Whimsical

It was yet another interminably long and dull staff meeting, everyone was getting thouroughly bored and fidgety. Everyone except Albus Dumbledore, who sat at the head of the long table, fingers twined together, a blissful smile on his face.

He had been sitting like that for over half an hour, motionless, eyes lightly closed, looking as though he hadn't a care in the world. At first the staff had scarcely noticed, as they bickered among themselves about changes to the timetable, and all the other minutiae of a busy school. Gradually however, they had begun to notice, and comment, on the fact that the Headmaster was not his normal talkative self.

At first they had shot curious glances at him, as they continued to argue about who's classes should be switched to different times, but as Albus continued to sit in seemingly blissful silence, the topic of conversation had turned solely to their eccentric Headmaster.

"Doubtless he's thinking of new ways to torment me, and make my life even more of a living hell than it already is," Severus grumbled.

"He's probably thinking of chocolate..." Filius said.

"Or lemon drops ..." Minerva interjected.

"Has to be candy... unless of course it's socks... or knitting patterns..." Poppy added.

"You're all wrong it has to be chocolate," Pomona proclaimed confidently. "Last month, he cornered me in my greenhouses, and regaled me for over half an hour with a long story about a dream of his, in which he'd vistied a city in the clouds, which was made entirely of chocolate. By the time he'd finished, I had the most terrible chocolate cravings... I devoured my entire chocolate stash in one go after that... I'd been dieting for a month too!" Pomona patted her waist ruefully.

"Perhaps he's alseep, his eyes are shut..." Rolanda said, "Someone pinch him, and see if he's awake..."

"Of course he's not asleep," Minerva said irritably, "He's just thinking about utterly childish and irrelevant nonsence as usual!"

A chuckle sounded from Albus, as his eyes flickered open, and he beamed at them brightly. "Actually 'he' is thinking of nothing at all, 'he' is simply 'being'." Albus smiled benignly, rose from his seat, and strolled casually to the door. Just before he left the room, he turned back to his staff, his summertime blue eyes twinkling merrily. "You should all try it sometime. It is a quite delightful feeling. Good night." Then he was gone, leaving his staff staring after him in mystified silence.

"Well..." Poppy said at last.

"Quite..." Filius murmured.

"Being what?" Rolanda wondered.

"Who knows with Albus!" Minerva said crisply, "For all we know he could have been pretending to be a choo choo train in his head, while we were all bored rigid with this interminable meeting." Minerva snorted in disgust, stuck her nose in the air, and followed Albus from the room.

Once again the staff were stunned into silence, as they blinked disbelievingly at each other. "Did I just hear Minerva say choo choo train?" Pomona asked at last.

"She's clearly been spending far too much time with Albus," Severus drawled, "Give it a few months and she'll be as childish as him."

"Nonsence!" Poppy scoffed. "Though they have been spending an awful lot of time together lately. Why, just last night I caught her leaving his chambers well after midnight..."

"Ooooooo! Perhaps they finally got together!" Rolanda said excitedly. "You remember that crush Minerva had on Albus when she was at school? Wouldn't it be adorable if..."

"Minerva would have told us if she'd got together with Albus." Pomona asserted.

"Well, I certainly hope they haven't got together." Severus snarled, "It's bad enough having love sick teenagers snogging each other silly everywhere, without having Albus and Minerva at it as well!"


Minerva closed the door of the staff room sharply, then turned to see Albus leaning casually against the wall, only a few feet from the staff room door. His scarlet clad legs were crossed, and his bright blue eyes sparkled mischeviously at her "Would you like to play choo choo trains with me Minerva?" He asked, as his mouth twisted into an amused smile.

Minerva stiffened, so he had overheard had he. That man had hearing far too good for her liking, but she was dammed if she'd let him get the upper hand this time. It was about time she did a little teasing of her own.

Moving with elegant grace Minerva stepped forward until she was just inches from Albus. Languidly she twined her fingers in his long silver beard, tugged it lightly and flirtatiously, leaned in even closer, and whispered, "There's several things I'd like to play with you Albus, but choo choo trains isn't one of them..." Her eyes drifted lazily across him for a moment, then she swept off down the passage leaving Albus gazing speechlessly after her.

As minerva strode along the corridor, she could feel Albus' gaze following her, and she couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. To tell the truth she had rather enjoyed flirting with him. In that moment when she'd been so close to him, she'd seen a flicker of something very exciting in his eyes, something that made her feel young and vibrant again.

It was a good half hour before Albus could do anything other than stare after Minerva. And his dreams that night were full of Minerva running her fingers through his beard, of her breath hot against his skin, and of the many games they could play together, none of which bore any resemblance to choo choo trains.

Author's Notes

This was inspired by an Enya Video about a boy who dreams of chocolate, and then I got further inspiration from Gambon in PoA, even though I don't like Gambon as Dumbledore. ;)

This story is probably complete, since I thought that for once I'd leave it up to your imaginations what may or may not happen next, instead of having them 'get together'. ;) I'd love reviews. :)

Is anyone else having problems with the capchas when publishing new stories? First time I put the capcha in, it always tells me it is wrong, even when it isn't. and it's getting really annoying.