Challenge(s)/Prompt(s): The Father's Day Competition(Minerva/Robert), the Title Challenge(The Sounds of Sadness, the Character Diversity Boot Camp Challenge(Robert McGonagall – Sunshine), the AU Diversity Boot Camp Challenge(Understand).
Length: Oneshot – 2,586 Words!
Rating: T
Pairing or Characters: Minerva McGonagall, Mary MacDonald, and Robert McGonagall. With mentions of Elphinstone Urquart and Isobel McGonagall.
Thanks: To PuffPower for reading over this and giving me great constructive criticism! Thank you so much Melody!
Disclaimer: Though it pains me to say so, I do not own the rights to anything that belongs to the Harry Potter universe, nor do I make any money from writing about them. The only thing(s) that I can claim as mine own are the ideas and/or characters that may be woven into the wonderful world of all that is Harry Potter. Everything else is used in the spirit of good-natured fun or naughty shenanigans. What can I say? I just like to play!
Author's Notes: Do to the fact that this needed to be turned in promptly, there may be a few grammatical errors. I had to add a bit to the story once my beta had returned it and I didn't get a chance to have her look over it once more. Please forgive me. I will have her check them and update when possible.

The Sounds of Sadness

There was a warmth to the breeze that wove in a sleepy rustle through the aspen trees of Minerva's front garden. Robert watched the delicate leaves flutter on the soft current as he approached the small cottage, appreciating the fragile dance of vibrant green against the azure sky. Beams of sunshine filtered through the branches to sparkle off the shimmering surface of water within the stone birdbath beneath the trees. Perched on its edge was a small bluebird whose head was tilted so that it could watch him in an inquisitive sort of way. Robert was awestruck by the simple splendor of nature. It was just as perfect as God had intended it to be when he created such marvels.

Being a Reverend, that thought should have put his mind at ease; yet it did nothing of the sort. Instead Robert felt a great sadness spread throughout his entire being, followed closely by a wave of guilt-ridden selfishness. He wasn't in Hogsmeade to marvel in the glory of his creator. He was there to comfort his only daughter as she mourned the sudden and unexpected loss of her late husband. That one thought pulled his attention back to the cottage where his daughter was more than likely doing her best not to fall apart. Minerva was so much like him that he knew she would be fighting her grief tooth and nail, hiding behind a mask of composure even though deep down she was a wreck.

Robert pulled a staunch white handkerchief out of his pocket to mop his damp forehead dry. He was getting up in years and his body just couldn't handle the summer heat like it once could have. And yet, he didn't want to forgo the simple pleasures of nature to face his heartbroken daughter. He was stalling, instead of acting like a man who had the strength of the Lord behind him. Folding the handkerchief neatly, he put it back into his pocket before turning and walking up the path to the brilliant yellow door.

There was no answer when Robert clicked the polished silver knocker three times. As a matter-of-fact, all that followed the metallic clacking sound was silence. Frowning, Robert peered through the small window of the door into the spacious sitting room. The once inviting room had been stripped bare of all its contents and there were boxes stacked against one wall as if someone were preparing to move. Robert rapped the knocker a few more times as he inspected the room in confusion, hoping to get some sort of answer, but when none came he simply let himself in through the unlocked door.

"Min, are you in, dear heart?" Robert called out, making sure his voice was loud enough to travel throughout the two-story home. The last thing he wanted was to show up unexpectedly and startle her. He had done just that on a previous occasion, and it had ended with him sprawled out on the floor, completely unable to move. Robert had later found out that his daughter had hit him with a body-binding jinx because she'd mistaken him for an intruder.

As Robert made his way through the lower part of the cottage, he saw that many of the other rooms were full of packed boxes just like the sitting room. He found that pictures were missing from the walls and mantle, bookshelves were empty, cupboards were bare, and there wasn't even a crumb of food in the icebox, which was standing wide open. Some of the bigger pieces of furniture, the ones too large to pack in boxes, were scattered throughout the house. Most of them were covered in white sheets and pushed aside to make a walkway.

A seed of worry was beginning to take root in the pit of his stomach when he walked into the dining area and found that chairs had been knocked carelessly to the floor. There was a thread of uncertainty in his voice this time when he shouted, "Minerva, where are you?"

Then a loud thump sounded somewhere above his head all of a sudden, nearly making him take leave of his skin as he jumped in surprise. His heart surely would have leaped out of his chest from the unexpected noise had he not clutched his hand over it in fright.

What in heaven's name had that been? Robert thought to himself with growing concern. He made for the stairs at a pace much faster than his seventy-one year old body really should have, and then began climbing the steps as quickly as his rickety knees would allow. All the while his mind spun horrific images of terrible things happening to his little girl as he made his way to her rescue. Reaching the top step, he swung to the left, where the bedroom door was open just a crack. Robert didn't hesitate to shove the door open, wildly flicking his eyes around the room in search of Minerva. What he saw made him stop abruptly.

"Come on Mary, dear. Up you get," Minerva was saying. She had one hand under the arm of a woman that he didn't recognize who was sitting on her backside beside the bed covered in books. Both of them were laughing as the woman got to her feet and began piling the books in a neat stack, completely unaware of his presence. Robert cleared his throat causing both of them to snap around at the sound.

"Goodness, Dad, you scared us! We didn't hear you come in," Minerva said when she saw him standing just inside the door. When she crossed the room he saw that she tucked her wand away quickly, as if she didn't want him to see she'd pulled it on him for a second time in her life. Then she was wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "It's been a while since last I saw you. Is Mum not with you?"

When Minerva stepped away to look at him with a questioning expression he said,"Ah yes, I knocked a few times. I thought it best if I just let myself in." He gave her a warm smile before answering her question. "No, your Mum isn't with me this afternoon. She had an appointment at St. Mungo's. But she told me to come on ahead. I think she's going to apparate when she's finished."

"She's still not feeling well?" Minerva asked, concern lacing her words as she stared into his face.

Robert gave a quick shake of his head. "No, if anything she feels worse. You know your mother, she insists on brewing her potions early in the morning with nothing more than the candles in the kitchen, and she refuses to wear her glasses. I have a feeling that she's mixed up her ingredients again."

"It wouldn't surprise me. I'll never forget the morning she called me frantically by Floo to ask if I'd take her to St. Mungo's for emergency scale removal. When I got there she looked someone had tried to transfigure her into a snake," Minerva muttered. "Why she just doesn't let me brew them for her is beyond me."

"Your Mum doesn't want to trouble you. You're a busy woman, working up at that school all the time, and you're going through a tough time with―" Robert let his voice trail off. He really didn't think bringing up the passing of her late husband would be a good idea. Surely it was a sensitive subject for her and he wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable in front of her company. Thinking of the woman standing there watching them he said, "Never mind that, Minerva dear. Who is your lovely friend?"

The brunette moved across the room at once with a swish of long skirts, extending her hand toward him. She gave him a kind smile as she introduced herself. "My name is Mary, Mary MacDonald. I'm a ―erm― a friend of Minerva's."

"Yes Dad, this my dear companion, Mary. Mary, this is my father, Robert."

There was an emphasis on the word companion that Robert didn't quite understand, but he didn't ask what it was about. Instead he gave Mary's hand a shake and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mary."

"Likewise, Reverend McGonagall." Mary said politely as she returned the gesture. Then, after withdrawing her hand from his, she grasped the old book in both her hands before her as if she weren't quite sure what to do with herself.

Robert chuckled. He wasn't sure why, but he immediately liked the girl. She seemed like such a polite, and yet timid, young woman. "Please, call me Robert. I get enough of that Reverend McGongall business at church."

"Of course," Mary said, an embarrassed flush staining her pale cheeks pink.

Robert glanced around the bedroom after a moment and noticed that there were stacks of cardboard boxes scattered across the floor. Furrowing his wrinkled brow he said, "You've decided not to keep the house then?"

There was a long pause after his question in which Minerva seemed to be thinking about what she would say next. Mary on the other hand said, "You know, I think I'll go downstairs and let you two talk. Give me a shout if you need anything."

They both watched her slip hastily out of the room. Then Minerva said, "No, I'm keeping it. But I'll be moving to Hogwarts. I've decided to let this house to an elderly witch from the village." Minerva crossed the room to the pile of books on the floor and bent to pick them up. "There just isn't a reason to stay here on my own."

He noticed the way her eyes flicker toward the doorway that Mary had just disappeared through as she spoke, and he found himself confused by longing look on his daughter's face. Perhaps he was being a delusional old man, but surely there had been some sort of meaning behind the look. Try as he might he couldn't think of a reason that might explain it, so he pushed his musings aside and, despite his previous hesitation with mentioning her deceased husband, said, "Won't you miss being in the home you shared with Elphinstone for the last three years? You've always seemed to love this place."

Minerva gave a short laugh. "Elphinstone loved this cottage. I never quite felt like this was home. There always seemed to be something missing."

"I understand," Robert said. He walked to the bed, his knees twinging with pain from his hurried climb up the stairs, and sank down onto the bed. "You've always wanted children, and yet God didn't seem to agree with that plan. But look at what you do for work. Your life is filled with children, my dear. The Lord works in very mysterious way and sometimes it's hard to see that he's listening to your prayers."

"Oh for―I wasn't talking about children."

"Then by all means please enlighten me." Robert said.

Minerva sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. She fidgeted with a button along the front of her dress before finally saying, "I know that this may seem hard to understand, but there is something I need to finally say. Though Elphinstone was a wonderful man that I loved dearly, he wasn't the right person for me. Over our three years of marriage we lived much of the time as the dearest of friends. As a matter of fact, we were in the process of separating before his death. He will always be in my heart as the lovely man he was, but he was not my true love."

Robert was thunderstruck by his daughter's revelation. Never in his life would he have imagined that Minerva and Elphinstone weren't a happily married couple. He looked at her in shock, not quite sure what to say, then he mumbled, "Minerva, I had no idea."

"Well of course you wouldn't. It's not exactly the type of thing you want to go around telling everyone. We thought it best to wait until the separation was final before we told anyone. Elphinstone and I came to the agreement together once we realized that we weren't in love with one another. We wanted to separate quietly." Minerva met her father's gaze as she spoke.

"You should have come to us. Your Mum and I would have done anything would could have to help you two." Robert wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders and pulled her against his chest.

She sighed. "There was nothing you could have done to help us. We just weren't in love with each other. But we did love each other as friends, very much. I'll miss having him there to talk to."

Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. As she cried, her face buried against his shoulder, Robert rocked his little girl from side to side. He didn't know that as his daughter cried on his shoulder that it wasn't just because she lost a husband and a friend, but also because she had found a forbidden love in the arms of Mary. Nor did he realize that her heart was breaking over the fact that she could never tell her parents, especially her father, that she was in love with a woman because he wouldn't understand. He didn't know that she felt estranged from her family, scared of what they might think of her, or that she feared them ever finding out about her Mary.

Robert, not knowing that there was a deeper meaning behind her tears, rubber her back and said in a soothing voice, "I know that what you're going through is difficult. Just remember to hold tight to memories you have of Elphinstone for comfort, lean on your friends and family for strength, and always remember how much you are loved."

They sat together for a long time, Minerva releasing the flood of her built up sorrows and Robert crooning words of comfort into her ear, until finally there were no more tears to be shed. Then, as if she hadn't just cried herself into exhaustion, Minerva moved away to look into his face, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, Minerva. I'm your father and that means that I'll always be here when you need me." He gave her a reassuring pat on the back as he spoke.

With a sniffle she got to her feet, "I suppose it's time I get back to packing. There is no sense in crying over something that can't be changed." Then she moved to the door and called for Mary to join them once more.

When Mary made her way back into the bedroom he found himself being swept up in cheerful conversation. It was as if Mary knew Minerva needed a bit of brightening up, and the young woman did her best to lighten the heavy mood that had settled over them all. As they packed box after box, Robert found that his heart warmed when he saw that the blithesome chat had put a smile back on his daughters face once more. Deep down he knew that she would be alright. Though she was struggling with losing the friendship she'd shared with Elphinstone, he knew Minerva would one day find peace in her heart. Lucky for her she had the love of her family and a what seemed to be a dear friend in young Mary.

A/N: I really appreciate all of the people who take the time to read and review. I respect positive comments and constructive criticism. Both help to make me a better author which in turn makes my writing style improve for the better. On top of that I truly enjoy responding to all of your reviews. Also, thank you to those of you who favourite and/or follow any of my stories. It means so very much to me! So, thank you all so much!. You're all wee gems! =)