June 1945

At Minerva's words, there was a rustle in the gloom as Irma, Septima and Millicent sat up too. Poppy snatched her wand from her bedside table and muttered "Lumos," under her breath, holding the light over the letter so Minerva could read.

"Dear Minerva, I must say it was a very pleasant surprise to read your letter. I have often wondered what became of my sister after she eloped 16 years ago, so to hear she is well with three children is wonderful. I hope that one day soon I can meet you in person. As for your broomstick enquiry, I'm sorry to say that there is nothing even I can to for a broom hit by the Reductor Curse." Minerva's face fell for a moment, though slowly smiled upon reading the next words. "However I would be most pleased to build her a new one. Send me her requirements and preferences and I'll see what I can do. Kindest regards, your Uncle Matthew."

"Requirements? What does he mean by that?" Poppy asked, grinning at the thought of presenting Ro with a brand new custom built broomstick.

Minerva pulled a scrap of parchment and her quill from her trunk and started to scribble down a list. "General body type, Quidditch position to determine the level of agility, stability and acceleration, what type of wood she'll want, that sort of thing."

Poppy nodded in an attempt to know what Minerva was talking about, then caught Millicent's equally confused look and burst out laughing. Minerva smiled good-naturedly at the pair of them, before continuing on "Well she's a Seeker, so that means she needs the best possible acceleration and good agility. Body type, hmm."

"I think we're about the same height," Poppy offered. When they had first arrived at Hogwarts, Poppy had undoubtedly been the smallest of their entire group, the harsh rationing in Muggle London combined with her regular bouts of illness as a child restricting how much she had grown. But now she was taller than short and sturdy Millicent, not much smaller than lanky Irma, and a very similar height to Ro who seemed to have hardly grown in the past few months. Minerva was still taller than all of them, but the height difference between the twins was closing rapidly.

Minerva nodded. "Small, but very fit and strong. Now's the tricky one, what sort of wood would she want?"

"Well what was her Silver Arrow made of?" Septima asked, hopping out of her bed and crossing the room to crouch down by Minerva's bed and pull out the bag containing what was left of Ro's broomstick. "I always loved this broom," she said sadly, "I'd have traded my Cleansweep for it without hesitation. Such a shame it can't be fixed."

"I know," Minerva said with a sad smile, "but it is what it is."

Millicent took the bag from Septima, sitting down on the bed as she examined the largest shard of wood she could find. "I'm pretty sure it's Silver Birch wood, it looks pale enough." She blushed slightly as everyone looked at her in surprise, "My dad used to work as a carpenter before the Muggle War started and he became a mechanic instead, so I know a lot about different types of wood."

"Do you think Ro would want a near replica of her old broom though?" Irma pointed out.

Poppy considered for a moment, before she remembered the immense pride Ro had always had in her unusual broom. "I think she would," she said with a nod.

Minerva hummed with agreement, making another note on her list. She looked up at the clock on her wall and said with a start "I'll have to finish this later, we need to get dressed or we're going to miss breakfast."

But when they arrived in the Great Hall, Poppy immediately wished she could go back to the dormitory. She knew even before Minerva and Millicent received their copies of the Prophet that there was a new development in the Grindlewald war; at the Staff table Professor Dippet was wearing a concerned frown as he read the front page, and Professors Dumbledore and Merrythought either side of him were exchanging charged glares over his head. The sight of them cast Poppy's mind back to the argument that she and Minerva had overheard outside Professor Dumbledore's office three or so weeks ago- although she couldn't think how, there was clearly some connection between Professor Dumbledore and Grindlewald that Professor Merrythought wasn't happy about.

Millicent grabbed her paper from the claws of the delivery owl before it had even landed, tearing a great slash across the back page that Millicent laughed at before spreading the paper out over the table. "It's Grindlewald again- he's taken control of another two Ministries overnight."

Poppy shuddered. "Those poor people," she said quietly, looking down at the photograph covering most of the front page. It was the Russian Ministry of Magic, with people swarming out of the exits like ants and wizards on broomsticks firing spells at them from above.

"Thank goodness he hasn't come here yet," Septima sighed.

"Though who's to say he won't?" Irma added darkly, turning over the page of Minerva's paper to carry on reading the lengthy article. "Most of mainland Europe's fallen, we must fall somewhere on his target list."

Minerva nodded. "With most of our Aurors fighting in Europe it wouldn't be hard to bring the Ministry down. There's got to be something stopping him though, or he'd have taken advantage of that months ago."

"Apparently it's something to do with Dumbledore." Everyone looked up as a new voice joined the conversation; it was Larry Spencer-Moon, who slid into the seat next to Minerva. "I overheard a Floo conversation between father and the Head of the Department of International Cooperation, Ernestus Rabnott, over the summer. I didn't catch much, but I heard Rabnott saying that we're safe as long as Dumbledore is here."

Minerva clicked her fingers suddenly. "Yes, that would make sense," she said in a hushed voice, before quickly filling Larry in on Professor Merrythought and Professor Dumbledore's argument.

"Maybe Dumbledore's the only one who could stop Grindlewald?" Septima suggested, glancing around to make sure no-one was listening in on them. "So that's why Grindlewald hasn't tried to attack here, but also why he keeps winning in Europe."

Larry nodded. "Which means that the war can't end until Dumbledore goes to fight Grindlewald, but the moment he does we're in danger here at home."

With their morning's conversation fresh in mind, it came of great alarm to Poppy and Minerva when they arrived in Transfiguration that afternoon to find Dumbledore wasn't there. In his place was Professor Merrythought, who barely looked up from her pacing as the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs filed in and sat down.

Once everyone was seated, she finally looked up and addressed the class."Now, I'm sure you've all noticed that I'm not Professor Dumbledore. And no, this is not some obscure demonstration of Human Transfiguration, I am the real Professor Merrythought."

A wry smile played at her lips as everyone laughed, and Poppy spared a moment to be grateful that the Professor's sense of humour could still remain even in the bleak circumstances. "Professor Dumbledore has left the school and will not be returning for some time, possibly not until the very end of term. There is little I can tell you, but it should answer your most pressing question to say that he has gone to aid the Hit Wizards currently fighting Grindlewald's Army."

Poppy glanced at Minerva, but couldn't say anything in case Wilhelmina Grubbly heard from her seat on Poppy's other side. Upon returning to the Gryffindor Common Room after their last lesson they immediately told Millicent, Septima, Irma and Larry discreetly what Professor Merrythought had told them. In grave voices they all agreed that with Dumbledore gone, an invasion was likely to be imminent.

The next day began as normal, or as what everyone had begun to expect as normal. More bad news in the Daily Prophet, an announcement that Professor Bishop had been appointed Acting Gryffindor Head in Professor Dumbledore's absence and Professor Merrythought would be the Acting Deputy, then for the third years there were classes until lunchtime. This was as per usual for a Thursday, when they had to be up during the night for their Astronomy lesson, but what happened during those few hours of resting in the Common Room were far from ordinary.

Lyall, Hector, Stanley and Edwin were crouched behind the largest sofa playing Gobstones, while Poppy, Minerva, Irma, Septima and Millicent occupied the chairs that surrounded the gently smouldering fire. Millicent was dozing quietly, Septima had her star maps spread across the coffee table and was looking intently at the moving constellations, while Irma was reading to no-one's surprise. Minerva looked to be on the verge of falling asleep, when the sound of the portrait hole opening made everyone look around to see who it was.

It was Ro.

Poppy was out of her chair in an instant, crossing the Common Room to stand in front of Ro. She looked just the same as always; flyaway brown hair loose around her shoulders, the notch in her left ear that her grumpy owl had bitten before their second year, and ever-startling yellow eyes. But there was no mischievous brightness there, only a glum dullness that had Poppy's grin dropping before she'd even said hello.

"Hey," Minerva said softly, appearing to Poppy's left. Septima and Irma lingered behind them slightly with wary smiles on their faces, while Millicent was still asleep in her armchair.

"Hi," said Ro, her voice emotionless.

Unsettled by Ro's flatness, Poppy arranged her face into a caring expression as she asked "How are you feeling?"

Ro nodded blankly. "Fine," she said with a tiny smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Why don't you come and sit down." Minerva suggested, waiting for Ro to nod by placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her into the nearest chair.

As everyone sat down, Millicent dopily raised her head and fixed Ro with an unfocused gaze. "Oh hey Ro," she murmured before her head dropped back onto her arm. Ro smiled again with what might have been amusement, but said nothing in reply.

A charge silence seemed to spread out, no-one knowing quite what to say. Finally Septima broke it by saying cheerfully "Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup last month- Minerva played as Seeker and caught the Snitch before Diggory. She was amazing."

As Poppy had hoped, a light seemed to switch on in Ro's eyes. "That's great," she said, turning to look directly at Minerva, "who took your place?"

"Cleatus Weasley, but I don't think he'll take Fleamont's place next year," Minerva said, clearly taking advantage of Ro's sudden interest. "His aim isn't good enough. I heard Alastor suggesting to him that he became Keeper instead, which would be better for him."

Ro nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes, that makes sense. There'll be a new Captain too, Nancy I think. She'll be the oldest on the team."

"Mhm," Minerva nodded.

Ro's fist suddenly clenched, and she shut her eyes tightly. Poppy glanced worriedly at Minerva before Ro's eyes snapped open and she asked in a shaky voice. "My broom. What happened to my broom?"

Poppy grimaced; this was the topic she had wanted to avoid for as long as possible after Ro's return. But there was no avoiding the question, and there was no way they could lie to her. "It, ahh, it was destroyed when it was hit by the Reductor Curse. We talked to Professor Aurelius and Mr Spinnet, and there's nothing that can be done. I'm really sorry Ro."

"S'alright." Ro shrugged, though Poppy knew she was far from alright. She said nothing more for a long while, simply staring into the fireplace, and Poppy thought best to leave her to her own thoughts after delivering such bad news.

After a short while, the portrait hole opened as the other year-groups started to return from their afternoon lessons. First were the sixth-years, none of whom knew Ro particularly well so didn't comment on her return before going straight back up to their dormitories. Nancy bid her a cheerful hello when the fifth-years arrived in the Common Room, as did Larry, Ernest, Maggie and Cleatus upon the entrance of the fourth-years.

"Welcome back, Ro!" A gruff voice made Poppy jump, and she looked around to see Alastor leaning over the back of the sofa. Fleamont and Augusta were with him, looking joyously down at Ro who smiled faintly in return.

"Has Minerva told you about our Quidditch victory?" Fleamont asked brightly, but continued on before Ro could respond. "Fantastic she was, but still not as good as you. You did give me a scare when y-"

"Fleamont!" Augusta snapped, jabbing his shoulder with her elbow. "Give her some space, she's only just got back. It's lovely to see you though Ro." She smiled as she dragged Alastor and Fleamont away towards the other side of the Common Room, Lester gazing for a moment at Augusta in admiration before following his classmates.

Things got a little more emotional when the first years came back from their Herbology lesson. The four boys arrived through the portrait hole together as per usual, grinning madly as they sauntered across the Common Room. Poppy watched with trepidation as they approached the seats where the third year girls were sat, and couldn't restrain her tiny groan when Emery caught sight of Ro sat between her and Minerva.

At a timely word from Larry, the other three joined he, Maggie and Cleatus in their game of Exploding Snap as Emery dropped his books and rushed over to Ro. She flinched as Emery all but flung himself into his cousin's lap, before slowly wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. They stayed there like that until it was time to go down for dinner, with Emery shaking slightly as he snagged his fingers into Ro's cardigan and tears trickling down Ro's face as she stared listlessly into the fire.

As the Common Room started to clear with people leaving for the Great Hall, Emery finally let go of Ro and rejoined his classmates. Poppy saw Minerva nod appreciatively at Malcolm as he gave Emery a comforting pat on the shoulder, Emery giving him a watery grin in response. They waited until the Common Room was empty before Poppy asked Ro "Are you ready to go down?"

Ro nodded, so Poppy put an arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the portrait hole with Minerva staying close on her other side. At the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall, the six girls arranged themselves so that Ro was sat between Minerva and Poppy with her back to the rest of the Hall; everyone had heard about her accident so there were plenty of people staring at her as they ate their dinner. To Poppy's relief Ro remained completely oblivious, eating miniscule amounts with very little enthusiasm and not joining in with everyone else's quiet conversation.

Once they had all finished eating they returned to the Common Room, sitting back down around the fireplace while they waited for the sun to set. Ro barely spoke at all, only answering any direct questions with short and bluntly-spoken answers. When the time came for them to go up to the Astronomy Tower, Poppy glanced over at Ro and had to restrain a sigh. There were noticeable bags under her eyes and she looked about to fall asleep.

Poppy tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked over at her with a start. "Go to bed," Poppy murmured quietly, "You look exhausted. Professor Callisto won't mind you missing your first lesson back."

Ro nodded, got to her feet, and trailed up the stairs to their dormitory. "I'm worried about her," Poppy said, gathering her books and homework together and checking she'd remembered to pack her telescope. "She's not herself at all."

"You're surprised?" Irma asked, not unkindly. "She's been orphaned, seriously injured and lost her most prized possession."

Poppy sighed in agreement as they left the Common Room, walking along the seventh floor corridor until they reached the alcove where the stairs to the Astronomy Tower began. They were out of breath by the time they reached the top of the steep staircase, before squeezing through the crowded tower to get to their seats. Since the subject could only be taught at night and there were only seven nights in the week, the entire year had to be taught together rather than in two groups of two Houses like every other subject.

Professor Callisto gave them a moment to regain their breath and get out their telescopes, before starting to call out the register. She didn't make a fuss over Ro's absence, nodding understandingly when Minerva explained where she was even though a few people started muttering from the back of the classroom. Poppy didn't need to turn around to know the culprits were Druella Rosier, Abraxas Malfoy, Apollyon Pringle and Owle Bullock, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing they'd bothered her. They didn't get to talk long though before Professor Callisto called for quiet, handing out some empty star charts and instructing them to spend the lesson filling it out.

Shortly after midnight, with most of her star chart completed, Poppy noticed a light in the distant sky that she hadn't noticed before. After a minute or so it was joined by several other lights, growing steadily closer. Leaning away from her telescope, she put up her hand and called to Professor Callisto who was marking their homework essays at her desk. "Professor Callisto? There are some stars in the sky that I've never seen before."

"I've seen it too." Millicent said, her eyes wide, and several other people nodded in agreement.

Professor Callisto frowned, taking her own telescope from her desk and turning it in the direction that Poppy's was pointing in. She was quiet for a few minutes before rising slowly and slightly hesitantly. "I think," she started, but was interrupted with the sound of remote shouting. The entire class rose from their desks and crowded around the edge of the tower where Professor Callisto's desk was, peering over the battlements to see what was going on.

"It sounds like it's coming from Hogsmeade," Robert Fawley suggested loudly. As Poppy watched a few of the sky-borne lights broke away from the rest of the group and dropped down into Hogsmeade. Suddenly there were flashes of light erupting from the village, as if several duels had suddenly begun.

"Everybody below the battlements!" Professor Callisto shouted and they all ducked, just as a jet of flame shot through the air towards them and set the nearest desk alight. Professor Callisto put the fire out with a swish of her wand, clutching her shoulder where cloth and flesh had been burned away. Three more similar spells were shooting towards them, but Professor Callisto wordlessly called up a Shield Charm and they dissolved into nothing.

Several people screamed, and Poppy could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "What's happening?" Helen Lambert cried, and Poppy shrieked as she felt a hand grab her arm.

It was Septima, and she looked between her, Minerva, Millicent and Irma with a dark look on her face. "Grindlewald," she mouthed, and Poppy's stomach dropped. Larry had been right- with Dumbledore gone they were suddenly vulnerable.

Wincing painfully each time she moved her arm, Professor Callisto started frantically duelling the wizard on the nearest broomstick who was hovering about five feet above the Astronomy Tower. Peering through the battlements Poppy could see dozens more of Grindlewald's soldiers surrounding the castle. There were several trying to blast down the main door, one smashing a window of what she guessed to be the fifth floor and another three heading in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. The lone figure of Professor Olwen appeared at the window of the North Tower and started firing at the nearest soldier, but was knocked back when part of the Tower wall was blasted inwards. Poppy cringed in horror when four or five solders started attacking Gryffindor Tower, but the sight of spells being shot back reassured her that her beloved Housemates weren't going to take it lying down.

Professor Callisto's opponent was sent careering out of sight, and she paused momentarily to glance down at her scorched shoulder before turning to the third years crouched against the battlements. "Take your wands, get down the stairs and back into the castle!" she gasped out, waving them away wildly.

They didn't need asking twice, jumping to their feet and sprinting for the stairwell. Poppy clung to the rope banister as she ran as fast as she could down the steep, winding staircase, her breath hitching every time she almost slipped in her haste. She was nearly knocked flying by Apollyon shoving his way through the throng with Druella, Abraxas and Owle following close behind, gritting her teeth as the robe burned her palm from gripping it so hard. Septima wasn't so lucky, tumbling down the stone steps with several sickening thuds before landing hard on her side.

Millicent raced ahead of everyone else, nearly slipping herself several times in her haste to get to Septima. Poppy let the rest of the class go ahead of her before running down the rest of the stairs with Minerva and Irma. Septima was curled up on the ground, clutching one knee while blood ran from a wide gash on her forehead.

"Septima," Irma said, crouching beside her twin and shaking her shoulder gently, "you need to get up, we can't stay here."

"I can't!" Septima sobbed, shaking her head as agonised tears streamed down her face.

Minerva and Irma each put their hands underneath one of Septima's arms and carefully hauled her to stand. Poppy took one look at her knee and knew instantly that there was no way she could walk; from the awkward angle her lower leg was hanging at it looked to be dislocated. "You'll have to help her," she said, taking her wand from her coat pocket and muttering "Ferula" to conjure up a splint and bandage.

Millicent's voice was shaky when she spoke. "Right, but where are we going?"

It was a god question, Poppy thought. There were students swarming everywhere, clad in nightgowns and pyjamas though most were still carrying their wands. The majority of them seemed to be travelling in one direction though, so Poppy and Millicent led the way while Minerva and Irma all but carried Septima behind them. They stopped when they reached a crowd of people blocking the corridor; Poppy stood on tiptoes and saw Professor Merrythought in her navy dressing gown pacing in front of an empty wall with her eyes closed and mouthing something that Poppy couldn't make out. Suddenly a door seemed to appear out of nowhere, which Professor Merrythought pushed open and the students poured into.

"What is it?" Poppy asked aloud as they entered the room, finding an empty space and carefully lowering Septima to the ground where she huddled back up around her knee.

"It's called the Room of Requirement," Augusta said, appearing behind Poppy. Half of her dressing gown sleeve was hanging off but otherwise she looked to be unharmed, unlike Alastor by her side who had a mighty slice across one cheek. "It can transform into whatever the user wants, in this case a safe place where we can hide from Grindlewald and his cronies."

Professor Merrythought's magically magnified voice rose above the frightened voices. "Seventh Year Prefects, take a roll call of your House and report to your Head of House. With the exception of the third years, all of whom are present, we only have Gryffindor and Ravenclaw here as Hufflepuff and Slytherin are trapped on the ground floor. As soon as I know we aren't missing anyone we shouldn't be, a fighting party will be sent down to rescue them."

"Already done that," Augusta said promptly, "I knew you wouldn't be in your dormitory since you had Astronomy but I counted everyone else out of the Tower. Lyall, Hector, Stanley, Edwin, you, Minerva and Ro make a complete House."

Poppy nodded in acknowledgement, but looked down in confusion at Minerva's horrified intake of breath. Minerva stumbled to her feet as she said slowly, "But Ro wasn't in Astronomy with us."

Icy hands seemed to constrict around Poppy's chest, as the realisation dawned on her. "Then Ro's still in Gryffindor Tower."

Author's Note:
I swear these chapters just keep getting longer! But there is so much I like about this one- quite a lot of description of what the girls look like (unintentional but it flowed), we see much more how the accident has affected Ro, and the relationship she has with her cousin and closest friends. There's also some more Larry (whom I am very attached too) and no shortage of Professor Merrythought's awesomeness (which is always a good thing).

I know it's specified that Grindlewald didn't attack Britain because he was afraid of Dumbledore, but since Dumbledore left Britain to take their personal duel to him it seemed perfectly plausible to me for him to dispatch his forces to Britain. The two targets would be London and the Ministry (to try and fell the Ministry and to wreck havoc in the Muggle city), and Hogwarts (because it' something that Dumbledore loves and the second powerful magical place). I totally wasn't looking for a reason to write a Battle of Hogwarts style fight sequence, not at all... ;) But it is going to be pretty awesome and action packed and I've actually already started writing the next chapter which shows how excited I am.

The reason that Hufflepuff and Slytherin are separated from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw is because of the position of their Common Rooms. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Astronomy are the tallest towers in the castle and accessed from the seventh floor so all their inhabitants would be grouped together, and since Hufflepuff basement and Slytherin dungeon are on the ground floor anything between these floors would stop them from meeting up. I chose the Room of Requirement for their safehouse because it just seemed logical, like it was for the DA members during the Carrows' reign of terror.

In case anyone needs a reminder of who our background teachers are, Professor Bishop teaches Muggle Studies and Professor Olwen teaches Divination. They've both been mentioned before (Olwen was injured in the first year pantomime and Bishop's husband was killed in the Ministry bombing) but have been very background. Professor Callisto has definitely become un-background for at least this chapter, she's a great dueller as well as the Astronomy Professor. I think all the teachers, background or not, will get a little big of limelight during the battle that's just commenced.

Chapter 30 (!) should be here by the end of the week- I won't keep you all in suspence any more than necessary!