Poppy couldn't hide her surprise – she dropped her glass, which clattered to the table, sending water across it.

She knew that Percy had been in the doghouse over what had happened with Mr Crouch Snr - the unofficial but true story (that Ron had explained to them all over dinner a few nights previously despite his mother's indignance that Ginny was too young to hear all of it) was that the poor government official had been Imperiused by Voldemort himself and then murdered by his own son who was impersonating Mad-Eye Moody all year.

It had been a hard one to swallow, and a story which Percy refuted. In fact, he'd walked out of the kitchen minutes into the tale and avoided his siblings since.

When Poppy had found out who she'd been spending time with for her Defence classes and private lessons she'd almost thrown up. She'd read about the Lestrange-Crouch case in her research of the First Wizarding War. It had been one of the last cases she'd read about before her dreams had been overrun with the now recurring nightmare of a Dark Mark sitting high above her old home.

The official Ministry (but untrue) version events that Percy continued to believe was that Barty Crouch Senior had had a mental break and since gone missing. His son, who had been found dressed in Mad-Eye Moody's clothes, had been given the Dementor's Kiss under orders by the Minister for Magic himself as he was found to be deranged.

Percy, who it seemed had been 'running the department' via Crouch's written instructions for half the year, had been the subject of the quickest inquiry the ministry had ever conducted to ascertain how he'd come to ignore his manager's absence for so long.

He'd been thoroughly embarrassed by it all, and more than a little bit stressed in the past few days as a consequence. Poppy had expected that one day he'd just come home sacked. Not come back with a promotion. She wondered what had changed.

"Poppy?" Percy asked, snapping her out of her reverie. At her bewildered expression, he pointed at the water which was edging across the table towards an amused Fred.

Poppy waved her wand to clear the liquid and apologised hurriedly, blaming it on a loss of grip.

"Do you want to say that again, Percy?" asked Mrs Weasley. "Didn't quite catch it over the…" She trailed off and looked pointedly at Poppy, who quickly made a display of rubbing her (completely healed) arm which had been injured in her fall at the end of the school year.

Not that the Weasleys noticed - once Percy repeated his news, they seemed to be shocked into silence broken only by the sound of Charlie's chair which thumped back down to the floor.

The outlier – Mrs Weasley – let out a happy noise and moved forwards with her hands outstretched to congratulate Percy with a kiss on the cheek and a strong hug.

This gave the rest of the room time to recover. Fred seemed to jolt back into action first. "Why?" he asked loudly. "Did the inquiry conclude you haven't messed up enough?"

"They're probably hoping it'll all happen again and they'll be shot of another department head," George said with a smirk.

Percy's ears went a little pink and he pushed his glasses up his nose. "On the contrary, as of lunchtime today, I was completely cleared of all counts of wrongdoing. The inquiry considered the facts and agreed that no one could have known that Mr Crouch was mentally unstable, and-"

Poppy huffed out an involuntary breath and whispered to Ginny, "Crouch was being controlled by Voldemort. I don't think that's quite the same as being mentally unstable, do you?"

The sides of Ginny's mouth twitched up, but she still winced slightly when Poppy said Voldemort's name.

"-in any case," Percy said, glaring at George and Fred, "Mr Fudge seems to think that I show promise, and that I would be an invaluable member of staff. I'm fact…" He paused and turned to his father, puffing out his chest, "after careful consideration and due to my exemplary work over the past six months, I've been appointed Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic."

Poppy turned to look at Mr Weasley, gauging his expression. She swallowed thickly. He didn't seem happy.

The red-headed patriarch sat forwards in his chair and sighed. He said quietly, "Percy, maybe we should talk about this in the living room." Poppy's eyes darted to the faces of the other Weasley children.

She'd not heard this tone from Mr Weasley before and, after a quick scan of the room, decided that her first impression was correct - this was his authoritative voice. Coupled with his serious expression, she assumed he only brought it out for moments when the children had definitely crossed a line.

Percy's face dropped. "Why?"

"Because we have a guest, and I would rather have this discussion in private," Mr Weasley replied.

"Discussion?"

"Don't be dense, Perce," Fred said with a scoff, "you can write two thousand pages on cauldron bottoms but this eludes you? You can't take the job."

"Fred."

Mr Weasley said Fred's name with such authority that Fred immediately closed his mouth and sat back in his chair.

Mrs Weasley stood next to Percy, blinking rapidly, her mouth slightly open.

After the shock had worn off, and Percy began to understand properly his father's anger, Percy said, "I'm taking the job, there's no discussion to be had." He glanced at Poppy for a moment before he turned back to his father. "This is an incredible opportunity for my career and-"

"Percy, you cannot take that job," Mr Weasley replied slowly, taking off his horn-rimmed glasses. He began to wipe them clean with a cloth napkin.

"What?" Percy scoffed.

"Arthur," Mrs Weasley said quietly. "We can talk about this later."

Mr Weasley shook his head and addressed Percy. "Fudge only wants you because he believes that I have a connection with-"

"My appointment has nothing to do with you. Mr Fudge would like me on his staff because I am a hard worker," Percy insisted, his face turning red now. "And in any case, I've already said yes."

"Well you'll have to regretfully remove your name from-"

"I will do no such thing!" Percy said indignantly. "I have career aspirations, unlike-"

At the same time, Bill and Charlie let out a cautionary, "Percy, don't," and Percy stopped speaking, his face turning slightly purple at the effort of biting his tongue.

"Living room. Now," Mr Weasley said, his face turning red as he stood and slipped his glasses back on.

Mrs Weasley gasped when Percy stormed towards the living room and slammed the door open so that it swung into the wall with a bang.

"I'm coming too, Arthur," she said, hurrying into the room in front of her husband. The door shut with a bang behind Mr Weasley.

"Right, time for a little help…" George said, pulling something long and flesh-coloured out of his pocket.

"I thought mum confiscated that," Ginny said, watching her brother who handed one end to Fred and half-ran to the living room door.

"I'm insulted that you thought we only made one," Fred asked with a confident wink.

George fed one part under the door and Fred held the other end up to the middle of the table. Poppy recognised it vaguely as the odd rope that the twins had been unfurling at random moments during the past few days, pointing it at Charlie and herself when they were sat together in the garden.

Only, now that she was closer, she realised it wasn't one piece of rope, as Fred began to split his end into multiple streams which he handed to his siblings in turn.

Charlie and Poppy seemed to be the only two who didn't know what to do, as they held their strings and watched the Weasley children feed the light pink strings into their ears. Poppy wrinkled her nose and eyed up the cord, while Charlie followed his siblings without question. His eyebrows raised he sent Fred and George an impressed look and a thumbs up.

Noticing that Poppy hadn't followed suit, George pointed to his ear and said, "Just pop it in."

Poppy wrinkled her nose and tentatively raised the end of the lead towards her ear. Once it was at her earlobe it seemed to take over and slid into her ear canal.

The feeling made Poppy want to throw up at first but then suddenly, as if they were standing in the middle of the kitchen still, the three voices of Percy and his parents rang out.

Poppy gasped but hid the noise behind her hand. She turned to Ginny who had the decency to look a little apologetic. This confirmed that Fred, George and Ginny at the very least had been attempting to listen in on Charlie and Poppy's private conversations.

Poppy made a mental note to kill Fred and George later for eavesdropping, and then resurrect them so that she could buy a few of the ropes - they could come in handy.

"No!" Percy cried suddenly, grabbing Poppy's attention. "He wants me because he sees my talent and-"

"Really Percy? Someone with your record working as a Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic? It's unheard of," Mr Weasley snapped.

"My record?" asked Percy. "I have proven that I can run an entire department on my own!"

"You faced an inquiry in your first year at the Ministry!" Mr Weasley replied.

"You've faced two in the past few years!" Percy retorted angrily.

"We shouldn't be listening," Poppy hissed at Ginny, who waved her off and leant closer, as if that would make the already perfect sound any clearer.

Poppy pursed her lips but didn't leave the room either. She felt awful for staying, but she couldn't help herself. This was the train wreck of a conversation and she needed a dissertation to take her mind off her coming conversation with Charlie.

"As if you haven't faced worse! At least I'm not a laughing stock!" Percy said.

Mrs Weasley's gasp filled the room via the fake ear, and was echoed by the rest of the Weasleys, who looked horrified at Percy's words. Poppy placed her hand over her mouth and stared down at the table, listening in horror.

"Apologise at once, Percy. You do not talk to your father like that," Mrs Weasley shouted.

"It's alright, Molly," Mr Weasley replied in a now steady voice which sent shivers through the Weasley children. "It's about time we spoke like adults. Percy, you will tell Fudge that you're not taking that job, and that's the last of it."

"Why?" Percy asked.

Mr Weasley sighed. "Why do you think you've been promoted? Think properly, Percy. The timing couldn't be better, could it? Fudge suspects that I'm working with Dumbledore, and he'll use you to spy on this family. You might think he's asking how your weekend is, but he'll really be asking if you saw your former Headmaster. And what are you planning to do? Lie?"

"No, of course not!" Percy cried.

"Then you can't take the job," Mr Weasley insisted, his voice rising slightly. "Because if you tell the truth, then you'll be revealing more than you know to the wrong people."

Percy's laugh was cold and bitter, and his voice raised with every angry word he spoke next. "The wrong people?! You're demented! You really expect me to believe that Mr Fudge would care about you enough to care how your weekend was? A wizard who's had how many inquiries? Messed up how many times? Who's been the laughing stock of the Ministry? Do you know how long I spent trying to get into people's good books when I joined? How long I spent trying to make up for your reputation!?

"'Oh, there goes Weasley. Bet he's just like his father.' Well guess what?" he shouted, "I'm not. I am so much more than you are or will ever be. And I have proved that to the Minister for Magic himself, and he has seen fit to promote me to a credible rank. He's showing the whole Ministry that he believes in me and my work! He can see that I've got ambition! Unlike you."

Poppy blinked rapidly and tried not to look up. Ginny and Bill on either side of her head stopped moving. She even thought they'd stopped breathing.

"What does that mean?" Mr Weasley roared.

"It means that there's a reason we've been scrounging around for so long," Percy said through his teeth, "and it isn't down to the number of us! Second-hand robes? Second-hand books? Look at Ron! He had to use Charlie's old wand until it broke and even then you couldn't replace it until you won that competition! He used spello-tape to keep it together! It was an absolute embarrassment! And I had to watch it all! We all did. But no matter what happened, I thought you were doing your best. In fact, I used to think you were admirable, following your passions! So imagine my surprise when I got to the Ministry and realised that the only person holding you back was you. You put us in this position!"

"You think that, do you?" Mr Weasley roared.

"Yes! And you know what else?"

"What else?" Mr Weasley shouted.

"I think you're a fool!" Percy shouted.

Poppy gasped again and looked around the room now. The Weasleys in the kitchen seemed shocked still, frozen as they listened, their faces stuck in expressions of horror, or anger, or confusion.

But still, Percy continued his tirade. "Anyone can see that Dumbledore's leading you all down the wrong path. He's crazy! Look what he let happen to Ginny! And now he's spouting all these lies about You-Know-Who returning all because he allowed a child to die on his watch. He's lost the plot and he's scrambling to keep himself credible!"

"Those lies you're talking about came straight from Harry's mouth! You-Know-Who is back!" Mr Weasley shouted.

Poppy ducked her head. She hated shouting like this. Hated arguments like this. They put her too much on edge and made her feel sick.

"The only proof we have is Harry's word, and quite frankly, that's not much!" Percy replied.

"I believe him!" roared Mr Weasley.

At the same time, drowning out her husband for the first time, Mrs Weasley scolded her son, "Percy! You've known him for years! Harry is not lying about this! What about that poor Diggory boy?"

"It was an accident!" Percy cried. "Those games were a mistake and that boy paid with his life! From the moment he went into the maze-"

Poppy blinked, her eyes filling with tears. She hunched her shoulders, ducked her head more, and pulled her arms in to try and reduce her profile. She wrenched the fleshy line out of her ear as Percy continued to talk about Cedric, and took deep, steeling breaths to calm herself.

She still couldn't quite come to terms with what had happened to Cedric, and it was affecting her more than she'd been able to admit.

Ron had been kind and told her the whole truth of the graveyard and Cedric's death just a few days previously – about Peter Pettigrew, about the killing curse, and about Voldemort's return.

He had been reluctant to break Harry's trust at first, but Dumbledore had written him a letter to ask him to explain in brief to Bill, Charlie and her, and so he had.

Poppy was grateful not only to Ron, but to Dumbledore also. This was something she'd needed to know. It had also helped her to understand how and why Sirius Black was trusted… How and why he was innocent of his charges.

When Ginny moved to lay a hand on her shoulder, Poppy dropped down to avoid the younger girl's touch and sat on her heels, resting her forehead against the side of the table.

It took a great effort, but soon the unshed tears disappeared and she stood again, keeping her arms hugged around herself for comfort. Avoiding the worried glances of the Weasleys, she picked up the flesh-coloured cord once more and placed it back into her ear.

Percy's choice greeted her. "-rse you believe everything Dumbledore's saying, because you're demented just like he is. It's just taken this long for people to understand that Harry is trouble and you're just angry that I can see it and you can't. You're going to go down with him and Dumbledore, and you know what? I'm not sticking around to see it happen!"

"I will ignore everything you've just said," said Mr Weasley slowly with barely contained anger, "because I know that you're angry. But if you take this job, you will be showing everyone-"

"Showing everyone that I'm not a traitor like you?" Percy retorted.

"How dare you!" Mr Weasley roared again. "You will not speak to me like this in my own house!"

Poppy realised then that they didn't need the ear thing to listen - they could hear it all now, the two men's shouts coming through the wall clearly.

"You're going along with this are you?" Percy asked, his voice lowering slightly. There was a squeak in reply, and Poppy knew it was from Mrs Weasley. "Right," he continued. "Well, I know where my loyalties lie and they're with the Ministry, not some crackpot like Dumbledore.

"And if you're both going to stay here and ruin your lives by following him and being traitors to the Ministry, then- then- then I will prove that I am nothing like you," Percy said, stumbling over his words slightly as if he wasn't completely sure what would come out next. "I may have your name, but I will not share your fate. I will spend every waking moment showing that I do not agree with you, and… and that I am no longer a part of this family!"

Three things happened at once.

Footsteps moved towards the living room door.

George yanked the flesh-coloured strands back, pulling them out of ears and quickly across the table and into his pocket.

All of the Weasley children and Poppy sat down in their seats.

The living room door opened to reveal Percy. He stood in the doorway panting from the effort of his shouting, his eyes wide and bloodshot behind his own horn-rimmed glasses. His expression faltered for a moment when he looked at his siblings in turn but then it hardened again when they glared back at him or refused to catch his eye, and he stormed past them and up the stairs.

Mrs Weasley let out a cry of anguish and practically ran up the stairs after her son, tears streaming down her face.

A bottle of Firewhisky zoomed out of the drinks cabinet in the kitchen and into the living room and then the door shut with a bang, sealing Mr Weasley inside.

The remaining Weasleys said nothing for a long moment. Then Bill stood, his chair scraping loudly on the floor. His hands tightened into fists at his side. He took a deep breath, and then sat down again.

Poppy watched Charlie's jaw clench and unclench as he glared straight out of the window.

Fred and George looked mutinous but remained silent.

Ginny let out a small squeak like Mrs Weasley's, and then rearranged her features to match the fury she felt inside.

Ron stared at the table in front of him, his expression showing his anger and betrayal.

Poppy wanted to leave. She desperately wanted to run away from it all and go and hide in a corner of a dark room, hoping that this was all a nightmare. But she couldn't move, not yet – she didn't want to draw attention to herself – she knew that she'd feel incredibly embarrassed if they noticed her during such a terrible moment for their family.

They stayed silent for minutes and then a door above them slammed open and Mrs Weasley's voice came floating down the stairs, rushing closer and closer, asking, pleading, for Percy to stop all of this.

They heard Percy say something, and when he appeared in the kitchen wearing a new set of green travelling robes, he was alone.

The older Weasley brothers stood, glaring at him, while Poppy, Ginny and Ron remained seated. Ron looked like he wanted to do or say something but he continued to sit, letting his older brothers take the lead.

Percy had his usual holier-than-thou expression on his face and for the first time in a while, Poppy wanted to punch him. But it wasn't her fight. So she remained sat, her face blank.

He walked around the table, placed his travelling bag at the back door and turned to the coat stand to remove his cloak.

There was a distant thump as a door closed above them, and then silence.

Poppy was more than a little surprised when Percy finished clasping his cloak around his neck and addressed her.

"Are you coming?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Poppy's eyes widened. "What? No!"

Percy frowned and adjusted his cloak.

"Poppy means that she'll be leaving next week," Charlie said. He rolled his shoulders back, and Poppy realised just how strong he looked compared to his taller and skinnier brother. "Her flat isn't ready yet."

"That's fine," Percy replied, still looking at Poppy and barely acknowledging his brother. "The Leaky Cauldron will have space. I will wait outside while you get your things." Then he turned and walked out of the back door, closing it loudly behind him.

Poppy stood, horror-struck, and turned to Charlie. Angry at the fact that he had taken it upon himself to answer for her, she forgot for a moment that they were surrounded by his family, and addressed him as she would if they were alone.

"I can't believe you! You know I would never leave this house like that. I would never go with Percy after what he said. And even if he hadn't said any of that, I don't want to leave Ginny right now. Not like this!"

Charlie ignored his siblings' murmurs of agreement.

"I know you don't want to," Charlie said with barely controlled emotion. "I don't want you to."

If Poppy hadn't been so angry she would have thought it was a mark of how serious this was, that the usually quiet and reserved-in-front-of-his-family Charlie was talking so frankly to her.

"If it were up to me you wouldn't be within ten feet of him right now," Charlie said, "but we have to think about this properly. Your dream is to be an Auror, and Dad said Fudge is already ousting everyone with ties to Dumbledore and the old Order of the Phoenix. Dad's suspected to be involved but they have no evidence so he's safe. But if Fudge thinks for one moment that you're on Dumbledore's side then you'll never get through the initial Auror pick.

"And even if you just decided randomly to drop your dream job, you can't forget that Dumbledore needs us all to lie low and not be found out. I'm sorry Poppy, I really don't want you to, but you have to do this. It's not about us anymore. We can't be selfish. You can't be selfish."

Poppy blinked. He was right. She felt her anger wash away, replaced with horror, loneliness, worry, and fear. "I-" How could she say that she'd thought she had more time with the Weasleys and to revel in safety she felt at the Burrow? "I-" Or that she thought she'd have more time to get her life together and get organised before she had to live a double life of Ministry/Order? And she didn't know where she was going to go now. "I-" Her job would start in the morning, but-

"Go, Poppy," Bill said, his expression softening as he addressed her. "It's okay. Charlie's right. You need to go. But you'd be moving out next week anyway. So you just have to get through this stint."

"But I don't-" she whispered, trying to explain that she didn't have anywhere else to go in the meantime. She didn't have her savings on her - Gringotts would be closed by now so she wouldn't have any money until the morning at least…

Poppy looked at Charlie. He held her gaze and for a moment it felt as though everyone else faded away, and it was just the two of them standing in the kitchen. She wanted to reach out to him, wanted to walk over and wrap her arms around his neck. And she knew that he wanted to hold her as well.

There was a bang from the living room and Poppy jumped along with Fred, George, Ginny and Ron. She looked to the closed door, her eyes wide. The spell was broken.

"I'll explain," Bill said, "or Charlie will. But the longer you stay here the longer Percy will suspect you're in it with us. At the moment he thinks you have no idea what's going on. Keep it that way."

"Go, Bounce," Charlie urged. She recognised the softness in his tone - it was the encouraging voice he used for the wounded dragons under his care.

Turning, Poppy ran upstairs and burst into Ginny's room. Most of her things were still rather neatly packed in her trunk, so she grabbed her clothes and clean washing which were piled around the small room.

She carefully extracted her other belongings from amongst Ginny's, and shoved them into her trunk.

She left the maroon jumper with a 'G' knitted into it which George had given her after the Quidditch World Cup last summer (and refused to take back as it was, "Too small now anyway,") on Ginny's bed. She knew Ginny would appreciate it - the youngest Weasley had a penchant for stealing her brother's jumpers to wear during her secret early morning flying practices.

Waving her wand, Poppy conjured a bouquet of poppies and placed them onto Ginny's pillow.

Then she levitated her trunk and bag and ran, stumbling, back down the stairs.

The Weasley children had moved by the time she returned to the kitchen. Their parents were still absent.

Fred and George stood with Ginny by the sink, Bill and Charlie spoke in hushed whispers by the table, and Ron stood between the two groups, staring at the floor, his eyes darting from side to side as if he was thinking intensely.

When she passed the youngest boy, she gently squeezed his shoulder and sent him a small smile.

At the back door Poppy reached for her jacket which was hanging on the coat rack. Before her fingers could close around the jean fabric, the metal arm shifted and shoved Charlie's dragonhide jacket towards her instead. She huffed and tried to take hers again, but the arm whacked her hand and shook Charlie's jacket at her again.

She heard a small chuckle and looked at Ron, who was watching the exchange with a small sad smile on his face.

"It's not funny," Poppy complained. "I can't take this," she said, looking at Charlie now, who was standing still, his jaw clenched, his eyes trained on her.

"It's not up to him," Bill explained. "It's sentient."

Poppy let out a noise of anguish and turned to the coat rack. "Percy knows that jacket is Charlie's. I can't take it or he'll think something's up."

"Tell him you won it this afternoon in a bet," George supplied. "Say you couldn't afford dragonhide before. I'm sure he'll lap it up," he added bitterly.

"It's expensive," Poppy muttered, though her fight was dwindling. She did want to take it.

"I'll get it back at our first Order meeting. Take it," Charlie said, as though sensing that her resolve was almost broken.

Poppy wiggled her nose and her bottom lip wobbled, but she finally took the jacket and shrugged it on, trying to ignore that it smelt like Charlie, or that the arms were slightly too long and baggy, making her feel safe and comforted while not overwhelming her physical senses.

She opened the back door and saw that Percy was standing by the small stone gate just yards away, with his back to The Burrow. She took a punt that he couldn't hear her and turned back to Ginny. "If it means anything I think he's wrong and I'm only going because Charlie's right, I have to. Please don't hate me."

Ginny nodded. "I know, and I don't." Poppy wanted to hug the smaller girl, but Ginny's eyes blazed and she nodded towards the door, urging Poppy on.

Without looking at Charlie or the others, Poppy turned and exited the house, closing the door softly behind her. The night's air, which should have been warm and thick at this time of summer now felt unnaturally cold and a nauseous feeling crept its way up from the pit of Poppy's stomach all the way to her throat.

Finally, after agonising moments, she reached Percy and gulped back the bile when he turned to her and sighed.

"I'm sorry if you overheard my disagreement with my father," Percy said importantly, "but it had to be said. Now, shall we go to London?" he asked, as if the argument had been nothing.

Poppy glanced over her shoulder at the back door. The window was empty - the Weasley children appeared to have moved somewhere else already.

It felt horrible, leaving like this.

Turning back to Percy, Poppy had a moment of realisation and groaned. "I don't have any money on me."

"That's alright," Percy said, "I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out."

Poppy hoped that she hid her grimace well. She wouldn't have taken money from him, or shared a room, but she was annoyed that he'd forced her to leave a place of safety, in the evening, and wasn't even going to offer to help her in any way.

"Well, I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron then," Percy said. And with that he turned on the spot and Disapparated with a pop.

Poppy took in a deep breath but before she could go anywhere, she was spinning. Not from Apparation, but from the hands on her waist which guided her around.

"Pop. Here," Charlie whispered, handing her a small pouch which jingled. "It's not much but-"

"I don't want this," Poppy said automatically, pushing the money back into his hand. Even now, she was too proud to take his charity. "I can pay my own way, and-"

Charlie moved quickly, his hand moving to the back of her neck, pulling her towards him as he ducked slightly. His rough but gentle lips found her forehead.

Poppy let out a whimper of defeat. Defeat because it was all final now and she'd never hear what he wanted to say to her.

But then again, that was also why this kiss was what she needed. As he held her, his lips to her skin, his arm around her waist, his other hand at the back of her neck, she felt safe. The safest she'd felt in days, even within the homely grounds of The Burrow. No. Weeks. Maybe even, if she really admitted it to herself, months.

All too soon he stepped backwards and she knew she had to go.

"Please," Charlie said, nodding to her hand which still held the money. "It's the only way I can make sure you're safe right now."

"Thank you," Poppy whispered. "Charlie, I'm sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have-"

"Don't. You have to go. I promise we'll talk soon," Charlie replied, stepping back again, his hands clenching at his side.

With tears in her eyes and an aching heart, she picked up her bags and turned on the spot without taking her eyes off his face. She had to really concentrate to not just Apparate straight back to him.

"I thought you weren't coming for a moment," Percy said when she appeared beside him in Diagon Alley, just outside the brick wall which led to The Leaky Cauldron.

It reminded her of just a year previously when Charlie had uttered almost exactly the same words at the top of Stoatshead Hill. Only this time she wasn't glad to hear them.

Poppy shook her head and, knowing that she'd left Charlie, left the Weasleys, and was now on her own with Percy of all people, she doubled over and threw up at his feet.