Minerva had started, as Albus said, to settle in and make herself at home. Not exactly a difficult or unpleasant task, since Hogwarts had been her home for almost her entire life. She was just the prodigal daughter returning home after seven years of absence.

She unpacked a few belongings quickly, not wanting to waste time inside her rooms. But time to be spent on it was necessary: the decorations needed to be changed, or else she wouldn't be able to set foot on it again. The former occupant – Albus, whom else? – had a strange liking for lime-green sheets and purple pillows, which just wouldn't do. Settling for a Gryffindor red and gold, she finally sighed contently.

Next thing on her list was get down to the staff room to meet her colleagues. She sure was expecting a few of her ex-professors and the new additions she had read about on the Daily Prophet, but what she wasn't expecting was seeing her best friends with whom she'd lost contact over the years, Poppy Pomfrey and Pomona Sprout. After a lot of catching up which included girly squeals from Poppy, Minerva left her friends with the promise of a girl's night out the following day.

It was later than she'd expected when she started making her way to the Headmaster's office. They had little over than an hour before dinner to play chess, and as far as she remembered, their games could last for hours and neither of them would notice. In her sixth year, when she had started her Animagi training with him, sometimes they would just forget he had to teach her how to transform into a cat, and just play chess into the night, him telling stories and she laughing, drinking cocoa and tea, respectively. It was because of him that her Animagi form was a cat. The memory was from her seventh year and she couldn't remember some parts of it, but it was still there, and it would be forever. Minerva shut her eyes tightly trying to prevent the memories, but it was useless.

They were on his office, playing chess for the first time. Minerva couldn't tear her eyes away from the phoenix which was preparing for death and rebirth.

"You know, I do find Fawkes amazing" said Minerva.

"Me too, but I never would imagine myself having a bird for a pet"

"Why not?"

"You see, I've always considered myself more what people would call a 'cat-person'"

"That's a big change, from cats to birds. Why not have cats, then?"

"When I was young, mother wouldn't let me get any animals inside the house; Aberforth was allergic. So when I came to Hogwarts to teach, I decided the first thing on my list was to buy a kitten. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would keep me from having my so desired cat. Or so I thought."

"Will I want to know what happened?"

"Ms. Norris"

"What? You're telling me Ms. Norris already existed when you started working here? But that's impossible!"

"I assure you, she was already here, and so was Mr. Filch."

"Merlin, how old they must be now?"

"I don't know, but there would be a lot of digits"

"Say, what did centenary Ms. Norris do?"

"It chased my poor tabby cat for miles, and wouldn't leave it alone. Mr. Filch started complaining about 'another cat on Ms. Norris territory' and Armando thought it was better to give it away."

"And then…"

"And then I realized a bird would be more practical. I didn't want a common owl, and since I was looking for a friend for my whole life long – and I intend to live a lot - , a phoenix seemed to be the more suitable option."

"So that's how you got Fawkes"

"That's how I got Fawkes. But I'm still fond of cats, though"

That moment she knew what her Animagi form would be. A couple weeks later, when he'd asked her if she'd decided which animal she would like to be, she could swear she saw a knowing smile reach his eyes when she told him about her choice. If he knew, he had never commented on that.

Minerva shook her head as if it would help her out of the past. She had far too many memories of him, and them always decided to make themselves known in the worst times. She looked around. Where was she? Oh, that's right; she was going to play chess with Albus. For a second she thought she was back on her seventh year again. She definitely should stop thinking about him.

She slowly raised her hand to knock on the door.

TBC

A.N.: SO SORRY to leave you guys here, but I decided that I'm gonna keep my chapters short. I know this chapter did not answer many things, but… Wait and see wink, wink Please, read and review, I'll be forever grateful.