A/N: Thank you for all of your support. Whatever holidays you may be celebrating this season, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

For the disclaimer, please see the prologue.

Chapter Forty-Seven: June 1951, Pt. I

"This is a strange note." Minerva frowned and took off her glasses so she could rub wearily at her eyes. "Albus wants to meet with me."

"That doesn't seem out of the ordinary," Aidan commented.

"No, but he wants me to meet with him at Hogwarts, in his office. With a specific time and everything. He says he'll do his best to meet me at the front gate, but if not, Hagrid will greet me."

"That is odd. Here, let me see." Aidan extended his arm and waited for Minerva to pass it along. "The tone here is nothing like his normal letters. This seems professional rather than friendly."

"Merlin, that man can be bizarre," Minerva groaned. She felt a headache form at the base of her skull. "Why wouldn't he give me a reason for this meeting? I need to give Moody an excuse if I'm going to take Thursday afternoon off."

"Maybe it has to do with all of those sessions he has with Callum," Aidan shrugged.

"What sessions?" Minerva looked up sharply.

"Every Saturday, they meet at Albus' office and go over their memories from their time in captivity. They're attempting to see if they can get any more information that will help the Aurors." Aidan frowned at the shocked look on Minerva's face. "Did you really not know?

"How could I have known? No one told me." She thought for a moment. "I knew that they were discussing their time in captivity so they could heal from the experience, but I honestly had no idea their meetings were still ongoing."

"Maybe they didn't want you to know."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because," Aidan said, pulling her out of her seat and wrapping her in his arms, "they probably didn't want you to worry. It wasn't a pleasant time for any of us. They're protecting you, and I'm not inclined to be upset about it."

"How do you know?"

"Lucy told me that she and the kids visited with Violet every Saturday, and I found it rather odd that we weren't invited. I asked Callum, and this is the answer he gave me."

"When did he tell you?"

"Oh, about eight months ago."

"And you never thought to tell me?" Minerva playfully pinched his hand that was resting on her waist. "Really, darling, we're not supposed to keep secrets."

He raised a teasing eyebrow. "Are you suggesting you don't keep secrets from me?"

Her response was interrupted by an owl knocking on their kitchen window. Minerva peered at it. "That owl doesn't look familiar to me."

"Nor me. Here, stand up for a moment, and I'll get it." Aidan released his hold on her and retrieved the letter. His eyebrows shot up as he read the name of the sender.

"Aidan?"

"It would appear you're not the only one to receive a strange letter this evening. This is from my mother." Aidan sat down at the table and pulled her back into his lap. He opened the letter and began to skim the contents.

"Your mother? She hasn't spoken to us since the wedding."

"I know, but…look." Aidan handed her the envelope. "The Scrimgeour seal is on it. Mother says she feels bad that we've lost touch over the years, and..." Aidan stopped reading as a strangled look came over his face.

"What is it, darling?"

"She's ill," Aidan said finally. "She'd like me to come and visit her on Saturday as a final goodbye."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Minerva hadn't spent much time with her mother-in-law—and truthfully had never enjoyed their time together—but she knew all too well the pain that came with losing a family member. "You absolutely should go and see her."

"Are you sure? I thought we were going to go and check out that open house for Dalton's school."

Minerva smiled. "I can take care of that. If I like it, you can come with Dalton and me next week. This open house is for parents, anyway; Dalton will be bored sick. I can leave him with Violet."

"Violet isn't going? Where are they sending Athena?"

"Well," Minerva laughed, amused, "Violet won't be attending the open house because it's the school where she believes Albus to be Deputy Headmaster."

"And so she believes it to be safe because her fiancé runs it." Aidan shook his head. "Merlin, if I ever think our lives are messy, remind me to think of them."

"Well, in her defence, it is only pre-school. There's not much that could go wrong at this stage."

"You're still going," Aidan pointed out.

"Well, it isn't my fiancé who allegedly works there, now is it?" Minerva asked impishly, laughing as Aidan tickled her for her trouble.

When Thursday afternoon came, Minerva arrived at Hogwarts. She smiled as she saw Hagrid waiting for her at the gates.

"Hello, Hagrid."

"Hi, Min'rva. Yer excited to be back at Hogwarts?"

"I would be, if I knew why I was here," Minerva commented dryly. She hesitated, assuming that her companion likely wouldn't know the reason, either. "How is it being groundskeeper here?"

"I'm still an assistant, but I love it 'ere. Staff's nice, an' this is my firs' and only home, you see."

"I'm glad to hear that," Minerva responded truthfully. She still felt that a great injustice had been done to Hagrid, and she was thrilled that at the very least, he seemed to be thriving. "Do you have much free time?"

"Not lately. I've been growin' a lot of plants an' things for the celebration."

"What celebration?" Minerva asked.

"I'm sure Dumbledore will tell ya all about it," Hagrid said. "That's why yer here, but I'm not to tell you more than that."

Perhaps Hagrid knew something after all.

"Ah, well, let's hope Professor Dumbledore enlightens me." They paused as she reached the familiar office door. "Thank you for the escort, Hagrid."

"'Twas good to see you again, Min'rva. Take care."

She watched his back recede for a moment before she knocked on Albus' door. For some reason, she felt she had to wait for him to grant her entry.

Albus opened the door a moment later, a tired smile on his face. "Minerva, it's wonderful to see you."

"And you. Is everything all right?"

He took in her worried gaze and internally berated himself for how his note must have come across. "Yes, forgive me. Everything is fine. I'm sorry if I caused you any alarm."

"I'll admit that it was a bit strange to receive such a letter from you." Minerva sat down in the chair at his desk and clasped her hands together in her lap expectantly. "So why exactly have I been summoned to your office on a Thursday afternoon?"

Albus sat across from her and looked at her. "I asked you to come so I could offer you a job."

"A job?"

"Yes." He smiled at the surprised look on her face. "As I recall, you once sat in that very chair and told me you wanted a job here. My job, to be exact. As of September, my position will be vacant, and I am charged with finding a suitable candidate for the post. I believe you would do an admirable job, my dear, and you are at the top of my list."

Minerva was gobsmacked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry?"

She shook her head, clearing it. "If the position will be vacant, I'm presuming you will no longer be teaching Transfiguration."

"Ah, yes." Albus' eyes twinkled. "Armando has informed the Board of Governors of his wish to retire at the end of the summer. As Deputy Headmaster, I am next in line for the job."

"Congratulations!" Minerva exclaimed, genuinely happy for him. "That is wonderful news. The school will be in very good hands."

"Thank you. I will do my best to build upon Armando's great work."

"All the while dealing with an extreme increase in paperwork and correspondence," Minerva added with a smile on her face. "Who is going to be the lucky deputy that inherits that part of your workload?"

Albus pursed his lips. "Starting September, my Deputy will be Horace."

"Ah. Am I to presume from your tone this will be a temporary appointment?"

He smirked. "It's a one-year appointment, yes. The Board thought his long tenure here would be of great support to me."

"Seeing as half the Board was in the Slug Club, I'm not surprised."

"Minerva," Albus warned, but he laughed in spite of himself. "There is a reason I asked for a one-year contract, to be truthful. After that, I'm hoping to convince Melody Johnson to take the job."

"Professor Johnson was a fantastic Charms professor. She'll be a good fit, I think."

"Yes, I agree." Albus hesitated for a moment, then said, "In the spirit of transparency, Clara Carter—your Defence professor, you'll remember—has decided to resign. It seems that she is unwilling to work under my leadership."

Minerva raised her eyebrows. "I would never have thought that she would hold a grudge. Your relationship ended what, ten years ago?"

"Yes, well, it seems she is unwilling to continue."

"So you're in a bit of a pickle. Who is your chosen replacement for Defence?"

"My old friend, Filius Flitwick. His mastery is in Charms rather than Defence; however, he is a skilled duellist and renowned scholar. At the very least, it will work as a stop-gap until next year.

"Which," Albus peered at her over the top of his spectacles, "brings us back to you, my dear."

"Albus, I honestly don't even know what to say. I would love to teach, but...it's a big change."

"I understand that. You should know that Armando is contractually obligated to stay until the end of the summer. Over the summer holidays, he and I will be doing some transition work. I am hoping to do the same with my replacement."

"With which?"

Albus quirked an eyebrow. "All of my replacements. Horace will need some tutoring on the administrative duties required as Deputy Head, and I'll need to go over lesson plans with my Transfiguration replacement." He bit his lip. "I'll also need to pass my Gryffindor Head duties on to someone else. I'll admit to hoping I could persuade you to take that in addition to the Transfiguration post."

"Absolutely not." Minerva shook her head. "No matter what I decide about teaching, I can't commit to that. I'm not going to live here. You know I can't, not with Aidan tied to Hogsmeade for the foreseeable future. Besides, Dalton is too young. I want to be able to mother him before I mother a whole house of teenagers."

"That's understandable. Forgive me, I simply had to ask." He sighed. "I'll have to ask Melody if she's willing, then. She'd be the only other viable option, truthfully."

"That might be a good idea," Minerva suggested. "It would give her a year to become accustomed to those duties before you ask her to be Deputy Headmistress."

"That's quite the advantage, you're correct. Now," Albus steepled his fingers together, "what can I do to convince you to join our staff here?"

Minerva hesitated. Truthfully, she would love to teach. Her position in the Auror office was no longer gratifying, and being closer to home would be nice. But, she was worried about working in such close proximity with Albus. It almost felt like a reversal to the life that her eighteen-year-old self wanted, and she didn't know if it would fit in with the life she currently had.

"I'm not sure there's much you can say," Minerva responded finally. "Is there a contract I can look over?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Albus produced a file from within his desk. "It's all here: salary, supervisory duties, example timetables, et cetera. If you find there's anything missing, do not hesitate to send me an owl. I want to give you enough time to mull this over and discuss it with Aidan—and I'd rather wait for an affirmative response than receive a quick no—but I will need to know by the end of the month."

"That seems reasonable." Minerva accepted the contract and gave it a quick glance over. "This salary seems higher than I expected."

"Well, when we want to attract top talent who have otherwise promising careers, we do our best to offer competitive salaries." Albus sighed, knowing that wasn't entirely correct. "Truthfully, the staff here are purposely well-compensated. The Board recognizes the difficulties associated with the job, and attempts to recompense as such. For example, it is required that staff members live in the village if they're not already required to be in the castle. You would lose the flexibility you have with the Auror office."

"Or rather, I would lose that flexibility if my husband weren't already contractually obligated to be here."

"Quite." Albus took a moment to look at Minerva. "If you're worried about working here with me, I assure you I will take my cues from you. I will not suffocate you with conversation."

Minerva smiled. "I don't think you'd suffocate me, Albus. I'll admit to having worries about working together again, but we have managed so far, haven't we?"

"Yes, we have." Albus returned her smile. "May I ask what your concerns are? Surely you know you'd be a wonderful teacher."

"If it's not too egotistical to say so, yes, I think I would be. Merlin knows I'd enjoy it, and that's half the battle. It's merely that it's a change in course, Albus, and not one that I was expecting. There are benefits, clearly, but I'll need to discuss it with Aidan."

"As you should. What is it, Minerva?" he asked, seeing her fidget. "What else is there?"

She blushed. "Am I too...young to teach? I'm hardly older than some of the seventh-years."

"You have at least eight years on them, which is not an insignificant age gap. Besides, age doesn't always correlate with ability."

"I suppose that's true." Minerva thought for a moment and then said, "I should be able to discuss this with Aidan Saturday morning. He'll be with Callum tonight, and then tomorrow I'm doing a girls' night with Lucy, Poppy, and Ro. I'll do my best to have my answer to you by Saturday evening."

"No need for that quick of a decision," Albus said, bemused. "I told you: take until the end of the month. At the very least, take all of Saturday."

"I know, but I don't like leaving things in the air," Minerva responded briskly. "I like it when things are settled. And I won't have all of Saturday with Aidan. He's had some bad news. His mother is ill and wants him to visit her one last time on Saturday."

"Oh, I am sorry. Please extend my condolences to Aidan. Although, I must admit I'm rather shocked to hear you're still in contact with the Scrimgeours."

"We're not," Minerva sighed. "This note must be a final effort on Mathilda's part. It came bearing the official family seal, so it seems to be more of a courtesy than a sentimental gesture. Not that I'd tell that to Aidan, mind you," she added quickly. "He seems to be rather touched."

"My lips are sealed. Now, I am terribly sorry, but I need to return to our plans for our final feast of the year. Things will be a bit overdone this year; we're also using it as an excuse to celebrate Armando's accomplishments during his tenure."

"Ah, that's the celebration to which Hagrid alluded. Well, far be it from me to keep you from planning those festivities." Minerva smiled and stood. "Thank you very much for considering me, Albus. It really does mean a lot to me."

"I'd like to say I offered it to you first out of the goodness of my heart, but truly, Minerva, no one else has written a master's thesis that compares to yours. You're one of the best Transfiguration scholars in Britain."

"I had a wonderful teacher," Minerva replied gently before leaving his office.

Saturday morning, Minerva poured herself and Aidan each a cup of tea. She sat down across from him at the kitchen table and handed him his mug.

"Thank you, love," Aidan said gratefully. "Why are we up this early on Saturday?"

"So we can talk about this." Minerva Summoned the teaching contract from her office and offered it to him. "This is what Albus wanted to talk to me about on Thursday."

Aidan quickly scanned the document. "He wants you to be a professor?"

"It would appear so, yes."

"Well, well, well, Professor McGonagall," Aidan laughed. "What can I do to improve the scores on my last exam? What sort of favours can I provide?"

"Don't be immature, Aidan," Minerva scolded, but with a light smile on her lips. "Albus is serious. Armando is retiring, and so he'll be assuming the position of Headmaster. He needs someone to take over as the full Transfiguration professor, starting in September."

"Are you actually interested?"

"Yes, I think so." Minerva had taken the period between her meeting with Albus and now, and found that yes, she wanted the job. It had long-lived within her as a dream, one she had let go of when she and Albus had split. Her time as an Auror had been wonderful, but she had never truly intended it to be her life-long career.

"I feel like I should ask after the logistics of all this, but I don't think you would have even considered it if you thought it wouldn't work for our family. So," Aidan shrugged, "I'm all for it."

"Don't you want to hear how it will work?" Minerva asked, amused.

"I have a feeling you'll feel better after telling me, and there's probably something I should know."

"Aidan," Minerva laughed. "I feel like you're being far too casual about this. But you're right: you should know it would keep us in Hogsmeade for my entire tenure as a Professor."

"We're stuck here, anyway—at least, for the next couple of years. At that point, maybe I'll be ready for a career change. I could ask to be the head of Hogwarts security, or something."

"Does that position even exist?"

"With Albus, it very well might. You know how he gets these ideas into his head." Aidan took her hands in his own. "Min, listen to me. I may be acting casually, but I think this is a wonderful idea, truly. You'd be great at it. It's closer to home, so there'll be the both of us on call if Dalton ever needs us. And—while I know you'd never complain—being an Auror in the office isn't challenging for you. As a Professor, you could do some good in the world." Aidan's face erupted into a grin. "If it all works out, Dalton will have to deal with having a parent for a professor."

"No one will know I'm his parent," Minerva remarked, somewhat sadly.

"Perhaps not, but he will. It will keep him from acting out too much."

"You mean acting like his father?" Minerva smirked.

"Or," Aidan countered, "his uncle."

"Touché." Minerva looked at him, a smile on her face. "You're okay if I accept it?"

"Yes. In fact, why don't you stop by Albus' office to tell him on the way home from that open house? Callum will most likely be there, and then you can all head back to pick Dalton up from Violet."

"That is a wonderful idea. And then, when you get home from seeing your mother, we can have a cozy little family night."

"I like the sound of that," Aidan admitted. "I'm not looking forward to this afternoon."

"It will be hard, but it will be nice to have one final afternoon with her. We can talk all about it when you get home. Or not, if that feels better."

"The family night you mentioned sounds perfect." Aidan stood and walked around the table so he could peck her lips gently. "What time do you leave for the school, Professor?"

"Oh, in about an hour. Why?"

"Well, you see, Professor, I misbehaved, and it seems to me that we have a date in detention."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "We're starting with the professor role-plays a little early, aren't we?"

Aidan merely looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes, and so, despite her half-hearted protestations along the way, she happily let him lead her back to their bedroom.

"I can't believe it. Do you think we're actually ready?" Callum asked Albus excitedly. The men were in Albus' office, as per their usual Saturday activity. They had been working a long time on creating a charm to alter the audio of their memories, and finally, they felt like they had a result worth trying.

"I feel like Ro should be here with us." Albus frowned. "After all, her input into this project was invaluable."

"She gave us permission to go ahead," Callum shrugged. "She's refereeing that minor league quidditch match, remember?"

"Of course. On which memory should we start?" Albus looked at the vials they had lain across his desk, all of which were in chronological order.

"I say we try on an insignificant memory in case this doesn't work. Perhaps one that we kept for healing purposes, rather than for investigative means? That way, we don't risk losing any information."

"That's a good idea." Albus hummed his agreement. "What about this one? It's a rather short memory, and the only contents are us complaining about our situation."

"Let's do it!" Callum rubbed his hands together. "Do the honours, and we'll jump in."

Albus poured the memory into the Pensieve and performed the spell. He looked at Callum and nodded. The both of them placed their heads above the bowl and dipped under the memory.

Two minutes later, the men emerged, elated.

"We did it!" Callum cried, clapping Albus on the back. "Well done, Albus!"

"And to you as well, my boy. This is worthy of a celebration. I know just the scotch, and I'll be happy to pour you a glass once we've gone through a few of the consequential memories."

"I hope this all leads somewhere," Callum confessed. "I truly hope that we discover something useful."

"If we don't, then at least we will have exhausted all of our options. It won't be for lack of trying."

"All right, should we go through as many of these as we can?" Callum asked. "I say we just try to finish it all today, truthfully."

"Rip the bandaid off? All right, that sounds fine. Bring the vials over, and we'll do this in chronological order."

Methodically, Callum and Albus worked through memory after memory. They would pour a memory into the Pensieve, sit through the memory, and then quietly emerge and take copious notes before silently agreeing to go through the process again.

Their last memory caused both men to pop their heads out of the Pensieve with shocked looks on their faces.

"Did you hear what I think we heard?" Callum asked, his eyes wide.

Albus nodded grimly. "It would appear that our Leader Q is actually Leader K."

"Jesus." Callum ran a hand through his hair. "We've been searching all this time for someone with Q as an initial, and that was difficult. K will be infinitely more challenging."

"Indubitably." Albus sighed heavily. "Well, on the bright side, we know more than we did when we woke up this morning."

"Yes, but who could K be?"

"That is an excellent question. Is there anyone who would hate your sister just as much as Riddle? Who would enjoy inflicting pain upon you, and thusly, Minerva?"

Callum stared at Albus. "Yes, there is. Someone who has reason to hate Minnie, and someone who took pleasure in hurting Diana. Someone who, coincidentally, has a name that starts with the letter 'K'."

Albus sucked in a breath. "You can't mean..."

"Katrina Rowle? Yeah, that's exactly who I mean. I never would have thought her smart enough to know how to meddle with time, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, I suppose."

The two looked at each other, almost unwilling to believe it.

"I need to write this down," Albus murmured, clearing off his desk. "I need all of the facts." He armed himself with a quill and looked up at Callum expectantly.

"Right, so first things first: Katrina Rowle fits the initial. She was partly responsible for the group attack on Diana, and she assumed almost full responsibility for the rogue bludger that almost killed Minnie."

"That establishes a pattern of behaviour. Motive?"

"She was expelled because of that last attack, wasn't she? In her twisted mind, she might see Minerva as responsible for that. And," Callum winced, "weren't you a big advocate for her expulsion? She could see you as responsible, too. Besides, no one has seen her since she was expelled, which is odd for a Pureblood. She could have spent years planning this."

"Connection to Tom?"

"They were Slytherins together," Callum shrugged. "She has the family name that is alluring to someone like Riddle. I think they were friends, weren't they?"

Albus remembered the bullying incident that had first introduced Minerva and Tom to each other. "Yes, they were. And Merlin knows Tom hates both myself and Minerva," Albus muttered.

"Does Riddle hate Minnie, or is he obsessed with her?" Callum challenged.

"Most likely a mix of both," Albus admitted. "I'm not sure that's better than pure hatred."

"It's probably worse." He looked at Albus. "What do we do now, Albus?"

"Seeing as Katrina is Aidan's cousin and therefore has access to the family, I think we need to immediately move them somewhere safe. Perhaps my cottage?"

Callum nodded. "I can go and get Minnie from that school's open house event—do you want to head to their house to retrieve Aidan and Dalton?"

"Dalton is at my house because Aidan is..." Albus trailed off, an errant thought occurring to him. "Oh, fuck."

"Albus?" Callum asked, alarmed. "What happened?"

"Aidan received a note earlier this week from his mother. She asked him to stop by their house today because she's apparently ill."

"That's too bad. So, what, we wait for Aidan to get back from the Scrimgeour abode, and then we move everyone?"

Albus' mind was running wild. "Minerva told me that the letter that arrived bore the Scrimgeour official seal. The official seal can only be used—"

"By someone who carries their blood essence, which Katrina would as a cousin of the family." Callum's eyes widened. "What, do we think this is a trap? That Aidan will show up at his family's house and be attacked?"

"Do you really believe that his mother would ask him to come and see her on her deathbed?"

"I...I don't know." Callum faltered. "Wouldn't there be some weird Pureblood ritual with that, seeing as Aidan is the heir?"

"Yes, but only if his father were ill. Lovely remnants of British primogeniture." Albus grimaced.

"How would Katrina and Tom even know about Aidan and Minnie? Their marriage is practically a state secret."

"Well, it's well-known that they're friends and co-workers. And," Albus pursed his lips, "I wouldn't be shocked if Aidan's parents told Katrina's, and then the knowledge made its way to Katrina and Tom."

"Are you saying we have to go and rescue Aidan? Right now?"

"I'm saying we need to be prepared for that option, but it would probably be in his best interests if we did our best to locate him immediately."

"Okay. One question: do we tell Minnie?" Callum asked. "We could really use her in a duel, but if Aidan's life is on the line..."

"She may not think clearly," Albus finished. "Merlin, she might already know. Especially if Tom is planning on using Aidan as bait."

Callum paled. "As in, they would lure Minnie out? Say she has to hand herself over or risk Aidan's death?"

"That's a good possibility," Albus answered grimly. "Is there any way we can distract Minerva? Or ensure that she doesn't receive any mail?"

Callum shook his head. "If we try to distract her, and something does happen to Aidan, she'll never forgive us. Let's leave her out of it for now—the last thing we need is Katrina or Tom kidnapping Minnie. If she finds out organically, we'll handle it later."

Albus nodded. "You ready for a duel, Callum?"

Callum spun his wand around deftly. "Always, Albus."

They left in a hurry, their last memory still floating around the Pensieve, and Albus' list still on his desk.