"Mummy, why will that lady live with us?"

Hermione took her daughter's hand and lead her to the sofa. It seemed like she would have to explain the situation again. A quick glance to Hugo confirmed that he was busy, playing with his stuffed animals. Good! That gave her the time to take care of Rose, who had returned from her grandparents just an hour ago to find her home in a state of utter chaos. Hermione felt a little guilty, knowing it wasn't fair to Rose to simply inform her about the changes in their lives. It was a blessing that she took it so well. It might have to do with the fact that Hugo had offered his room. "Aunty Mina can have my room," he had announced. "I can move in with you or Rosie." Thank Merlin for his generosity.

Rose got comfortable on the large sofa and looked expectantly at her mother.

Hermione joined her daughter. It felt wonderful to sit after having worked all day. "That lady is Professor Minerva McGonagall, but you can call her Aunt Minerva if you like."

"She is the headmistress of Hogwarts, right?" Rose had been told all that before, but she wanted to make sure she got everything right.

Hermione nodded patiently. "That's right, love. Sadly, the professor suffered a stroke a little while ago."

"That is what grandpa had as well," she stated more than asked.

"Indeed. Now yesterday, Hugo and I went to visit her in the nursing home."

That was something Rose still didn't understand. "But why is she in a nursing home? Grandpa hasn't been in one."

"That is a good question. See, grandpa had grandma and his sister and us to take care of him when he came home. Professor McGonagall has no family left. She is all alone."

"But how can someone have no family?"

The wide eyes always brought a little smile on Hermione's lips. It was a blessing that the concept of having no family at all was still so foreign to her children. "Well, Professor McGonagall has fought in three wars and sadly, all of her family has been killed."

Rose's amber eyes were filled with a sudden sadness."Even her children?"

"To be honest, I am not sure that she ever had a husband or children, and I would like you to refrain from asking her until you know her a little better, all right?"

Rose nodded thoughtfully. "But why? Because it would make her sad?"

"Yes. She is very unwell at the moment and very unhappy with her situation as it is, so we don't want to remind her of sad memories, don't you think?"

"Hmhm, okay. So she will stay here because she has no family who can take care of her?"

Hermione was feeling so guilty. She needed and wanted to help her mentor, but it was a drastic change for her children as well. After having to cope with their parents' separation, it maybe wasn't wise to force this new situation on them. Well, it was too late for thoughts like that now. "Yes, my darling. I know this comes very sudden for all of us, especially you. I'm very sorry for that."

A look of determination settled on Rose's face. "That's alright, mummy. If she has no family, then we must help her to get better."

"Come here, darling," Hermione invited with open arms. She was incredibly proud of Rose and very touched.

Rose let herself fall into her mum's waiting embrace.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, too, mummy."

"What do you think?"

"I like what we did with the wall colour," Rose praised and tilted her head to the right, inspecting their work. It had been fun to redecorate the room for Aunt Minerva.

"But she will be lonely here when we all sleep," Hugo complained. "Can I leave her my dragon?" His eyes lit up at his idea, causing his mum to smile.

Hermione ran her hand through Hugo's soft hair. She knew that Dragy was a favourite of Hugo's and it was very generous of him to part with him so that Minerva wouldn't feel alone. "I think that is a wonderful idea. I suggest you put him on the bed. He can wait there until we are back again."

Hermione watched him run into her bedroom and grab the small, green dragon she had given to him a while ago and place it on Minerva's new bed. She was quite pleased with the outcome of their work. They had moved all of Hugo's things into her bedroom, where he would stay for the foreseeable future. To give him enough space, Hermione had moved her bookshelves and desk into Minerva's room and let Hugo choose new decorations for her bedroom. It would be his room as well now, and as Hermione would only use it to sleep from now on, she wanted him to have it his way.

While Hugo was busy putting everything away in his new room, Rose had helped her with Minerva's room. They had changed the wall colours from blue with cars to the soothing Gryffindor red with golden ornaments. Satisfied with their work, Hermione had conjured a bed and a small wardrobe for Minerva's clothing. She had placed the two bookshelves from her bedroom on the wall opposite of the bed and the desk in the corner, facing it. It was unusual for a desk to be placed that way, but Hermione would still have to work and she wanted to be able to keep an eye on Minerva while doing so.

Hermione took a deep breath. Everything had been organized, or at least, Hermione hoped it was. She had talked with her children, made room in the flat, gone to the rehabilitation clinic her father had been in to discuss Minerva's treatment and borrowed a wheelchair. It was a bonus that her own doctor was married to a witch and had been very helpful when Hermione called and explained the situation to him. He would come to the flat if needed, he had promised, and Hermione knew she could count on him.

Now she stood in front of the nursing home, her children by her side.

"Mummy, how can Aunt Mina come with us when she can't walk?" Hugo inquired.

Hermione smiled at her son. "Do you remember the wheelchair we got earlier?"

Hugo nodded. How could he forget? They usually just bought food or clothes.

"I've shrunk it, and it is here in my bag," Hermione explained.

Rose, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly tugged at her mother's jacket. "Mummy when Aunt Minerva is headmistress, then she can do magic, right?"

Hermione nodded. She had spent a lot of time thinking about how her mentor's magic might have been affected by the stroke. She would have to talk with Minerva to figure out in what way her magic had reacted to the stroke. "Oh yes, she is a very powerful witch, but she can't do magic at the moment."

"Because she is ill?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes, darling. I think she will be able to do magic soon again, but right now she is too unwell."

Rose nodded her understanding and resumed looking at the grim building in front of her. "Can we get her now? I don't like it here."

Hermione snorted. Welcome to the club. "Yes, let's go."

All in all, Hugo was a polite and understanding child. What Hermione still needed to work on, was waiting for the usual 'come in' after knocking at a door. Already knowing where Aunt Mina was, Hugo knocked and burst into the room before Hermione had a chance to stop him. "Aunty Mina, we are here!" she heard him announce.

Hermione shook her head as she entered the room with Rose a moment later. They would talk about politeness when they were back home. Hugo was already at Minerva's bedside and about to climb on the bed to greet his aunt, while Rose stood close to her mother.

Minerva was sitting up in bed, just like yesterday, and grabbed Hugo's arm to prevent him from falling off the bed. Hugo didn't waste any time and placed a wet kiss on her cheek before getting comfortable next to her. "We are here to get you," he explained when the elder woman smiled at him the best she could.

"Good afternoon, Professor. This is Rose," Hermione introduced for the sake of good manners. For the first time, Hermione realized that she still didn't use her mentor's first name, but as long as Minerva didn't offer, she would remain Professor McGonagall.

"Hello," Rose greeted shyly, not yet comfortable with the strange woman in the bed.

Minerva gave her a careful nod, but seeing the look on her former charge's face, she knew that she was expected to try and say something. She wished Hermione would just spare her the embarrassment.

"…ello," she slowly and carefully formulated.

Hermione awarded the old woman's efforts with a warm smile. She gently pushed Rose towards the bed and leaned in to give her a small kiss on the forehead. "Are you ready to leave?"

Rose watched her mother exchange a few words with the old witch while her brother absentmindedly played with her sleeve. Rose had never seen anyone with such long hair. How would it look unbraided? She wondered if she would be allowed to brush it some time.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when her mother enlarged the wheelchair they had brought with them. She would have liked to help, but she didn't know how. A moment later, Hugo was sent to wait as well when her mum helped the woman into the chair. It looked a little difficult, and Rose felt bad when the woman groaned softly. Maybe it was because her arm hung down bedside the chair. Her mum was busy putting the lady's limp foot on the footrest, so Rose decided to help after all. Slowly, she moved over to stand beside the wheelchair and very carefully lifted the arm and put it in the lady's lap. It felt cold and heavy. When she looked up, she was almost startled when green eyes stared at her. Rose wanted to back away, but then the old witch tried to smile at her. She looked so sad, and Rose didn't want to be mean to her, so she stayed where she was. It wasn't the lady's fault that she was ill, and Rose knew that she shouldn't be scared, but she couldn't help feeling a little awkward.

"Rose, would you please stay with Aunt Minerva for a moment? I need to talk to a nurse, and Hugo is coming with me." Hermione was already at the door. She needed to inform whoever was responsible that Professor McGonagall would leave today, and she wasn't sure how well that information would sit with the nursing home.

Rose knew that she wasn't supposed to say no, even when she wanted to. Now she was all alone with the lady and didn't know what to say. She smiled politely and decided that she would try to say something comforting. "Don't be sad," the little girl tried. "Mummy and Hugo and I made Hugo's old room pretty for you."

Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! I am so sorry that I don't have the time at the moment to thank you in a PM, but work is crazy right now.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!