Chapter 7
Poppy had been watching from the window. She didn't have a perfect view of the Quidditch Pitch but it was good enough to see what Harry was up to.

When he first took to the air she wanted to go down and give him a scolding he would never forget. An eleven year old on a Nimbus 2000, alone? What if he fell off? He had only been on a broom 3 times before in his life! He would certainly kill himself from that height! As she watched though she saw how natural a flier he was and what Minerva saw in him and she relaxed a little. He had certainly inherited James's flying ability.

When Minerva and Wood turned up she relaxed more, knowing that Minerva could slow his fall if he fell. They spent a long time on the ground when Harry came down and then both students took off again, Harry chasing what looked like muggle golf balls. He caught every single one she thought proudly, catching some of them at peculiar angles or having to do manoeuvres so fast that it made her wince in order to get a hand to them.

She saw Harry head back to the castle in front of the other two at a slow pace. It seemed he was tired, which was to be expected, but whether he had exerted himself too much or not would have to wait until he came up. She couldn't tell from here.

Ten minutes went by. Twenty minutes went by. By the time half an hour after she'd seen him leave the quidditch pitch came around she had realised that for the first time, he had disobeyed her. While annoyed at him, especially if he had over exerted himself, it was another major breakthrough in his development. Children should not blindly do everything they were told. Every child has, at some point, been asked to do something they really didn't want to and so has not done it. If Harry was reaching this stage, then he was getting close to being the same as his peers. She knew that was what the boy craved.

Still he would need to be punished for not showing up and she needed to check for herself that he was alright.

"Minerva McGonagall's Office!" she shouted into the flames.

"Good evening Poppy, what brings you here so late?"

"Harry didn't turn up to the Hospital Wing after his flying session tonight."

"He disobeyed you?" there was a tinge of shock to her voice "I watched him enter the castle and then Mr Wood and I headed back to the pitch to pick up the quidditch crate Oliver had left there."

"Yes, it appears so. Did he seem overly tired to you? I couldn't tell from the window."

Minerva let out a hearty laugh. "So you were watching! I thought you would. He's good isn't he?"

"He appears to have inherited James's skill on a broom, yes. However we digress slightly. Could you please check if my wayward nephew is in the Gryffindor Common Room? I need to check he's alright."

"This time, I will. But you need to stop coddling him. No other students have parents or guardians in the castle, they are free to do what they like, when they like, within the school rules of course. If they come back tired from flying then they will either come to you or just sleep it off. You wouldn't individually check every student for over-exertion, so you shouldn't force it on Harry either. To be treated so differently could cause him to begin to resent you when he's older. He's just got a family, don't be too overbearing and push him away."

"But Minerva-" Poppy spluttered

"I know exactly where you are going with that statement." Minerva interrupted with a raised hand. "We both know he has nearly fully recovered from core retreat and we both know it would take a lot more than just a little over exertion on a broom to do any serious damage. You're checking on him now not for his sake, but for yours. He's a child, let him be a child."

Minerva was quite probably the only one (save Albus) still capable of lecturing Poppy as if she were still a student. Fortunately, she only rarely had to use that skill, but this time Poppy needed to hear it. At the end of her lecture, however, she smiled and gave the medi-witch a one armed hug.

"Shall I bring him in here?"

"Please."

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Poppy stood completely still after Minerva had left. She was lost deep in thought. It had been a long time since she had last been on the receiving end of one of the Scottish witch's lectures. Ironically they were very similar to Poppy's own, her having taken Minerva's style as a basis when she had started work.

Poppy admired Minerva very much, which was the reason she was so thoughtful now. Minerva never said anything she didn't mean, so if she was being told to do something, she had better take note! Both of them loved Harry as their own and both would go to all lengths and beyond to protect him.

Perhaps she was being too clingy. Too overbearing. Too overprotective.

"He's still recovering. He still needs medical observation." a voice said in her head.

"He's a young boy. He'll bounce back. He needs to learn to live, as any child would at his age." a second voice said. This voice had a distinct tinge of Minerva in it.

"He gets tired and sick so easily..."

"He'll sleep it off."

"He went into core retreat..."

"Which he has recovered from. That does not require indefinite monitoring."

"He doesn't handle exertion..."

"He'll learn. He's never had to in Hogwarts, you've made sure of that."

"I need him close to me..."

"Ah! Now we get to the root of the matter. You want him all to yourself. Isn't that rather selfish?"

"Shut up"

"Have you asked him what he wants? He is eleven, he deserves some say in his life. Do you want to become like Albus? Like the muggles?"

"SHUT. UP!" Poppy shouted to the room.

A few papers rattled on the desk from the accidental magic that Poppy let out. It startled her enough that she suddenly looked up, wondering for a fleeting instant why she was stood, alone, in the middle of Minerva McGonagall's office. It all came back as the pair entered the room.

It was time for an overdue conversation with her nephew.

A/N If this chapter is not up to scratch I apologise. I was having massive writer's block whilst I wrote it, so it's not one of my best - sorry!