What You Never Knew

Poppy Pomfrey: The Better Person

1. Her father died when she was four years old.

She still remembered him, though. In particular, his smile, and the way his eyes danced when he laughed (which was often). A jovial man, he would always picked Poppy up and swing her around in circles, singing random tunes with random words at random times. He was, all in all, a random man.

So it fit that, randomly, he died in a fishing accident.

2. She hated her mother.

Her mother was a cold, calculating woman who showed little to no emotion besides anger and disappointment. A true Slytherin, through and through. Sometimes, Poppy wondered how her wonderful Hufflepuff father ever fell in love with such an icy woman. Elizabeth Lestrange (she kept her maiden name when she got married) refused to do anything anyone else suggested- you had to convince her that it was her idea if you wanted something done. Otherwise, she would just scoff at you and say, "Of course not! What a ridiculous idea!" Even if that idea was something as simple as, "Can I go play with my dolls now?"

3. For the first ten years of her life, Poppy was obsessed with dolls.

It wasn't that she lacked maturity (her mother's personal favorite). On the contrary, Poppy was one of the most mature and responsible people of her age. It was that you could do anything you wanted with dolls; you could make their lives either bad, or wonderful. Poppy always chose to make the dolls' lives good. There would be her, as the little girl; her father, alive and well; and her mother, but with a new and improved attitude. With her dolls, Poppy lived a happier life than she had before.

4. She taught herself how to Heal.

When she was in Third Year, her mother remarried- this time, to a Slytherin who even Poppy had to admit was a better match for her. Poppy thought that, now that her mother was happier, she would be nicer.

The opposite happened.

Poppy's new stepfather encouraged his wife to act out, to display her emotions more. He told her to let everything out- particularly her anger.

That was how Poppy found herself, one night, called to her mother's study out of the blue.

"You called, Mother?" Poppy asked, timidly pushing open the door.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded, not facing her daughter. "Come in. Close the door behind you."

Poppy did as she was told and then just stood there awkwardly. "What do you want, Mother?" she asked hesitantly.

Her mother seemed off in her own little world- like she hadn't even heard Poppy. "Your father and I went to Hogwarts together," she began softly. "At that time, I was a pureblood… well respected by all. He was a pureblood as well, but he was a blood traitor," she spat the words, "and my kind… we weren't supposed to associate with him. But then, in Seventh Year, Professor Slughorn assigned us to be Potions Partners. We developed a sort of… friendship." She laughed hollowly. "That 'friendship', as I'm sure you can imagine, quickly grew into something more, and after graduating from Hogwarts, I ran away with him.

"We didn't get married, though. Neither of us were ready for that kind of commitment. We were just having a bit of fun; in fact, I hadn't even been disowned yet by that point. But then… then you came along." At this, Elizabeth spun around in her chair and glared at the stunned Poppy. "You were a mistake, Poppy. Because of you, your father and I got married when we were eighteen, and I was forced to grow up faster than any woman should. Not to mention that I was disowned and labeled a disgrace to the Lestrange family name, all thanks to you."

Her eyes narrowed even more at her daughter as she lifted her wand. "And now, you'll have to pay. Crucio!"

Pain like nothing Poppy had ever felt hit her like a bullet, and she screamed, writhing on the ground in agony. She screamed for her mother to stop, that she was sorry, that she wished she was dead. Finally, her mother stopped. Slowly, shaking, Poppy opened her eyes. She couldn't stand up yet.

"You will come here at this same time tomorrow," her mother ordered primly, only the flashing look in her eye betraying her inner feelings. "Go to your room."

Poppy didn't move.

"I said, go. To. Your. Room."

Poppy nodded and forced herself to stand up. She looked back once at her mother, tears in her eyes, and then she limped to her bedroom and looked up Healing spells.

5. She never told anyone about her first love.

After entering Hogwarts and being Sorted into Hufflepuff, Poppy found that her life improved dramatically. She made fantastic friends, had her thirst for knowledge quenched, and got to go ten months a year without her dreaded mother.

And then, he came along in her Fifth Year.

At the time, he was sixteen years old- a year older than her- and in Slytherin. He was extremely popular, as well as handsome, as well as intelligent… not to mention that once, just once, she could've sworn that he winked at her.

In later years, she convinced herself that she must have imagined it. Because there was no way she would have ever received any sort of flirtatious action from Tom Riddle.

6. She "grew a pair" (as her best friend Janie would've put it) when she was nineteen years old.

At that point, Poppy had graduated Hogwarts and had just decided what to do with her life: she was going to become a Healer. Hogwarts' nurse, if she had any say in it, because she loved Hogwarts so much, and because she thought kids were the most wonderful things in the world. Not to mention that Madame Morda, the current nurse, was planning on retiring soon.

The day that she planned on moving to a little flat that she would share with Janie, she first knocked on the door to her mother's study, suitcases rolling behind her.

"Come in," Elizabeth said, her voice unusually pleased. Poppy assumed that it was because of her own departure.

"Hello, Mother," Poppy greeted the woman.

"Hello, Poppy," her mother replied. "Aren't you moving today? Shouldn't you be going by now?"

"I just wanted to speak to you first," Poppy said, standing up straight and proud. "I wanted to say… thank you."

"For what?" Elizabeth asked, raising one dark eyebrow.

"For being the world's worst mother," Poppy replied, keeping her straight face. "I wouldn't have had to learn Healing spells if you hadn't beaten me like the rhymes-with-witch you are."

Elizabeth's face instantly contorted into one of absolute rage. "Why, you insolent little-" She raised her wand, but before she could do anything, Poppy sent it flying to the other side of the room, straight into her waiting grip.

"Goodbye, Mother," she said politely. "I'll send your wand back tomorrow."

Then she grabbed her suitcase, and, with a cheeky smile, she was gone.

7. She could see Thestrals.

And oh, how she wished she couldn't. It wasn't that Thestrals were particularly ugly or anything- far from, in her opinion. She found them exotically beautiful. But she wished, oh how she wished, that she hadn't been there to see Janie die in St. Mungo's. She never regretted being there for her best friend after that Auror mission went so terribly wrong; but she would never forget how the mirth and strength and light left Janie's brown eyes in a single second, not even giving Poppy time to say goodbye.

8. She had a daughter.

She wasn't Poppy's daughter by birth- anyone with eyes could tell that. While Poppy had brown hair and brown eyes, her daughter, Amelia, had blond hair and green eyes. The two met when Amelia began attending Hogwarts; upon first laying eyes on the eleven-year-old, the first thing Poppy noticed were sloppily hidden bruises on her arms and chest. A week later, after observing the girl more, Poppy saw that she was a bit withdrawn, and noticed that whenever someone asked where she got the bruises from, she would stammer nervously, "O-Oh, I, um, f-f-fell down the- the stairs."

Finally, unable to take it any longer, Poppy called the girl up to her office in the Hospital Wing one day, and the two sat down with a cup of tea.

"How are you, Miss Brown?" Poppy asked, taking a sip of her tea, watching the fidgeting student carefully.

"Fine, thanks," Amelia replied, "and you?"

"Very well, thank you for asking." Poppy set down her cup and looked Amelia straight in the eye. "Miss Brown, I've noticed that you have some rather nasty bruises. Would you like to tell me how you got them?"

Amelia's eyes widened noticeably. "W-W-Well, y-you see, I-I'm such a klutz, I'm al-always falling d-down stairs-"

"Forgive me for interrupting you, Amelia," Poppy cut in, "but I do know when a student is lying to me, you know. I'm trying to help you; I have a feeling that I know what those bruises are from, and if I'm right, then I want to help you."

"Wh-What do you think my br-bruises are from?"

Poppy took a breath. "Don't be offended by this, Amelia, please, but… it looks to me like your parents beat you."

Amelia froze, her mouth opening and closing in a manner akin to that of a fish. "Y-You… h-how did you…"

"How did I know?" Poppy supplied, smiling kindly. Amelia nodded. The matron pulled down her shirt collar very slightly to reveal a particularly gruesome scar of hers; a lasting reminder of what her mother did. "As a child, my mother used the Cruiciatus Curse on me. I know how to recognize child abuse when I see it. Please, Amelia, tell me what happened. I want to help you."

After a moment, Amelia told her whole story. About how her parents never wanted her, and how she could never do anything right in their eyes, and how she didn't have any family members to help her. Finally, she took a breath, staring straight into Madam Pomfrey's eyes, and begged, "Please, get me out of there."

And that was exactly what Poppy did. After going to the Ministry of Magic, she legally adopted Amelia, and raised her as her own.

9. More than anything, she wanted to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts.

She wanted the end of Voldemort, sure, but it was more than that. She wanted to fight not necessarily against the Death Eaters, but against all those snotty purebloods like her mother. All of those awful, prejudiced people deserved to die; that was the opinion that she stuck with throughout her entire life. She wanted to fight and get revenge against her miserable excuse for a mother.

And, eventually, she was able to sneak away, and she happened to come upon Rodolphus Lestrange- not only a snotty pureblood and a Death Eater, but a direct family member of her dear mother. He never stood a chance.

10. The proudest day of her life was when she gave her job as Hogwarts nurse to Amelia.

Amelia had not only decided to follow in her mother's footsteps, but was also the best candidate for the job. She was exceptionally bright, talented when it came to magic, and was adored by all of the students.

Poppy had managed to raise her adoptive daughter well, despite having no training on how to do so from her own mother. That was what she was most proud of.

Poppy Pomfrey, throughout her whole life, was the Better Person. She always took the high road, and did what was right- even if she wanted to do something very, very different. She forgave her father for dying, even though it was so much easier to just be mad at him for leaving her all alone; she didn't use an Unforgivable Curse on her mother, though she so wanted to; she managed to raise her daughter as well as any normal mother would.

She had actually wanted to do that, though.

Hmm... I actually quite like this chapter. What do you think? Please review!

-Joelle8