Maybe a day late but not too bad. Well here's the next bit in this story. Please leave a review if you feel like it.

After the evening meal Minerva returned to her office to find three of her colleagues waiting outside in the corridor. Poppy and Pomona she expected, but they must have needed more help as they now had Rolanda with them.

Seeing as this had somehow turned into a party, Minerva invited them into her living quarters so they wouldn't have to crowd into her office.

Barely in the door, Poppy handed her a handful of the petitions she was carrying, "We picked out some of the good ones, that you should read."

Glancing around at the curiously silent witches, Minerva opened the first petition. She didn't recognize the name, so she moved on to the note. She read only a few words before angrily throwing it into the fire, along with the others she was holding.

As she turned to glare at the three other witches in the room, they lost it and started giggling like school children.

Angered by their behavior, Minerva accused, "If by "good one," you mean the most explicit and degrading piece of filth I have ever read, then you are insane. If this is what you have been waiting for then you can go now, I am not interested in your games."

Slowly they pulled themselves together long enough to reply, "We didn't mean to upset you, we just thought that it might be best if we got those out of the way first."

Still glaring at them, she sat back down in her armchair.

Pomona, Poppy, and Ro had separated the lot into several categories. They had a rather large pile of letters that were sent by strange wizards that none had heard of. The next smaller pile was from wizards within their circle of acquaintances, but were unlikely candidates. The last pile was made up of petitions that she should actually consider, or at least read.

Most of those last petitions were the best of the worst. They definitely wouldn't have been Minerva's choice in any situation other than this. The last one that she read was very worrying though.

It was from one of the seventh year students. A Gryffindor by the name of Alfred Blake, had sent her a petition saying, Offering my services, Professor.

She was beyond angry that one of her students would do such a thing. The student in question clearly wasn't taking this law seriously, and that meant that she would have to set him straight.

Coming up with a plan was easy with help from her friends, but the difficult part would be the execution.

The next day, Minerva purposefully arrived late to lunch. She wanted to make sure Mr. Blake would be there already. Casually walking towards the staff table, she let herself walk just past his group of friends, then turn back like it was an afterthought. "Oh, Mr. Blake. I was surprised to see your letter the other day. I thought I should let you know that I plan to accept your offer."

The look of pure horror on the boy's face was well worth the effort of keeping a straight face throughout. His friends were clearly confused, but it didn't take long for them to figure it out and adopt the same horrified facial expression.

Mr. Blake finally summoned the courage to say something. "But...Professor...it, it was just a..."

Adjusting her semi honest expression to one more stern she finished his thought for him. "It was just a what? Just a joke? I seriously hope you don't think this is a time for jokes. I could very well accept your petition and you would have no say in the matter. By signing that petition you would be bound by law to carry out the terms if I had accepted. Once sent, a petition cannot be withdrawn."

The look of relief on his face was extreme. "Sorry Professor, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was just a bit of parchment."

Relaxing the glare just a bit, she finished. "I really hope you have learned your lesson today. Whether it is a marriage petition or anything else in the Magical world, you had better be very careful about what you sign."

While she hoped to embarrass and frighten the boy in front of his friends, she didn't necessarily want to make a huge scene in front of everyone in the Great Hall. She had gathered some attention from the surrounding students, but the majority were still focused on lunch. The staff was another story though. Pomona, Poppy, and Rolanda were giggling behind their hands, and Albus just looked sad, or was that perhaps pity she saw.

She took her usual place at the table and started her meal in silence, while Albus did his best not to look at her.

It wasn't long before his not eating and not talking and not being Albus got on her nerves. "What is your problem Headmaster? You've been playing with that bit of Potatoe for fifteen minutes now."

"Nothing, nothing. I just have a lot on my mind today."

"I not mad at you if that's what you think. I'm not thrilled at this situation, but I don't hold you personally responsible for my impending doom." Minerva declared. "So now you can stop sulking and avoiding me, or I suppose you can go on pretending this is about you."

"You're right of course." Albus answered. "It's just so horrible all of it and I do feel somewhat responsible. I'm sorry you have to endure all of this."

"Well at least we are on the same page now. Eat your lunch or go do some actual work. You do know that I have seen the state of your office and I am not responsible for that."

Albus smiled at her realizing that his friend was still the same bossy witch that he had come to rely so much upon. Then he dug into his meal since he was fairly certain she wasn't going to hex him today.