A/N: Written for Women's History task 8: "Write about someone making an important discovering." This is Minerva/Irma. Word count: 478

Breakthrough

Minerva was nearly vibrating from excitement as she hurried through the halls of Hogwarts. Thankfully, it was the middle of July, so no students were around to see her frantic footsteps as she hurried in the direction of the library.

The summer holidays were the only time of year she could find room in her schedule for her personal experiments. It was a shame. She loved teaching with all her heart, but she also loved learning more about Transfiguration than what could be found in books. She was only paid to do one of the two, but she couldn't stop herself from the other when she found the time.

Irma was right where Minerva had expected her to be. No students meant a massive reorganization of the library each summer. Every single book would be pulled from the shelves, checked for damage, catalogued, and then returned. Any missing books would be noted. The undertaking was so large that several house elves signed on to help each year, and it was Irma's busiest season.

Minerva sidestepped an elf who was carrying a stack of books taller than he was as she searched for Irma. She finally found her towards the back of the library, flicking through a thick volume with a faint frown that hinted it might have faced a bit of damage over the previous school year.

"I've had a breakthrough," Minerva announced.

She didn't bother to keep her voice down. There were no students to disturb, and Irma herself had to shout instructions to the elves every so often.

"Breakthrough?" Irma asked, glancing up from the book.

Her faint frown had turned into a grin.

"Really? I thought you were giving up on that."

"I was until this morning. It hit me over breakfast."

Irma's smile turned self-congratulatory.

"Didn't I say that all you needed was a break?"

"Yes, yes," Minerva said with a wave of her hand.

She stepped forward to place a quick, placating kiss on Irma's lips.

"I should listen to you more often," she allowed. "But listen to this."

She held up the parchment that was covered with writing, most of which had been crossed out at various times over the past couple of weeks. It was such a mess that Irma couldn't have made sense of it no matter how long she tried, but Minerva read it easily enough.

"That's where I was going wrong," she concluded, pointing towards the ink that was still drying. "It's a wonder I didn't think of it before."

Irma hummed along, though she hardly understood what Minerva was going on about. Her excitement was infectious all the same, and Irma let her continue as she flipped through the book, looking for further damage.

Eventually, Minerva would be finished, and then Irma could start in on the egregious way some students saw fit to treat her books.