40. Standing Strong
"Ah, Minerva, the headmaster wants to see you," Silvanus informed her when she met him outside the staff room.
"Right now?" she asked.
"As soon as you came back. He said it was urgent." Silvanus shrugged. "Sorry, but better you than me again, you know."
Minerva's only response was to heave a sigh. She had only just returned to the castle from staying with Robert and Debbie for Easter. They welcomed the help with the new baby, who wouldn't stop growing and who was becoming more demanding every day. Minerva had quickly fallen in love with her little niece, who had been christened Catriona Isobel McGonagall.
Now that Minerva was back at school, she had planned to stop by the staff room for a minute before finally going to see Albus. It was ridiculous how much she had missed him. Even before the holidays, he had been extremely busy helping to introduce new legislation meant to put a stop to the increase of dark magic activity in the country. Needless to say that Minerva was in full support of any such legislative action. Even more so when she was holding little Catriona in her arms.
Still, she had been looking forward to being the one to be held in Albus' arms again. But she supposed it could wait a little longer. Minerva's track record with Armando was a lot better than Silvanus', and one of the reasons for that was that she didn't leave him waiting when he asked to see her.
After riding up the spiral staircase Minerva swiftly knocked on the door, hoping that this wouldn't take long. As it turned out, though, she got to see Albus sooner than she had anticipated because when she entered the office, she found him standing by the window overlooking the grounds. The large chair behind the headmaster's desk was empty and Professor Dippet was missing.
"Albus, what's going on? Where's Armando? I was told he wanted to see me."
Albus turned away from the window to face her with a warm smile, but he didn't go to her, just like Minerva had stayed where she was by the door. After all, she suspected that Armando would return momentarily, and it wouldn't do for him to find the two of them in an intimate embrace.
"Armando had a little health scare over breakfast the other day. It seems Anna Mae wasn't wrong in telling him to cut back on the bacon," Albus began to explain. When Minerva's forehead creased in worry, he continued, "He's fine. But he has decided that if his heart should give out, he doesn't want to drop dead behind a dusty old desk. His words, not mine."
Finally, it dawned on Minerva what was happening. Silvanus hadn't specified which headmaster wanted to see her. It was also now that she noticed Fawkes, who was sitting on his golden perch in the corner. Quite possibly, nothing had ever looked so right to her as seeing the majestic phoenix in this magnificent office.
"I'm sorry to hear about Armando's poor health, but I have to say that this is a very good day for Hogwarts," she said and now she did take a couple of steps towards Albus.
His smile grew, but his words were as humble as always. "I hope so."
"And I know so… Headmaster," Minerva replied and reached out to link her fingers with his.
"Then this day is about to get even better," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Then he let go and walked over to what was now his desk. Once he stood behind it, he cleared his throat. "I didn't just ask you to come so I could share the news with you. On a much more important note, I would like to offer you the position of Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Minerva placed a hand over her mouth to hide that it had slowly dropped open in surprise.
"Before you say anything, I want you to consider the ramifications of giving me your answer," Albus continued solemnly. "Yes, it is undoubtedly a great honour, but it is also a sacrifice. It means to dedicate your life to this school as I have done and shall continue to do for as long as I am able. I would not ask this of you if not for the simple and yet irrefutable fact that Hogwarts deserves to have the very best person I could think of to follow in my wake, and it so happens that that person is you, Minerva."
She felt as though her heart had swelled to twice its normal size, bursting with love, love for this man and love for this school. The emotion caused her voice to shake a little, but her answer still rang clear. "I accept."
"You don't have to answer right…"
"I accept," Minerva repeated, cutting him off, her voice now firm and determined.
Albus didn't seem to mind the interruption in the slightest. His eyes were bright and joyful. "Very good, because I already informed the governors that you were my choice."
Minerva laughed, but thinking about the governors and her colleagues, many of them a lot older and more experienced than she was, sobered her somewhat. "Albus, are you sure making it your first official act as headmaster to promote me is appropriate?"
"Are you suggesting that my decision might be biased?" Albus asked.
"I'm saying that there are people who would think that if they knew about… us," Minerva said awkwardly.
She had never realised just how many portraits of previous headmasters and the occasional headmistress were hanging in this office – and they were all listening. They were meant to do that so they could give advice to the current headmaster, but not all of them had been imbued with good manners and the decency not to listen in on private conversations. They were, however, honour bound to serve the rightful headmaster of Hogwarts Castle, so while they might gossip amongst themselves, they would never betray Albus or reveal anything they had heard.
It would still require some getting used to.
Albus seemed not to pay them any mind. "I thought we had agreed that other people's opinions are not pertinent to us."
"We agreed to keep it a secret so they wouldn't even get to voice an opinion," Minerva argued, "and this feels like another very pressing reason to keep it that way."
"I very much intent to stick to our agreement when it comes to not sharing information about us. But even if we were to share it, I wouldn't be worried about your appointment to Deputy Headmistress being called into question in any way," Albus said while he rounded his desk. When he approached her now, he did take both of her hands in his.
"While it is true that I love you, very much so, that has nothing to do with the respect and admiration I have always had for you – and that our colleagues share with me." He gave her a cheerful smile. "In fact, Horace personally assured me that he didn't want the job and that I'd be a bloody fool if I didn't give it to you."
Minerva was oddly touched by that. She had felt morally obligated to point out the risks in mixing their personal and professional relationship even more than they had already done so far. But in truth, she was deeply excited about what she and Albus could do together – in every way and every sense of the word.
So she decided to really give the portraits something to talk about, and she kissed Albus at long last. After all these days spent apart, his lips were soft and inviting. If there were gasps of surprise or excited chatter around them, Minerva barely heard it.
When their kiss ended, Albus rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Oh, and of course I'm also making you Head of Gryffindor house and the Transfiguration Department."
Minerva blinked at him, at a loss for words for a moment. "There better be a raise somewhere in that, too," she said eventually.
Albus chuckled. "I'm afraid I will never be able to pay you a sum that comes even close to your true worth to this school."
"I might be willing to accept alternative methods of payment," Minerva replied with a wry smile.
"In that case you may ask of me whatever you want," Albus said, mirroring her expression.
Minerva thought it was high time for them to move this conversation to the headmaster's private rooms.
"Are you ready to begin your work as Headmaster of Hogwarts Castle?" Minerva asked, smiling as she took in the sight of Albus sitting behind that impressive desk.
He returned her smile. "Not as ready as you seem to be."
"Well, I have waited for this a long time," she said.
"As have I," Albus agreed. "So to answer your question, yes, I am ready to serve our school as best as I can."
He wasn't the only one. His predecessors also leaned forward in their frames, eager not to miss anything. Their presence was slowly becoming less disconcerting to Minerva. Slowly being the operative word. The other day Antonia Creaseworthy had congratulated Minerva on her relationship with Albus, while Phineas Black kept sneering and rolling his eyes. Not that Minerva cared about the opinion of one of the least popular headmasters the school had ever seen.
She settled into a second chair behind Albus' desk, though a little off to the side, shortly before Apollyon Pringle entered the office after a sharp knock.
"You wished to see me, Headmaster."
"Yes, Apollyon, thank you for coming."
"It's not as if I had a choice, really," Pringle muttered, as charming as ever.
Albus seemed perfectly unperturbed. "Don't worry. I won't take up too much of your precious time. Especially since I have to inform you that, regrettably, we have come to a parting of ways."
Pringle stared at him blankly. "A parting of what?"
"Hogwarts will no longer require your services as caretaker," Albus explained more plainly.
"You're giving me the sack?"
"If you prefer to put it like that, yes, I am."
That certainly got through to Pringle. "You can't do that!"
"Of course, he can, and even if he couldn't, do you really think taking that tone with him would help your current situation in any way?" Minerva couldn't keep quiet.
Pringle glared at her. "You talked him into this!"
"I assure you I am perfectly capable of making up my own mind," Albus replied before Minerva could. "And I believe I have asked you repeatedly to stop caning students, and yet you left marks on Arthur Weasley just the other week."
"He was out on a little midnight stroll with the Prewett girl! He could have gotten her knocked up or…" Pringle tried to defend his actions.
"No matter what they were doing," Albus cut him off, "I will not allow corporal punishment at my school, nor will I tolerate being ignored."
The warning in his voice made Minerva shiver. She had to hand it to Pringle, he was unbelievably thick-skinned. He barely even flinched.
"How do you expect to keep these little brats in line then, Dumbledore?"
"That is no longer your concern," Albus replied simply, "since your employment at this school is terminated, effective immediately. Please collect your belongings and leave the premises."
Pringle gritted his teeth for a moment. "Fine, when they made you headmaster, I knew that this school was no longer the right place for me."
"On that we can agree. Goodbye, Apollyon."
"Don't get too comfortable, Dumbledore. Some of these cretins are little criminals in the making, and they will come at you when you least expect it," Pringle said ominously before he left the room.
"That," said Minerva, her brow furrowed, "was not as satisfying as I thought it would be."
Albus smiled at her. He didn't seem worried about students coming for him. "That's because you're a very kind woman."
"Should we test that theory by also firing Professor Narramore?" Minerva suggested innocently.
"Now you're being a little less kind," Albus replied pointedly.
"Then let's stop firing people and start hiring some. Shall I go and fetch our first applicant?" Minerva offered.
"Yes, please do," Albus nodded. When Minerva had risen from her chair, he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap so he could kiss her.
Out of breath, Minerva asked, "What was that for?"
"Just something to get me through the day without touching you," Albus said, running his hands down her arms.
Minerva laughed. "For a serious man, you can be very silly sometimes." But she willingly melted into him.
"I'll gladly be a fool for your love," Albus murmured into her hair.
Somebody behind them gave a derisive sneer.
"Oh, sod off, Black!" Minerva snapped as she got back up from Albus' lap and left the office without sparing the portrait of the headmaster from Slytherin another glance.
She met their first job applicant in the Entrance Hall, chatting with Hagrid. "Pomona! It's so good to see you again."
"You, too, Minerva!" Pomona Sprout replied with a broad smile. "How's the niece?" No doubt Malcolm had told her about Catriona.
"She's wonderful. Thanks for asking," Minerva said before she turned towards the gamekeeper. "Thanks for bringing her up here, Hagrid."
"Any time. An' congratulations on yer promotion. Knew yeh had it in yeh!"
"Thank you. Now, are you ready, Pomona?"
She nodded and they started climbing the stairs back up to the headmaster's office. "So, do you have any tips for me on how to impress Dumbledore? Clearly, you're the leading authority on the matter."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Minerva asked, trying to mask her concern. Waking up to another article in Witch Weekly was a recurring nightmare of hers. Especially since this time, it would be true.
"Well, you were his favourite student and now you're his deputy and even friends with him," Pomona replied. "If you don't know the man, who does?"
Some of her worst fears dispelled, Minerva laughed. "That is actually a very good question."
"So you're saying that you don't know him?"
"I try to," Minerva replied honestly. "And what I can tell you is that all you need to do to make a good impression with Professor Dumbledore is to be yourself and to tell the truth."
And that's exactly what Pomona did during the interview with Albus. Before long, the three of them were laughing about Pomona's enthusiasm to return to the castle to visit her pet Devil's Snare Peppers again.
"Now, with Professor Beery eyeing retirement as soon as you will have found your way around our Herbology Department, Hufflepuff house will also be needing a new Head of House soon," Albus informed her. "There are other members of staff who could assume the position, but if you feel up to the challenge, I don't see why you shouldn't also follow in Herbert's footsteps in that regard."
Pomona beamed at them. "I'd be honoured."
"Then the only thing left for me to say is welcome back to Hogwarts, Professor Sprout," Albus said to conclude the interview.
As soon as Pomona had left, the portraits, who had been respectfully quiet during the appointment, began to offer their opinions on Albus' first hiring. Minerva's gaze wandered towards the window and she simply let the chatter wash over her. Weirdly enough, it had begun to snow this late in April.
"What's that smile for?" Albus' voice eventually brought her back to the office.
"I just realised that very soon we will have three female Heads of House," Minerva replied. At least, until Cyrille would decide that she was truly getting too old for this.
"You sound surprised," Albus noted.
Minerva turned away from the window and met Albus' eyes. "I always thought it's what Hogwarts needed, but I never thought I'd live to see it."
"You won't just live to see it, my dear, you will live to live it," Albus said with a chuckle.
"We will both get to live it," Minerva corrected him.
But first, they got to talk to their next applicant.
"You come highly recommended," Albus said to Poppy Pomfrey, who unlike Pomona had a no-nonsense air about her. "Madam Hailstone says there is no one she would rather trust with the health and safety of our students."
"Thank you, Headmaster. I do have a preposition to make in that regard," Madam Pomfrey said.
Albus looked both surprised and amused. "You do? Already?"
"Yes. We lost our last headmaster prematurely, partly due to his ill-advised eating habits, so I think it's about time we shine a light on what we eat. Hogwarts is famous for its feasts, but we can't just splurge for the hell of it. We need to reduce the amount of refined sugar in our meals and offer the students more healthy options."
It seemed that Albus didn't have an immediate response. Perhaps he was embarrassed that his freshly chosen password for the headmaster's office was 'Pumpkin pastries'.
And perhaps that was why Madam Pomfrey continued, "I realise this won't be very popular, so I would suggest to start at the top. Make sure we don't lose another headmaster and overhaul your diet first."
The look on Albus' face was almost comical and Minerva snorted.
"Oh, you're hired," she said.
Madam Pomfrey looked pleased. Albus perhaps a little less so.
"I think we need to revisit who of the two of us was appointed headmaster of this school," Albus said drily once Madam Pomfrey had left.
Minerva was still laughing. "I apologise. I was just helping you to hire someone who has the school's best interests at heart. And since it's in the school's best interest to keep you alive, she clearly fits that bill."
"Then surely, it is also in the school's best interest to keep its deputy headmistress happy by having her move into bigger offices," Albus countered.
He had been trying to talk her into that for days. "I told you I don't want to move into your old office. Give it to Pomona."
"Who will be spending all her time in the greenhouses with Peppers," Albus pointed out.
"Well, I will be spending all my time with you," Minerva replied frankly. "That is, if I'm not busy working the three jobs you passed on to me."
Albus opened his mouth to respond, but a knock on the door forestalled him. Apparently, their next applicant had found his own way to the headmaster's office.
Argus Filch wasn't the most charming man. He wore a not very flattering brown coat, had a pasty face and long hair that looked as though he had attempted to comb it today for the first time in quite a while. He also wasn't terribly eloquent, but that wasn't necessarily a much needed skill for a caretaker. And unlike Pringle, he had a good reason for having developed such an unpleasant personality.
Minerva actually felt sorry for the man when he tried to put that into words. "There's something you ought to know before you hire me. I'm not… I can't actually… I'm a… a…"
"… a Squib," Minerva helped him out as kindly as she could.
Having already been aware of this, Albus only nodded. "Did you participate in any of the Squib Rights marches?" he asked.
"Er…" Filch's bulging eyes quickly went back and forth while he tried to figure out what the right answer was and whether Albus wanted to hear him say that he was political or just the opposite.
"I apologise," Albus said to save him from that dilemma. "You are under no obligation to answer that. I was merely asking because if you do wish to join any of the next marches, we will find a mutually agreeable arrangement to give you time off. Hogwarts will stand with you in full support of your right to make your voices heard."
Minerva had to bite down on her lower lip so she wouldn't smile at Albus with too much pride and love in her eyes. Filch was clearly caught off guard. "So… I have the job?" he asked eventually.
"Yes, you have the job," Albus confirmed.
When Filch had left again, Minerva was beginning to feel worn out from all these interviews. But she knew that they weren't done yet, even though it was now dark outside and the snow was beginning to pile up on the ledge. "So, there's one more appointment here, but it doesn't say with whom," she told Albus, surprised. She hadn't noticed earlier that the name of this applicant was missing.
Albus, however, was not surprised at all. "Yes, I will take that one alone if you don't mind."
That did nothing to clear Minerva's confusion. "Why? Don't you want my opinion on this one?"
"I won't need it. I already know that I won't be giving this applicant a job here at Hogwarts," Albus replied.
"Then why talk to them at all?" Minerva asked, her eyebrows only rising higher.
"Please, Minerva, may I ask you to return to your office and, if you don't have any urgent business elsewhere, to stay there for the time being."
It didn't really sound like a request, but he did say it softly and sincerely. Minerva was completely bewildered. She also had no reason not to give Albus the benefit of the doubt. So she stood, stretching her arms and legs. "I will see you later then?" she asked hesitantly.
To her relief, Albus smiled at her warmly. "Always."
Later that night when Albus had joined Minerva in her bed for a change – which she suspected he did for the sole purpose of proving to her that it was too small and that she should move into his old office – she waited until his breaths had almost evened out.
Then she shifted closer to him and rested her chin on his chest. "So who was it?"
Albus lazily opened one eye to look at her.
"The applicant today whom you didn't want to give the Defence Against the Dark Arts post," she pressed.
Now Albus opened both eyes to give her a slightly exasperated look.
"It's the only opening we have left, so that part wasn't hard to figure out," Minerva forged ahead. "Which only leaves the question why you would meet with someone you had no interest in hiring."
"I hoped to glean an answer as to why he had requested the meeting in the first place, knowing full well I wouldn't hire him," Albus replied with a sigh.
"If you both knew that it wasn't really about the job, then what did you talk about?"
"I tried to impress upon him that I am not at all taken with what he has been doing since the last time I saw him when he was still my student."
Startled, Minerva pushed herself up. "You're not saying… it was him? Voldemort? He was here?"
"Oh yes, he even brought his 'friends' as he calls them," Albus nodded. "Aberforth has been serving them drinks all evening."
"Why?" Minerva asked with a shudder. "Why would he need his little cult with him?"
"Well, he would never admit that, but I do think he didn't want to come alone because he is still at least a little afraid of me."
"He should be!" Minerva exclaimed. "Why didn't you say something earlier? We could have gone down there and…"
"And done what?" Albus asked, his eyebrows raised. "It is not against the law to get a drink at the Hog's Head."
Annoyed, Minerva sank back into the pillows. "It just feels wrong to know that we did nothing while they were so close to Hogwarts, spewing forth their hatred and their depraved notions of pure-blood supremacy."
"I know," Albus agreed and he gently brushed her hair out of her face before he let his hand rest on her cheek. "But we did not do nothing. Today, Hogwarts stands stronger than ever."
She knew he was right, but she couldn't quite let this go yet. "Did you find out what he wanted?"
"I can only venture a guess," Albus said, and when he saw the mute protest in her eyes, he added, "One that is so wild that it does not even bear repeating."
Minerva huffed. This was like when he had asked her to stay in her office earlier without asking questions. "What did you think would happen if I had run into him?"
"I do not know and I do not wish to find out," Albus said firmly, while he caressed her cheek with his thumb in such tender circles that it was impossible for her to hold on to resentment. "But I do wish he could have known a love like yours," Albus added softly.
"Do you really think that would make a difference?" Minerva asked.
"I think it would make all the difference in the world," Albus said sincerely, opening his arms for her to move back in. "Because I know it has for me."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed seeing a couple of familiar faces. To me, this chapter is all about how Dumbledore changed Hogwarts for the better, since the need for change has been a theme all the way through Minerva's time at school. So that was important to me. Anyway, thanks to all of you who are still reading, enjoying and reviewing this story. Have a great weekend!