Officially on holiday! Well, I say holiday... I actually have tens of thousands of deadlines approaching, not to mention work and volunteering too! But I promise I'll try to keep up with the regular updates! :) Also a Merry (early) Christmas to all of you who celebrate it! And a Happy New Year too! Hopefully, 2021 will be better than 2020.

25 December 1992

Minerva wiped her hands on her apron then walked into the living room. The Christmas tree sat decorated by the window; the slight drop of its branches concealed expertly by the sheer amount of tinsel and baubles her nieces and nephews had managed to attach to it. Wrapping paper was strewn on the carpeted floor and small toy cars and new books were stacked in messy piles in front of the fireplace.

Far from being displeased, however, Minerva felt oddly at peace with the carnage that stood before her in the usually tidy and organised living room. For one, it was something she had expected when it had been decided by the family that Christmas that year would be spent in the cottage. And for another, Minerva had had a wonderful Christmas Day, and the slight disorder would no doubt be resolved with a few simple swishes of her wand.

Sighing peacefully, Minerva crouched down and picked up a few scattered toys and Christmas presents from the floor. She then straightened and placed them in a semi-neat pile on her table when suddenly she felt two arms come from behind her and wrap around her waist. She smiled and looked up into Elphinstone's kind blue eyes.

"Well, the kitchen is a wreck," he stated as Minerva turned to face him properly; his arms still wrapped around her.

"The living room is not in its prime either," she replied. "But nothing we can't fix."

"Certainly not." He smiled and kissed her gently on the lips. "Who knew children could be so messy?"

"I think everyone," she replied, smiling too as he kissed her again. "Well, anyone with common sense."

He chuckled, and Minerva smiled in return.

"Shall we go up?" he asked. "No point putting these toys away the sprogs will have them out at crack of dawn to play with anyway."

Minerva raised her eyebrow as they linked arms and slowly began to make their way to their bedroom. "Sprogs?" she said.

"You know, kidlets," he explained with a shrug and picked up a red and white striped packet. He slipped a green sweet from it and popped it into his mouth. "Hm."

"Right before bed, Finn," Minerva sighed, shaking her head but nevertheless amused. She sensed rather than saw Elphinstone smile behind her too, and his hand came to meet hers and gave it a small squeeze. She smiled and felt herself relax even more. "I thought we could go to Edinburgh earlier tomorrow for a walk," she commented as they reached their bathroom and began to get ready for bed.

"Sounds lovely."

"Before going to the botanical exhibition," she added, tying her hair delicately into a plait and accepting the small blue ribbon Finn was passing to her. The exhibition had been a gift from her to him; not that she was very interested in plants necessarily, but his newfound love for muggle plants had made her think he would enjoy the trip. That, and the fact that Pomona had been raving about it for weeks since she had been and had further been convinced Elphinstone would enjoy it too.

"Wonderful." He smiled, and Minerva pecked him on the cheek as she walked out of the bathroom, briefly checked on the children before making her way to her and Elphisntone's bedroom.

"Merry Christmas, Minerva," he said as he slipped into bed.

Minerva lay down next to him and sighed comfortably as he put his arm across her waist. "Merry Christmas, Elphinstone."

He smiled, and Minerva closed her eyes. However, as she did so a tapping noise that sounded as though it was coming from somewhere nearby made her open them again. The noise continued to grow louder and louder until...

Minerva's eyes suddenly flew apart, and she realised that Elphinstone was not beside her and that she was not in her small cottage in Hogsmeade. The knocking that she had heard in her dream was actually coming from outside her quarters. Minerva closed her eyes again for a moment and took a deep shaky breath - the dream had been so vivid and realistic that, for a moment, she had forgotten that Elphinstone was no longer with her.

"Minerva, are you there?"

Minerva rubbed her chest as her heart slowly went back to its normal rate, then stood up. It appeared she had dozed off in front of the fire while she had been reading a book. She picked up the novel, closed it, and placed it on the coffee table before then going to the door.

As she walked through her small quarters, she passed her carpetbag that she had not yet unpacked since she had returned from her brother's house an hour ago; it felt like ages ago now. The thought of doing anything else at all that evening seemed quite beyond her, yet she had a sense her day was not going to end just yet.

"Poppy," she said, her eyebrows rising as she opened the door came face to face with the mediwitch. The matron was in her nightgown with a thin burgundy dressing gown wrapped over her shoulders. Instantly Minerva's stomach dropped. "Has there been another..."

"No, no," Poppy said quickly. "But there has been a bit of an incident involving one of your Gryffindors," she continued, slowing down as she noticed Minerva's tired expression and then the still packed carpetbag by the door. She winced. "Have you just got back?"

"Not really," Minerva sighed. However, she rubbed the corner of her eye - she really was very tired. "I'm assuming you are summoning me to the Hospital Wing?"

"Regrettably," Poppy apologised, patting Minerva's arm sympathetically. "Doesn't everyone wish for this on Christmas Day?"

"Every year," she agreed and Poppy smiled slightly as they began to walk down the corridors to the Hospital Wing. "Please tell me this incident did not involve Fred or Geroge Weasley? Or Lee Jordan for that matter."

"The incident did not involve any of those boys," Poppy assured her. "But it did involve a Weasley and Mr Potter and a certain Miss Granger."

"All three?"

"Just Granger, but the two boys came to drop her off," Poppy explained, as they approached the Hospital Wing. Her Patronus, which had been supervising the Wing during her absence, disappeared as soon as Minerva and Poppy entered. "She's over in the last bed," Poppy continued quietly, pointing vaguely at a small bed at the end of the ward.

"What happened to her?"

"She's managed to turn herself into a cat."

Minerva's attention snapped back to Poppy whose eyebrows were slightly furrowed. "Pardon?"

"Not completely, just half, really," Poppy continued. "She had some fur, whiskers, yellow eyes, and a tail. And the poor dear has started to cough up furballs."

Poppy grimaced as they paused in front of Hermione Granger's bed. The girl was curled up under the covers with a slight frown creasing her forehead as she slept.

"I suspect it was some form of Transfiguration spell," commented Poppy. "The three were very cagey about how this happened..."

"It is reversible, isn't it?"

"I am quite sure it is," said Poppy confidently. "We've managed to get some of the fur coverage down. And her eyes are brown again which is a good sign. But... Well, I was worried it might have been an animagus spell. Sometimes if they go wrong the damage is irreversible. When I was training at St Mungo's I met a man who had turned the bottom half of his body into a frog, poor dear. We were never able to change him back again."

The mediwitch sighed and looked away from the small girl in the bed and then at Minerva.

"As I said, I am sure she will be back to normal very soon. But it might be worth having a word with her too," she added. "She didn't seem pleased when I told her I would have to tell you, a bit embarrassed I expect. But if it was that particular transfiguration spell gone wrong then she will need some guidance."

Minerva shook her head. "I would not teach any second year the animagus spell, Poppy, no matter how talented the student. It requires a great deal of knowledge, application and hard work. Albus only agreed to teach me when I reached my fourth year and even Armando was still slightly wary then. I understood why when I started - the transfiguration knowledge you need is quite extensive."

"Well, you are the best person to tell her that, dear," Poppy replied. "But I do think she needs to be told. She is a very talented student there is no doubt about that, but sometimes those are the ones we must keep our eyes on the most. They tend to push themselves a little too hard."

"Hm," Minerva agreed, before sighing and then rubbing her eyes. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Miss Granger will be perfectly fine, dear. I just thought I ought to let you know of the situation seeing as you are her Head of House."

Minerva nodded. "Thank you, Poppy."

The mediwitch smiled. "You look like you could do with something to eat or drink. I have some tea in my office and a few mince pies from dinner. Would you care to join me?"

Minerva thought back to her dark, empty quarters back in the Transfiguration corridor. She was tired of course, but the added company for an hour did not seem like such a bad thing - in fact, it was something she thought would do her some good. Finally, she allowed herself a smile. "That sounds lovely," she said at last.

Poppy beamed; secretly she was glad for the company too. After all, although she loved her job, spending Christmas Day in a ward with no other adults to speak to could get quite tiresome sometimes. However, like Minerva who was also keeping something back, Poppy did not say any of those things. Instead, she smiled too and said, "I'll get the water boiling." She flicked her wand so that somewhere not too far a cauldron moved gracefully to the fire and filled itself with water.

Minerva feeling much more at ease now, breathed out as both she and Poppy walked to the end of the ward where the small quaint office was tucked neatly away.