Disclaimer: I like the plot - so it's mine. Paws off =9 However, same song
goes as almost always: Everything you recognize belongs to Rowlings in one
way or another.
AN: Big thankums and luff to the great Freelancer for encouraging me to post this and to the great Jestana for nagging me to get this one posted =9 luff yaz! K - heeeere we go:
.
The Coming of Darkness
.
"Excuse me, Madame Pomfrey," a deep voice interrupted the medi- witch's conversation. Turning in her seat, she met a pair of sparkling blue eyes and grinned.
"Has your adoring public tired of you already?" she teased, relishing the ability to do so. The last few years had been nothing short of a nightmare, and now, it was finally over. Albus Dumbledore again emerged as a hero of the side of Light, but the champion was a young man just barely out of Hogwarts with brilliant green eyes.
"If they're not they should be," he replied evenly, but with a steady twinkle in his old eyes. "I was wondering if I could steal one of your lovely dinner companions for the next dance," he explained, his eyes flicking briefly towards the woman stubbornly ignoring him on Poppy's other side.
"Well, that depends," she told him seriously, trying to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching downward, "Which one would you like?"
Giving a small nod in acknowledgement of the warning, he stepped past Poppy's chair and focused on the bowed head of dark brown hair. Tiny threads of gold intertwined with natural strands of silver and accented the braided crown her hair. "Minerva, I need to speak with you," he said.
"I have nothing to say to you," she replied crisply.
He sighed inwardly, then quietly asked, "May I at least have a dance with my wife?"
She turned to stare at him then, and her icy opaque eyes bore met his pleading blue. Biting the inside of her cheek hard in order to bully her tears into submission. "Fine," she whispered after a moment, and gingerly placed her hand in his.
He lead her out to the dance floor in silence, trying to rehearse what he wanted to say to her, but even as he took her into his arms, all thoughts fled from his mind. It had been too long since he held her properly like this. Too long since she had willingly touched him - that is to say, too long since she had _gently_ touched him; just last week she had knocked his jaw out of line. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on something else, something calming, but nothing immediately came to mind. Instead, he cleared his mind and concentrated on the moment, just like he used to do every time they had been together, before. . .
Her scent was intoxicating, as always, a strange mix of peppermint, chocolate, and cool, spring water. His hand rested lightly on the side of her slim waist. He wanted so much to draw her close and wrap his arms around her, but he could only silently wish the foot and a half between them to shrink to nothing. Holding her hand as gently as he could, he led her through a graceful waltz, still in silence. She refused to meet his gaze and resolutely stared over his shoulder, ignoring the small circles he rubbed with his thumb on her side.
Even so, she didn't let her hand fall from his shoulder when the song ended, and he took heart in the fact. Slowly, but steadily, he closed the gap between them so that by the end of the second song, he leaned down slightly to breath in her ear, "Minerva, love, just please hear me out."
The pleading note in his voice did not go unnoticed. Meeting his eyes briefly, she nodded and stepped away, leading him out to the empty courtyard.
It was a cool evening, the beginning of November - seventeen years after the first fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. The two professors stood mutely in the soft moonlight, Minerva in a stony silence staring out into the night. They hadn't been on speaking terms since June, since Severus. . .
AN: I know it's short, but it's just a prologue =9 Plz R&R and let me know if anybody wants to see any more =)
AN: Big thankums and luff to the great Freelancer for encouraging me to post this and to the great Jestana for nagging me to get this one posted =9 luff yaz! K - heeeere we go:
.
The Coming of Darkness
.
"Excuse me, Madame Pomfrey," a deep voice interrupted the medi- witch's conversation. Turning in her seat, she met a pair of sparkling blue eyes and grinned.
"Has your adoring public tired of you already?" she teased, relishing the ability to do so. The last few years had been nothing short of a nightmare, and now, it was finally over. Albus Dumbledore again emerged as a hero of the side of Light, but the champion was a young man just barely out of Hogwarts with brilliant green eyes.
"If they're not they should be," he replied evenly, but with a steady twinkle in his old eyes. "I was wondering if I could steal one of your lovely dinner companions for the next dance," he explained, his eyes flicking briefly towards the woman stubbornly ignoring him on Poppy's other side.
"Well, that depends," she told him seriously, trying to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching downward, "Which one would you like?"
Giving a small nod in acknowledgement of the warning, he stepped past Poppy's chair and focused on the bowed head of dark brown hair. Tiny threads of gold intertwined with natural strands of silver and accented the braided crown her hair. "Minerva, I need to speak with you," he said.
"I have nothing to say to you," she replied crisply.
He sighed inwardly, then quietly asked, "May I at least have a dance with my wife?"
She turned to stare at him then, and her icy opaque eyes bore met his pleading blue. Biting the inside of her cheek hard in order to bully her tears into submission. "Fine," she whispered after a moment, and gingerly placed her hand in his.
He lead her out to the dance floor in silence, trying to rehearse what he wanted to say to her, but even as he took her into his arms, all thoughts fled from his mind. It had been too long since he held her properly like this. Too long since she had willingly touched him - that is to say, too long since she had _gently_ touched him; just last week she had knocked his jaw out of line. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on something else, something calming, but nothing immediately came to mind. Instead, he cleared his mind and concentrated on the moment, just like he used to do every time they had been together, before. . .
Her scent was intoxicating, as always, a strange mix of peppermint, chocolate, and cool, spring water. His hand rested lightly on the side of her slim waist. He wanted so much to draw her close and wrap his arms around her, but he could only silently wish the foot and a half between them to shrink to nothing. Holding her hand as gently as he could, he led her through a graceful waltz, still in silence. She refused to meet his gaze and resolutely stared over his shoulder, ignoring the small circles he rubbed with his thumb on her side.
Even so, she didn't let her hand fall from his shoulder when the song ended, and he took heart in the fact. Slowly, but steadily, he closed the gap between them so that by the end of the second song, he leaned down slightly to breath in her ear, "Minerva, love, just please hear me out."
The pleading note in his voice did not go unnoticed. Meeting his eyes briefly, she nodded and stepped away, leading him out to the empty courtyard.
It was a cool evening, the beginning of November - seventeen years after the first fall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. The two professors stood mutely in the soft moonlight, Minerva in a stony silence staring out into the night. They hadn't been on speaking terms since June, since Severus. . .
AN: I know it's short, but it's just a prologue =9 Plz R&R and let me know if anybody wants to see any more =)