One Too Many Crises

"I'll admit, I'm a little surprised we're letting her stay," Pomona said, taking her cards for the new hand. "Don't get me wrong, I think it's noble of Albus to forgive the girl, but there are limits."

"Really?" Severus asked. "Ten."

"She could do with some manners."

"I'll drink to that," Minerva said, raising her glass. "Call."

"How did your meeting with her go?" Filius asked. "Better than the last one, I hope. Raise to 15."

"She didn't break the door down," Minerva said, "so I'd call that progress. I know we run a school for magical adolescents, but I could do without the temper tantrums."

"Magical adolescents," Severus said. "Asking for them not to throw temper tantrums is like asking Pomona to climb down from her high horse and join the rest of us."

Pomona gave him an unamused scowl before calling Filius's bet. "I don't disagree with his decision, but it might be best to consider the consequences of allowing her to stay if Albus is serious about his plans for the upcoming year."

"He's already met with Fudge about it," Minerva said as Severus folded. "It seems the Triwizard Tournament will indeed be held at Hogwarts. Call."

Minerva looked at her companions' hands, and felt a small sense of joy in taking the hand. It was diminished somewhat by their new topic of conversation.

"With our luck, we'll lose half the students," Severus said. "With my luck, Peta-Lorrum won't be among them." He rolled his eyes at Minerva's glare. "Don't give me that."

"That's really not necessary, Minerva," Pomona said, adding 15 points in chips to the new pot. "Severus is only overcompensating so we don't discover that he was the one who harbored Peta-Lorrum after the boggart incident."

Severus gave her the same glare she'd given him just a minute before.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Raise to twenty."

"I caught one of the Weasley Twins helping Granger downstairs. I don't think either one noticed me, but I can only think of one place they'd be going."

Minerva pressed her lips into a thin smile. "My my, Severus. I had no idea you and Peta-Lorrum were sneaking about. Does this mean I win the dating pool? I did have 10 knuts on you and Peta-Lorrum."

"Did you have to give her a spell to fire?" Filius whispered to Pomona.

"Only because they keep each other honest," Pomona replied.

"I still won't admit to anything," Severus said. "Although speaking of the dating pool, I believe I won that with Malfoy and Parkinson."

"The safe bet, I should think," Minerva said, calling Severus's bet. "I'm still not convinced I lost with Weasley and Granger."

"They have been odd this year," Filius said, adding more chips to the pot. "Although I'm impressed by Weasley's talent with summoning. He's only a third-year, and he handles it as if he's a sixth-year." He took a drink before continuing. "That's not even mentioning Granger's Arithmancy O.W.L."

"Septima mentioned that," Pomona said. "I can't say I'm surprised. I'd go so far as to say Peta-Lorrum is actually encouraging them to reach further. I was quite impressed by how well they all handled the earthquake. Longbottom especially did a wonderful job."

"That was the most surprising part of all of it," Severus said. "I would've thought he'd have given up at the start."

"He wanted to, but every time he thought about it, I think he recited something to himself," Pomona said. "It was certainly a conscious decision to keep going." She added more chips to the pot. "I'm glad he's alright after all that. And I saw Perks back in class in June."

"I'll admit, she was impressive," Severus said.

"That's understating it," Minerva said. "She's 14 years old, and she willingly sacrificed her life for another. One day, if we're all lucky, some of that maturity will rub off on Peta-Lorrum."

"With our luck, she'll do what she did to Granger and destroy it," Severus said.

"Speaking of Gryffindors that are far more mature than they should be," Pomona said, "I'll be a little sad to see Nertlyn and our eldest Weasley go. Despite the immediate evidence to the contrary, they've both been a good influence on their peers."

"They're certainly better than some," Minerva said, turning her attention to Filius.

"Price is a good student," Filius said. "She might not be the same as Nertlyn, or half of Pomona's badgers, but with the unfortunate exception of Lovegood, she's been a model prefect. Besides which, Peta-Lorrum wasn't supposed to be in Ravenclaw Tower, and I've met with the other prefects after that to remind them that any such incidents of night terrors were to be reported to me."

"That is odd, though," Pomona said. "Girls so young shouldn't be having dreams like that, even if she did lose her mother. That was trauma, not grief."

"I imagine they'll fade with the Dementors," Minerva said. "I still can't figure out what Fudge was thinking, sending those things here."

"He was thinking that the Dementors have kept Azkaban protected for years, and that Sirius Black was just a slip up," Filius said, ultimately taking the hand. "I would tend to agree with him. He could've handled this incident a lot better, and he's clearly threatened by Albus, but he's only a man."

"A man who refuses to listen to reason," Minerva said.

"He's a man who allowed his own power to go to his head," Filius said. "Besides which, Dementors shouldn't have been as bad as they were. Were they inside Hogwarts, perhaps, but this seemed… abnormal."

"Agreed," Severus said. "Having known Pettigrew, he's not nearly competent enough to have devised all of this. Someone was helping him."

"I think we've had one too many crises this year," Pomona said. "We're all becoming paranoid, and could use some time to relax this summer."

"We'll have Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arriving next year," Minerva said. "Albus thinks October should work, then have the first task at the end of November. Good luck with relaxing."

"He's not going to allow just anyone to enter, is he?" Pomona asked. "Some students are far too reckless for their own good."

"I agree," Severus said, glaring at Minerva.

"Albus said he's not going to allow anyone under 17 to enter, and that includes Peta-Lorrum," Minerva said. "I don't know how he intends to stop her, but he insisted that he had a plan."

"Of course he has," Severus said.

"We'll worry about it when the time comes," Pomona said, receiving her new cards. "What's everyone doing this summer? Anything fun? Ten."

"I'm going to hide away in the countryside and hope Peta-Lorrum doesn't bother me again," Minerva said as Severus added to the pot.

"The World Cup will be in Britain this year," Filius said. "I got tickets months back. It'll be exciting to see how that turns out."

"It sounds like Ireland's got a good shot at the cup," Minerva said, taking another drink. "Raise to 20."

"I heard that's why they chose to build a new stadium," Filius said. "Call."

Pomona raised to 30, then turned to Severus. "There's an island off the coast of Australia that they recently began exploring. The one that used to be covered in basilisks."

"I heard," Severus said. "Raise to 40."

Minerva broke off her conversation with Filius, and eyed Severus. After a moment of an intense staring contest, she folded. A moment later, Filius followed suit.

Pomona raised to 50. "They're considering opening it up to researchers soon. You might enjoy going."

Severus countered with 100. "I sincerely doubt that."

"Perhaps you'll find something that can seal someone's throat. Call."

Severus laid out his hand, smirking at Pomona. "Four of a kind, fives. That's an interesting idea, but she's honored our deal with regard to Potter's new broom."

"What deal was that?" Minerva asked.

"For every sickle I donated, she wouldn't speak to me for a day, unless under extenuating circumstances. And if she does, she may not be excited about anything."

"You paid off a student," Minerva said flatly. "You paid off a student to not talk to you or show enthusiasm towards you."

"If that's how you want to look at it," Severus said. "Pomona, we're waiting."

Pomona smiled politely as she laid out her hand. "Jack-high straight flush."

Her companions groaned as the pot moved to her pile.