Kingsley was right. It was easy to spot Tonks in the evening's post-work Diagon Alley crowd. She would have blended in with her grey hair, scarred cheek, long ragged black robes and slight hunch, but Tonks' grin and wink at the sight of Poppy gave her away immediately.

Poppy was glad that Tonks seemed so happy to see her. At Hogwarts she'd been, as Charlie had been, four years above Poppy. The two young women had not known each other that well even though they had been in the same House, but after Hogwarts they had written occasionally at the behest of Professor Sprout, who knew that Poppy wanted to be an Auror. Even then, Poppy remembered Tonks and her exuberance well.

Rather than greeting the newly qualified Auror, Poppy nodded her head slightly to the right, and headed through the brick wall which concealed the Diagon Alley entrance to The Leaky Cauldron. She walked upstairs to her bedroom, where she changed into a Muggle outfit of black jeans, white tee, and large blue jumper.

It was the middle of summer, yes, but there had been an unusual chill the past few days, and Poppy wasn't sure if she would be travelling outside much or not - while she was excited to finally be visiting the Order headquarters, she had no real idea where it was.

She returned downstairs with a small backpack and received a wink from old-woman-Tonks, who was finishing a rather odd-coloured drink at the bar.

Poppy knew what to do next - Bill had found her at work that day and said that she should head into Muggle London that evening. So she made her way to the front door. However, by the time she's squeezed through the already-crowded pub, Percy had arrived back from work and caught her, calling her name loudly.

Poppy cursed and turned, plastering a smile onto her face.

"Where're you off to?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Poppy licked her bottom lip and frowned. "I uh- well, I'm just-"

"Ready?" asked a deep voice, and Poppy and Percy turned their heads at the same time. Both sets of eyes widened when they saw a handsome young man standing beside them. Tonks winked at her and Poppy realised who it really was. She cleared her throat and nodded, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah. Sorry, thought we were meeting outside," she said. "Uh, Percy, meet-"

"Tom," said the man, holding out a hand towards Percy.

Percy didn't reply, and didn't shake the proffered hand. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, puffed out his chest, and turned to Poppy with a questioning gaze.

"Uh, Tom and I are just headed to the Muggle movies. You remember Tom, right? He was in your Muggle Studies class?" Poppy asked, trying not to smile as the blood drained from Percy's cheeks and he spluttered.

"Of- of course. Tom! How are you?" he asked, taking 'Tom's' hand now, and shaking it quickly even though Poppy knew for a fact that he had never been in a Muggle Studies class with Tonks, nor the man she was currently pretending to be.

"Good, good," 'Tom' replied, smiling happily. "Just got back into town. Only here for a few nights but bumped into Poppy at Gringotts and couldn't resist inviting her to the cinema. D'you fancy coming too?" he asked kindly.

Percy shook his head, narrowed his eyes at Poppy once more, and then turned and walked quickly off towards the stairs.

"Let's go," Tonks whispered in her usual voice, and they walked out onto the Muggle street outside the wizarding pub. "Oh Merlin," she said, stopping in her tracks. "He's going to kill me."

"Who's going to kill you?" Poppy asked as Tonks took her by the arm and dragged her into a doorway. She frowned. It was still odd to be in such close proximity to Tom Hanks, even though she knew it was Tonks.

"What do you call what I am?" Tonks asked quickly.

"What?!" Poppy asked, bemused.

"Just say what I am," Tonks insisted.

"T-"

"Not who I am, I mean say what I can do," Tonks said, waving at herself.

"Oh. You're a Metamorphagus," Poppy said, finally understanding.

"Perfect. Let's go," Tonks said, pulling her out of the doorway and back onto the street.

"Wait, what?" Poppy asked, speeding up to keep up with the currently longer legged Auror.

"I needed to make sure it was really you," Tonks replied.

"And that proved it?" Poppy asked, frowning. "How?"

"You still can't say it right," Tonks replied with a laugh.

"What? Metamorphagus?" Poppy whispered, frowning.

"It's meta-morph-ma-gus," Tonks whispered, leaning close before she began to walk faster again. "Not meta-morph-a-gus."

"Oh, that's just-" Poppy said, ducking her head as she trailed after the older witch.

The word brought back a rush of embarrassment – as a third year, after a rather spectacular Quidditch win Hufflepuff had had over Slytherin, Poppy had joined Cass in celebrating, and had ended up in a circle of Tonks, two of her friends who were on the Quidditch team, Cass, and Esther. She'd said Metamorphmagus wrong and had endured a moment of laughter before the conversation moved on. It had kept her awake for a week, and occasionally popped into her head to embarrass her all over again.

"Other people probably say it like that," Poppy said quietly to herself.

"Not many," Tonks replied as they rounded a corner.

"I'm sorry," Poppy said quickly.

Tonks simply laughed. "Nah, you're alright. You've never called me Nymphadora and I don't care if you say it wrong. It's sweet. My friend's baby says it like that too."

"Is that all you remember about me? From school, I mean?" Poppy asked sadly. It was better than nothing, she tried to reason with herself.

"No," Tonks replied, shooting her a dazzling smile. "It's not all."

She didn't elaborate, but Poppy felt a swell in her chest. She allowed the side of her mouth to tip up into a grateful-yet-bashful smile.

"Why'd you choose to look like Tom Hanks?" Poppy asked a minute later, trying to avoid the wide-eyed look from a Muggle woman across the road who stopped in her tracks to stare at Tonks who still looked like the movie star.

Tonks shrugged and slipped her hands into her pockets, nudging Poppy's shoulder with her own so that they would turn down an almost hidden side street.

"My Dad made me watch 'Big' at the weekend," she explained. "He's a Muggle-born like you, y'know? And while Arthur's great with Muggle stuff, I get the impression that he's more of the 'tinker with a video player' rather than 'watch films with his kids' type of nut."

"True," Poppy replied when they stopped at the end of the alley, sticking her head out to see if there were many people in the road. "But maybe change it up a little, you're not exactly inconspicuous to the Muggles."

Tonks sighed and wrinkled her nose, changing her face just enough to not look like the movie star anymore but to retain her masculine appearance.

They walked for around five minutes, dodging down little alleyways here and there, until Tonks grabbed Poppy's arm to stop her. "Here," she said, thrusting a small piece of parchment into Poppy's hand. "Memorise it."

Poppy nodded once she had memorised the address. Then Tonks tapped the parchment, which went up in flames immediately.

Before Poppy had a chance to ask what to do next, she felt a hand clasp her upper arm, followed by the uncomfortable constriction of Apparition.

"Jesus, you have to warn me," Poppy said, feeling a little nauseous – she'd assumed that Tonks was going to pull her into another doorway, not Apparate. She placed a hand on her stomach as she looked around, hoping that the sick feeling would leave soon.

They had arrived in what looked to Poppy to be a gated garden in the middle of a London square.

Tonks shushed her and nodded over to a row of tall white London houses.

Poppy had always loved the centre of London. As a child (before she received her Hogwarts letter), her father and step-mother had often taken her and her siblings to the museums and theatres. As a pre-teen, cast out of her house during the day, she'd made her way into London and walked aimlessly. And as a teenager, she'd spent her non-working hours exploring too.

Tonks screwed up her face, transforming quickly back into her usual self. Then she waved her wand and her clothes transformed back into her usual punky style.

She was shorter than Poppy by some four inches, even with her thick boots on, and had short spikey electric-blue hair, bright twinkling eyes, and a kind smile. "Remember the parchment?" she asked, nodding over the road.

Poppy moved forwards, thinking of the address she'd just seen. A moment later, a house appeared, pushing the other houses on the row to the left and right, squeezing itself into the space that was left.

While the other houses appeared well taken care of, this looked unkempt and slightly grey, as if it hadn't been tended to in a while. There was a small black gate in front of a set of white steps leading up to the front door.

"Fancy," Poppy muttered, staring at the large building.

"You won't be saying that once you've seen the inside," Tonks said.

"I'd still take it. Jesus," Poppy said, counting windows, "are there three floors?"

"Four if you include the basement," Tonks said with a smirk, and Poppy's mouth dropped open.

"In the middle of London?" she asked, "that must be worth-"

"A pretty penny, yeah. C'mon," Tonks beckoned, and Poppy followed, letting Tonks check before they both crossed the road and ran up the stairs.

"We're through the protections now," Tonks said, nodding to the gate behind Poppy. "Anything past the bottom step is fare game to Apparate to now that you know where the house is."

"Fidelius?" Poppy asked excitedly, staring up at the topmost windows of the house. It was odd, being so close to a townhouse like this.

"Sorry?" Tonks asked distractedly, rapping her fist against the door.

"Is this a Fidelius Charm?" Poppy repeated, twirling her finger in the air to indicate the house.

Tonks couldn't hide her excitement. "Oh, yeah! How'd you know?"

Poppy waited a beat to see if Tonks would remember, and then laughed. "You don't remember? You told all of us in my second year. Think you were-"

"Hyperfocused on the Turpentike case," Tonks replied happily, "yeah, I remember now."

"I don't know how you could forget. Your mind map is still on the bulletin board in the common room," Poppy replied, thinking of Hufflepuff wistfully. "They shrunk it, obviously, but it's still there."

"It was quite big…" Tonks muttered. "Come on!" she whined, knocking again. "If they don't hurry up…"

"Can't you ring the doorbell?" Poppy asked, frowning at a little brass doorbell by the door.

"Oh no. Molly would kill me," Tonks replied, bouncing impatiently on her toes.

"Why?" Poppy asked, smiling - it was nice to see someone else impatiently bouncing, as she did.

"You might see soon," Tonks replied. "Just… not worth a demonstration."

Poppy shrugged and sighed, looking over her shoulder at the square behind them as Tonks knocked again.

"Where are we? Near Kings Cross?" Poppy asked, recognising a few of the houses now. She'd never lived here, of course she hadn't – these houses were for those who could afford either extortionate rents or extortionate mortgages, and Poppy nor her family fit into that category at all.

"How'd you know?" Tonks asked in a hushed voice as they heard a click on the other side of the door.

Poppy grinned. "I grew up in London. Used to get the tube to Angel and walk across to Kings Cross to get the train."

She didn't add that getting off the tube early to walk gave her the time to get back into a good mindset before she went back to school - two months of sleeping on the sofa, being shunned by her siblings and stepmum and shouted at by her father, and spending her spare time working to earn money took a mental toll on Poppy.

"Sirius will love that," Tonks replied happily. "He goes for walks round here too. Says it clears his head."

"He- He goes- But what if he gets caught?" Poppy asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh, yeah, no," Tonks back-tracked, "he doesn't look like himself obviously."

"Of course! Because of the…" Poppy said, waving her hand around her thigh to try and show that she knew about him being an Animagus whose form was a large dog.

"Leg splints?" Tonks asked, obviously teasing her.

Poppy rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant."

Before Tonks could reply, the door opened to reveal the smiling face of Mrs Weasley.

"Thank you for knocking Nymphadora," Mrs Weasley said, ignoring Tonks' whispered, "Don't call me that." Mrs Weasley turned to Poppy, "Welcome, Poppy. Come in, come in," she greeted, beckoning the two travellers into a very dark corridor.

Even with the light from the evening sun which flooded inside the hallway behind Poppy and Tonks, Poppy found it hard to see too far into the house.

The door shut behind Tonks, taking most of the light away, save for a slither in the distance behind Mrs Weasley, and the small light emanating from the tip of the matriarch's wand.

Tonks lit the tip of her own wand and lifted it, peering down the hallway. "Sounds like Kingsley's here!" she said brightly, though she shrank under Mrs Weasley's glare.

"Please, keep your voice down!" Mrs Weasley hissed. "We still haven't managed to get it down and if she wakes up, she-"

"Sorry Molly," Tonks whispered quickly, shooting Poppy a guilty look.

Poppy wanted to know what or who would be woken by a doorbell and raised voices, and was about to ask when Mrs Weasley drew her into a surprise hug.

Even though it had only been a week since they'd last seen each other, Mrs Weasley held her tightly and once she'd released her, asked how work had been. By the time they'd had a quick catch-up, Tonks had disappeared.

"And how is P-" Mrs Weasley's voice cracked, and her face screwed up. "Per-"

"He's fine," Poppy said quickly so that Mrs Weasley didn't need to say her son's full name, which appeared to be a bit hard for her still. "Seems fine, yeah."

"I'm sorry that you had to- Well… Well, thank you. For taking-" Mrs Weasley took in a deep, shuddering breath. "Thank you for staying with him."

"I'll be moving into my flat tomorrow," Poppy said apologetically. Though she was quite happy to be leaving Percy, she knew this wasn't what Mrs Weasley needed to hear.

The Weasley matriarch nodded slowly, blinking away tears. "Of course," she whispered. "Is Per- Is he-"

"We found him a flat, yeah. It's nice. Not like The Burrow, but it's nice," she said, empathetically. "He's moving in next week. It's got the basics, and it's on a street off Diagon Alley. It's small, but he practically lives at the office so he doesn't need much."

She didn't mention her annoyance at the fact that Percy had asked why Fleur had secured a flat in Muggle London, as opposed to a more magical area.

Mrs Weasley let out a small dry sob and took in another shuddering breath. "Did- Did he say that I came to see him?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Poppy nodded quickly. She was lying of course – Percy hadn't mentioned his mother's visit. Instead, Poppy had heard it. Like she'd told Charlie the previous weekend, there were thin walls between the rooms in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Did he seem-"

"Molly?" Mr Weasley's voice carried through the dark corridor and Mrs Weasley jumped slightly. "Poppy? Are you both alright?"

"Oh yes, just coming Arthur," Mrs Weasley called softly down the hall. "Come on, come on," she said quickly to Poppy, wiping her eyes as she ushered Poppy towards the main source of light. "They're waiting in the kitchen. It's not the whole Order tonight, just a few friendly faces. Dumbledore thought you might need a practice run before you came to a proper meeting."

The kitchen was a large room in what Poppy assumed was half of the basement. It looked as if it was a smaller and more run down version of the Hogwarts kitchen with its wide fireplace, large stoves, doors leading to what Poppy assumed were pantries and stock rooms, and in the middle of the room stood a rather long and broad wooden dining table with benches along either side.

Knowing Mrs Weasley a little bit, she assumed this was where they spent most of their time, much like at The Burrow.

Poppy was pleased to see that the Weasley kids including Bill, and Kingsley and Mr Weasley were all there, standing by the door to greet her.

Showing off as usual, Fred and George took turns to pick Poppy up and spin her around. She protested that she'd seen them all less than a week previously, but they shouted over her that she wasn't as heavy as Bill and that they had greeted him the same way.

Once she was put down, she nodded at Ron who smiled shyly, rolled her eyes at Bill who saluted her, and then gave Ginny a firm hug.

It was a little odd, seeing only five of the Weasley kids. She felt a pang of sadness that Charlie wasn't there but quickly brushed it off as she was introduced to Emmeline Vance, a witch with a nice enough countenance who waved at her.

Sturgis Podmore, a rather youngish looking wizard with blonde hair, grinned brightly and shook her hand enthusiastically.

"Thanks for bringing the average age of the Order down," Sturgis said. "Back in my day most of us were in our twenties, not old coots like Moody."

There was a smatter of laughter. A gruff, "Oi," grabbed Poppy's attention and she noticed with a jolt that Alastor Moody was sitting at the kitchen table, his magical eye fixed on her while his normal one focussed on Sturgis and narrowed into a glare.

She wasn't too pleased to see the ex-Auror. She hadn't been expecting it, and the sight made her heart race as her hand slipped into her pocket and held her wand tightly.

She watched as Moody's magical eye tracked her movement, and swallowed thickly when his normal eye looked into hers.

"All healed?" he asked.

When Poppy didn't answer, Mrs Weasley tutted and repeated the question for her.

"Don't trouble yourself, Molly," Moody said, turning his attention back to the small glass in front of him. "We have an understanding."

Poppy nodded once, and then stayed away from him. He didn't seem to mind much.

Once she was more settled, Poppy noticed that Tonks wasn't in the kitchen anymore. But didn't ask where she was – she didn't want to seem like she was prying.

After about ten minutes of chatter, Professor Lupin arrived. Poppy greeted him with a smile and a wave as she called, "Professor Lupin!". He had been one of her more encouraging and educational Defence teachers, and she'd enjoyed his lessons immensely.

She tried to hide her upset when his response was to let out a groaning sigh.

Poppy ignored Moody's, "See how it feels?" and smiled when Professor Lupin asked her to drop the, "Professor," and just call him, "Lupin, or better yet, Remus."

Not feeling able to call her former teacher by his first name, she decided that Lupin would be fine.

Despite it being his house, Sirius Black only descended upon the dinner once Lupin arrived, and so he was the last in the line of introductions.

Poppy looked down bashfully when his greeting was simply to nod at her and narrow his stormy grey eyes. There was a twinkle in his eye, but she couldn't be sure if it was playful or murderous.

"It's okay," Lupin said, misinterpreting her look. "He's just not house trained yet."

Sirius threw up his arms and Bill and Sturgis began to laugh.

"Uh, Mr. Black?" she said, eyeing up Sirius, who was now accusing Remus of favouring his ex-student over his own friend.

"Call me Sirius. Being in this house is bad enough. Don't want to be reminded of my family name, thanks," he replied with a genuine smile.

"Perfect," Fred whispered loudly.

"Spot on," George laughed.

Poppy smiled and ignored them. "I uh- just wanted to say sorry for uh- sorry. For… you know," she said, pointing to her neck.

The last time she'd seen him she'd stuck her wand into his chin, ready to hex him.

Sirius laughed and shook his head. "It was a breath of fresh air really. Been a while since a woman's been that open with her disdain for me," he said with a smirk and a wink. "Hopefully I can redeem myself. Would hate to stay in your bad books."

"Well, there's no disdain now," Poppy said quickly, still feeling embarrassed that she had spent the best part of two years wondering when the Ministry were going to capture Sirius Black and wondering if, if she joined the Auror track when she left Hogwarts, she might be part of the team who brought him down.

"Reckon that means she hated you for a bit," Fred said unhelpfully.

Sirius began to laugh again at Poppy's wide-eyed reaction.

"Not… not, well- It was just a misunderstanding really," she said, still flustered by her want to seem as 'ok' with Sirius' presence as everyone else appeared to be. "Really! You were- Well, it's just that obviously I didn't know that you were- I mean-" She held out her hand to indicate Sirius and looked to Bill for help. "Bill, help? Tell him there's no disdain. It's just, you know, twelve years in prison and-"

Bill shrugged and tried to hide his smirk. "Sorry, no can do. See Sirius, Poppy's one of the most hateful people in the world. Bet she loathes you still. Probably still believes the Daily Prophet too."

Poppy's mouth dropped open at his words and he clapped her on the back and moved to sit on the other side of the table, letting out a loud laugh.

"I do not!" Poppy said, defending herself even though she knew he was just teasing. She could hear the inhabitants of the kitchen laughing outright now. "I don't!" she whined, pouting slightly. "You seem like a perfectly… normal… person?"

While she'd spoken, Sirius had begun to stare at her with dark and hollow eyes. His face began to morph, and soon Tonks stood in fake-Sirius' place.

"I hate you," Poppy muttered to Tonks, as the Weasley children roared with laughter, and the real Sirius appeared as if from nowhere, showing that he's been rendered invisible by a perfect disillusionment charm.

"Perfectly understandable really," Sirius said, holding out his hand to shake hers. "A few notes," he added, turning to Tonks.

"Here," Poppy said to Sirius after a while, once she'd begun to see the funny side. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Sugarplum's box. "I didn't know your favourites but I reckon it's been a while, so you'd be happy with anything."

The smile on his face when he opened the package of sweets and chocolates made her heart swell. But then she felt her cheeks heat up when his response was intense eye contact, a kiss on the back of her hand, and a wink.

She let out an awkward laugh and found herself very grateful when Mrs Weasley said, "Right. Turkey pie tonight. Is that okay for you, Poppy?" before Sirius could say anything more.

Poppy smiled at the matriarch and stood. "Perfect. Let me know what I can do to help!"

She rolled her eyes when she heard Sirius mutter, "Still got it," and Remus snorted out a laugh and told him to stop playing around.

"Looks like you're on his good side," Bill whispered later, standing with her as they set about peeling and chopping mounds of potatoes, carrots and leeks. They'd been ordered to do their work without magic, as Mrs Weasley wanted Fred and George to understand that they didn't need to use magic to achieve every daily task. "Thanks," he added.

"Of course," Poppy replied, watching Mrs Weasley's back. "Are you sure you don't want to take the credit?" she asked.

Earlier in the day, when Bill had stopped by her desk at Gringotts to tell her that she'd need to head into Muggle London that evening, he'd also given her an 'urgent lunchtime task' which involved a small handful of coins and a trip to the sweet shop.

"No, no. Don't want to be connected in case it backfires, trust me. They only moved in two days ago but Ginny said Mum's not happy that Sirius is sneaking out of the house, and he's not happy that Mum's threatened to tell Dumbledore. Think Mum just doesn't trust him still. And all I know is that the happier Sirius is, the happier Mum is… and therefore…"

"The easier everyone's life is?" Poppy asked.

"It's like you're one of the family already," he replied.

"Careful," Poppy teased, "what would Fleur say?"

At the look on Bill's face and the way he flushed, she laughed and shook her head. "I am applying to be an Auror, you know," she joked, waving her wand to send the chopped vegetables into their pots.

At his questioning gaze, she added, "Fleur said you're writing to each other. I've known since before I left Hogwarts."

"Course you have… Well… shut it," Bill replied, nudging her with his shoulder. "It's early days and if it does go well, I still have to figure out how to tell Mum… reckon she'll have a heart attack…"

"Because Fleur's so much younger than you?" Poppy asked quickly. Charlie popped into her head once more and she quickly pushed him out again.

"What?" Bill said quickly. "No, because I've never brought a girl home before. Wait, how old do you think I am?"

"I know you're twenty-four," she replied, smiling despite herself. Did his answer mean that he already thought about introducing Fleur to his family?

"She's not so much younger than me then, is she?" he asked quickly.

"I dunno," Poppy said, shrugging. "It's six years isn't it?"

"Is that a big age gap?" Bill asked hesitantly.

"Can be," Poppy replied honestly. "But Fleur's pretty strong willed. She won't see it like that."

"Would you date someone my age?" Bill asked, narrowing his eyes at the potato in his hand.

Poppy shrugged. "Maybe… I'm not sure. It's all down to who you're with, and if you think they're right for you at the end of the day," she said.

Before Bill could answer, they were interrupted by Ginny who stole Poppy away for a game of exploding snap.

After a delicious and hearty dinner, Tonks and Moody beckoned Poppy over to the end of the dining table and leant in to speak in hushed whispers.

She was still uncomfortable with Moody being there, and having to sit so close to him, but over the course of dinner he'd kept his distance, and so she had decided to try harder to accommodate his presence.

"Dumbledore asked us to prep you for your Auror tests," Tonks said, grinning. "Well done by the way!" She summoned a large pot of coffee over, and began to pour some into three waiting mugs. Poppy was impressed – Tonks only spilt a little bit. "I'm guessing you've been studying already?"

Poppy nodded and thanked Tonks for the drink. "Every night," she admitted.

"Good. You'll need to make sure you're looking at the up-to-date rules and regulations on wand control as well," Tonks said, pulling out a small book. "Just came out last week. Nabbed you a copy. We get them for free but it would be ten galleons from Flourish and Blotts."

"Wow, thanks!" Poppy said happily, flipping through the book.

"Here," Moody said, handing over a rather large vial of colourless liquid. "For your tests."

"Merlin, Mad-Eye, she won't need that much," Tonks said, eyeing up the vial.

"She might," Moody countered, his magical eye staying on Poppy while his normal one looked at Tonks. "Better witches and wizards than us have been hoodwinked with Veritaserum. I'm giving her enough for an entire week."

"You're giving me a week's worth of Veritaserum?" Poppy asked, eyeing up the potion, her smile gone.

"Don't be ridiculous, girl!" Moody retorted. "A week of antidote! Had Snape brew it for you."

Poppy scrunched up her nose. She'd never really gotten along well with Snape. Her dislike of him came from the fact that she still couldn't get over Snape's angry outbursts which made her cry during her first year. She'd stopped his classes at OWL level even though she'd been awarded an Outstanding.

"Not you too. He's part of the Order. Get it together," Moody commanded. Poppy wanted to know who else didn't trust Snape, but she pursed her lips and chose to glare at Moody instead, taking umbrage with the way he was speaking to her.

Still, she accepted the vial. If Snape had brewed the potion, she knew it would be damn near perfect. And this wasn't Moody or Snape asking her to take it, it was Dumbledore.

"Four drops will cover you for-" Moody began.

"Eight hours," Poppy said, nodding. "Don't take more than twelve hours' worth at a time or the side effects could be disastrous. Four hours or two drops at a time is the safest amount."

"Good," Moody said, looking slightly impressed. "Thought you didn't do Potions."

"I liked the subject, but I didn't like the teacher," she explained, speaking through her teeth.

"What next?" Tonks asked, stirring her coffee and ignoring the tenseness of her tablemates. "Letters?"

"Ah yes. You'll have to write to anyone who heard you declare after Dumbledore and Potter," Moody said, sliding a small stack of parchment towards her. He rustled in his pocket for a moment and produced a quill and some ink, which he pushed over as well. "If the department's being run right, they'll check in with your family and friends to verify your allegiance to the Ministry."

Poppy sighed and took the stack of parchment. She knew they wouldn't ask her family about her allegiances - they were Muggles and she reckoned the department wouldn't want to question them.

"What, now?" she asked when Moody raised his eyebrows and tapped the table to get her attention.

"No, tomorrow," Moody replied sarcastically. "Yes, now."

Poppy grumbled but wrote letters to Cass and Esther apologising for her words on the train, asking for their forgiveness, and saying that they were right, she didn't know about the last war.

"Put in a few words about believing what the Prophet's saying," Moody said, chucking the letters back at her once he'd read them. "My bet is they'll lap that up."

Poppy bit her words back and did as he told her. He'd given her the antidote. The least she could do was not drown him with it.

"I'll send these tonight," Moody said once he was happy with what she'd written.

"Tonks can do it," Poppy said, shaking her head. "I'm not happy with you having a copy of my handwriting."

Moody didn't even grumble, he just let out a huff of a breath and handed the sealed envelopes to Tonks, whose hair turned red.

"Angry or embarrassed?" Poppy whispered to Tonks when Moody walked off. "The red," she added quickly, indicating Tonks' hair.

"What? Uh…" Tonks replied, looking away from Lupin and Sirius who were sat at the other end of the table. Her hair turned a lighter pink colour, and she screwed up her face, changing it back to blue. "Neither."

"Hey, Poppy, look at this," Fred shouted, before there was a short scream and Ginny was thrown across the room, landing in a pile of feathers that Kingsley had managed to conjure up quickly. "Oops."

Poppy was sure that Mrs Weasley's scream of, "BOYS!" could have been heard by the neighbours.