Harry's Reward: Missing Scene

Harry was enjoying his time visiting those he had lost in his own world. He was also surprised at the sheer number of people that he actually knew and with whom he had fond remembrances of.

There were a few that he ran into that he was more … taciturn with. His own Severus Snape was present, the man's true character – hidden for so many year – had allowed him to finally arrive to paradise. But there had been some long years of what amounted to penance for the not-so-good things he had done in life.

He had been startled to find that this was one person whom his mother had the occasional "visit" with – now that he had gotten rid of the stick up his arse. James had also had to do some repentance as regards how he had treated the man in life – no human was purely an angel. Surprisingly, the two now had an amicable relationship.

Truthfully, Harry had firmly put the idea of his mother and Snape into a hidden part of his mind and locked it away – he had no desire to even think about it.

The souls of Dumbledore's Army had their own party one night. The group that he had worked with and trained with in life were close and, though there was no fighting in the afterlife, they still kept their connections with each other.

Harry had not been surprised that one had not made it to the pleasant portion of the afterlife: Zacherias Smith from Hufflepuff had deserted before the Battle of Hogwarts and apparently was not deemed worthy of the final reward. Mariatta Edgecombe, however, was there because her errors in life had come from external pressures that had proven too much rather than any innate flaw in her own character.

Harry easily forgave her.

Cedric Diggory, in death, had been made an honorary member by the others to take Smith's place and Harry was happy to put his stamp of approval on that decision. He had no question that Cedric would have done the right thing given circumstances as they had been.

One particular meeting surprised Harry. He was sitting in the twins' bar drinking when he heard a voice. "Mr. Potter. Do you have time for an old acquaintance?"

Harry turned his head to find a very attractive woman looking at him with a smile. He was confused for a moment, trying to place the face when suddenly he twigged on the voice. "Professor McGonagall!?"

The woman smirked and said, "Oi, na' none o' tha!" Her Scottish accent was much more pronounced than it used to be. "We're al' adults noo. I think ye' can call m' by m' proper name."

Harry laughed. "Hello, Minerva. Have a seat." Minerva McGonagall motioned to a server even as she sat down. "How are you doing?"

Harry could easily understand her accent and so ignored it. "I am doing well. And how are you, Harry?"

"Enjoying my vacation. It's been an amazing visit."

"That's nice. I do have a bone to pick with you." Although she said this with a smile, she seemed dead serious.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Why haven't you ever learned to be an animagus?"

Before he could answer, one of the twins arrived. "Minnie! The usual?"

Minerva laughed and said, "Of course! Single malt, as always; none o' that cheap brew the other customers seem to swill down." At Harry's look she said, "What? I'm a proper Scottish lass an' I'll not be drinkin' nothin noo except a proper Scottish Whisky. Twouldn't be proper otherwise!"

Harry laughed at that. "One side of you I don't think we saw at Hogwarts."

"Yes. Well, you were children then – I had to keep a proper image." She smiled as she accepted her drink from one of the twins' servers.

Harry drank with her and then answered her question. "About being an animagus: I never found to time to try."

"Well, you've time now. You should look me up and we'll see if we can get you moving forward on that," she said with a gimlet eye, expecting his full cooperation.

Harry chuckled and said, "I feel just like a misbehaving first year when you do that."

Minerva smirked. "I know. That's why I do it." The two laughed together.

They were interrupted again by one of the twins. "You two having a good reunion?"

Harry guessed that it was Fred, as he seemed to instigate more than his only slightly older twin and he had arrived with a certain look. Harry grinned and said, "I have no complaints, Fred."

The red-haired man looked at Harry with surprise. "How can you tell us apart when even our own mum has problems?"

Harry shrugged and sipped his mead, still grinning.

After giving Harry a look, Fred got his smile back. "You should know, Minnie is one of our regulars. She also makes regular bets."

Curious, Harry replied, "Oh?"

Fred nodded almost maniacally. "Her favorite board is 'Harry's Next Tryst.' Has a good record on that too."

Harry looked in surprise over to his old Head of House who only grinned and had some of her own drink before saying, "Well, it was a favorite pastime of the Hogwarts professors. Life in the castle could be boring and so we had a few wagers here and there. My favorite was always the various relationships amongst the students. Kept me in mead and whisky many a long winter." She sipped her drink again.

After staring at her for a moment, Harry had a loud laugh. "You're good. We never would have guessed."

Minerva nodded and said, "I remember the 200 Galleons that Severus had to hand over in your sixth year – he was quite convinced you'd take up with Ms. Granger; I went with m' fellow redhead, Ms. Weasley." She smirked at the two wizards who looked back at her with this revelation even as she drank more of her cup.

Fred finally nodded and said, "Her biggest win was that Susan Ivanova." (hpfanficarchive, story 1690 chapter 1 if anyone cares to read lemons)

"Really?" Harry asked. He then looked over to Minerva.

She grinned and said, "I seem to remember in one world you told her she reminded you of me. In that world, without magic, her great-great grandfather was an Ambassador from Russia to England who took up with a certain Scottish lass from the Clan McGonagall." She took another sip from her drink and said, "I have to say it didn't surprise me. I remember how attractive those boys from Durmstrung were when they visited. I could imagine myself taking up with a strong cossack lad."

Harry looked gobsmacked. "She's your granddaughter!"

"Add a few greats and you're spot on, Harry." Minerva grinned at her former student.

Fred and Harry looked at each other with amazement. Fred shook his head. "We should have excluded those with insider knowledge from betting."

"Not me' fault, laddie. Now, go get me another whisky." She pushed her glass over to Fred who chuckled and did as asked.

Harry smiled and said, "Well, your granddaughter is an impressive woman. The versions I've met are all quite strong and very intelligent. I can't say that I'm surprised that you're related."

Minerva smiled as she looked off in thought. "I remember when Hermione told me about the connection she found at her job as researcher." She looked back to Harry with a smile. "I started to pay more attention to those worlds where y' visit the great station. An' I' been universally proud o' the lass whenever she comes to your attention."

Harry nodded. "She's a woman who does a stressful job well, whenever I seem to run into her. Keeping her alive and happy in the worlds I visit seems to be important. I admit – I have a soft spot for her."

Minerva accepted the new cup of whisky from Fred and said, "A toast to m' great-great-granddaughter Susan Ivanova. May she find joy where she can and purpose in what she does."

Harry nodded in agreement and clicked his glass to hers and then drank the toast.

Minerva then added in Gaelic, "Of course, I always thought you needed a proper Highland lass to show you what a real good time was."

Harry understood it fully and looked at his old Head of House with wide eyes. He replied in the same language, "Are you offering?"

Minerva looked a little surprised. "You understood a' that?"

Harry pointed to his neck and ear. "Universal translator."

Minerva smirked and said, "Ooops."

Harry asked again, "You offering?"

Minerva looked Harry up and down from her seat and replied ,"I don' know, laddie. You've never been with a Scottish lass. Ah' might break ya." Her words definitely sounded like a challenge.

Harry grinned and replied, "I'm willing to chance it."

Minerva looked at him and her smirk turned to a grin. "Well, then." She slammed the rest of her whisky and stood up. She grabbed Harry and he followed. As she started walking she called out, "Hey, boys! Mark the right board. Minerva McGonagall."

The twins led the hoots and hollers before looking at the board in question. Suddenly they cried out, "Hey! It's your bet that's won."

"That isn't right."

"Stacking the deck like that."

Together, "You cheated, Minnie!"

Minerva stopped at the door, Harry's hand in hers and replied, "Y' never said it was against the rules." She grinned at the twins even as Harry shrugged at them and then she led her conquest out the door.

(What follows will soon be found on I think. If you don't like reading lemons, you can ignore it.)

Harry did spend time learning the animagus process from Professor McGonagall. They also had a couple of more nights together.

To his and her surprise, his form was that of a phoenix. If they had thought about it, however, given his normal method of leaving and arriving in various worlds, it shouldn't have been that big of a surprise. The fact that he didn't seem to age should have been another clue.

He had been made, effectively, immortal so as to allow him to do his appointed job.

A/N: Although this seems frivolous, it's actually the basis of another addition that's coming to the Babylon 5 thread. I'm not writing tripe and smut without a reason this time.