"So you see, we have to help them get together," Harry finished telling George.
George nodded his head in understanding, "What do we do?"
Harry smiled in relief and leant forward slightly, "Thank you," He whispered gratefully before jumping into the explanation, "Holly and I decided that if we could get Minerva to throw a Yule Ball to celebrate the first year without Voldemort, we could somehow get them together."
George lifted his eyebrow, "And how, are we going to get them together?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and leant back in his chair, "Don't know. We've just been winging it so far. But we know that they love each other. All we need to do is get them to admit it to the other," He frowned, "Well, mostly Minerva."
"How can you be sure McGonagall loves Hermione?"
"I know she loves her," Harry sighed and looked away, "Because I just pushed her to acknowledge it," Slumping down in his seat, he shook his head, "I may have done more harm than good by telling her what I did," He said softly, looking into the fire.
George took hold of his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, "What did you say Harry?"
"I implied that Ro would be 'helping' Hermione with trying on dresses and that she might like Hermione," Looking up, his eyes glistened from unshed tears, "You should've seen her reaction George; at first she looked angry, but then I pushed it further and it looked like she just lost everything. I-I shouldn't have done it."
Taking him by the shoulders, George turned Harry to face him, "Now you listen here Harry Potter. It doesn't matter anymore, what's done is done and there's nothing you can do now. To say sorry, you are going to get Hermione and Minerva together and you're going to do it at the Ball tomorrow night. Do you understand?" When Harry nodded, he returned it with a quick one of his own, "Good, because now we have to go see Sprout and Flitwick about helping us."
George and Harry walked down the hallway to Professor Flitwicks new office in silence. After Minerva had become Headmistress, he had become Deputy Headmaster, which meant he now had a larger office. Knocking on the door, the pair waited until they heard the high 'Come in,' before entering. Once the door clicked shut, Flitwick looked up from his work, smiling up at the two boys who stood in front of his desk.
"What can I do for you two boys this fine afternoon?"
"Well Professor, we're here to ask if you could help us with something," Harry started hesitantly; he never was one to ask for help.
Flitwick laid his quill down and folded his hands in front of him, "And what do you need help with?"
Harry looked at George, who nodded encouragingly, before he looked his old Professor in the eye, "To get Minerva and Hermione together."
As Flitwick's eyes widened, Harry began to worry that they'd pop out of his head if they grew any larger. Slowly Flitwick blinked. Once, twice, thrice. When it seemed to have sunk in, he looked up at the boys with a large smile, "What do I have to do?"
Harry sighed while George smiled wildly before jumping in to describe what they wanted him to do. When they were done, Flitwick was nodding thoughtfully.
"Yes, yes that could work. I'll start right away. Just tell me when to do it tomorrow and I'll be ready."
Thanking the Charms professor, the pair nodded before they said goodbye to the small wizard and went in search for Professor Sprout.
Headmistress's Office
Pacing around the large area in front of her desk, Minerva tried to calm her raging thoughts. One minute she was sad that she was right about Hermione being confused, but then she felt anger take over at the thought of Rolanda doing this to her. She knew how she felt about the young woman, so why was she doing it? As she continued pacing back and forth, a war of emotions battled for freedom inside of her. Stopping when she paced the window, she looked out over the lake, spotting the silhouette of the giant squid swimming just beneath the surface. Without warning, she lost her tenuous grip on her anger and flung her hand out, clearing her desk of everything. When that did nothing to sate her anger, she turned to the rest of the trinkets in the office and pushed her magic out. One after the other, items cracked before exploding.
Watching from above, Albus sat in his chair and watched as his best friend lost control. Very rarely had he ever seen her this enraged, the last time being when he had left Harry with his Aunt and Uncle. But even then it wasn't this bad. Silently, he watched as the objects in the room exploded and imploded on themselves under the force of her magic. Most of the items in the room had been there long before even he was Headmaster, and now close to all of them resembled dust. When she finally let her arms drop back to her sides, he leant closer to the edge of his portrait.
"What has caused you so much pain, my dear?" He asked, his voice soft in the aftermath of her anger.
Minerva turned to face her lifelong friend with tears rolling down her cheeks, "My heart," She whispered before crumbling to the ground.
Greenhouse Two
Pomona Sprout looked up from the little Mandrakes in front of her at the sound of someone clearing their throat from the entrance of the greenhouse. At seeing Harry and George, she left her work and walked over to them, removing her earmuffs as she went. When she was standing in front of the boys, she surprised them by pulling them into a hug, "What brings you two here?" She asked, pulling back with a wide smile.
Harry smiled back at her, "We've come to ask for your help."
Sprout nodded her head, "And what do you need help with?"
"Getting Minerva and Hermione together."
Pomona frowned, "Getting Minerva and Miss Granger together," She repeated slowly.
The boys nodded once.
"Okay, what do you need me to do?" She asked as she sat down.
Harry smiled brightly, launching into the explanation of his plan to Sprout without missing a beat. By the end, she was smiling and nodding along.
"So?" Harry asked, leaning forward.
Standing, Pomana held out her hand, "I'll see what I can do. It should be ready in time."
Smiling again, Harry stood, grasping her hand in his tightly, "Thank you Professor."
Sprout waved her hand and chuckled, "Be off with you. I need to finish with the Mandrakes before I start on what you want."
Shooting her yet another happy smile, Harry thanked her again and turned to walk out with George at his side. When they entered the castle again, they felt a strong wave of magic wash over them. Both men looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders; neither knew what it was, but being in a school for magic, neither of them thought much of it.
Entrance Hall
Upon entering the main hall of the castle, Hermione turned and waited for Hooch to catch up to her. When she didn't stumble in through the open doors, the young brunette looked out in search for the flying instructor. She was talking to…a tree? Hermione rolled her eyes and staggered her way back out to the older woman. They were drunk. Well, more precisely, Hooch was drunk; Hermione was partially drunk. Tripping over the loose rocks of the pathway, she laughed as she righted herself. Cautiously making her way to Hooch, Hermione looped her arm through hers and dragged her towards the castle and pushed Rolanda in.
Rolanda landed on the cold floor with a small oof. Looking up at the sound of laughter, yellow eyes narrowed at the sight of Hermione standing over her, clutching her sides as she shook from laughter. Huffing, she held out her hand.
Hermione rolled her eyes again and grasped Hooch's hand, ready to pull her up, only to be pulled down on to the ground next to the silver haired witch. She glared at the woman beside her, which only made her laugh harder than before.
Further up the walkway, Minerva walked down the corridor to the entrance hall. She had a meeting with the Minister of Magic in five minutes and she still needed to apparate to London. When she came to the corner of the hallway she paused. 'Is that laughter?' She slowly peeked around the corner, only to stumble back when she saw Hermione lying next to Rolanda laughing. Blinking back the unwanted tears, she tried to control her breathing. She had only just cleaned herself up from her breakdown in her office earlier; she didn't need to start crying again. It took s few moments, but eventually she was able to stand up without the aid of the wall. Taking one last calming breath, she looked around the corner again, sighing in relief when she saw that the two witches were gone. Shaking her head, she walked down the hallway, forcing all thoughts of the girl from her mind. She'd go to her meeting, come back for dinner and then go to bed.