The couple woke up late on Saturday morning entangled in Albus' four poster bed, sunlight streaming through the castle window. While the rest of the castle was enjoying a special Valentines brunch put together by the house elves, with dwarves charmed as cupids delivering love notes from student to student across the Great Hall, Albus and Minerva stayed in his quarters and enjoyed their time alone.
Unseasonably warm for mid-February, Minerva proposed they go for a stroll along the lake, where they'd started animagus lessons a few months earlier. Once the two reached the far side of the lake, far-enough from even the eyes of the snowy owls in the owelry, the two instinctively locked hands, Minerva leaning into Albus.
The couple spread out a picnic blanket in the sand out by the towering beach tree and snacked on an assortment of cheeses and bread lovingly put together by the elves when they'd heard of Albus' proposal. Albus took notice of the massive tree, with thousands of couples' initials reaching back into the early 900s after the schools' founding.
"You see, my dear, I had a big plan to ask you to marry all fancy, right here by this tree. We'd carve our names in it like all the other lovers at Hogwarts."
Minerva giggled. "Well we still can! I always dreamed of carving my name up there with some other boy in my year, sneaking away after a Quidditch game. This is so much better!"
Albus took out his want and carved their initials into the tree "ADMM." "Do you think anyone will suspect its us?"
Minerva grinned and laid her head on his chest. "Let them!"
Albus stiffened and became serious. "Ah, yes. About that, my dear. We must try and be as secretive as possible over these next few months. I cannot wait to be more open with you, not completely as I have too many enemies and can't put you at risk, but this is why it's crucial I keep my job here at Hogwarts. I know hiding the pregnancy will be heard, but it's best no one knows besides your friends and the healer, of course. I was thinking that to ease suspicion, maybe you should participate in the upcoming dueling tournament. How would we explain your absence?"
Minerva laid a hand protectively over her abdomen. "And you're sure its safe? With the baby and all - I'm worried about what magic I can and cannot perform. For example, I'm not going to transform into my animagus until at least a few months postpartum."
"Of course, my dear. As long as all dulers follow our tournament guidelines, the spells should be perfectly pedestrian as always. And I'll be right here with you, refereeing the tournament with Fillius and making sure no violent magic is used. Wouldn't want anything to harm our little one."
Albus gazed lovingly at her. Minerva was glowing in those early stages of pregnancy. He couldn't shake off the guilt - he'd irreversibly shaped her life in these few months. No matter what, she was now going to be an 18-year-old mother, the most brilliant witch in her year, and would have to put her own academic and career goals on hold. And he knew he'd be so busy soon, putting his life at risk while battling Grindelwald. If he lived, there'd be much work to do in the aftermath, be it governmental or legal. But Albus was a selfish man, and his excitement to start their family outweighed any feelings of regret he might have in taking away Minerva's youthful years. It would be many, many years before either of them recognized the full implications of their illicit romance or power imbalances within their relationship.
The sun was setting. They'd been outside all day, napping and eating and planning in no particular order. Minerva could cry at how perfect this day was and could cry at the fact she wouldn't be spending this much alone time with her fiance in a while. It was back to the real world for the couple - Minerva needed to be making more appearances with her peers and Albus needed to focus more on his work both within the school and the resistance. Rumors circled around the castle more than cases of DragonPox during cold season, so they needed to be extra cautious as the semester quickened up.
In fact, the couple was so cautious about appearances that they hadn't spent a night, or even meal together, for two weeks now. It was the start of the tournament, March 1st, and the castle was abuzz. Tom had been quite pleased when he'd heard of Minerva's participation in the tournament, but still very curious about her condition, pestering the girl during their rounds together. She'd been so secretive and adamant that she wasn't seeing anyone or feeling ill in any way, that Tom was starting to believe he'd dreamed up reading about the pregnancy.
And so the two-day tourney started, with Tom and Minerva both advancing in the ranks. Albus was so proud, watching the young witch gracefully deflect spells from her assistance and shoot back complex dueling spells that only she would know. Minerva's magic was so strong, so pure and good, that her poor opponents in Hufflepuff and Slytherin didn't stand a chance. As referee, Albus had noticed Tom Riddle's magic to be … suspiciously dark, and vowed to keep a close eye on him over the tournament.
Eventually it came down to just Tom and Minerva. Minerva had just defeated a sixth year Hufflepuff, Hana Kitemen, in the semifinals, using a Jelly-Fingers jinx to disarm her. So now Minerva was on a high - her mind was sharp having been recently used so heavily, she felt incredible physically, and her confidence was at a peak. Ready to face Tom, she took her place at the stand.
Tom was also feeling confident. He'd been using dark, illegal magic, but even that old man Dumbledore was too dense to catch him. In all his research on Horcruxes, he'd also learned how to conceal his use of illegal spells, and cover them up as far more innocent, less damaging ones. Tom thought on Minerva's pregnancy. Although he was a murderer, he did have some moral compass, and wouldn't hurt an innocent child, parentage unknown. He decided to go as gentle on Minerva as possible, as long as he could still win the duel.
With Flitwick and Dumbledore refereeing, the match officially started, with the entire castle gathered to watch their Head Boy and Girl compete. The duel started off innocently enough, with the witch and wizard exchanging fancy spells to impress the audience. Minerva conjured a flock of birds and sent them to attack Tom, sending a flurry of feathers into the audience. The two kept this up for over twenty minutes, before getting serious. Tom attempted to disarm her and Minerva deftly dodged the spel, hitting him with a Bat-Bogey Hex.
Concentrating on defending himself from Minerva's hex, Tom looked over into the crowd and had a realization. Focusing on Dumbledore's face, it was evident he was more than just proud of Minerva as a student. Tom could feel the love between the two, a love he would never experience, and suddenly he was furious and jealous beyond comprehension. In that moment, Tom gained the power to break Minerva's hex and without thinking, blasted her with one of the darkest spells outside of an unforgivable. Certainly illegal in a Hogwarts duel, Tom hit her with a blasting curse, right at the abdomen.
Albus realized what was happening, the illegality of Tom's actions, and quickly went to defend Minerva, sending a blocking charm at her to mitigate the worst effects. But the power of Tom's curse was still so strong, and sent the witch flying into the air, back at least 15 feet. Albus saw the twisted, evil look on Tom's face as he purposely hit her abdomen - that bastard knew. He fucking knew! But winning out over his desire for revenge was his pressing concern for Minerva and the baby.
Curious students and staff circled around the witch to make sure she was alive, after slamming into Hogwarts' unforgiving stone walls, and Fillius was attending to her, but of course, no one besides Albus knew of her pregnancy. He screamed at everyone to back away, in a voice noone had heard from Dumbledore, and the onlookers instantly dispersed. Glancing back over his shoulder, Albus roared at Riddle, "You - there will be a full investigation into the magic you used, Riddle! You're not going to get away with hurting a fellow student and you certainly, certainly are disqualified!" But Tom just smirked, he might've lost the tournament but he won overall. He knew, deep in his heart, that Dumbledore was screwing Minerva. With this knowledge, he'd never be expelled or he'd run to the governors with this and get both Dumbles and Dippet fired.
Albus couldn't focus on Tom, he needed to make sure Minerva was okay. And the baby… there was no way their unborn child could have survived that unharmed. Minerva's eyes were fluttering - she was conscious. Albus knelt down on the ground next to her, hand on her lower stomach, and whispered in her ear, "the baby?"
She cried softly, "Oh Albus, something is wrong, I can feel it. We lost the baby, I know it. All the magical powers I felt are gone." At this point anyone lingering could clearly tell there was something more to Minerva and Albus's relationship than teacher and protege, but neither cared. He kissed her forehead, "Shh, it's not your fault. I'm going to take you to Healer Blackmar now." Albus scooped the witch up, noticing that she was bleeding and getting a sick feeling of dread in his stomach. He rushed her out of the Great Hall, leaving a slew of shocked onlookers in their wake. Albus would deal with the repercussions from Dippet and would punish Tom tomorrow, but today, he only cared about his family.