Poppy walked into the office the next morning to find her cubicle plastered from top to bottom with front pages of that day's Daily Prophet.

She could hear the snickering of a few Aurors in the cubicles around her as she stared at not only the faces of all of the escaped Azkaban convicts, but also an image of herself and the Minister for Magic standing together, a multitude of bulbs illuminating her exhausted face as she appeared to try and pull away from his embrace.

Poppy groaned. Part of her wished she could run away and hide, or better yet cry from her continued tiredness, but there was no escape. If she took a sick day they'd think she was too weak to continue training - she couldn't give Scrimgeour that satisfaction.

She stilled while placing her outer robe on the back of her chair, and felt the blood in her veins run cold as she read the article title which sat bold above the picture of her and the Minister;

ALL'S WELL - MINISTER UNVEILS NEW AUROR RECRUIT

In a well-timed move, standing outside the imposing walls of Azkaban, Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, announced the appointment of Poopy Jacobs, the newest Auror-in-Training.

Jacobs graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last summer with top marks in her NEWTs, and joins the department at the end of their newest hiring freeze.

The Minister for Magic himself has stated that this shows the Ministry's confidence in the Auror department, and their confidence that Dumbledore and Harry Potter are incorrect in their hate-speech.

"Sewing the seed of fear through our Muggle-born community will not work. I don't think we need reminding that Albus Dumbledore is at the helm of a school which is currently under a much needed educational review by the incredible Dolores Umbridge. And Harry Potter's delusions appear to worsen every day!

"But still the Ministry of Magic stands strong for you. We will not allow these two outliers who want our magical world to appear fraught and fractured to win in their campaign of hatred towards our more vulnerable community, who will be reading their lies and worrying over their safety.

"Instead, we reject their dangerous rhetoric of fear once more, and look to Auror Jacobs to act as an ideal for her community, and as a positive example of Muggle-born achievements to remind us all how strong our magical country is when we stand together, united.

"And as I stand here outside the gates of Azkaban, I promise you, the people of this mighty country who have been so affected by the crimes of these individuals, that we will find these escaped convicts, and we will bring them to justice."

The Minister for Magic is so-

Poppy closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe.

She knew that her fellow Aurors were laughing at the name Poopy and not the rest of the article, but she felt the insidiousness of Fudge's words on so many levels that she needed to take a moment to slow her heart rate and regulate her thoughts.

She'd didn't know why she hadn't expected it - for the Ministry to put a target on her back before she'd even learnt to duel properly - but it still came as a shock.

Fake-Moody had told her to pursue her dream of becoming an Auror as she'd make good target practice for true Death Eaters. And now here she was, on the front page of every newspaper and outed as a Muggle-born for all to know, while those true Death Eaters were now free.

And then there were the parts of Fudge's speech where he'd called her an ideal of her community - putting pressure on her not to fail at any point.

Her annoyance at Percy for his complicity and active participation in Fudge's scheme of lies grew. She wondered how much of Fudge's speech Percy had written - how much of it had been pre-written ready to roll out when Poppy did something to be commended.

Before she could wave her wand and remove the papers, she was summoned by an unimpressed Scrimgeour who forbade her from returning to Azkaban lest she let, "The words of our Minister cloud your mind and fill you with delusions of grandeur. You are not special, you are an Auror-In-Training and will be treated as such. You don't see me commending every one of my Aurors for doing their job, do you?"

He went on, and Poppy tried at points to interject and argue her innocence to Fudge's words, but it was futile.

She felt the blood rush to her face, her heart rate begin to race, her hands and arms begin to tingle and shake, her armpits begin to sweat, and her mind begin to cloud with annoyance and anger, but eventually she resigned herself to her dressing down, despite knowing it wasn't fair.

She knew that others were listening throughout the office - Scrimgeour's voice, while measured, was booming while he spoke to her.

Eventually, he said that she would be sent to spend the rest of the day in the file room away from others, where she would review old case files of a select few Aurors who went before her, to, "Remind you why having your face in the papers isn't all it's cracked up to be, and to show you what true greatness looks like."

Initially, Poppy didn't feel as though she needed the lesson. It felt like a punishment - her long walk through the now-quiet office as her colleagues stared at her. She even passed Tonks, who tried to whisper something but it didn't register and Poppy continued on her way, her jaw tensed, her eyes prickling with unshed tears.

She argued in her own head how unfair it all was until she reached the file room which was filled with never-ending stacks and rows and boxes and pillars of parchment, clutching the list of names of Aurors which Scrimgeour had thrust at her.

Then she knew sending her off on her own had been the first kindness he'd truly shown to her.

She'd been stopped by five people on her way down, all insistent to know about Azkaban and how she handled it, being a Muggle-born -

"I know braver Pure-bloods who'd never step foot in there."

"Did you know what it would be like? Had you even heard of Azkaban before?"

"How exactly did you charm the Auror board into giving you a place? Because last I heard they weren't hiring."

She'd even overheard someone saying; "Come on! They obviously needed a Muggle-born to fill their diversity quota."

Once she'd found the first name on her list, and summoned the first stack of their cases, she realised the additional layer to Scrimgeour's words - "To remind you what true greatness looks like", as from the files and articles she found contained within, he'd sent her to see what true Muggle-born greatness looked like, and given her a list of Muggle-born Aurors throughout the years who would quickly become Poppy's heroes.

She spent the rest of the day in that room, looking through files. At one point she even found time for a little nap which was exactly what she'd needed.

After a few hours she surfaced to grab some lunch from the Ministry canteen. In the queue to pay, she saw Artie. What he was doing in England, she didn't know, but she did know that he still hadn't found time to meet with her after he'd said he would.

Curiously, when she waved at Artie, he stared at her for a moment, shook his head, and turned his back on her. And then he and his colleague turned and walked in the other direction, leaving Poppy with an uneasy twisting feeling in her gut.

If he hadn't looked fine, if he hadn't been wearing impeccable robes, if he hadn't continued to smile at his colleague as he turned his back to her, Poppy would have thought something was wrong.

It took her a moment to realise that now, the thing that was wrong was her.

"About time," Moody growled when Poppy arrived at that evening's Order meeting five minutes late.

"I'm not that late," Poppy whispered to Mr Weasley as she slipped into the seat beside him, trying to settle low in her chair in the hope that everyone would stop staring at her.

She'd been so engrossed in a case-file that she'd forgotten the time and had to run home to change before the meeting. She'd pocketed the list of names of Muggle-born Aurors as she hadn't managed to get to the two last names on the list.

"Don't mind him," Sirius said, holding his silver goblet in the air with a nod to Poppy, who frowned deeply. "He's just jealous of our infamy. Don't see him on the front page, do you? He was attacked and kidnapped and it was a byline in one of Skeeter's articles. Not even a picture. But you? You're front page news," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair and spreading his arms wide, "what can I say except welcome to the big leagues?"

Poppy tried to hide her smile, but nodded gratefully at Sirius, who took a swig of his drink, his expression betraying that he most probably felt the same as Poppy did about their faces being used to sell papers - frustrated and angry.

After that, Poppy enjoyed the meeting which was more interesting to her now that she was finally clued in to everything the Order were worried about.

And then halfway through the meeting a windswept Charlie arrived, pulling off his damp outer robes as he entered the kitchen.

Poppy tried to hide her excitement at his appearance - in all of the mayhem of the past days she'd forgotten he was on his way. She also tried to hide her admiration - she'd forgotten how good he looked when he'd flown through rain.

To avoid revealing her feelings, she stood to make space for him to sit next to his father, moving further down the table.

"Thanks," Charlie said with an easy smile, placing a hand on her waist to give her a quick squeeze as he walked past. His thumb skimmed under the hem of her t-shirt before his hand left her and without thinking, Poppy screwed up her nose, shuddered, and said, "Cold, cold, cold."

Charlie let out a laugh and Poppy smiled slightly when she saw the tips of his ears turn pink. "Sorry, got caught in a bad storm near Ghent," he explained, sinking into Poppy's discarded place.

"You alright, Dad?" Charlie asked his happy father, greeting him with a one-armed hug.

Molly let out a happy whimper and wiped her eyes as Charlie and his dad had a quick catch-up and Arthur reassured Charlie.

Poppy noticed that the eyes that had followed her movements and her reaction to Charlie's appearance shifted and looked down or around, as if their owners had suddenly realised that they should have done the same to reunite a son with his injured father.

"I can catch you up later," Bill said with a grin after Charlie had confirmed their dad's health and asked what he'd missed, and then Dumbledore moved on to a report from Emmeline Vance.

Eventually it came to the biggest topic - the mass breakout of Azkaban.

It seemed that while Poppy had been at her post within Azkaban, there had been an emergency meeting. She felt odd, knowing that everyone had been chatting about what had happened while she'd not been there.

She was miffed, in fact, until Dumbledore praised her personally for, "Having the mental and physical perseverance to stay at your post on the front lines with no end-time. Kingsley was very impressed, and I must say I was as well. I believe Scrimgeour will have taken note. First one in, last one out is very impressive to the Old Guard."

Poppy pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing when Charlie slowly poked his head out of line and widened his eyes at her. They both knew that once again, she'd simply not known that she could ask to be relieved. She hadn't stayed because she'd wanted to, rather she'd not known she had a choice to go.

Then she rolled her eyes when Moody said, "Don't let it go to your head. You should have stayed, it's your job. So should you," he added, turning to Tonks, who looked around incredulously, making people laugh.

"I was sent home!" Tonks cried.

"So was she!" Moody chided.

"No I wasn't," Poppy said, frowning. "When was I sent home?"

Tonks whipped her head round, an amused smile on her face. "Scrimgeour send Montgomery round to relieve the first guard."

Poppy's frown deepened and she shook her head quickly. "Never got to me."

"Oh," Tonks said, the smile dropping from her face. She frowned and sat back in her seat. "Why wouldn't he-"

Moody let out a huff from what was left of his nose and muttered something about still hazing recruits.

Poppy crossed her arms and sent Charlie an annoyed look that said he should get ready for her to complain about that later. Charlie grinned in response and then ducked his head back in line when Dumbledore asked Poppy to clarify what happened during her last few shifts.

Poppy did so, highlighting times and circumstances in the same format as the reports she'd been reading all day, making sure to note the things of interest, from the names of the Aurors present in the first wave, to the little bundle of rags and hair in Bellatrix Lestrange's cell. Then she explained what had happened at the Ministry with Artie, skipping over Scrimgeour's dressing down.

"He walked the other way?" Dumbledore asked slowly, as if considering Artie's movements as he spoke.

Poppy nodded. "Yes Prof- er, yes, yeah, he just stared at me for a moment and then left."

"He knew your blood status before it was made public?" Moody asked gruffly.

Poppy frowned. Although she'd wondered the same thing, it turned her stomach to hear her thoughts echoed in Moody's gruff tone. Nevertheless, she confirmed that that was the case, believing that it wasn't worth the fight.

Moody's eyes narrowed slightly and he hummed, sitting back in his seat.

Dumbledore stared, as if unseeing, at the goblet on the table in front of him. His frown darkened his entire face. Finally, he raised his blue eyes to Poppy's brown and nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Thank you, Poppy. Do not approach him, continue to wait to see if he makes contact with you."

"Nah, 'e walked the other way," Mundungus Fletcher said, making Poppy jump - she'd assumed he was asleep thanks to his snores which she'd had to speak loudly over for the past five minutes. "That's the sign of a done deal, that."

"Maybe not," Charlie said, commanding the attention of the room. He was often quieter in meetings, choosing to take everything in and report back rather than interject. Though Poppy knew he wasn't so much speaking to everyone at the meeting, as he was speaking to Poppy. "Artie likes you. He greeted you warmly in front of the Minister, he saved you from-" he coughed to cover Percy's name and continued, "-and he only questioned your being a Muggle-born when Malfoy was there. Who was he with today?"

"Tiberius Glencur," Poppy replied, with small smile. She still remembered Glencur, and felt silly that she'd not put two and two together.

"That'll be why," Charlie said with a grimace.

"Didn't he break your nose once?" Bill asked, leaning forwards.

Mrs Weasley tutted and shook her head. "Awful. I had a right mind to send a howler to his mother but Charlie refused to let me. We had to settle for Arthur glaring at his father in the work lift for a week and a half."

Poppy let out a snort of laughter which was quickly silenced under Mrs Weasley's glare.

Poppy swallowed thickly and said, "I'm not- uh-" She shot an apologetic look at Charlie before she dobbed him in - "When I was in Third Year, and Charlie was in Seventh, Glencur called someone a Mudblood during Dragon Club," Poppy said, trying to ignore the incredulous looks at her saying the slur out loud. She sighed loudly and said, "It's what they call people like me so I reckon if I say it it takes the power out of the word-" she added, silencing them. She continued, "So Charlie told Glencur he was banned from the club by punching him in the face and they had a fight. Some of Charlie's friends healed Glencur before McGonagall arrived so he got detention because Charlie was still bleeding."

"Charlie! You were a Prefect!" Mrs Weasley scolded.

"And Quidditch Captain," Bill added, laughing.

Charlie had the good sense to hide his smile, but his dad clapped a hand on his back and called him a good lad.

Even Moody chuckled.

"Apologies, Poppy, I don't seem to have heard your last," Dumbledore added good-naturedly, and Poppy smiled apologetically at Charlie, who said;

"Ahh, don't worry, it had to come out sometime. Now, Artie was probably trying not to bring up your association for your sake considering who he was with. Glencur's family are close to the Malfoys, and Lucius has got the Minister's ear at the moment. He could make it a lot harder for you if he thinks you're connected."

"'E already knows they're connected, dun'ne?" Mundungus asked, sitting up in his chair as if trying to save face after saying something which Charlie had discredited.

Charlie let out a snort. "He saw them outside a toilet after Artie had spent half the night introducing her to people. He probably thought they were doing about to-" He stopped mid sentence and his cheeks turned red beneath his freckles. "Er- about to do something intimate-" he said, shooting a quick glance to his mother, who gasped loudly, "-not confirming that Voldemort was back."

"How d'you know that?" Mundungus asked, frowning.

Before Charlie could answer, Sirius, who seemed to have had enough of the conversation, said, "Let's just say, if I was fifteen years younger and Poppy had knocked on my door wearing that dress I'd've been in a lot of trouble. I'm with Charlie here. Malfoy probably thought Artie was trying to get a leg over, not talking about Voldemort."

Poppy flicked one of her two cornrows back over her shoulder and sat back in her chair with a smug smile on her face. "Thanks. Not to brag, but I've been working out a bit," she said to Sirius, who grinned back and raised his goblet. "Then again," she said quickly, the smile dropping from her face, "your family tree is like a bramble bush so you probably only thought I looked good because I might be the only one around this table not related to you…"

Sirius led the boom of laughter that filled the room. Once it had died down, Dumbledore turned to Charlie with twinkling eyes and asked, "How has making contact with Hargrunk?"

"That's why I came a few days early," Charlie explained. "He's asked to meet in Munich in four days, but he'll be in Newcastle tomorrow. I think he's there to trade dragon steaks on the black market and I've heard there's a meeting arranged with Macnair. So I think we might lose our chance."

"Dragon- Black market? Oh Hagrid," Mrs Weasley said despite herself.

Poppy smiled as Charlie reassured his mother that the steaks Hagrid had been using to heal his enormous bruises last October had been given from the Dragon Sanctuary, and were all above board.

Dumbledore considered Charlie's words for a moment and then turned to two people at the end of the table.

"Tonks, Remus, would you do me the honour of scouting and locating Hargrunk? Keep tabs on his movements. The moment he leaves England, send word?" Dumbledore asked.

Tonks and Remus nodded.

"There goes my holiday," Tonks whispered loudly enough for Poppy to hear halfway down the table. "No offence Remus, but I was planning on a little respite at home. Dad's got a new bottle of Muggle tonic in and Mum's been fermenting a bottle of her strawberry gin since the summer."

While people tried to hide their laughter, Sirius said, "Remus is fun, you know. Behind the stuffy cardigans is a good sense of humour, and he'll be great on a stakeout. Just a shame about the biting."

Remus was the only person, bar a scandalised looking Molly, who didn't smile (though he did allow the side of his mouth to curl up slightly at Tonks' peal of laughter).

The meeting ended and Poppy stood, moving over to the cupboard where they now kept the pots and pans. She was planning to grab a few and help Mrs Weasley make cottage pie, when Mrs Weasley, who was counting on her hand, called over; "Tonks, Poppy, you're staying for dinner?"

Tonks shook her head and waved, saying that she was rushing home to pack a small bag before she would meet Remus to travel up north.

Poppy opened her mouth to say what she was doing, when Charlie ducked behind his mum and shook his head frantically.

Poppy stared, trying to work out why he was shaking his head, and then he gestured to his mum in front of him and shook his head again.

"Oh, er, sorry but I can't stay?" Poppy said, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

Charlie screwed up his face, and Poppy shrugged and gestured with her hands to say, 'You just told me to go,' and then said awkwardly, "I'm leaving now, goodbye."

She turned immediately and hurried out to join Tonks at the front of the line of people getting ready to leave the safe-house.

Poppy felt a little put out by Charlie - she'd assumed they'd tell his family about their relationship that night, as he'd said he couldn't stay over as he had to get back for work.

Her feelings turned to embarrassment when Charlie arrived at her window three and a half hours later with a large bunch of flowers and what Poppy thought was an adorably confused look on his face.

Once he explained that he'd shaken his head to indicate that she should say she'd not eaten so that she'd be offered dinner and stay, Poppy threw her head back and let out a loud groan.

After laughing at her and agreeing to just use his words next time, Charlie pulled her into his arms and Poppy melted into his embrace.

She didn't know if she'd ever be able to admit to him that one kiss from him was enough to reignite the fire in her chest, and cure the coldness which had seeped inside while she was stationed at Azkaban.

Before she could even begin to explain her feelings on the matter, Charlie said, "So you thought Pop was a bad nickname, eh, Poopy?" and she laughed despite herself.

Then he admitted something which made her heart race in a different way - "I wasn't meant to come back today but I read the Prophet. We get a copy fast tracked to the Sanctuary, and I had to make sure you were ok."

"What about your report?" Poppy asked, frowning up at him.

"Ever heard of an owl, Jacobs," he asked, with a teasing half-smile. "I know Muggles use post but-"

Poppy playfully whacked him on the arm and told him to, "Shut up," and grinned happily when he secured her in his arms again.

She whacked him again when he asked if he could see the red dress robes she'd worn that Sirius had complimented. His laugh was so loud that she had to clap a hand over his mouth to make sure Fleur wouldn't hear.

The chance to tell Bill and Mr and Mrs Weasley about their relationship gone for now, they settled on the next time Charlie was in England, which Poppy was ecstatic to find out would be in just a week and a half's time.

She was so happy that she bounced on her tip-toes, which Charlie said reaffirmed that Bounce needed to stay as his personal nickname for her.

Poppy used the excitement of that knowledge to fuel her as Charlie rode off into the night just a few hours later.