And so the graduation ceremony ended in an uproar, the mass of students and spectators deliriously happy that their favorite professor and war hero was alive. As Albus hadn't had the chance to resign before taking off for Germany, he was warmly welcomed by Dippet and the other faculty. It was almost as if the affair had never happened. Minerva felt that Albus coming directly to her during her speech was the opposite of discreet, but after the ceremony, no one mentioned it or seemed to notice.
So now Minerva was with her family at the reception, watching Albus mill about and make his rounds with all the students and families. The Minister of Magic and a Prophet reporter rushed to the castle as soon as they'd heard of Dumbledore's return and so Albus was busy explaining his whereabouts and basking in the fame. Minerva felt ever so slighted, but she understood that he was an important man and would have to deal with these matters. He did come to her first, after all. She now wanted her family to meet him so badly, and to come clean to them about everything, as she certainly did not want to go home to the family estate if she could spend the night with Albus instead.
It was getting late and the post-graduation ceremony dwindled to a close. Families were exiting the castle and students wished each other their final goodbyes. Albus caught the eye of Minerva across the courtyard, as she hugged Poppy and Rolanda, promising to visit them at St. Mungos school and the Harpies training camp respectively. Albus knew he hadn't been as attentive to Minerva as he should have been, but also knew that she would completely understand his responsibilities now as a public figure. It was time to shift roles from war hero to doting boyfriend, so he approached Minerva and the McGonagalls.
"Mr. and Mrs. McGonagall, you must be so proud. Minerva is the most brilliant witch that I've had the pleasure of working with. I'm Albus Dumbledore, transfigurations professor."
Her father cut in with his Scottish brouge, "Oh, we know who you are, sir! Please - call us Robert and Isobel. Minerva spoke so highly of you this last year. We think she had a bit o' a schoolgirl crush!"
Minerva's father Robert was known for his inappropriate bits of humor sprinkled throughout any conversation. She believed it to be a bit of compensation for being a Muggle at wizarding events. He really could not have been more accurate with this observation, and both Minerva and Albus blushed.
"Well, da, about that… I think Professor Dumbledore and I do need to talk to all of you in a more private setting about some things… my future… et cetera." Minerva tried so hard not to make her family nervous.
"Yes! Splendid idea, Minerva!" Albus spoke quickly, "My brother owns a small tavern in Hogsmeade called the Hogs Head. I'd love to take you all out for a drink before it gets too late."
Minerva, Robert, Isobel, and her younger brothers Malcolm and Robert, who would soon be starting at Hogwarts, made their way to the tavern. Minerva saw the way Aberforth's eyes lit up upon his brother's arrival, even if Albus himself couldn't tell.
"So I heard you were back," Abe gruffly stated. "I'm glad you killed the bastard. I knew you had it in you, Albus." This was the kindest exchange that the brothers ever had, and as Albus ordered a round of butterbeers for the boys and firewhisky for the adults, he had the confidence he needed to come clean to Minerva's parents.
As the group sat at the same large booth Minerva and Albus sat alone in at the start of their relationship, Albus took Minerva's hand across the table.
"Robert and Isobel, I've fallen in love with your daughter over this last year."
Minerva felt Albus's hand start to tremble and grow clammy with sweat. He was nervous - a rare emotion for the powerful wizard. The younger couple looked their elders in their eyes, hopefully searching for approval.
After painful moments of silence, Robert spoke up. "Well, I'm no more shocked than when I found out my Minerva was a witch. I could tell she loved you from the first moments she wrote us about you, Albus. I can't wholeheartedly approve of you seeing her while she was under your care, but we can't choose how and when we fall in love, now, can we?"
Minerva was unsure if she should mention their engagement, Albus's ring tucked safely in a chain around her neck. She wasn't even sure if their nuptials were still planned, given the miscarriage and Albus's disappearance, so she kept it to herself. The night dwindling to a close, she spoke up.
"Ma, Da, Robby and Malcolm, thank you again for coming today. It means the world. I know I was scheduled to return with you all, but I think I'll stay with Albus now, if that's alright. We will travel out to visit shortly. Albus and I will see you to the station - you should be able to catch the midnight train."
Albus and Minerva jointly sighed in relief as they watched the train pull away from Hogsmeade, Albus's hand tracing small circles on the small of Minerva's back. "That went as well as we could have expected, my dear."
The two decided to rent out a room above the Hog's Head for the evening, which smelled of cigarette smoke and general seediness. They didn't care as long as they were together. Too exhausted to speak of the recent past or the future, they snuggled up together in bed. Minerva and Albus had reached the point of intimacy in their relationship where there was no urgent need for sex, just companionship. Drifting off to sleep together, in the haze of early morning, where nearly everything seemed possible, the witch and wizard felt nearly invincible.
The harsh light of morning often paints a starkly different picture to any midnight dreams. Minerva and Albus woke to face each other in the dingy, cramped quarters, both asking themselves what now?
The reality of the situation in which they found themselves was that they were one part rapidly-approaching thirty war hero, traumatized from killing his former lover and potentially jobless, and one-part recently-graduated witch, who'd put her future on the back burner while worrying about her lover and a failed pregnancy. As they both came to the realization that this relationship would be no easier now than months earlier, finally Minerva spoke up to end the silence.
"So you should probably go talk to Headmaster Dippet. And maybe the Minister of Magic. Do an interview with the DP?"
Albus knew she was right, but couldn't stop himself from becoming slightly resentful of her calling them back into reality. "So you want me to go beg for my job back? You want to get rid of me already? And the Ministry of Magic - Minerva, the second I go speak to the public, you won't have me to yourself again. I'm going to have to go on rounds of England on a victory tour, witches and wizards will be thirsting over me, I'll go to balls and Quidditch matches and charity events. This fame is going to last a lifetime. We could just stay here together and hide away, Minerva, pretend everything else is nonexistent."
"Yes, Albus. I do wish we could stay sequestered away from the world forever, but we can't just be Minerva and Albus. You have an entire nation who sees you as a hero, and I know you feel a duty towards them. I'll follow you anywhere, I am fine playing second-fiddle. But I know that I can't selfishly keep you to myself. Go now, and speak with Armando. I think that Hogwarts would be foolish to not keep you on, if Transfigurations Professor is a role you wish to continue."
Minerva would later come to resent and regret her words of promise, many years later in life, as her duty of second-fiddle became true. A Gryffindor through and through, her fierce loyalty to Albus would mean many personal sacrifices, but what is love if not continual acts of selflessness?
They did make love before Albus left for Hogwarts later in the morning, clumsily and soberly. The couple hadn't been together in that sense in so long, and never with much frequency as their relationship was so secret and sporadic. But it felt natural, and Albus left Minerva in a state of contentment that their partnership would never experience again as the effects of the outside world would begin to seep in and alter it for the rest of their lives.