September 1945
There were two days in between the meet-up in Diagon Alley and the trip to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but for Poppy it felt more like two months. She had grown used to a world with magic during her first summer in peacetime London since the start of the Muggle War when she was a mere 8 years old, and had made the absolute most of the first bit of quality time with her parents for the past three years. But after being given a taste of magic in Diagon Alley, she had been counting down the hours until she'd be back in that world again.
Kings Cross was just as crowded as it always was when she and her parents crossed through the magical boundary onto the platform. The Hogwarts Express in all its crimson glory was waiting at the platform, and Poppy couldn't suppress a grin of pure joy. Even Godric seemed to notice the change in atmosphere from his usual spot on Poppy's shoulder, making her arm tremble with the sheer force of his excited quivering. He was humming so loudly in her ear that she didn't realise her mother was talking to her until she gently shook Poppy's other shoulder.
"I said," Mrs Pomfrey repeated with a smile, "can you see Millicent and Mr Bagnold yet?"
Poppy's parents had met Millicent's father on the Platform when they left Hogwarts before the summer, and instantly bonded over their complete oblivion about the world of magic. When Poppy stood on tiptoes to look over the crowd she quickly picked out Mr Bagnold from Millicent's younger sister Tabitha sitting piggy-back style on his shoulders, but to her surprise it wasn't just Millicent who was with them. A tall, slender woman with perfectly curled auburn hair had her arm linked with Mr Bagnold's, and one look at Millicent's sullen face told Poppy that she wasn't the least bit happy with this arrangement.
"They're over there," Poppy said, tapping her father's hand to attract his attention away from the owls circling the ceiling. Mr Pomfrey looked at her with a start, before letting out a chuckle as he started to push Poppy's luggage trolley in the direction of Millicent and her family.
Millicent managed to force a smile onto her face when she saw Poppy, but there was still an unfamiliar glumness to her expression. "Hi Poppy," she said with the hint of a sigh, squeezing her into a tight embrace as Poppy's parents started talking to Mr Bagnold.
"Who's that?" Poppy whispered in Millicent's ear, giving the auburn-haired woman a pointed look.
Whatever Millicent was about to say was interrupted by the woman looking down at Poppy, the smile on her face so teethy it was bordering on intimidating. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Millie?"
Poppy had never considered herself a judgemental person before, and generally took pride in being fairly accepting. But the sickly sweet voice combined with that frighteningly wide grin told Poppy within seconds that this woman was not someone she liked.
Millicent held the woman's look for a moment before clearing her throat and turning back to Poppy. "Poppy, this is Trudy. Trudy, Poppy."
Mr Bagnold shot Millicent a frown, and the look on both her parents' faces told Poppy that they too could sense the tension between Millicent and whoever this Trudy person was. As the silence that had settled grew uncomfortable, Poppy smiled softly at Millicent and asked "Do you want to try and find the others? The train will be leaving soon."
Millicent's smile was more genuine this time to Poppy's relief. "Good idea," she said, "we'll need to get a compartment before they all fill up."
"Give us a goodbye then Pen," Mr Pomfrey said, making Poppy groan at the use of the old nickname she'd long outgrown. She passed Godric to Millicent before hugging her mother and father in turn, surprised at the sudden rush of emotions she felt at the idea of leaving them again for another year.
"I'll write often," Poppy promised before stepping back, allowing her mother to kiss her forehead before taking hold of the her luggage trolley.
Millicent hadn't made any move to wish her father a proper goodbye, merely calling "Bye Dad, bye Tabby," over her shoulder as she started to push her luggage trolley towards the train.
They hadn't gone very far before the sound of their names being shouted made Poppy look up. Septima was waving frantically to them from one of the train carriage doors, and from the next window she could see the faces of Irma, Ro and Minerva peering out. Poppy and Millicent steered their trolleys towards the luggage carriage and left them with the platform guards before pushing through the crowd to reach Septima.
"Hi!" Septima shouted over the train whistle, reaching down to help them on board. "Everyone's here and we've got a compartment to ourselves. Come on in before it gets too busy."
Sitting down in the compartment with her friends surrounding her was all Poppy needed to shake away the sadness of leaving her parents. Even Irma was smiling brightly as Poppy sat down next to her, remarking "Well this is a little more civilised than last year."
Her words reminded everyone of the unpleasant Portkey trip they'd endured in place of the train journey at the start of their third year, and they all burst into laughter. "That's one way of putting it," Ro grinned, and it was only then that Poppy noticed something was different about her. In the two days since Poppy had last seen her, Ro's hair had been cut from just below her shoulders to a messy bob that flopped over her forehead and reached just past her chin.
As if she could tell Poppy was noticing it, Ro flicked her head so that her hair flew around her face. "I decided it was time for a change," she said firmly, as if daring someone to say otherwise. "New me, new hair kind of thing."
"She made me do it," Minerva said severely from the window seat next to Ro, giving her a dark look. "Never again am I cutting someone's hairs with kitchen scissors. I could hardly stop my hand from shaking."
"I offered to do her hair afterwards," Ro said over everyone's laughter, giving Minerva a sweet smile that was met by a good natured eye-roll. "It'll be easier to manage for Quidditch practise."
Minerva pulled her long black plait over one shoulder and gripped it protectively. "You're never taking scissors to th-" She broke off suddenly and shook Ro's arm. "You need to tell them!"
"Eh? Oh yes." Ro laughed after a moment of confusion. She rustled in the pocket of her tatty cardigan before looking up slyly. "When our booklists came, I was also noted that I have been appointed-" she whipped her scarlet and gold badge out of her pocket and thrusted it high into the air "-Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain!"
"Ro that's amazing!" Septima cried.
"Congratulations," Irma nodded, smiling brightly.
Even Millicent was beaming, though Poppy made a mental note to ask her about whoever Trudy was later in the trip. Thankfully Septima beat her too it, waiting for the commotion about Ro's new position to die down before looking at Millicent and asking "Who was that woman with you and your father while you met Poppy?"
Millicent sighed, her smile falling instantly as looked away towards the window. The station was starting to move past them, and the accompanying train whistle told Poppy that they were on their way to Hogwarts. "That was Trudy," she explained unhappily, "my Dad's new girlfriend."
"Oh." Septima said, clearly understanding the situation much better than anyone else did.
After looking around for a moment, Millicent continued in a resigned voice. "Mum left us about five years ago now, had a fling with a Home Guard soldier and ended up marrying him. That was when Dad moved down to Croydon from Grantham, Mum never came to see us so he wanted my sister and I to make a new start without her. He promised then that Tabby and I would be the only girls in his life - I guess that didn't matter anymore when he met Trudy." The name was almost growled, bring a look of concern to Poppy's face.
"How long ago was that?" Minerva asked.
"Christmas." Millicent said, then laughed shortly. "You'd have thought that I might be told in a letter, just a word of warning would have done, but he said he wanted me to meet her in person first. Apparently he didn't want me to build up the wrong impression of her before I met her, but I don't think it would have made much difference."
Ro grimaced. "She's bad then?"
"She's awful! All sickly sweet with Dad and Tabby, but horrible to me whenever they're not around. And worse still, Dad says he wants to marry her!" After her sudden burst of angry energy, Millicent slumped back into her seat. "She knows about my magic too, Tabby told her though I'm not sure the Statute of Security really allows it. That didn't impress her much either. I think she was glad to see the back of me on the platform."
Millicent's look had changed from frustrated to upset, so Poppy put a comforting hand around her shoulders. "We're always here for you, you know."
"Yeah," Ro added, "and if you don't want to spend all of next summer at home you could always come to one of us."
"Thank you, all of you." Millicent smiled around at all of them, a grateful look on her face.
"One summer, we will have to spend at least some of it all together," Minerva said, looking thoughtful. "Not just a couple of people staying together, but all of us."
Septima nodded eagerly. "That's a great idea! I'm tired of not seeing you all for most of two months." She paused, then asked with a frown "But where would we all go?"
Everyone was at loss for a moment and the compartment fell quiet. Poppy knew that she was probably the person with the best home life out of them all, what with Septima and Irma's warring parents, Ro's lack of parents, the constant chilled atmosphere in Minerva's house and now Millicent's potential stepmother. But she knew that bringing her five magical friends back to her home in Muggle London would come with some interesting incidents.
"We could probably go to my house," she said slowly, still thinking it through, "though you'd all have to be really careful about magic. Just Godric alone proved very puzzling to my father." As if to prove a point, Godric started humming noisily from her shoulder which made her smile. "And I never really had very many friends before the war started so my parents aren't used to having lots of children around at once."
Minerva gave her a puzzled look. "How could you have not had any friends? You were so welcoming when Ro and I met you on the train."
Poppy giggled, feeling her cheeks warm slightly from the compliment. "I was never very well as a child, so I spent a lot of time at home. I was homeschooled until I was 8, so I never really learned how to make friends. I only really had mother, and it was having to look after me until then made her decide to train as a nurse when the war started."
"I suppose that's what made you want to be a Healer too?" Irma asked, and Poppy nodded in response.
"Well we could use the house at Little Wakering," Ro suggested. "It passed to Kurtis when - well, you know - so he and Carrie have been living in it since then. But we'd definitely be allowed to all move in for a while."
"As long as you'd be alright going back." Minerva said seriously, placing a hand on Ro's knee and looking her in the eye.
Ro shrugged. "I'll have to go back at some point, and it'll be better if you're all there too."
"You probably do have a good point." Irma mused. "One thing though, I'm not sure if mother would allow me to go. She's unimpressed with the fact I'm friends with Muggleborns as it is."
"But your father was a Muggleborn!" Ro burst out, then dropped her gaze with embarrassment. "Sorry," she muttered, glancing tentatively up at Irma as she tucked a strand of fringe behind one ear.
Irma smiled. "It's alright, I don't really understand either. If we were staying at your house Ro it would probably be better since you're a Pureblood, so I'm sure I could get around it."
"So we have a plan then!" Septima said, grinning brightly.
Millicent laughed, Septima's infectious joy having removed the dull look in her hazel eyes. "I think we do."
The journey passed quickly as the girls all planned, thinking up endless ideas of things and places to do and see during their summer together. As evening fell they dropped into sleep one by one; seeing Ro use Minerva's lap as a pillow as she and Septima leaned on each other reminded Poppy of her first journey on the Hogwarts Express three years previous. When the resonating sound of the train whistle announcing their arrival woke everyone up, Poppy found herself resting her head on Irma's shoulder while Millicent leaned on her shoulder with her feet pulled up onto the seat.
The sight of the Thestrals pulling the carriages was no longer a surprise to Poppy, and as always she would stroke their smooth muzzles as the others watched on clueless. But this time she was joined by Ro, tentatively feeling the edge of the Thestral's wing as dark shadows danced behind her eyes. Ro had told her in haunted tones the day after the Battle about the deaths of Mr Spinnet and Maria Bulstrode, so she had been alarmed but not too surprised when the Thestrals were visible to her at the end of their third year. It was clear that she wasn't the only one; sharp gasps and saddened voices from every direction told Poppy that there were plenty of others seeing the Thestrals for the first time.
Although the Thestrals had cast a cloud of gloom over everyone, walking into the Great Hall had brought the smiles back to everyone's faces. The repair work from the battle hadn't been quite finished when term ended before the summer, so seeing the Hall restored to its former glory was a wondrous sight. Septima and Millicent joined their dormmates at the Ravenclaw table while Irma sat down with Imogen Farley on the Slytherin Table, leaving Minerva, Ro and Poppy to take their seats at the Gryffindor Table.
"Minerva! Ro!" A voice made them look up to see Larry Spencer-Moon rushing excitedly towards them. He slid into the seat between Minerva and Shirley Miller, holding his collar out where a small red badge had been pinned. "I've been made a Prefect!"
"Hey, nice job!" Ro high-fived him from across the table. "I've got Quidditch Captain, we can share the fancy bathroom!"
Larry grinned, turning to look down the table at the rest of the fifth years and calling out "You owe me a Galleon now Ernest!"
Earnest Lawrence shot Larry a dark look but shouted "Congratulations!" to Ro all the same.
"We had a bet going over who would get the badge out of you and Nancy," Larry explained.
Ro, Minerva and Poppy all burst into laughter. "That reminds me of a couple of years ago when two other people I know had a very similar bet going." Poppy said as she elbowed Ro's arm lightly.
"Min said Fleamont, I said Alastor and lost myself a Galleon." Ro chuckled as she shot Minerva a look.
Minerva ignored her, instead turning to Larry and asking "Did you and Winston have a good summer?"
The four of them kept on chatting until Professor Dumbledore brought the first years into the Hall and began the Sorting Ceremony. One of the first names called was one that made numerous Gryffindors groan quietly; although they had finally seen the last of Walburga, the sneer in Cygnus Black's face told them quickly that their Black family problems had not yet ended. Gryffindor's new members included Ro's cousin Heidi Hooch, yet another Weasley boy and a boy whose dreadlocks and beaming smile meant he could only be Maggie Jordan's brother. For the first time since Poppy's own sorting there was another Hatstall; a girl named Clementine who ended up joining the Slytherin table.
"Did I really take that long?" Minerva whispered as the next name was called up.
"Yes!" Poppy and Ro answered at once, giggling quietly.
"You even made Ro fall asleep," Larry added, and Minerva had to cover her mouth with the sleeve of her robe to muffle her laughter.
Poppy sat up tall in her seat to lok over the Hall at where Clementine had sat herself down near the end of the table. "I wonder if she'll be a more open minded Slytherin like Irma and Imogen?" she wondered aloud, "The pureblood supremists tend to have far quicker Sortings than that."
"Irma's going to end up becoming head of the Friendly Slytherin Club at this rate," Minerva said, finally getting her laughter under control but setting Ro off in the process.
"It's a good thing Augusta isn't here, or you'd be in serious trouble by now!" Larry hissed with a grin, and Poppy had to admit he had a very good point.
Once the Ceremony was concluded, Professor Dippet rose to make his usual Start of Term Speech. Poppy tensed instincitvely as she remembered the bad news that his last speech had brought, but it soon became clear that she had nothing to worry about.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, a year that I'm sure we all hope will be far more peaceful than the last. As a result of the welcomed change in national circumstances, the safety policies that were put into place for the duration of last year have all been removed. All those in third year and above will be permitted to visit Hogsmeade village on designated weekends, and all of the grounds can be used for broom flying without fear of being targeted accidentally."
Several people turned to glance in Ro's direction as Professor Dippet spoke, who tensed noticeably at the unwanted attention.
"On the subject of Quidditch, we have appointed a new flying instructor to replace Mr Spinnet after his tragic death during the Battle against Grindlewald. However she will not be arriving until mid-September, so first years flying lessons will not begin until then. Quidditch Captains will hold their tryouts as per usual, and anyone who wishes to try out for the position of Quidditch Commentator should see Professor Dumbledore. All I have left to say is this: tuck in!"
Food appeared on the tables, and the Hall was filled with the sounds of food being dished onto plates and happy chatting. It was immediately obvious to Poppy how different the atmosphere was to the Start of Term Feast last year, and even after the Wars had ended it had never felt quite this at ease.
Poppy clearly wasn't the only one who had noticed this. After a minute or two, a wide smile broke out on Ro's face as she declared "Now this is how Hogwarts is meant to feel."
Minerva nodded firmly. "And long may it last. Welcome home, everybody."
Author's note:
Well depending on where you live in the world, I might have got this chapter out when I said I would! I promised the end of May and though it's technically June where I am now, it's probably still May for some of you.
Let it be said now that this is far from my favourite chapter. It took a while to get back into the swing of things after so long away from the story, so the quality of writing might not be at my best.
There are many things that I like though. It was good to finally include some details on Millicent's life outside Hogwarts, as up until now she was the only one out of the six who we knew little about. We won't see very much of her family, except perhaps little Tabitha when she gets older. She's not magical, but if she was then she would start at Hogwarts next September at the same time as Robert McGonagall and Anja Hooch. It was also really nice to write the first really happy scene between all six of the girls in absolutely ages, which is something I really missed in amongst all the drama that we ended third year with. Rest assured that there will be at least one summer that the girls spend all together.
Since the worst of my exams are over now updates will get a little more regular; I'd estimate at one chapter every other week until mid July. There are some great scenes coming up in the very near future so I promise the wait will be well worth it!