December 1944

"Time goes by so much faster when you've got your mind full." Poppy remarked as she, Minerva and Septima walked into the Great Hall for dinner. Their last lesson had been Divination up in the North Tower, so she wasn't surprised to see that Ro and Millicent had already made their way down from the Muggle Studies classroom. Twelve Christmas Trees had already been brought in and were starting to be decorated by the teachers, and she could hear Hagrid dragging another one through the Entrance Hall.

"I'm glad it's not just me who thinks that!" Septima agreed with a grin as they sat down at the Gryffindor Table, "I can't believe the Quidditch matches were two weeks ago now, it feels like only yesterday."

Minerva laughed. "You wouldn't be saying the same if you'd had your roommate covering your face in bruise paste every day since the match!"

Poppy shot her a glare through narrowed eyes, though Ro's burst of laughter made her smile too. The area on Minerva's jaw where Orion had punched her had turned purple by the evening of the incident, though conspicuous amounts of bruise paste daily had brought it down fairly quickly. "Perhaps you shouldn't have got into a fight with the Slytherin Beater then!" Ro pointed out, "I'd have just hexed him into oblivion."

"Believe me, I tried." Minerva muttered drily.

"Ah come off it Ro." Septima said, ignoring the look Minerva gave her as she put an arm around Minerva's shoulders. "I don't think I'd have come away so well if I'd been attacked by my dear cousin."

"Even if we stay friends for 100 years I will never be able to think of you as a Black." Millicent shook her head, and Poppy had to agree with her. With her reddish-brown hair, warm chocolate eyes and permanent smile, Septima was exactly the opposite of the stereotypical Black.

"What about me?" A voice asked, and Poppy turned to see Irma sliding into the free seat next to her.

Ro tilted her head in thought as she looked at Irma. "You look more like a Black," she pointed out, and Irma shrugged indifferently. "It's the hair I think, long and black, and too similar to Walburga's. Even Min looks more like a Black than Septima does."

Poppy clapped a hand over her mouth in a half-gasp half-laugh, patting Irma's back as she choked on her pumpkin juice. Septima and Millicent weren't nearly as controlled; both of them fell about laughing while Ro looked very pleased with herself. Pretending to hit Septima's shoulder with her copy of Unfogging the Future, Minerva shot Ro a murderous look and asked "Is this 'pick on Minerva day', Rolanda Hooch?"

Ro smirked, her attempt at looking innocent failing drastically. "Could be, what do you say Pops?"

Poppy chuckled quietly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes in despair. "You're worse than first years, both of you."

Ro gasped dramatically, her hands flying to her chest in mock horror. "You wound me, Penelope. How could you say such a thing?"

Poppy pointed over to the Hufflepuff table where Malcolm and Emery were sitting with Winston Spencer-Moon, Atticus Weasley, Pomona and Rosmerta Grubbly, and Imogen Farley. They were chatting excitedly while watching Professor Aurelius dress the Christmas Trees with awe on their faces, too engrossed to see the third-years all looking at them. "I don't see either of your brothers calling their friends names or trying to hit each other with textbooks!"

"She has a point, you know." Millicent said with a sly smile, ducking out of the way when The Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles was almost hurled in her direction.

With everyone's minds occupied by the war precautions, time had flown so much faster. Christmas was upon them, and in comparison to last year the castle was unusually full. The renewed threat in the Muggle War from the rocket bombs meant that practically every Muggleborn student stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays. This meant that Slytherin was the only House with vastly depleted numbers, so after the Hogwarts Express left for Kings Cross Irma moved into Gryffindor Tower once again. She wasn't the only student to move dormitories for the holiday; Imogen boarded with Pomona and Rosmerta in the Hufflepuff basement much to the disappointment of Malcolm, Emery and Winston.

"Why can't they all come and stay in Gryffindor Tower?" Emery complained as the first year boys watched Ro and Irma dragging Irma's trunk through the portrait hole. "You get to have Irma stay, why do Pomona, Rosmerta and Imogen have to sleep in the basement?"

"Because they aren't friends with the girls in your year." Poppy pointed out, stifling a giggle as Ro was sent sprawling onto the floor. She almost got out of her chair to help her, but when Minerva beat her to it she settled back down. "I doubt they would be thrilled to have their dormitory invaded by two Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin!" As if to prove a point, Doris Campbell and Amelia Orville glowered at Emery and started talking together in hushed voices.

"Well then why can't they come into the boys' dormitory?" Winston asked with a scowl.

Larry appeared behind Winston, ruffling his hair. With their father's time completely taken up by the threat posed by Grindlewald, both the Spencer-Moons had decided to stay over the holiday too. "It's the boy's dormitory, girls aren't allowed in," Larry laughed.

"And for good reason too!" Ro shouted from halfway up the stairs. "Sharing bedrooms with boys is like sharing with a Hippogriff!"

Poppy and Minerva looked at each other, and immediately started laughing. They had grown used to the never-ending mess that covered Ro's corner of the dormitory (and often threatened to invade Poppy and Minerva's space), having accepted quickly that asking her to tidy up was pointless. "Then I think your brothers have had a bad influence on you Ro!" Minerva grinned, "Having you in the dormitory is like having a small Hippogriff in the next bed."

"Rude." Ro muttered, her voice barely audible as she heaved Irma's trunk up the final step. "We should have just asked Professor Dumbledore to move this for us, I can't feel my shoulders. Oi Larry, give us a hand would you?"

Larry laughed, running up the stairs to help Ro and Irma with the trunk. However he only got halfway up before the stairs seemed to melt away into a smooth surface, sending Larry shooting straight back down to the bottom. Irma clung desperately to the handle of her trunk for a moment before she too lost her grip, managing to stay standing as she skidded down but tripped over Larry to land in an undignified heap.

Poppy was on her feet in an instant, crouching down beside Irma and shaking her shoulder gently. "Irma, are you alright?" she asked, her panic fading when Irma rolled onto her back and gave Poppy a smile.

"Fine, don't worry. What happened?" Poppy took Irma's hands and helped her to her feet as she brushed the dust from her black dress.

Larry had already stood and was rubbing his shoulder with a pained look on his face. When Poppy moved towards him he shook his head, laughing sheepishly as he said "It's only where your friend managed to trip over me, nothing to worry about. I'd forgotten that the stairs to the girls' dormitories are charmed to not let boys up!"

"I think Erika mentioned that to me once." Ro thought aloud, sitting down on Irma's trunk. "Johnnie tried to get to her dormitory when she was ill with flu in their fourth year, but couldn't climb the stairs." She peered down the staircase, which had returned to normal, then glanced in the direction of their dormitory before calling down "You alright to keep going Irma? Not long to go now."

Irma nodded and moved towards the stairs, but Minerva waved her away. "I'll do it, you sit down or Poppy will hex you," she insisted, joining Ro on the landing and taking the back end of the trunk. Poppy rolled her eyes, pointing to the armchair which Irma obediently sat down in.

"At least we don't have to bring Septima or Millicent's trunks down too." Ro said through gritted teeth as she and Minerva just about managed to pick up the trunk between them. "But theirs' would be easier I guess, just down one set of stairs and along the seventh floor corridor rather than up from the dungeons then seven sets of moving staircases!"

Since Bonnie Dale and Emily Stretton were both staying over the holiday, Septima and Millicent had been told to stay in their own dormitory in Ravenclaw Tower. The busy castle meant that the holiday was very different to how it had been in either their first or second years, and not just in terms of sleeping arrangements. The Great Hall was a constant hive of activity, with staff finishing decorations and students spending most of their time there with friends from other Houses even between. There wasn't enough snow on the ground to make braving the cold outside worth it, but the flaming torches lining the corridors and rooms made the castle itself wonderfully cosy.

When Christmas morning finally dawned, the Gryffindor Common Room seemed to be overflowing with people. Imogen, Pomona and Rosmerta were opening presents with Emery, Malcolm and Winston, and Septima and Millicent arrived through the portrait hole not long afterwards. Since Larry, Ernest Lawrence, Nancy Campbell and Maggie Jordan were taking up the largest sofa, the third year girls sat in a circle in front of the fire to open their presents.

Millicent went first, showing them the pretty home-made dress in Ravenclaw blue and bronze she was wearing that her mother had sent. Septima received a large and very detailed Astronomy map with beautiful moving images, and Irma a slate grey hair slide decorated with emeralds and an ornate ring. Minerva's present caused the most excitement; it was a wizarding chess set, and both Ro and Septima (who already had a set each) started playfully bickering over who was the better player and should get the honour of teaching Minerva. Once the others had managed to calm them down, it was Poppy's turn to look at her presents. They were only wrapped in tissue paper, which due to the war shortages as her mother explained in the equally flimsy Christmas card. There was a book, as per usual, plus a bag of mint humbugs, some liquorice allsorts and a mars bar.

"What in Merlin's name are they?" Ro asked, examining a humbug from the bag.

Poppy laughed, opening the liquorice and offering them around. "Muggle sweets," she explained, "we don't have chocolate frogs or pumpkin pasties in the Muggle world, so we have these instead."

"Mint humbugs taste like toothpaste." Millicent said, taking one from Ro and popping it into her mouth. "The allsorts are kind of like liquorice wands, and the mars bar is just chocolate with caramel inside."

At Poppy's encouragement, Ro put a humbug into her mouth and sat in silence for a while as she chewed it. "They're weird," she eventually concluded, "but kind of nice. Don't suppose you want to trade for these?" She held out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans which had been sent to her from Mallory - it seemed he had taken heed of Aunt Felicity's suggestion that history books weren't up Ro's street.

"Go on then, I'm sure mother and father would find these fascinating." Poppy shrugged, taking the box from Ro. "I'll just go up the Owlery and send them, it won't take long." Knowing it would be cold at the top of the West Tower, she pulled a thick jumper over her dress and slipped on her shoes before climbing out of the portrait hole.

Despite the lack of snow on the Hogwarts grounds, the temperature in the West Tower was far colder than she'd expected. As she approached the tightly spiralled stone staircase she couldn't stop her teeth from chattering, and failed to notice the ice covering some of the steps. She yelped in surprise when her foot shot out from under her, falling down the five or so stairs she'd climbed and sliding across the polished floor of the Fourth Floor Corridor. She managed to stop herself by clinging onto a conveniently placed column, but the box of Bertie Bott's Beans carried on sliding until it crashed into the statue of Gregory the Smarmy.

After gingerly testing each limb for injury, she slowly got to her feet and started picking up the beans that had spilled out all over the floor. So focused on trying to fish out the last few beans from behind the statue, she didn't notice anyone behind her until a hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look around. It was Orpheus Filch, the caretaker, and he looked absolutely livid.

"Trying to get into Hogsmeade, are we?" he asked viciously, "Don't try to fool me, I know where this passage leads. Thought you'd sneak into the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer and no-one would notice?"

Poppy shook her head quickly, eyes widening as she saw the whip in Filch's other hand. She'd heard from Fleamont and Lester how painful Filch's beating were from when they'd been caught out after curfew without Fleamont's invisibility cloak.

"Well this'll teach you not to get at it again!" Filch snarled, gripping her arm and raising the whip. Poppy hid her face behind her other sleeve, bracing herself against the agony she knew was coming.

When she eventually arrived back at Gryffindor Tower, it took mere seconds for her friends to work out that something wasn't right. She wasn't surprised; with her hair in a tangled mess from her fall and left arm hidden beneath her jumper she must have looked like a wreck. "Poppy, what's the matter?" Minerva asked, beckoning for Poppy to sit down next to her. Slowly, shakily, she took her arm out from underneath her jumper and closed her eyes briefly when Ro gasped.

"What happened?" Ro asked, her fist clenching in anger. "If it was the Slytherins again then I swear to Mer-"

"No it wasn't them." Poppy said hurriedly, noticing Irma's wince at the mention of her House. "I tripped and dropped the Beans behind a statue on the way to the Owlery. There must be a secret passage there, because Filch accused me of trying to get to Hogsmeade, a-and did... this."

There was silence for a few moments as they all looked uncertainly at each other. "I've got a handkerchief in the dormitory," Irma muttered as she stood and hurried up the staircase, returning with a handkerchief which Minerva wrapped tightly around Poppy's bleeding wrist. Ro also jumped to her feet and ran off across the Common Room, reappearing with Augusta and Fleamont by her side.

"Show me, Poppy." Augusta ordered, removing the handkerchief in order to inspect Poppy's wrist. She took her wand from her pocket, pointed it at the bloodied wounds and muttered "Ferula." Bandages spun around her arm and hand, wrapping it tightly and easing the stinging sensation slightly too.

"We need to borrow your invisibility cloak." Ro's demand jolted Poppy's attention from her bandaged wrist, and everyone stared surprised at her. "What- you want to let him get away with this?"

"Filch has been dealing out capital punishments since anyone can remember, and Professor Dippet doesn't have any problems with it." Augusta reminded her. "There isn't a great deal you can do about it."

"But we could make his Christmas miserable, make him see how it feels!" Ro insisted, looking imploringly at Fleamont.

Fleamont stayed quiet for a few moments, looking thoughtful. "What do you have in mind?" he asked heavily.

Ro grinned, and Poppy knew purely from instinct that she'd already thought of some outrageous plan. "The chandelier in the Entrance Hall. Kurtis and his friends almost brought it down but got caught by Filch. I want another go, and it'll be a lot easier if he can't see us."

"You know the cloak won't cover all of you?"

"It doesn't need to, just two of us on a broomstick."

Fleamont sighed, looking between Ro's hopeful look and Augusta's disapproving frown. "You have to bring it back as soon as that chandelier is on the floor. No playing with it, just get the job done and get back," he instructed them sternly, and when Ro nodded eagerly he and Augusta went up to his dormitory. Ro sprinted up to their own room to collect her Silver Arrow, and as soon as Fleamont passed Minerva the cloak they were off out the portrait hole.

"Ro do you really think this is a good idea?" Poppy asked as they walked quickly down the Grand Staircase. They had less than an hour before the Feast was due to start, so would need to move quickly to avoid being caught.

"Yes." Ro snapped, silencing any questions that anyone else might have had. The dangerous look in her eye that Poppy had seen on a few occasions was back, and judging only from that it was a miracle that Minerva's glasses hadn't smashed yet. When they arrived in the Entrance Hall and looked up at the enormous chandelier at least 20 feet above them, she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was about to go wrong.

"Right then. Millicent and Poppy are keeping watch." Poppy nodded, deciding it was in their best interests not to argue with Ro at that moment. "Minerva and Irma, you watch from the ground and give instructions. Septima-"

"You're not getting me on that broomstick with you. I meant it last year when I said I refused to spend another Christmas bedbound." Septima warned, and Poppy couldn't help but smile at the memory of their past two Christmases.

Ro shook her head firmly. "I need someone to hold the broom steady while I unscrew the chandelier. We'll go a lot faster and be able to get out of here quicker if you're there."

Grumbling incoherently, Septima mounted the Silver Arrow behind Ro who nodded for Minerva to throw the cloak over them. Once they had disappeared from sight, it was only when the chandelier started squeaking that Poppy knew they'd reached their target.

"This bloody bolt's so tight!" Ro's complaint sounded after a while, "It won't budge!"

"Careful Ro or we're both going to fall!" Septima's voice hissed in response.

Poppy looked anxiously through the doorway, convinced that someone was going to come down the Grand Staircase at any moment. Millicent checked her watch- half an hour to go.

"Are you sure you're twisting it the right way?" Minerva called upwards. Silence fell for a moment or two, before the squeaking resumed and the chandelier started shaking. "Yes, you've got it now, keep going," she urged.

The shaking and squeaking gradually grew louder, until it was swaying so much that Poppy knew it would fall at any second. As she, Millicent, Minerva and Irma backed away to stand pressed against the wall, a shout of "No!" made Poppy's heart miss a beat. The chandelier was falling, and Fleamont's invisibility cloak must have been attached to it as Ro and Septima instantly became visible. The crash when the chandelier hit the floor was deafening, shards of glass flying everywhere, and it was only when Ro uttered a word that Poppy knew would send Aunt Felicity reeling that Poppy dared to open her eyes.

The sight that met her eyes filled her with such panic that she was frozen with fear. Standing in the doorway of the Entrance Hall, looking between what remained of the chandelier and Ro and Septima hovering just below the ceiling, was none other than Walburga Black. Adrenaline flooded through Poppy's veins, and it was without thinking that she drew her wand at Walburga and said frantically "Stupefy!"

Walburga was thrown onto the floor, knocked entirely unconscious. Ro and Septima landed beside her as Poppy, Minerva, Millicent and Septima rushed over, watching the Slytherin prefect as if she would jump up and curse them at any second. "What did you do that for?" Ro hissed, trepidation etched onto her face.

"I didn't know what else to do!" Poppy wailed in hushed tones.

"But what do we do now?" Millicent asked gravely, looking at her watch. "We've only got 10 minutes before people start coming down for the Feast!"

"We have to go." Irma said, the urgency in her tone startling Poppy. "I know what she's capable of; if she wakes up while we're here then we won't be getting out of the Hospital Wing in a hurry."

"Then we need an alibi." Minerva said calmly, placing a hand on Irma's shoulder. "A teacher would be best, someone who wouldn't question us turning up, who we'd have a reason to see..."

Ro grabbed Poppy's injured wrist, the sudden pain making her squeak involuntarily. "Sorry Pops," she said, patting Poppy's hand before turning to Septima and Millicent. "Professor Merrythought, is she in Ravenclaw tower?"

Septima and Millicent looked at each other for a moment before nodding. "She was when we left, and Peggy said she spends every Christmas morning in the tower," Septima said hurriedly, nudging Walburga with her foot to check she was still unconscious.

"Perfect." Ro nodded, unwrapping the bandages around Poppy's wrist as she continued. "We go up there, explain Poppy's injury, say you two thought she could fix it. Solid alibi, no questions asked."

A grin appeared on Millicent's face. "Absolute genius. Someone grab the cloak, and let's go."

Irma pulled the cloak from the pile of smashed glass, where it had been easily findable due to the area of wall visible through the rubble. With that they were off sprinting up the Grand Staircase, not daring to look back at the wreck of the chandelier and Stunned Prefect they'd left behind them.

Author's Note:
Now this was fun. The original idea for the chandelier came from Minerva's comment to Peeve's in OotP that the chandelier, which was in fact one of the things that got me thinking about what the teachers would have got up to in their student years (and thus inspired the whole fic!). I just knew that she must have had first experience with the chandelier based on that comment, and so this idea was born. It might be a little far-fetched, but it was awesome to write so I don't regret anything. Another of my goals with this chapter was to write more of the casual friendliness between the characters, which I do worry about losing between the more important events. I think one of the most loved aspects of the HP series is how much is does focus on the characters just as friends, and that's something I want to make sure I put across here. They're fun scenes to write too, our main six have such a diverse collection of personalities that they're always very entertaining when all together.

The very very observant among you all may have noticed that I've made a very subtle change in previous chapters. Isobel Farley, Malcolm and Emery's Slytherin friend, has been renamed Imogen. The only reason for this is that there's already an Isobel in the story (Minerva's mother) and I wanted to avoid any confusion.

A few character references in this chapter of new other Gryffindors- I've got a constantly growing list of names of students in each House and year so they're not just plucked from random! Doris Campbell is the younger sister of Gryffindor Beater Nancy (who's currently in fifth year), and her fellow first-year Amelia Orville has an older brother who I don't think has been mentioned yet. Maggie Jordan is in the same year as Larry and Ernest (fourth), and is the great aunt of Lee Jordan. She's a pretty cool character and will start to come up more frequently from fourth year onwards.

I think we've got one more chapter before things really begin to pick up. It's going to get very action-packed so I'll warn you now- brace yourselves!