A/N: I own nothing!
The desk hit his head hard. Or rather, his head hit the desk hard. Even though it was what he had intended to do, he had not intended to do it at such force as to knock out a few of his formidable brain cells. With any luck, those brain cells would be the few that had retained the latest of Cornelius Fudge's despairing rants and advice-seeking missions (really, that man had no hope. How he even got to be Minister for Magic in the first place remained a mystery to this day).
But it may just have knocked out the new bit of information he had just learned; the very reason, in fact, for him having been banging his head against the ancient mahogany in the first place.
The Headmaster's musings were interrupted by an all-too-forceful knocking on his office door. There could be no question as to who that could be; there was only one person in the entire castle who would dare strike his door in such an impudent manner.
Sure enough, without even waiting for an invitation to enter, the willowy yet paradoxically strong frame of Professor Minerva McGonagall burst through the doorway. The strength undoubtedly came from her attention-commanding presence… or perhaps it was that ramrod-straight posture she had developed, which made her look even taller than her already considerable height. Either way, it was a scary presence that startled even Albus Dumbledore upon occasion.
This, unfortunately, was one of those occasions.
"Albus, why on Merlin's green earth are you moping about up here?"
The Headmaster stared down at his intertwined fingertips, refusing to meet her eyes. When it was evident that he was in no hurry to reply, Minerva continued in tones tinged with a thickening Scottish brogue.
"You do know that the entire staff is waiting for you three floors from here?"
A feeble nod was all he could manage under the circumstances.
"Albus… are- are you alright?" There was a sudden tone of concern in her voice that made Albus feel like a child again. "What's the matter?"
The Headmaster plucked a newspaper from his desk drawer and pushed it in front of her. It took the Transfiguration Professor a moment to realise that the photographs were not moving. It must be a Muggle newspaper.
"It's that awful Rowling woman." The mention of the name sent a wave of shivers through Minerva's unusually straight spine. It had taken them weeks to sort him out after he had read that book she wrote and they had finally gotten him to come to terms with the fact that Ms. Rowling was correct and that he had, in fact, gone grey.
"What did she say this time?" Minerva's hands now rested firmly on her hips and her right eyebrow soared towards her hairline.
The Headmaster seemed to be reluctant to answer. His eyes seemed magnetically drawn to his own leather shoes and his head fell into his palms. The words that left his mouth were obscured by his hands, so were heard only as an incoherent mumble.
"Albus?" Minerva moved closer to him now, crossing the room to close the distance between them. Long fingers caressed his cheek and drew his face up to look upon her. Sapphires met emeralds for an instant.
"She told everybody that I am gay!"
The silence that rippled around the office was palpable. Minerva seemed lost for words and Albus could not bring himself to look at her again. What must she think?
"Well…" her fingers were still on his face. "I… that is just preposterous!"
Slowly, painfully slowly, she brought her rosy lips towards his. Both sets of eyes fluttered to a close as they finally made contact. What primarily had been tentativeness quickly transformed into a heady passion as tongues battled for dominance in the power struggle of the Headmaster and his Deputy. Hands wound into hair and slithered down bodies. Unwilling ears heard not the whistles or contemptuous tuts of the surrounding portraits. Only when the need for oxygen and some level of coherent thought was too great did they finally break apart, breathing heavily and grinning like schoolchildren.
"You simply must stop letting this woman get to you, dear," Minerva said slightly breathlessly, eliciting a hearty chuckle from Albus.
AS she reached the door to his office once more, she turned, raising an eyebrow and leaning her hip against the doorframe.
"Just promise me that you don't think about men every time we're together."