Penny woke early next morning to bright sunny rays streaming through the window beside her four-poster bed. She heard the gentle snores coming from the other beds around her as the other girls in the dormitory slept on. She could also hear the birds twittering their dawn chorus outside, meaning it couldn't be much later than five in the morning. She had always been an early riser, something that infuriated her grandmother, who was anything BUT a morning person. Back at home, Penny would get up at around five or half past five and the first thing she would do would be to climb in to bed beside her grandmother. It was something she'd done since as far back as she could remember, and as a small child this had at least been enough to appease her for a couple more hours of sleep for Penelope. However, now that she was older it meant that she wanted to be up and about and doing things.

Elsewhere in the castle Minerva was also stirring - another early riser - she also liked to appreciate the early morning air. She quickly dressed and made her way down the stone spiral staircase that led to her office. Although it was the weekend and most, student and teacher alike, took the opportunity to rest and sleep in, this didn't appeal to Minerva in the slightest. It had always been the case, even in her own student days. She liked to walk around the castle when it was quiet or around the castle grounds. Sometimes Hagrid would be out tending to the many mystical creatures Hogwarts owned or the ones he'd collected in his role as gamekeeper. What Minerva enjoyed most about this time of day, was that she could be alone with her thoughts, clear her mind and blow away the cobwebs. It gave her the chance to work through anything that was bothering her, and so it seemed that Penny was exactly the same.

As she left the entrance hall and began to descend the steps to the grounds she heard a voice behind her. At first, Penny made her aunt jump since Minerva hadn't been expecting to see anyone as she said with a joyous squeak, 'Morning Aunt Minerva.'

'Penny! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?' Minerva replied with startled surprise.

'I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd go for a walk. The grounds are so beautiful at this time of the day, quiet and peaceful, gives you the chance to be alone with your thoughts,' Penny replied happily, her regular bubbly personality shining through once more, much to Minerva's delight.

'I should really be cross at you for being out of bed you know,' she said a little sternly, although her tone wasn't angry really.

'Sorry,' Penny mumbled sheepishly in reply as she looked down at the ground and fidgeted with her fingers and traced a shape on the ground with her foot. 'How come you're up so early?'

'Same as you; so, seeing as we both had the same intentions maybe we should join each other?'

Penny looked delighted at that idea so together they set off in the direction of the lake. The grass was still damp with dew and although it was clear it was going to be another hot day, there was still that morning nip in the air, creating exciting fresh scents across the grounds. It was beautiful. The sky was cloudless and there was a very gentle breeze blowing, tickling the Whomping Willow which began to shake with enjoyment at the sensation.

Minerva's feet had become so used to treading the grounds of Hogwarts that she moved automatically without even thinking of where she was going. Penny didn't ask where she was taking her, she just enjoyed being out in the open and enjoyed her present company, but Minerva walked so fast that Penny's little legs struggled to keep up with her at times, until they eventually they came to the fallen tree, a little more decayed than it had been nine years ago, but still intact and still Minerva's favourite place. Penny knew the spot well, remembering how she had spent many hours paddling in the water and playing on the stony beach, watched carefully by her grandmother and great aunt. They had regularly spent time there together during the weekends or on holidays after Elphinstone's death. It was their quiet little sanctuary.

Now they both settled next to each other on the trunk of the tree. As Minerva closed her eyes and allowed her full mind to clear, Penny took out her wand and began practicing her levitation charm in revision for their upcoming end of year examinations. She soon had created a neat pile of rocks in front of her, moving them from the shore of the Black Lake. Minerva smiled at her as she watched her then levitate several sticks and twigs into the middle of the pile before conjuring flames from her wand and setting them alight in the centre of, what she, Minerva, now saw to be a stone circle.

'Well done Penny. Your grandmother will be pleased to hear how well you've advanced; most first year students can only levitate things straight up in the air,' Minerva said proudly, and she couldn't deny that, even though it was a beautiful morning, she was appreciative of the warmth from the fire. It was a little colder in the shade of the trees and in the breeze.

'Really Aunt Minerva? I'm actually rather proud – I've been practicing my levitation skills all week,' Penny replied proudly.

'Certainly. I remember your grandmother struggling with levitation in her first year. She came to me after her first lesson in floods of tears because she couldn't master it; it took me another week of lessons with her before she finally could levitate something beyond a couple of centimetres.'

'I never knew that about Grams. I always thought she'd been a straight A student.'

'Well she was, but in her first few months at Hogwarts she lacked a great deal of confidence in her own abilities, just as you did when you first arrived.'

'I could never be as good as Grams though,' Penny said with a sad tone, and Minerva wished that her niece didn't lack as much confidence as she did. Her abilities were astounding for a witch her age.

'Penny, there is nothing wrong with your abilities. You're an incredibly accomplished witch for one so young. You've allowed your experiences this year to influence your opinion of yourself,' Minerva said sternly with her authoritive teacher's tone.

Penny sat and thought quietly about what her aunt had just said whilst Minerva closed her eyes in appreciation of the fire and enjoyed the warmth on her face. Penny settled beside her on the log and then she pulled out her wand again, gave it a flick and simply said "Accio book" and after a few moments of quiet patience her charms book floated towards her from the castle.

'You see Penny – that's a spell that isn't taught to students until fourth year. It's quite complex, and yet you manage it with perfect execution,' Minerva complimented with a wry smile.

'Oh…' Penny mumbled, unaware that she'd done anything particularly miraculous, '…but Grams taught me that years ago!' She added, as if this was perfectly reasonable and normal, which to her it had been of course. Penelope had taught Penny some of the most complex spells known to magic kind.

'Exactly! You are accomplished at a many great things because you are confident in the person who taught you, so now have that same belief in your abilities here.'

They both sat in quiet contemplation as they thought about several different events. Although she wouldn't express her concerns to Penny, Minerva was apprehensive about how her nieces powers were growing. She had no doubt that Penny was more than capable of dealing with them, but it was her confidence that was letting her down and every time something happened it took another knock.

'Are you looking forward to going home?' Minerva asked her niece after a long period of complete silence, the only sounds were the breeze and the branches of the trees, the beautiful birds singing and their own rhythmic breathing.

'Yeah, I am, although I'm kind of sad too. I've loved my first year at Hogwarts, even despite Barton and…well…everything. But I miss Grams when I'm here. I'm looking forward to spending time with just me and her for a while. She's planned a great holiday for us apparently, although doing what I don't know – it's a surprise, but she said that I was going to love it. And then you'll becoming to visit…won't you?'

'Of course Penny.'

'Good. So you'll be visiting and then Dora is coming for the last couple of weeks of the holidays.'

'Sounds like my sister has planned everything to perfection,' Minerva smiled at the sound of excitement in Penny's voice, especially when she spoke about her grandmother. The two had always been exceptionally close, and shared a bond like no other. At first, Minerva had been concerned that Penny was too homesick, not uncommon for new first years to feel, but for some students they at least had older siblings or cousins to console them, whereas Penny had no one as an only child. Her mother had had no siblings either, but she at least had had her cousins from her uncles Malcolm and Robert to keep her occupied. But poor Penny had no one, no one except her great aunt, at Hogwarts. Penny didn't mind terribly. She had spent most of her childhood on her own, since she and her grandmother lived so far out from anywhere, but she did miss her grandmother, which was made particularly difficult when Penelope was working. 'Have you heard from her lately?'

'Not since she went away. I don't know where she is or what she's doing…just that she's away on official Ministry business,' Penny replied sadly. She hated when Grams was away, even if she was at Hogwarts and busy with her friends and exams. When Penny was at home and Penelope had to go away, Minerva or Isobel (Penny's great grandmother) would look after her.

'When did you last hear from her?' Minerva asked with a soft tone. Now she understood why Penny's confidence was taking even more of a knock than usual – as she'd always been more hesitant and worried when her grandmother wasn't available.

'Six weeks ago,' Penny replied sadly.

'Well, I'm certain she'll be home soon; and I know that the second she does come home she'll be here to get you, long before she even thinks to see anyone else,' Minerva replied, although her eyebrows were furrowed and there was a slight quiver to her voice; she didn't like it when her sister was away on "Ministry business", especially not when it meant that she'd been out of contact with her family for such lengthy periods of time, although she'd never known her to be quiet for this long.

'I hope so. I hope she comes home soon. I can't stand it when she's away like this. I know you and Great Gran always used to tell me everything would be alright but…'

'…but you feel it too,' Minerva finished, understanding that her great niece also had that same feeling of dread in her stomach.

'I know you'll tell me it's normal to be anxious about her; but I'll feel happier when I hear something from her.'

'And you will soon enough Penny.'

They spent another hour at their special place in peaceful silence. When they eventually realised that everyone else in the castle was up, they made their way back for breakfast. The four house tables were groaning under the weight of cooked food, toast, cereals and different juices. The students were all sleepily tucking in as Penny found herself a spot between fellow Gryffindor first years Olivia Black and Jessica Knight, her previous anxieties quite forgotten. She was good friends with the girls, but not as good as her friendship with Nymphadora Tonks from Hufflepuff, who now sat behind them.

'Where have you been?' Olivia asked. She was a quiet Irish girl with long red hair, startling green eyes and freckles all across her nose.

'You must have been up ages before we were!' Jessica agreed.

'I was. You were all still sound asleep when I got up, so I went for a walk around the grounds. Hogwarts is lovely at that time in the morning,' said Penny as she stifled a yawn, grabbing the nearest plate of eggs and pulling it towards her and pouring herself a pumpkin juice.

'At what time?' Tonks asked.

'About half five,' Penny replied with a casual tone as if this was a perfectly reasonable time.

'But weren't you worried about getting caught?!' Jessica exclaimed. The thought of any wrongdoing was always something that frightened her greatly. She came from a large family, who were all at Hogwarts of course, and her oldest sister Victoria was their current Head Girl, and another sister and one of her brothers were also prefects. She always felt that she had a lot to live up to and went out of her way to avoid getting into trouble. Of course, the Barton girls enjoyed taunting and goading her as much as possible in the hope of riling her, but so far, she'd been unmoveable. You could always tell one of the Knight family from their very long platinum coloured hair and sapphire blue eyes, and when you picked on one, you picked on the whole family; not a wise move – they'd soon rally round each other, and with some of the smartest witches and wizards in the school they'd soon put you in your place.

'No, it was fine. No one was around at that time,' Penny reassured with a gentle glance towards her aunt at the top table, who was sat eating cereal and talking to Professor Sprout.

Once they'd finished eating breakfast, the three girls all grabbed their bags from their common rooms and met outside. The sun was now shining brightly and it was gloriously sunny. The damp mist had lifted and it was now a bright sunny day. They practiced their spells for hours in preparation for their Charms final that following Monday, but there was also plenty of laughter between them. However, after a particularly raucous bout of laughter, Penny swayed on the spot where she stood and had to clutch the tree they were sitting under to steady herself. She felt a shiver up her spine, and a feeling of overwhelming cold overcame her, something that was impossible since it was now so hot in the Spring sun.

'Penny are you alright?!' Tonks asked as she leapt to her friend's side and held her arm to steady her.

'Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?' Olivia chirped with concern.

'No guys, I'm fine. It must be the heat, I'll be fine in a second though as it's already passing,' Penny replied shakily as the feeling began to subside. After a while, they went back to studying and soon found themselves laughing again, although Penny was a little more subdued than she had been before. Then, in the late afternoon whilst taking a break, the girls all stopped what they were doing when they saw Professor McGonagall marching towards them. Her strides were long, her face was pained and everyone knew that something was bad.

'Miss Johnston, can you come with me please?' She said softly as she looked most urgently at her niece, and without hesitation or question Penny did as instructed. She grabbed her bag and her books and walked off with Minerva.

'What's that all about do you think?' Olivia asked fearfully.

'I don't know, but I really hope it's nothing to do with last night. I heard Barton talking to her mates about it. Apparently, Penny defended herself against them when they were picking on her; old Snape is furious though,' Tonks explained.

But it wasn't anything to do with what had happened the previous night. Snape had indeed spoken to Minerva about Penny using advanced magic to attack a fellow student, but Minerva had quickly rebuked his complaint and told him that she expected him to do something about Barton's behaviour. However, Sally-Ann Barton was now the least of hers and Penny's problems. On hearing that Penelope had not contacted her granddaughter for six weeks, Minerva had become exceptionally concerned. As an auror, Penelope would often be sent to far off places investigating and capturing many dark witches and wizards, and Minerva was used to her younger sister disappearing for several weeks at a time, but she had never been away this long without contacting her or Penny, never! She might never tell them where she was or what she was doing, but she'd at least send some sort of message that she was alright.

Minerva had returned to her study after breakfast, trying to do that marking she'd been putting off, but she'd been unable to shift the uneasy feeling from the pit of her stomach. The same uneasy feeling she'd had since last night. That was when she'd decided to go to Dumbledore. She didn't have the authority to find out anything with the Ministry anymore, but he did. If anyone could find out anything, even just a small notification for her own peace of mind, then it would be Albus. She'd fully expected it to take several days before the Ministry would get back to him, but they'd spoken to him almost immediately.

'What is it Albus?' She'd asked when he'd entered her study just an hour earlier, wearing the same grave expression he'd had the night Elphinstone had died.

'Perhaps you should sit down,' he'd said and that confirmed her worst fears. 'The Ministry are also concerned for Penelope's safety,' he'd begun as he drew them both comfortable chairs next to the unlit fire. 'Like you, they've not heard anything from her in several weeks and she was supposed to meet a contact from the Ministry last night, but she failed to make the meeting.'

'Oh my…what does this mean Albus?!' She had replied with her hand to her mouth and tears prickling her eyes.

'It means that you need to find Penny and bring her up to my office. Someone from the Ministry is going to be arriving soon to await further instructions, whilst other aurors have been sent to find out more about Penelope's disappearance,' he'd explained. So now Minerva found herself marching along the corridors of Hogwarts towards the gargoyle that stood in front of the concealed entrance to the Headmaster's office with Penny practically running alongside her to keep up.

'Sherbet Lemon,' she said hastily as the gargoyle then jumped out of the way to reveal the hidden staircase behind a wall. Penny had never had any reason to go here and had no idea where her aunt was taking her, but she knew better than to ask questions now. The staircase began to move up once they stood on it, and after a few seconds they arrived into a little hallway with a door that had a sign stating "Headmaster" upon it in neat gold writing. Minerva didn't knock on this door, she immediately opened it and ushered a tentative Penny inside. Penny felt nervous and afraid, with no idea of why Minerva had brought her here she was afraid that she was about to be expelled for attacking Barton, or perhaps told that she is too much of a danger to other students and will not be allowed to continue her studies. In a very short space of time, a lot of thoughts ran through Penny's mind, but nothing had truly prepared her for what was to come.

'Ah Minerva, Penny,' Dumbledore said with quiet graveness to his voice and there was no sparkle in his eyes. He was sat in a comfy highbacked chair behind a large desk, behind which sat a beautiful red and gold phoenix. Penny had never seen one in person before, but he was as beautiful as she'd imaged them to be. She never knew that Dumbledore had one. The room was beautiful, with hundreds of portraits of all the previous headmasters and mistresses of Hogwarts, some of whom were sleeping in their frames whilst others were whispering urgently to their neighbours. Sat in front of Dumbledore was a witch in her late thirties, Amelia Bones – a woman Penny had never met, but knew to be one of her grandmother's bosses. 'Please take a seat,' he said to Minerva and Penny as he conjured two more chairs with a simple flick of his wand, into one of which Minerva gently guided Penny before taking the other one herself.

'Have you received any further news Albus?' She asked him without greeting, grave concern etched into every line on her face.

'Not yet Minerva,' Amelia said carefully. 'We know where she is and two other aurors have been sent to retrieve her, but…'

'What's happened?' Penny asked quietly as she listened to the distressing exchange and watched as they looked hesitantly at each other. 'Aunt Minerva what's happened?' She pressed, aware that her eyes were already prickling with tears. 'Is it Grams?' She added weakly.

'I'm afraid so,' Minerva began tentatively. 'I'm afraid…afraid…she's gone missing Penny,' she explained with a quiver.

'Missing?! Missing how?!'

'She's on Ministry business,' Amelia said a little matter of factly with pursed lips. She was a pretty witch, with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. She had also been a student at Hogwarts, taught by Minerva at one stage and was an incredibly smart and talented witch and had worked her way through the ranks at the Ministry to become the Head of Magical Law Enforcement, the department in which Minerva had previously worked. Since the departure of Rufus Scrimgeour, Amelia had taken over as the temporary head of the Auror Office, although the aurors always worked incredibly close with magical law enforcement to ensure all information was shared and collaborated to the best of their ability.

'Well that we know Amelia, but for heaven's sake can you not tell us something?!' Minerva implored.

'I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse Minerva – if I could tell you then I would; but I'm bound by the official Magical Secrets Act and cannot divulge anything to you. All I can say is that Penelope was sent to Europe six weeks ago, in connection with an international incident and investigation. She'd made contact every week as scheduled, but then a week ago, we received news that she was in some sort of difficulty and that she needed to lie low for a few days. She was due to meet with me last night, but she never showed up. I've sent two more aurors out in search of her to the location we know she was last…Robert is one of them,' Amelia explained.

Robert was Minerva's youngest brother and Penny's great uncle, although she'd not met him very often. Minerva wasn't certain whether she thought it a comfort or not that her brother was also out there looking for their sister, but the next few hours were gruelling for them all. Amelia kept returning to and from the ministry with either no or little news to give them. Penny didn't speak at all. She paced round the office, examining all of Dumbledore's interesting gadgets and artefacts whilst Minerva sat in quiet contemplation.

It was now very late, well after the students' bedtime and perhaps nearer midnight than they realised. Neither Penny nor Minerva had had anything to eat since breakfast, despite Dumbledore conjuring up a plate with some sandwiches for them in the early evening. He didn't even really eat anything himself as none of them felt hungry. If anything, Penny felt sick to the bottom of her stomach. At one point, Penny's mind had become so full of distressing images of her grandmother being attacked, lying dead, sick or injured somewhere, or even trapped with no way of escaping, that she'd almost collapsed onto the floor. When she'd put her arms out to steady herself, the sudden movement and distress that she felt caused several of Dumbledore's amazing tinkly items on his table to fly off and crash loudly onto the ground, which made Penny's distress even worse. Minerva had rushed to her niece's side and had tried to comfort her as she cried and Dumbledore hastily tidied everything without saying a word, just as Amelia returned to them with a grave expression.

When greeted with the sight of Minerva holding an exceptionally distressed Penny, she thought they'd already heard. 'Robert's already told you, has he?' She said.

'Told us what?' Minerva replied a little shortly. 'No one has been in touch yet with any news, least of all Robert!'

'Ah, I see…I just assumed – well, not matter. I came to collect you both anyway. Robert returned a couple of hours ago with Penelope…'

'Oh thank God for that,' Penny said with a sigh of relief as a fresh wave of tears rolled down her face, but her relief turned to anguish again when she realised that the look on Amelia's face wasn't relief, it was grief stricken. Minerva turned to look at her great niece at a complete loss as to what to say to her. She looked into her young face and for the first time in her life she had no idea what to do for the best, but she knew from Amelia's reaction that this was not going to be good news.

'Perhaps we should all sit down for a moment?' Dumbledore suggested, as he ushered everyone into comfy chairs.

'We found Penelope in Romania where she's been for at least a week. I can't tell you why she was there or what happened, just that she was attacked and has been gravely injured. As soon as Robert and Kingsley Shacklebolt rescued her they took her immediately to St Mungo's Hospital,' Amelia explained slowly, still trying to explain what had happened to her friend to herself, let alone to her family. 'I went to see her at the hospital but I'm afraid it's not good. Robert said that she was badly injured after her ordeal, but since the attack she has become very ill.'

'But she's going to be alright isn't she?!' Penny exclaimed.

'She…She's very seriously ill Penny,' Minerva replied quietly as she realised what Amelia was driving at, and she felt unsure of exactly how to break the news to an eleven-year-old child, whose grandmother was her absolute world.

'The healers at St Mungo's have said that she's been poisoned, with what we don't know, but they don't expect her to survive for more than the next couple of days,' Amelia finished.

Penny sat in stunned silence for a few seconds, imagining her grams laying on her death bed, and she wondered if she was in any pain or suffering, when suddenly she came to her senses and stood up immediately, tears running down her face as she said, 'We have to get to her, I have to see her!'

With a few final words to each other, with promises of keeping everyone concerned up to date with all developments, Minerva took a handful of floo powder from the pot on Dumbledore's mantelpiece, and threw the powder into the fireplace and watched as bright green flames erupted, before grabbing hold of Penny's hand and pulling her inside. Penny hated travelling by floo powder as it could be quite a shock to the system to begin with. She quite liked the warm sensation, but she wasn't so keen on the disembodied feeling it also gave. Within a few seconds, they whizzed past hundreds of fire places until they suddenly came to a stop and she felt them both land on firm ground again, and she was still clutching her aunt's hand tightly. They stepped out together into a brightly lit white room; a pale blue desk sat to the left of them, behind which sat an elderly witch, Penny guessed she was no older than Minerva, also wearing pale blue robes similar to her desk.

'Minerva it's good to see you, I just wished the circumstances were better,' she said as she approached them.

'Where is she?' Minerva answered sullenly, desperate to see Penelope before it was too late.

'She's through here. She's in the Ministry's ward for aurors, meaning you must be escorted to and from the ward by a staff member at all times. We've got her in a private room to give you all time with her away from prying eyes,' the elderly witch explained as she led them out of the room and into a long corridor.

'Is there really nothing you can do Martha?' Minerva asked as she rushed along in Martha's wake.

'We are still trying everything that we can, but we still don't exactly know what happened and all of the usual cures for common poisons haven't helped. We're still trying some of the more obscure antidotes, but she's not responded to any of them so far. Now, I'm afraid that's all I can tell you,' Martha explained as she finally stopped outside a door leading to another room, where a very tall, dark skinned, bald headed wizard with a gold earring was standing guard outside.

'Password?' He asked with a deep booming voice, and as he turned to look at them, Penny realised that he had a large cut on his cheek which had obviously been treated with a healing solution as it was tinged blue in colour.

'Ministerium Tutela ten, fifteen, eight, fourteen, nineteen, twenty, fourteen,' the witch said, and satisfied with the answer he received he allowed her to speak further. 'I have Mrs Johnston's sister and granddaughter hear to visit her.'

The wizard looked at them both quietly before disappearing inside the room, where, after a few moments, he returned with Robert who looked at his sister in a way in which she was not used to. 'In her fifth year at Hogwarts, what did Penelope do that earned her a Ministry award?'

Minerva gave a small wry smile as she answered, and Penny watched her intently, 'she invented a potion that can strip a witch or wizard of their powers,' she replied as she remembered how proud she'd been the day her little sister had received recognition for something that had revolutionised defence against the dark arts, and having received the answer he'd expected, Robert then lowered his guard and hugged his sister tightly.

'I'm sorry about that Minerva, but we can't be too careful,' he said to them, but Penny felt so confused by everything that was happening. Why all the heavy security? He was about to lead them in when Minerva stopped and looked at Penny.

'Are you sure you want to see her Penny? It may come as quite a shock to you.'

'I'm sure.' Penny nodded defiantly. For months she'd longed to see her grams, and now this was the last chance she was ever going to get and she didn't want to waste any more time.

Taking her hand once more, Minerva led Penny slowly inside where she had to hold her own breath to prevent a gasp of horror escaping her lips; there, laid in the bed in front of her was her younger sister, looking ghostly white, although her skin seemed to have a slightly green tinge to it. Her whole body was covered in deep cuts and bruises, and the whites of her eyes had an eerie red glow to them, making her barely recognisable. Her normally neat dark blonde hair was tangled and matted with congealed blood and was now white in colour. Minerva quickly turned to Penny, frightened that this sight may prove too much for her, but she was surprised to see that she, Penny, didn't seem to be affected. She just approached her grandmother and sat on her bed beside her as she would have done normally.

'Penny…' Penelope whispered hoarsely, clearly taking great effort to speak. 'Penny, I'm sorry you had to see me like this,' she struggled to say as she took hold of Penny's hand.

'You're going to be alright Grams. They'll cure you, I know they will…they have to,' Penny replied, her voice shaking slightly.

'Not this time…' came the weakened response to her granddaughter, a very feeble and watery smile playing on her lips. 'I want you to go and live with your Aunt Minerva and to ensure you continue your education. She's been keeping me informed on how well you've been doing and I'm so proud of you Penny, as would your mother have been if she were here.'

Penny looked away from her grandmother at the mention of her mother, as Jenny was very rarely mentioned by Penelope or any of the others, the pain of her memory and death still too painful to think about. It was also at the sound of Penelope's words that Penny felt Minerva's hand placed lovingly on her shoulder.

'You've got to promise to take good care of her Minerva,' Penelope continued after a few minutes of silence as she regained a small amount of energy to carry on.

'Of course,' Minerva replied quietly, swallowing down her emotion as they all tried to remain strong, but the tension and atmosphere was hard to bare and eventually it all became too much and Penny had to excuse herself from the room once her grandmother was asleep.

'I'll take her to get a drink Minerva,' Robert said as he and Penny left together. He felt glad of the excuse to leave the rather oppressive feeling of the room that he'd just left, although he regretted it a little while later, as poor Penny clearly needed more support than he could give her.

Although he had spent some time with Penny over the years, it had always been Penelope and Minerva who had been with her the most and she clearly responded better to them than she ever would with him. They sat quietly in the tea-room beside the window looking out on to the muggle street, whilst the self-pouring tea pot poured them both yet another cup of sweet tea. They spent the next couple of hours sat in silence, watching the world beyond going about their business; oblivious to what was going on just a few metres away, until, finally, Penny decided that she wanted to go back.

As she slipped back into the room she saw Minerva mopping Penelope's sweating brow, a fever had clearly set in, although she no longer knew what was going on around her. Shortly after Penny and Robert had left the room she'd slipped into unconsciousness and hadn't stirred since. No one really wanted to admit it, but they could all tell that the end was nigh.

Eventually, some time after midnight and after many more hours of brow mopping and making sure Penelope was comfortable, her laboured breathing suddenly ceased. There was stunned silence for a few minutes before someone went to get one of the healers.

Everyone was exhausted, emotionally and physically, but none more so than Penny. She had been so convinced that an antidote would be found, even right up until the very last second, that to admit that her grandmother was gone took too much energy to even comprehend.

'Come on Penny, let's get you back. You need to rest before tomorrow,' Minerva whispered quietly as she steered Penny out of the private room and back to Martha's study. She barely noticed the journey back to Hogwarts using the floo powder, nor did she even really notice that a second bed had been placed in Minerva's living quarters, placed by Dumbledore before they'd returned; she couldn't even really bear the thought of getting undressed, so she fell asleep, fully clothed and crying.