A/N: Okay, I know the poll said ADMM but I changed my mind! Don't hurt me!
Chapter Four: Answers
Harry awoke the next morning, the smell of cooking drifting to his nostrils and teasing his stomach. He slipped out of bed and down the stairs whilst trying desperately to remember his way back to the dining room, for he knew it to be adjacent to the kitchen.
When he finally found the kitchen, he saw his Transfiguration Professor managing several saucepans over an oven, still wearing her ruby pyjamas, but she was not alone. A tall man with short brunette hair and a thick Scottish brogue had his arms around Minerva's waist and was whispering into her ear.
"Seriously, Zee, not now; I'll end up burning you," Minerva said.
"I'm sorry. I just can't resist my beautiful wife. And it just happens to be our anniversary," replied the man softly.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Zeke."
"Now, we both know that isn't true."
"Fair point," Minerva laughed and swivelled round in his arms.
"Where was I?" Zeke asked, planting a heated kiss on his wife's smiling lips. Harry, not wanting to intrude, was about to go back to his room when his Head of House turned her head and spotted him.
"Oh, good morning, Harry. I don't believe you've met my husband."
"Ah, Harry Potter. Pleasure to meet you." The man, named Zeke, extended his hand towards Harry. Harry shook it pleasantly and took a seat at the dining table.
"I didn't know you were married, Professor."
"You never asked."
"We've been married fifty years today," explained Zeke.
"Don't say it like that. You make me feel old."
"Compared to me, my dear, you are the perfect spring chicken."
"Don't be stupid, you're only a year older than me," Minerva chuckled.
Harry felt extremely awkward in a contrast to the relaxed and homely atmosphere around the house. The days just kept getting stranger. However, at the mention of breakfast, Harry's mind completely lost the abnormality of the situation for a moment. He agreed, very gratefully, to a large plate of bacon and egg with toast.
~*~
When Harry had finished his breakfast, he turned to get dressed but was stopped in his tracks by the voice of Professor McGonagall:
"Harry! Can I talk to you when you're done getting ready?"
Harry agreed and started off towards his bedroom, wondering what on earth Minerva could want to discuss. He took a quick shower, polled on jeans and a blue t-shirt, and tried to avoid walking head-first into Aylish.
"Whoa, Harry! Watch out."
"What... oh, oh sorry, Aylish," he apologized absent-mindedly.
"No worries. Are- are you alright? You seem a bit..." she tailed off tactfully.
"I'm fine. Really." He continued down the hallway, stopping only to glimpse the marvellous cherry coloured sunrise outside of the window. There was a vague sound of chirruping in the background and a light scent of cinnamon.
When he finally found Minerva, she was sitting in a reception room looking over a brightly-covered book with Jack.
"Now, be careful with your pronunciation of the double 'l's. They can either make a 'y' or light 'j' sound," she was telling her grandson. Harry cleared his throat discreetly and Minerva saw him.
"Okay, Jack. Can you do me a favour and Floo call Alastor for me please?" Jack departed from the room silently. "Come and sit down, Harry."
Harry did as he was told and looked his mentor straight in the eyes.
"So, why are you teaching Jack Spanish?" Harry said in an attempt to punctuate the silence.
"He wants to come with me on a research trip in South America in the Christmas holidays. But, look, I know you need some answers. You're wondering why I took you in so readily, why I didn't reprove you over running away. Right?" She had definitely hit the nail on the head.
"Well, you need to know that I don't relate my past to your situation in any way and that I don't even think that it was anywhere near as bad as yours was. But there are similarities. On my fourteenth birthday I got pulled out of my Potions class to go and talk to Headmaster Dippet. He told me that – that both of my parents had been murdered by Grindelwald, the dark wizard of the age.
"So I was told that in the holidays I would return to my Uncle's home rather than my own. When the holidays came, I went back to live with him in Ireland and things were fine... at first. He got angry very quickly. One day I – I suppose he just snapped. He hit me one day and he even locked me in the cupboard under the stairs.
"And that was that; I'd had enough. I let my temper get the better of me and the door to the cupboard got blasted off from my accidental magic. Then I just left. I had no idea where I was going. But anywhere had to be better than there.
"I found my way to a friend's house. Well, I say that I found my way there, I had to walk three miles to get to his house in Dublin. Anyway, his mother arranged for me to stay with the two of them for a few days and then portkey to Hogwarts."
"But, why couldn't you live with your brothers?" asked Harry, remembering the twin siblings that she had mentioned the previous day.
"They were living in Romania at the time and they were only nineteen themselves. They couldn't have coped.
"Well, when I got back to Hogwarts, I got talking to Professor Dumbledore about the recent events and he listened. He told me that I was right to leave and that everything would be alright. Then he shocked me. He offered to adopt me; it would mean staying in school through the holidays (apart from summer) but it was brilliant. So, I became Albus Dumbledore's adoptive daughter, not that anyone else barring the Minister at the time knew."
"Wow, so you're... wow..." Harry was too stunned to really form any coherent sentences.
There was silence for a while.
"Professor – Minerva... can I ask, why are you so... different at home?" To tell the truth, he felt a little impertinent asking that particular question. Minerva thankfully did not look at all affronted.
"I behave so differently at home than in school, Harry, because I am so much more relaxed and because I know what it's like to feel like a prisoner in your own home. I would never wish that on anybody, let alone my own family. But school is there for your education, which is a very important tool. I am strict in school because I need to be. If you lot fail, I fail. Do you see what I mean? I care about you all too much to let you waste it and believe me, without rules, you will. The school keeps you safe, Harry, but here... Zeke and I are the only ones keeping this barrier up. We have to be happy or... or we'll never be able to keep everybody together. Do you see? I love my family too much to let them suffer through misery. Home is a sanctuary, Harry. Home is where the heart is."
A/N: I really do apologize for the copious amount of dialogue and sadness in this chapter but it should be back to enjoyment for the next instalment.
