Written for the 'Candy floss and broken hearts competition': Part 1: Write about the first time your OTP (MinervaAlbus) said 'I love you' to each other.
Written for the HPFC Royalty Competition: #19. Bloody Baron
Words: 3,717
A.N.: The lyrics belong to the song 'we are one' from the Disney movie 'The Lion King II'. It's really one of my favourites and I recommend you listen to it again :)
One thing nothing can destroy is our love deep inside 'cause we are one
With his drink in one hand, Albus let his sparkling blue eyes wander over the dance floor and scanned the many people in the crowd.
Admittedly, the muggle-themed winter ball that was hosted by the ministry every five years has always been a very popular event, but he had never seen so many attending people like this year.
Many witches and wizards whom he hadn't seen in years had apparently crawled out of their secret hiding places to take the chance of dressing up in muggle suits and ball gowns that were rarely worn in the wizarding world.
On the other hand, Albus couldn't blame them. He had been delighted to be given a reason to visit muggle-London again to buy his own attire for the night: a black smoking with matching black leather shoes and a smooth white shirt underneath it. In order to round things up, he had also chosen an additional black tie.
And even though he usually preferred more colourful types of clothing, he was indeed surprisingly satisfied with his looks tonight.
But Albus also knew that without his best friend's wife, Perenelle Flamel, he probably would have chosen something completely different and totally unfitting for the occasion. Thankfully, Perenelle had, upon seeing the bright and golden shimmering yellow suit in his hand, told him straight forward and without hesitation that he 'had to dress up properly or this lovely girl of yours will never waste a single thought about you ever again.'
Albus, who had never before heard her speak to him in such a demanding tone, had immediately given her permission to look for whatever clothes were suitable for him to wear.
Needless to say, Perenelle's earlier words had indeed struck a chord. After all, Albus still couldn't quite believe how lucky he was that such a wonderful woman like Minerva had really agreed to be his date for tonight's ball.
Taking a sip of his drink, he continued his way back from the bar over to Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, who had given him the invitation to the ball in the first place.
Taking one step after another towards his friends' direction and occasionally avoiding some of the staggering and stumbling people - who had somehow managed to get completely drunk after only an hour – he smiled upon recalling a couple of very fond memories…
.
Albus had first met Minerva as a fifth-year student at Hogwarts. Back then, he had been her transfiguration Professor and even then he was quite fascinated by her magical abilities, as well as their shared interest in transfiguration and ancient spells.
During her years at Hogwarts she has – without a doubt – been his favourite and most talented student. And despite his best efforts, Minerva had somehow managed to worm herself into his well-guarded heart.
At first, Albus had not quite known what it was that caused his heart to skip a beat every time she looked at him with these amazing emerald eyes or when her small, soft hand accidently touched his own when she handed him a book or paper…
But time after time, especially after her graduation, Albus had realized, that he cared for her a lot more than he was supposed to.
Naturally, Albus had been shocked, surprised and secretly delighted when he heard a couple of years later that the young ebony haired witch had been hired to be his successor as transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts; and it had literally been out of words upon seeing her transformation from the little shy and talented student he had remembered to the intelligent, experienced and grown up woman she had become.
But the way she bit on her red lips when she was thinking, or the way her emerald eyes sparkled when she has yet another great idea on her mind, or simply the way she softly smiles at him are tiny little details that hadn't changed over her years as an auror.
And well, during the last couple of month since she had joined the Hogwarts staff, Albus had found himself spending more and more time with this lovely young woman. He had given her some advice concerning some of the more difficult students and invited her to a couple of chess games, which by now have become a sort of habit.
He still remembered that one time during one of their by now weekly chess-matches, that she had complained about some of her students and that they were constantly distracted by something. Albus had simply laughed and told her that it was probably the fact that the students never had such a beautiful young witch as a teacher before.
The light, crimson blush that had crept over her rosy cheeks was something Albus would never forget, especially since she flashed him a tiny, but truly heart-warming smile afterwards.
Ever since that day, Albus had developed the habit of escorting Minerva from her rooms to either the Great Hall or her classroom. On the other hand, Minerva had started to visit Albus in his private quarters ever other night; in her hand usually a cup of steaming hot chocolate for Albus and a cup of chamomile tea for herself, as well as a book in her other hand which she always read when she was curled up on his couch while Albus finished his paperwork before he joined her.
By now, Albus knew that he was falling helplessly and head over heels for the 27-year old ebony haired witch. And despite the by now lingering glances they shoot each other, the soft touching of their hands every now and then and the slow but steady sparks that are flying between them, Albus had only recently found his famous Gryffindor courage and asked her out if she would consider to be his date for tonight's winter ball.
The considered to be most powerful wizard alive had literally held his breath in nervous excitement when she had just stared at him for a moment before she nodded and softly smiled at him.
And well, now here he was. Waiting for the woman who had slowly stolen the keys to his heart…
.
"Excuse me, Sir," a rather unpleasant voice tore him away from his daydreaming and back to the present.
In front of him stood a short woman with mousy-brown hair, pale blue eyes and a – in Albus' opinion – really ugly pink dress.
Tightening his grip around his drink, he slightly moved is head and caught Nicholas' grey eyes, who was standing only a couple of meters behind the blonde; his arms securely wrapped around his Perenelle.
The alchemy master and old mentor only shook his head and flashed him an evil grin that clearly said 'For your sake I hope that's not her.'
Albus tried not to roll his eyes at his old friend and shook his head.
Nicholas was usually an incredibly nice man, but due to the fact that Albus hadn't given him any kind of information whatsoever about his 'date' for tonight, the alchemy master clearly enjoyed to 'guess' about all the potential female candidates in the ball-room.
Sadly, he enjoyed it a little too much, and due to the Alchemy master's little joke-like post in the 'Daily Prophet' that had described Albus as the 'most eligible bachelor in the wizarding world', the handsome auburn haired wizard had spent most of the evening to kindly reject all the women who not-so-undiscretly tried to throw themselves that him.
"I have watched you standing here at the edge of the dance floor for quite some time now and I was wondering if you needed some company?" The blonde woman asked again.
Albus luckily managed to resist the urge to roll his eyes at her. 'Yes, he would most certainly get back at Nicholas for that incredibly stupid joke,' he thought while taking a deep breath in order to find the right words for the woman in front of him.
"After all," the annoying blue-eyed woman continued without giving Albus even the slightest chance to voice his opinion, "it seems quite strange that such a lovely and handsome man like yourself is attending a ministry ball without a female companion."
The auburn haired man sighed and at the same time skillfully ignored his friend's rather loud cackle in the background.
"I'm quite flattered, Miss…?" Albus finally managed to start.
"Holloway," the blonde responded eagerly and beamed brightly at him. "Clarissa Holloway, but please, call me Claire!"
Albus faked a sweet smile. He simply was a man who wasn't attracted to these kind of woman. He preferred witches who didn't need to pretend to be someone they were not… witches who cared about other people rather than themselves… witches who liked him for who he was and not for the glory he received for freeing them from Grindelwald's regime… simply a witch like Minerva.
"Yes, Claire," the 42-year old man finally mumbled and removed the blonde's hand which she had seductively placed on his chest. "Like I already said, I'm quite flattered. But I have you disappoint you. I have already asked a lovely young woman to be my date for tonight."
Claire looked like couldn't believe her ears. "But… But, then why isn't she here then?" She asked outraged.
This time, Albus wasn't able to conceal his sigh. "The reason I am still on my own tonight is because there were some… complications that needed to be taken care of. But I can assure you, my female companion will be here momentarily."
For a moment, Albus feared that the blonde would burst out in tears; but her eyes were only watering up a little and she swallowed hard.
Luckily, Perenelle seemed to have taken pity on him, grabbed her husbands arm and tugged him the last couple of steps over to Albus and the blonde.
"I'm sorry, my dear," the lady Flamel said in an overly sweet tone, "I'm afraid our dear Albus here isn't… erm… yes, eligible anymore."
Claire's eyes glared at the elderly woman. "But the announce in the daily prophet – "
"The daily prophet has received wrong information," she said and flashed her husband a look that clearly said 'do not say a thing now or something bad will happen to you.'
Flashing both Albus and Penerelle a dirty look, Claire turned on her pink heels and stormed through the gigantic white double doors on the other side, out of the ball-room and nearly ran over another person who was just about to enter through the door.
"Oh come on, Penny! You should have let Albus suffer a little more! He wouldn't tell me a thing about his-"
Nicholas was silenced by his wife's rather sharp elbow in his ribs.
Perenelle said something to scold her husband, but Albus didn't really pay attention to what it was.
His entire attention was fixed upon the young woman at the other side of the room, whom Claire had almost run into. She looked a little shy upon seeing all the people in the ball-room but entered nonetheless.
"Albus? What's wrong with you?" Nicholas asked and when he didn't receive and answer, he followed Albus' mesmerized glance and his eyes widened. "By the Bloody Baron's sword! She is stunningly beautiful!"
All Albus could do was give a short nod.
He watched in amazement as the young emerald eyed witch gracefully made her way over the dance-floor. Her dark, floor-length emerald green dress, that so perfectly matched her sparkling eyes swished almost soundlessly over the white marble floor; it stressed her already slim figure even more and Albus could tell that she wasn't quite comfortable with all the stares she was drawing upon herself.
His eyes darkened a little when he saw all the men that were staring at her; mostly due to her – admittedly low-cut and strapless - green dress that was showing a lot more cleavage than even Albus had seen so far.
And instantly, his knees went weak as he realized that she had decided to wear her long, ebony hair open. It cascaded down her bare shoulders in lovely dark curls and made her even more beautiful.
He then watched as she slowed down a little and stopped right in the middle of the dance-floor to look around; apparently in search for someone.
When her eyes met his blue ones, a smile appeared on her face that lit up the whole room.
His heart skipped a beat, but he managed to return the smile and – for everyone else unnoticedly – winked her over.
When she finally made her way through the crowd, Nicholas stared at Albus with wide eyes.
"You know her?" He asked, clearly surprised.
The young auburn haired man nodded and once the ebony-haired witch had reached him, he extended his hand to her in a very gentlemanly gesture.
She took it happily and beamed at him. "I'm sorry for being late. But little Miss Grey was terribly homesick, the poor dear. I decided to stay until she managed to peacefully fall asleep. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."
He just smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. I'm just happy you didn't change your mind about coming with me tonight."
Minerva looked at him with sparkling emerald eyes. "I wouldn't miss it."
Albus was sure that the heat in the room was rising, but suddenly he heard Nicholas decent attempt to clear his throat.
"Nicholas, this is my lovely companion, Minerva McGonagall," he introduced her quickly and she reached out to shake the elder man's hand.
"It's an honor to finally meet you, Mr. Flamel," Minerva said politely, "Albus has told me a lot about you."
Nicholas chuckled. "I wish I could say the same thing about you but – " he once again got elbowed by his wife.
"What my husband wants to say is," Perenelle started and flashed her husband another one of her glares, "that we have been so excited to meet you, dear. And please, feel free to call us by our first names. I don't want to feel so old."
Minerva blushed a little and leaned a little back against Albus.
He smiled and tried his best not to stare at her back in a too obvious way; the dress looked as stunning from this perspective as it did from the front: It was also very low-cut at the back, in a V-like style and therefore showed a lot of her slim, but quite well-trained body.
Albus felt his heart beating even faster and the blood rushed through his veins as Minerva decided to lean fully against his chest and he took the opportunity to put one of his strong arms around her slim waist.
He heard her taking a deep and slightly surprised breath, but she didn't turn away from him; instead she tried to unnoticed touch his hands with her own.
However, Nicholas' sudden cough caused her to let go again.
"Erm, well, I think… yes… let's go dancing, Penny," he said, reached out to take his wife's hand in his own and started to swing to the fast rhytm of the music. Turning his head slightly backwards, the elderly man gave Albus one last and mischievous glance. "Let's leave these young ones alone to do… well, whatever they do in these times…"
The auburn haired man wasn't able to see her face, but as their eyes followed the elderly couple, Albus was sure that Minerva was blushing as much as he did.
Slowly losening his arms, he carefully turned her around and looked at her slightly nervous; his cheeks still a little red. "Would you like to dance, Minerva?"
"I would love to, Albus," she replied; her emerald eyes sparkled and the faint blush that was still visible on her cheeks was a wonderful sight.
'Merlin, she is beautiful,' Albus thought and tried to get his beating heart under control as he took her small, soft hand in his and led her on the dance-floor.
And just as he was thinking about how to dance a fast quick-step, the music suddenly changed and a soft and very slow song started to play...
… As you go through life you'll see
There is so much that we
Don't understand…
He glanced at Minerva and saw that her emerald eyes had also widened in surprise.
Giving her an encouraging smile, Albus carefully put his hand on the small of her back and a shiver of delight instantly run down his spine upon touching her bare skin.
… And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we planned…
He saw that she was taking in a deep breath, but in the end, she placed her hand on his suit-covered shoulder and he started to lead her to the soft melody of the music.
… But you'll see everyday
That we'll never turn away
When it seems all your dreams coming true …
Effortlessly, she followed all of his steps; not matter where he went. Left or right, forwards or backwards… she had not once looked at her feet; her emerald eyes stayed fixed upon his own. After a little bit, he smirked in a boy-ish like manner before he carefully twirled her around and brought her gracefully right back into place. The shy smile she had worn earlier had now transformed into a really bright one.
…We will stand by your side
Filled with hope and filled with pride
We are more than we are We are one…
Within time, the respectable distance they had started their dance with had, little by little, vanished. Albus had tightened his hands around her and had lowered his hands from her back down to her waist and pulled her closer to his body so that the fabrics of their clothes were almost touching.
…Even those who are gone
Are with us as we go on
Your journey has only begun…
Listening to the lyrics of the song, Albus' thoughts drifted for only a moment back to his sister Ariana. Ever since her death… the auburn haired man hasn't been the same and for a long time he had been afraid to ever let someone in his heart ever again… But when he looked down at the young transfiguration mistress in his arms, who was, by now, dancing with her eyes closed and her head laid against his chest… he knew that Ariana would want him to be happy again…
…Tears of pain, tears of joy
One thing nothing can destroy
Is our love deep inside
We are one…
Albus was very well aware of the other people's stares and curious glances in the ball-room they had by now drawn upon themselves, but he couldn't care less. He knew that it was probably a sight not seen everyday… the Headmaster of Hogwarts dancing closely with the transfiguration teacher; but everyone also knew that they had developed a wonderful friendship over the last couple of month Minerva had been teaching.
The auburn haired man also knew that despite the fact that he had still a lot of enemies out there who were lusting after his blood, he would find a way to keep the witch in his arms as safe as possible… because she just belonged there, in his arms.
We are one you and I
We are like the earth and sky
One family under the sun
Bringing her even closer to him, his body now touched hers and the rising heat that was streaming from both of them caused the ebony haired witch to look up. Taking one stray glance to his side, Albus spotted Nicholas and Perenelle and the elderly mentor was grinning brightly at him and sent him an obvious look. Finally he knew why the music had earlier changed all of a sudden and he slightly shook his head at his old friend's antics.
But he understood what Nic was trying to tell him, so Albus skillfully led them into one of the rather abandoned and isolated corners of the dance-floor; away from all the other guest's preying eyes…
…All the wisdom to lead
All the courage that you need
You will find when you see We are one…
Albus then took a deep breath and tried to summon up his famous Gryffindor courage; to tell her the words he had planned on saying for quite some time now.
But he decided to take just another moment to simply look at the beautiful witch in his arms, who had by now placed both her arms around his neck; and not for the first time he wondered how lucky he was that he had her.
With one last breath in order to calm his racing heart down, he carefully reached out to lift her chin.
"You are beautiful, Minerva," he whispered in a deep, honest and emotional voice.
Instantly, a lovely blush coloured her cheeks, and she looked at him with those perfect emerald eyes that were shining with… dare he hope for it… love?
The blood was now rushing through his veins and Albus knew that he wouldn't be able to put his feelings into words; so his actions had to speak instead.
So he finally cupped the soft skin of her face with his hands and leaned in to kiss her lovingly on the lips.
When she didn't react, Albus already dreaded that he had misinterpreted the signs she had given him, but once she had come over the first shock, she tightened her arms around his neck, then pressed her slim body against his and returned the kiss with so much passion that Albus' heart was skipping a beat.
Once the need for air got too great, the couple separated; but they continued to stare into each other's eyes; pure love and happiness shining in both of them now.
"Minerva," Albus' breathing was still a little unsteady and his voice was thick with emotion as he stared into her sparkling emerald eyes. "I love you."
For a moment, Minerva's emerald eyes widened and she stood still with Albus strong arms wrapped around her waist. Then, her full and slightly swollen red lips formed into the most wonderful smile Albus had ever seen; the emerald green and low-cut dress she wore paled in comparison to her smile.
"I love you, too, Albus." She whispered softly and stood on her toe-tips to kiss him again; emerald eyes filled with love. "So very much."