Chapter Ninety-Nine: Memory Lane

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Memory Lane

Saturday, 3 April 1999

"You'll enjoy this, Severus," Poppy said as she, Severus, and Filius started up the last flight of stairs leading to the Ravenclaw's suite. She had sat with the two during lunch, and Filius had suggested that she join them for the dip into the past. "I'm looking forward to viewing it again, too. And knowing the outcome, I'll enjoy it more than I did back then, too!"

Filius laughed, and Severus frowned.

"Is not a great part of the enjoyment of such an event to be derived from its suspense?" Severus asked.

"Indeed," Filius said, "but you also have a slight advantage, Severus, in knowing that we both wish to see the duel again. So even some of your own suspense is probably mitigated by that knowledge."

Severus glanced at Poppy, remembering her aversion to duelling. "Well, I do know that both wizards survived and also, I presume, that neither was badly injured, or I doubt that Madam Pomfrey would have any desire to view it again."

Filius chuckled again. "You shall see, Severus!"

They reached the Head of Ravenclaw's door portrait. "Good afternoon, Professor!"

"Good afternoon, Paris," Filius responded. Addressing his companions, he added, "We're reviewing classical Greek heroes and villains, gods, goddesses, and mortals, this week. You're welcome to play, if you wish!"

"Ah . . ." Severus shook his head. He couldn't see the attraction in having to respond to a quiz question every time one wished to enter one's own quarters...particularly not late at night after an arduous meeting with the Dark Lord. Severus wondered what Filius did on any occasions when he might arrive back after having one Fwooper's Song too many. Did he stand there and tax his memory on trivia until he finally answered a question correctly, or did he and the portrait have some other understanding for those occasions?

"Fire away!" Poppy said gamely.

The slim, dark-haired youth laughed. "Two questions only, then! Unless the redoubtable Head of Slytherin decides he's up to a challenge!"

"Three questions," Severus said, scowling. He would not be taunted by a mere portrait.

Filius turned and looked up at him. "Of course, that's three to start with. If any of us gets one wrong, we start over and there's a new one for each of us!"

"I thought we wanted to view this memory sometime this afternoon," Severus muttered. Poppy snickered.

"First question for the lovely lady, mistress of the Hospital Wing," Paris said with a bow. "Her mother soothed the pains of all who suffered, and her father, cut from his mother's womb, preeminent student of Chiron, held the serpent of healing. She and her sisters followed in their parents' Art, but only she cured all. Who is she?"

Poppy laughed. "Panacea!"

Paris smiled and nodded. Severus raised an eyebrow. Panacea. Another name to add to his list...Poppy's parents were, after all, both involved in the Healing Arts themselves. And it was a bit peculiar, as Poppy had said her middle name was.

"And now, for the Slytherin Mage without Peer," Paris said, a roguish glimmer in his eyes. "His father was ineffably great. His cures were mysterious and occult. He killed in order to heal, and his pity brought him understanding. As he slept, two snakes tickled his ears with their tongues, and he awoke with new comprehension. Who is he?"

Severus was completely lost until Paris's final clue. He restrained a sigh of relief. He had not wanted to be embarrassed in front of Poppy. "Melampus, of course." A powerful wizard in actuality, not merely the somewhat mutable figure in Muggle myths, and, justly or not, Salazar Slytherin had claimed Melampus as an ancient ancestor, as every Slytherin was taught.

"Very good, Severus!" Filius said enthusiastically. He turned to the portrait, bright expectation on his face.

"From his hands came all giving," Paris said. "Who is he?"

"Only one clue?" Poppy asked.

Filius held up one finger as he thought a moment. "Wait . . . all giving . . . Pandora . . . it was Hephaestus," Flitwick replied. Paris bowed to them, and the door clicked open. Filius waved his wand and the door opened wider. "I have been revising, after all. He does sometimes give me more clues for the harder ones, or if I'm stumped."

"Are you ever stumped?" Poppy asked as they stepped into his bright sitting room.

"Oh, yes! Why, just last week, it took four clues for me to arrive at Scamander," Filius said. "And very obscure clues they were, too! Paris has time to do nothing but read in that library of his, though." He gestured at the table where Dumbledore's Pensieve sat. "Here we are. Would either of you like coffee or tea and a bit of dessert before we hop in, or would you prefer that after? After? Very well!"

"I know that you said you wanted to show him the dragon, as well," Poppy said, "but what about the rest of it?"

"Well . . . the cursed box may have been something of a challenge for Malcolm, but it wasn't particularly fascinating to watch...although perhaps Severus might be more interested in it, since he does have an aptitude for such things, himself." Filius looked up at Severus. "Would you like to watch him break the curses that Dumbledore put on a box? Malcolm did a lot of wand-waving...and a bit of, of . . . sniffing, too, if I remember rightly."

"Sniffing?" Sounded like the wizard was a bit barmy. Severus twitched one shoulder. "As you say, there is likely little to see, since he was successful."

"What about the Apparition-by-Broom, then?" Poppy asked. "I've only witnessed that a few times, and that was the first time. It was quite something."

"What about it, Severus? Apparition-by-Broom? Ever seen it?" Filius asked.

"I have not." He understood that several riders had performed Apparition-by-Broom during the Battle of Hogwarts, after which Minerva had raised the Anti-Apparition wards over the entire grounds again, but he had not seen that part of the battle in the memories the Headmistress had shown him that autumns.

"We can make it shorter, can't we?" Poppy asked. "I remember that waiting for them to return was a bit dull."

"Of course, of course...in fact, I think your memory of the event might be preferable to mine," Filius said, clambering into a chair, "as I was down at the gates rather than with the other spectators. My view was fine for a witness, and handy if Malcolm had Splinched himself, but your perspective might be better for this. Just draw out the memory in two bits, if you can."

Poppy hesitated. "I've not much practice with this. Not with my own memories. And it was so long ago. I'll try, though."

"Just focus! It will come...you just need a single bit of memory to catch hold of, and the rest will follow. And if there's a little extra there, that's fine. You can do it!" Filius said encouragingly as Poppy drew her wand and held it to her temple.

She drew out a small stream of silver. Blinking, she deposited it in the Pensieve, then she withdrew another slim thread of silver and let it flow into the Pensieve with the first memory.

Poppy let out a little laugh. "I hope I didn't say or do anything silly that I don't remember now!"

"We all had fun that day, didn't we?"

"We did...well, other than for a few moments of sheer terror, anyway!" Poppy agreed with a chuckle.

"But those were the most exciting moments," Filius said. "Come! Shall we take a dip?" He gestured toward the table and the silvery whirlpool in the Pensieve.

Severus nodded. He felt more enthusiasm for the afternoon's Pensieve outing now that Poppy was there...now that he was sharing the memories with her, her own memories, in fact. It seemed somehow to be something that could bring them closer; even if he hadn't been there to share that experience with her when it happened, they were together now.

Good Lord! Whatever had she agreed to, Poppy thought with dismay. Severus would catch a glimpse of her younger self regardless of the event they chose to view, and he might even get a couple good looks at her, but during the duel at least there would be something else to capture his attention. If they'd used Flitwick's memory for the Apparition-by-Broom, it would be unlikely Severus would even see her. Murdoch had conjured them a bench from which to view the Apparition, and they'd been sitting toward the back of the crowd, not at all visible from the gates, she thought. Now, not only might she have said or done something that, while nothing truly embarrassing at the time, would be embarrassing in the present, but Severus would also see how different she was now from then. Not that she'd aged poorly...in fact, she was usually fairly proud of how well she'd come through the years, even for a witch rather than a Muggle...but she was nonetheless changed. Severus would see that he had met her when she was past her prime...or at least, that she would be soon past it, much sooner than he. And never mind the fact that all this took place even before he was born, when his mother was still a student, before Eileen had ever even met his father . . .

Poppy looked up at Severus as he touched her elbow lightly and looked down at her, a slight smile at the corners of his eyes. She tried to smile brightly, as though she were as enthusiastic as she'd been when Filius had first invited her along, and before she had realised that Severus would see the young Poppy right beside the older, more worn version. When Severus's smile grew in response to her own, though, her dismay gave way to warmth, and she relaxed. Whatever he saw in the Pensieve, he was there with her now. She took his hand, and together, they entered her memory.

Looking around herself, Poppy was struck by the differences the years had brought the Hogwarts grounds, some of which she had forgotten, and others that she'd not really noticed before, they'd been so gradual. Of course, no dragons flanked the steps up to the great entry doors, which here in memory were still the ancient, age-darkened oak doors, and there was no plinth on the lawn marking where Harry Potter had defeated Tom Riddle, but there were other, more subtle differences, as well. Poppy had almost forgotten what the grounds had looked like without the immense Whomping Willow between the castle and the forest. Even the drive leading up to the castle was quite different in 1957 to what it had become by 1999: grey pea stones were scattered thinly over a somewhat dusty and rutted track, and set at irregular points along its edges, a few tall iron posts held unlit torches. Gone...or, more correctly, not yet conceived...were the multicoloured pea stones that now paved the smooth drive; missing were the low-set Charmed light globes set at pleasingly regular intervals along the path, and missing were the even newer, larger lanterns flanking the gates where now, in memory, the ancient winged boars still hung.

There were more benches set out on the Hogwarts lawns in this earlier time, however...and not merely those conjured by the guests from which to view Malcolm's Apparition-by-Broom...benches of all sorts, wooden, wrought iron, stone, some with backs and some without, and even a few with small stone tables beside them, and many with a pleasant flowering tree or two, planted at a convenient distance to provide shade at different times of day. Even the Quidditch stadium looked different: many colourful House pennants waved in the wind from the topmost tiers of the stands, but the exterior of the stadium was clad in a kind of pale shingling that Poppy remembered had been shorn off by a terrific windstorm back in September of 1961. The stadium had looked simply skeletal for several weeks until it was repaired. The entire grounds had been a mess for a while after that storm, there'd been so much damage, and most of the shade trees and benches had never been replaced or repaired.

Forty years had wrought their changes on the grounds, but also on herself, Poppy thought as she glanced over at her younger self, who was just taking a seat on the bench that Murdoch had conjured for the two of them. She looked so fresh and glowing on that early summer morning, and her smile so bright as she thanked Murdoch, that Poppy scarcely felt that she was looking at herself. Even her hair seemed shinier and fuller on her younger self, though she hadn't a single grey hair in her head yet. Perhaps she should think about using a rinse on it, she pondered. Nothing extreme, just something to liven her hair up a bit. Perhaps a simple potion of chamomile and lemon, with just a touch of mandrake if she could get some . . .

Severus looked around, blinking at the sudden sunlight, which seemed quite bright considering both that he wasn't really seeing anything with his actual eyes and that this was a memory a few decades old. The Pensieve, in his experience, tended to dim or even de-colour a memory, particularly older ones. He smiled to see the nearby Quidditch stadium looking somewhat quaint with its old-fashioned shingling. As for the rest of the grounds, he thought that in some respects, they were better tended now than they had been in the fifties, particularly the long unpaved drive that curved up from the gates; the benches and shade trees dotting the lawns were quite nice here, though. Hogwarts hadn't had those even when he'd been a student...probably just as well.

There was a good-sized crowd gathered in front of the castle, and Severus recognised many faces, including that of Cornelius Fudge, who was standing with Slughorn and two witches, one a slim, lively blonde who Severus thought resembled the former Minister's rather plump wife, and one a tall, buxom woman with artificially brilliant red hair, wearing a tiara, of all things. Further ahead, in front of the crowd, Severus could see Minerva standing with Gertrude, the two women speaking with Johannes Birnbaum and a few others, including Albus. Gertrude gestured with her right hand, and Severus swallowed.

He turned his attention to Murdoch and Poppy, watching as Poppy gracefully smoothed her blue skirts under her as she sat down on a freshly conjured bench. Murdoch sat down beside her and put an arm around her, giving her a slight squeeze as she thanked him for the bench.

"Be sure to mention the bench to Minerva," Murdoch said jokingly. "She's forever claiming I've forgotten how to use my wand for anything other than Summoning my stirring rod!"

Poppy laughed. "I'm sure she just enjoys needling you a bit!"

Severus stepped slightly closer to the couple. Poppy had been a pretty young witch, no doubt about it, and the sun glinted nicely from her honey-brown hair, but this wasn't his Poppy. Lovely, happy, attractive...quite attractive, he thought, glancing over at the slightly misty mental version of his Poppy, as attractive as she was now, in a way...but she wasn't his Poppy. There was nothing wrong with this young Poppy, Severus thought with a frown, but she seemed . . . unfinished somehow. He smiled slightly to himself. A work-in-progress. Yes, the younger Poppy had been a work-in-progress. He glanced over at his Poppy again and his smile grew. He was the lucky beneficiary of that work in progress, he thought, seeing her perfection beside him, even in its virtual projection. He'd never forget how lucky he was, Severus was certain of it; if he ever did, he didn't deserve her.

Poppy shook her head and turned to Filius. "Does it seem very changed to you?"

"Marvelous!" Filius said, nodding in agreement. "We forget sometimes all the little changes...I do miss the Butcher's Broom there," he added, pointing to the tall, flower-covered bushes to the right of the steps. "It was always such a colourful welcome. Perhaps I'll mention them to Pomona."

"There are some Ruscus aculeatus in the Potions gardens behind Greenhouse Four," Severus said. "It would be a simple job for her to transplant some near here." And quite convenient for him, he thought.

"I'm afraid I started the memory a bit too soon," Poppy began apologetically.

"Nonsense! Very good to get the sense of atmosphere," Filius said.

"Indeed. It can be disorienting to land in the midst of a memory. A moment or two to take in the atmosphere is a good thing," Severus said reassuringly.

At that moment, however, Albus, dressed in what Severus thought were particularly garish gold robes, turned from his conversation with Johannes Birnbaum and began speaking with another wizard, and Poppy motioned toward him. "There, that's Malcolm there, with Albus," she said, pointing out a wizard in a tartan kilt, a plaid over his shoulder.

Severus nodded. The tall, auburn-haired wizard was unmistakably related to both Minerva and Gareth, though he was slimmer and lither looking than his son. He seemed in very good spirits. Severus could now see that Siofre was with them there at the front of the crowd, though he hadn't noticed the petite witch beside the others at first.

Albus stepped back from Malcolm and turned to address the crowd. "Malcolm is first going to display Apparition-by-Broom. In order to verify the Disapparition and the corresponding Apparition, I shall proceed to the Apparition point and Professor Filius Flitwick will observe from his position at the gates. You may watch from here, or, if you like, you may walk down toward the gates."

There was a little more conferring, Siofre started walking down the drive toward the gates, and Albus mounted a broom and flew off to speak once more with Flitwick. When Malcolm began to ascend straight up on his broom, rising only slowly, Severus leaned toward Filius. "Is that a Comet? Standard issue Comet Two-Ten?"

"No, it's a Cleansweep, I think. A Cleansweep Four, if I remember correctly. Probably tweaked its charms a bit."

Severus nodded. With those older brooms, it was very difficult for most flyers to rise straight up without also drifting forward. Even if McGonagall had tweaked the charms, it was still something of a feat to rise up vertically like that. The three watched as Malcolm hovered for a moment, only about fifty feet above the ground, then sped off toward the gates, picking up speed as he went. Seconds after he had crossed over the gates, there was a boom as he Disapparated.

Just as some of the crowd began to cheer, the memory shifted.

"I thought this would be a good spot to pick up at," Poppy said.

Siofre Tyree stood in front of the group of onlookers. "Professor Dumbledore will make an official announcement when he returns, but I witnessed Malcolm's safe arrival at the Apparition point. They are conferring about the next stage of events at the moment." She nodded, then turned and approached her granddaughter.

Severus was about to ask Poppy whether the dragon was the next stage when there were two almost simultaneous cracks of Apparition and both Albus and Malcolm reappeared on their brooms, racing toward the Hogwarts grounds. There was more cheering, and the two wizards set down on the drive. Hagrid began calling out, asking for the crowd to move to the Quidditch stadium, and the memory ended abruptly.

The three emerged from the memory, and Filius grinned up at Poppy. "That was fun! I'm surprised that Albus doesn't use the Pensieve more just for entertainment purposes!"

"After having used it for such serious business for so long, I doubt that he would particularly wish to use it for entertainment. Besides, he said to me once that dwelling on the past and pining for what once was is as bad as wishing for what could never be and neglecting the here-and-now," Severus said.

"Surely it's not so black-and-white as that," Filius said with a shake of his head. "But that was fun. I do think that perhaps too many visits to the past might not be a good thing...after all, we do need to create new memories!...but the occasional meander down memory lane can certainly be enjoyable."

"So . . . what did you think, Severus?" Poppy asked, not sounding as tentative as she felt.

"It was an impressive display of magic," Severus admitted. "Or, at least, of Apparition-by-Broom. I'm uncertain whether I would wish to attempt it, but I have spent little time on a broom in recent years."

"You weren't much of a flyer as a student, either, were you," Filius asked rhetorically.

"I had other things to occupy my time," Severus said stiffly. He'd tried out for the Quidditch team three years running before giving up. He wasn't a natural on a broom, like some...though he wasn't inept, either...but with neither excessive natural aptitude nor family connections, it hadn't mattered that he was better than either Crosby or Flint, and they'd both made the team.

"Of course!" Filius said. "You were certainly a prodigy in Potions, and top of your class in Charms and Defence, as well, I remember. You probably had little time for broomstick sport."

"Hmpf."

"That reminds me," Poppy said, "have you thought any more about that broom ride with Helena?"

Severus shook his head. "I think I will decline, although it might be enjoyable. I believe I will do some brewing on Monday, and I'm looking forward to having the entire day to devote to it." He gestured toward the memories swirling about the Pensieve. "That was interesting to see. I don't want to imagine what would happen if a flyer weren't as adept, though, and Splinched."

"It's quite messy," Poppy said. "When I was training at St. Mungo's, we had a patient come in who had Splinched while attempting to Apparate-by-Broom. They found bits of him scattered between Barnstable and Bodmin. They never did find his kneecaps. It took him a couple months to recover."

Filius shuddered, eyes wide. "You're joking, aren't you? About the kneecaps?"

Poppy shook her head as she drew her wand to retrieve her memories. "They replaced them with Charmed ones of glass. He made a sort of peculiar creaking sound when he walked, but he claimed they were quite comfortable."

"Is the dragon next?" Severus asked, not wanting to think any further about Splinching accidents.

"Indeed it is," Filius replied. "Shall we use your memory of this, as well?" he asked, turning to Poppy.

Poppy shrugged. "If you wish. Murdoch and I were down by the Slytherin changing rooms, close to the pitch in case of emergency." She paused a moment. No, other than exchanging a few kisses with Murdoch in the changing room before they went out to the pitch, she was fairly sure that there were no personal moments that she wouldn't want the two wizards to see. After all, she had been there in her professional capacity...and been more than a little nervous at the prospect of being just yards from an unhappy dragon. She nodded. "Yes, all right."

"That would be better, I think," Filius said. "I was up in the box with Albus and a few others, and although we had a very good view from there, it would probably be less distracting with fewer people around."

Poppy thought a moment, focussing on her memory of standing beside Murdoch and looking at the large white marquee that had been erected on the Quidditch pitch. She raised her wand to her head and drew out the memory of the duel in one long silvery strand, then let it flow into the Pensieve. She blinked.

"That one felt odd to draw out," Poppy said. "A bit . . . lumpy."

"Lumpy?" Filius asked, eyebrows raised.

Severus smirked, but he nodded. "I know what you mean. Some memories are like that, as though they are so intertwined in other memories, they have a bit of drag to them at points."

Poppy nodded. "Yes, it felt something like that." She shook herself. "Shall we take a look?"

Severus looked around himself. He, Filius, and Poppy were standing a few feet from Murdoch and Poppy of memory, just outside the Slytherin changing rooms. Although the outside of the stadium was different from anything that he remembered, the pitch and stands were essentially unchanged, although there was a much smaller crowd than the hundreds who would usually attend a Quidditch match, no more than eighty people, Severus estimated, and none of the usual House banners being waved by team supporters. There was also a large white marquee set up at one end of the pitch. He presumed that that was where the dragon was, but Malcolm wasn't yet there, and the spectators were still finding their seats.

He turned and smiled at Poppy, then looked past her at her memory-self. Ever the efficient matron, she was double-checking her black potions satchel. Murdoch told her that she had already checked it twice, and if she were missing anything, it was too late to fetch it now.

"No," Poppy said firmly. "If need be, I'll have them wait whilst Theckles fetches what I require. But you are right: I do have everything. At least, I can't think of anything else I should have added. I hope I am right."

"Of course you have it all. You even have three different burn potions."

"Four. I added Vulcan's Paste, as well. With a dragon involved, you can't be too prepared, I'd say."

"Eh, my brother won't let himself get singed," Murdoch said, "let alone roasted. To hear him tell it, he rode the mightiest dragoness of the Mountains of the Moon, and she carried him all the way to Egypt and the Crystal Mountain. Of course, he may have just been along for the ride and not had much say in it once she was in the air, and I understand that he had some pretty angry wizards chasing him across Ethiopia at the time, so he was desperate for any mode of transport out of there, but still, he escaped on dragonback and lived to tell the tale."

"I haven't heard that story of his before."

Murdoch chuckled, a rich, deep, warm sound. "I am sure he'll be happy to tell it to you sometime...but if he does, I'll be wanting a full bottle of whisky in my hand. Or a half bottle, the other half already imbibed!"

"A long story? One of his fabulous tales?"

Murdoch, still smiling, drew Poppy down to sit beside him on the cushioned bench set against the stadium wall. "Aye, long and fabulous, but true, I think, at least in the main. But I've heard it already, more than a few times. It's a good one, and even has a couple of star-crossed lovers in it...whom he helped to reunite, of course. He'd already lost his Chameleon Cloak, his broomstick, and his wand by the time he came upon the dragon. So it's quite some tale...and it usually includes how he got his new wand of olive wood and Jobberknoll feather. A good story for a long winter's evening by the fire. But here comes Mr Hagrid," Murdoch said with a nod.

Severus found the conversation about Malcolm as intriguing as any upcoming feat of skill, and had paid no attention to Filius and Poppy's conversation and their reminiscences. It seemed that Gareth's tales about his father...and his unabashed hero-worship of him...were perhaps even more founded in reality than Severus had come to believe.

He also found himself envying the other wizard's relaxed manner with Poppy, the ease with which he touched her and pulled her down to sit beside him. Severus didn't know whether he would ever feel such ease with her...or she with him. He tried to imagine pulling her down to sit beside him at some school assembly or down at the Three Broomsticks during a staff night out, casually putting his arm around her, leaning into her to speak, having her rest her head against him or place her hand on his arm, and his imagination failed him. He felt a sudden sense of bleakness. He could never be for Poppy what she would want and need from a wizard, and he'd be a source of embarrassment to her even if he overcame his own reticence in public.

Poppy laughed as she and Filius reminisced together about his early days as the Hogwarts Charms master, but she noticed that Severus was far more interested in eavesdropping on her conversation with Murdoch. She was fairly sure that they'd not spoken of anything particularly personal, and she had, after all, brought Severus into the memory: she couldn't very well ask him not to pay any attention to her younger self and Murdoch. Still, when he appeared not to notice when Hagrid came out and requested quiet, she waved her virtual hand in front of him.

"Severus? Severus!" Poppy waved her hand in his face. "Malcolm's about to come out...you don't want to miss this."

Severus blinked and turned toward her, nodding. "Of course."

The three turned their attention to the pitch just as the great marquee vanished to reveal a young Welsh Green...an agitated young Welsh Green. Severus watched with fascination as Malcolm McGonagall approached the creature and succeeded in mounting her, but as the beast became increasingly irritated, Severus found himself distracted again. Memory-Poppy jumped as the dragon hopped its way across the pitch in their direction, and Murdoch reached out and put his arms around her, pulling her back protectively. Severus saw how young Poppy leaned back against the tall, brawny wizard, and how she allowed him to hold her and reassure her even as the crowd gasped and a few onlookers even let out sharp cries of alarm.

"It's quite nerve-racking even now," Filius observed, "having that great creature so close! You would have been safer in the stands!"

"Albus suggested I sit with them up in the stands," Poppy replied, flinching a bit as the dragon let out one more fiery blast before it leapt into the air, Malcolm astride the beast's neck, "but I thought it best to be down on the pitch. He did offer to have the dragon keeper stay with me, as well, but I didn't think it the best use of his talents, and Murdoch was with me, too...and he was certain that his brother was equal to the task."

The three watched Malcolm's flight, three dragon-handlers on broomstick flying nearby, until finally Fawkes arrived, and after some prodding from the phoenix, Malcolm finally abandoned his mount, taking hold of the bird's tail feathers. The memory continued just a bit longer before the three popped out.

"What about a bit of dessert before the duel?" Filius asked. "I'd not mind a snack right now."

"All right, thank you," Poppy replied. She looked up at Severus, wondering what he was thinking now that he had seen her, so young and fresh, in the memory.

"Indeed. Tea would be welcome after that," Severus agreed. "Although the dragon was not really there, I almost imagined that I felt the sensation of heat from its fire. Could you feel it at the time, Poppy? The dragon seemed to come very close to you and Murdoch."

"It did. We had deliberately set up down at the Slytherin changing rooms because it was farthest from the marquee, but the dragon still came very close, and we could feel the heat from its jets of flame before it finally took off. I'd never seen anything like it before or since until Charlie and Wilhelmina rode that Hebridean Black during the battle last year."

Filius called his house-elf for some tea and biscuits, and the three moved to the other end of the sitting room near the fireplace. Filius sat in a wingback chair that was well-proportioned to his height, and Poppy took a seat on the sofa, patting the cushion beside her. Severus sat down, trying not to sit overly close to Poppy, since Filius was there.

"That was an interesting bit of wandless magic Malcolm did there in the beginning," Severus said. "You hadn't mentioned that he was adept at that."

"Oh, yes, quite. I suppose I'd forgotten, or that I'm so used to remembering Malcolm's varied talents, that that particular one hadn't stood out."

"Does he do any wandless magic in the duel?" Severus asked curiously.

Filius thought for a moment, shaking his head slowly.

"I thought he had," Poppy said, her brow furrowed. "We'll just have to see, I suppose. I think that...well, I won't say, since I don't want to spoil it for Severus, but I think there was at least one particular thing that he performed wandlessly."

Filius nodded. "I think we should wait and see. I've been meaning for the last few weeks to look over my notes from the duel, but I never found the time. It was a complex match, though, certainly!" Filius waved his wand and poured out tea for his visitors. "Biscuit, anyone?"

Ten minutes later, Poppy excused herself for a moment, and Filius turned to Severus. "I gather she doesn't know you're practising for a wandless duel with Albus?"

Severus shook his head. "And I'm not going to tell her until I'm certain. I . . . wish it to remain confidential."

Filius nodded understandingly. "I won't say a word, then. I understand that you could feel pressured to carry through with the wandless duel whether you wanted to or not if too many people knew."

"It's not just that...though of course, that is part of it...but if Poppy knew, I would feel a particular kind of pressure to decide in that direction, and greater concern, as well, about embarrassing myself if I did it and weren't ready."

"Don't worry about that aspect, Severus. You'll be ready. You may not be as comfortable with the idea of a wandless duel as opposed to a standard duel, but I believe you'll be ready. And I don't think that Albus would want to embarrass you, either."

"Whether he wanted it or not, it's still possible, even likely, that I'd be embarrassed," Severus replied with a shake of his head. "My blocks . . . I don't understand why they're not improving."

"But they are! I am casting much harder than I had been...and harder than I would in most practice duels. I have to cast forcefully and time my casts perfectly in order to get past your blocks. You simply need to improve your timing. I also think it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to develop new blocks, ones of your own devising, as you have with your offensive spells."

Severus sighed and nodded. "There is much less scope, though, when it comes to purely defensive spells."

"I think you need to think about them differently..."

"Think about what differently?" Poppy asked, returning to the room and sitting down beside Severus again.

"We were discussing some duelling strategies," Filius said. "Duelling is far different from traditional combat, particularly if one is attempting to avoid any real damage to one's opponent."

"It doesn't seem that those attempts are succeeding very well in these series of duels," Poppy said, "if the multiple injuries I've treated after each one is any indication!"

"Oh, they were minor sporting injuries," Filius said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "and you dealt with them all quickly and left no one with any lasting damage. Nothing like some of the more serious duels I've seen, or ones in which I participated in my youth."

"A very good thing, too! We've all seen enough trauma, thank you very much!" Poppy said. "I didn't approve of these duels when Minerva announced you were organising them, but it was too late for me to make any meaningful objection. After the battle last spring, the last thing the children needed was to see grown witches and wizards casting hexes, curses, and jinxes on each other and calling it 'fun'!"

"I didn't realise you felt that strongly," Filius said.

"I did speak privately with Minerva, and she assured me that the participants would be well-chosen by you and that it would be good for the students to see duelling in a different light. I have tried not to be a wet blanket about it."

"I hope that you have been persuaded," Filius said.

"Hmpf. I would rather not be treating duelling injuries at all," Poppy said. "I don't know how we can tell children that it is forbidden to hex each other or to call each other out, but then turn around and present these duels in which we officially sanction people casting curses at one another."

"There is a difference between a sporting duel and a grudge fight or fracas in the corridors," Filius said, "and I'm sure that the students can recognise that."

"Some. Some might not, or might just use whatever excuse they can to pounce on another student," Poppy said. "But I'll learn to live with it."

"It's an extension of what the students learn in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Poppy," Severus said. "Try thinking of it that way. You wouldn't want them to eliminate that course, would you?"

"Of course not. I'm no Umbridge who thinks it's better to leave the students helpless and have them grow up to rely only on the occasionally dubious protections of the Ministry, and I do live in the real world. I'll try to view it that way, then, Sev– erus," Poppy said, catching herself as she almost addressed him by his nickname, "as an extension of their Defence lessons, though I do wish that my services weren't always required!"

"Shall we view the duel between Albus and Malcolm now, then?" Filius asked, clearly glad to have avoided engaging Poppy in any serious argument about the merits of duelling.

Poppy nodded. "After that, I have to be going, I'm afraid. I have more packing to finish before Albus's dinner this evening. I'm leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow to spend Easter day with my family, and I won't be back until late, and then our Portkey to the Zauberstrandhotel is scheduled for very early Monday morning, so I have to be sure I'm ready to leave."

"Pomona's quite looking forward to the trip," Filius said as the three headed back over to the table and the Pensieve. "It's been years since she's had a witches' holiday like this. Of course, I'll be joining you all on Thursday morning, which will be very nice."

"Have any plans for while she's away?" Poppy asked as she drew her wand, assuming that her memory would be used again for the duel.

"Severus and I are doing a bit of duelling practice, and I'm going to hop down to my cottage and check on it, make sure that it's in order and all my charms have held. I'm having dinner with my great-niece and her family on Wednesday, as well."

"I'm glad you won't be at loose ends!" Poppy said.

"I have too many interests to be at loose ends long," Filius said with a smile. "Never enough time to do everything!"

"Shall I draw out the memory?" Poppy asked.

"No, I think that this time, the vantage point from the stands would be best," Filius said. "You remained down on the pitch, didn't you?"

Poppy nodded, pocketing her wand. "I was quite close, but I don't suppose that I had the perspective on the duel that you did...although we could walk up closer to them in the memory."

Filius thought about that a moment. "Perhaps another time you might share that perspective with Severus, but this one will give him the larger view of the duel, especially the, um, the thing at the end," Filius said.

Poppy smiled. "Yes, that probably would be more effective as seen from above, though believe me, I was quite as . . . as affected as anyone in the stands!"

Filius chuckled at Severus's puzzled expression, then he raised his wand to his head and gradually drew out a long silver thread of memory and deposited it in the Pensieve. Together, the three entered the longest memory yet.

The three popped back out of the memory, and Severus took a long, deep breath.

Filius chuckled at Severus's expression. "So, what did you think?"

"I think that you should have had the memory extend beyond that point," Severus said, blinking. The last thing they had witnessed was Poppy racing toward the two wizards, her potions bag clutched in her hand, the long white veil of her matron's cap floating out behind her. "I presume that was the end of the duel, but . . . were either of them badly injured?"

Poppy shook her head. "Malcolm was coming round when I got to him, and Albus only had a few bruises and that one long gash on his head, despite appearances that the contrary should be the case."

Severus looked over at Flitwick, a hard expression in his eyes. "Dumbledore knocked him over with two fingers. Stunned him. Wandlessly. Just . . . like . . . that." Severus flicked his fingers.

"But he took Malcolm completely unawares, Severus," Filius said. "You saw that. And before that, Malcolm held his own pretty well."

Severus nodded. Yes, the oldest McGonagall brother had held his own quite well, although he was certainly out-matched in skill, age, and experience. "He was, indeed, quite inventive. Very impressive control, as well. And there were some nice wandless and two-handed spells, too, which are rare to see." He shook his head thoughtfully, reflecting on the duel. "I have witnessed a great many exercises of magic, but some of this really was genuinely unique. More so on McGonagall's part than on Dumbledore's, actually, I believe...although the younger wizard did need to compensate for his lesser experience and skill, and that probably accounts for much of his inventiveness."

"Indeed!" Filius agreed. "In fact, there are a few things he did then that, although they may seem standard to you now, were actually original at the time. His field of sunflowers has been imitated many times...though never to such a splendid effect, I must say...and now one often sees tall plants of one sort or another springing up in a duel, so much so, we forget that it was once a new technique for obscuring your opponent's line of sight. Malcolm was quite something. Still, as you say, it was an uneven match at the time. Malcolm did become more adept over the years, and if he were still alive, who knows . . ."

"Dumbledore, though . . . well, I know enough now to see that I shouldn't use any fire magic with the old trickster, that's for certain."

Filius chuckled. "That stopped a few hearts, I'll tell you!"

"It did mine!" Poppy said. "I was completely shocked, and then shocked a second time to see him standing there behind Malcolm, whole as could be!"

"Didn't he do something like that in the war, though?" Severus asked with a frown. "I seem to have heard something once . . . about how he defeated Grindelwald. Vanished in flames and then reappeared in another part of the room."

"Yes, although I don't know the details," Filius said, nodding. "Albus actually had thought that trick wouldn't be a new one to Malcolm, though it was, and it was quite effective!"

"Poor Malcolm, though!" Poppy said. "You should have seen his face! He thought he'd just exploded the Hogwarts Headmaster!"

"I could see his face from my vantage point," Severus said. "Gareth is much like his father, I think. Malcolm appeared brash for so much of these events, but then there in that moment, you saw how he so frantically tried to stop his own hex, and then afterward, when he went over to where Dumbledore had vanished, you could see how stricken he was. I do not know whether such feeling is a strength or a weakness in life, but . . . it is admirable."

"Of course he would be disturbed to believe he'd just killed someone in a sporting duel," Filius said. "Anyone would be, even aside from the possible legal and social repercussions."

"I think that Severus is referring to the underlying compassion that both Gareth and his father have," Poppy said, "and to the fact that even before Albus was hit, when Malcolm would reasonably have believed that his curse would only injure Albus, but not kill him, Malcolm nonetheless tried to stop the curse from doing even that much."

"True," Filius said. "He was a true gentleman, and an honourable wizard, as is his son."

"Of course," Severus said, "I would not have been taken in by Dumbledore that way, and I wouldn't have tried to block my own spell. I know Dumbledore too well. If he's standing there looking that pleased to have a spell flying at him, then there's no cause to try to avert it." Severus paused. "But I likely would not have anticipated anything other than some kind of clever block or parry. And even though I now recall something about Dumbledore's trick during his fight with Grindelwald, I doubt that in the heat of the moment...no pun intended...I would have remembered that. So his apparent demise would certainly have been a shock."

"Malcolm thought it was a very funny trick, actually, once he was over the shock of it," Poppy said, shaking her head. "I suppose that looking back at this distance, it was somewhat amusing, but I must admit that I didn't see the humour in it at all that day. And Minerva, I believe, was rather irate with Albus about it."

Severus smirked. "I can imagine...seeing him vanish in an exploding fireball like that! She wouldn't have been happy at all."

"She also didn't approve of the dragon," Poppy said, "but I think that was partly because she really didn't have as much faith in Malcolm's abilities as she should have."

"Malcolm said to me once that Minerva . . . dismissed his talents. I don't know as that was the exact phrase that he used, but he said that she had long underestimated him. I think it was a source of some unhappiness for him," Filius said.

"But that did change," Poppy reminded him.

"Yes, working here together for that year was very good for them both, I think." Filius turned to Severus. "There was such an age difference between them, you see, that they hadn't grown up together; so Minerva hadn't known him very well when she was a child, and she hadn't had much opportunity to come to know him better as an adult, either."

"I think she also . . . well, she is Minerva, and I love her," Poppy said, "but she's got rather set ideas about certain things, and even more so when she was younger, I think, and she had a very different notion of fun than Malcolm had...or she claimed to, at any rate. She also has always been one for the books, you know, and possesses a great deal of self-discipline. I remember that when we were students, she'd sit revising in the library all day on the first warm, sunny Saturday of spring when no one else would manage more than an hour or two before they'd break free and go outdoors. Malcolm was much less studious, though no less intelligent."

"And he had read a great deal," Filius chimed in, not wanting Severus to think that his old friend had been an illiterate dullard.

Poppy chuckled. "He also read faster than she did...with comprehension...which I think rather put her out when she realised it. She thought that he couldn't possibly be reading the books she was giving him for his Animagus training, and she set him a little oral examination. She was a bit embarrassed, and he was more than a little angry, after he gave her details even she hadn't remembered. I don't think he spoke to her for a week after that."

"No, it was only a few days," Filius said. "After all, he did want to complete his Animagus training, but Albus refused to take over, saying he wasn't going to be stuck in the middle of a sibling squabble, so Malcolm had to go back to her and accept her apology...and she had to admit she'd been wrong."

"It seemed longer at the time," Poppy said. She looked over at Severus and said, "It's not a comfortable thing to have the Transfiguration mistress and the Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor at odds, but when they're brother and sister and they aren't speaking to each other, that's very uncomfortable, indeed! Especially since everyone liked them both."

"Gertrude just ignored the entire thing, though, if I remember correctly," Filius said. "Unflappable, that witch. Just treated them both as usual...though I do imagine that she had a few words to say to Malcolm in private!"

"Probably, but probably only once, and she likely ended it with, 'and now you'll have to go talk to Minerva about it,'" Poppy said with a laugh. "But now I need to go finish my packing...did you know that Gertrude's coming this evening?" she added to Filius.

"Yes! It's good that she's getting out more! I'm looking forward to seeing her," Filius replied.

Poppy rose, and the two wizards stood. On her way to the door, she turned and looked up at Severus. "Come by and pick me up this evening? We could go together."

Severus hesitated. He hesitated a moment too long.

"Never mind! Come to think of it, I think I'd rather Floo from the Hospital Wing to the Headmistress's Office, and it is out of your way to come up to the fourth floor, anyway." Poppy smiled brightly. "I'll see you both later, then!"

Author's Note: I know this update has been a long time coming, but I hope that you enjoy it despite the delay! (RL has been burdensome and inspiration, scarce!) I'd like to thank everyone who sent me little messages and notes of encouragement over the last couple of months. I've really appreciated it!

If you feel like reading about the events that Severus visited in this chapter, they are from Chapter 135, "A Spree," in Resolving a Misunderstanding, and I also posted it as the one-shot, "A Spree with Albus," over on my WordPress blog, edited for continuity and to eliminate extraneous material that is in the beginning of the original chapter. You can find the link to my blog and my blog fics on my TPP author's page.

Although I haven't written or posted much in a few months, I did manage to post a new one-shot to TPP, "Minerva's Mistletoe," which is another take on the staff holiday party here in A Long Vernal Season.