A/N: I hope you enjoy!

For the disclaimer, please see the prologue.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: March 1945, Pt. I

Minerva crouched precariously between a rock and a tree, trying to get the best possible view of the campsite in front of her. She settled into her spot, stretched her tail, flexed her paws, and allowed her mind to wander. The coordinates she had stolen from the base in December had lead them to two more sets of coordinates. Foucault had split the team up after that, believing that Grindelwald was hiding at one of the two locations. Unfortunately for her, Minerva was sent with one team, and Callum, Albus, and Aidan were all sent with the other. She understood the reasoning —she was an Animagus and therefore better equipped for the espionage work required for this specific terrain— but she hated not having any information from home. Minerva had escalated the issue to the Minister himself, citing his promise to keep her with her loved ones. His response had been trite: she could either bring them all to the more dangerous camp for the sole purpose of accompanying her, or she could leave them behind. The choice had been easy, but she hadn't enjoyed making it. Looking at her watch, she frowned. It had been officially thirty-five days, six hours, and twenty-three minutes since Minerva had last seen the men in her life. The only contact allowed between teams was at the captain level, so she hadn't heard any news, either.

That thought was enough to make her concentrate on her task once more. Thinking about Albus, Callum, and Aidan meant worrying about them, and she couldn't afford to do that. The lack of news meant the war wasn't over, and she had a job to do. Minerva prayed that Grindelwald's lair was located in front of her so she could end it, once and for all. She settled in and ended up sitting there for hours, licking her paws. No one had bothered to come in or out of the mountain opening. Not for the first time since she had joined the war, Minerva cursed herself for allowing the Minister to use her Animagus abilities against her.

Finally, a gust of wind caught her eye. It seemed to alter its shape slightly near a rock at the edge of the cave. Minerva scampered up the tree to try and get a better look. From the higher vantage point, she noticed that the wind bent around the shape of a staircase. She let out a happy meow and darted back to her campsite, intent on telling her new team about the discovery.

Minerva made it back to the site and transformed back into herself, panting hard. Righting herself, she took a moment to take a look around. The entire site seemed...off. Her tent —and the others, she noticed— were out of place, and there was a lack of footprints on the ground. Off in the distance, there was an acrid smell.

"Hello?" she called, her wand out. "Is anyone here?"

Her question was answered by the sound of a bomb detonating, flinging her back into a tree. She had just enough presence of mind to send a Patronus before she lost consciousness, her body giving up.

"Min? Minerva, can you hear me?" A familiar voice rang out, causing Minerva to stir awake. "Merlin, Min, stay with me."

"Poppy?" Minerva croaked, her eyes still closed. "Poppy, what the hell are you doing here? Where am I?"

"You're at a hospital site near Niederbronn-les-Bains," Poppy told her. Even with her eyes shut, Minerva could tell Poppy was all business, busy casting diagnostic spells. "You're lucky: that Patronus charm you conjured made it to your captain, and we were able to get you here."

"And you?"

"I'm here because I was an absolute idiot who decided to follow her girlfriend and her best friends into battle," Poppy said, somewhat harshly. "Thank Merlin I did, too. Between the two of you, this hospital has its hands full."

Minerva's eyes flew open despite the pain. "Is Rowena okay?"

She saw hesitation and worry flicker across her friend's face. "I...I don't know. She's here, but that's all I know."

"Merlin, Poppy," Minerva breathed, "go to her."

"There's nothing I can do for her. I'm not senior enough, apparently," she laughed derisively. "Not that that rationale calms me down, mind you. I can help you, though. You've been unconscious for almost a week."

"A week? What happened?"

"G's forces had attacked that base earlier," Poppy divulged while checking Minerva's head. "Rowena's contingent of Unspeakables had shown up, prepared to help your team. I guess the other side found out somehow, because your campsite was bombed to smithereens within minutes. Trust them to resort to dirty Muggle tactics instead of duelling like real fighters. Anyways," she shook her head clear, "you must have been caught by a delayed bomb, one intended to catch any stragglers."

"Will I live?" Minerva asked morosely. At Poppy's nod, Minerva changed her tune. "Poppy, is there any word on anyone else? Callum, Aidan," she swallowed hard, "Albus?"

"I haven't heard anything about Callum or Aidan," Poppy sighed, moving down the bed to check Minerva's pelvis.

"And Albus?" Minerva's tone was sharper than she intended.

"There have been rumours that Albus has been here," Poppy admitted, raising her hand to head off Minerva's impending interruption. "I don't think he's hurt; I haven't seen him doing my rounds. He may have been trying to visit you-"

"If Albus were here and his intention had been to visit me, I would have seen him by now. He wouldn't be here, know I'm injured, and not come to see me." Minerva shook her head, fear creeping into her eyes. "Merlin, I hope he's all right."

Poppy eyed her friend carefully, pieces of a puzzle arranging themselves in her mind. "Min, what exactly does Albus mean to you?"

"He's a friend, Poppy." Minerva tried to smile. "A good friend."

"For whom you have feelings." It wasn't a question.

Minerva sighed, knowing that at some point, her friends would find out, and she would rather them not be completely blindsided. "Yes."

"I think if you were to tell him," Poppy suggested gently, "he might feel the same way. He was so very protective of you when you were all home last summer."

"If we ever make it out of this war, I'll tell him," Minerva laughed softly. "I think you might be right, though," she added, her eyes glinting with the knowledge that her poor friend didn't have all the facts. Minerva had always liked to play with her prey; she was her brother's sister, after all. "I feel like there are some vibes."

"Vibes?" Poppy burst into laughter. "Where in Merlin's name did you pick that word up?"

"One of our team members uses it," Minerva admitted, smiling.

"Well, where ever you got it from, it works," Poppy grinned. "Now, let me be Healer Pomfrey for a moment. You're going to need to remain here for at least another couple of days. Your pelvic bone is fractured, and you have a concussion."

"Another one? Oh, Madam Prewett is going to kill me," Minerva groaned.

"Min, why on earth would you need to go see Madam Prewett?" Poppy asked, somewhat alarmed. "You do remember we're out of Hogwarts, right?"

"Yes, I remember," Minerva replied haughtily. "I just know you'll tell her once you get the chance, and if you don't, I'm sure Albus will."

Poppy raised her eyebrows. "I need to go and check on a few of my other patients because as fun as it is taking care of you, you're not the only person who needs medical attention. I'll be back in to check on you in a few hours and give you some more medicine. If you need anything, press that button on the bed," she added, nodding at a red "aide" button to Minerva's left.

"Poppy?" Minerva asked before her friend could leave. "Try to see Rowena, no matter what. If not for you, then at least for me. I want to make sure she's okay."

A tiny smile flittered across Poppy's face. "I'll try."

The next few days, in Minerva's opinion, passed terribly slowly. She kept pressing the red help button, each time hoping it would be Poppy, or even better, Albus. To her chagrin, Poppy popped in about twenty percent of the time; the rest of the time, the increasingly-annoyed nurses would roll their eyes at her and mutter French curses under their breaths. Poppy hadn't been able to relay any news about Albus other than that she hadn't seen him on any patient registry. That small mercy was all that was keeping Minerva afloat.

Finally, after twenty-seven hours of no Poppy, the woman burst into Minerva's room, a smile on her face despite visible tear-tracks.

"Poppy? What on earth happened?" Minerva sat up, alarmed.

"It's a very, very long story," Poppy admitted, "but I have good news."

"Rowena? She's okay?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"What does that mean? She's either fine or she's not, Poppy."

Poppy rolled her eyes. "I'm going to take you to her, if that's all right. The nurses keep telling me how you've been itching to get out of bed."

"Merlin, you have no idea how badly I want out of here!" Minerva jumped out of bed, only wincing slightly as she stood for the first time in days. "You're getting good at this whole healing business; I barely feel anything at all."

"Well, I'm glad," Poppy said, a blush spreading across her face. "Now, come on."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Minerva grumbled as they left the room. "This is the first time I'm walking in a while, you know."

"I do know, seeing as I'm the one who kept you there." Poppy took her friend's arm, gently guiding her. She maneuvered her around various beds and people until they arrived before an unmarked door. "Min, what you're about to see cannot be told to anyone. This is truly a matter of life and death."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "By all means, Pops, open the door."

Poppy stared hard into Minerva's green eyes before turning the handle. "After you."

She entered cautiously. Minerva's eyes immediately were drawn to the bed. Instead of Rowena lying in the bed, though, there was a witch with spiky hair and yellow eyes.

"Am I missing something? This isn't Rowena," Minerva hissed, yanking Poppy closer to her. "What the hell is going on?"

"It is me, Min," the person in the bed called, softly but hoarsely. "It really is me."

"What, do you have some sort of glamour on?" Minerva challenged, raising her wand. "What's something that only Rowena would know?"

"Minerva!" Poppy gasped, aghast.

"We're at war, Poppy," Minerva responded, not taking her eyes off of the bed. "You can't trust anyone."

"It's fine, Poppy." The witch on the bed grinned. "When you were five, Callum accidentally magicked off all of your hair, and that's why you keep it long now."

"What?" Poppy burst into laughter. "Did that really happen, Min?"

Minerva smiled. "Yes, it did. Now, can you please explain to me why you look like you have an entirely different face?"

"It's because I do have an entirely different face," Rowena sighed. She patted her bed. "Come, sit down, and we'll explain it."

Walking tentatively to the bed, Minerva sat on the edge. She winced as Rowena grabbed her hand. "Min, it's me. Trust me."

"I do," Minerva responded, slowly. "I don't understand how you can look like you do, though."

Poppy came around and sat on the other side of the bed, taking Rowena's other hand in her own. "I don't know how much you remember, Min, but I told you that Rowena's Unspeakables unit was bombed at your campsite."

"My mind wasn't that addled, so yes, I remember." Minerva couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I presume that's where you were injured?"

"It was horrible," Rowena whispered, and Minerva squeezed her friend's hand in sympathy. "I was right at the front of it; the blast got me right in the face. They had me here for, well, I think it's been a couple of weeks now." A look at Poppy confirmed that statement. "My face was basically blown off."

"Ro! Do you have to be so blunt?"

"Poppy, is there a less horrible way of saying that?" Rowena laughed morosely. "They kept me under some weird stasis charm for days, trying to see if they could put my face back together. Apparently, magic hasn't solved the whole "bomb" problem just yet, and I was a great guinea pig."

Minerva's eyes widened at her friend's ordeal. "I presume it worked, seeing as you're sitting here with a different face."

"Not exactly," Rowena sighed heavily. "My face was deemed broken beyond repair."

"The medical term actually used was 'incurable', but that was the outcome, yes," Poppy interjected. "I was lucky enough to have a friend on the senior nursing staff who knows about us. She let me in unsupervised to have what was supposed to be our final goodbyes. On my way, I ran into Albus, who was—"

"Albus?" Minerva's breath caught in her chest. "Was he okay?"

"He was perfectly healthy, Min," Poppy smiled. "He was here to see you, except you, like Rowena here, were kept on a strict no-visitors order."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're valuable to the mission, and anyone could come in and try to talk to you. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to be Albus Dumbledore to coerce information out of one of our operatives," Rowena answered. "It has caused us Unspeakables a hell of a lot of problems."

"Okay, so Albus was here," Minerva's heart hammered, "and what, he fixed you?"

"I may have let him in to say goodbye with me, even if I wasn't supposed to," Poppy admitted. "I thought it might bring Rowena some comfort if she had someone else that she knew in the room. Albus took one look at her, took a deep breath, swore us to secrecy, and—"

"BAM!" Rowena grinned cheekily. "I had a new face."

"How did he...?" Minerva gaped.

Poppy shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Whatever it was, he expended a hell of a lot of magic. I had to give him three chocolate bars."

Minerva frowned as her mind caught up to her heart. "Why did he swear you all to secrecy? Why didn't he just tell everyone that he knew how to solve the problem?"

"Min," Poppy shook her head, "this was powerful magic. It looked to be at least mastery level, and it looked like the caster needed a strong magical core. I'm not sure anyone else could do it, and it wouldn't do the war effort much good if Albus Dumbledore were holed up here fixing people's faces and draining his magical core. Besides," she added, "I'm not entirely sure that the spell was even legal."

A fleeting memory coursed through Minerva's mind. She remembered Albus talking to her about permanent transfiguration back in her sixth year, but her anger at him had caused her to overlook his lessons on the subject. She may have felt justified then —his actions after their occlumency practices were horrible— but now, she wished she had paid more attention.

"I think he might have mentioned the spell to me once," Minerva paused, considering. "I remember reading about facial transfigurations. If I remember correctly, it was mastery-level spell-work. That doesn't really matter now, though; I can ask him later. Rowena, who the hell do people think you are?"

"Ah," Rowena swallowed roughly. "That's the downside of this."

"I'm sure the downside is better than death," Minerva commented drily, but her eyes widened when her friends shot each other nervous glances. "What?"

"Well, we have to pretend to the world that Rowena Lovegood is dead," Rowena responded slowly. "Otherwise, everyone would be confused, and we'd be forced to give explanations that quite frankly, we don't have."

"So, who are you then?" Minerva asked, an eyebrow arched.

"Rolanda Hooch, at your service," Rowena grinned. "I must admit, I like these yellow eyes. I look like a hawk."

They all laughed at that, but Minerva's face fell first. Poppy caught the emotion and reached her other hand out, placing it on Minerva's arm. "Min, what is it?"

"Why on earth would Albus go to the trouble of expending that much magic? Obviously, I'm thrilled that he did, but..."

Poppy shrugged, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "He said he owed it to someone. Something about not letting another friend die without her there."

Minerva met Poppy's gaze above Rowena —Rolanda— and the full weight of her friend's words hit her like a thestral. Albus had saved her longest friend, risking his magic to do this for her. He would have done it out of some weird sense of guilt after what had happened with Charlotte, she knew, but she also knew that his actions were demonstrative of the depths of his love for her.

Oh, how she adored him.

"He did say he couldn't have people knowing that this type of magic existed," Poppy whispered, continuing. "I don't think we can ever tell anyone, even Aidan, but I'm so happy I have her here that I don't care."

Minerva scoffed, "Well, we'll sure as hell be telling Aidan and Callum. They'll figure it out the second they meet her!"

"I think that for you, he might acquiesce to that," Poppy agreed, her voice soft. "Thank him for both of us, will you?"

Minerva was smart enough to realize that Poppy was dismissing her, both from the room and from the hospital. "Where can I find him?"

"Here!" Rolanda handed her a piece of paper. "He said that if there was any trouble with my face, we could reach him at those coordinates."

"Perfect," Minerva grinned. "Poppy, as far as the hospital goes...?"

"You are medically cleared to leave, and I have dispatched you to your former team so you can share the information that you found," Poppy laughed. "Although, you should know that our investigators thoroughly checked the area after they found you, and the lair wasn't G's. It contained a few of his higher-up followers, but not him."

"Oh," Minerva murmured, mildly disappointed. "Well, I think I'll be off. Where's the nearest apparition point?"

"Oh, you can apparate out from anywhere," Poppy smiled, her eyes twinkling. "You just can't apparate in."

"I love you both." Minerva flashed a watery smile at her friends. "I'm so glad you're both all right. Stay safe." With a turn of her heel, she flew through time and space, landing in a field.

"Oof," she groaned, rubbing her freshly-healed pelvic bone. She could see tents and people up ahead, so she marched into the crowds, intent on finding Albus.

"McG?" A wondrous voice came from behind her, and Minerva turned, her face splitting into a wide grin. "It is you!"

Minerva laughed as Aidan ran at her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Hi, Aidan. I'm so glad you're okay."

"We're all fine," Aidan said dismissively. "It's you we're all worried about. We hadn't heard from you in a month, and then the next thing we know, you're in the hospital."

"I was pretty banged up," Minerva confessed, "but Poppy healed me in the end." Her eyes fell on Aidan's companion. "I'm sorry, I'm Minerva McGonagall. You are?"

"I'm Andrew MacMillan," the man said, extending his hand. "I was transferred here to fill in for you as you did your espionage work."

"Ah," Minerva nodded, not having the patience for small talk. "Aidan, I really need to see Albus. Do you know where he is?"

"Farthest tent on the right, biggest one on the campsite. It has a cat charm as the zipper," Aidan told her. "Everything okay?"

Minerva's heart swelled as she thought about Albus taking the time to give himself something that reminded him of her. "Yes, everything's fine. I just need to tell him something important about the mission. It was really nice to meet you, Andrew." Minerva extended her hand to shake his again, doing her best to be polite. "See you later, Aidan."

She practically ran across the remainder of the campsite until she got to his tent. Taking a slight pause to smile at the cat charm, Minerva burst into his tent, panting. "Albus?"

He was standing by his desk, and his head whipped around at the sound of her voice. They stared at each other for a moment before Albus breathed a palpable sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Merlin. I was so worried about you. They told us that your contingent had been bombed and that the casualty count was severe. I was so scared, and they wouldn't let me in to see you. I tried breaking the wards but they threatened to have me sent back home from the front, and I couldn't leave you here. I am so, so sorry."

Minerva waved off his apology. "Albus, is it true?"

His brow creased. "Is what true?"

She took a step forward. "That instead of pulling your phoenix stunt and coming to see me—"

"They had warded your room quite extensively, my dear."

"—instead of coming to see me," Minerva continued, her heart pounding, "you saved Rowena's life?"

"Well, I was already there," Albus frowned, "and I wanted to do something to help. I know how much she—"

Before he could finish his sentence, she had crossed the length of the tent and pressed her lips to his. Minerva pulled away slightly to whisper, "Merlin, I love you," before resuming their kiss. She jumped into his arms, fully intent on continuing.

Albus groaned and pulled away. "Minerva, the tent is not warded—"

"Then ward it, Dumbledore," she growled.

"For the love of god, why do you always want to have sex when you're injured?" Albus shook his head, but warded his tent all the same.

"Don't psychoanalyze me, Albus, not when it works in your favour," Minerva murmured, rolling her eyes. When he didn't move, she bit his lip to force him into action. "Besides, it's been months."

"You'll be the death of me, Tabby," Albus muttered, making quick work of her blouse.

Minerva interrupted him by silently casting a spell that rid them of their clothing. "Fun way to die, thou-"

Her breath hitched as he entered her without preamble. He had clearly missed her just as much as she had missed him. Minerva sighed contentedly, relishing the familiar way her skin lit up as their bodies pressed together. This time, though, the fire didn't stop at "delightful". Instead, it burned searingly across her skin and into her heart, causing her chest to seize.

"Ah, Albus!" Minerva cried as her chest began to pound. "My chest hurts!"

"Mine...too," Albus groaned, stilling his movements. He attempted to put some distance between them, but found he couldn't move. "Tabby, I'm stuck."

"Owww," Minerva bit out, trying to wriggle away from him. "Why does our skin feel stuck together?"

"I don't know," he bit out, clearly in pain. She felt him move, attempting to pull out of her, but he couldn't. "I think we're stuck together."

"Oh, for fuck's sakes," she hissed. "Finish this quickly, then, and make it good."

Albus took a moment to meet her eyes, and he rolled his eyes as she smirked. He resumed his actions, thrusting shorter and faster. Minerva moaned and spared a moment to recognize just how scintillating it was that his skin physically couldn't separate from hers. She dug her nails into his scalp, grasping at his hair.

"Min...I'm going to-" he panted.

She clenched her muscles around him. "Do it."

As he came inside her with a roar, she did too, and then the whole world stopped.

Once again, Minerva's chest flared up in pain, and she looked down to see a turquoise light emanating from her body. The same colour of light was emerging out of Albus' chest, and her eyes widened as the two lights met, pulsing together. Her chest began to throb uncomfortably, and a prickling sensation spread throughout her body. Closing her eyes, Minerva suddenly found herself reliving various moments over the past few years, not only through her viewpoint, but Albus', too.

How tortured he was when he didn't want her to enter the Triwizard Tournament, and her similar feelings of anguish.

Then, she was at the end of the first task, his relieved gaze washing over her, making her feel it, too.

The scene shifted to the Yule Ball. She could sense that Albus felt her embarrassment after Madame Dubois had sneered at her, and Minerva remembered feeling his protection.

His non-stop headache when she had her head injury after the second task.

Minerva saw the first time they had had sex and how his magic had healed her, weakening him in the process.

Finally, she saw the pair of them at Christmas, and she was reminded of how his chest hurt after her ribs were injured.

Her eyes flew open, adjusting to the room's natural light. Minerva met Albus' gaze, and they both watched as the light between them grew. It pulsed until it surrounded them and then flung outward, disappearing into the air.

"Are you all right?" Albus groaned, finally slipping out of her. He waved a blanket over them and sunk them both to the floor, too weary to stay standing.

"Albus...it makes sense now," Minerva murmured, memories and ideas spinning in her head. "Why touching each other makes our skin feel ablaze...did you see all of those memories? The way our magic has been feeding off of each other?"

"I did." Albus held her tighter, nestling her in his arms. "It certainly explains a lot."

"Albus, have we been soul-bonded this entire time?"

He looked at her thoughtfully, biting his lip. "I believe we might have been, and I believe we may have just completed the bonding ritual," Albus smiled wryly. "It appears that you'll be able to speak from experience when discussing the subject during your mastery."

"It only took us three times," Minerva breathed, somewhat proudly. "Didn't you say it normally takes four to six?"

Albus opened his mouth to answer, but stopped when he heard a commotion outside of the tent. "What do you expect that is?"

"Who knows?" Minerva plopped her head on his chest, not caring about the war for the first time in months. "Merlin, I'm tired. What happens now?"

"I honestly don't know," Albus confessed. "I have no idea. Like I told you in your sixth year, this isn't exactly common." She felt him tense around her as he Summoned both of their wands. "Someone's coming."

"How could someone do that? You warded it—" Minerva began, but her voice was cut off as she heard nearing footsteps. "The wards must have dropped as we bonded."

"Albus, what the fuck was that light?" Callum's voice preceded him as he entered the room. He stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide as he took in the sight of his younger sister draped across their former professor, her hair a mess and their clothes on the floor. "Minnie? When the hell did you get back? And what are you doing here?"

"Ummmm," Minerva began, trailing off as she heard more yells outside the tent. "Is everything okay out there, Callum?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "We're all going to have a conversation about this eventually," Callum drawled, waving his hand at the scene in front of him, "but whatever kinky shit the two of you enjoy in your alone time just blew our cover. Get dressed, and get out. They know we're here."