June 1945

Due to the activity in the Room of Requirement that stretched on throughout the night, the amount of rest that Ro got did very little to ease her exhaustion. She could vaguely remember lots of people singing a soft lullaby, then not long after that she was woken by the movement of her friends as they too lay down to get some rest. Still using Minerva's leg as a makeshift pillow, she watched Professor Merrythought gather any sixth or seventh years still in the Room and lead them out to battle before she drifted off again. Later in the night she saw Professor Epsilon return with his battle party, exhausted but triumphant expressions on their faces despite the wounds that most of them bore. Professor Harper, the Ancient Runes teacher, exchanged a few words with him before leaving at the head of a group of fifth years. After another hour or so, the sound of footsteps leaving the Room told Ro without needing to open her eyes that Professor Epsilon's party had rejoined the fight.

The next time her sleep was disturbed, it was by the group of fighters that Ro, Minerva, Irma, Nancy and Larry had encountered on the second floor entering the room in a thick silence. Professor Bishop was limping badly, leaning on Filch's shoulder, and the Hufflepuffs that followed them were looking more far more shell-shocked than the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that had made up Professor Epsilon's group. Ro's mind was jolted back to the cold-blooded murders of Spinnet and the Slytherin first year Maria, and she couldn't blame them at all.

Trailing behind them, and making a great deal more noise, was Professor Kettleburn. He was being practically carried between Professors Merrythought and Beery as his wooden leg appeared to have been blasted off, and his loud protests made heads lift all around the Room. Poppy, who had curled up for the night next to Ro and Minerva, sat up and rubbed her eyes blearily before getting to her feet and retying her bloodied apron around her waist. It was clear that she hasn't realised Ro was awake, though Ro knew that her reputation for usually being able to sleep through anything probably played a large part in that. Madame Quinine beckoned to Poppy from the centre of the Room where she and her volunteer Healers were seeing to the Hufflepuffs, before Ro had a chance to say hello, Poppy had hurried off to join the Matron.

Taking care not to disturb anyone, Ro shuffled towards Septima to take a look at the tiny clock and compass on a chain that she kept around her neck. The glass had been smashed and the compass needle was missing- Ro wondered if it was caused by the same accident that had resulted in her leg being bandaged- though she could still make out that the time was about 5:30. She couldn't see any point in trying to get back to sleep, so followed Poppy towards the Healer's area just as she and Professor Kettleburn with his escort reached Madame Quinine.

"It was a Reductor Curse," Ro heard Professor Merrythought say in shallow voice as she and Professor Beery dumped Professor Kettleburn unceremoniously onto a mat. "Keep him here, Herbert and I need to get back." It was only when she turned away that Ro saw the blood soaking the collar of her nightgown from the slash across her neck that was still oozing sluggishly.

"Galatea Merrythought, you're going absolutely nowhere." Madame Quinine shook her head, ploughing on over Professor Merrythought's attempt at interrupting. "You look like you haven't slept in a week, and you still haven't had that neck wound looked at. Miss Pomfrey can have a look at you then you can get some rest, I'm sure they can manage without you for a few hours."

Professor Merrythought didn't argue under Madame Quinine's sharp glare, leaving an amused looking Professor Beery to join his Hufflepuffs. She sat down heavily on the mat that Madame Quinine indicated, where Poppy was already arranging several little bottles along with a few rough squares of fabric.

Feeling a little out of place amongst the Healers, Ro sat down beside Poppy and kept her hands neatly in her lap. Poppy was frowning in concentration as she peered at Professor Merrythought's neck, and didn't look at Ro as she said "Did you sleep well?"

Ro nodded without thinking, not wanting to give Poppy another thing to worry about. "Yeah, alright."

Professor Merrythought appeared to have zoned out for a moment, her eyes staring blankly into the distance, but moved her head suddenly towards Ro when she spoke. "Keep your head still," Poppy said softly as the movement caused more blood to spill from the wound.

"Oh hello Rolanda," Professor Merrythought said somewhat dazedly, looking at Ro with only her eyes. She tilted her head away slightly to give Poppy more access as she started to gently wipe the blood away. "I suppose this isn't really how you imagined returning to Hogwarts, is it?"

Ro had to smile at the Professor's wry remark. "No, not really." She paused, then added "How's the battle going?"

"We seem to be slowly pushing them back. Professor Epsilon's party secured all the back entrances at about 2am, and Professor Harper's group have been guarding them since. The second floor has just been cleared, the only major battle left is in the Entrance Hall though I've stationed guards in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Astronomy Towers." Some of the dullness seemed to vanish from Professor Merrythought's blue gaze as she reeled off the battle plans. "And as far as I could tell from the window on the sixth floor, the battle in Hogsmeade is over."

"This is going to sting a little," Poppy broke in with a warning, holding a cloth doused in a violently purple liquid. Professor Merrythought nodded slightly before Poppy pressed the cloth to her neck, producing a few clouds of lavender-coloured smoke and making the Professor wince. After a minute she removed the cloth and touched her wand to the wound, muttering "Inchide" and watching with a satisfied smile as the wound closed over.

When Poppy withdrew, Professor Merrythought gingerly touched her wrist stump to her neck and looked impressed when it remained free of blood. "You've very good at this," she commented to Poppy, "Very good indeed. As were you, Rolanda, I watched you duel for a while and you did fantastically."

"Minerva said you did well," Poppy added, now dabbing Dittany potion onto a scratch close to Professor Merrythought's eye. "I'm glad we didn't encounter any soldiers when we were running down to the Hospital Wing."

"You've have been fine, you're a much better dueller than you think you are." Professor Merrythought said, switching her gaze to squint at Poppy. "I think all the duelling practise we've done in our Defence lessons this year has definitely paid off, though I had hoped you wouldn't need to put it into action so soon."

Ro thought for a moment, then shrugged and said "I'm kind of glad I got to."

Both Poppy and Professor Merrythought were looking confusedly at her, so Ro continued with an abashed smile. "I mean, Dad was killed by Grindlewald nearly 10 years ago, and it always bothered me that there was nothing I could do to... to avenge him, I suppose. When Kurtis was sent to Europe I almost envied him. But tonight gave me a chance to... to..."

"To fight back," Professor Merrythought said softly. Ro swallowed hard and nodded, grateful for her intervention. "I understand what you mean; I was in training to be an Auror before I became a teacher, and in my first year of training I met my husband." Ro listened intently as Professor Merrythought told her story, remembering back in their first year when she had revealed being married at one point. "He was a year older than me, and when we married he had just graduated while I had another year of training to do. Well, he was killed on his first mission and for a long time I wished that I could have been there with him to take on that Dark Wizard myself."

"What did you do then?" Poppy asked, a saddened look on her face.

Professor Merrythought had readopted her faraway look, and it took her a moment or two to continue. "I dropped out of Auror training- I couldn't bear to carry on without him there. I took up my maiden name again but always wore the wedding ring, until two years ago when it was swallowed by whatever monster is lurking in the cellar." She laughed briefly, before clearing her throat to carry on. "I took a year to rethink what I was going to do with my life, and during that time my younger sister in her seventh year at Hogwarts owled me to say the Defence teacher was retiring. It was a bit of a shot in the dark but I applied for the position, and that's how I ended up here."

She shook her head slightly as if to chase away the memories, but winced and pressed her hand to her forehead with a pained expression seconds later. "So remember," she addressed Ro this time, "in light of what you've been through, there is always a silver lining to every storm. Things may be rocky for a while and it's ok to be upset, but in the end you'll be alright."

Ro nodded, smiling gratefully at the Professor. She'd heard that talk- or variants of it- more times she cared to count since her accident. From all four of her older siblings on separate occasions, Aunt Josephine, Uncle Georg, Nurse Jocelyn at St Mungos, Professor Dippet on her arrival back at Hogwarts and Augusta earlier that evening. Each time she'd just smiled and nodded, tired of hearing the same words over and over again.

The sound of the door bursting open with a loud bang startled Ro out of her reminiscent thoughts, and she looked over to see Professor Aurelius marching in with Professors Harper and Slughorn either side of her. The crowd of Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who had been fighting together in the Entrance Hall fanned out behind them, though as Ro watched she couldn't discern between members of the different Houses. A tense silence stretched over the Room of Requirement, broken only by Professor Merrythought getting unsteadily to her feet to look Professor Aurelius in the eye.

"Well?" Professor Merrythought asked, her voice calm but urgency reflected in every line of her face.

Professor Aurelius held the silence for a moment, her lifted chin and squared shoulders giving the impression of a General returning from War. Then a tiny smile broke out and she spoke: "All exits are secured, and the Hogsmeade Auror Guard have reported no sky sightings within a mile radius. Hogwarts is clear, we've done it."

Whispers rippled around the Room of Requirement, and within seconds there was joyful laughter mingled with a few happy cheers. When Poppy turned to Ro there were happy tears sparkling in her blue eyes, and she threw her blood-smeared hands around Ro's neck without a second's hesitation.

A tap on her shoulder made them both look up to see Minerva grinning at then- Ro had a struggle to not laugh at her dishevelled hair. Irma, Septima and Millicent were just behind her, Septima hopping on her good leg while being supported by Irma and Millicent on either side. Wordlessly they all joined hands, grinning like idiots with relief that they had all made it through the war. Despite the devastation that lay all around them, Ro felt for the first time in nearly 3 months that she was finally home again and reunited with her friends.

The rest of that day was spent simply resting in the Room of Requirement. Madame Quinine and her volunteer Healers, Poppy one of them, slowly worked their way around the Room to make sure that no injury was missed. Ro and Minerva had escaped their unexpected duel mostly unharmed with the exception of a few scrapes, and since Irma and Septima had both been treated during the night they were mostly left in peace. In contrast with the past 48 hours, which had included her discharge from St Mungos and a day spent in Little Wakering before returning to Hogwarts, the peacefulness gave Ro some much needed time to sort her thoughts out.

Since Gryffindor Tower was still an uninhabitable mess, everyone slept in the Room of Requirement for a second night though this time with the welcome addition of sleeping bags. The next morning marked the start of the castle cleanup operation, and the more grisly task of finding the bodies of those who hadn't survived the war. The casualty rate in Grindlewald's army had been fairly low compared to the Hogwarts casualties, though Ro supposed that was what happened when students were pitted against seasoned wizards without conscience. In addition to Mr Spinnet and Maria, three Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw and two Slytherins had lost their lives in the war-torn corridors.

That evening they ate in the Great Hall for the first time in three days, arriving just in time to hear the Wizard Wireless report the defeat of Grindlewald by Professor Dumbledore and the official end of the Wizard War. Glasses were lifted in a toast to the fallen, the House boundaries unnoticeable as everyone joined together in their grief. The solemn moment was broken when a white blur was spotted streaking towards the hall; Ro, Minerva, Irma, Alastor and Augusta all burst into laughter upon recognising it as the ferret that two days ago had been one of Grindlwald's soldiers.

The remaining 4 weeks of the school year were mostly spent recuperating and repairing, with very few lessons being held as the teachers were so busy getting the school back to normal. Attendance was made optional, and many parents arrived within the next week to collect their children for an early school holiday. Ro, Minerva, Poppy, Septima, Irma and Millicent spent most of their time out in the grounds by the lake, enjoying some time together again just as much as the warm and welcome sunshine. It was only then that they really noticed the weight that had lifted off their shoulders with the end of the wars- Ro had forgotten what it felt like to not have to worry about what bad news the next day might bring.

The only think on her mind was the thought of returning home for the summer. Even the single day she'd spent at Little Wakering between being leaving St. Mungos and returning to Hogwarts had been so full of memories of her mother she'd found it overwhelming. It was the reason why she'd chosen to go back to school so quickly and not spend longer at home like Nurse Jocelyn had recommended. She was dreading the idea of having to spend a full six weeks there, especially since her cousins would be spending the summer back at Uncle Georg and Aunt Mabel's house. But when she finally mentioned it to Minerva and Poppy while in their dormitory, it appeared that the thought had crossed their minds too.

"We knew you wouldn't want to go back just yet," Minerva said, a sly smile creeping across her face. "So I sent a letter home asking if you could come to my house for the summer. There's no magic there at all I'm afraid, but it might be good to get away from it for a while what with everything that's happened. Kurtis already knows, we owled him too to check he was ok with it."

"We were planning on keeping it a secret until the end of term." Poppy added.

"Oh so that's why you two have been so secretive lately!" Ro broke in with a laugh. Since moving back into their dormitory two weeks ago, she'd lost count of the number of times she'd come in to see them hastily shove a piece of parchment under the nearest bed and ignore any questions she'd asked about what they'd been writing.

Minerva and Poppy looked at each other before bursting into giggles. "Yes, that would be it," Minerva grinned brightly.

Ro rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Thank you, both of you," she said, smiling gratefully at them. "Are you coming too Pops?"

Poppy shook her head. "No, I'm going back to mother and father's house in London. I've hardly seen them for three years so I didn't think I could say no when they asked me if I was spending the summer with them. I'll keep in touch though, and we can meet up at some point to go to Diagon Alley."

It had taken Ro a little while to adjust to living completely without magic for the first time in her life, but after a few days she began to find it a welcome change to what she was used to. Her wand had been locked beneath Mrs McGonagall's bed along with Minerva's and to begin with it had felt as if Ro was missing a part of herself, but the feeling lessened as she discovered more and more about the Muggle way of life. Mrs McGonagall had been amused by Ro's willingness to wash the dishes after dinner each evening- she found something oddly satisfying about cleaning it all by hand rather than just charming the scrubbing brush. Minerva had been right about escaping magic for a while being a good idea, as hidden away from it all in the Scottish Highlands Ro had never felt so at ease.

But there were still times when she missed the fast pace of the magical life. When a Hogwarts owl delivered three letters during breakfast one morning near the end of August, sudden thrill took Ro by surprise at the thought of being reunited with her wand. Mrs McGonagall passed them out to Malcolm, Minerva and Ro, and Ro could barely suppress her excitement as she ripped away the seal and tore the envelope open. But before she had even unfolded the letter there was a chink as something metal fell out of the envelope and into her glass of apple juice- which Ro felt tasted nowhere near as good as pumpkin juice did. She fished the object out and dried it on a tea towel, but when she looked at it closely the shock was enough for her to nearly drop it again.

"What is it?" Minerva prompted her after a moment passed of just staring at the red and gold enamel badge in the palm of her hand.

Ro swallowed hard, resisting the urge to either pinch herself or swear loudly. "I'm... I'm Quidditch Captain."

There was another moment of silence, before a grin split Minerva's face. "Ro that's amazing!"

"Congratulations," said Mrs McGonagall, a faint smile on her face. "I held that position myself when I was in my sixth and seventh years."

"Really?" Ro asked, finally tearing her gaze away from the Captain badge to look at Mrs McGonagall. "What position did you play? What was it like?"

Minerva winced beside her, and too late Ro remembered Minerva telling her a long while ago that her mother scarcely talked about magic when at home. Sure enough, Mrs McGonagall's smile fell and she returned to drying up the breakfast dishes. "I should eat up quickly if I were you," she said in a level tone, "We'll be meeting the Pomfreys in London in just under 2 hours."

Mrs McGonagall and Mrs Pomfrey had agreed when they met on Platform Nine and Three Quarters that they would meet in the Leaky Cauldron at noon on the day the booklists arrived. Mrs McGonagall took Ro, Minerva and Malcolm by Side-Along Apparation into the Leaky Cauldron, though there was no sign of Poppy inside the pub. After waiting a few minutes they went into the garden to the wall that was the gateway between Muggle and Magical London, and as Minerva tapped the bricks with her wand they folded away to reveal Diagon Alley stretching out before them.

Poppy and her parents were waiting for them just within the Alley, a grin spreading across Poppy's face and Godric bouncing happily on her shoulder as they spotted the McGonagalls approaching them. No sooner had Poppy tackled Ro in a vice-like embrace did Minerva say "Ro's been made Quidditch Captain!"

Ro hadn't previously thought it possible, but Poppy somehow managed to make her grip tighter as she gasped out "I'm so proud of you!"

"But I how can I be Quidditch Captain if I haven't even got a broomstick to fly on?" Ro protested, somehow wriggling out of Poppy's arms to look between her two friends. "I'm really happy that I got it, but I can't exactly lead the team on one of the spare Oakshafts in the Supply Shed!"

To Ro's surprise, Poppy and Minerva looked at each other and gave a decisive nod. With no word of explanation they started steering her determinedly down the Alley to a row of shops that Ro had never really looked properly at before. They stopped outside a little shop with a broomstick mounted on the overhang, and Poppy muttered quietly "This is it," before they stepped inside.

The interior of the shop reminded Ro a little of Quality Quidditch Supplies due to the brooms covering every wall, but that was where the similarities ended. There were no Bludgers, Quaffles or Snitches in sight, and none of the brooms on display were of a brand that Ro recognised. Each one seemed to be different, if only slightly, though she was prevented from looking further by a voice calling Minerva's name.

The source of the voice was a man seated behind a large desk, and it only took a second for Ro to realise that he reminded her strongly of Mrs McGonagall. They both had the same mousey brown hair as Minerva's youngest brother Robert, and the blue eyes that were shared by Malcolm too. Although Minerva definitely looked more like her father than her mother, there was still something about the man that Ro saw in Minerva too.

Obviously sensing Ro's confusion, Minerva turned to her and said "This is my Uncle Matthew, who is my mother's older brother. He works as a broomstick builder."

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last," Uncle Matthew said in the same scottish accent that Minerva and the rest of her family all had. "Which one of you is Poppy and which one is Ro?"

Still not quite sure of what was going on, Ro said slowly "I'm Ro, and this is Poppy."

"Hmm," Uncle Matthew stroked his chin as he observed Ro through narrowed eyes, looking her up and down a couple of time before nodding. "Should be just about right. I'll be back in a moment." He disappeared through a door, which Ro assumed lead to the back room of the shop.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Ro looked between Poppy and Minerva with an exasperated smile. "Can one of you explain what on in Merlin's name is going on?"

Poppy and Minerva looked at each other, before Poppy looked away with a quiet tut and a shake of her head. "You explain, it was your idea first."

"I only found out a few months ago that I had an uncle, let alone that he created custom-made broomsticks for a living." Minerva started, a smile spreading across her face. "We asked him whether he could save your Silver Arrow, but since he couldn't we decided to ask him to build you a new broomstick. It's made especially for you, so it'll be perfect for when you're playing as Quidditch Captain."

Ro's mouth had falllen open speechlessly at the end of Minerva's explanation, and she was saved from having to respond by the sound of the door being opened again. In Uncle Matthew's hands was possibly the most beautiful broomstick that Ro had ever seen. The handle was pale birch wood just like her Silver Arrow had been made of, but the bristles were a little shorter and more tightly packed. Instead of 'Silver Arrow' being written on the side in silver writing, printed in it's place was 'Ro's Rocket' in gold lettering with both R's in an elegant swirling style.

When Ro took the broom from Uncle Matthew, she could practically feel the magic crackling along the handle. "And this is for me?"

Uncle Matthew nodded. "It won't fit anyone else. Your friends here have been writing to me since May to get every little detail perfect."

'So that's who all those letters were really for,' Ro thought as she ran her hand along the golden writing. Suddenly she looked up at Poppy and Minerva and asked "But what about the cost?"

Minerva opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Uncle Matthew placing a hand on her shoulder. "Think of it as nearly 15 year's worth of missed birthday presents, my dear!" he laughed.

"Well?"said Poppy looking at Ro with a puppy-like expression of hopefulness. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Ro echoed, her face splitting into a grin so wide that her cheeks hurt. She put the Rocket down with so much care it might have been made of glass, before rushing forwards to drag Minerva and Poppy into a hug. Giving up on controlling her emotions, she let the tears of happiness and gratitude flow freely as she buried her head in Minerva's shoulder and managed to croak "I love it."

Suddenly it didn't matter that she was an orphan, or that she had no place she could truly call home. With Poppy and Minerva pressed either side of her and Godric humming somewhere near her ear, Ro knew that the people who cared the very most about her were still right there beside her.

Author's Note:
And the Grindlewald Arc reaches it's close. Of course it'll be referenced plenty of times throughout the rest of the story, being such an important time in the lives of our main six, but with the end of third year comes the end of this particular bit of plotline.

It was nice to write Ro again for the first time in a lot of chapters. There really is a different style of writing for each of the POV characters, hence why I spend so long deciding who's POV I'll be using for each chapter. Some are obvious but others take a lot more thought. It was also so nice to properly reunite our main six again; there was something missing with just the five without Ro and I'm looking forward to getting back into scenes with all six together.

The purple potion and spell Poppy uses here are from the series, after the first task of the triwizard tournament when Poppy is healing Harry's shoulder after escaping the Hungarian Horntail. It's done non-verbally there, but I felt like since Poppy hadn't even turned 14 during that scene (her birthday is at the end of June) she would do it verbally. Inchide means 'close' in Romanian (I just flicked through Google Translate to choose a language xD ).

Professor Merrythought's backstory was made up back when I was writing first year- crikey that feels like forever ago. It wasn't meant to be revealed just yet but the opportunity arose and I thought it would make sense. She's pretty much like 'school mum' for the main six, similar to Minerva and the Golden Trio during the series but with more obvious warmth. There are a few 'school mums' at my old school and college (school biology teacher, school english teacher, college history teacher) so I knew I wanted this sort of relationship in the story.

And Ro gets her Quidditch Captain appointment :D I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I know she's still quite young but Oliver Wood was made Quidditch Captain in his fourth year so it is possible. So Quidditch Training and matches will be even more tense and action packed from now on, if that's possible!

This will be the last chapter until the last week of May when I've got a week's holiday. Although it hurts to put down my metaphorical pen for the next four weeks, I have to put all my time and energy into revising for these exams which are looming around the corner. I wanted to get this chapter out so that I can leave you in a nice place for the next month, then once I've got a little bit more breathing space we'll get started on what I can promise will be a very fun-filled fourth year! There isn't so much life-threatening action like we've seen in the past few chapters, but there are some events planned that are just lovely and I'm really looking forward to writing them.