"You are marrying." Minerva McGonagall could hear Albus Dumbledore's heart breaking with that sentence.
"That was your idea." She replied a little hurt. He looked at her for a couple of seconds and the thing was that, by now... he was almost about to die. They have such a long story and they've been partially together for such a long time...
"D-Do you love him?" he hesitated.
"Are we going to discuss this again?"
He sighed, and was honestly unable to answer her. She did love HIM, and he... wanted so, SO much to kill him. It was the best, for her. But... he still couldn't stand the idea.
She glanced him and he couldn't look back- So... no more talks in the middle of the night or occasional intimacy, or love. She was going to stop loving him. And going with him. Spending time with him.
"Why are you asking me this again?"
"I... I... " he whispered and crawled into safe place inside his mind to talk with his imaginary best friend Gellert Grindelwald inside there.
«She IS leaving... me»
《Yes, and this is your fault》
«It is the best for her, but I...»
《And we always knew that she was going to do it sooner or later."
«But... I can't...»
《You should. Why did you let her be so close at first."
«She earned it... and she is... i-I am... i... »
"Do you love him or not?" He asked so, SO COLD. He did not want her to love him. Not a single bit. He hated the idea and felt so... scared of feeling her loving someone else, although he had to... he had to let her go. There've been at least thirty years... she needed to leave.
"What do you want me to say, Albus?" She looked him at the eye.
"That you do" Of all the things in the world, one he could not do was... to actually look her back.
"No, you don't want me to say that. Any possible answer is wrong at this point."
"Then I understand that you want me to say congratulations..." he murmured.
"Don't be cynical!"
"Me?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, you. Maybe is YOU who want ME to say congratulations." She crossed arms.
"This... is probably the most clever decision you've taken... though, I can feel at this precise moment, that it is not going to be an easy one."
"Yes, congratulations, you are a genious and therefore you have a genious ideas." She glanced him.
"And you listen to me and follow through..." he returned to the piece of parchment he was holding on his hands, trying to calm down. "When is the... event?"
"We haven't decided it yet. But you know that there is not option that my father's church."
He sighed, thinking on that conversation between the two of them. And her father. And the church. He reminded himself once again that nothing of this was his to take, and had never been... but. BUT. He felt like he was loosing something too big.
"A-Am I going to be invited?" he managed to ask, and looked at her again.
"Are you going to come?"
"If you invite me and not him... yes."
"Not him?"
"Well, I think you and him would invite me for different things, and the only question that matters here is... do you want me there?"
"What do you think?" She stared him in the eye again for a few quiet seconds.
"It... will be difficult" he admitted in a different, less bitter tone. And his voice cracked a bit, just for a second, before he could recompose himself. "For both of us. I don't want to ruin that that for you as I have already... done with others. I just... I-I can't, Minerva... think of not being there in such an important day for you."
"Think on being there in that day. What are you going to do? Stay hidding in the crowd? Come and look me in the eyes and hold my hand? Come and kiss me a last time before I go?"
He... stared down, to his parchment.
"I want you there. And I don't want you there at the same time, because the problem is that I don't want me there."
Trust me, he doesn't want you there either... at ALL.
"Maybe could you go in my place" she tried to joke a little. He smiled softly and it took all his might to stop himself telling her that maybe the one that should not go at all was Urquart...
She also looked at her feet and sighed, thinking in all of this,
"It is the best for you... somehow" he whispered.
"Please, don't start again."
He sighed.
"You are... going to keep coming, right?" he asked in a whisper.
"I'm going to be working here, am I not?"
"You are, aren't you?" He looked at her again and I'm sure he had never looked so frail and old in all his life.
"I don't know, maybe you will fire me"
"Don't be ridiculous, Minerva. It's easier that I retire"
"Maybe we will have enough with his salary." She shrugged.
"Are you giving me a first warning?"
"Could be..." she smiled a little.
"Don't be mean..." he smiled too and moved his hand on his desk towards her.
"Am I the mean one?"
"Yes... I'm just an old fool" he said that genuinely and sincerely.
She glared him smiling a little.
He smiled back, although he was everything but happy. He was a fool for letting her go. He should NOT let her go, and we knew he was going to regret this.
The world was free, Voldemort had vanished, Harry was in the safest possible place. Why wouldn't he allow himself to be happy and just... be with her for a little bit? He was not sure. She was never going to be happy with him.
"Well... I just came to explain you that."
"D-Do you have to leave now?"
No, but I know what's going to happen if I stay... she thought. Yes. It is going to be harder to leave tomorrow...
"Yes."
He sighed again.
"If I have to do this is better that way." She explained.
"I happen to disagree, my dear."
"Why?"
"I just think this is..." He smiled softly."In other moment you would have stayed"
"Yes."
"I guess this is how things are going to work from now on."
"Y-Yes..."
He pressed his lips on a thin line and she looked away, because this was also difficult for her.
"I understand... and I'm sorry" he whispered. Minerva swallowed and... finally stood up."A-A... game of chess?" he tried to stop her once again kind of begging.
"N-no." Also she was begging.
"Alright, alright" he nodded and stood up too. She glanced at him with a sad look and he went around his desk to get closer to her.
She stood there without being able to move and he reached out to her and hugged her.
"Albus..." she almost cried. He hid himself on her neck and caressed her back softly. She started to shake a little, trying to not hug him in return. "Please... if you want me to go, let me go."
"I don't..:." he whispered softly.
"Then I'm not going to marry him, this is absurd!"
"It is, but you have to..."
"I don't have to, I love you and you love me!"
"I know... there are a lot of important things besides love" He kissed her neck softly
"Like what?"
"Like... safety. I'm bad at that, Minerva"
"Nothing is happening that justifies this!"
"But It will... It was close last time" he moved her hair and looked at her in the eye... he was way too close. She shook her head again and he kissed her cheek."I-I..." he continued... and he had done this so many times, so MANY times, he knew the path by heart.
She kissed him in the lips. I still don't know how on earth she got married. Maybe this happened a couple of times before she ACTUALLY got married. He kissed her back, of COURSE he did. After some seconds she separated.
"Do you hate me?"
"I'm not going to marry him, I'm going to write him in the morning." Poor Urquart... at least he has a castle.
Yes... I'm sorry, but you will have to be the harsh one, Albus. He hates it... but it seems there is no other option.
"No..." he whispered, hating this and himself... this was both brave and coward at the same time.
"Yes. This is ridiculous!"
"It is not. You have to go with him... and forget me."
"This makes no sense!"
"It makes a lot of sense... Minerva, I'm bad for you. He is... he is younger than me, he won't drop dead at any one time, he is of... lower profile. He is a better option. You have to be smart."
She squeezed her eyes because this wasn't the first time they have that conversation.
"I love you very much to... let you do this. Even if you hate me for that... maybe that is what I deserved on the first place" He continued.
"You are such an idiot!" She complained.
"I am..." He looked at her in the eye and smiled sadly.
"Let me go."
"I-I... I'll try..."
"I don't have enough with a try. This is your last chance."
"Maybe i-It is time" He looked at her in the eye and this is so fucking hard!
She glared him. He looked back, scared with the idea.
"Good afternoon, professor Dumbledore" she said in a cold as ice tone.
He doesn't want to do this and hates me and JKR and Minerva went right to the door and to the highlands to have frustration's sex with his new fiancée.
She effectively froze him and his heart... or that he thought until she left the room and he collapsed on his chair, sobbing. And this is not even the wedding.
You don't even see her with her mother's dress, her a little combed hair in a braid and her too much sobber make up, shoes and bouquet of flowers yet.
Urquart is feeling a bit worried.
Why? Does he feel some... murder sensation?
Yes! A tingling on his neck.
His brother kept saying; "don't get married"
I'm sorry for Aberforth because he'll have two awful, AWFUL years.