A/N: I'm reading book 4 right now and this got into my head and won't go away, so now, I'm writing it. It's different and more than a little bit against canon, but the other Dumbledore/McGonagall fans out there should enjoy it.

Goodnight, Love

"Albus?" Professor Albus Dumbledore looked up from his desk and smiled slightly at his wife of nearly fifty years. "Aren't you coming up to bed? It's been a long night."

"I'm not particularly tired, thank you, Minerva, darling; however I did want to speak with you before the night was over." She looked at him expectantly and Albus hurried on, knowing she would find him sentimental and a bit foolish. "I spoke rather sharply to your earlier and I wanted to apologize."

Minerva frowned. She couldn't remember Albus ever speaking sharply to her in twenty years of marriage. "When?" she asked, clearly confused by his apology.

Albus smiled again, "Clearly, my dear, the mind truly is the first thing to go with old age." He saw the corners of her very thin mouth turn up into what could almost be classified as a smile. "I was referring to the manner in which I spoke to you when we were down in the Defense Professor's Office with Harry earlier this evening."

Now, she remembered. 'Leave it to Albus to apologize for the most ridiculous thing when I don't even remember it right at the off. As if I would worry over him "speaking sharply" to me at a time like that!'

"Your apology is accepted Albus. Now, will you please come up to bed. It's after midnight, and even the greatest mind of our century needs his sleep."

"Thank you for the compliment, love, but I'm still working. I'll come up in a bit. You go on and get some rest."

Minerva looked at him with eyes that were laced with concern and worry. "It's not you fault, Albus," she said, quietly. At first,. Minerva wasn't sure if he had heard her. Albus stared down at his desk for a long while before speaking.

"It is my responsibility to keep the students of this schools safe. I failed to realize that there was a death eater in my school, teaching my students, putting them in danger every moment of their time here. That, is my fault entirely. It is furthermore my fault that two of my students were transported directly into the hands of Voldemort, where one of them faced Voldemort in a duel in which he was more than lucky to escape with his life and the other was murdered. These things, Minerva, are indeed my fault." Albus did not realize that she had come over to his desk until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, Albus," Minerva said sadly, "there was so little you could have done. None of us had any idea that he was an imposter. He did a very good job of impersonating Alastor. If you had told me you suspected he was an imposter, I would have thought you'd gone mad. You cannot blame yourself, Albus."

"There are so many things, Minerva, that I see now that would have led me to the conclusion. So many times, Alastor seemed to be out if character, if only slightly it was still noticeable. I should not have been so blind as to not realize all the signs. I knew he was getting stronger, knew that Peter Pettigrew had returned to him. I knew it was going to happen at any time, yet I failed to act. I convinced myself that I was suffering from paranoia. I was foolish and arrogant enough to think that I had everything under control."

"Albus stop! Just stop right now!" Minerva couldn't take it a second longer. She felt as if she would burst if she listened to him speak for one more moment in that dejected tone. "There was nothing you could have done with the information you had. Nothing! Albus, if you continue to dwell on this it will consume you. Don't let yourself be torn apart by it. Please!" Minerva looked at him now and her eyes were filled with tears. "I can't loose you," she whispered.

Albus was taken aback. He felt terribly selfish. Here he had been rambling on about his mistakes when his wife had come to him, clearly scared out of her wits and needing comfort and it had taken him nearly fifteen minutes to realize he distress. He cursed himself inwardly for his lack of sensitivity and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry, Minerva. I'm so sorry, love. I should have realized that you were upset."

"I-I know I'm b-being ridiculous about all of this b-but I just c-can't stand to see you s-so depressed, Albus. If you aren't strong then w-who will there be t-to get us through this time?" Minerva cried into his long, sliver beard.

"It's alright, love. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be right here, fighting alongside you, and we'll beat him again, love. We will. I know it." Albus kissed her forehead and held her tightly until Minerva had regained her composure, which was sometime later.

"I'm going to go back to bed, Albus. Are you coming?" Minerva asked. Her voice had its usual briskness back.

"I'll be up in a little while, love. Are you alright, now?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. The thought of losing you just makes me crazy, Albus. You've no idea what it was like for me during the first war. I would just sit her for hours, waiting for you to come back home. There were days, weeks even, when I had no idea if you were even still alive-" Minerva's voice broke with emotion once more and Albus stood and walked over to her. He enfolded her into his arms once more.

"It will not be the same this time. I promise," he said, running his fingers through her very long, graying, black hair. Albus loved it when she had her hair down. It was so long and silky. Minerva pulled away slightly and looked up at her husband.

"I really am going to go up to bed, now. I'm tired and I'm sure you are too. It's been such a long night," she said.

Albus nodded and kissed her lips softly. "I'll be there in about five minutes, love." Minerva nodded and headed back up the stairs to their bedroom. Albus sighed and began pacing around his office. He knew that there was a lot he could have done to prevent the events of earlier that night, but he also knew that now was no the time to dwell on past mistakes. He had a job to do and a wife and school to protect and he'd be damned if he was going to lose them now. Albus walked upstairs and slipped into bed next to his wife. Minerva wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her to him. "Goodnight, my love," he whispered into her ear.

"Goodnight Albus."

A/N: What can I say? I was bored and I felt like writing and this little plot bunny has been nagging me for about two weeks now. Forgive me for the unceasing fluff.

Love from

Lyny Angell