CHAPTER NINE
Slowly pulling away, the dreams let her go again, back into reality and next to Hermione Granger. She opened one eye first, then the other, blinking into the brightness of the morning. A chocolate world welcomed her, Hermione lying so close that her eyes could only focus on brown orbs, the rest of the world hazy and out of focus.
"Hello," Minerva said softly, the night still lacing her voice. She turned a little to stretch the remaining fatigue away, turning back to look at Hermione after a couple of seconds.
"Come," the younger witch said. "I want to show you something." And with a mysterious smile playing on her lips, she pulled away, leaving Minerva's realm to slowly take on all the other colours of the world.
''
Out in the garage next to the house Hermione had found a car. Minerva exhaled, relief flooding her body. She wouldn't have liked to talk about it but Hermione seemed to be very aware of her still injured foot and her inability to walk a great distance. She had been thinking about it the evening before and come to the conclusion that Hermione was probably better off traveling alone, she would be so much faster and the nearest town was still an unknown distance away. But she also felt terrible for letting her travel alone. If there'd be any other solution, she would come with the brown haired witch. And now there was.
The car was a bit rusty and the whole roof and the wind shield was covered with a thin layer of dust but Hermione was confident they could get it to work again, if the keys were still somewhere in the house.
Minerva thought that it would take them some time to find the keys but in fact, their first attempt was successful. In the first cupboard in the kitchen was a small drawer with all kinds of clutter in it and while Minerva held it open, Hermione leaned forward so that she could see what her fingers were rummaging in; as it was such a small compartment that none of the light coming through the window reached into its near endless depths.
After a minute of struggle, Hermione finally pulled out a key, attached to a leather band with the sign of the car company engraved that matched the one they had found on the bonnet.
When Hermione started to walk back to the garage to see if they could get the engine going, she stopped so abruptly that Minerva, who had been following on her trail, stumbled right into her.
Paired with the shock, the sensation of touch was overwhelming for the shortest of moments that it took Minerva to mumble an apology but she was already cursing herself for not paying attention to Hermione's sudden stop.
Hermione looked equally thunderstruck because she was just staring back, no words coming from her opened mouth. After what felt like ages she finally started to turn again to Minerva's great relief. Trying to regain control over her body and facial expression, she moved in Hermione's shadow, albeit keeping a bigger distance between them than before. Although it had been completely embarrassing for both parties for no apparent reason –yes they had touched but so what, it wasn't like they hadn't hugged before- she found herself secretly longing for it to happen again. Oh, it had been so stupid of her to leave the bed the night before. Yes, she might've slept better with Hermione next to her since she had in ages but that was only because this was a dangerous situation and she felt safer together. Yes, that's what it was. She felt safer and she felt more comfortable and lighter and happier- Wait, what? Where had that thought come from.
"Oh God almighty, I'm losing my mind." Minerva grimaced behind Hermione's back, while the younger witch was opening the door to the garage again. That's when Minerva remembered that Hermione hadn't told her why she had stopped in the first place. It must have been something important she'd thought of if she had halted so abruptly.
"Hermione, what was just now about?" She wasn't sure if Hermione had gotten the reference but when Hermione turned and there was just the slightest blush on her cheeks, she knew the younger woman had understood exactly what she was referring to.
"What do you mean?" She asked, a little on edge.
"You looked like you had just thought of something?" Minerva inquired, descending the two steps into the garage carefully so as to not trip over the end of the damned muggle jeans.
"Oh, right, I totally forgot." Hermione slapped her forehead. "I was meaning to ask you if you can drive the car."
"Why, I thought your father taught you how to?" Minerva said, a cold sweat breaking out on her palms and neck.
"Yes, yes, he did." Hermione rounded the car impatiently, pulling the cover completely from over the car. "But I never took the driving test, so legally I'm not allowed to drive yet.
Hermione looked worriedly at Minerva, a questioning look in her eyes. Minerva kept still for a couple of seconds, her face serious, her gaze fixated on Hermione's. And then she started laughing hysterically.
Her laughter grew louder by the second, she had only started with a light chuckle that kept on growing until she was laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach and gasp for air. Hermione, meanwhile, looked very confused and mildly worried although the corners of her mouth were turning up as well, amused by the rare sight in front of her.
Minerva was leaning on the car for support, slowly coming down from her high but still shaking her head out of disbelief.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she managed after a good minute of hysteria, looking apologetically at Hermione. "It's just so funny." She said, starting to laugh again, albeit not as heavily as before.
"What is?" Hermione asked, chuckling herself.
"Hermione, do you honestly think that I have no clothes, no food, no wand, anything, but thought of taking my driver's license with me that expired at least twenty years ago, when we landed here yesterday?"
Realization at her mistake hit her with greatest embarrassment. "Oh God, I'm so stupid." Hermione groaned, burying her head in her hands.
"No, it's okay, it's okay. It's very sweet," Minerva said, her voice warm and not at all disappointed like Hermione had imagined. When she slowly lifted her head again, she saw Minerva looking at her, with an impossibly adoring look on her face. The older witch continued. "And I wouldn't know how to drive a car like that anyway, dear. I learned how to drive in a 1953 Ford F-100. I wouldn't know how to drive a modern car like that if I tried."
"Well, actually, it's not modern. It's from the eighties," Hermione said smugly, opening the driver's door. "But don't worry, I know what to do. I, as a matter of fact, learned how to drive in a car similar to this one."
"Ah is that so?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, opening the door next to her. She had to duck a little in order to fit through the frame, careful not to put too much weight on her injured foot.
When both witches had settled into their seats, they were quiet for a while, almost expecting the car to do something on itself.
"So, can you also get it to start it, little smarty pants," Minerva said, turning her torso so that she could see Hermione better.
"I think so…" Hermione put her hands on the steering wheel for a while, considering. Then she turned the key trying to start the car once, twice, its motor springing to life although not as smoothly as they'd hoped. It rattled and coughed like a human with bronchitis and smoke came out of the muffler. Until it gave up and went back to silence. Now it was Minerva's turn to bury her head in her hands.
"I don't understand," Hermione said, inspecting the data displayed in the front. "The fuel is almost entirely filled up and everything seems normal."
"Maybe it's been standing here a while too long," Minerva sighed.
"Hold on a minute. I know that I can get it to start."
"Alright, operator. I'll keep my mouth shut." Minerva said, looking out of the window although there was nothing much to see except the stone wall from the house and a couple of boxes, a rake and an old football fallen into itself from lack of air.
Hermione checked the tank again, the key fitted into the hole perfectly, and tried to start the car a third time. Both women sighed relieved when the motor finally jumped to life and guttered contentedly under their feet.
This only left one problem to solve: their direction. They went back inside and once Minerva and Hermione had had breakfast, tidied up everything in the house, locked the front door again and opened the garage so that Hermione could carefully drive the red Ford supermini out of the garage, they sat in silence, waiting for some sign to tell them which way to drive.
Just that instant, the sky broke open, for a couple seconds, letting the sun shine through the windshield, blinding them, before another heavy cloud moved in front of the sun again.
"Do you think anybody has noticed that we are gone?" Hermione said, letting her hands fall from the steering wheel and leaning back in her seat. Although she knew they didn't have any time to lose, she felt like they should wait a little more before driving off. Before them, the road was completely empty- save the big puddles at the side of the road, behind them wide lands of meadow beside meadow.
"I don't know." Minerva exhaled deeply. "I suppose if they'd noticed our absence they must have already sent someone to track us down. I would think at least Kingsley would have stormed into my office by now, only to find me gone. Although something tells me that he hasn't, isn't aware of where I am at all."
"I would have." Hermione said, turning to Minerva.
"You would have… what?" Minerva said, frowning a little.
"I would have noticed. I would have come looking for you." Hermione said quietly. She looked away, fixing her ponytail with one hand, while the other fumbled with the jacket she'd temporarily nicked from the closet of the faceless owners of the cottage.
Minerva kept quiet, unsure and surprisingly nervous about how she should answer in the same, meaningful way. Hermione continued though, before she said what she wanted to say.
"That's what friends are there for, after all," she said, smiling a small smile at Minerva. "Let's take the left. My gut tells me that's where we should go." Confidently, she put her foot on the gas paddle as the car started moving.
Minerva, however, had missed the moment. The perfect moment to say what she wanted to say. What she felt. That there was a small part inside her that didn't want for them to return to Hogwarts at all, because then they'd never be free again. Free to be just two women, brought together by fortuitous circumstances, free from duty and free from prosperity and all the rules about love, ever invented. But they weren't and so Minerva kept quiet, she swallowed the words down like bitter medicine, praying that she'd be able to hold them inside.
"You are the only person I'd want to be found by."
Because it was the truth. And Hermione drove, faster and faster, until the world was blurring beside them and only the two women existed.
''
Hermione drove them through the landscape Minerva had grown up in but she didn't feel like being home at all. It was like she was seeing the Scottish highlands for the very first time.
They'd been in the car for maybe twenty minutes, proving just how much they'd been off route yesterday, when the first houses came into sight.
Hermione had the radio on low volume, occasionally humming along for a tune or two but stopping shortly after. She was looking at the road for which Minerva was very grateful because she wouldn't have resisted one of Hermione's inquisitive gazes. She was afraid the younger witch would be able to read her every thought.
They passed a sign by the road reading the name of a town Minerva was sure she'd heard before but she had no idea in which context. But finally, they found life around them. Two old muggle ladies were taking a walk on the pavement, the main street they were driving on was lined with small stone houses in which small town muggle life could be observed perfectly. It was a Sunday, people were out and about, there was even one man mowing the lawn in his front yard and a woman carrying a bag of groceries into her house.
Hermione stopped next to a woman, pushing a buggy with a small child in it to ask if there was a phone booth or café in town, where she could make a call. The woman just nodded and pointed down the road, while trying to clean the hands of her daughter. Hermione smiled at Minerva after she'd thanked the woman and was rolling up the window again. Her gaze seemed to be saying "Can you imagine living a life like this, in the outskirts of nowhere, living in a town where everyone greets you by name while walking through the neighbourhood?"
But before Minerva could respond, there was suddenly a young boy on the street with a skateboard coming out of nowhere and Minerva was so shocked that she gripped Hermione's arm hard, to make her look ahead, her hands as usual even quicker than her words. Hermione turned her focus back to the street, alarmed and hit the break before she could run over the boy. They halted maybe two meters in front of the child and although they hadn't been going really fast in the first place, the adrenalin of the shock made their breaths short even after the boy had skated off down the road after overcoming his initial shock surprisingly quickly.
After that, Hermione drove even slower but it was only in a parking lot in the village centre when Minerva released her grip from Hermione's upper arm.
"If my adrenaline level keeps rising and falling with such frequency over the next couple of days too, I fear I might actually have a heart attack sooner or later," Minerva managed, the effect from the incident slowly wearing off.
"You okay?" Hermione gently asked, taking Minerva's hand because the older witch still avoided her gaze.
"Hmm." Minerva murmured, while Hermione kept stroking her hand. The movement was incredibly soothing and suddenly she was very aware of Hermione's presence just next to her.
"Don't you dare die on me now!" Hermione chuckled. "We've already made it this far, you can't just give up on the last metres."
"Why not? It would be so easy, I could just slip away like that and be free of all my sorrows." She joked nervously.
Hermione turned to her, bringing their bodies closer together. "Do you really think I'd let that happen?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. And when Minerva just shrugged she gently nudged the older witch, outraged. "You are a fool, you! Of course I'd never let that happen," She scoffed, though the seriousness of her tone was betrayed with a big smile plastered across her face.
Behind Hermione, the windows of the car were slowly turning foggy, while the first sprinkles of rain were hitting the windshield. "Not on my watch, young lady," Hermione said, trying to give a poor imitation of Minerva's own Scottish brogue which finally made the older witch laugh. Hermione could do that to her, in a second she would cheer up and forget about sorrow and dying in a matter of a heartbeat.
"I should go inside…" Hermione said, nodding to the small café the woman with the buggy had pointed to. "Before they close and we are stranded once again." Hermione moved to open the door and Minerva looked away because she couldn't bear to watch the unwished-for culmination of their time together, even though she knew it had to be done.
But Hermione changed her mind. She let her hand fall from the door handle, her body propped on the seat, ready to descend the car, and yet she turned around. She waited for Minerva to look at her, for their gazes to lock, but Minerva was so preoccupied with her own feelings that she didn't even notice Hermione hadn't left the car. Until she felt Hermione's hand on her shoulder. It was soft and warm and it sent shivers down her spine to the point that she could barely endure the touch. She knew what it meant, of course. And so, despite her intuition telling her she should not, she turned around.
Hermione was so close it made her breath hitch. She willed for her breathing to stabilise but it was just impossible. She was almost painfully aware of the hand still on her shoulder, very close to her neck, Hermione's body position, now completely turned to her she'd only have to move inches to bring their faces together. And to Minerva's horror, she found she craved nothing more than for the younger witch to do so. She wanted to kiss her more badly than she'd ever wanted to kiss anyone, and she couldn't even help it, in her lap her hands were twitching and her eyes kept flicking to Hermione's lips all the time and lingered there forever.
And the truth was… what was the truth? She didn't even know anymore. The only thing that still existed in this world, was Hermione. Her beauty, her brightness, her charm, her everything. Insert any word, and Minerva would take it, gladly, caress it, love it. She laid down her armour and braced herself for collision.
And collision came, but it hit her even deeper than she'd ever expected because Hermione did the unthinkable but maybe only acceptable action to take: she hugged her, short and gently, but to Minerva it felt like being stabbed.
And then she said: "I am so glad that all of this is over."
Minerva forgot how to breathe in the few seconds that it took for Hermione to pull back and step out of the car and shut the door behind her with a loud thud and finally defroze Minerva from her glacial state of complete stillness.
Gasping for air, she gripped the door next to her for support and she cried and cried until she got too tired to even try to continue. She could have hit herself for being so stupid, so reckless but what use was there, the damage was already done. She was in love. Love-blind. Love-sick. Enamoured with a child, so young she could be her daughter. Granddaughter. And who was, on top of all, her former student. Christ, it couldn't get worse than this.
Rubbing the tears away, forcing herself to sit upright, she turned the car mirror so that she could take in the state of her face. Red, puffy, old. She waited for her breath to calm down before getting out of the car.
It was cold and the wind was blowing rain in her face and yet she still didn't move, didn't even attempt to close the door at first, her seat getting wetter by the second.
The wide place they had parked on was aligned with little green trees and all the other car parks were empty except for one or two opposite the town hall on the other side of the square. There were small shops to her left and right and the one with the biggest display window held the café. It didn't seem all too fancy but was probably the best place around here to eat a bite or two. Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
Striking up her posture and willing for her facial expression to seem neutral, she made her way over the street dividing shopping alley and parking space. It was only when she stood only metres in front of the glass window that she was able to see behind the reflection of the wide window and could make out the chairs and tables, and people inside. Hermione was standing in the far back, her face turned away from Minerva, curling the cord of a telephone around her finger. There was a twenty-something boy behind the counter who watched her as she talked with someone over the phone.
When Minerva pushed the door open, a bell rang to announce her arrival and the man turned around to ask her if he could get her anything, presumably, when Minerva strode directly to the back, ignoring the waiter and speaking up so that both could hear her. "Hermione, dear, are you alright?" She almost flinched at the words but was too afraid to change her behaviour now, when she'd already made a fool of herself in the car. Hermione must not know what was going on, under any circumstances.
Hermione turned around, a big grin on her face, nodding along to what the person on the telephone was saying but mouthed the word "Harry" into Minerva's direction. Minerva nodded and sat down on a table nearby, watching the conversation until Hermione said "Alright, Harry, see you in five," and hung up.
"I see you did get a hold of Mr Potter?" Minerva said when Hermione sat down in front of her, waving the waiter away when he tried to hand them the menu.
"Oh, I did. Yes, he said that an elf..." at this Hermione looked nervously at the waiter but he was too far away to hear what she was saying "...had already noticed that we weren't attending meals or ordering anything but it had taken him more than 24 hours to reach Professor Flitwick and by the time he found the wands, it was already Sunday morning and everyone was home from work. So he called Harry just before I'd rang to ask him what the hell was going on."
Hermione smiled and nodded to the door, where Molly and Ron were just stepping through the shop door. "What luck we had that Harry owns a telephone in case the Dursley's might want to call, or we'd have never have them find us so-"
She didn't even get to say the 'quickly', when Ron rushed to her and pulled her in his arms, taking Hermione by surprise.
"I was so worried for you!" He exclaimed, muffled by Hermione's hair.
"Oh come on Ronald, you didn't even know I was gone…" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"But the few seconds I did know I worried terribly!" He said and made a hurt face which made Hermione laugh.
By that time Molly had also reached the three and pulled Minerva into a hug as well, despite immediately retreating when she noticed exactly what the professor was wearing.
"What on earth is that?" She asked, pulling on Minerva's shirt and gasping again when she noticed the large jeans the witch was wearing underneath.
"The only dry clothes available, I'm afraid," Minerva sighed, now very aware that both Ronald and Molly had never seen her in attire even remotely close to this.
"And your hair!" Minerva had to chuckle when Molly lifted her braid unbelievingly. Still, she couldn't stop looking at how Ronald was holding Hermione. Molly continued to inspect her regardless, though. "I must say- ghastly clothes but they do make you look ten years younger, if not more…" she said, almost a little enviously.
"Oh, stop," Minerva murmured absentmindedly. "I look completely ridiculous." Over Ronald's head, who was talking to the brown haired witch vividly, Hermione shot Minerva a gaze.
"How are you?" Molly was saying, meanwhile. "Hermione told Harry who told Ron who told us that you'd twisted your ankle?"
"Has she told you about my accident on the stairs as well?" Minerva grimaced.
"What?" Molly asked just when the bell at the door rang again and a wet Harry followed by a glamoured Flitwick and a muggle-clothed Kingsley stepped into the now nearly crowded café.
"Minerva! What do I hear about you running away to spend a weekend in the highlands with our most promising young woman?" Kingsley chanted cheerily. At the waiter, whom Minerva had completely forgotten, he motioned to leave the room which the young man immediately did, although he was wearing an openly sour face, annoyed that nobody had ordered anything.
From Filius, Kingsley took two wands and handed them to Hermione and Minerva each. "I couldn't help noticing you had forgotten your wands, however, so I thought I'd stop by to crash your little party, if you allow."
Minerva raised an eyebrow disapprovingly, nevertheless accepting her much missed wand from him. It felt very good to have her 9 ½, dragon heartstring wand back. A flood of joy flowed through her when she only had to wave it and her clothes and hair changed to her usual attire.
"What a pity," Kingsley sighed at the sight, so much more the neat and austere Minerva he had known for many years. "I liked the clothes. Very stylish. Perhaps you should think about a "makeover", as the muggles call it. I'm sure it would put the whole wizarding world to your feet."
"And as we all know, that has always been Professor McGonagall's main concern," Harry chuckled, nodding at the headmistress. "I hope your weekend hasn't been too unpleasant, Professor," he said.
"I've had better," Minerva said, but then added more softly, also because Hermione and Ronald had joined their little circle as well: "But I've also had a lot worse."
"Well, we are certainly all glad that you are back now," Filius said, peeking over his glasses. "Perhaps we might relocate this reunion to a more suitable and less observed place than this muggle village?"
"Yes, you are quite right. I told Arthur to make some tea to warm you lot up when we left, and I just prepared a casserole bigger than we could ever manage on our own." Molly smiled cheerily, leaving no room for protest.
When everyone stayed quiet, unsure what to say, Kingsley smiled appreciatively. "Well who could say no to that, Molly." And so it was decided, the whole group left the café, Flitwick somehow escaped the invitation by offering to take care of the stranger's car and house.
Minerva wanted anything except go to Burrow with Ronald and Kingsley and Harry and Molly where she was sure Hermione and herself would be subjected to endless questions and tiring conversations when all the black haired witch wanted to do was curl up in her bed and process everything that had happened in such a short period of time but it was all hopeless. She couldn't even think of an excuse. Because all she could think of, was how she had almost kissed her student and how that wasn't even the worst part of it.