(A/N… well thanks to y'all… Jerry has been working overtime to bring you this Chapter… he even went so far as to make me begin the next chapter! Darn that muse! He works when I don't tell him to and doesn't work when I do! Darn that spoiled brat! No really, Jerry is great… he's just a slave-driver when he feels like being one… This A/N is probably the most comical thing you'll find in this chapter. I'm sorry, my story has taken a darker, more serious twist… probably due to some very depressing literature (darn that Heart of Darkness…) this chapter is mostly gruff 'n' fluff…never fear! There will be more comedy in the future… I hope… strange one-brow-raised look)

It was a dream, a wonderful and terrible dream. Oh she had seen him, felt him, breathed him in. His kiss still lingered on her lips like the warm memory of summer that clings to September. She threw herself back onto the bed. But oh, she would never dream that again. It was too horrible. The smoke, the wind, the wet, no, she would never dream that again. It had to be a dream. The last words of her dream lingered there in her mind. Minerva, Minerva, my love, tell the children….tell them that daddy loves them.

The children! She threw her satin housecoat around her and ran to the closest room, the twins' room. She had moved them together and they slept soundly there. She leaned over them. Oh, my dears, my sweet dears. They were so small, her children. They had always been small, all of them, she remembered seeing, them seeing them so small and defenseless their first days. She gently lifted Curtis. He stirred, yawned and went peacefully back to sleep.

"Blue, blue, blue! So much like their father," she thought wistfully, "his eyes are…"

She suddenly felt strange, as if something were amiss. She set the child gently back into his crib and placed her hand at the back of her neck, fretfully massaging it as she stared out of the window at the dewy summer grass. It looked like frost, ice in the morning air, cold as steel, sharp and hard as shards of diamonds pointing jaggedly out of the grass. She became scared suddenly. Why? She looked up and gave a cry of alarm. Eyes. Green slitted eyes flashed back at her. She looked again at them. Her eyes! Her slitted cat eyes stared eerily back at her. She just hadn't fixed her eyes. There! She could have laughed at herself, but she still felt uneasy. Why? What was wrong?

They moved out into the sunlight, the men and the cat.

Ey! Whatcha doing with 'at cat Albus ol' boy?

Don't you know? The fool ran out for it just earlier.

Really?

'Twas all the gunfire.

You went out for a cat?

That he did, mate, that he did.

Wull, le's chuck it! We got no need for a cat.

Naw, Naw! Let 'er stick around, mate!

Royt! Let her foyt with them rats that are alloys 'anging round 'ere!

Noo don't you see lad? They'd eat her a'fore she'd get a chance at 'em.

Naw! They're about the same size! Easy chance for both parties!

They laughed heartily over their jokes, but Albus found them far less amusing and Minerva shrank from the suggestions. Albus stepped over the bodies of comrades fallen, Jonny following closely.

Aww boys! Cut him some slack, the man's been through much today.

The men guffawed at that.

Space? He's sa one who ran out to get the dumb thing isn't he?

Yes, old Corporal knows better than to not follow…

For a stupid flea-ridden cat!

Minerva drew herself up indignantly and made efforts to paw herself free from Albus' grip, if only to take a swat at that soldier.

Now Minerva, darling, he said warningly keeping a tight grasp on her.

Minerva darling?

Didja 'ear tha'? Minerva Da'ling?

Oh Minerva dearest!

THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH! Jonny said turning and pulling a wand from his uniform.

Watcha' gonna do? Hit us with yer stick?

I said that is enough.

Jonny lifted his wand.

Suddenly, the men paled, but they did not really know why. What did a stick have to do with them? Why should that be so threatening?

Amovi Memoria!

They saw an orange flash. They stood there a bit stunned.

Why did you do that?

Well I…

Now look!

Oh! It's ok! That's a short term memory charm. Not like "Obliviate" They'll just not remember this morning. Look, they are just Muggles, they don't understand…

You need to give them more credit than you do, Pomfrey.

What? What's going on?

Albus rolled his eyes, shook his head, sighed and turned around.

Never mind.

Hey Albus! Where'd you get that cat?

He walked faster.

I said never mind!

He got out of sight of his comrades and disappeared into the mist and reappeared in a forest nearby.

My Darling Girl, I'm sorry

Sorry for what, dearest, she said, resting a weary head on his chest.

For all of this…

Don't be silly, Albus, I should never have come. It is I who should be sorry.

He stared off into the distance.

My dear, it doesn't matter, you needn't have been worried so.

Please, Albus, don't be so hard on yourself, or your men, they don't understand.

He kneeled and clasped her hands together and then opened them, kissing her palms.

Darling, please, give my love to the children, he said pleadingly looking up.

Her heart melted. It was as if he would die if she didn't.

Yes, My love, of course, she said resting her hand on his head like a mother of mercy, Please Albus, I must leave… and so must you… your men are waiting.

He looked up. He looked so tired, so worn, already even though he was so young. It was as if he knew that the world would lean on his shoulders.

Yes, yes… Oh Minerva, she saw tears in his eyes, Minerva, he whispered.

What's this? Tears my Strong, Tower of Manly Strength? She asked smiling.

He smiled slightly up at her. She was going to faint if he smiled again. Only his smile could ever make her swoon. So boyish, innocent, yet strangely mischievous.

Speak for yourself, my Scottish Spit-fire Wildcat, he laughed. He laughed! For the first time in a long time, the lines furrowed in his brows melted and his sapphire eyes laughed with him.

Tsk! Spit-fire Wildcat indeed! I'll not be talked to in such a way! She said in mock shock, Here we are shamelessly flirting in the middle of the forest while…then she became serious once again. Really dear, she pleaded, I must away.

He kissed the hand he was holding once again, standing up and sighed, I know dear, I know…

It was the moment they were anticipating, but secretly hoping it would never come.

Suddenly, roughly, he pulled her to him, in a hard, hot kiss that he knew she would not forget for a while as it mellowed into a gentle loving one that she could remember at nights when she missed his touch. And suddenly, he heard a pop he thought he'd crushed something then realized she was no longer in his arms. He sighed, staring out into the forest one last time and then apparated back to the trenches.

Really, the whole thing had been a dream. She couldn't have seen him really. It was a wonderful, beautiful dream that she had wished was true. Then she looked down at her usually bleach-white nightgown and realized it never could have been a dream with all the dirt-stains that now littered it. She had to sit down.

"Minerva? Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not feeling well at all…"

"What's wrong? Should I call for a healer?"

"No!... I mean,… no… no, I'll be alright… just…. Take care of the children for an hour will you? I must… I need to visit someone… or… I need some time for myself…

What was wrong? There was something still wrong… and it wasn't what had happened that morning… no… it was something else… She went to her bed room… something else…

(Oh! BTW! Most of the spells in this fic are either rooted in French or Latin so sorry for any sucky translations for anyone who knows either of these languages!)