April 1944
It quickly became obvious that everything was not under control.
Geraldine and Godric's babies were born on the last day of the Easter Holiday in early April; two boys and a girl. One of the boys was named Goliath because he was simply enormous from the moment he was born, and the other two were called Giselle and Gideon. As the days went on and all the babies grew, the dormitory started to look in Minerva's opinion less like a bedroom and more like a bombsite.
"Twelve!" Minerva said exasperatedly to Ro when they came back from Quidditch practise to see the entire contents of the bookcase all over the floor. "Twelve puffskeins, Rolanda! You can't say we've got it under control, because clearly we haven't!"
Ro sighed, placing a hand on Minerva's shoulder. "Min, I grew up with three older siblings and a father who's eccentric-ness could rival Dumbledore's. My version of 'out of control' is going to be pretty different to yours."
Minerva rolled her eyes despite the smile that had crept onto her face. "I mean it though Ro. What happens when this lot grow up and start breeding? We're going to be overrun, surely we should do something about it before it gets to that point?"
"We might not have that long." Minerva and Ro both looked over to where Poppy was sat on the floor in front of the bookcase with one of the borrowed library books in her lap. "It says here that puffskeins can get pregnant very quickly after birth, and gestation period is only about 3 weeks. Meaning that we could expect more babies from Georg and Gabriella before too long."
Minerva groaned aloud at the sheer thought, flopping back onto her bed, and even Ro was looking doubtful. It hadn't even crossed her mind to keep Georg and Gabriella apart, and the pair had been practically inseparable since their babies were bouncing around the dormitory of their own accord. "And how long until the babies can have babies?" She asked, though wasn't sure she really wanted to hear the answer.
"Erm... 6 weeks old." Poppy said with a grimace, getting up from the floor to look at the calendar on the back of the dormitory door. "So anytime now really."
"Ok, I'll now admit we have a problem." Ro nodded reluctantly.
"But what can we do about it?" Poppy asked with a worried expression. "Can Erika take them back?"
"I don't think so." Ro admitted, "I mean, part of the reason she gave them to us was because she couldn't keep them, right? Maybe if we gave her enough notice, but we might be crowded out of our own bedroom before that happens!"
There was quiet for a moment, before Minerva raised her head to look at Ro and Poppy. "Here's what I think. The Quidditch Season will be finished in two weeks, and our exams take up the last week of May. If we can hang on until then, we'll be able to focus entirely on dealing with... with this." She gestured vaguely to the quietly humming puffskeins dotted around the floor. "We'll owl Erika now, and hopefully she can make arrangements to take them in a month's time."
"I think it's all we can do." Poppy nodded with a sigh, and Ro murmured in agreement.
What with having to juggle revision, extra Quidditch practice and puffskein duties, the time passed quickly. The first match out of the two finals was between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, held on the first weekend of May. From where she was watching with Ro, Poppy, Irma and Millicent in the Stands, it was clear to Minerva that that the Slytherin team were playing just as foully as they had done against the Gryffindors in November and the Hufflepuffs in February. But her hope was not all gone as Hufflepuff had just about managed to beat Slytherin, until Owle Bullock slammed into Nina Hilliard and grabbed the Snitch, ending the game with a 190-50 score to Slytherin.
When they all went onto the pitch to meet Septima, it very quickly became apparent that Nina's injury was just one of many. Keeper and Captain Marvin Russell was practically holding up Chaser Tomoko Chang, who was looking very worse for wear as she'd fallen off her broomstick early in the game but continued playing. Brutus Scrimegeour and Duane Inglebee, the Beaters, were both sporting bloodied noses. A bruise was already blooming on Septima's forehead from colliding with a stray elbow when she joined Ro, Minerva, Poppy, Irma and Millicent, and combined with her grumpy expression she looked almost comical.
"Blasted. Absolutely blasted." Septima complained as Poppy felt the bump on her head, wincing just slightly.
"Hey, at least you're not going to be packed off to the Hospital Wing for the next two days." Ro offered with a grin.
Septima only huffed quietly in response, trying unsuccessfully to duck away from Poppy's touch. "Slytherin are almost guaranteed the Cup now. They took 240 points in the Gryffindor match and 190 points just now, though their loss to Hufflepuff only got them 40 points. Thank Merlin that Alfred Diggory is a good Seeker and the 'puffs managed to hold their own, or we may as well just hand the Cup over already."
"That doesn't make me feel any better about next weekend though." Ro said, and Minerva nodded grimly. "Nina gave me enough trouble in the Ravenclaw match."
"If Hufflepuff win next weekend and manage to get more than 220 points, they'll get the Cup." Millicent said, "You'll need to get..."
"Two hundred and sixty." Minerva filled in for her, as she'd worked out their standing that morning. "So even with catching the snitch, we still have to get 110 points."
Ro groaned. "Right. So if we don't want the snakes-" Irma flinched, "-sorry Irma- to win, I have to beat Alfred Diggory to the snitch and you, Larry and Fleamont have to get eleven goals past their Keeper."
Millicent laughed "Pretty much!"
"It sounds bad when you put it like that." Minerva said, her hopes of winning the Cup fading fast. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to Poppy and asked "How's Septima?"
"She doesn't need to see Madame Quinine, I'll give her some of that bruise paste I've got from the last Quidditch injury you lot presented me with!" Poppy shot Ro a reproachful look, making Minerva smile. "You go and get changed, then we'll all go up to our dormitory."
"And we can deal with whatever problem the puffskeins throw us next." Minerva heard Ro mutter quietly as they all walked towards the changing room.
After Septima changed back into her casual clothes, a No-Melt Ice Cube pressed to her forehead, they went back into the castle and up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Poppy and Septima had gone up the stairs and into the dormitory first, though Poppy's shriek made Minerva and the others sprint the rest of the way and pile into the doorway to see what had shocked her. Pointing at Ro's bed told them all they needed to know; Georg and Gabriella had had four more babies.
"Now what are we going to do!" Poppy exclaimed exasperatedly, picking her tin of bruise paste from where it had been knocked from her bedside table to the floor. She sat Septima down on her bed and gently started dabbing the slimy paste onto her bump.
Ro turned to Millicent, her expression one of mild unease. "Can you take some off our hands? We've really got more than we can handle here."
"I'd be happy to, but we've got other roommates remember?" Millicent pointed out. "I don't think Emily would mind, though I'm not so sure about Bonnie and Mali. I'll ask them if things get any worse."
"And I don't suppose you could even take one?" Ro asked Irma, though Minerva knew it was unlikely.
Irma shook her head. "Out of the question. Druella hates Eileen's kitten, I doubt she'd be thrilled if I brought one of these into the dormitory."
"S'alright." Ro nodded, touching Irma's shoulder. "We'll just have to make the best of it until we can somehow get them to Erika. I owled her, and she said she'll make arrangements to come fetch them early next month."
The next week was taken up primarily by Quidditch practise every night for Minerva and Ro, so Poppy took over most of the puffskein-watching duties. By the time Saturday rolled around, it was really beginning to feel overcrowded in the dormitory. Minerva had to avoid treading on tiny puffskeins as she got into her Quidditch uniform before going down to breakfast, already feeling the nerves churning in her stomach as she thought about the upcoming match.
"Are you planning on skipping breakfast again?" Ro asked, buttoning up her outer robe.
Minerva nodded slightly, sitting down heavily on her bed. "I'm already feeling queasy; I'll ask Poppy to take a bowl of porridge into the stands with her, she can practise that warming charm that Professor Aurelius taught us before the holidays."
Ro chuckled quietly as she took hold of Minerva's wrist and led her towards the door. "Good luck getting Poppy to agree to that, you know how she gets sometimes."
"It's only because she cares." Minerva smiled as they went down the staircases and into the Great Hall.
The electric atmosphere unique to Quidditch days had already descended, with black and yellow banners decorating one end of the hall and red and gold covering the other. It was hard to pick out any Ravenclaws or Slytherins in the crowd as the hot day made house scarves unnecessary, so it took Minerva and Ro a while to find Septima, Millicent and Irma sat with Poppy at the Gryffindor table.
Poppy was already pushing a bowl of porridge towards Minerva, so she quickly shook her head. "I'm not having it now, could you keep it warm for after the match?"
Poppy sighed exasperatedly, but to Minerva's relief she did nod in agreement. "You have to come and get it straight after you finish playing though." She said, taking out her wand and casting the warming charm over the bowl.
"So how are you two feeling about those eleven goals?" Millicent asked, smiling sweetly.
Ro groaned, her head slumping forwards onto the table. "Don't remind me. I sneaked a look at the Hufflepuff's last practise yesterday evening, and Merlin's beard is Alfred a good Seeker. I hope Alastor's on top form to keep the goals from going in."
"Never mind the Keeper, it's the Chasers that this match rests on." Septima pointed out, patting Minerva's wrist.
"Morning you lot!" A sudden voice startled Minerva, and they all turned to see Alastor looking down on them. "Minerva, Ro, Fleamont wants to have a last team talk before the match." Not one to waste words, he simply nodded at them before moving back down the table to where the rest of the Gryffindor Team were huddled.
"Good luck, all of you," Septima grinned, and Millicent and Irma both nodded.
Poppy added "Be careful," giving Minerva especially a sharp glare. She smiled in amusement before following Ro to join their teammates, sitting down next to Larry Spencer-Moon.
"Right then you lot, this is the big one." Fleamont started with a grave tone of voice. "If we want that Quidditch Cup in Professor Dumbledore's office next year, which he's assured me he does, we've got a hefty challenge ahead of us. Minerva, Larry, we have to work together to get that Quaffle through the hoop as many times as humanely possible. Nancy, Ernest, we'll need you to watch our backs the whole time." The two Beaters nodded, then Fleamont turned to Ro. "I'm afraid you'll be on your own against the Bludgers, but even if you catch the Snitch we still need 11 goals so we can't afford to lose a Chaser. Keep Diggory distracted until I give you the go ahead, then grab that Snitch as fast as you can. Not before, got it?"
Ro saluted "Yes Captain!"
Fleamont nodded, his gaze sweeping slowly over each member of the team, before standing abruptly and motioning for them to follow him out of the Hall. They lingered in relative quiet beneath the Stands for a moment as the rest of the school arrived to watch, before collecting their brooms and marching out onto the pitch. Fleamont shook the hand of Captain Rodney Lloyd, before all 14 players mounted their brooms and started to hover above the ground. Minerva and Larry kept close behind Fleamont, ready to back him up when he raced in for the Quaffle.
Spinnet's whistle blasted, then they were off. Fleamont dove in front of Hufflepuff Chaser Florean Fortescue to grab the Quaffle, and both Minerva and Larry had to duck heavily to avoid flying straight into him. Fleamont's move seemed to take the Hufflepuffs by surprise, as they were uninterrupted as the Quaffle was passed between them up the pitch and straight over Rodney Lloyd's head through the hoop.
A grin split Minerva's face, but she didn't dwell on her elation for long before taking control of the Quaffle again, turning to pass to Larry. An incoming Bludger informed her quickly that the Hufflepuffs had regained their composure; she dropped several feet to avoid it and passed to Fleamont instead before rising back up to take Larry's throw. Another couple of passes, and the second goal was theirs.
Hufflepuff claimed the next goal, followed by another one for Gryffindor. Minerva was thinking that she, Fleamont and Larry were being given relatively little trouble from Hufflepuff's Beaters when she glanced upwards and saw both of them heavily flanking Ro. Leaving Fleamont and Larry to handle the Quaffle she changed course and soared towards Nancy.
"Ro needs some help!" Minerva shouted as she passed; Nancy nodded before turning her broom around to fly towards one of the Bludgers. A well-aimed swing of her club sent it straight towards where Ro was desparetely to shake off the Hufflepuff Beaters. It collided with the front of Jimmy Stebbins' broom handle, knocking him clean off the broomstick and straight down to the ground below.
With one Beater down and reassured that Ro could handle the remaining one by herself, Minerva turned her attention back to the scores. A brief moment of listening to Filius Flitwick's commentary gave her the score of 50:20 to Gryffindor, though another goal from Hufflepuff seconds later brought it to 50:30. Larry immediately took possesion of the Quaffle though, passing straight to Fleamont and it wasn't long before he had scored.
Ten minutes later, and the score was 100-60 still in Gryffindor's favour. Although Florean Fortescue and his fellow Chasers Helen Lambert and Sophie Sommerby were giving Minerva, Larry and Fleamont a run for their money, Alastor's superior Keeping was giving them the upper hand. Fleamont had taken a Bludger to the ribs though insisted on continuing the game despite the obvious pain he was in, meaning that it fell primarily on Minerva and Larry to get the last points they needed before Ro could get the Snitch.
The moment they needed came when a Bludger shot by Ernest whizzed passed Keeper Rodney's head, forcing him to swerve out of the way to avoid being hit. Minerva caught the Quaffle from Larry, picked up speed and lobbed it straight through the center hoop. Minerva was readying herself to take possession again when an almighty cheer caught her attention; she looked across the pitch, and her heart leapt when she saw Ro holding the still-fluttering Snitch in her hand.
"We've done it, we've won the Quidditch Cup!" Larry shouted joyously, high fiving both Nancy and Ernest as they swooped over to join them. Professor Dippet was walking onto the pitch with the cup in his hand, though to Minerva's surprise there were both red and green ribbons tied onto the handles. The cheers in the stands had died down too, giving way to an atmosphere thick with confusion.
Professor Dippet lifted his wand to his throat projecting his voice all around the pitch. "It seems that there has been a tie in this year's Tournament," he announced, his words causing a flurry of murmers from everyone. Minerva exchanged a confused glance with Larry before the terrible realisation hit her; they had needed to get 260 points to equal the 470 points held by the Slytherins. To beat them would have required an extra goal to be scored, meaning they had told Ro to catch the Snitch 10 points too early.
"Both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch Teams have scored a final total of 470 points this season, and achieved two wins and one loss over the other Houses. There will be no tie-breaker, as the Houses have proved themselves to be exactly equal in their Quidditch abilities. This means that both Houses will be awarded an equal amount of House Points, and the Cup will alternate between them over the course of next year."
Fleamont dismounted his broom to shake hands with Professor Dippet and take one handle of the Quidditch Cup, the other hand pressed tightly to his bruised ribs. Slytherin Captain Edward Nott had walked onto the pitch to take the other handle, and remarkably unenthusiastic round of applause sounded around the pitch. It was painfully clear that not one person was happy with the disappointing result.
Except, as Minerva found out when sat in the Great Hall with her friends that evening, for Irma.
"This works out rather well for me." she said, her unusually bright smile a pleasant surprise, "It means I can be happy about the result while not being a traitor to either my House or my friends!"
Author's Note:
So our first Quidditch Season is brought to a close, with a surprising plot twist! The idea came from when my own school's interhouse netball tournament in my final year ended in a tie between my house and another - the disappointment was so bitter. But in Irma's case, it makes for a pretty good situation.
Many many character references this chapter. Out of the Ravenclaw team: Marvin Russell is completely made up, Nina Hilliard takes the surname of Robert Hilliard who was Ravenclaw's Quidditch Captain and Fleur Delacour's Yule Ball date, Brutus Scrimegeour is completely canon, and Tomoko Chang takes Cho Chang's surname. From the Hufflepuffs: Florean Fortescue is completely canon (the ice cream seller in Diagon Alley), Rodney Lloyd and Helen Lambert are completely made up, a Stebbins and a Sommerby were on the Hufflepuff Team at some point in the series, and Alfred Diggory is Cedric Diggory's uncle made up by me.
If my maths in the point standing is a little off, please point it out to me. My brain was tired when doing the sums!
In between Quidditch stuff you can see the puffskein problem getting increasingly more problematic, which the next chapter will be almost entirely dedicated to.