A sleek silver tabby could only watch in horror as the tall, auburn-haired man fell to the ground with a thud, mud splattering everywhere. Ignoring the rain pouring down, the cat splashed through the mud to the man's side. In moments, a slender young woman with raven-dark hair pulled back into a long braid replaced the cat. The black robes she was wearing were liberally splashed with mud.
"Albus, please don't be dead." She reached under the close-cropped auburn beard and felt his throat for a pulse. For a few heart-stopping moments, she didn't feel anything. She sighed her relief when a thready pulse made itself known. She held her other hand over his mouth and, after a few moments, she felt a slight breath on her palm. She pulled a wand out of her pocket. "Ennervate!"
His eyes didn't open. The young woman buried her face in her hands, trying to think. After a moment, she fished a pendant from inside her robes and muttered a word that was lost in the patter of rain on mud. Tucking the pendant back inside her robes, she wiped the rain from her face and looked around. Another body lay nearby: the Dark Wizard, Grindelwald was finally dead. All thanks to Albus. Unless she got help, though, Albus would be dead as well.
A series of pops announced the arrival of three other young women. One was tall and slender with honey-blonde hair. The second was of average height with a lean, athletic build and a shock of red-gold hair. The third one was short and plump with flyaway brown hair. None of them were pleased to find themselves drenched just seconds after arriving. "Bloody hell! Min! Why'd you have to drag us--Oh."
The blonde was the first to reach the young woman's side. "What happened, Minerva?"
"He defeated Grindelwald," Minerva's voice was shaking and she watched tensely as her friend cast a Diagnostic charm. "Can you do anything for him, Poppy?"
Poppy sighed and shook her head. "No, Grindelwald managed to hit him with a Draining curse."
Minerva stifled a sob and gripped Albus' hand tightly in both of hers. "No, he can't die. Not now."
"What about the pact, Poppy?" the redhead asked, ignoring the mud and crouching beside her friends. "It worked for Min. Why wouldn't it work for Professor Dumbledore?"
Poppy shook her head. "These are entirely different circumstances, 'Mara."
"So we can't do anything for him?" the fourth girl asked, standing beside Xiomara.
"No, we can't," Poppy looked at her friend. "I'm sorry, Min."
Minerva was staring fixedly at Albus' face. "There is one spell."
The other three stared at her. "What spell, Min?"
Minerva's dark green eyes were intense as she raised them to look at her friends. "First love."
Xiomara was the first to speak. "Oh, no, Min, you could kill him."
"He'll die anyway!" Minerva shouted back. "I can't lose him! Not now!"
Poppy gripped her friend's shoulder. "Min, are you sure?"
"It's the only chance we have left, Poppy," Minerva answered quietly, laying her right hand over Albus' heart. She couldn't even feel his heartbeat through his robes. Her voice was steady when she spoke, "Amora Primus"
The other three watched helplessly as their friend leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Albus'. As the rain poured down on all of them, energy seemed to rush up from the pit of Minerva's belly, through her, filling her up, and then flowed into the unconscious man. When the energy was gone, she slowly sat up. Nervously biting her lower lip, she watched his face for any change. Rain continued to fall, splattering the four young women with mud, but they ignored it.
Just when Minerva was about to give up hope, Albus stirred. "Albus? Can you hear me?" He stirred again and Minerva caught his hand in both of hers once more. "Albus?"
"Min...erva?" She nearly wept her relief. He was alive! "What are...you doing...here?"
She wiped the dampness from her face as Poppy promptly cast a Diagnostic spell. "I couldn't let you face him on your own."
He struggled to sit up, but Minerva easily held him down. "Grindel...wald."
"Is dead," Minerva assured him, trying to ignore the weariness that suddenly hit her. "You killed him, Albus. He won't hurt anyone anymore."
Albus sighed and laid back. Minerva looked at Poppy. "He's fine, Minerva. He's just asleep now."
Minerva sighed and cradled him in her arms. "Thank God."
"We need to get him in out of the rain," Poppy told them briskly.
"I know of a cave we can use that's not far from here," Sylvia volunteered, awe for Minerva in her blue eyes.
"Good." Poppy conjured up a stretcher and the four friends managed to get Albus onto it without too much trouble. With one at each corner of the stretcher, Sylvia led them to a cave that was dry and warm. In no time at all, Poppy had cast a drying charm on each of them and made up a bed for Albus near the fire that Xiomara had started. Once he was tucked safe and warm into the bed, Minerva made herself comfortable nearby so she could watch over him. When she fell asleep, Poppy, Xiomara, and Sylvia made up a bed for her beside Albus' and made her comfortable. Soon, all five of them slept around the fire. Outside the cave, rain continued to fall.
Albus woke to the sound of a crackling fire and the feel of someone in his arms. He frowned and, moving carefully because he was still weak, looked down to see Minerva McGonagall fast asleep with her head nestled in the crook of his shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around him. He had wrapped his own arms around her and it felt--right. He sighed and watched her sleep for a few moments. The lines that had already begun to appear around her eyes and mouth had smoothed away in sleep, making her look several years younger. Her eyelashes were dark crescents against her pale cheeks. Her lips were parted slightly and he fought the urge to kiss them.
A sound that was different from the crackle of the fire distracted him and he looked around. They were in some sort of cave and three other piles of blankets were gathered around them. One of those piles stirred and he hastily withdrew his arms from around the young woman. Looking down at her, he saw that a slight frown had appeared on her face. Before he could contemplate what it meant, her eyelids fluttered and lifted to reveal beautiful dark green eyes. She stared at him for a few moments, uncomprehending, before realization slowly dawned. A red flush appearing in her cheeks, she withdrew her arms from around his waist and rolled away, turning her back to him. As he watched, she pulled her blankets around her, turning her into a shapeless lump under them.
He reached out and touched the lump. It shivered at his touch. "Minerva?"
"Ah, good, you're awake!" The cheerful voice startled Albus and he jumped, crying out as a sharp pain lanced through his head. "Oh, sorry, Professor."
He gritted his teeth and carefully rolled onto his back. "It's quite all right, Xiomara. You just startled me."
Xiomara grinned as she stoked the fire with a long stick. "I seem to be in the habit of startling people."
Albus raised an eyebrow, but chose not to pursue the subject. Instead, he changed the subject completely. "Where are we?"
"A cave in Germany," Xiomara told him promptly, kneeling beside his blankets.
He frowned. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in France."
She got to her feet and paced to the mouth of the cave. Instead of the rain that had been falling as he dueled Grindelwald, weak sunlight showed at the mouth of the cave. "It's not just me, you know. Poppy and Sylvia are here as well."
Albus glanced at the two other piles of blankets. "Why?"
The lump that had been Minerva flinched and a sound remarkably similar to a sob could be heard. He watched as Xiomara quickly crossed to the lump and spoke quietly, reassuringly. "It's alright, Min. He didn't, that's all that matters."
"You can't know how it feels, 'Mara." Minerva's voice was choked as she emerged from her blankets. "To face the possibility--"
Xiomara's voice was sober when she replied. "You're right, Min, I don't. I don't know if I ever will. But." She fixed her friend with a steely gaze. "You have. You didn't lose him. That counts for something, doesn't it?"
Minerva nodded, her messy black braid bobbing up and down. "You're right. Thanks, Xiomara."
"You're welcome, Minerva." Xiomara tenderly hugged her friend. "Now." She held the other woman at arm's length. "You need to tell him."
Minerva sat frozen for a moment. There was a flurry of blankets, Xiomara went tumbling, and a silver streak disappeared out the mouth of the cave. Albus watched as Xiomara, wincing slightly, sat up. "What is it that Minerva needs to tell me?"
Xiomara's face was unreadable when she looked at her former professor. "It's her story to tell, Professor, not mine."
That said, she left the cave as well, presumably in search of Minerva. "Professor?"
He sighed and laid back down. "I'm awake, Poppy."
"Yeah, I gathered as much." The medi-witch knelt beside him and cast a Diagnostic spell. "What happened to Minerva and Xiomara?"
He shrugged. "Apparently, there's something Minerva needs to tell me that scares her, because she took off running when Xiomara told her she needed to."
Poppy sighed as she terminated the Diagnostic spell. "Well, you're mending well, but you still need to rest."
He caught her wrist when she would have stood. "What happened, exactly? I remember dueling Grindelwald," Poppy flinched, but Albus ignored it, "and seeing him fall, even as I did. I thought I heard Minerva's voice calling my name." He frowned, thinking. His hold on Poppy's wrist slackened. "Then, a voice, telling me that Grindelwald is dead?"
Poppy flinched again, but nodded. "Yes, he's gone now."
The frown remained. "I thought for sure I was dying. I was hit by a Draining Curse, correct?" Poppy nodded, biting her lip. "Why am I still alive, then?"
Poppy remained silent for a few moments. Finally, she spoke. "Minerva used a spell that kept you from dying."
"Which spell?" he asked curiously.
"Amora Primus." Minerva's voice made both turn around. She stood at the mouth of the cave, twisting her hands together in front of her. Xiomara stood behind her, obviously guarding against an escape by the other woman.
Albus blinked, not quite sure he'd heard her correctly. "Which spell did you use, Minerva?"
After some prodding from Xiomara, she moved further into the cave. "Amora Primus, Albus." She swallowed. "First Love."
He stared as she finally knelt beside him, her hands in her lap. "That's ancient magic, Minerva. And dangerous at that."
Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "I know, Albus."
Neither of them noticed when the other three made a discrete exit. Well, discrete in Poppy and Sylvia's case. Xiomara had to be dragged away by the other two.
"Why?" he asked, reaching out to cover her hands with one of his. "It was a huge risk to take."
"You would have died if I hadn't used it," she told him in a hoarse whisper, fighting back tears. "I had to try." Her dark green eyes were brimming with tears when she met his steady gaze. "I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, Albus."
He reached up and caressed her cheek. "You do realize the full implications of what you did, I hope?"
She nodded, covering his hand with her own. "Yes." She swallowed again. "It means that we're-- That you're my--"
"One true love," he supplied quietly, absently running his thumb over the curve of her cheekbone.
"And I'm yours," she whispered, leaning into the caress.
"It doesn't bother you that I'm so much older?" he asked, noting how soft her skin was against his palm.
She shook her head, clasping his hand in both of hers. "I've had a crush on you for ages, to tell the truth." She smiled wryly as she shifted to lean on one hip. "It would seem it's a bit more than a crush."
"Indeed." He smiled, bringing his other hand over to cover her hands with it. "I had noticed that you weren't a little girl anymore at the start of your seventh year. I felt like a lecherous old man for noticing and tried to ignore it."
She laughed at that, freeing one hand to wipe away the tears of happiness and relief streaming down her cheeks. "We're a pair of sillies, aren't we?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"
"We've been so busy fighting our own feelings that we didn't try to find out if they were being returned," she explained, stretching out alongside him.
He smiled and gently drew her to him for a kiss. He kept the pressure light, not sure of her reaction. His heart soared when she sighed and settled into the kiss, nestling against him. They laid together for a long time, saying little and kissing often. When the other three returned, they found Albus and Minerva asleep in each other's arms. Albus' head rested on her shoulder, one of his arms was tucked under her, curling around her waist. The other arm rested on her hip. Minerva had wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. Her other arm was wrapped around his waist and her cheek rested against the top of his head. Choosing not to disturb the two, Xiomara and Sylvia gathered their few belongings and Disapparated, leaving Poppy to keep an eye on Albus and Minerva. Poppy made herself comfortable in the corner and watched the couple as they slept. Before long, she, too, was asleep.
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
"Always, Albus?"
"Forever, Minerva."
A/N: Quick note before you go. The Amora Primus spell was created by Arabella and she graciously allowed me to use it in this fic. I rather like the end result. If you'd like to find out more about it, go read 'Sine Qua Non', by Arabella, or her 'Hermione, Queen of Witches' stories, all of which can be found at The Sugar Quill.