Dreams and Tea
Minerva sat at her desk marking the third year tests. She didn't have to do them that night, but she decided if she got them out of the way now, she would be able to relax the next day. The clock chimed ten times, telling her that she had been marking the essays for three hours without a break. She placed her quill next to the pile of unmarked essays and ran her hand down the side of her face with a sigh. She would have a short break; perhaps she would have a cup of tea in the kitchens. With that in mind, she walked out of her office and down the hallways until she came to the portrait of a fruit basket. After tickling the pear, she was allowed entrance to the kitchens. There were no house elves there at that time of night, so she walked straight to the back of the room and made herself a cup of strong tea. When she turned around, she almost dropped her teacup and saucer.
"Potter!" Harry jumped at the cry. He didn't say anything when he looked up at his head of house, just watched as she straightened herself and placed her tea cup down on the bench. "What are you doing here? It's past curfew." Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked back down at the cup in his hands. For the past few nights he hadn't been able to sleep from nightmares. "Potter? Is everything alright?" His head of house asked from beside him.
He jumped again in surprise. He hadn't heard her move from her spot across the bench. He looked up at her and blinked before looking down at the cup again with a small shrug of his shoulders again. Minerva sighed softly and sat down next to him. Potter had always been one of the students who had wormed their way into her heart, even if she didn't want them to, just like his mother and father had. Slowly she lifted her cup too her mouth and took a small sip of the hot liquid. Instead of lowering it back to the table, she held it in front of her. "Sometimes, when I have nightmares, I can't sleep for days or weeks." She started. "One time I worked for close to three weeks non-stop, until one day I just fell asleep." She looked down into her cup of tea and smiled. "I fell asleep at my desk in the middle of class. No one woke me up, or even tried to leave class. I surprised to say the least when I lifted my head to see the room empty except for one student. She sat at her desk reading. When she realized I was watching her she smiled and stood up." She looked up with a glazed look. "She handed me a note and left. The note said that everyone was glad to see that I was finally resting and on my way back to being their strict but fair Professor. I was surprised at that, but what amazed me the most was that there were small notes from everyone in the class saying how sorry they were for when they misbehaved or did something that irritated me for the past few weeks. One note stood out the most though. It said that if I ever again felt the need to work myself so hard that I was falling asleep in class, they would personally feed me a dreamless sleep potion."
Harry listened to his Professor talk and realised how relaxing her voice was when it was soft. He watched her through heavy eyelids as she continued on about how everyone wrote her a note apologizing and telling her to get more rest. He smiled at the thought of someone telling the most powerful witch to do something and not ending up as a toad. When she looked at him, she was smiling as well.
"I could not believe that I was actually being threatened by fourth years, until I looked at who signed it. Those three were always breaking the rules, but I couldn't help but feel like someone cared for me, even if they were troublemakers." Taking a deep breath, she turned in her seat until she was facing him. "Harry, what I'm saying is that the people you least expect, care and love you, even if they don't show it." She explained, resting her hand on his shoulder.
Harry looked into her eyes and saw that she was right. The person he least expected, cared and loved him. He smiled at her and nodded his head. McGonnagall watched him for a second hoping that he would reply, but when it appeared that he wasn't going to, she smiled back at him and turned back to her now cold tea. For a while they sat in silence, both drinking their reheated tea, until Harry couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "Who were the three fourth years Professor?"
Minerva smirked. "Potter, Black and Lupin."
Harry nearly choked on his tea at the mention of his father, godfather and adoptive uncle. Harry started laughing. His godfather had always told him stories about the pranks they pulled and how much trouble they got into by their head of house, but he always said that he suspected that she cared for them a bit more than she should have. It looked like that care went both ways. When he calmed down and looked back his Professor, his smile reached his eyes. "Thank you, Professor." He stood up and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Thank you."
Minerva smiled and hugged him back. "You're most welcome Harry. Now I believe it's time for bed." She said after Harry pulled back. Harry nodded his head and started walking to the door. "Harry, my door is always open, if you want to talk, or just have a cup of tea."
Harry looked back and smiled again. "Good night Professor."
"Good night."
