That morning had started out rather slow. The wing had been remarkably
quiet. A little too quiet for Poppy's liking. In any case, she simply
sighed and went about her duties shifting the contents of her cabinet to
accommodate the new shipment of Pepperup Potions. She soon finished up the
task and was clearing away some odds and ends in her office when she heard
the door open.
Turning around she found Pomona and Celene, both looking very much amused at something. "Poppy, you won't believe what our new Defense professor did earlier today!" Celene gushed, her bright blue eyes sparkling. Poppy blinked and watched her two friends exchange Cheshire cat smiles. Now Poppy was even more intrigued and confused. "What's happened?" Poppy asked, sitting down and gesturing for the two of them to do the same.
"Remus had the third year Gryffindors today. He'd taken them to the staff room for a practical lesson on boggarts." Pomona explained, laughing a little as she spoke. She and Celene exchanged another glance and promptly snickered as if they were sharing a private joke. However, Poppy wasn't laughing. Boggarts were not necessarily a laughing matter. The fact that they are the embodiment of one's deepest fear is definitely not a laughing matter. Though, she trusted that Remus being a very responsible man and professor would have explained in detail the nature of the boggart and how to defeat them. As such, she waited patiently for her two friends to explain what was so humorous about his taking the third years to work on the boggart.
A moment later they'd managed to control their laughter and with a twitchy smile on her face, Pomona told her what they were on about. "Well once they were in the room, each student was given a chance to have at the boggart. I've had it that Mr. Longbottom was the first one to face the it and as such it took on the form of Severus, since he is what the young boy truly fears. To put it simply-" Pomona explained just as Celene interrupted her with a smirk on her face. "He'd dressed the boggart in his grandmother's clothes! Green dress, vulture hat, fox fur, and red hand bag that completes the ensemble!" She snorted quietly, succumbing to silent laughter.
It was too rich. Severus Snape decked out in witch wear! Truly, not something you'd see everyday! She couldn't help it, really. Poppy burst out laughing with her two friends, finally knowing the reason for their good humor. "The whole class has been talking of nothing else! I've hear it from them as I just had them in class not twenty minutes ago." Pomona chuckled, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright with mirth. Poppy could only just imagine. Stories like that were prone to be talked off and made to spread like wildfire.
"Wait 'til the overgrown bat hears about this! He'll be vexed something awful!" Celene guffawed, a wicked expression forming on her pert face. "Celene! That wasn't kind." Poppy chastised her through her own mirth. Celene smirked and turned up her nose. "You know I'm only teasing, Poppy, but really he'll be more than vexed at Remus. Merlin knows there no love lost between those two." The Astronomy professor responded.
Celene didn't even know the half of it, Poppy thought, sobering a little. Severus would indeed be more than vexed when he catches wind of it. Suddenly the whole thing went from being amusing to being serious, in Poppy's mind. She knew that no matter how much Severus may hate or despise someone he would take heed from Albus and would at least control his anger. She knew that Severus was the one brewing the Wolfsbane for Remus and that he wouldn't poison Remus or refuse to brew the potion, not when Albus requested it. Yet... she worried anyway. It didn't give her any piece of mind either, to know that one student's greatest and most deepest fear was Severus Snape himself...
Soon she realized that she'd been too quiet. The two had ceased their merriment and were glancing at her curiously. "Poppy are you not diverted by this? Something the matter?" Pomona asked her, sitting a little forward in her seat. She didn't like how pale her friend the mediwitch had gone. Celene too, was glancing a bit concernedly. "Indeed! It was certainly amusing. I'd just gotten to thinking a bit. Pray forgive me." Poppy explained, smiling a little.
"You're always thinking. Dratted Ravenclaw trait of yours." Pomona jested, rising from her seat. Celene swatted the back of Pomona's hand with her sleeve, with an expression of mock offense. "It's only dratted to you because you didn't have the privilege to be in Ravenclaw house you overgrown badger!" She teased in likewise manner. "Well who wanted to be in a house with an underfed bird as their mascot?" Pomona returned smiling cheekily. Poppy shook her head, smiling at her two friends. "Talk about your inter-house rivalry." She commented dryly, rising as well, and for the third time during the conversation they burst fourth with gales of laughter.
Pomona moved toward the door with Celene behind her. "Ah yes, our only sport in life: to make jest of each other's prospective houses." She smiled. Poppy nodded and thought to herself that none could truly personify this as well as Rolanda. She laughed a little at the thought of it and wondered what good natured insults the flying instructor would have put forth had she been there.
"We'd best be going. I've a class in half an hour and Celene will make it her personal mission to find Rolanda and tell her what we've told you." Pomona spoke up and waved away the mock glare that Celene had given her. Poppy nodded and walked them to the door. "We'll talk at dinner. Good day to you both." She smiled warmly and watched them walk down the corridor chatting away amicably.
As she went back to her organizing of the wing the thought suddenly hit her, Pomona had said each student had been given a chance to battle with the boggart. That meant that Harry had faced his deepest fear too. She could just imagine the scene in the classroom, Voldemort suddenly appearing before the boy. The thought chilled her deeply. Sitting down heavily she suddenly thought to herself that if that had been the case, surely it would have been talked about. Pomona had not indicated anything of the sort, but did that necessarily mean it had not happened?
Mayhap the students hadn't spoken about it, or were too frightened too. Still, that did not make much sense. Even if something frightened them, the students usually talked a mile a minute about such things after it happened. Why then had none spoken about it? Was she just making a mountain out of a mole hill as the American expression went?
Frustrated with her overly fussing tendencies she rose from her seat and set about cleaning ccompulsively and when she found there was naught much else to clean she conjured up her sketch pad and lead bits and began to sketch feverishly. She didn't sketch anything in particular, just the various scenes or thoughts in her mind. She sketched until her hand grew cramped, at which point she laid her sketch pad down.
Glancing out the window to see the golden afternoon waning, she thought to herself the only way she'd feel any better that day was to speak with Remus. She had to know for herself what had happened in class, concerning Harry. She wanted to know that nothing had been amiss. Though, she had to admit to herself that she wanted to see Remus. She worried steadily for him. Despite his kind smiles and warm gentility there were always shadows under his eyes and she knew the various reasons for it. She always made a point of sending up warm soup and tea, among her other forms of fussing.
Vanishing her sketch pad and rising from her seat she nodded to herself. She was going to pay a visit to Remus that evening and get some answers. She would know what had passed in the classroom and she would also make sure for herself that Remus was all right. At these thoughts, she saw him in her mind's eye...
"Si seulement..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As she'd planned to, later that evening Poppy left the hospital wing. It was a quarter to dinner as she made her way up the stairs and down the long corridor. She passed the Grey Lady and smiled in greeting but did not stop to say a word. Reaching the door to his office, Poppy knocked smartly and waited patiently as she always did. She didn't tap her heals as Rolanda would nor did she shift her weight from either leg to lean to one side with her arms crossed as Irma would. She merely stood and waited.
A moment or two later the door opened and Remus stood before her. Her heart skipped a beat. He smiled a kind smile. "Good evening, Poppy." He gestured for her to come inside and moved aside to let her enter. She moved into the room and cast a cursory glance around the room. It certainly suited Remus. There were various specimens he'd managed to procure for his third year classes and two bookshelves full of the appropriate readings for his subject. Everything was neat and orderly, even the contents on the cherry wood desk. The room whispered his name, quite literally.
He turned to her then. "To what do I owe the privilege of your visit?" He asked, his grey green eyes a little curious. He motioned for her to sit herself down on the chaise. He sat down as well, conjuring up two glasses of gillywater for the two of them. She smiled a little, amused that he remembered she quite liked gillywater some of the time. "It's silly really, but I heard about the third year Gryffindors practical lesson with you today." She let her eyes meet his. "I wanted to know whether or not Mr. Potter had participated in this."
Poppy sipped from her glass and awaited his response. She took the opportunity to watch him a moment or two as he gathered his thoughts. He was wearing shabby but neat robes of the deepest grey that fit his lean frame quite nicely. His prematurely greying tawny colored hair was combed back in a simple and natural way and his grey green eyes were thoughtful.
"No, Mr. Potter did not participate, Poppy. He answered my questions, however." Remus replied, also sipping from his glass. She nodded her head, and knew instinctively that Remus had wisely decided to not give the boy the chance. Even if it was just a boggart, what would have happened if it had changed it's form to appear as Voldemort? Panic and chaos, she wagered.
Now it was his turn to glance at her. "This was the only thing you wished to ask?" He inquired of her. In her mind's eye she suddenly saw Severus Snape dressed in witch wear and remembered the other thing she'd wished to speak with him about. "I'd also heard about Mr. Longbottom's turn with the boggart..." her voice trailed off as she recalled her worry. "Has Severus spoken to you about it?" She managed to ask him.
He barely quirked up an eyebrow, that small kind smile playing upon his lips. "No he has not. Why do you ask?" He responded with a question of his own. How to answer that, Poppy wondered. It would not do to tell him of her worries for him. It was her secret. "I had just wondered if he'd said something snide to you about it." She said, wondering if he noticed how phony that sounded.
Remus looked at her a moment, the expression in his eyes telling her that he wasn't entirely convinced, however he nodded his head and let it be. "So tell me, how are you enjoying being a professor here, Remus?" Poppy asked conversationally, finishing her gillywater. She vanished the glass and sat back a little, quite comfortable on the chaise.
"I quite like it. I don't know which is more fulfilling, the knowledge I am imparting or watching the students learn and grow." He told her, tilting his head slightly with a very contented expression on his face. He should wear that expression more often, Poppy thought to herself. It suits him quite nicely and made him look quite ten years younger.
She rested back against the chaise. "That's wonderful, Remus. I'm glad you're enjoying your position here. It's been lovely to have you as part of our staff." She smiled a sincere smile. He smiled back. "I'm more than glad to be here." It almost seemed like he had been about to say something more, but he didn't.
Instead he rose from his seat. "Poppy, I do believe we'll be late for dinner. Let's go down, shall we?" Remus asked, giving her his hand to help her up from her seat. She took his hand and stood to find their faces suddenly inches apart. Her grey eyes met his grey green ones, her hand still within his. Time seemed to stop and that moment lengthened. How could he not hear her heart pounding?
She slowly withdrew her hand from his and averted her eyes. "Yes, let us go or we'll be late." She murmured. He nodded and opened the door, holding it open for her. Smiling a tiny smile, she went ahead of him and waited. They then walked down to the Great Hall together, her steps perfectly in time to his.
Passing down the main stairwell they entered the Great Hall together and went forward to their prospective seats in the Great Hall. Glancing to her right she noticed that Albus was speaking to Minvera. Actually it seemed he was sharing a joke or anecdote, because Minerva's lips were barely curved into a smile. Poppy watched the two of them. She knew they had a special relationship. It was in their voices when they spoke and in their easy friendship. It didn't matter that Minerva had never indicated anything of the kind, and neither had Albus. Poppy simply knew. She then wondered if Albus and Minerva could have a special understanding in spite of their great age difference, then why could she not as well?
"Si seulement..."
Turning around she found Pomona and Celene, both looking very much amused at something. "Poppy, you won't believe what our new Defense professor did earlier today!" Celene gushed, her bright blue eyes sparkling. Poppy blinked and watched her two friends exchange Cheshire cat smiles. Now Poppy was even more intrigued and confused. "What's happened?" Poppy asked, sitting down and gesturing for the two of them to do the same.
"Remus had the third year Gryffindors today. He'd taken them to the staff room for a practical lesson on boggarts." Pomona explained, laughing a little as she spoke. She and Celene exchanged another glance and promptly snickered as if they were sharing a private joke. However, Poppy wasn't laughing. Boggarts were not necessarily a laughing matter. The fact that they are the embodiment of one's deepest fear is definitely not a laughing matter. Though, she trusted that Remus being a very responsible man and professor would have explained in detail the nature of the boggart and how to defeat them. As such, she waited patiently for her two friends to explain what was so humorous about his taking the third years to work on the boggart.
A moment later they'd managed to control their laughter and with a twitchy smile on her face, Pomona told her what they were on about. "Well once they were in the room, each student was given a chance to have at the boggart. I've had it that Mr. Longbottom was the first one to face the it and as such it took on the form of Severus, since he is what the young boy truly fears. To put it simply-" Pomona explained just as Celene interrupted her with a smirk on her face. "He'd dressed the boggart in his grandmother's clothes! Green dress, vulture hat, fox fur, and red hand bag that completes the ensemble!" She snorted quietly, succumbing to silent laughter.
It was too rich. Severus Snape decked out in witch wear! Truly, not something you'd see everyday! She couldn't help it, really. Poppy burst out laughing with her two friends, finally knowing the reason for their good humor. "The whole class has been talking of nothing else! I've hear it from them as I just had them in class not twenty minutes ago." Pomona chuckled, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright with mirth. Poppy could only just imagine. Stories like that were prone to be talked off and made to spread like wildfire.
"Wait 'til the overgrown bat hears about this! He'll be vexed something awful!" Celene guffawed, a wicked expression forming on her pert face. "Celene! That wasn't kind." Poppy chastised her through her own mirth. Celene smirked and turned up her nose. "You know I'm only teasing, Poppy, but really he'll be more than vexed at Remus. Merlin knows there no love lost between those two." The Astronomy professor responded.
Celene didn't even know the half of it, Poppy thought, sobering a little. Severus would indeed be more than vexed when he catches wind of it. Suddenly the whole thing went from being amusing to being serious, in Poppy's mind. She knew that no matter how much Severus may hate or despise someone he would take heed from Albus and would at least control his anger. She knew that Severus was the one brewing the Wolfsbane for Remus and that he wouldn't poison Remus or refuse to brew the potion, not when Albus requested it. Yet... she worried anyway. It didn't give her any piece of mind either, to know that one student's greatest and most deepest fear was Severus Snape himself...
Soon she realized that she'd been too quiet. The two had ceased their merriment and were glancing at her curiously. "Poppy are you not diverted by this? Something the matter?" Pomona asked her, sitting a little forward in her seat. She didn't like how pale her friend the mediwitch had gone. Celene too, was glancing a bit concernedly. "Indeed! It was certainly amusing. I'd just gotten to thinking a bit. Pray forgive me." Poppy explained, smiling a little.
"You're always thinking. Dratted Ravenclaw trait of yours." Pomona jested, rising from her seat. Celene swatted the back of Pomona's hand with her sleeve, with an expression of mock offense. "It's only dratted to you because you didn't have the privilege to be in Ravenclaw house you overgrown badger!" She teased in likewise manner. "Well who wanted to be in a house with an underfed bird as their mascot?" Pomona returned smiling cheekily. Poppy shook her head, smiling at her two friends. "Talk about your inter-house rivalry." She commented dryly, rising as well, and for the third time during the conversation they burst fourth with gales of laughter.
Pomona moved toward the door with Celene behind her. "Ah yes, our only sport in life: to make jest of each other's prospective houses." She smiled. Poppy nodded and thought to herself that none could truly personify this as well as Rolanda. She laughed a little at the thought of it and wondered what good natured insults the flying instructor would have put forth had she been there.
"We'd best be going. I've a class in half an hour and Celene will make it her personal mission to find Rolanda and tell her what we've told you." Pomona spoke up and waved away the mock glare that Celene had given her. Poppy nodded and walked them to the door. "We'll talk at dinner. Good day to you both." She smiled warmly and watched them walk down the corridor chatting away amicably.
As she went back to her organizing of the wing the thought suddenly hit her, Pomona had said each student had been given a chance to battle with the boggart. That meant that Harry had faced his deepest fear too. She could just imagine the scene in the classroom, Voldemort suddenly appearing before the boy. The thought chilled her deeply. Sitting down heavily she suddenly thought to herself that if that had been the case, surely it would have been talked about. Pomona had not indicated anything of the sort, but did that necessarily mean it had not happened?
Mayhap the students hadn't spoken about it, or were too frightened too. Still, that did not make much sense. Even if something frightened them, the students usually talked a mile a minute about such things after it happened. Why then had none spoken about it? Was she just making a mountain out of a mole hill as the American expression went?
Frustrated with her overly fussing tendencies she rose from her seat and set about cleaning ccompulsively and when she found there was naught much else to clean she conjured up her sketch pad and lead bits and began to sketch feverishly. She didn't sketch anything in particular, just the various scenes or thoughts in her mind. She sketched until her hand grew cramped, at which point she laid her sketch pad down.
Glancing out the window to see the golden afternoon waning, she thought to herself the only way she'd feel any better that day was to speak with Remus. She had to know for herself what had happened in class, concerning Harry. She wanted to know that nothing had been amiss. Though, she had to admit to herself that she wanted to see Remus. She worried steadily for him. Despite his kind smiles and warm gentility there were always shadows under his eyes and she knew the various reasons for it. She always made a point of sending up warm soup and tea, among her other forms of fussing.
Vanishing her sketch pad and rising from her seat she nodded to herself. She was going to pay a visit to Remus that evening and get some answers. She would know what had passed in the classroom and she would also make sure for herself that Remus was all right. At these thoughts, she saw him in her mind's eye...
"Si seulement..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As she'd planned to, later that evening Poppy left the hospital wing. It was a quarter to dinner as she made her way up the stairs and down the long corridor. She passed the Grey Lady and smiled in greeting but did not stop to say a word. Reaching the door to his office, Poppy knocked smartly and waited patiently as she always did. She didn't tap her heals as Rolanda would nor did she shift her weight from either leg to lean to one side with her arms crossed as Irma would. She merely stood and waited.
A moment or two later the door opened and Remus stood before her. Her heart skipped a beat. He smiled a kind smile. "Good evening, Poppy." He gestured for her to come inside and moved aside to let her enter. She moved into the room and cast a cursory glance around the room. It certainly suited Remus. There were various specimens he'd managed to procure for his third year classes and two bookshelves full of the appropriate readings for his subject. Everything was neat and orderly, even the contents on the cherry wood desk. The room whispered his name, quite literally.
He turned to her then. "To what do I owe the privilege of your visit?" He asked, his grey green eyes a little curious. He motioned for her to sit herself down on the chaise. He sat down as well, conjuring up two glasses of gillywater for the two of them. She smiled a little, amused that he remembered she quite liked gillywater some of the time. "It's silly really, but I heard about the third year Gryffindors practical lesson with you today." She let her eyes meet his. "I wanted to know whether or not Mr. Potter had participated in this."
Poppy sipped from her glass and awaited his response. She took the opportunity to watch him a moment or two as he gathered his thoughts. He was wearing shabby but neat robes of the deepest grey that fit his lean frame quite nicely. His prematurely greying tawny colored hair was combed back in a simple and natural way and his grey green eyes were thoughtful.
"No, Mr. Potter did not participate, Poppy. He answered my questions, however." Remus replied, also sipping from his glass. She nodded her head, and knew instinctively that Remus had wisely decided to not give the boy the chance. Even if it was just a boggart, what would have happened if it had changed it's form to appear as Voldemort? Panic and chaos, she wagered.
Now it was his turn to glance at her. "This was the only thing you wished to ask?" He inquired of her. In her mind's eye she suddenly saw Severus Snape dressed in witch wear and remembered the other thing she'd wished to speak with him about. "I'd also heard about Mr. Longbottom's turn with the boggart..." her voice trailed off as she recalled her worry. "Has Severus spoken to you about it?" She managed to ask him.
He barely quirked up an eyebrow, that small kind smile playing upon his lips. "No he has not. Why do you ask?" He responded with a question of his own. How to answer that, Poppy wondered. It would not do to tell him of her worries for him. It was her secret. "I had just wondered if he'd said something snide to you about it." She said, wondering if he noticed how phony that sounded.
Remus looked at her a moment, the expression in his eyes telling her that he wasn't entirely convinced, however he nodded his head and let it be. "So tell me, how are you enjoying being a professor here, Remus?" Poppy asked conversationally, finishing her gillywater. She vanished the glass and sat back a little, quite comfortable on the chaise.
"I quite like it. I don't know which is more fulfilling, the knowledge I am imparting or watching the students learn and grow." He told her, tilting his head slightly with a very contented expression on his face. He should wear that expression more often, Poppy thought to herself. It suits him quite nicely and made him look quite ten years younger.
She rested back against the chaise. "That's wonderful, Remus. I'm glad you're enjoying your position here. It's been lovely to have you as part of our staff." She smiled a sincere smile. He smiled back. "I'm more than glad to be here." It almost seemed like he had been about to say something more, but he didn't.
Instead he rose from his seat. "Poppy, I do believe we'll be late for dinner. Let's go down, shall we?" Remus asked, giving her his hand to help her up from her seat. She took his hand and stood to find their faces suddenly inches apart. Her grey eyes met his grey green ones, her hand still within his. Time seemed to stop and that moment lengthened. How could he not hear her heart pounding?
She slowly withdrew her hand from his and averted her eyes. "Yes, let us go or we'll be late." She murmured. He nodded and opened the door, holding it open for her. Smiling a tiny smile, she went ahead of him and waited. They then walked down to the Great Hall together, her steps perfectly in time to his.
Passing down the main stairwell they entered the Great Hall together and went forward to their prospective seats in the Great Hall. Glancing to her right she noticed that Albus was speaking to Minvera. Actually it seemed he was sharing a joke or anecdote, because Minerva's lips were barely curved into a smile. Poppy watched the two of them. She knew they had a special relationship. It was in their voices when they spoke and in their easy friendship. It didn't matter that Minerva had never indicated anything of the kind, and neither had Albus. Poppy simply knew. She then wondered if Albus and Minerva could have a special understanding in spite of their great age difference, then why could she not as well?
"Si seulement..."