Disclaimer: See "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"
Disclaimer 2: Some of the scenes and lines come from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and I certainly do not own them
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Thank you for the reviews!
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 8: Poppy's breakdown and a picnic
"Bet I can still do my famous dive!" Athena heard Mandy shouted when she and Achilles came to the swimming pool after they had let Thunder to rest in his stable.
"What dive?" asked Athena and she raised one of her eyebrows as she examined Mandy, who was wearing a swimsuit and standing on a diving board, which was as high as the main house's roof, from head to toe.
"Ah, Athena, Achilles! You two are just in time for my famous dive!" shouted Mandy from the board.
"All right! GO MANDY!!" yelled Achilles back while Athena looked interested.
"Don't do it, Countess, the last time you did that, that........" Poppy paused, trying to find a word to describe Mandy's dive.
"Dangerous? Killer? Murderous?" suggested Mandy, grinning.
"Idiotic!" said Poppy suddenly.
"Whatever." said Mandy, waving her hand.
Minerva rolled her eyes and shook her head while Poppy cried, "You won't!"
Mandy turned around, back facing the pool and folded her arms.
"She would." said Georgia and put her glass of pumpkin juice down.
Mandy closed her eyes and silently counted. "One, two, three!"
She jumped off the board, did two somersaults in the air and as quick as lightning, unfolded her arms, closed her hands together and dived into the pool with a loud SPLASH.
Achilles and Athena clapped while Georgia said, "Not bad."
Poppy looked relaxed after she saw Mandy resurfaced. "Mandy, for the thousandth time, I beg you, don't do this kind of stunt again!" She shrieked.
Mandy wiped her wet face with her hand and looked at Poppy. "And for the thousandth time, I assure you that I won't die of this kind of thing." She gave Poppy a grin.
Poppy turned pale. "No, don't say that........" She started.
Athena looked at Achilles and her brother was as confused as she was.
"Oh no." whispered Minerva and Mandy's grin faded.
"I don't want to hear it........." said Poppy and sat down on a beach chair.
"Poppy, please don't........." began Georgia and Mandy got herself out of the pool.
Poppy shook her head, her eyes filled with a mixture with fear and sadness. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!" She screamed hysterically, covering her ears with her fists. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead against them. "I don't want to hear it........"
"Poppy, Poppy Darling, I am so sorry, I should not say that, I am an idiot to even add a grin to THAT sentence." said Mandy as she watched her friend sobbing, against her knees.
"He promised me that he would come back." said Poppy quietly.
"Empress, please! Get a hold of yourself! It's all right, I am here!" said Minerva gently.
Poppy lifted her head up and looked into Minerva's green eyes. She sniffed loudly as Minerva put her arms around her and hugged her. "It's all right." repeated Minerva and patted Poppy's head as she spoke.
Poppy cried against Minerva and Mandy said, "Sorry Poppy, I promise you that I won't do this stupid stunt again."
Now Athena knew why Mandy didn't do this dive whenever they were at the pool in the future.
"What is going on?" whispered Achilles to Georgia.
"We lost a great friend of ours 30 years ago and............." started Georgia when Minerva said sharply, "Hold your tongue, Duchess!"
Georgia shut up.
"What, what about this friend......." began Achilles and went silent when he saw his mother glaring at him.
"Poppy, are you okay now?" asked Minerva and released her Hogwarts Sister.
Poppy had quieted down, but she was still weeping. Silently, she shook her head. "May I take my leave? I need a rest." She mumbled.
"Go ahead, that is why we have this do-everything-you-want day." said Minerva.
"All of you just go ahead and do your stuff, don't worry about me, I'm fine." said Poppy weakly. She stood up, looking as pale as ghost and just walked past her friends and the Dumbledore children. Achilles and Athena continued to watch as Poppy climbed tiredly up the stairs that led to the second floor and out of sight.
Silence.
"Picnic, anyone?" suggested Georgia timidly.
"Hm, sure." replied Minerva. "Achilles, why don't you and Athena go and grab the picnic basket from the kitchen and get some apples from the garden?"
"Err, okay." said Achilles and took Athena's hand. "Come on, Sis." He said and the both of them left quickly.
***
When they had left, the Hogwarts Sisters were silent. Minerva gave Mandy a stare.
"I'm sorry, I just said that without even thinking." said Mandy, with her head low.
"It's not your fault." said Minerva, sighed loudly and fell back against her chair.
***
"That one, over here."
"Where?"
"There, near that thick branch."
"Athena, there's a lot of thick branches here, which one are you talking about?"
"The one nearest to your right."
"Oh! That one!" said Achilles and leaning forward as far as possible to get the apple.
"Careful!" called Athena from below, the basket hanging on her arm.
"Got it!" said Achilles, showing Athena the big juicy apple and handed it to her.
"You know Minerva? I think Athena and Achilles are looking more and more like you and Albus." said Mandy as the Hogwarts Sisters (minus Poppy) sat on a big blanket together. Georgia started to put snacks and drinks on it.
Minerva just smiled and called, "Children, that's enough apples for the day! Come here for your sandwiches!"
"All right, sandwiches!" said Achilles and climbed down the tree. He and Athena jogged to their mother and sat down while Mandy and Georgia stood up.
"Well, we better go and let you three to enjoy." said Georgia.
"Duchess, I thought you want a picnic." said Minerva, surprised.
"Change my mind." said Georgia shortly. "See you."
After they had left, Minerva handed Achilles an egg and ham sandwich. "Here you go, Achilles, it is your favourite, right?"
"Mom, you know me the best." Achilles grinned and took his food. "The Muggles are so good at inventing food."
"Athena, I remember that you like black pepper bacon with egg sandwich so here it is........." She gave Athena hers.
Athena took it and gave Minerva a mischievous grin. "Thanks, Minerva."
"Don't you call me that." said Minerva, frowning. "This is 1983, not 1950. One more time I hear you talking like that......."
"Or you will report my ass?" asked Athena, remembering what Minerva said about Mandy's smoking 33 years ago in the Gryffindor common room.
"Oh great." Minerva muttered.
"Oh, that reminds me, Mom, I saw Sirius and James hugging each other outside the common room today." said Achilles after he had swallowed his food.
"So?" asked Minerva and took a bite on her apple.
"And kissing. Intimately."
Minerva nearly choked her piece of apple. "WHAT?!"
"And Remus and Peter were there, laughing like hell." added Athena. "If they didn't see us, I swear that they will go further."
"Outside the common room?!" shrieked Minerva. "In broad daylight?"
Achilles and Athena looked at each other and nodded.
"Did any Slytherin see them?"
Both of them shook their heads. "At least I think so." said Achilles.
"Didn't Lupin stop them? He is a prefect!"
"I told you, he and Peter just stood there, laughing." said Athena.
"I told them I will ask you to take away 30 points from Gryffindor for such disgusting behaviour........" started Achilles and Minerva looked at him in horror.
"30?!" She demanded.
"Each." said Achilles quickly. "That makes 120 points."
"That is not enough." said Minerva and Achilles and Athena raised their eyebrows. "I have to take 20 more points from Lupin and Pettigrew each for not stopping Black and Potter."
"Doesn't that make........." started Athena.
"That's right, 160 points." said Minerva and took another bite from her apple.
"So much of winning the House Cup this year." said Athena to her brother.
"That is the only way for them to learn." said Minerva firmly. She just swallowed her piece when she saw Dumbledore walking towards them. "Ah, here comes your father!"
"Hi Dad!" shouted Achilles and Athena and waved.
"Have a biscuit, Albus." said Minerva as Dumbledore sat down beside Athena, she leaned forward and neatly put a small biscuit into her husband's mouth.
Dumbledore grinned. "I feel like Mr. Lowther in the Muggle movie "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"."
"That is different, Mr. Lowther and Miss Brodie aren't married, but we are." said Minerva.
"Athena, that's mine!" cried Achilles as Athena reached out and took a chocolate doughnut.
"I saw it first!" said Athena and struck out her tongue at her brother.
"And," continued Minerva, put her arms around her two children and pulled them close, "these are our children, not just students. They are our crème de la crème."
"Right." said Dumbledore, smiling.
***
Poppy was watching the whole scene from her room. She blinked away her tears and reached quickly for a box of tissue. She took one and wiped her tears, wishing that she could be just like Minerva, a strong woman with a wonderful family and a loving husband.
But she knew that the wish would never come true.
Disclaimer 2: Some of the scenes and lines come from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and I certainly do not own them
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.
Note: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.
Thank you for the reviews!
Rated PG-13 for content
Chapter 8: Poppy's breakdown and a picnic
"Bet I can still do my famous dive!" Athena heard Mandy shouted when she and Achilles came to the swimming pool after they had let Thunder to rest in his stable.
"What dive?" asked Athena and she raised one of her eyebrows as she examined Mandy, who was wearing a swimsuit and standing on a diving board, which was as high as the main house's roof, from head to toe.
"Ah, Athena, Achilles! You two are just in time for my famous dive!" shouted Mandy from the board.
"All right! GO MANDY!!" yelled Achilles back while Athena looked interested.
"Don't do it, Countess, the last time you did that, that........" Poppy paused, trying to find a word to describe Mandy's dive.
"Dangerous? Killer? Murderous?" suggested Mandy, grinning.
"Idiotic!" said Poppy suddenly.
"Whatever." said Mandy, waving her hand.
Minerva rolled her eyes and shook her head while Poppy cried, "You won't!"
Mandy turned around, back facing the pool and folded her arms.
"She would." said Georgia and put her glass of pumpkin juice down.
Mandy closed her eyes and silently counted. "One, two, three!"
She jumped off the board, did two somersaults in the air and as quick as lightning, unfolded her arms, closed her hands together and dived into the pool with a loud SPLASH.
Achilles and Athena clapped while Georgia said, "Not bad."
Poppy looked relaxed after she saw Mandy resurfaced. "Mandy, for the thousandth time, I beg you, don't do this kind of stunt again!" She shrieked.
Mandy wiped her wet face with her hand and looked at Poppy. "And for the thousandth time, I assure you that I won't die of this kind of thing." She gave Poppy a grin.
Poppy turned pale. "No, don't say that........" She started.
Athena looked at Achilles and her brother was as confused as she was.
"Oh no." whispered Minerva and Mandy's grin faded.
"I don't want to hear it........." said Poppy and sat down on a beach chair.
"Poppy, please don't........." began Georgia and Mandy got herself out of the pool.
Poppy shook her head, her eyes filled with a mixture with fear and sadness. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!" She screamed hysterically, covering her ears with her fists. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead against them. "I don't want to hear it........"
"Poppy, Poppy Darling, I am so sorry, I should not say that, I am an idiot to even add a grin to THAT sentence." said Mandy as she watched her friend sobbing, against her knees.
"He promised me that he would come back." said Poppy quietly.
"Empress, please! Get a hold of yourself! It's all right, I am here!" said Minerva gently.
Poppy lifted her head up and looked into Minerva's green eyes. She sniffed loudly as Minerva put her arms around her and hugged her. "It's all right." repeated Minerva and patted Poppy's head as she spoke.
Poppy cried against Minerva and Mandy said, "Sorry Poppy, I promise you that I won't do this stupid stunt again."
Now Athena knew why Mandy didn't do this dive whenever they were at the pool in the future.
"What is going on?" whispered Achilles to Georgia.
"We lost a great friend of ours 30 years ago and............." started Georgia when Minerva said sharply, "Hold your tongue, Duchess!"
Georgia shut up.
"What, what about this friend......." began Achilles and went silent when he saw his mother glaring at him.
"Poppy, are you okay now?" asked Minerva and released her Hogwarts Sister.
Poppy had quieted down, but she was still weeping. Silently, she shook her head. "May I take my leave? I need a rest." She mumbled.
"Go ahead, that is why we have this do-everything-you-want day." said Minerva.
"All of you just go ahead and do your stuff, don't worry about me, I'm fine." said Poppy weakly. She stood up, looking as pale as ghost and just walked past her friends and the Dumbledore children. Achilles and Athena continued to watch as Poppy climbed tiredly up the stairs that led to the second floor and out of sight.
Silence.
"Picnic, anyone?" suggested Georgia timidly.
"Hm, sure." replied Minerva. "Achilles, why don't you and Athena go and grab the picnic basket from the kitchen and get some apples from the garden?"
"Err, okay." said Achilles and took Athena's hand. "Come on, Sis." He said and the both of them left quickly.
***
When they had left, the Hogwarts Sisters were silent. Minerva gave Mandy a stare.
"I'm sorry, I just said that without even thinking." said Mandy, with her head low.
"It's not your fault." said Minerva, sighed loudly and fell back against her chair.
***
"That one, over here."
"Where?"
"There, near that thick branch."
"Athena, there's a lot of thick branches here, which one are you talking about?"
"The one nearest to your right."
"Oh! That one!" said Achilles and leaning forward as far as possible to get the apple.
"Careful!" called Athena from below, the basket hanging on her arm.
"Got it!" said Achilles, showing Athena the big juicy apple and handed it to her.
"You know Minerva? I think Athena and Achilles are looking more and more like you and Albus." said Mandy as the Hogwarts Sisters (minus Poppy) sat on a big blanket together. Georgia started to put snacks and drinks on it.
Minerva just smiled and called, "Children, that's enough apples for the day! Come here for your sandwiches!"
"All right, sandwiches!" said Achilles and climbed down the tree. He and Athena jogged to their mother and sat down while Mandy and Georgia stood up.
"Well, we better go and let you three to enjoy." said Georgia.
"Duchess, I thought you want a picnic." said Minerva, surprised.
"Change my mind." said Georgia shortly. "See you."
After they had left, Minerva handed Achilles an egg and ham sandwich. "Here you go, Achilles, it is your favourite, right?"
"Mom, you know me the best." Achilles grinned and took his food. "The Muggles are so good at inventing food."
"Athena, I remember that you like black pepper bacon with egg sandwich so here it is........." She gave Athena hers.
Athena took it and gave Minerva a mischievous grin. "Thanks, Minerva."
"Don't you call me that." said Minerva, frowning. "This is 1983, not 1950. One more time I hear you talking like that......."
"Or you will report my ass?" asked Athena, remembering what Minerva said about Mandy's smoking 33 years ago in the Gryffindor common room.
"Oh great." Minerva muttered.
"Oh, that reminds me, Mom, I saw Sirius and James hugging each other outside the common room today." said Achilles after he had swallowed his food.
"So?" asked Minerva and took a bite on her apple.
"And kissing. Intimately."
Minerva nearly choked her piece of apple. "WHAT?!"
"And Remus and Peter were there, laughing like hell." added Athena. "If they didn't see us, I swear that they will go further."
"Outside the common room?!" shrieked Minerva. "In broad daylight?"
Achilles and Athena looked at each other and nodded.
"Did any Slytherin see them?"
Both of them shook their heads. "At least I think so." said Achilles.
"Didn't Lupin stop them? He is a prefect!"
"I told you, he and Peter just stood there, laughing." said Athena.
"I told them I will ask you to take away 30 points from Gryffindor for such disgusting behaviour........" started Achilles and Minerva looked at him in horror.
"30?!" She demanded.
"Each." said Achilles quickly. "That makes 120 points."
"That is not enough." said Minerva and Achilles and Athena raised their eyebrows. "I have to take 20 more points from Lupin and Pettigrew each for not stopping Black and Potter."
"Doesn't that make........." started Athena.
"That's right, 160 points." said Minerva and took another bite from her apple.
"So much of winning the House Cup this year." said Athena to her brother.
"That is the only way for them to learn." said Minerva firmly. She just swallowed her piece when she saw Dumbledore walking towards them. "Ah, here comes your father!"
"Hi Dad!" shouted Achilles and Athena and waved.
"Have a biscuit, Albus." said Minerva as Dumbledore sat down beside Athena, she leaned forward and neatly put a small biscuit into her husband's mouth.
Dumbledore grinned. "I feel like Mr. Lowther in the Muggle movie "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"."
"That is different, Mr. Lowther and Miss Brodie aren't married, but we are." said Minerva.
"Athena, that's mine!" cried Achilles as Athena reached out and took a chocolate doughnut.
"I saw it first!" said Athena and struck out her tongue at her brother.
"And," continued Minerva, put her arms around her two children and pulled them close, "these are our children, not just students. They are our crème de la crème."
"Right." said Dumbledore, smiling.
***
Poppy was watching the whole scene from her room. She blinked away her tears and reached quickly for a box of tissue. She took one and wiped her tears, wishing that she could be just like Minerva, a strong woman with a wonderful family and a loving husband.
But she knew that the wish would never come true.
