Mopsy Fleabert was one crazy witch and everyone knew it. Rumor had it that she had once been a fierce dueling champion, but now she was just a tiny old lady who tottered around the village in oversized hats, followed by a pack of dogs.
She lived on the edge of Hogsmede village, in the same home that she had lived in all her life. She was short and small boned, with delicate features that indicated she had once been quite the beauty. Now she was covered in age spots, and her skin was covered in laugh lines, her eyes still bright, even at her age.
She had once been married to a man whose given name no one could remember, but who's surname had obviously been Fleabert. It was rumored that it was he that had had a fondness for dogs and when he passed, Mopsy had begun a collection of sorts.
The students liked her well enough. She was always willing to give out cookies to stray students and dogs alike. Her neighbors couldn't say they didn't like her. She was a sweet old lady. They did, however, have some issues with the army of dogs that followed her wherever she went. But they could not have one without the other (or others as it were).
To the citizens of Hogsmede she had been an eccentric old lady who had great cookies and was too fond of dogs. They knew her as crazy old Mopsy Fleabert. And they were right. They knew that she was a little out there. But what the citizens of Hogsmede did not know about Mopsy would have filled several volumes.
They didn't know that Mopsy was not her real first name. Her Christian name had been Grace Marie Blood. Mopsy was the name her husband had given her, because he thought the way she styled her hair made it look like a mop (in the best way of course).
They didn't know that she had a family. Not just any family, mind you, but the Blood family. One of the oldest and most pure families still left in existence.
They didn't know that she had been sorted into Gryffindor House. It had been the proudest moment of her life when the sorting hat said that she belonged in the house of those that were brave and true. She had felt alive when the entire table had stood up when the hat shouted her name. She had felt like she was a part of something.
They didn't know that she had known Tom Riddle at school. She had been Head Girl during his first year at Hogwarts. She remembers telling him off for being out of bounds in the restricted section. She gave him detention. She, Mopsy Fleabert, had given the Dark Lord detention! It was almost funny now. She also remembers feeling sorry for the little orphan boy with the wide, sad blue eyes. She can't imagine how that lonely little boy she once knew caused all this suffering.
They didn't know that her husband's name was Nelson. He was a muggleborn and was constantly in awe of the magical world. She met him on the first year boats to be sorted when he got seasick and vomited in her lap. Years later he had been the Head Boy to her Head Girl. Their first time doing rounds together he tripped walking down the staircase and groped her accidently. Needless to say, she hadn't had a very high opinion of Nelson Fleabert.
They didn't know that she had fallen in love with her husband when his dog had bitten her. Everyone assumed that Nelson and Mopsy had fallen in love at school. They had been Head Boy and Head Girl together after all. But no, at school they had been nothing more than friendly acquaintances. It had been years later, when Mospy was working at St. Mungos that they had bumped into each other again in Diagon Ally. He had been walking his dog. His dog had not taken kindly to being bumped and had promptly bitten Mopsy's ankle. Nelson had been so flustered and apologetic and sweet that when he had asked her out to tea in order to make the whole thing up to her, she said yes. Needless to say her second (well, really third) impression of Nelson Fleabert was better.
They didn't know that Mopsy had wanted a child more than anything. For years she and Nelson tried. It turned out that not everything could be fixed by magic. From then on Mospy and Nelson treat the students that come down to Hogsmede as their children. She never forgets any of the ones that come to her for advice and cookies. Years later, she thinks that it might be good that she never had a child. Any child of hers would have grown up during the war. War, Nelson tells her, as they watch yet another batch of kids walk back towards the castle, is no place for children.
They didn't know that Nelson had been killed during the First War. He was a muggle born after all. One day he kissed his wife goodbye, walked out the door and never came back. Mopsy always left the porch light on for him, just in case.
They didn't know that she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She joined up after Nelson disappeared. He would have wanted her to fight for a better world. She was disappointed that Dumbledore let children sign up to fight. Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black. She thought that even Dumbledore should realize that war is no place for children.
They didn't know that she had never believed that Sirius Black was guilty. Sirius had always come to her house for cookies and to play with her dogs when he was at school. He had even brought that Marlene girl once or twice. She had seen him during battles, fighting the Death Eaters so fiercely. She had seen him die a little after he heard about the McKinnon massacre. She had let him sit in her kitchen and play with her dogs for many nights after that. They had loved him. She knew that animals can always tell a person's true heart. Her dogs had loved Sirius Black, so she knew he couldn't be guilty.
They didn't know that she had convinced Aberforth to go to his brother's funeral. She knew there was no love between them, but family was family and that was that.
They didn't know that Mopsy Fleabert died deflecting a spell away from a terrified Draco Malfoy.
They didn't know that she did it because he was only a child. And war is no place for children.