of a way to let us know without telling the rest of the staff. " It's the family name of Andromeda."

" Yes, sir. Thank you." He gave me a curt nod and took the hand of the elf that was waiting rather impatiently. POP! And they were gone. Harry went back to eating his dinner happily, but I wasn't comfortable being here without Severus, Poppy, or Albus. I know Pomona, but I spoke to her for only a few minutes. Pomona, though I don't know her well seemed to sense my discomfort.

" Are you alright, Anne?" Pomona asked knowingly.

" Yes, ma'am. I'm just not hungry." I told her unconvincingly. Hagrid looked up from his large plate, " Ya' need to getta little meat yer bones, though. Yer thin as a stick."

" Hagrid!" Pomona looked shocked at his statement.

" Sorry, perfesser. Sorry, Anne." Hagrid said shyly

" It's quite alright, Mr. Hagrid. You didn't mean anything bad when you said it." I smiled at him to show I meant it. He grinned childishly back to me. Pomona dabbed her mouth and it seemed she was done with her meal, " Harry, dear, if you're done I'll take you two back to your rooms." Harry nodded and wiped his mouth. He hopped out of his chair, which was too tall for him. I followed his stance quickly. Pomona stood and bid her colleagues goodnight.

" See ye, tomorrow kids!" Hagrid yelled after us. I waved back at him.

" How was your visit to Diagon Alley today, children?" Pomona sweetly asked. She remind me a bit of Ms. Figg my kind, sweet, old neighbor who lives across the street from my aunt and uncle's house.

" It was so much fun! We went into Gringotts, which was a bit scary. There were so many goblins. Then we got ice cream! It was so good. Anne and I had never had ice cream before so the man told us a good flavor to pick. I think it was chocolate. Then Anne, Poppy, and I went into this other store and we picked out a bunch of clothes. She let us get a stuffed animal, too! Then we went to this book shop called Flourish and Blotts! We met a boy there. He was pretty stuck up. Then he got a little nicer once we talked to him a bit. Then Poppy retrieved us from the children's area and then we met Severus and Albus again." Pomona grinned at Harry's childish excitement.

" Ms. Pomona, do you know why Severus got called so urgently to Albus' office?"

" No, dear. Unfortunately I don't know why. But don't worry it's probably not that big of a deal." She told me unconvincingly. POP! The elf reappeared in front of.

" Missus Sprout, ma'am? Master Snape asks that you put the young Missus and Master to bed tonight as he is dealing with a rather pressing matter." The elf looked to us nervously, as did Pomona, " Yes, of course Winky. Come along, children." POP! She disappeared again. I want to know what's going on. Although I longed for answers, I didn't want to risk getting into trouble.

We came up to the portrait and I muttered 'Prince' under my breath and the door swung open. Harry and I walked inside while Pomona followed us rather sheepishly. I motioned for her to follow us down the dark hallway that led to our room. She seemed to understand an dkept following us. She looked around the living room curiously like she has never been in here before. I opened our bedroom door and the three of us slid in.

" Alright, you grab your nightwear out of your chest. Then go and brush your teeth. Do you want me to draw a bath for you two?" Harry immediately paled and started backing away.

" No ma'am. We already had our bath today." She looked at us suspiciously, but didn't question us further. She waved us on to get into our nightwear. I grabbed a green ruffled nightgown out of my drawer. Harry grabbed a blue and white striped pair of pajamas. We took turns going into the bathroom to change and brush our teeth. When I walked out of the loo I saw Harry getting our stuffed animals out of the chest. He handed me the teddy bear and I climbed into bed. Harry did the same. Pomona came up to both our beds, kissed us on the forehead, turned off the lights, and bid us a good night's rest. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber.