July 1947
Minerva was kept in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the weekend, though Madame Quinine had assured them all that it was more to ensure that she was kept quiet since her physical wounds were all but healed. Ro and the others all took it in turns to sit with her, unwilling to leave her alone even for a second. It was during Ro's shift on the Sunday morning that Madame Quinine warned them she'd have to let the staff in to discuss the outcome of the Tournament, which made them both nervous until they saw Professor Merrythought walking down the ward towards them.
"Madame Crickerley will here in a moment if you're comfortable with that," she began to Minerva, waiting for her agreement before her business-like tone softened a little. "How have you been? I would have come and seen you sooner but I didn't want to intrude until you felt up to it."
Minerva nodded again, smiling at the Professor as she sat down. "I'm ok thank you, I'm feeling a lot better than I was yesterday," she said. Her smile faltered a little as she added "It was you in the maze, wasn't it? I remember seeing you before I blacked out."
Professor Merrythought gave a single nod, her expression sombre as she reached out to give Minerva's hand a quick squeeze. "I'm surprised you do remember, you were in a bad way when we found you. It's good to see you looking better. There was a moment when I thought-" she broke off then, clearing her throat and blinking rapidly. Ro was about to ask if she was ok before she continued in a voice full of false cheeriness. "Let's not linger over that."
"It's ok Professor. I think- I think I'll find it easier if I talk about it," Minerva said a little falteringly, glancing over at Ro for support.
Practically everybody had suggested to her after her accident that if she talked about it she would find it easier, and while she hadn't found that approach particularly helpful she'd still suggested it to Minerva in case it was better suited to her. "Just go at your own pace," Ro said, shuffling up the bed to sit with her knee touching Minerva's and her hand held in hers.
A loud knock on the doors interrupted them, and Professor Merrythought turned to call out "Come in!" before she focused back on Minerva. "I understand, truly. I know Professor Dumbledore is your Head of House but if you would ever like to talk to me then my office door is always open."
Minerva gave her a grateful smile, just as Madame Crickerley hurried into view and sat down in the other chair by Minerva's bed. "Hello Minerva, good to see you up. I hope you don't mind us dropping in, but I reckoned you'd prefer us to Professor Dippet and Mr Rabnott." She cracked a smile then but it was far more half-hearted than the confident grin that Ro was used to seeing from her. "And hello Captain Hooch. Forgive me but I don't think I've been told your first name."
Despite the circumstances, Ro couldn't help but grin as she did every time her childhood hero's attention was directed at her. "It's Rolanda, but just call me Ro," she said, reaching out to shake Madame Crickerley's hand.
"Ro it is then," she said, returning Ro's bright smile as she shook her hand.
Once Madame Crickerley had sat back, Professor Merrythought let out a sigh. "Minerva, you've probably guessed we're here to discuss the outcome of the Tournament," she began, waiting for Minerva to nod before she continued. "Under normal circumstances, whoever found the Triwizard Cup would have won the Tournament regardless of where they stood in the point rankings before the third task. So as a result of what happened on Friday, by default you're the winner of the Triwizard Tournament."
Minerva stayed silent and still for a moment before she nodded again. With supporting Minerva taking all priority the previous day, Ro hadn't stopped to think about what would happen next with the Tournament let alone who the true winner was. But if she was thinking morbidly, she supposed that Minerva had to be winner by process of elimination if nothing else.
The sound of metal chinking caught Ro's attention as Madame Crickerley pulled a large coin purse from out of her pocket. "That means that this prize money is yours. One thousand Galleons," she said, handing the purse out towards Minerva.
Ro glanced at Minerva expectantly, but she made no move to take the coin purse. Instead she held up one shaky hand and said quietly "I don't deserve this." Madame Crickerley looked about to protest but Minerva didn't give her a chance to as she continued "The only reason I'm still alive is sheer luck. We were all taken down by the same obstacle, none of us were any better than the other in the end. If anything the money should be split between their families too. I don't deserve all of it."
It was the most Ro had heard Minerva say since the task, and she found herself gripping the hand she'd been holding even tighter.
Professor Merrythought glanced at a helpless looking Madame Crickerley before she spoke gently to Minerva. "You don't need to worry about Svetlana and Reynaud's families not getting what their children are due. Mr Rabnott is currently meeting with Professor Rykov and Madame Marguerite as well as the Polish and French Ministries to make sure their families receive reparations. They won't go uncompensated, I promise." Although Ro understood what Professor Merrythought was saying, she couldn't help but think that any sort of monetary compensation didn't exactly make up for the fact that two families had lost their children.
"Ok," Minerva said, her voice sounding dangerously wobbly. With still some hesitance she accepted the money from Madame Crickerley, reaching over to put it on her bedside table.
"The next thing is your parents," Professor Merrythought continued, the unspoken apology obvious in her expression. "Madame Quinine told me you didn't want to see them yesterday which of course I understand, but they're still here in the castle if you did want to speak with them before the summer."
Minerva glanced briefly at Ro, her gaze worried, before she looked back over at Professor Merrythought. "I'm not going home for summer," she explained, fiddling uncomfortably with the hem of her skirt. "We're both going to Poppy's until late August. I'll see them before they leave, I just didn't want them to see me how I was yesterday. Magic causes enough problems for them already and I thought that if they saw me injured it would make things so much worse."
Professor Merrythought nodded in understanding; Ro had been impressed before the task just how much the Professor seemed to pick up about Minerva's family situation in a couple of short conversations, so was beyond glad that it was her handling everything now. "Of course. They're being kept updated on your condition anyway so just let me know when you want to see them."
"Thank you. Really," Minerva said, smiling at her.
"You're welcome, my dear. Anything we can do to help."
Madame Crickerley glanced up from where she'd been wringing her hands in her lap as Minerva and Professor Merrythought spoke. "I think that's everything we needed to say," she said, pausing for several seconds before she appeared to force herself into continuing. "On a personal note, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was in charge of the tasks, I should have been more careful to make sure it was safe. I should have tried the maze myself before I even imagined putting you through it. Obviously no apology's going to bring back Svetlana and Reynaud but I'm still sorry."
Silence followed her apology, and as Ro looked at Madame Crickerley she was surprised to see how tired the usually vibrant woman looked. If she looked past the oddity of seeing her in regular clothes when Ro had only ever seen her in sportswear or formal robes during the last year, her golden hair had lost its shine and her face was pale as if she'd hardly slept in the last two days.
"I keep telling you Theodosia, you can't blame yourself for this," Professor Merrythought insisted, placing a comforting hand on her knee. It was a few moments before Madame Crickerley sighed and nodded, though Ro had a feeling that she was far from convinced by Professor Merrythought's words.
"She's right, it isn't your fault. I don't blame you at all," Minerva said, eliciting a small smile from Madame Crickerley.
There was silence for a moment before Minerva spoke again, sounding far more reluctant than she had done a moment before. "Actually, there's one more thing I should say," she said, leaning over towards her bedside table and picking up the wand that had lain beside her own. "This… this is Svetlana's. I picked it up after she died and used it to send up the red sparks." She hesitated again, closing her eyes for a moment before she held it towards Madame Crickerley and said all in a rush "Her family should have it."
Madame Crickerley gave a sad sort of smile as she looked at the wand, before reaching out to push it back towards Minerva. "Actually, that's something I spoke to Svetlana's parents about yesterday. They asked me to tell you this: that it's yours to keep. Because they have countless things to remember her by, and since you shared her last moments it's only right that you should have this one thing."
Tears ran down Minerva's face as she held the wand tight to her chest and sighed heavily. "Thank you," she whispered shakily, prompting Ro to wrap her up in a tight hug.
After insisting to Minerva that her initial offer still stood, Professor Merrythought and Madame Crickerley left them to it. But a sudden thought occurred to Ro just as they walked out of the Hospital Wing doors, and after muttering a quick "I'll be back," to Minerva she jumped to her feet and sprinted after them. "Madame Crickerley?" she called as she opened the door, relieved to see the other witch still in sight at the end of the corridor.
"What is it Ro?" Madame Crickerley asked, hurrying back down the corridor towards her.
Ro paused for a moment before she spoke, very aware that her question was probably a silly one. But from what she knew of Madame Crickerley she doubted she would mind. "The Tentacula that attacked them. What happened to it?" she asked.
Madame Crickerley paused for a moment herself, glancing at the floor before she met Ro's gaze. "I burned it to the ground myself as soon as the Stadium was clear. Admittedly it wasn't my finest moment," she admitted, the shadows in her gaze warring with the sheepish smile that appeared then.
Ro grinned back at her, giving an unbothered shrug. "S'alright. I think I'd have done the same if you hadn't got there first."
After Minerva was released from the Hospital Wing there were only two days left until the Hogwarts Express took them back to London for the summer. While Ro knew the magical side of the city well enough from her mother taking her to work occasionally when she was young plus the yearly trips to Diagon Alley, from listening to Poppy's stories she was quick to realise that she'd hardly experienced London for what it was at all. But despite her excitement for the summer, knowing the goodbyes she would have to say before they left Hogwarts still made her dread the morning of the End of Term Feast. Not only were the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons leaving that day, but after a year of trying not to think about it they would finally have to say goodbye to two members of her Quidditch team.
The morning was a sombre one anyway, as the usually jubilant End of Term Feast had been replaced by a memorial for the lost Triwizard Champions. While the majority of Hogwarts students didn't know either Svetlana or Reynaud very well, the atmosphere in the Great Hall was one of united grief as both Professor Rykov and Madame Marguerite took a few minutes each to speak about their Champions. The absence of Svetlana's bright ginger head on the Durmstrang table was painfully obvious as was the space left beside Ghislaine Dubois out of respect for Reynaud. While looking across the Hall Ro caught sight of Nadezda Kucera with tears streaming silently down her face, and she had to grab Poppy's hand as she suddenly couldn't stop imagining herself in the other girl's shoes. The only useful thing that Mr Rabnott had to add was that, in light of everything, he would ensure there would never be another Triwizard Tournament for as long as he lived.
Minerva remained silent throughout the whole memorial and during the meal she only picked at her food, as Poppy visibly warred between pushing her to eat and letting her be. But once they were all out in the grounds waiting for the carriages to arrive she didn't look quite so lost anymore, and to Ro's surprise she took off in the direction of the Beauxbaton carriage where a young girl was stood alone staring at the Quidditch Pitch. It was only when Minerva knelt down to embrace her did Ro put two and two together at last; it was Clarisse Lemay, seeker for the Beauxbaton team that had played in January and Reynaud's little sister. Or rather, she had been Reynaud's little sister. After standing back up Minerva conjured up a scrap of parchment and her quill, hurriedly writing something down which she passed over to Clarisse.
"What did you give her?" Ro asked as Minerva rejoined her after a few moments of saying goodbye.
Minerva flicked her wand to vanish her quill again before replying. "My address. Reynaud and were going to stay as penpals, so I gave it to Clarisse instead. In case she wants to talk about him or anything else."
Ro looked at her in awe for a moment before slinging an arm around Minerva's waist and pulling her into a side-hug. "I'm proud of you," she said, hoping Minerva knew how much she meant it.
A loud commotion behind them made Ro look round in time to see Nancy tackling Larry into a painfully tight embrace. The smudges of mascara around her eyes made it obvious she was crying, and the lump in Ro's throat returned immediately at the prospect of saying goodbye to her and Anthea. Nancy in particular had been an invaluable support for her during the first days of her Quidditch Captaincy, when a lot of other people in her shoes could have just been bitter about losing out to someone younger, and Ro knew she'd miss that voice of reason when the next season started.
"You wipe that miserable look off your face, Captain Hooch," Nancy said as she walked over, grinning through her tears as she hugged her for several seconds. "Keep in touch or else," she whispered a quiet warning in Ro's ear. Ro attempted to laugh at that but it came out more like a sob, burying her head in Nancy's collar as the older girl patted her on the back.
"Give it two years and you'll probably be flying for the same team again," Larry pointed out as Nancy released her at last.
Ro nodded as she rubbed her eyes; it had been a great cause for celebration to find out that Nancy had been offered a reserve place for the Holyhead Harpies beginning in September. Since that was the team that Ro had always had her eye on, she could only hope that she and Nancy would find themselves as teammates again before too long.
Boisterous laughter announced Ernest and Cleatus' arrival, making up the rest of Ro's beloved Quidditch Team. "Merlin's balls, the Captain's crying!" Ernest took it upon himself to announce, jumping backwards with a grin as Ro aimed a kick towards that area of his own anatomy.
"Don't try and pretend you're not moping too," Nancy retorted, slinging an arm around his shoulders and kissing him on the cheek. Ro only watched the pair of them with a fond smile; Nancy and Ernest's relationship had confused her for years, as they were frequently found together in Madame Puddifoot's which was the hotspot for Hogwarts couples yet neither had actually confirmed whether they were actually dating or not. They'd gone to the Yule Ball together and had spent most of the afterparty all over each other, but while those intimate moments pointed to a relationship their usual interactions just left everyone uncertain
"I think we're allowed to all be sad today," Anthea said in a choked up sort of voice that prompted Cleatus to pat her gently on the shoulder.
Larry gave a quiet hum of agreement, and when Ro looked round at him she saw that he was holding Minerva's hand with their fingers interlaced. Ro shot him a grateful smile, the only way she could put across just how thankful she was for him being there for Minerva too without drawing everyone's attention.
Once the Beauxbatons carriage and Durmstrang ship had departed, the first of the Thestral-drawn carriages started to arrive to take them to Hogsmeade Station. Ro had grown accustomed enough to the sight of them over the last couple of years, as had Irma since they'd both acquired the ability to see them during the Battle against Grindlewald, but this time it was Minerva's face she watched as she saw the Thestrals for the first time. She didn't say anything though, only continuing to grip Larry's hand as they boarded the carriage before he kissed her goodbye on the platform to rejoin his sixth year friends. The long trip on the Hogwarts Express was a quiet one, though Ro didn't mind that in the slightest. Minerva spent most of the trip asleep with her head in Irma's lap, somehow managing to curl up tight enough so that didn't fall off the seat, and Poppy ended up dropping off by the time they reached the English border using Ro's shoulder as a pillow. Ro hardly blamed them for being so tired after the last few days they'd had, and was quite happy to just talk quietly with Irma, Septima, and Millicent until they reached London.
Poppy's parents were waiting for them just beyond the barrier to platform nine and three quarters, and after they exchanged their sickles and galleons for shillings and pounds they were off into the Muggle part of the station. Ro had seen the signs for the London Underground every time she was at Kings Cross but had never ventured down the moving stairs before, convinced they had to be some sort of magic until Millicent explained what an escalator was. No sooner had she stepped on was she wondering why they couldn't have escalators at Hogwarts, glancing down to the corridor far below and wondering how many times greater the distance between the Entrance Hall and Gryffindor Tower was.
Getting on the train was interesting, made no less difficult by the fact that they all had their trunks with them. Dozens of Muggles travelling from Kings Cross alongside them meant that they had to fight their way through the crowd to all get through the same set of doors. Irma had managed to get pinned between the wall and a rather portly businessman, who ignored her polite requests to let her past until Septima was forced to drag her out from behind him and onto the train. Ro had ignored Mr Pomfrey's warning to sit down and was in the middle of assuring him that she had good enough balance when the train jerked forwards and sent her flying down the carriage to smack her head on a pole. Immediately she saw Poppy hurrying forwards to help her up, Ro wondering how in Merlin's name Poppy could run in the moving train when she couldn't even stand up.
When she voiced that thought out loud a moment later, safely sat down, Poppy only giggled from where she was stood quite comfortably. "I've been a Londoner nearly all my life, you get a lot of practise!" she pointed out, proving her expertise by bending her knees for stability just before the train careened around a corner.
"Don't worry Ro, I've been on the Underground a few times and I still haven't found my feet," Millicent said with a sympathetic expression, gripping both of the armrests in the seat between Septima and Irma.
Both of the twins were looking a little motion sick, which was probably what prompted Mrs Pomfrey to tell them "Just three more stops, girls," just as the train doors opened onto Euston Square Station.
The Pomfrey's house looked small enough from the outside that Ro wondered how in Merlin's name they would all fit, but once inside it turned out to be fairly spacious. Working out sleeping arrangements was more complicated than Ro had thought since she was so used to just being able to conjure up extra beds whenever they'd all stayed at Little Wakering, but it ended up being that Minerva and Ro shared Poppy's bedroom, Ro sharing the bed and Minerva on the pull-out mattress, with Irma, Septima, and Millicent all in the spare room. By the time they'd arrived it was too late to go out and do anything, so after dinner they all just changed into their pyjamas and crammed into Poppy's room to talk before bed.
"So then, resident Muggleborns, I'm looking at you two to decide what we're up to while we're here," Ro said, looking at Poppy and Millicent with an expectant grin.
Millicent laughed, shaking her head. "It's been so long since I've been here for anything other than Diagon Alley that I don't have a clue. Croydon's not that far away but it certainly isn't central London!"
"In that case I think Poppy will have to be the 'hostess with the mostest'," Minerva quipped.
Poppy shrugged, smiling at their friendly teasing. "I have been thinking of a few ideas, I knew that none of you would know the Muggle city very well. The local cinema usually shows an animated film every week during the summer so that could be good fun."
Ro was instantly excited, thinking of all the films Lyall had told her about seeing while he was in London for the holidays as she said "Ooh, I've been wanting to see one of those for ages!"
"As long as it's not a horror film. I can't stand anything scary," Millicent said, frowning as she shuddered slightly.
"Says she who nearly gave Poppy a heart attack in the Hospital Wing last weekend!" Septima pointed out, elbowing Millicent in the arm who grinned impishly at Poppy as they all laughed.
They ended up seeing several films over their time in London, as Ro was keen to go as many times as possible once she worked out that a ticket cost about the same as a pint of Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. Poppy's birthday at the end of July found them all back in their dress robes as Poppy's parents treated them to a musical to the Drury Lane theatre. Poppy and Millicent had easily been the most excited of all of them, Ro remembering how the two of them had performed in the disastrous Pantomime back in their first year, but everyone was in high spirits as they boarded the Underground again for the trip to Coven Garden. They were almost late for the show due to another interesting train ride, with Ro managing to get herself and Millicent completely lost underneath Kings Cross as the journey required them to change there from one line to another.
Between the frustration of not knowing where she was and feeling like an idiot back in the gold skirt she'd hoped to have seen the last of after the Yule Ball, Ro couldn't help but frown as she looked around hopelessly. "Who knew the bloody Underground could be so complicated," she grumbled, trying without luck to remember which line Poppy had said they'd be transferring onto.
"Well we can rule out the Metropolitan line because that's where we came from," Millicent thought aloud, always the voice of common sense. "So it's between the Northern line and the Piccadilly line. A fifty-fifty chance – you'd think we'd be able to guess that much."
Ro nodded, biting her lip as she looked between the arrows that pointed to the tunnels branching from where they were stood. Left or right. Black or navy blue. "Here, let's flip a coin," she suggested, fishing around in her coat pocket for any loose change.
She didn't get a chance to before Poppy suddenly appeared from the Piccadilly line tunnel, followed by Minerva, Irma, and Septima who'd been smart enough to stick with her and not assume they knew their way round by then. "Oh thank goodness!" she sighed in relief, running forwards to grab Ro's hand and drag her towards the correct platform.
With the potential disaster of Ro and Millicent lost on the Underground network avoided, they managed to get to the theatre and into their balcony seats just before the lights dimmed. Ro found herself enjoying the show more than she'd expected to, but more than once she'd been distracted by the ghost she could see watching the show from the royal box. Upon asking Poppy about it in the interval she gave Ro a brief run-down of the Theatre Royal's haunted history, and the ghostly young actor looked pleasantly surprised to see the six girls waving at him on their way out. But what made Ro smile more than the actual performance in was listening to Poppy singing badly to the opening song as they walked home from the Underground station in the dark.
The summer continued with the same happy atmosphere as July turned into August. Ro and Poppy had both resolved to keep a close eye on Minerva, who always seemed her upbeat self during the day but would always retreat into herself at the end of each day as night approached. On more than one occasion they had all been jolted awake by Minerva screaming in her sleep, reliving the third task through vivid nightmares, and every time it resulted in all six of them piling into Poppy's room once she was awake and calmed down so that she didn't feel frightened to fall asleep again. But even on the quiet nights Ro would sometimes wake to hear her tossing and turning restlessly.
One of those times was the night after Larry's birthday in early August, when Minerva had left them for the day to spend it with the Spencer-Moon family to celebrate Larry coming of age. The giddy smile she'd worn when Larry walked her back to the Pomfrey's front door had remained on her face all evening, so Ro was surprised to see a tabby cat perched on the windowsill when she sat up for a glass of water.
"Hey," she whispered into the dark, conscious of Poppy asleep behind her, and Minerva looked over at her. "I can hear you thinking from up here. You alright?"
The cat gave a lifeless shrug before Minerva switched back into her human self. "I can't decide if I am or not," she mumbled back.
It was such a Minerva-like response that Ro had to smirk, before she carefully pushed the covers back and slipped down onto Minerva's mattress. "Come sit," she said, patting the duvet beside her. "You want to talk about it? I know I'm not as good with words as Poppy but you can still talk at me for a bit if you want."
"You do fine," Minerva said softly to Ro, sitting down as she let out a quiet sigh. "It's silly, I know it is. But I keep feeling so guilty all the time. I'm trying to move forwards because I don't want to feel like this forever, but all the time I'm doing that I'm thinking what right do I have to be happy when they never will be again? Svetlana's friends will never get to go out on the town with her. Ghislaine will never get to kiss her boyfriend again. I know I should make the most of doing things like this because if it proved anything it's that we never know how much time we've got left. But it just feels wrong that I can move on when they can't."
Ro hummed quietly. "I don't think it's silly," she started, finding Minerva's hand in the dark and gripping it tightly. It was as much for her comfort as it was for Minerva's, as thinking of the 'what-ifs' still scared her more than she'd admitted to anyone but Poppy. "Maybe don't think like you're doing things that they can't do, but you're doing them because they can't do them. Live your life because Svetlana and Reynaud don't get that choice. Let them live on through you."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed herself then, thinking once again through the advice she'd been given after her mother's death and trying to work out the best way to say it. "I got told too many times after what happened that mum's never really gone while we remember her. And obviously that's dragon crap, but if you think about living your life because they can't, not despite it, then you don't feel as bad. When you're playing Quidditch imagine Svetlana flying with you and grinning that beautiful head of hers off. And snog that man of yours hard enough to make up for Reynaud not getting to – maybe don't imagine him doing that one with you. But just live hard enough for all three of you."
Minerva was quiet for a minute after Ro had finished. "Yeah," she said eventually, shuffling closer to rest her head on Ro's shoulder and wrap her arms around Ro's middle. In a much quieter tone she asked "Why did I get to live? What did I do that they didn't?
"No-one can answer that one," Ro said, stroking Minerva's hair as she gave a sad sniffle from somewhere around Ro's collarbone.
"Can you stay down here tonight?" Minerva asked, almost inaudible as if she was scared to ask. And Ro knew her well enough to know that that was probably the case, not due to them not being close enough friends but just Minerva's pride meaning she hardly ever asked anyone for personal help.
Ro nodded, pulling Minerva along with her as she crawled under the duvet. "Course I can. Pops can cope with waking up alone for once this holiday," she said, and was rewarded with a tiny smile.
From that night on Ro made a point to check in with Minerva whenever they'd had a particularly exciting day. But everyone's smiles seemed to get less frequent as they reached the middle of August, when everyone except Ro left for their own homes in preparation for OWL results being released. Mr Pomfrey took Millicent to a station in south London so that she could catch a Muggle train to Croydon, whereas Irma and Septima took the Knight Bus together to get home and Minerva's mother apparated to the Leaky Cauldron to pick her up. It was a sad goodbye after a wonderful summer together, even though there were less than two weeks left before they would be back at Kings Cross to catch the Hogwarts Express, and they all promised to let each other know how their OWLs had gone.
Ro was the only one staying with Poppy for the last two weeks, but Erika and Kurtis had arranged an afternoon off work to take them both out for lunch on the day that results came out. That morning had them both sat in nervous silence at the breakfast table, jumping at every unexpected noise, until an insistent tapping sound announced the arrival of two Hogwarts owls at the window.
"Quick, let them in!" Ro almost shouted, jumping to her feet so quickly that she almost knocked her chair over backwards. Poppy's hands were shaking so hard that she fumbled with the window lock; Ro had to resist the urge to push her out of the way and open the window herself. After several seconds the owls were in the kitchen, depositing a large brown envelope in each of their hands before taking off again.
Despite her urgency the second before, Ro almost felt too scared to open her results now that she had the envelope in her hands. The sound of Poppy beginning to pick at the seal of her own envelope eventually pushed Ro into tearing the flap off of her own, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she dared look at the contents.
She barely registered the Outstanding in Defence Against the Dark Arts near the top list; her eyes were only searching for the Transfiguration mark. There was a brief moment of terror where she crossed her lines and got confused with her Acceptable in potions, before she grabbed a stray pencil and lined up the subject name with the grade which finally confirmed it. She'd managed to get an Exceeds Expectations in Transfiguration. She could carry it on for NEWT level and all her work had paid off.
After scrutinising the rest of her results – she'd come out with A's in Potions, Muggle Studies, and History of Magic as expected, and except the O in DADA everything else had been an E – Ro looked over the top of her results sheet to where Poppy was still stood in silence. Ro panicked for a moment at the sight of tears in her eyes, until she looked over at Ro with a watery smile. "Six O's and four E's," was all she squeaked out before bursting into tears.
Grinning proudly, Ro abandoned her own sheet on the table as she stood on tiptoes to throw her arms around Poppy's neck. "I'm so proud of you," she said, rubbing Poppy's back as she trembled in Ro's arms.
"Thank you," Poppy breathed shakily, still clinging onto Ro as if her life depended on it. "Did you do ok?"
Ro nodded at the question, her face still split with a beaming smile. "Yeah, I did alright," she said, Poppy's ream of O's not taking away from the fact that Ro had achieved everything she'd hoped to.
A gentle knock on the kitchen door made them break apart, looking over to see Poppy's parents standing in the doorway. "Are we allowed to come in yet?" Mr Pomfrey asked, holding out his arms as Poppy ran over to hug him tightly.
Ro watched Poppy and her parents celebrating with her arms crossed and the ghost of a smile on her face. In that moment she couldn't help but wonder what her own mother would have thought of her results, since she was in no way the academic type like the rest of her siblings were. The familiar stab of grief ached in her as she imagined her mother hugging her tightly, telling her how proud she was of her, taking all of them out for celebratory tea just like she'd done whenever her siblings came home with good OWL or NEWT results. But then there was Poppy hugging her again, and as usual the girl in her arms never failed to remind Ro that things were still alright.
Kurtis and Erika met them in the Leaky Cauldron before taking them to a cosy little café in Muggle London, where Ro decided that she had earned the biggest pastry there was to offer. After her brother and sister had to return to the Ministry she and Poppy took a walk along the River Thames, then it was back on the Underground to Poppy's house where they had it to themselves for a few hours before her parents would get home from work. But they'd hardly been home for an hour when the amazing day took a very sharp turn for the worst.
Ro was in the kitchen doing the washing up from breakfast when it happened, while Poppy was in her bedroom on the phone to her grandparents to tell them a Muggle-fied version of her good OWL results. A sudden banging on the front door cut through the peaceful quiet and she made her way over to answer it, muttering a quiet "Alright I'm coming," under her breath as the sound only grew more frantic.
Her irritation vanished when she opened the door to find Irma on the doorstep with a carpet bag at her feet, her head bowed and messy hair falling over one side of her face. "I didn't know where else to go," she said in a shaky exhale, sounding on the verge of tears.
It wasn't hard for Ro to guess what had probably happened; Irma's decision to deliberately fail Arithmancy hadn't gone down well in the Vector household. But it only was when Irma lifted her head to look Ro in the eye that she took a step backwards in shock. There was a straight cut across the bridge of her nose as if her head had been slammed into a table, with dried blood caking the wound as well as her upper lip. A black eye was forming rapidly, and the unmistakable shape of a hand was imprinted into the bruise on her cheek.
"Merlin's arse," she said, and Irma's resolve finally cracked as her shoulders caved inwards and her bloodied face crumpled into a sob. That was what pulled Ro out of her shock, adrenaline taking over to stop herself from crying at the sight of her friend or her blood boiling at the thought of the man who had caused it. "We've got you, you'll be alright," she started, shepherding Irma into the house before hollering "POPPY! I NEED YOU NOW!"
Barely a second later there were footsteps thumping down the stairs and Poppy appeared in front of them. Like with Ro there was a moment after she saw Irma's face where her hands flew to her mouth in shock as she whispered Irma's name, before visibly pulling herself together. "Come and sit down," she said, rushing forwards to take Irma's hand.
Irma's visible recoil made Ro's chest clench, the feeling mirrored on Poppy's face when they locked eyes. "Sorry," Irma whispered, hesitating a moment longer before putting her hand in the one Poppy still had outstretched.
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault," Poppy soothed her, gently guiding her into the kitchen as Ro pulled out a chair for her to sit on. Irma sat heavily, her head bowed again as Poppy bustled around the kitchen to gather supplies from all over.
Feeling at loss of how to help, Ro jumped up to sit on the table just next to Irma's chair. "How did you get here?" she asked after a moment, wanting to piece together what had happened and figuring that was an easier area to start with.
"Floo'd to Kings Cross then used the Underground," Irma replied, her voice no louder than a whisper. "Didn't want anyone to talk to me on the Knight Bus. And you can't follow someone through the Floo network."
Ro nodded. She understood her reasons though they made her wonder just how long Irma had been trapped at her father's house, planning how to escape before she'd made it to London.
Poppy hurried over then, holding a damp cloth which she used to gently clean the blood away from Irma's nose and mouth. "This would be a lot easier with magic but nevermind," she muttered under her breath, murmuring quiet apologies whenever Irma winced beneath her touch. Once Irma's face was clean she said a quick "Wait there," before she ran out of the room, presumably to fetch the few magical supplies she owned from her bedroom.
Silence fell again, as Ro attempted to string together questions in her head that wouldn't make Irma clam up even further. But it turned out she didn't need to worry, as after a minute Irma suddenly turned to her and started to speak all in a rush. "It was my father. I got a T in Arithmancy and he was furious. He's been angry at me before but it's never been this bad, I promise he's never hurt anyone before."
Any attempts to keep herself calm failed then. "That bastard," Ro snarled, sliding off the table to pace round the kitchen in her agitation. The glass she'd abandoned by the sink cracked neatly in two as she passed it but she only clenched her fists in an attempt to keep her accidental spikes of magic under control, instead channelling it into the swear words she spat out as she pictured Irma's injuries and imagined what he must have done to her.
"Ro!" Poppy's shout caught her attention, and Ro turned to see her sat beside Irma who was cowering in her chair. "I know you're angry but sit down, you're scaring her."
Guilt replaced fury as Ro's chest deflated, running a hand through her hair and closing her eyes for a second. "Sorry," she said, waiting for Irma's accepting nod before she returned to her place on the table.
Poppy had the tin of bruise paste she kept handy for Quidditch accidents and was gently applying it onto the red and purple splotches around Irma's eye and on her cheek. "They should fade in a few days," she said, going back to the Muggle supplies she'd found from raiding the kitchen cupboards and returning with a box of plasters. Ro watched silently as she dabbed a tiny amount of dittany potion onto a white plaster and stuck it carefully over the cut on Irma's nose. "I think that's the best I can do without breaking the underage magic restrictions. Sorry it's not more," she apologised, squeezing Irma's hand and looking relieved when she didn't pull away.
"It's less than a month 'til I'm seventeen. I could just-"
"No," Irma said, interrupting Ro's words with a pleading expression. "Don't get in trouble because of me. I'm not worth it."
Ro frowned at that, easily recognising the return of Irma's self-depreciation which tended to show itself during times of high tension. "You absolutely are, but I won't if you don't want me to," she said, giving Irma a sad smile.
They were all quiet for a moment, lost deep in their own thoughts, before something occurred to her and she looked up from where she'd been twisting her hands in her lap. "Septima. What about her?" she asked urgently, praying to fate that her other friend wasn't hurt too.
Irma shrugged, quickly wiping a hand beneath her good eye. "She got an O. He took her out for lunch and left me with mother before he came back and did… did this," she explained haltering, motioning unnecessarily to the right side of her face. "I don't think she knew. I didn't scream, he often shouts. She caught me in the fireplace before I left and she argued with me. Said I was overreacting and would make it worse by leaving. I didn't show her what he'd done, I didn't want to, I just had to go. I had to go."
No sooner had she finished did she break down into tears, clinging to Poppy like a lifeline when she swept in and held her tightly. "It doesn't matter," Poppy comforted her in a hushed voice. "You can stay here as long as you need to, we'll work everything out. You don't have to worry anymore."
The warm glow of afternoon sun they were bathed in through the kitchen window seemed almost mocking as Ro remained on the table, listening to Poppy's quiet comforts and Irma's distraught sobs. With a heavy sigh she leaned forwards to bury her head in her hands, thinking of Septima and Irma and what it would mean for her friends now.
Author's Note:
No your eyes are not deceiving you, this is another chapter less than a week after the previous one. Don't get used to it xD Usually I start the next chapter after posting the previous one but I'll get a scene or two in before the muse runs out, but this time I just rolled my way non-stop through all 7000 words. I think that's also the power of procrastinating off exam revision... oops. And FINALLY FIFTH YEAR IS OVER AFTER APPROXIMATELY A MILLION YEARS! Ughhh I've loved it but I'm looking forward to relative normalcy in sixth year after all the chaos of the Tournament.
Oh boy. The end of this chapter. I think you all knew something like this was coming but not to this extent. As Ro is imagining here marks the start of the issues between the twins that we've been building up to for a good long time now. I'm very much looking forward to writing it, but hurting Irma is just making me sad. Jumping back to the earlier events, I love that last scene in the hospital wing so much. Professor Merrythought is the absolute best. And this marks the exit of Madame Crickerley for the time being but I'm too attached to not see her again for the rest of this so I'm sure she'll be back. And I don't even know Nancy and Ernest's relationship status either so I'm just rolling with it! Writing Minerva's grief has been super interesting, it's great to explore this side of her that we really haven't seen before. Plus all the brilliant interactions she's had with the others as a result of it, Ro's midnight chat was a particular favourite and I love this delicate side of our usually rowdy Ro.
Writing the girls in London was so much fun, and I had to search the internet for a 1940s tube map to work out what lines did and didn't exist back in 1947. The Underground antics were particularly fun because I could draw on own experiences: Ro falling over was exactly what happened to me the first time I rode the Underground, and I did get lost underneath Kings Cross with a friend on our first week of uni trying to remember which line we were supposed to be changing to! Anyone who hasn't been to the city might have found that section confusing but as a Londoner myself I just had to take it and run with it!
No promises about the next chapter, but it'll kick off sixth year with a continuation of all the emotions we've got going on at the moment! And as a side note, thank you for all the kind words ref uni and I hope you're all doing well.
Until next time :)