"Damn it!" Hades heard a familiar voice shout from behind a tree in the courtyard.
She walked out from the corridor over towards the tree and peered behind it to see the source of the shout.
"Minerva?" Hades saw the young third year Gryffindor look up at her from her spot under the large tree. "Are you okay?"
Minerva looked up from her textbook to see Hades peering down at her. Quickly a faint blush began to grow on Minerva's cheeks. She looked down to try to hide it from Hades.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry if I scared you," Minerva answered as she quickly gathered up her books. "I was just leaving."
"Don't leave on my account. I was just passing through when I heard ..." Hades trailed off as she read the title of the top book Minerva was holding. "Are you having trouble with Transfiguration? I thought you were the top of our class which is a year ahead of you."
"What?" Minerva looked down at her books. "No, I was just trying to figure something out and ... I just need a little more practice I guess."
"Anything I can help with?" Hades offered shyly.
Minerva looked at Hades with curiosity. She had never seen Hades talking to anybody, not even her Hufflepuff housemates. Why was she offereing to help her?
"Um, maybe some other time. Thank you, though."
"Okay. See you later," Hades said with a sad look on her face.
Minerva smiled and turned to walk away. Hades watched her walk through the courtyard into the corridor and through a door leading back into Hogwarts. Curiosity coursed through Hades. It was strange to her that Minerva, the head of the third years, could be having trouble with a class. Most of her classes were advanced and even with older students. Hades only ever saw her with her face in a book or practicing some spell. What could she be struggling with?
...
Minerva made it passed the corridor door and slumped down against the nearest wall. She had been wanting to talk to Hades but not about school work. Ever since she first saw Hades, Minerva had been smitten. She often found herself daydreaming what it would be like to hold her hand or run her fingers through Hades' long black hair. Although, she did seem rather odd. Minerva never saw Hades talking to or hanging out with anyone. Why had she come up to MInerva? Why did Hades offer to help Minerva? Why did Minerva turn her down?
"Ms. McGonagall are you all right?"
MInerva looked up a bit startled and saw her Transfiguration professor Albus Dumbledore looking down at her.
"Yes, professor. I'm quite all right," she replied. "Just taking a breather before I continue studying."
"Yes, I see you have all your books with you." Professor Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Don't study too hard."
"I won't, professor." Minerva replied as she watched Professor Dumbledore make his way through the castle door out into the corridor.
Minerva stood up and started to make her way back towards the Griffyndor dormitory. As she walked she couldn't help but think of her encounter with Hades.