Chapter 2-Reunited

February 22, 1945

When Albus Dumbledore arrived at the current headquarters of Grindelwald's resistance, he was two hours late. He hurried along the long, dark corridors, nodding to Aurors and the like as he went. A few attempted to stop him for a talk, but he didn't have the time, so he politely waved them off and continued on his way. When he finally reached the door he was looking for, he knocked twice before allowing himself inside.

The room was one of the largest in the entire headquarters, as it was a sort of conference room for meetings and strategizing. The walls were a depressing gray stone, like the rest of the headquarters, and a large, half-circle shaped, wooden table sat in the middle of the room, with many beaten-looking chairs surrounding it. A wall-sized chalkboard was hung across from said table. But Albus paid no attention to any of this. He had seen this room before. Instead his blue-eyed gaze sought out the friend with whom he was to be meeting.

And there, in the corner, reclining in his chair and smoking a pipe, looking highly unconcerned, sat Alastor Moody, his medium-length blonde hair tucked behind his ears and his blue eyes betraying no emotion.

"Ah, Alastor," said Albus at once, striding across the room to embrace his friend. "I apologize for being late. I'm afraid the Minister required my attention for a trivial matter, and then something came up at the school –"

"That's quite all right, Albus," interrupted Alastor, waving a dismissive hand. "We merely have less time to discuss plans, but that can be attended to later. I suppose now, before they arrive, I should inform you of who will be accompanying you on this mission."

"Yes," Albus replied, inclining his head in agreement, "I believe it would be pertinent before we can continue."

Alastor nodded and motioned for Albus to take a seat, sitting himself down in his former seat before continuing, "I know you believe yourself capable of going on your own to defeat Grindelwald, but of course I won't allow it. Since I am unable to accompany you myself, I have picked the top ten Aurors who I have met and approved of. I have worked with most of them, trained a few of the younger, but there are four of them from France that I had only heard reports of until recently. First of all, there's a group people call 'The Three A's', which consists of a man named Ares Septon, and two women, Aeron Epps and Astraea Clipto. From what I've seen, they're definitely a powerhouse team that will be quite useful. Then there's a middle-aged woman named Themis Nikita, who hardly ever speaks a word, but is fantastic at spell work.

"And then, of course, Britain's finest includes Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Dodge, Rolanda Hooch, Alvis Tyr, Corin Bartram, and Minerva McGonagall. Each of them are exceptional witches and wizards, most especially Minerva. She and Rolanda Hooch just got out of training not too long ago, but she's the best I've ever seen. In fact she may very well be higher or equal in power to you. She'll be very beneficial and…Albus? Are you all right? Albus!" barked Alastor when Albus remained unresponsive.

Albus jumped slightly at Alastor's sudden inquiry. He had heard what Alastor was saying, but none of it had registered after the name Minerva McGonagall had come up.

"Sorry, what was that?" asked Albus, shaking his head to clear his mind.

"I was telling you about McGonagall," Alastor answered, "but you already know her, don't you?"

"Well yes, we are friends," Albus replied. "You know this, Alastor."

But friends was not all that they were. Both Albus and Minerva had kept to their decision to continue their relationship after she graduated. They weren't planning on hiding it, but as they had hardly seen one another in the past two years, they hadn't discussed it, instead enjoying the few moments they had with one another. So they both told people that they were just friends, and so far, only Minerva's parents were even aware that the two were in a relationship, and even they hadn't been told until a few months ago.

After Hogwarts, Minerva had gone to study under the very same Transfiguration Master that Albus himself had gone to nearly eight years earlier. She spent the entire summer studying and perfecting her Transfiguration ability, including her animagus form, which she had managed just before the end of her seventh and final school year. Then, as soon as she was a registered animagus and Transfiguration Mistress – sometime around mid-September – she went straight into Auror training. She spent nearly two years in the same building with the same new recruits, only a few new ones coming along occasionally, and some of them finding Auror training too extensive for their liking, leading them to leave early. She had only been permitted to leave on holidays, week-long breaks that usually came every two months, medical reasons, or some sort of family emergency. Then, when she had finally finished training, she was a certified Auror of the Ministry of Magic. But her work load was no less. With the war against Grindelwald, she was constantly needed on the front lines or in the streets to assert some sort of protection to the general public. Often times she was even placed on protective duty for important witches and wizards.

Her tedious schedule managed to leave little time to see Albus, especially since his was just as hectic. During the time that Minerva was training to be an Auror, Albus was planning battles against Grindelwald's army, as well as continuing to teach Transfiguration and watch over the Gryffindors as their Head of House. As the former Transfiguration teacher, Professor Stone, had been the Head of Gryffindor, and there was no other staff member capable when he left, Albus had taken over that responsibility when he became the Transfiguration professor nearly five years ago. Then, about halfway through Minerva's Auror training, Headmaster Dippet fell ill, and the need for a new Headmaster arose. There were few staff members qualified for such a task, and those few did not want such a responsibility on their shoulders, and so Albus stepped in. The Board of Governors had no other choice, and Professor Dippet had assured them that, while Albus may be young and had only been a Professor at Hogwarts for four and a half years, he was more than capable of being Headmaster. However, he had not been able to find a new Transfiguration Professor to take his spot, so all of his responsibilities at Hogwarts had expanded, just as the war against Grindelwald became fiercer.

So the two did not see one another often. However, they exchanged letters nearly every other day if possible – they sure as hell had a lot to talk about – and floo called one another occasionally.

"Friends," Alastor snorted then, sounding very disbelieving, "yet you're always smiling at some letter from the girl."

"You're exaggerating," said Albus, waving a dismissive hand.

"I wish I was," said Alastor truthfully. "Anyway, back to business. There will also be three Healers to accompany your group. They won't do much fighting, but they are capable should the need arise. There's Poppy Pomfrey, who has only recently become a certified Healer, but she's rather good at her job and we're short on qualified Healers. Then there's Raphael Ganesh and Eir Concordia. I wish I could say they're only there to be safe, but you and I both know that won't be the case."

Albus nodded solemnly, knowing all too well the devastation the wizarding war had caused. "So when do I get to meet my group?" asked Albus, trying to sound nonchalant, all the while extremely excited to see Minerva again.

"They should be here soon," answered Alastor. "No more than half an hour I should think."

Albus nodded and leaned back in his seat, relaxing as his eyes began to lazily follow the swirling smoky cloud that continued to rise from Alastor's smoking pipe. And as Albus watched the smoke begin to fade, his euphoria of seeing Minerva faded with it. He may be able to see her once more after a very long time of no physical contact, but it came at a terrible price. She would be going into battle. Of course, as an Auror, she had been in battles, gruesome ones, as he remembered hearing about in her letters, but not like this. Not where she would be walking straight into Grindelwald's hideout and facing that powerful wizard and his most trusted and powerful followers. Albus knew she was powerful and intelligent herself, in fact, he was quite sure she very nearly surpassed him in those areas, but that didn't make him feel any less afraid for her well-being. She could die, or be permanently scarred or damaged in some way. And on his mission. The one he had planned. It would be all his fault if any harm came to her. He wouldn't be able to live with it. But what choice did he have? She wouldn't back out of the mission should he ask her to, and Alastor would be absolutely furious even if she did. She would be essential to winning the war, Albus knew that, he just didn't want to accept it.

There was no more time to think about it though, because Albus then felt a familiar tug in his magic, a feeling he had not felt in quite some time. And then Alastor had risen to his feet and was ushering Albus to the door of the conference room.

A moment later, the door was flung open and Albus felt his breath catch in his throat. In the doorway stood three young women, all of which Albus had taught for two years. He had eyes for only the one though, who was the tallest of the three and standing in between the other two. She had changed from her school days; her body was less awkward and more well-proportioned, her hair was cut to her shoulders and was now pulled back with pins and clips instead of a ribbon, and her porcelain features seemed even more pronounced. Albus certainly wasn't complaining.

He locked gazes with her and just smiled, drinking in the sight of her. Oh how he had missed her so. He didn't notice that there was a conversation going on, and he very nearly jumped when he heard Alastor speaking his name.

"Albus, this is Rolanda Hooch," he said, pointing to the witch standing to the left of Minerva McGonagall. Rolanda was a yellow-eyed witch, who was currently leaning against the doorframe, her arms folded across her chest. Her brown hair was spiked and her thin lips were curled upwards in a smirk.

"Albus Dumbledore," she said, pushing herself away from the doorframe and reaching out to shake Albus's hand.

"Nice to see you again, Rolanda," he replied, smiling politely and taking her proffered hand.

"And you, Professor, or should I say Headmaster?" said Rolanda.

"Please, call me Albus," the man in question replied.

"Whatever you say, boss man," Rolanda grinned. She then turned her gaze to Alastor and said, "And how are you Alyson?"

Alastor's eyes narrowed in an irritated gesture. He looked back to Albus and gestured to the woman on Minerva's right, who, like Minerva, had been watching the exchange between Rolanda and Albus with raised eyebrows. "This is Poppy Pomfrey," said Alastor, and Albus turned his attention to the blonde-haired woman, whose blue eyes were now resting on his. Albus noticed that, compared to her companions, Poppy looked much shorter, when in reality she was slightly taller than most women.

"Hello, Poppy," Albus smiled, shaking her hand as well.

"Hello, Albus," replied Poppy, inclining her head with a nervous smile.

"And you know Minerva quite well I'm assuming," Alastor finished gruffly, taking a step back and watching with interest.

Albus finally returned his gaze to the woman he was so excited to see. She was watching him with a most enchanting smile he had so greatly missed. She held out her hand to shake his as well, her voice melodious as she said, "It's good to see you again, Albus."

"And you, Minerva," said Albus, taking her hand, but instead bringing it to his lips, causing her to bite her bottom lip and her cheeks to turn a most becoming shade of pink.

Their eyes stayed locked on one another for another moment, until Alastor loudly cleared his throat and Rolanda pushed her way into the room, brushing past Minerva and Albus as she did so. Minerva rolled her eyes at her friend, Alastor gestured for Poppy to follow him into the room, and Albus held out an arm to Minerva, who placed her hand in the crook of his arm and allowed him to lead her to one of the rickety chairs at the table.

"You three are early," said Alastor as everyone took a seat at the table.

"It's Minny's fault," said Rolanda, who was seated between Minerva and Poppy. "Has to be early for everything, she does."

"Don't call me Minny," Minerva scolded. "And besides, it's better to be early than late, is it not?"

"It's not," Rolanda replied, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her seat, the chair creaking in protest. "I would much rather be late."

"You could miss important detail and it isn't a very good first impression," insisted Minerva.

"Oh poppy-cock," said Rolanda, waving a dismissive hand.

"Honestly, will you to shut it?" Poppy hissed.

"No," Rolanda and Minerva said simultaneously.

Poppy shook her head, and Minerva and Rolanda argued only another few moments before they gave up and turned away from one another. Rolanda had met Alastor before, but Poppy had not, so while Rolanda told her friend stories about her Auror training days with Alastor Moody, Minerva turned to speak with Albus.

"I wasn't sure that you would be here," she said, smiling brightly. "I suppose I should have assumed though. Who else would try to fight Grindelwald on his own? A fool named Albus Dumbledore perhaps?"

Albus chuckled, resisted the urge to take her hand, and said, "Hmm, perhaps, but who is the more foolish, my dear, the fool or the fool who follows?"

Minerva smirked. "Touché."

Albus smiled, and could no longer wait; he slid his hands into each of hers and gripped them tightly. "So how have you been?" he asked in a low voice, glancing at the other three occupants of the room, who were still lost in their own conversation. "I haven't heard much for the last two weeks."

"I know," Minerva sighed regretfully. "I apologize. It's the Ministry; they seem to be taking more and more personal time from us. That, and with the war as aggressive as it has become, they aren't allowing Aurors to send out letters as frequently unless they read through them first. They fear that someone will give away vital information purposefully or unintentionally."

Albus nodded in understanding. "Of course," he said. "I myself have not had much time to even sit down these past few weeks." He paused, staring into her bright green eyes, those very same eyes that he had become lost in so many times. "I've missed you," he whispered, and she smiled softly, squeezing his hands tightly.

"I've missed you too, Albus," she said.

Then, before either could say another word, Alastor rose to his feet and said, "The rest of the group has arrived. If you'll all follow me we can get the greetings out of the way and get the meeting started."

As Minerva and Albus stood together, Minerva leaned in close and whispered in Albus's ear, "Perhaps we can continue this later…"

A shiver ran down his spine at the feeling of her breath on his neck, and he replied, "Of course."

And then she slipped past him to join her friends at the door. Albus hurried after her, and took his place beside Alastor just as the door was opened and a large group of people appeared.

The first three through the door seemed to have come together, and two of them had a sort of snobbish air about them. All three of them were rather tall and well-fit. There was one man, who had short black hair and grey eyes. He looked very much like the woman to his left, who also had black hair – hers was much longer – and grey eyes. The woman on his right, however, was blonde with blue eyes.

"Albus," said Alastor, gesturing towards the blonde woman, "this is Aeron Epps, one of the 'Three A's'." Aeron stepped forward, her nose in the air, and held out her hand to Albus. She did not expect a handshake though, but for Albus to kiss her hand, and she did not seem as if she would take no for an answer. After Albus had politely inclined his head and placed a quick kiss to the back of Aeron's hand, Alastor gestured to the second woman and said, "And this is Astraea Clipto." This woman was much less intimidating, though Albus did not doubt that she could do some damage. She gave Albus a small, barely visible smile and shook his hand. "And finally we have Ares Septon."

The man of the 'Three A's' did not seem at all pleasant, and he frowned down at Albus with a look of disgust, his lips pursed as he sneered, "Albus Dumbledore."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ares," said Albus, doing his best to be polite.

"That is Ares Septon to you, Albus Dumbledore," said Ares, and Albus did his best not to look thoroughly confused.

"Of course, I apologize, but please, call me Albus."

Ares sniffed. "I think Albus Dumbledore will work just fine."

Albus stared at Ares for a few moments before replying, "Of course, as you wish, Ares Septon."

Ares waved a dismissive hand, and Albus watched as he strode over to where Aeron and Astraea were, meeting Minerva, Poppy, and Rolanda. Albus felt a wave of irritation run through him when Ares kissed Minerva's hand, his lips lingering far too long as he looked up at her and said, "You may call me Ares, my dear Minerva."

But Minerva merely raised an eyebrow and said, in a sarcastic tone, "What an honor."

Albus smirked, and Ares, obviously oblivious to Minerva's dry comment, gave her a wink and then followed Aeron and Astraea to the table in the middle of the room.

Albus turned back to look at Alastor, who shrugged and said, "Yeah, they're pompous asses, but they'll get the job done."

Albus nodded and returned his gaze to the people in the doorway. He greeted his old friends Elphias Dodge and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Then he was introduced to the last three Aurors and two Healers.

"This is Corin Bartram," said Alastor when a handsome man with shoulder-length red hair and dark green eyes stepped forward.

Corin Bartram smiled brightly as he held out a hand to shake Albus's. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Albus Dumbledore," the young man said. "I've heard great things."

"The pleasure is all mine, Corin," said Albus, inclining his head in greeting.

"And this is Alvis Tyr and Themis Nikita," said Alastor as the last two Aurors stepped into the room.

Alvis, a younger looking man with brown hair and matching eyes, that looked as if he could hardly be old enough to have completed Auror training, stepped forward to shake Albus's hand eagerly as he said, "Hello, sir. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this I won't let you down, sir."

"Please, call me Albus, and I believe most of the credit must go to Alastor. If he thinks you are capable then I have no doubt that you will be an important part of this mission."

Alvis grinned and hurried on to meet the others while Albus turned his attention to Themis, a tall, middle aged, dark-skinned woman with black hair and piercing blue eyes. Once Albus had greeted her, she moved along to meet the others and he met the last two Healers: Eir Concordia, a short woman with short red hair and grey eyes, and Raphael Ganesh, also short, but a muscular man with blonde hair and brown eyes.

At last everyone had been introduced and was seated at the table, with Alastor standing at the front of the room. Albus was once again seated beside Minerva, and he reached out to hold her hand under the table.

"Now," Alastor began when everyone was silent, "as you should all know, you will be leaving for the attack on Grindelwald in just two days. We have rooms for all of you here and after this short meeting Albus and I will show you to those rooms. Breakfast is at eight, lunch is at one, and dinner is at seven. The kitchens are open to all of you at all times. We will have a meeting tomorrow at ten a.m. to discuss the specifics of the mission. Until tomorrow you can unpack your bags, get to know your teammates, and practice you spells. There are simulations in the training room, which I will show you to now if you'll follow me."

Albus reluctantly let go of Minerva's hand and, like everyone else at the table, rose to his feet. With Minerva beside him, he followed the others out of the room and down the hall to an even larger room where one could practice spells. Then the group was split in half for Alastor and Albus to show them to their rooms. While Alastor went off in one direction with Aeron, Astraea, Ares, Corin, Rolanda, Alvis, and Poppy, Albus went in the opposite direction with Minerva, Themis, Elphias, Eir, Raphael, and Kingsley. For Albus, it took a while to show everyone to their rooms, due to Elphias and Kingsley wanting to catch up, and Eir being a bit flirtatious, which Albus discovered was greatly annoying Minerva. But eventually, Albus and Minerva were finally standing alone outside the door to the room she would be staying in for the next two nights.

"Would you like to come in?" Minerva asked Albus, jerking her head back in the direction of the door and smiling hopefully.

"I would love to," he answered almost instantly, returning the smile.

Minerva's grin grew wider as she looked down either end of the hall, making sure that no one else was around before grabbing Albus's hand and pulling him into her rooms, closing the door behind him. The second the door was closed she flung herself into his arms, her head coming to rest on his chest as she gripped him tightly and whispered, "I missed you."

"And I you," Albus whispered in return, burying his face in her hair. "It's been far too long."

"When was the last time we saw each other in the flesh?"

"Five months, two weeks, three days, and eleven hours ago," both answered simultaneously.

Minerva lifted her head slightly to look up into Albus's eyes, a small smirk playing on her lips. "I see I'm not the only one who kept track."

Albus stroked her cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead before saying, "Minerva, I have thought of you every day since the moment we said goodbye."

"Funny, I haven't thought of you at all," said Minerva sarcastically, sliding her arms up around his neck and leaning up to press her lips against his.

The kiss deepened within moments, and a few minutes later the door had been locked, robes were thrown precariously to the floor, and the two rolled onto Minerva's bed, where they attempted to make up for lost time.