The Bird and the Poltergeist

"Sherbet lemon?" Inquisitive, Dumbledore's voice still wore the calm facade it always did, despite everything that had been going on recently.

"Of course I don't want a sherbet lemon Albus, I want you to talk to me," there was a half exclamation in Minerva's commanding voice, but she wistfully discarded all workplace formality, opting for his forename to get through to him. There had been more frequent attacks at the school recently... Dementors were growing weary and hungry, and the transfiguration professor did not doubt that Dumbledore felt what she was feeling too. Something just wasn't right.

Lupin had already fought one off on the train, and now, months later, Harry Potter thrown off his broom. It all felt so directed at him, The Boy Who Lived, that she couldn't help but feel like he was somehow involved... Various students who knew him well had almost been kissed. There was also Sirius. Sirius Black. He could be anywhere. Nobody knew where.

A long and tense silence ended when she walked over to her old friend and tenderly embraced him, allowing his warmth to heal the scars of almost a year spent around the dementors. Letting themselves get caught up in the moment, Albus traced her spine gently with his hand, a trick he used to use on her long ago, and not the only one mind you. She opted for a less subtle approach, beginning to unbutton her cloak. With each button, she felt five years lift off her, until by the end she was thirty again, and Albus was but an old and yet forever young boy once more, teasing the way he used to. The chair he was seated in moment ago suddenly fell to the ground, without explanation.

"It's him, he's-" cut off with a kiss. Pressing his face to hers, the overbearing headmaster used his one dominant feature to shut her mouth, and she loved it, despite her fear that Sirius Black had made it into the very office they were in. Sherbet lemons, she thought, he doesn't know about sherbet lemons... This was all the calm she needed at a time like this. In what felt like seconds, she had undressed completely, with a pair of helping hands and the thought of reliving her youth to assist her.

The pair moved against his desk, and whirled around, so she could lean her weight against it as they joined together. Lips locked them in a dance, as their waists moved, and books hopped off the shelves and the desk moved out from beneath her. They fell to the floor, and although she was scared he was here, Sirius, or somehow worse, she let herself go.

All of the poise and grace she had when she taught remained in her even when she was on her back, while Albus was thoughtful and kind, going so far as to catch her as she fell using a silent spell to soften the landing. Immediately he was on her, and he used the surprising amount of energy still in him to put him in her. Giggles and childish laughs escaped her as she relived the glory days, and soon these transfigured into gasps and moans, as the pair rolled around, forgetting about the pair of eyes still in the room.

Their hands ran across each other, skirting along arms and chests and even breasts, squeezing every last ounce of pleasure out of the short lived situation.

"Headmaster!" They heard a call from outside of the office. "Professor, it's an emergency!" An unrecognisable voice. However, Minerva was not finished...

Asserting herself, she ran a hand up his back and tugged the back of his head, keeping his tongue in close alignment with hers. One small press on his firm waist sent him spiralling further into her, whisking him away in the moment and allowing him even more pleasure. Albus groaned a deep sigh as he slid out one last time, staring at the beautiful face he still saw every time he looked at the woman he truly loved.

"Back to a day's work Professor," he chuckled, slightly melancholy when he thought about the inevitable end he would come to without ever confessing his true love for this woman.

Now she pecked his lips gently, back to the friendly formality they always maintained.

"I suppose we better go and find out what this emergency is, shouldn't we," she said, gently motioning with her wand and lifting them to their feet. Their clothes followed them as they walked toward the door, and her dress finished buttoning itself just as they stepped outside.

"Sherbet lemon?" He asked, producing such a sweet from his sleeve and smiling dryly, knowing she couldn't resist it. Minerva took the sweet, and as she reached out her hand, the years she had lost flashed forward again. Back to work indeed.

Back inside the office, Peeves the Poltergeist made himself visible. He raided the sherbet lemon drawer, and pondered to himself.

"The bloody password is sherbet lemon, sherbet bloody lemon! What a stupid password, it's brilliant! How has it taken me this long to finally follow that witch in here, only to find that the password was sherbet lemon! Absolutely marvellous!" Peeves was happy that he had been tricked for this long, and gleeful that he'd just witnessed what he had. He noticed the firebird in the corner. "Magnificent," he said, gazing at the phoenix. Fawkes slowly flew over, with controlled flaps, and then all of a sudden pushed peeves onto the floor, landing on his chest and pecking at his face.

"For Godric's sake you bloody bird, I'm leaving!" Peeves shouted, vanishing from view and hurriedly escaping his new lovebird... "Sherbet lemon! Bloody sherbet lemon!" He shrieked as he floated away.