Chapter 19

When Hermione's footsteps weren't audible anymore –– when the Bell Towers chimed, she had told them that she really had to go pick up her children from their playdate and had excused herself to do so –– the Headmaster turned to Minerva, concern and worry in the subtle crease of his brow. "Minerva, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm… all right, I guess," the Gryffindor responded with some hesitation. Then she saw his eyes upon her left temple. "I'll be all right, Filius," she said.

The Headmaster's brow quirked as he slid his blue eyes down to her injured ankle. "Is it as painful as then?" he asked when he saw how bruised and swollen it was and connected her appearance with the injury he remembered her getting shortly after he began to teach at Hogwarts. Peeves had had the genius idea to throw a balloon full of cold water right before her feet when she was on the staircase. Minerva slipped, rather painfully. Filius was convinced that he had never seen Peeves more scared than that day, after Minerva's anger eruption. He and his colleagues had all quietly reminded themselves not to anger her and get her infamous Scottish ire over them the way Peeves had.

Minerva was a very private person, and that was no secret. Most people wouldn't dare ask her any question that touched upon the subject of Minerva's health in any way. Filius wouldn't have dared in the beginning of their friendship either. However, the two had known each other for so long already that he knew he could ask her such a question and get a direct and honest answer from her.

"Indeed…" Minerva admitted. "It hurts just as much, and I hope that I do not have to see Peeves today. At least it let me determine just how far I… my body… has returned in time."

"Half a century is…" Filius began. He couldn't find the right word to describe how very difficult it made things, but Minerva understood nonetheless. "What happened earlier exactly? Surely, we should be able to reverse this?" he asked.

"The Time-Turner burst in my hand. If there's a way, I don't know it," Minerva stated. "We both know how dangerous and utterly intricate time is. Magic allows for us to bend it, but when it bends the way it has today… I reckon I should be glad that I haven't aged half a century instead. I'm not so sure that I would have ever dared to look at my reflection again."

Filius couldn't help but smile slightly at her very dry humor. "What will you do?" he asked.

Minerva's teal eyes became guarded when she met his gaze. "I can't answer that, Filius," she said. "I doubt that there's a way to reverse it, but I will have to try. I have no desire to go and inform the Ministry before I have tried absolutely everything. If I can't reverse it, I reckon I will have to do so in the end, but, until then, this has to stay quiet. After that… Well. There are so many things that I regret never having done when I was younger, and I assume that my body will adapt to that of a thirty-something woman and that I will begin to feel more energetic than I've been lately, but I just… don't know. I've taught most of my life, had a day away from Hogwarts rarely. I'm not sure I know how else to live anymore. I liked to teach."

"What do you regret most?" Filius wondered, and as he asked, he knew this was quite an… invasive question. He didn't know if Minerva would answer at all.

"What I regret most is that I didn't have a family and children," Minerva whispered. "If I can't reverse this, though, would I really be able to begin anew, correct that? I don't look like I'm eighty-four, but I still have eighty-four years of life experience."

Calmly, Filius nodded at that. He understood her thoughts. No matter how old she looked right then, she had the experiences and the wisdom of someone so much older –– exactly half a century older. Only her body had returned in time this morning and not she herself. If anything, Minerva McGonagall was remarkably calm considering the situation. He wasn't sure anyone else would have really managed.

"Come October, do I celebrate my eighty-fourth or my thirty-fourth again?" She shook her head, then buried it in her hands for a moment and forced herself to look back up at her colleague, hands falling back into her lap. She sighed. "I shouldn't jump the gun. It will only drive me utterly mad," she stated. "Filius, to what do I owe your visit anyway?" She wanted, needed, to discuss basically anything but the accident.

This time, it is Filius' turn to sigh deeply, as he remembered the reason why he had come to Minerva's rooms. He understood her need to absorb what had happened and try to come to terms with it and its repercussions on her own. Merlin knew Rita Skeeter would have a field day with the story when she heard of it, for instance.

"I met O'Connelly this morning in Diagon Alley…" Filius began. "I fear that we'll have to look for a new Charms professor, too. O'Connelly reminded me that he only accepted the job to help us, and that he hadn't intended to teach for so long already. I reckon I shouldn't be surprised. He told me he will stay on until we've got someone to replace him, or until the end of the year."

Minerva sighed, then shook her head. "O'Connelly's timing is absolutely unfortunate. We'll have a few months to look for someone else, at least." She sat back against the couch. "We already knew when he took the job that it was only a stop gap. It wouldn't be the first."