Charlie was both right and wrong in his interview predictions.

He was right in that Poppy did hear back from the Dragon Sanctuary and was invited to an interview over Christmas break – the interview would consist of a written and practical exam to be taken days apart, so she'd have to pack for cold weather, indoors and out, and have enough provisions for at least a week-long stay.

Charlie, in an accompanying letter, explained that although she wouldn't be taking part in much field work, Rahul thought it would be best for her to spend time on some rounds with him to prove that if they needed her help, or something went wrong, she could hold her own – "One of the past grant writers wanted to add in some information about getting up close and personal with a Ukrainian Ironbelly and walked away from the Sanctuary, and his job, with a permanent smell of burnt meat. Not nice."

Charlie was not correct in thinking that the letter would come soon. It, in fact, came in the middle of December, two weeks after students had been told that the ball would be on Christmas Eve, and a week after Poppy had given up and owl ordered the long golden sequined gown which she'd seen in Gladrags. The discounted one she'd bought had thin spaghetti straps holding it up, and a slit which ran up the front from the hem to her knees. It accentuated her waist, hugged her hips, and made Poppy feel incredibly beautiful. It had been fifteen galleons even after the 'returned' discount, which was a rather hefty sum, but less than she would have had to pay otherwise.

The idea of attending the ball had grown on her, and she'd already been asked by a few boys. But for some reason she couldn't quite grasp yet, she'd turned them down.

"You can't return it!" Esther cried as Poppy packed up the dress and her beautiful, matching shoes.

"I have to. I can't afford the train without dipping into my savings otherwise and anyway, I won't be back in time for the ball so there's no point in keeping it," Poppy said sadly.

"Ugh! This isn't fair!" Cass groaned, flinging herself onto her back. "It's your last year."

"And this is the ball to end all balls," Esther whined, a sad frown on her face. "Is this job even that important?"

She rolled her eyes when Poppy raised an eyebrow and Cass gawped at her.

"What happened to telling each other to chase our dreams?" Cass asked.

"Ugh. Fine. What if you get the first train back after the interview?" Esther asked then, stroking the shimmering golden fabric before Poppy gently pushed her hand away and secured the package. "Would you get back in time then?"

Poppy sighed and shook her head and looked up to the ceiling as she tried to recall all of the details from memory. "My theory interview's on the 20th and with the way I'm travelling I'm going to have to hightail it from the Hogwarts Express to platform 7 ½ and change at Paris as it is, so I won't get there until early hours of the 19th... My practical's on the 23rd, so if I did the same on the way back," she said, pointing her finger from side to side as she thought it all through, "I'd get back to Hogwarts late on Christmas Day." She shook her head and sent Esther an apologetic look. "Sorry Ess, No matter how I work it in my head I always end up getting back after the ball's started or without enough time to get ready, and you know I'm not one for grand entrances."

"You'd be on time with a Portkey…" Esther complained.

Poppy laughed and began to tie the package to the owl which Gladrags had sent. "Have a spare fifty galleons for me?" she asked.

"I thought it was thirty?" Cass said, frowning.

Poppy sighed. "I checked. International travel's pretty popular at the moment and I'm trying to book a ticket at short notice which doubles the price apparently."

"Merlin's arsehat," Cass said, groaning. "That's brutal."

Poppy couldn't contain her laughter at her friend's choice of swear.

"There's nothing you can do?" Esther asked.

Poppy frowned. "No. I'm sorry, Ess, I really am. But I need to keep as much money as I can in my savings to cover first month's rent and a deposit after Hogwarts, and to tide me over if I don't get accepted into the Auror programme, or... I dunno... if this job or the Gringotts one falls through."

"Just live with your parents an extra few months while you find something? That wouldn't be too bad, right?" Cass asked.

Poppy had never told them about her home life - she'd been too embarrassed in the first year to admit that she had a stepmum, since Cass and Esther were so proud and happy to talk about their parents and how long they'd been married. Then she'd just not wanted to explain that her mum had died. Then everything had started being even worse at home and she just didn't want to bring that upset to Hogwarts. She'd wanted to leave it at home.

So strong was this desire to separate her two lives, that the only people who knew anything about her family were the Weasleys since she'd accidentally shared that her family had never been to Diagon Alley and that she'd been living at a flat there over the summer.

Poppy sighed and, not having the words, pulled out a small, stamped letter, which she gave to Esther. Seeing the look on Poppy's face, Cass came over and the two girls read it together.

Poppy had it memorised already; it was her constant reminder of why she needed a job… any job… after Hogwarts.

The top of the letter had fallen off a while ago - Poppy had read and reread the letter and folded and unfolded it enough times that one accidental tug when trying to get some parchment out of her bag had ripped the top half of the letter away and she'd lost it. Still, the rest was enough to go on and she didn't miss the awful attempt at a happy birthday message. Not when the rest of the letter read;

However, you are now legally an adult, Florence and I would like to remind you that we will be unable to host you this coming summer.

Please find accommodation elsewhere.

David

"Who's David…?" Esther asked, frowning deeply.

"My dad," Poppy replied with a sigh as she sat down next to Cass on the bed.

"Feck off!" Cass cried, her face turning red. "Please say he's your stepdad or something? What?" she asked when Poppy frowned at her. "We just figured there was a reason you didn't mention them that much and were always the first on the train most years."

Poppy shook her head and sighed, standing as she carefully picked up the owl and helped him onto the windowsill.

"David's my dad, Florence is my stepmum," she said when she'd shut the window behind the bird. She chuckled darkly for a moment. "I'd definitely be surprised if I had a stepdad, Mum died when I was four…" She sighed and turned back to her friends who were gawping at her. "Even after everything, I thought they were just being mean at first, but then I realised they were just being honest."

"When did you get this?" Esther asked, frowning down at the now barely visible post stamp.

"Seventeenth birthday," Poppy replied, picking up her coat. "I shouldn't have told them I was legally an adult in the Wizarding world then… anyway, that's why I splurged on a ticket to the World Cup. Thought I needed something to look forward to… but I didn't think it through – I spent everything I had saved on the ticket… so I spent this year's Hogwarts bursary in a room in Diagon Alley over the summer and took on two jobs."

"That's why you didn't come to visit us?" Esther asked, obviously upset.

Poppy nodded. "Had to work double shifts most of the time. So, it's dress robes or a potential job after Hogwarts. I know it's not what you'd do, but I'm choosing the job."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Esther asked, moving forwards to hug Poppy tightly.

Poppy shrugged. "Just didn't… dunno… couldn't… anyway."

"Go and smash that interview," Cass said, hugging Poppy too now. Her voice wavered slightly with strong emotion. "It's a great back up if they still aren't taking new Aurors when you apply. And don't worry about the ball. We'll tell you all about it when you get back."

Poppy smiled sadly and made her way to the door. The girls wanted her to stay with them but she didn't want to talk anymore, and so she went off in search of some solitude in the Owlery where she sent off: her interview acceptance form; her application for short term international travel; and a sackful of galleons to the train company for her return ticket to Romania. She secretly wished she could take a Thestral, but she thought being caught stealing a magical creature and taking them abroad might look bad on her Auror application form.

"Did you get your robes?" Ginny asked, running up to her when she made it back down to the Entrance Hall for lunch. "Mum's sent mine now. They're really nice!"

Poppy sighed and shook her head. "I just sent mine back."

Ginny's squeal echoed throughout the hall. "That means you got the interview, doesn't it?" she asked excitedly. "You're going to Romania?"

Poppy couldn't stop her grin. "Yeah, that's right. I'm leaving on Saturday."

"Oh my Merlin, that's so cool! Dragons! At Christmas! I went with Mum and Dad a few years ago. It was really fun. On Christmas Day there's a potluck dinner and everyone brings a traditional Christmas food from their country. Mum brought roast potatoes enough for everyone, but other people brought boiled, or mashed, or fried, so we ended up taking a load back to Charlie's. Think he was still eating roast potato soup in February!"

"I don't know if I'm meant to stay for Christmas," Poppy said, smiling. "But now I really want to! Though… roast potato soup?"

Ginny laughed as they began to walk into the Great Hall. "He said it wasn't that bad with enough seasoning. When you see him, ask him about the one he fed to a Hebridean Black. He said it looked at him like he'd killed its children!"

Poppy started to laugh and sat down, not immediately noticing that she was at the Gryffindor table until Hermione looked up from her book and greeted her.

"Poppy got the interview," Ginny said, scooping some ham and leek pie onto her plate.

Hermione's face lit up and she closed her book. "I know you'll already be prepared, but I took the liberty of writing out a list of a few books you might like from the library," she said, fishing around in her bag. "You'll have already read some of these, but I just thought that you should be as prepared as possible if you're going to be surrounded by dragons. Here," she said, thrusting a piece of parchment across the table.

Poppy smiled and read down the list;

A Brief History of Dragonology

Dragon Hide, Dragon Pounce, Dragon Kill

Dragons: Pests, Pets or Killing Machines?

Dragon Species Around the World

Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland

Taming A Dragon Tamer

What To Wear? A Dragonologist's Guide to Clothes

How to Impress a Wizard: A Witch's Guide to Charm

"Uh," Poppy said, carefully tearing off the last book on the list, "I think this one was yours. And this one," she said, pointing at 'Taming A Dragon Tamer.'

Hermione leant over the table and shook her head, shooting a smile at Ginny. "Ginny and I think those two might come in handy."

"It's a friends to lovers story... Just thought it might help you see certain people in different ways…" Ginny added sheepishly.

"I'm going for an interview, not to pick someone up," Poppy replied, handing back the small rip of parchment. "Thank you for the thought though, you're both lovely, and this is incredible, Hermione, really. You're amazing."

"He's not even here and he's messing up our plans," Fred complained, sitting down next to Hermione while George took the parchment from Poppy and sat down next to her. They had both brought their half-filled plates over with them, and Poppy rolled her eyes at their obvious eavesdropping.

"Who? And what plans?" she asked, pouring herself some juice.

"Charles," Fred answered.

"I'm going to tell him you called him that," Ginny said, picking up a chip. Fred glared at her.

"You were going to go to the ball with me," George said, absentmindedly as he scanned the booklist. "Now I'm going to have to actually ask someone."

"You didn't actually ask me," Poppy replied, frowning, as she took the parchment back.

"Yeah, well, I knew you'd say yes."

"How?"

"You turned down Richard Kessick. If that's not sending a message to the school that you're not interested in school-age wizards, I don't know what is. So I thought we could go together as friends."

"I wasn't being picky, I was waiting for news from Romania," Poppy half-lied, shoving his arm. "And I barely know Richard."

"Yeah, just like I said," George replied. He smiled at her knowingly and then began to spoon paprikash onto his plate. "There really are perks to international cooperation. The food is something else."

Poppy rolled her eyes but looked down Hermione's list again. She was right – Poppy had read half the books already, but, after lunch, she went to the library and took every single one out, and picked up a few extra ones.

She almost lost her library privileges when she asked Madam Pince if there were any restrictions on travelling internationally with the books, but managed to appease the witch by promising to bring them all back in perfect condition, and before the end of term.

The Weasleys' and Hermione's enthusiasm, when added to Hagrid's awe and Sprout's approval, meant that by the time Poppy went to bed that night, all thoughts of missing out on the Yule Ball had completely disappeared.

"You will want to 'ead straight to Place Cachée," Fleur said, as Poppy placed her backpack onto the back of one of the few carriages taking students to the Hogwarts Express – most people had decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, whether they were old enough for the ball or not. "Ze pub is easy enough to find in ze night, and in ze morning, you will not be able to miss Confiserie Enchantée. It is far more colourful than even your 'oneydukes."

Poppy ignored the Honeyduke's slander and instead nodded, finished shoving her bag into the carriage, and walked over to Fleur, who was wearing her usual multiple layers of thick materials to try and starve off the cold weather that she still wasn't used to. Poppy, on the other hand, was wearing black trousers, a black turtleneck jumper, and a red coat, with a bobble hat and matching gloves for comfort.

"Okay, so Pierre wants..." Poppy asked.

"I wrote you a list, and directions," Fleur said with a glorious smile, her accent becoming heavier again as she got excited and took Poppy through the list. "And remember, if you can not get zese, return wiz ze money, and we will 'ear no apologies."

"Thanks," Poppy said, grinning as she took the parchment from her friend.

Her train would arrive in Paris later that evening (if she managed to get her connecting train from King's Cross on time), and Fleur had been kind enough to recommend a pub for Poppy to stay overnight before her next train left for Romania. In gratitude, Poppy had asked if Fleur needed anything in return, and as it turned out, most of the Beauxbatons students had sweet teeth but their cravings weren't being met by the offerings from Honeydukes. Their favourite sweets and chocolate shop in Paris didn't deliver overseas, and so Poppy had offered to stop by for them on her way through.

When the Durmstrang students had heard, one of the girls in her class had also asked her to pick something up for her, and so now Poppy was getting a huge amount of confectionery.

"Bonne chance, mon ami. I can not wait to 'ear about ze interview, your Charlie, and ze dragons."

"I thought you never wanted to see a dragon again..." Poppy teased, trying not to react to Fleur calling him, 'your Charlie.'

Fleur's laugh echoed across the grass and grabbed the attention of every student in the immediate area. She barely seemed to notice, but Poppy felt conscious under their gazes, and they weren't even looking at her – she didn't know how Fleur was so stoic.

"I 'ave no want to be near zem again... You do, and so I wish you luck and want to 'ear about zem when you get back."

"Wait," she said, covering her eyes. "Stop doing that."

"Doing wat?" Fleur asked.

"The Veela thing."

"I am not doing a Veela zing," Fleur replied, pulling on Poppy's hands. "Wat are you talking about?"

"That thing… where you look all nice and make people do things. I don't want to accidentally ask you out… Poor Ron…" Poppy said, thinking of the incident she'd heard of.

"Zat was nothing," Fleur said, rolling her eyes and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I was talking to Cedric about ze ball, and asking if 'e knew what dance we would be opening wis, and zat boy 'alf shouted at me."

"Bet you at least tossed your hair just like that or something…" Poppy said, smirking. Ginny had told her all about the incident over breakfast and imitated Fleur rather terribly.

Fleur pursed her lips. "When I like someone, zen you will see ze full Veela effect. Until zen, I bid you adieu."

"I'm sorry," Poppy grimaced, "I was just teasing."

"Yes, well, go teeze your Charlie eensted," Fleur said, though she let out another peal of laughter when Poppy looked scandalised.

"Merci, Fleur," Poppy replied with a laugh. She tried not to let her surprise show when Fleur stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Poppy's waist, hugging her tightly. Poppy returned the hug somewhat awkwardly, wrapping her arms around Fleur's upper arms and back – she was more than four inches taller than the blonde girl after all.

Fleur held the hug for a second longer than Poppy would have, and then stepped backwards slightly and leant up. Poppy leant down and they shared a goodbye of three cheek kisses.

"Your cheeks are so soft, like a cat," Poppy said without thinking. She grimaced and slapped herself on the forehead but Fleur laughed again.

"Thank you, I take zat as a compliment. My grandmother was a Veela and she 'ad ze most beautiful skin."

Poppy smiled and rubbed Fleur's upper arm quickly, and then she got in the carriage which was ready to go. She'd already said goodbye to everyone else, so all that she needed to do next was focus on getting her train.

Wizarding Paris was, in part, quite like London – wizards and witches lived alongside Muggles, and their Ministry of Magic (Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France) was hidden, as was the entrance to their main wizarding district.

When Poppy arrived at Gare du Nord, she hurriedly followed Fleur's instructions until she came to the bronze statue of a witch which marked the entrance to Place Cachée. Conscious that she could raise suspicions with the Muggles if she was too conspicuous, she'd taken off her red coat and stuffed it into her backpack, which meant that she was absolutely freezing in just her turtleneck jumper and trousers, and she barely glanced around before heading into the Wizarding district.

When she got to the main wizarding street she pulled her coat back on and crossed her arms over her chest, hunching forwards to try and warm herself as she walked along to see if the sweet shop was still open.

Fleur was completely right. The lights, smells and sounds coming from the shop led her straight to it, and she saw a purple and gold sign set against the shop front, which read Confiserie Enchantée de K. Rammelle.

She'd been worried it would already be shut, but when she pushed the door it swung open and she was free to explore the aisles after a quick wave and a nod at the owner. A small clock zoomed over to her, and barked out, "We close in fifteen minutes," before it flew off again. She wanted to ask how it had known she was English, but she shook her head and pulled out her list.

Next to each of the requests, Fleur had written the English translation so that Poppy could find the right thing, and she felt embarrassed (that she still didn't know the language well enough but the Beauxbatons students were picking up English so quickly) but glad that Fleur had thought of this.

Before long she had collected all of the products she needed, arriving at the counter with two armfuls of Chocolate Frogs Legs, sugar unicorn horns, snail slime chewy sweets, large flavoured caramel toffees, macarons, mint cocoa nibs, filled croissants, palm-sized individually wrapped spiced cookies, a few slabs of thin chocolate which promised to melt in your mouth, a large box of drinking chocolate, and some assorted flavoured chocolates.

In addition to this, for Charlie she had picked up a small chocolate dragon and a box of chocolates, and for her friends at Hogwarts she'd bought a small box of chocolates each.

She smiled brightly at the owner, but he raised an eyebrow at her purchases, and then looked at the time pointedly. Poppy gulped. "J'suis tres desole," she said quietly.

"Is fine," he replied, shaking his head and beginning to ring up her purchases. "Noël?"

Poppy frowned and tried to get her dictionary out of the side pocket of her backpack.

"Non, non," he said, shaking his head. "Christ-mass?" he asked, pointing at her gigantic takeaway bag.

"Oh! Yes! Sorry," she said, grimacing. "I am... I am trying," she whispered, pulling out a heavy coin bag which contained Bezants, the French currency.

The man took the bag from her and began to count. She was worried there wouldn't be enough and that she'd have to dip into the cash she'd brought for her night at the pub, but then he handed the bag back and it was still a quarter filled.

"Merci," she said, smiling kindly. The owner nodded at her and she left, walking down the street to the pub, which she found quickly due to the old wooden sign swinging high above the ground which said, Griffon Buveur.

She stepped inside and was hit with a blast of warm air which seemed to heat her from inside out. She smiled and made her way over to the bar.

Half an hour after she'd arrived (and due mainly to her attempts to speak broken French), Poppy unlocked the door to a tiny room, which contained a small single bed, a sink, and little else. The window was cracked and the paint peeling, and she smiled, thinking that it was oddly like the Leaky Cauldron.

Dinner was a long affair. She got changed out of her travelling outfit and into a nice dress which Fleur had leant her – "You can not 'ave dinner and look like... well..." she'd said – Poppy had been slightly insulted until she walked over to La Grande Crillion at nine and realised that everyone was dressed similarly, dining in robes or nice dresses. She had to wait for a while before she found a seat in the corner, as it was completely packed.

She was sipping her coffee when a handsome young man came to ask for the empty seat at her table. She didn't immediately reply, and simply nodded, as she didn't know what to say. He thanked her and turned the seat around, greeting his friends who were sitting at the table next to her.

It was only when she ordered her dessert, that he spoke to her again.

"Anglais?" he asked, and she groaned.

"I promise I am trying," she said, putting her hand to her forehead – she'd thought she'd done quite well to only have to say the name of the dessert once.

The man laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I was the same when I first got here," he said in a London accent. "It was more of a pointing at the menu jobby for me," he said, grinning. He held his hand out, and she took it, assuming that he'd shake it, but instead he lifted the back of her palm to his lips and then let her go.

Then, he swept his arm out and said, "Luckily I had some great teachers."

The two wizards and witch who sat with him laughed and held up their glasses in greeting. They all looked as though they'd been drinking for a while, which they probably had been – they'd been there since before Poppy arrived.

"I'm Artie, Allette," he said, indicating the witch, "Leonhard, and Johan."

"We're all a bit displaced," said Johan once she'd introduced herself and explained that she was just on her way through to Romania. He continued, "only Allette is actually French, but she puts up with us anyway, which is nice."

Allette rolled her eyes but seemed happy enough. "It makes it easier to work if you pretend you like the foreigners," she replied in a near perfect accent, smiling.

Poppy let out a small laugh, and before her dessert had been delivered Johan and Artie had pulled her table over to theirs and were trying to integrate her into the conversation.

"Very impressive!" Leonhard said, grinning when she explained about what she was going on to do in Romania (she still didn't mention that she was still at school, as she found they were all working at the French Ministry of Magic and she wanted to appear cool).

"Well, a drink for good luck!" Leonhard said, raising his glass.

Poppy returned to her room in the early hours of the morning having managed to only have to drink one glass of wine, but feeling drunk on the excitement and happiness of the past few hours.

Spending time listening to the friends talk – they spoke in English for her, which she was grateful for – she found that she didn't feel socially overwhelmed, and wondered if the buzz of being somewhere new had helped her to come out of her shell even more. She also went home with the contact details of all four, and the knowledge that she wasn't too bad at making adult friends, which had been a worry of hers.

She left the pub the next morning with a sandwich tucked into her coat pocket and walked over to the owl office where she negotiated to send the large parcel of sweets and chocolate back to the waiting students at Hogwarts. Then, moneybag much lighter, she Apparated to the train station in time for her overnight train to Bucharest.

Sitting on the train, she thought back to the summer, when Charlie had first pitched the idea of her applying for a role at the Sanctuary, and thanked her past self for saying yes.

She'd only been travelling for a day and it was already the best thing she thought she'd ever decided to do. And if she ended up leaving Hogwarts with no job, she felt confident that she'd look back at this trip and have no regrets.