A/N: We're finally starting to make some time jumps! Happy reading.

For the disclaimer, please see the prologue.

Chapter Fifty-One: April 1954

Almost two and a half years later, Minerva was still a professor, and a good one at that. Albus had happily renewed her contract at the end of her first year, citing how much more engaged the students were, and how much their exam scores had improved.

It went without saying that Minerva was also much, much happier than she had been in the Auror office.

Dalton was also thriving. He loved being at school, and he seemed to find a new friend every day. Athena stuck to his side, and Violet often remarked on how happy she was that Athena had a protector in Dalton.

Life was very, very good when Albus called Minerva to his office one evening.

"I have some good news," Albus began, smiling at her. "I think you'll like this recent development."

Minerva quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? Is this school-related, or is this something more personal in nature?"

"A mix of both." Albus smiled gently and moved to open the door that led to his private quarters. "Come."

She narrowed her eyes at him but walked through anyway, surprised when she saw Lavinia and Poppy sitting on Albus' couch.

"Hi, Min!" Poppy beamed. "I've missed you." She rose to give her friend a hug. Minerva had slowly gotten better at reintegrating herself into her social life, but given that Poppy and Ro still resided in Wales, it was more difficult to see them regularly.

"You, too." Minerva looked her friend over. "Seeing as Lavinia's here, I think I may be able to put two and two together, but I'd like to hear it from you."

Poppy dragged Minerva to the couch and practically pushed her down to sit. "I have fabulous news."

"Perhaps Lavinia should start," Albus chided gently. He sat down on the armchair and observed the women with an amused expression.

Lavinia looked at Minerva. "I have told Albus of my desire to retire at the start of the next school year. Merlin knows I enjoy this job immensely, but now that Armando is no longer here..."

"Living here without him has lost its appeal," Minerva finished for her friend, smiling. "I'm sorry to see you go, but I am happy for you. Few people are as deserving of a happy, long retirement as you."

Lavinia blushed. "Oh, stop, dearie. You know you can reach me whenever you want. I'll always have time for you."

"And," Poppy said excitedly, "I have the job!"

Minerva laughed. "You'll be taking over for Lavinia? It'll be wonderful to have you close by again."

"It'll be like we're roommates again!" Poppy giggled. "Hopefully without all the drama this time."

"That would be nice," Minerva commented. "I miss you, not my teenage years."

"Poppy will be with me on a part-time basis for the remainder of the school year," Lavinia added. "That way, she'll get a sense of how I operate. Then, over the summer, she'll become full-time as we go over all of the administrative duties."

"I'm so excited for you, Poppy. Congratulations." Minerva gave her friend another hug. "What about Ro?"

"Surprise!" Ro herself popped out from behind Albus' wardrobe, scaring Minerva half to death. "I'm here too!"

"Merlin," Minerva grumbled. She glared at Albus. "You really should have warned me."

"And miss that look of shock on your face?" Albus grinned. "Never."

"So, Ro, you're coming too?" Minerva asked.

"Obviously! I'm not about to let my fiancée move to Scotland without me." Ro plopped herself down on a chair beside Albus.

"Fiancée?" Minerva gaped. She looked between her two friends, and then down at Poppy's finger, where, sure enough, a ring sat upon her fourth finger. "When did this happen?"

"Last week, when I told her I got the job," Poppy confessed.

Minerva clapped her hands together. "Oh, I am so excited for you both. And you'll be closer! I'll get to see you every day, Poppy—this is marvellous!"

Poppy looked anxiously at Minerva. "You're really okay with it?"

"Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Minerva looked at Poppy's nervous gaze. "Oh," she murmured quietly. "You mean because of Aidan."

"I..." Poppy glanced at Ro. "I just didn't want to trigger you."

Minerva paused. She knew her friend's intentions were kind, but she hated that everyone still felt like walking on eggshells around her after so much time had passed. "Poppy, I'm happy for you. I love you—both of you. I want you to be happy.

"I appreciate that you worry about my feelings, but Poppy, it's been years. Do I still miss Aidan? Of course. But I don't want my friends' lives to stop because they're afraid of my grief. I don't want to be the friend that people think of as breakable. Besides, I can't avoid weddings for the rest of my life. I want to be a part of yours, just like I'll want to be a part of Dalton's or Iolanthe's or Aoife's. Or," Minerva added, "Albus', whenever he finally gets around to marrying Violet."

The tension in the room grew palpable at that last remark, but for a room full of Gryffindors, no one had the courage to comment on it.

"Well," Ro finally said, always eager to gloss over unpleasantness, "we're thinking about a quick magical ceremony in August. We don't want a big crowd or anything, and we want it done before we move here."

"I'm surprised you want to move here, Ro. I know how much you love being at your home in Wales. But, I suppose we do strange things for the people we love. Especially since you can commute to your job from anywhere."

Ro shrugged. "I like to consider Poppy and I equal in our relationship. Poppy was kind enough to move to Wales for me so I could be a quidditch player, even if that didn't up lasting very long." She laughed morosely, remembering their year in quarantine. "If she was willing to follow me to Wales—where she knew absolutely no one—I can certainly follow her here. Besides, I begged Albus for a favour, and he was kind enough to grant it."

"A favour?" Minerva looked at Albus. "Just how many secrets have you been keeping?"

"Too many, apparently." Albus chuckled and took a sip of tea. "Out with it, Ro, before dear Minerva turns into a cat and scratches us all."

Minerva opened her mouth to retort, but Ro got there first. "Albus found me a job here too, Min."

"Really? Doing what?"

"I'm going to be an advisor to the quidditch program," Ro announced grandly. "I'll accept your congratulations."

Instead, Minerva turned to Albus. "She played professional quidditch for how long? One season? And now you're going to let her teach children?"

"Not until she gets her teaching certificate, which she plans to do this summer," Albus said mildly.

"Oi, Min, I'm qualified," Ro scoffed. "I haven't been this excited about a job in a really long time, and I need out of the Unspeakables."

Minerva frowned. "What's wrong with the Unspeakables?"

"They're meddling far too much in time travel. I don't want to be involved in that type of work. Last staff meeting, they asked for volunteers to time travel. Who in their right mind would do that?"

"Tell me Callum isn't planning on volunteering," Minerva said nervously.

"Oh, no." Ro waved her hand dismissively. "Callum is monitoring it. This way, he can keep an eye on any time-travelling developments, and he keeps Lucy from murdering him in his sleep.

"Callum is fine to monitor; he likes it and can report back to Albus regarding any wrongdoings. I, on the other hand, find the work both incredibly scary and bureaucratic, which is one of the reasons I started playing quidditch in the first place."

"Well, then, the students will be lucky to have you." Minerva grinned at her friend. "I do have one question, though, Albus: what will happen to Farrow Finch?"

"Finch is still the quidditch instructor here?" Ro asked. "Geez, Albus, when you told me I had to work with my predecessor, I thought you meant someone who hadn't been my own teacher."

Albus shrugged. "It's hard to find a quidditch instructor, and Farrow seemed to enjoy the work. To address your question, Minerva, Farrow is getting older and said that she no longer enjoys refereeing the matches. It hurts her back. Lavinia did the medical herself."

"I did." Lavinia nodded. "I can't say much with patient-doctor confidentiality, but I don't want her on a broom for indeterminate amounts of time."

"From a budgetary perspective," Albus continued, "I can't have a referee and a flying instructor. Ro will start in September, like Poppy. It all fell into place perfectly."

"You'll both be here full-time." Minerva's face lit up. "And you'll be living in the castle, won't you? Seeing as Poppy's position never really ends, that is."

"Quite right." Albus smiled. "I was actually thinking, Minerva, that you could go with Ro and Poppy to show them where we're planning on housing them? That way, if there are any problems, we can sort them out before Poppy arrives next week."

"I'd love to!" Minerva jumped up. "Which rooms are we going to?"

"The Cendrillon rooms in the north tower. Do you know how to get there?"

"Yes, I pass by them often enough on duty. Do you have the password, Albus?" Minerva looked at her boss expectantly.

"I do," Poppy sang, standing as well. "They're our rooms, Min."

"And I suppose I'm just the tour guide?" Minerva arched an eyebrow. "Well, let's get on with it then. Thank you, Albus, for surprising me like this!"

Minerva, Poppy, and Ro all left the room, chatting as they went.

When Lavinia made no effort to leave, Albus sighed. "You have a look on your face that tells me I'm not going to like what you have to say. What's going on?"

"Albus, I like to think that we're very dear friends. Am I wrong in that assumption?"

"No, I wouldn't say so."

"Then please forgive the blunt delivery, but why haven't you married Violet yet? The poor girl seems willing enough; after all, she's stayed your fiancée for longer than most women would put up with."

"Lavinia," Albus groaned. "It's hard to explain."

"It shouldn't be, and that's your problem," Lavinia said firmly. "Either you love her enough to marry her, or you don't. Don't string her along—and most certainly don't string her along because of Minerva."

Albus spat out his tea. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

"You know quite well what I mean, Albus. You're afraid to let Violet go because you do love her, but not as much as you love Minerva. You've spent years pining after Min, hoping that she'd eventually want to move on from Aidan." Lavinia moved into the chair beside Albus and clutched his hands. Gently, she said, "You either give up on Minerva and stay with Violet because you want to, or you end things with Violet, and try to move on. Albus, dear, I hate to say it, but if Minerva were going to come flying back into your arms, she would have done so by now."

"I love them both," Albus admitted, a bit stubbornly. "You're right: I haven't been able to lose hope with Minerva because she has never expressed interest in anyone since Aidan's death."

"You can't live your life in suspension in the hopes that someone will eventually want to join you," Lavinia said softly. "You have someone who is willing to go forward with you, now. Don't let that get away for the sake of a maybe."

"I just wish I knew if she were dating again," Albus grumbled, and Lavinia patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Little did the Headmaster know that, on the other end of the castle, Ro and Poppy were talking to Minerva about that very point.

"So, Min," Ro said casually after they had finished walking around their new quarters, "we know you spent Valentine's Day alone again this year."

"I wasn't alone," Minerva responded defensively. "I was with Dalton."

"You know I love the boy, but Dalton isn't exactly "hot date" material, Min."

"Ro, please do me the favour of never again saying "hot date" and my son's name in the same sentence." Minerva rubbed at her head wearily. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because you haven't been on a date since Aidan died," Poppy said gently. "Not even one. We just worry that you're still closing yourself off."

"Have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to date?" Minerva asked. "Perhaps I enjoy being single."

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Ro snorted. "Are you managing on your own? Yes. Are you leading your life in an exemplary fashion? Yes. Are you a wonderful professor and a great mom? Yes. But you're not happy, Min.

"Look, I'm not saying that a man is the answer and will suddenly cure all of your woes." Ro squeezed Min's hand gently. "But maybe a date will help you figure out if a man could help you be less...unhappy."

"Let's say I wanted to date someone," Minerva said slowly, "where on earth would I even meet someone?"

"We have an idea." Poppy looked at Ro encouragingly. "Tell her."

"Elphinstone Urquart paid me a visit," Ro explained. "He knows that we're friends and asked after you. Elphinstone was one of the only people—other than us, of course—that knew about you and Aidan. He asked if you were dating anyone, and said that if you were single, he would like to take you to lunch."

"For a date?" Minerva shook her head wondrously. "After all these years, Elphinstone still wants to date me?"

"You're quite the catch, Min. If Poppy weren't around, and you liked women—hey!" Ro yelped as Minerva and Poppy both threw pillows in her direction. "I'm just saying, Min, that you should have more self-confidence. You're a great person."

Minerva blushed. "Thank you, Ro, but I don't know that I want to date Elphinstone."

"You'd be going on a date, not dating him," Poppy pointed out.

"That feels like semantics." Ro rolled her eyes. "I think it's a great idea."

"We know that, Ro." Minerva fidgeted. "But he's a friend. One I haven't spoken to in ages, mind you, but a friend nonetheless."

"So was Aidan," Poppy said gently. "And a friend may be perfect to introduce you into the world of dating."

"Yeah, you never had to date," Ro laughed. "Albus and Aidan both just fell into your lap!"

Minerva glared at her. "If I consent to go on one date with Elphinstone, will you leave me alone?"

"We promise to let it rest," Poppy agreed.

"Fine." Minerva threw up her hands as her friends cheered. "But I don't want to go anywhere ghastly, do you understand me?"

Two weeks later, Minerva found herself sitting in a rather ghastly pink, frilly booth at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. When she had woken up that morning, she had been rather surprised to note that she was nervous about meeting Elphinstone for lunch. It had been a long time since she had gone on a date, and she was displeased to discover that the thought still caused butterflies to flit around her stomach.

Ro and Poppy had happily volunteered themselves to babysit Dalton for the afternoon, leaving Minerva without a last-minute excuse to call the date off. She sighed and looked at her watch as she sipped her tea, wondering if she could leave if Elphinstone was more than two minutes late.

He entered at six after twelve. "I'm sorry I'm a few minutes late, Minerva. There was a bit of an issue at work, and I was the only one who could clean it up." He smiled at her as he sat in the booth, leaving a respectable distance between them. "I'll admit that I haven't had a half-competent worker since you left."

Minerva smiled. "I'm sure that's not true."

"Not entirely," Elphinstone admitted, and they both laughed. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Minerva. It's wonderful to see you again."

"Well, thank you for inviting me," Minerva said. "Shall we order? I've never been here before; do you have any recommendations?"

"I suppose you teachers must frequent The Three Broomsticks," Elphinstone noted as he eyed the menu. "Easier to keep an eye on the students on the main street."

"Yes, and it rather keeps us from catching our students in any sort of romantic entanglement," Minerva commented drily. She didn't want to mention that she would never have chosen to dine there, what with its frilly décor and romantic clichés.

"I can imagine that wouldn't be ideal," he laughed. "So, Minerva, tell me: do you enjoy teaching?"

With that question, Minerva relaxed. It was easy for her to pretend that this was a simple meal shared between friends when they were merely talking about their lives. In fact, it was progressing swimmingly until Elphinstone paid for their meal and offered to walk her home.

"Actually, I have duties fairly soon at the school," Minerva fibbed. Her duties technically weren't until after dinner, but Ro and Poppy had cheekily offered to watch Dalton all night. Minerva figured the least they could do was stay at her house while she attempted to figure out why she didn't want Elphinstone to see where she lived.

"Ah, I can walk you up to Hogwarts. That's no problem at all." Elphinstone stood and offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Minerva smiled tightly and took his arm. As they walked, he talked to her about a variety of subjects, most of which Minerva would normally find to be engaging topics. However, something didn't sit quite right with her. Prior to the date, she had thought she wasn't ready to venture into the world of dating yet.

She was starting to believe she was right, and that, upon arriving home, she would tell Ro and Poppy exactly where they could shove their romantic ideas.

They finally reached the castle and Elphinstone turned to look at her. "You've been very quiet, Minerva."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to woolgather," Minerva apologized. "I was just thinking."

"May I ask about what?" Elphinstone's voice was teasing.

"Just about first dates," Minerva shrugged. "It's been a long time since I've had one."

"Me too, in fact," Elphinstone chuckled. "After Melora and I divorced, it took me a long time before I felt ready to date again. I've only been on a few dates since, if I'm honest."

"How did you know if you were ready?" Minerva asked, suddenly intrigued.

Elphinstone hesitated. "Promise me you won't think I'm trying to be suave?"

"Promise."

"Well," Elphinstone began, scratching his chin awkwardly, "first dates normally end with a kiss, if they've gone well. The first time I went on a date, my date tried to kiss me, and I ended up backing away at the last second. She fell on my chest and wasn't pleased with me."

"Oh, no," Minerva said, stifling a laugh. "That must have been awkward."

"It was embarrassing. But, anyway, I eventually felt comfortable kissing again." He looked at her intently. "Does that make sense?"

"Yes." Minerva nodded. "Our bodies have a way of telling us what our hearts know but can't communicate to our minds."

"Well said, Minerva." Elphinstone shuffled his feet for a bit and then said, "Would you want to try?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Would you want to try? A kiss, with me. To see if you're ready or not." Elphinstone rushed the words out, quite flustered. "If not, I won't be offended."

Summoning her Gryffindor courage, Minerva replied, "Well, I don't see why not."

Elphinstone grinned and stepped closer to her. He curved one arm around Minerva's waist, and rested his other hand gently on her cheek. "All right so far?"

Minerva's heart was beating terrifyingly quickly in her chest, but she couldn't decide if it was nerves or excitement. "I think so."

He bent his head down to meet hers. She could feel his breath on her cheek, and just before he could touch his lips to hers, she stuck her fingers between them. "I can't, Elphinstone. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," Elphinstone sighed, pulling away. "I don't begrudge you at all, of course; I know exactly how you feel. If you're not ready, you're not ready."

"Then you also know how horrible I feel," Minerva said, stepping fully out of his arms. "It just suddenly hit me that the last person to kiss me was Aidan, and I...I need it to stay like that for a while." Her stomach started to churn. "I am sorry. Thank you for lunch."

"Minerva!" Elphinstone stopped her from walking away. "It's fine. It was a pleasant meal between friends."

She knew he was being sincere, but there was a sadness in his voice that he hadn't cared to hide. "Yes. Yes, it was. I'm afraid I really must go."

With that, Minerva turned on her heel and marched quickly up to the castle, doing her best to hide her frustration.

Albus had been feeling off all day, and when he ran into a frazzled Minerva trying fruitlessly to enter her office, he realized it was due to their bond.

"Minerva? Whatever is the matter?"

"Peeves," she ground out through clenched teeth, "has done something to my door. I can't enter my office."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Oh, for the love of Merlin. Where is he?"

"I don't know, but this is ridiculously inconvenient."

Albus raised an eyebrow at her sharp tone, but didn't comment. "Here, let me try." He withdrew his wand and muttered a few spells until finally, her door opened.

"How did you do that?" Minerva asked, striding into her office.

Albus followed her and shut the door behind him. He cast a privacy spell, sensing she was about to lose control. "I've unfortunately become attuned to Peeves' various tricks. I've had to use this particular counterspell on several occasions."

"Hmmph," Minerva said. She was looking for something on her desk. "Damn it!"

"Can I help you, my dear?"

"I seem to have left my good parchment at home, which is unfortunate as I wanted to send Ro and Poppy a very unpleasant Howler."

"Whatever for?"

"For forcing me on a date!" Minerva yelled.

Albus' eyes widened. "Oh. I take it it didn't go well?"

"No, it bloody well didn't." Minerva sighed and put her hands on her hips. "I suppose you'll tell me that sending my friends a Howler is a bad idea?"

"I would say it's never a good idea to isolate one's friends, especially when they've proven to be as faithful as those two. I would also kindly suggest that you don't blame them for a poor date—even if it was their idea, which I'm gathering is what happened."

"Urgh, Albus!" Minerva angrily sat down in her chair and looked at him exasperatedly. "I didn't want to go on this date, but they thought I should."

"May I?" Albus gestured to the chair in front of her desk. At her nod, he sat, and found it funny that they had often sat in these exact chairs, just on the other side of the desk. "Why did you agree to go on a date if you didn't want to go?"

"Part of me thought they might be right," Minerva admitted. "I wondered if they had a point: if I just said to myself, "Minerva, try," perhaps I'd wind up enjoying myself."

"And?" Albus swallowed uncomfortably. "I could tell you were...uneasy."

"Oh, Merlin," Minerva moaned, blushing. "I am sorry about that, Albus."

"It's fine. I'm more concerned about you. Was your date...appropriate with you?"

"Oh, yes. I doubt Elphinstone has ever behaved inappropriately with anyone, let alone on a date."

Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You went on a date with Elphinstone Urquart?"

"Like I said, Poppy and Ro set it up," Minerva replied defensively. "Elphinstone asked me to go on a date a few years ago, before Aidan and I started dating."

Albus frowned. "Tell me it wasn't when we were together."

"No, Albus." She rolled her eyes. "It was in-between you two, as a matter of fact. Anyway, apparently he reached out to Ro a few weeks ago asking about me. The girls thought it would be a good way for me to get back out there."

"I gather it didn't go very well," Albus said sympathetically.

"The date itself was fine, but I felt off-kilter the entire time. It didn't feel right. Then, at the end, he tried to kiss me—oh, don't look shocked, Albus. People do tend to kiss on dates, you know," Minerva teased upon seeing the surprised look on his face.

"I didn't think that Elphinstone was that forward, that's all," Albus murmured. "What happened?"

"I wasn't ready to kiss anyone else," Minerva replied simply. "My heart isn't where it needs to be. Maybe it's taking too long for my friends' liking, but that's the truth."

"There's no shame in not being ready yet." Albus hesitated and then said, "After Gellert, it took me a long time to even consider trusting someone again, let alone being in a romantic relationship. It's a hard thing to navigate."

"Yes, that's true. Thank you." She smiled gratefully. "Besides, it would never work between Elphinstone and me. We're just not a good match. We're at very different places in our lives. His children are old, and mine is young. He wants to retire soon, and my career is just beginning."

"Well, I'm proud of you for trying," Albus said. He hated the voice in his head that wanted to say, We're a good match, Min. Instead, he continued, "You'll never know if you don't try."

"I think it'll be a while before I'm willing to try again. As it turns out, I'm still in love with someone else." Minerva smiled softly. "Would you like a cup of tea before we head down for dinner?"

He nodded. "Yes, thank you, my dear."

As he watched her prepare the tea, Albus was quite certain Minerva had spoken of her love for Aidan, but he let himself believe for a moment that he had her love once again.