November 1946

What with a third of the Triwizard Tournament safely out of the way, Poppy could sense a few things had changed around the school. The formerly unavoidable feeling of excitement and anticipation had faded a little; for the first time since the selection of Champions at Halloween, the atmosphere in the castle felt somewhat normal. Of course there was no forgetting that the Tournament was taking place, what with seeing Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students in every corridor, but it was nice to regain some normality every now and then.

Oddly enough for Poppy though, she'd somehow managed to get more involved in the tournament. Professor Dumbledore had approached her following the first task and asked her to take over Minerva's Prefect duties while she recovered from her injuries, and that temporary commitment had quickly been extended for the rest of the year. What with the Tournament and the upcoming OWL exams both on Minerva's mind, Poppy had decided it was only fair to give her one less thing to think about and Minerva had quickly agreed. So that she could learn the ropes, she and Poppy did the Prefecting rounds together every evening the fifth years were on duty so that Minerva could point out the preferred hiding spots of sneaky students and the punishments doled out to them.

It took until a couple of days after the task for Minerva to be up for that though. While Madame Quinine had done the best job possible of healing the wounds on her back they had still scarred, leaving two slightly indented red lines that ran from her left shoulder blade down to near her hips. The Matron had given Poppy a salve to reduce scarring with the reassurance that the red would fade to white in the coming months, as the scarring on Professor Merrythought's wrist had done following her run in with Slytherin's Monster. The sheer amount of blood she'd lost had taken its toll too; Minerva had bled more than some of the patients she'd treated in the Room of Requirement following the battle, which could have proven dangerous in itself had Madame Quinine not had a blood-replenishing potion ready and waiting. Aside from that, the physical ache from running from and fighting a dragon had left Minerva even more reluctant to leave her bed than Ro usually was on a Saturday morning.

It was on the third night that Poppy and Minerva prefected together that the second thing she'd noticed following the first task became incredibly clear. Their path around the castle took them down to the Entrance Hall while the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students were leaving to go to their accommodation, and the sight of Minerva elicited a few waves and nods from students of both schools. Not only that, but to Poppy's utter surprise Svetlana Tolstoy, the Champion for Durmstrang herself, left her friends in favour of rushing over to greet Minerva.

"Minerva, how are you feeling?" Svetlana asked, straightening the fur hat that hid her beacon of red hair. Her voice sounded harsh with its over-pronounced consonants, the v in Minerva's name seeming to take up most of the word.

Minerva returned the genuine smile with one of her own. "A little better by now, the wounds don't hurt anymore. How's your leg?"

Shrugging, Svetlana looked down at her leg which looked to be still bandaged by the shape of her trousers. Poppy had noticed her limping as she approached them so wasn't surprised it was still in need of treatment. "Nasty venom needs lots of potions. And am not surprised, zhere vas a lot of blood zhere. Your matron, she is very good. Your friend vas too."

Poppy felt her face flushing scarlet when she realised Svetlana meant her; she'd spotted Robbie McGonagall and Anja Hooch hiding behind a suit of armour and had been more focused on wondering if she should send them back upstairs than the conversation. "Thank you," she said, trying not to stammer as she accepted Svetlana's firm hand shake. "I'm Poppy, it's nice to meet you."

"Likevise," Svetlana nodded, her rosy-cheeked smile indicating she had no idea she was practically ripping Poppy's arm off. She was almost grateful when the Durmstrang student turned back to Minerva and continued in the same impressed tone of voice "Zhey tell me you are- um-" she paused for a moment, muttering under her breath in what sounded like her own language, before her eyes lit up. "Animagus!" she said, clicking her gloved fingers. "Yes, zhat very impressive. No Animagus in Durmstrang. Professor Rykov say is 'vaste of skill'."

Minerva's nose wrinkled a little at the last comment, though it didn't wipe the delighted look in her eyes. "Thank you. I'm the only one in Hogwarts, we don't usually learn it but I asked to specially. It took a long time to learn."

"You show me?" Svetlana asked, though unlike some of the many times Minerva had been asked that since the Task, her tone was only curious.

Poppy gave a wordless nod when Minerva held out her wand for her to hold, then she took a couple of steps backwards. She was so practised at the manoeuvre by now that Poppy only saw her eyes close and her brow furrow a second before she transformed, but even that was only because she knew her so well and had been there through the entire process. Minerva blinked up at Svetlana for a few moments, twitching her whiskers in clear amusement at her surprised gasp. She turned around on the spot twice, showing the scars that still crossed her back even as a cat though harder to see through the fur, before transitioning back to her human self.

Svetlana was speechless for a moment, though her mouth was upturned in an awe-inspired smile. "I's like Aleksy said, you are very good," she said, before adding as an afterthought "Aleksy is my brother. I have sister too, Margisia. Both younger. Very excited about Tournament."

"I've got two younger brothers; Malcolm and Robbie," Minerva said, and Poppy glanced back towards the statue to see if Robbie and Anja were still hiding there. "They still can't believe I'm Champion."

Svetlana tutted as she shook her head. "Vith skill like yours? No surprise. Maybe zhey can be friends vhile ve are here?"

Minerva never got a chance to reply before a shout echoed across the now practically empty Entrance Hall. Poppy didn't recognise any of the words but Svetlana clearly did as she glanced towards the voice before looking apologetically back at her and Minerva. "I must go, but I vill see you soon." With a parting grin she was off, pulling her hat tight around her ears as she ran towards the door that Filch shut behind her.

There was a moment of peaceful silence as they resumed their walk, starting up the Grand Staircase as they finished with their duties for the night. Poppy had never been in the corridors so late in the evening, and as they neared the first floor she closed her eyes briefly to truly appreciate the comforting quiet of the castle. That turned out not to be one of her best ideas when she missed the trick step; Minerva grabbed her under the arms to stop her from sinking too far down, and between Poppy clinging to the banister and Minerva's efforts she was quickly back on solid ground.

"You know, if you're going to be a Prefect you might want to make sure you know your way around a little better than that!" Minerva teased her lightly, before wincing a little as she straightened out her shoulders.

Poppy was instantly concerned, her hand on Minerva's side as she sucked in a slow breath. "I didn't think it was still bothering you!" she said disapprovingly, feeling Minerva's ribcage on the injured side to check for anything out of place.

Minerva shook her head though still looked a little unsettled. "It wasn't, I think lifting you might have pulled the muscles again. Don't apologise though," she added as Poppy opened her mouth to do just that, "it had to be done."

"Well, regardless of that you're going back to bed. I won't have you running around the castle with a bad back." Poppy settled for instead, Minerva taking her arm for support as they continued back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Have you noticed that there's not so much of a divide between us and them since the task?" Minerva said after a minute or so, continuing after Poppy gave her a look through narrowed eyes. "I mean Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and don't look at me like that!"

Poppy hummed her agreement, though rolled her eyes at Minerva's obvious attempt to change the subject. "It's like the House boundaries during the War, I suppose it's brought everyone together a bit more."

Minerva nodded. "It doesn't feel like our castle is overrun with strangers anymore- oh, I should give you this. Hebridian." The last word was for the Fat Lady, who swung forward as Minerva unpinned her Prefect Badge from the collar of her robe and offered it to Poppy.

"Are you sure? Technically you're still prefect," she asked, not taking the badge.

"Yes, but you're running around doing all the dirty work." They both giggled at that, stepping into the Common Room and immediately feeling the warmth of the fire in contrast to the chill in the rest of the castle. "This will give you the authority you need, I don't trust some of the Slytherins not to push their luck with you."

Poppy nodded, a sudden apprehension spiking in her chest at the thought of confronting Abraxas and his cronies. "You're probably right," she sighed, reaching out to take the badge though tilting her head in confusion when Minerva suddenly snatched her hand back.

Her noise of confusion was lost against Minerva's mischievous grin. "Now, Poppy, with great... badges, come great responsibility!"

Poppy sighed with exasperation though she couldn't keep the smile from her face. "Oh give it here," she said, rolling her eyes again at Minerva's laugh as she handed it over. "Now come on, Ro will be wondering what's become of us."

Even though Poppy resolutely kept an eye on Minerva's injuries until she was satisfied they were fully healed, she wasn't too worried about Minerva resting up as quickly as possible. Everyone had been under the impression that they'd seen the last of the Tournament until the late February when the second task had been set, so they were all in for a surprise when Professor Merrythought spoke to them at the end of their Defence lesson the following week.

"Settle down, all of you, there's a couple of minutes left before you can be dismissed," Professor Merrythought said as they sat back down after a duelling session, hitting her wrist against the desk she leant on. "You may not be aware that the Triwizard Tournament doesn't just consist of the three tasks. Another traditional part of the Tournament is the Yule Ball which will be taking place on Christmas Day- Miss Dale, Miss Stretton, I asked for quiet!"

Bonnie Dale and Emily Stretton had immediately started gossiping at the mention of a ball, but fell silent at Professor Merrythought's rebuke.

The Professor continued after a moment. "As I was saying, the ball will be held in the Great Hall and will begin at 8pm Christmas Day, to finish at midnight. Fourth years and above who are staying over the holiday will be able to attend, as will any younger students invited to attend as partners to older students. It is a dance, a partnered dance, so all those who wish to participate will need to find a partner to dance with."

The giggling from the back of the room had started up again, where the rest of the Ravenclaw girls aside from Millicent and Septima were sat. This time though, it took merely a sharp look from Professor Merrythought for them to quieten down. As she glanced across the classroom, Poppy could see several of the boys looking distinctly worried at the prospect of dancing with someone.

"While this is a chance for us to all have some fun," Professor Merrythought continued, her smirk indicating she intended to do just that, "it is a formal event, meaning you will all be wearing dress robes, and we still expect you to uphold the values and reputation of the school. Ravenclaws, I will be making sure that you are behaving as expected, and Gryffindors I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will say the same to you. Now then," she wiped the chalkboard clean with a swish of her wand, "you may all go to lunch. Miss McGonagall, can I hold onto you for just a second?"

"I'll meet you in the Great Hall," Minerva murmured to Poppy as she stood from her desk, leaving Poppy, Ro, Millicent, and Septima to make their way downstairs. Irma was waiting for them just outside the Hall, having got there first since she'd only come from the greenhouses, and they quickly found their usual seats on the Gryffindor table.

Before anyone had the chance to ask, Irma had already started with "Professor Beery told us about the Yule Ball. I imagine practically the entire school will be staying over Christmas this year."

Ro sighed, using her wand to levitate a still steaming jacket potato onto her plate. "There goes our peaceful Christmas then," she said, and Poppy nodded. She had got used to having the castle practically to themselves over the holidays so it would be a shock to have nearly everyone still there.

"It'll be good fun though," Millicent argued, looking by far the most excited out of all of them. "There was a leaver's ball at my Muggle school at the end of year, it was the last time I saw a lot of my old friends before I came to Hogwarts. We all had a great time. Did you have anything like that Poppy?"

Hastily swallowing her mouthful, Poppy gave a reluctant nod before answering. "We did, but I never ended up going. I was evacuated at the time, living with a Church minister and his wife. The ball was meant to be the day after my birthday, but when Professor Dumbledore told them I was a witch they refused to have me in their house. He Apparated me back to London and explaining everything to my parents; I think the Ministry were called in to Obliviate them."

Looking around the table, she was met by four unhappy expressions, ranging from Millicent's shock to Ro's fury. "How could they throw you out like that?" she spat, taking out her anger on her jacket potato which left it looking a little dented. "Just because you're a witch!"

"Well the Wizarding world itself isn't much better. Just look at what happened to our mother because she married a Muggleborn," Irma pointed out dryly, looking at Ro with a raised eyebrow.

Still looking far from pacified, Ro gave her potato a final stab with her fork. "Doesn't make it right though," she huffed, and Septima nodded firmly.

After a moment's prickly silence, footsteps behind them made Poppy turn to see Minerva sliding into the empty seat at her side. Clearly sensing the tense atmosphere though not commenting directly, she reached across the table and gave Ro's potato a light prod as she asked "Were you intending on using this as lunch or a punchbag?" The wry question had them all laughing again, much to Poppy's relief.

"Getting back on topic," Septima said to get the conversation rolling again, "any ideas who you want to go to the Yule Ball with?"

"Not for me personally, but..." Ro trailed off there, giving Poppy a significant look before her eyes flickered in Minerva's direction. Poppy hid her giggle behind her sleeve, knowing exactly what Ro was referring to when her mind filled with memories of Larry Spencer-Moon embracing Minerva so warmly after the summer holiday, the awe-inspired way he watched her at Quidditch, and the terror that had been written on his face during the first task.

Minerva's head was tilted in a confused frown, glancing between Poppy and Ro as she asked "What?"

"Nothing!" Ro said quickly in a sing-song voice, setting them all off laughing.

Minerva simply rolled her eyes, shaking her head with an exasperated smile. "Well, whoever you seem to have in mind for me needs to not be too self-conscious. Professor Merrythought told me that as Hogwarts Champion I'll be opening the ball along with Svetlana and Reynaud."

"So we all get to laugh at you first before we make fools of ourselves," Irma pointed out, returning Minerva's sigh with a slight smile.

"I'll have you know I'm not that bad a dancer," Minerva retorted lightly, reaching around Poppy to nudge Irma's shoulder. "Back in Caithness there was a cèilidh every New Year and I was surprisingly good at it."

There was a moment's confused silence, informing Poppy that it wasn't just her who had no idea what she meant. "A who-now?" Millicent asked, voicing everyone's question.

"A cèilidh. Kay-lee," Minerva repeated, stressing the syllables. "It's a traditional Scottish dance you do in partners within a group, there's a lot of spinning each other around and switching partners. Malcolm and Robbie hated it but I always thought it was good fun."

Millicent was nodding in recognition, though Poppy had still never heard of it. "Oh, so like country dancing? We did that all the time at school."

"Irma and I were more ballet dancers when we were younger. Mother's insistence," Septima said, grinning in the face of Irma's dark look.

"Oh please tell me there's a photo of that," Ro laughed, and Poppy had to agree when she tried to imagine the twins in tutus. Irma clearly didn't for her glare had been transferred from Septima to Ro, though she too shrugged it off easily as she continued. "I just wasn't a dancer, much clumsier on land than in the air."

"Maybe you were a bird in a past life?" Poppy suggested, thinking of the way she could twist and turn so elegantly on her broom but had a bad habit of tripping and walking into things while grounded.

Ro gave a brief laugh before shrugging her shoulders. "Well I've got the eyes for it," she said, meeting Poppy's gaze with the sharp yellow eyes which had been a shock at first sight. But nowadays she hardly noticed them; they were as much a part of who Ro was as the nick in her ear and the crooked nose she'd accumulated over the years.

"Well then, bird Ro, you've got three weeks to find your land legs and a dance partner before the big night!" Minerva chuckled, though it quickly turned into full-blown laughter from the whole table at Ro's dramatic groan.

No sooner had those three weeks begun did everything start happening very quickly. The decorating of the castle started a great deal earlier than it did usually, though the customary twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were still a staple part of the renovations. When Professor Dumbledore came around Gryffindor Tower with the list of who was staying for Christmas, Poppy was shocked yet not too surprised to see that practically the entire House had written their names down. Though they'd already guessed it, there was now proof on paper that the Tower was going to be very busy over the holiday.

What seemed to cause the biggest stir in the castle though was the matter of choosing a date for the ball. The corridors felt twice as crowded as usual whenever Poppy was moving around the castle with groups of excited girls pointing at boys as they passed, and groups of arrogant boys doing the same to passing girls. On multiple occasions lessons had to be delayed due to people arriving late, to the increasing irritation of the Professors and the few remaining students not overcome with excitement.

Despite her occasional annoyance at the antics of most students, Poppy would have been lying if she'd said she wasn't looking forward to the ball. She had never been to any sort of party or formal event before so had nothing to look back on when trying to think what it would be like, meaning all she could imagine was some sort of Cinderella-style ball like she'd seen on silent films as a bedridden child. Upon hearing about the Ball through Poppy's letters home, her mother had owled her the dress they'd picked out for her school leaver's ball over four years ago, and all it had taken was a quick Engorgement Charm to accommodate for how much taller she'd got over that time for it to fit again. With her dress, a pair of shoes her mother had also sent, and some flowers she'd picked and frozen to add a certain touch, she was ready for the ball with plenty of time to spare.

The only thing that wasn't so simple to get was a partner, though to Poppy's absolute surprise it turned out to be a lot easier than she'd anticipated. She'd been approaching the Fat Lady's portrait with Lyall Lupin at the end of their Prefecting shift when he'd suddenly started looking a little nervous, wringing his hands as he bounced on the balls of his feet. Poppy had been about to ask him what was wrong when he suddenly blurted out without taking a breath: "Wouldyougototheballwithme?"

Although she'd almost giggled at the panicked terror on Lyall's face, she couldn't say anything other than a resounding yes. She'd always got on well with the gentle, studious boy in their year, and if she'd had to pick a boy to dance with then she would have almost certainly picked him.

As it turned out at the breakfast table the next morning it was debatable whether or not she had been the first of their group to be asked to the ball, since both Septima and Millicent had also found partners the previous night. Septima was going with Ravenclaw's new Quidditch Captain Philip Ackerley, and Millicent had been asked by Irvin Reid. She'd admitted while excitedly buttering her toast that she thought Irvin had only asked her because his best friend was going with her best friend, but she was too thrilled about having a dance partner to care.

To all of their ever-growing surprise, it took until the last Hogsmeade Trip before the end of term before Minerva found her partner. The Three Broomsticks inn felt even busier than it usually did on Hogsmeade days since it was full Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students as well as the usual Hogwarts crowd; the Beauxbaton students were all clamouring for hot drinks as huddled together like penguins while the Durmstrang students appeared to be handling the cold weather a lot better.

Having already given up on finding a table for six, Poppy, Minerva, and Irma were merely saving an area of floor space while Ro, Millicent, and Septima braved the sea of people in the name of Butterbeer. While Minerva and Irma were laughing wryly as they recounted what had happened on this Hogsmeade Trip the previous year Poppy had spaced out almost entirely, preferring not to remember one of the many terrifying moments that had plagued the last couple of years. Instead, she had taken to watching the group of sixth-year Gryffindors who all appeared to be gearing up Larry for something she couldn't work out. It was only when he downed the remainder of his Butterbeer and headed in their direction did Poppy's heart rate suddenly soar.

With Minerva deep in conversation with Irma it was a minute or so before she noticed him, and Poppy wasn't sure if the redness spread across his face was due to the Butterbeer or sheer embarrassment. "Er, Minerva? Could I, um, talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Minerva said with the surprisingly warm smile that was reserved only for her closest friends. Poppy found herself clinging to Irma's arm as they watched Larry and Minerva draw a few feet away from them, talking in voices too quiet to hear over the din of the pub.

"Where'd Min go?" Ro's sudden voice just behind her almost made Poppy jump and she quickly interrupted her with a loud hushing sound while pointing towards Larry and Minerva. "What- d'you mean?" she asked a lot quieter, and when could only nod in reply she gave a very un-Ro-like squeal of muted excitement.

As the remaining five of them watched as quietly as they could manage, Larry's cheeks flushed progressively redder until he finally said what was obviously a hesitantly asked question. Minerva's face lit up and she gave a delighted nod, seconds before Larry's face broke out into an unrestrained grin and their arms were around each other's shoulders in a brief but tight hug.

Minerva had barely made it back to them when Ro demanded "Well?", her expectant expression mirrored on everyone else's faces. Poppy was surprised she hadn't dropped the two tankards of Butterbeer she was still carrying.

"He asked me to the ball!" Minerva said, still beaming with barely concealed excitement.

"Finally, it took him long enough!" Millicent groaned teasingly, though she too was practically bouncing with excitement and running precariously close to losing most of her Butterbeer.

Minerva arched an eyebrow as she looked round at the five of them, and Poppy could tell from just her amused yet fond smile that they must have looked absolutely comical in their excitement. "What? You think it was that obvious?"

The laughter that resulted from Minerva's question was followed by a long sigh from Ro, who handed Poppy her Butterbeer before placing her hands on Minerva's shoulders to look at her squarely. "Min. You're hilarious, you're as stupidly brave as I am, and sometimes you're so clever it actually scares me. But sometimes you just cannot see what's staring you right in the face."

Author's Note:
Well for what's essentially a filler chapter, it's freaking long.

It's so good to be writing this again. Even though it's technically been so long I wrote the entire thing in three sittings all within the last week, I don't know why I didn't start earlier because I've loved it.

It's possibly an odd thing to say since Poppy's one of the three POV chapters, but it felt really nice to actually focus on her for a change then just use her as a window to everyone else? I don't feel like I've really really focused on her for a long time. It was nice to re-find the dynamic between her and Minerva; I feel like very often Minerva ends up with Irma and Ro and Poppy end up together so it was good to fall back into that. Also I love Svetlana a lot, and I hope when we meet Reynaud in the next chapter you'll love him just as much.

Speaking of the next chapter, I am so excited. I've been looking forward to this for almost two years, no word of a lie. I've known since nearly the beginning what all their dress robes would look like and I worked out the partners a long time ago too. It was so good to write Larry actually doing something about his hopeless crush on Minerva- it's what the chapter title is in reference to. I love them so much together and I can't wait to write their ongoing relationship. Usually when reading a fanfic having a canon character x OC pairing is an instant turnoff for me so I hope I've written Larry well enough that I've made their relationship work and not just another mary-sue pairing. They mean a lot to me and I love the support they've recieved so far.

On a slightly more somber note, I bring the news that I'm no longer going to university this year. Shit hit the fan at home and I ended up not getting the grades I needed. But next year is another year, and in the meantime it does give me more time to write fanfic. So you can think of it as a bonus in that aspect. Until next time :)