Two in the Bed

by Quill of Minerva

Albus and Minerva are forced to stay overnight in London because of a freak weather storm.

Title: "Two In A Bed"
Author: Quill of Minerva
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Merely borrowing them for my amusement
Summary: Albus and Minerva are forced to stay overnight in London because of a freak weather storm.

A/N: This is another repost of a story that I wrote years ago. Enjoy

"Two in A Bed"

"Goodbye, Mr. Fudge!" said Minerva McGonagall as she made for the exit at the Ministry. She didn't want to spend another moment more in the company of the bumbling idiot, affectionately called Cornelius Fudge. She had been there all morning, along with Albus Dumbledore, while the Minister expressed his concern about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returning, and she had quickly tired of the conversation. She would have probably said something she shouldn't have if Albus hadn't been by her side. He always seemed to have some type of calming influence on her.

"Thank you for both coming so quickly," said Fudge. "I know we didn't exactly see eye to eye last year but I'm glad to see there are no ill feelings between us." Minerva was about to say something sarcastic but witty in response but Albus picked up on how her eyebrows twitched and beat her to it.

"Glad we could help, Cornelius!" he said with a smile. "Well we'd better be heading back to Hogwarts!"

"Yes, the school won't run itself," commented Fudge.

"We can't all be like Ms Umbridge, can we?" said Minerva dryly.

Albus eyed her and she simply smiled at him, while Fudge had turned a shade of red and was fumbling his words.

"Well erm... I made a mistake when I hired her," he said.

"I hope this storm dies down," commented Albus, changing the subject quickly, because he knew that Minerva's quick tongue would baffle the minister.

Albus bid the minister goodbye and literally pushed Minerva out of the door and into the deserted street. The skies above them were pitch black and the rain was coming down heavy and fast. Within no time at all, both professors were wet through and through. Albus pulled out his wand and tried to cast a drying charm on the both of them, but his wand simply lit up briefly before fizzling out. He tried it again and the same thing happened. Minerva pulled her wand out and did the same but the same thing happened. She shook her wand violently and tried it again.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" she exclaimed when her wand fizzled out again.

"We seem to have a problem my dear," commented Albus.

"Oh really, I wouldn't have guessed," she replied dryly.

"Really Minerva, that tone doesn't become you," said Albus. "Come on let's find shelter."

The two professors made their way along the deserted street, their cloaks clinging to them. It seemed that the whole wizarding community had taken up hiding from this bad weather because there was no one else in sight.

They reached the Leaky Cauldron and walked inside, only to find it bursting with people but the atmosphere was cheery. Albus gently pushed his way through the crowd, closely followed by Minerva. They reached the bar and Albus caught Tom's attention.

"Albus!" greeted Tom brightly, "And Professor McGonagall. What can I get ya?"

"Nothing Tom!" answered Albus. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Aye I do at that!" answered Tom. "Just had a ministry official in here telling us that due to the weather the floo networks, trains and even apparation are very unsafe."

"We can't use our wands either Tom," added Minerva.

"The weather is causing a block over them," said Tom leaning forward to them. "Word is that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is behind it."

"Nonsense!" commented Minerva, shaking her head.

"Well I do believe we are unable to return to Hogwarts tonight, Minerva!" said Albus.

"Tom, do you have two rooms to spare?"

"Only the one Albus," answered Tom. "They are in demand today."

"First time for everything!" commented Minerva under her breath, just loud enough for Albus to hear her.

"Well that will have to do then," replied Albus. "You don't mind sharing, do you Minerva?"

"Sharing?" asked Minerva, slightly uneasy about sharing a room with him.

"Yes!" Albus answered.

"Well I erm... I don't really think that it's appropriate," she managed to stammer out.

"Well I'm going upstairs. You can either come up or sleep outside in the rain," said Albus, taking the room key from Tom, who was smiling brightly at Minerva.

Minerva's mouth fell open as Albus made his way over to the stairs that led to the guest rooms above the Leaky Cauldron. She sat on a bar stool and ordered a gillywater. She sat there for a while nursing the drink and playing with the glass held between her fingers. She kept getting the feeling that someone was watching her and every time she looked up, she caught Tom looking at her and smiling strangely. It made her feel rather uncomfortable and the atmosphere in the pub was changing. It was becoming louder as more drinks were drunk. She got to her feet and brushed her slightly wet robes down.

"Going up Professor?" asked Tom.

"It's seems that I don't have any other choice," she replied as she made her way up the stairs. "Tom, what room is it?"

"Room 6 Professor, the honeymoon suite!"

She could hear his laughter as she continued to climb the stairs. Great, she thought, this will be around the whole community within minutes. She reached the door and stood staring at it for a while. She was nervous about entering. If it had been any of her other colleagues she wouldn't have minded so much. But this was Albus Dumbledore, the unrequited love of her life. She didn't want him to see her sleeping and what were the sleeping arrangements to be? She decided that she would take her chances down in the bar when the door opened, revealing Albus. His blue eyes were shining brightly behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Minerva!" he greeted. "I knew you couldn't resist."

"I have you know that if I wasn't as tired as I feel, I would have spent the night in the bar," she told him.

"Of course my dear!" he answered, smiling to himself as she entered the room. "What do you think of the room?"

"Is there only one bed?" questioned Minerva.

"Yes!" Albus answered.

"No couch?" she continued as she looked around the room.

"No couch," replied Albus.

"The floor!" she carried on.

"I'm not sleeping on it," answered Albus.

"Well I'm not," commented Minerva.

Minerva continued to look around the room, hoping to find something suitable for Albus to sleep on but there was nothing.

"The bed is big enough for both of us, Minerva," pointed out Albus.

Minerva didn't answer him as she walked over to the bed and sat down on it. Albus watched as she rearranged the pillows in a line down the center of the bed. "This is my side!" she told him. "That's yours."

"But your side is bigger," teased Albus, finding the whole situation funny. He didn't mind one bit about sharing a bed with the woman in front of him. He had always wanted to. This wasn't exactly how he had imagined they would spend their first night together, but it was certainly a start.

"Stop being so childish!" scolded Minerva, as she moved the pillows slightly. "Happy now?"

"Much better!" replied Albus was he flopped down on the bed and stretched. "Hope you're not a cover stealer."

"A what?" asked Minerva.

"A person who steals all the covers while the other one freezes," answered Albus.

"I am most certainly not a cover stealer!" replied Minerva, somewhat outraged that he would suggest such a thing.

The evening seemed to fly by and Minerva was trying to delay getting into bed beside Albus. What if she let something slip while she was asleep? Her friends at school had always teased her about her sleep talking. Albus had already climbed into the warm bed and was silently waiting for Minerva to join him.

He wished that he didn't have the pillows in between them. He loved Minerva more than anything and was fed up with keeping the feelings he felt bottled up. He had been doing that for too long and when he heard she had been attacked he vowed that he would reveal his feelings. But tonight wasn't perhaps the best of nights to drop them on her. He watched her as she tried to make up things to do to delay her from getting into the bed. She had already folded her outer robes twice and was doing them again. She finally ran out of things of do and slowly made her way towards the bed.

"What are you wearing?" she asked.

"Now that's a rather personal question," answered Albus.

"Just answer it!" she replied.

"My undergarments," he told her.

"Oh!" was her answer.

She turned her back to him as she felt her cheeks turn red. She perched on the end of the bed and unrolled her stockings and folded them up neatly. She was glad that she was wearing a silk slip under her dress. She quickly took off her dress and darted under the covers, pulling them up around her neck.

"Hey I thought you weren't a cover stealer," commented Albus, trying to lighten the mood.

"Blow out the candle and I'll let you have them back," she answered quickly.

Albus blew out the candle and he felt the covers become looser as he settled down comfortably into the bed. He was very aware of the heat coming from the other person, even though there were half a dozen pillows between them. He could tell that she was lying stiff as a board and knew that sleep wasn't going to come easy to them tonight.

Minerva couldn't believe she was sharing the same bed with Albus Dumbledore. If only it wasn't under these circumstances. She scolded herself mentally for letting her thoughts get carried away and tried to close her eyes. She could smell him, hear him breathing and she could feel the warmth coming off his body. She let her mind wander and she found herself thinking about what it would be like to he held in his arms, to feel and taste his loving kisses. She dropped off to sleep while she was thinking about this. Her body relaxed as she slept.

Minerva unconsciously rolled on to her side and came to a rest on top of the pillows that were separating the two of them. Albus turned to look at her and saw that she was asleep. He could just make out her features in the dark and marveled at her beauty. She looked so delicate as she slept. No worries appeared on her peaceful face and Albus had to fight the urge not to reach out and trace the outline of her lips.

Sometime later, sleep also claimed Albus and he instinctively moved closer to her. Feeling a presence near her, Minerva moved even closer and placed her head on the person's chest and wrapped an arm over his torso. Albus wrapped his arms around her waist and held her hand within his. They slept like this for hours, until the sun shone brightly through the worn curtains. Albus was the first to stir and instinctively leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Minerva's forehead. Minerva's eyes few open and she let out a shriek.

"What!" she said flying out of his arms.

"Minerva!" said Albus, equally as shocked as she was.

"What do you think you were doing?" she demanded to know.

"Me?" questioned Albus. "You had your arm wrapped around me."

"No I didn't!" she snapped.

"Yes you did!" he replied, sitting up in the bed.

"Well what if I did," she finally said. "That doesn't mean you can try to kiss me."

"I thought…" Albus tried to reply. "I didn't think! It's something instinctive."

"Instinctive?" questioned Minerva.

"Minerva listen to me!" began Albus looking directly into her green eyes. "I'm fed up with keeping my feelings for you bottled up. I decided that I would reveal all to you when I heard about those stunners. I nearly lost you then and I don't want to lose you before I tell that you mean much more to me than you think. I have loved you for sometime now and not told you in fear of rejection and in case I lose the most important friendship I have. Last night, nothing happened. I would never, could never, take advantage of a situation like this. We just must have moved instinctively together. I am sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable."

"You love me?" repeated Minerva, her voice soft barely audible.

"Yes I do!" answered Albus, watching her closely.

"Oh Albus!" she said bringing a hand to her mouth, tears falling from her eyes. "I didn't for one moment think you would ever return my feelings."

"Am I hearing right?" asked Albus, not wanting his ears to deceive him.

"I love you too!" answered Minerva, falling into his arms.

Albus wrapped his arms around her and held her closely, planting small kisses on the top of her head. She looked up at him, a small smile gracing her contented face. Albus cupped her face in his hands and slowly brushed his lips against hers. Minerva responded immediately by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. The kiss became more intense as years of unspoken desire poured out through their locked lips. They pulled away from each other and tried to capture their breath.

Albus ran his hands up and down her back, holding her close and smelling her hair. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He was holding the woman he loved in his arms and she was letting him. She had just told him that she returned his love. His day couldn't get any better and now that he had her he wasn't going to let go of her. He felt her drop little tender kisses on his neck and he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling she created in him. He was about to kiss her when a knock on the door brought them back to reality. Minerva hid under the covers while Albus went to answer the door.

"Good morning Albus," greeted Tom. "Slept well I take it?"

"Very well thank you," answered Albus with a smile.

"Will you be needing the room for another night?" Tom asked. "Magic has been restored and the storm is over."

"We will be requiring the room for one more night Tom!" answered Albus.

"Aye! Very good," replied Tom, with a knowing smile and disappeared down the hallway.

Albus quickly shut and locked the door. He could see Minerva curled up under the covers and climbed under to join her.

"Oh, your hands are cold!" said Minerva with a laugh.

"Let me warm them up then" replied Albus.

Albus silenced Minerva with his lips and they spent the rest of the day and most of the night under the covers, letting their love, feelings and desire do most of the talking.