A/N: Two things. 1) The years are messed up. For the sake of this story, pretend the Riddle-gets-Hagrid-expelled thing happened about three years earlier. I'm not quite sure if I could have done this chapter without tweaking that little bit of history. 2) Just for the record... fear not, all you Albus and Minerva fans, I have not jumped ship. What happens at the end of this chapter is for plot-twisting purposes only. Thank you.
~~~
CHAPTER FIVE: THE AUROR
~~~
When Minerva saw Riddle, her mind started to race. What was he doing here? He wasn't supposed to be here. Where was Moody? What the hell was going on?
Riddle made eye contact with her and smiled. "Hello, Minerva."
Struggling to maintain composure and keep her voice at a reasonable level, Minerva said, "What happened to Moody?"
"McCarthy," Hawkins said with more than a little disdain in his voice, "didn't want to give up Moody."
"Moody asked me if I would take the job in his place," Riddle explained.
"He should do fine," Hawkins said to the four professors. "His name was the first out of Moody's mouth, and McCarthy said he was decent, too."
"He's more than decent," Minerva said. Her cold, bitter gaze never left Riddle's face for a second. "After Moody, he's the best Auror the Ministry of Magic has."
"Only since you left," Riddle said with a smile.
She continued to glare at him.
Hawkins could sense the rising amount of tension, and began looking for an out. "I need to get back to London," he said. "If you'll excuse me, please."
They all said good-bye, and when Hawkins left, Riddle gave up on Minerva and walked over to Dippet. "Good to see you again, sir," he said, and shook his hand.
"Same to you, Riddle, although I wish it was under different circumstances," said Dippet. "How was your first full year away from Hogwarts?"
Riddle glanced at Minerva for a second, and then answered Dippet's question. "All right. It's good to get out in the world and see what I can become."
"Spoken like a true Slytherin," Grindelwald said with a proud smile. He'd always liked Riddle, and not just because he was in his house.
Riddle smiled at Grindelwald. "It's good to see you, too, Professor Grindelwald."
He found it harder to keep smiling when he turned to Professor Dumbledore. The two had never been very fond of each other, and Dumbledore was giving him the same suspicious look Minerva was. "Hello, Professor Dumbledore," he said. His constricted smile showed that he was not nearly as delighted to see Dumbledore as the others.
"Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said with an acknowledging nod of his head.
Dippet, like Hawkins, could feel the tension, and suggested they all go get some breakfast. He, Riddle, and Grindelwald went up to the Great Hall, but Dumbledore and Minerva stayed behind, watching them with identical looks of apprehension on their faces.
When he was sure they were out of earshot, Dumbledore turned to Minerva and said, "What do you have against Riddle? You just said he was the second best Auror in the Ministry."
"I said that," she replied, "and I meant it, too. After Moody, he is the best." She frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "I just don't trust him." She then looked at him and said, "What do you have against him?"
"I don't trust him, either."
"Dippet and Grindelwald seem to."
Dumbledore sighed and said, "Armando, Quinn, and I do not always see eye-to-eye on things. Riddle and Quinn are both Slytherins, and you know they stick together. And Armando... he's a good man, and a good friend, but he's too trusting, I think. He goes out of his way to find the good side of a person, and someday, I think that will be his undoing."
"Why don't you trust Riddle?"
"Are you familiar with an incident that took place during Riddle's fifth year? I think you had just graduated."
She nodded. "Yes and yes. That Hufflepuff girl, Myrtle Raley, was killed, and it was determined that an Acromantula belonging to Rubeus Hagrid was responsible for the attack. Hagrid was expelled."
"Yes. Riddle turned in Hagrid, the attacks stopped, and he became a hero. He was more loved by the students and teachers than ever."
"McCarthy had his eye on him ever since that day. He vowed to make him an Auror someday."
"I think Riddle knew more about those attacks than he told us," Dumbledore said. "And, crazy as it may sound, I do not believe it was the fault of Hagrid's creature. Granted, the boy should not have been keepin an Acromantula as a pet, but just the same, my heart tells me it wasn't him."
"Do you think it might have been Tom himself behind the attacks?"
He shook his head and let out a long, heavy sigh. "I don't know, Professor. I really don't know. I just think Riddle wasn't telling us everything. He was so anxious to see the blame placed on Hagrid, and I cannot help but wonder..." He let his voice trail, and then said to Minerva, "Why don't you trust him?"
Minerva sighed, lifted her eyes to the ceiling for a moment, dropped her gaze to the floor, and then looked Dumbledore in the eyes. "This is trivial compared to your reason, but..."
"But what?"
"Have you ever been stalked?"
He was slightly taken aback. "Well... no, I can't say that I have."
"Let's just say that Tom Riddle is the type of man who doesn't take no for an answer."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your problem."
"Since when does a problem have to be my own for me to worry about when someone I care for is being bothered by it?"
A smile worked its way onto Minerva's face. "I've missed talking to you, Professor Dumbledore."
"Well, Professor McGonagall, we shall have to talk some time. Do you anticipate being very busy this evening?"
She could feel herself blushing slightly, and hoped Dumbledore didn't notice. "I'll have some papers to correct, but that shouldn't take too long. Most of my curriculum is notes and in-class discussions."
He nodded approvingly. "Good method for that course. How does the Transfiguration classroom at nine o'clock sound to you?"
Their old meeting place. It sounded great. "Yes, that should be fine."
"Excellent." He smiled at her, and his blue eyes sparkled brightly. "I'll see you then."
~~~
"Your homework for tonight is an essay about vampires," Minerva told the fifth-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as the bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day. "It needs to be three to five pages long and needs to be on my desk by the beginning of class on Friday. Enjoy the rest of your day."
The students began filing out of the room, and she picked up a stack of papers from the second-years' class. There wasn't a lot to be done, but she wanted to get everything out of the way early so it would all be done when she went to meet Dumbledore. That way, it wouldn't be hanging over her head as they attempted to pick up the pieces of their relationship.
Minerva was looking forward to resurrecting her friendship with Dumbledore. They would spend hours talking and studying together when she was a student, and it was he who inspired her and helped her train to become an Animagus. Some thought their relationship was too intimate to be appropriate for a student and a teacher, but they were careful to keep things on a strictly platonic level. She'd had something of a crush on him since about halfway through her third year, but never took it seriously. After all, what were the chances of a powerful, respected wizard like Albus Dumbledore falling for a student? She'd be a Slytherin before that happened.
Although they never openly admitted it to each other, both of them wanted to remain friends after her graduation from Hogwarts. She wrote to him a few times over the following summer, and he wrote back. However, since she didn't want to seem overly eager about jumping into a relationship, platonic or otherwise, her letters were short and impersonal. That turned out to be her undoing - his became just as short and impersonal, and letters were exchanged less frequently, about one every two weeks or so. By the end of that year, both had come to the conclusion that the other had no interest in them, and the letters stopped altogether. She meant to write to him eventually, but she became so busy with her job as an Auror that she never found the time.
Now, though, that was going to change. She was determined to get her friend back, and who knew? Maybe her schoolgirl crush was more than a crush. Maybe it was real...
The second-years' papers took her about half an hour to correct, and once that task was finished, she moved on to a stack of papers from the sixth-years. They had been assigned a brief report on a magical creature of their choosing. She was about halfway through a rather good paper about griffins when there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she called. She expected it was Natalie Cypher, the Potions instructor and head of Hufflepuff house. She said she might come by some time that day to compare notes.
It wasn't Professor Cypher. It was Tom Riddle.
"Tom, what are you doing here?" Minerva exclaimed when she saw him. "You should be with Professor Dippet!"
"He said I could take a break," Riddle said. He came inside the room and walked toward her, closing the door behind him. "Anyway, he's with Grindelwald. I don't think he's in any danger there."
"No, probably not," she agreed, "but just the same, it's your duty to protect him. You shouldn't leave him."
"He said I could go."
She was starting to get frustrated. "Armando has been against this from the start. If his own bodyguard won't be firm with him, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do?"
Riddle didn't answer. He sat down on a desk in the front row and gazed intently at her. "Why are you like this, Minerva?" he asked. "You haven't answered any of my letters, and this morning, you acted like you barely knew me. What's come over you?"
"Please don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like that!"
He smiled innocently at her.
She wasn't biting. "What's this really about, Tom?"
"I don't know, Minerva," he replied. "Why don't you tell me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Riddle's smile vanished, and he narrowed his eyes. "I think you know what I mean. You're only twenty-two years old, Minerva, and you're a teacher at Hogwarts. You had a promising career as an Auror. You could have easily moved up the ranks in the Ministry, and maybe even become the Minister of Magic someday, but instead, you became a teacher. Why?"
"If I recall, it was you who told me to take this job."
"It was," he said, "but do you ever listen to me?"
Minerva glared at him. "I don't have time for your games," she said, standing up and walking over to him. "This is serious. Armando Dippet could have been killed last night, and all you care about is working your adolescent charms on me. Perhaps I should let you know that one of the reasons I left the Ministry was to get away from you!"
Riddle seized her by the wrists and pulled her close to him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to get rid of me," he said, and leaned in to kiss her.
Their lips were just starting to touch when there was a knock on the door. "You in here, Riddle?" came Grindelwald's voice.
"Come in, Professor Grindelwald," Minerva said, and jerked her hands away from Riddle.
Grindelwald opened the door and came inside, followed closely by Dippet. "Mind if I have a word with you?" he asked Riddle.
"Not at all," Riddle replied, pasting on a fake smile. He glanced at Minerva out of the corner of his eye and narrowed it angrily, as if warning her to watch her back.
"Good. Let's go out in the hall. I think Armando will be safe with Minerva for a few minutes."
Riddle followed Grindelwald out into the hall. Dippet noticed the angry look on Minerva's face and walked over to her. "Are you all right?" he asked.
A small, phony smile crossed her face. "I'm fine," she said. "I just really don't like Tom Riddle, that's all."
"He was hitting on you, wasn't he?"
She nodded. "Don't worry about it. It happens all the time; from him, anyway."
"Just from him? Surely there must be other men who always hit on you."
"You'd be surprised."
"Would I?" he asked, and smiled.
Minerva laughed, and it was genuine. "Armando Dippet, are you hitting on me?"
"Actually, I was trying to prove you wrong, but yes, I guess you could say that I am hitting on you."
They smiled at each other for a few moments, and then Minerva, anxious to initiate conversation again, asked, "How's your arm?"
"It hurts," he admitted, "but it'll heal."
"Do you have any idea who could have attacked you?"
Dippet groaned. "Do we really have to have this conversation, Minerva? I'm tired of everyone worrying about my safety. Did you even see that man? I did more damage to him than he did to me." His voice was steadily increasing in volume. "No matter what any of you say, I do not need to be protected! I will not hide like a coward behind an Auror while this mystery is solved!"
Gone was the joking, flirtatious mood they had been in seconds ago. Minerva turned her head away, unable to make eye contact with him, and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Dippet sighed. His outburst was out of line, and he knew it. "No, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I just... I just don't think think this is necessary."
"Think what's necessary?" she asked, turning her head towards him again. "That we care about you?"
"I didn't mean it like that, Minerva."
"Then what did you mean it like, Armando?"
A hot, angry tear slowly trickled down her cheek. He reached over with his hand and brushed it away. "It's all right," he assured her. "Everything will be fine."
He leaned in toward her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Just before he did, though, he stopped his advance and held still, as if he wasn't quite certain he should progress.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Minerva asked, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.
"No," he replied, but didn't pull away.
"No as in this isn't a good idea, no as in you're not sure if this is a good idea or a bad idea, or no as in you didn't hear a word I said and are struggling with some inner conflict that I am completely oblivious to?"
Dippet chuckled. "Run that by me again, Minerva, and then let me know if I can kiss you."
So he did want to kiss her. For a moment, she didn't know what to think. After coming so close to kissing Riddle against her will just minutes ago, she wasn't so sure she wanted to kiss anyone. And yet, here she was, with her lips just inches away from Armando Dippet's, and just a word away from kissing a man she'd always admired and recently become good friends with, a man who treated her as an equal and not like some silly girl. Never before in her life had something become so clear so quickly.
She tried to say yes, but no sound came out, so she opted for a nod instead. Even though she knew it was going to happen, nothing could prepare her for the feeling that ran through her body when Dippet's lips touched hers. A wave of warmth swept over her, and she thought she was going to melt into his arms. The world around them seemed to vanished as they kissed each other, and for a few precious seconds, nothing else mattered.
They probably would have kissed all night had it not been for Grindelwald opening the door and saying, "All right, Armando, you can have your bodyguard back."
"Duty calls," Dippet said as they pulled away from each other.
Minerva, surprised she had the ability to do so, nodded and said, "Yes, I should get back to work, too."
Neither one of them moved.
Grindelwald laughed. "Don't make me come over there."
"I'm coming," Dippet told him. He smiled at Minerva, and she smiled back at him. They gazed at each other for a few more moments, and then he turned away and walked over to the doorway. She watched him go, and then her eyes moved to Riddle. Riddle looked ready to murder someone, and if looks could kill, she would be dead.
Had Minerva not been so preoccupied with the Death Stare that Riddle was giving her, she might have noticed that Grindelwald was looking at Dippet the same way.
~~~
CHAPTER FIVE: THE AUROR
~~~
When Minerva saw Riddle, her mind started to race. What was he doing here? He wasn't supposed to be here. Where was Moody? What the hell was going on?
Riddle made eye contact with her and smiled. "Hello, Minerva."
Struggling to maintain composure and keep her voice at a reasonable level, Minerva said, "What happened to Moody?"
"McCarthy," Hawkins said with more than a little disdain in his voice, "didn't want to give up Moody."
"Moody asked me if I would take the job in his place," Riddle explained.
"He should do fine," Hawkins said to the four professors. "His name was the first out of Moody's mouth, and McCarthy said he was decent, too."
"He's more than decent," Minerva said. Her cold, bitter gaze never left Riddle's face for a second. "After Moody, he's the best Auror the Ministry of Magic has."
"Only since you left," Riddle said with a smile.
She continued to glare at him.
Hawkins could sense the rising amount of tension, and began looking for an out. "I need to get back to London," he said. "If you'll excuse me, please."
They all said good-bye, and when Hawkins left, Riddle gave up on Minerva and walked over to Dippet. "Good to see you again, sir," he said, and shook his hand.
"Same to you, Riddle, although I wish it was under different circumstances," said Dippet. "How was your first full year away from Hogwarts?"
Riddle glanced at Minerva for a second, and then answered Dippet's question. "All right. It's good to get out in the world and see what I can become."
"Spoken like a true Slytherin," Grindelwald said with a proud smile. He'd always liked Riddle, and not just because he was in his house.
Riddle smiled at Grindelwald. "It's good to see you, too, Professor Grindelwald."
He found it harder to keep smiling when he turned to Professor Dumbledore. The two had never been very fond of each other, and Dumbledore was giving him the same suspicious look Minerva was. "Hello, Professor Dumbledore," he said. His constricted smile showed that he was not nearly as delighted to see Dumbledore as the others.
"Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said with an acknowledging nod of his head.
Dippet, like Hawkins, could feel the tension, and suggested they all go get some breakfast. He, Riddle, and Grindelwald went up to the Great Hall, but Dumbledore and Minerva stayed behind, watching them with identical looks of apprehension on their faces.
When he was sure they were out of earshot, Dumbledore turned to Minerva and said, "What do you have against Riddle? You just said he was the second best Auror in the Ministry."
"I said that," she replied, "and I meant it, too. After Moody, he is the best." She frowned and folded her arms across her chest. "I just don't trust him." She then looked at him and said, "What do you have against him?"
"I don't trust him, either."
"Dippet and Grindelwald seem to."
Dumbledore sighed and said, "Armando, Quinn, and I do not always see eye-to-eye on things. Riddle and Quinn are both Slytherins, and you know they stick together. And Armando... he's a good man, and a good friend, but he's too trusting, I think. He goes out of his way to find the good side of a person, and someday, I think that will be his undoing."
"Why don't you trust Riddle?"
"Are you familiar with an incident that took place during Riddle's fifth year? I think you had just graduated."
She nodded. "Yes and yes. That Hufflepuff girl, Myrtle Raley, was killed, and it was determined that an Acromantula belonging to Rubeus Hagrid was responsible for the attack. Hagrid was expelled."
"Yes. Riddle turned in Hagrid, the attacks stopped, and he became a hero. He was more loved by the students and teachers than ever."
"McCarthy had his eye on him ever since that day. He vowed to make him an Auror someday."
"I think Riddle knew more about those attacks than he told us," Dumbledore said. "And, crazy as it may sound, I do not believe it was the fault of Hagrid's creature. Granted, the boy should not have been keepin an Acromantula as a pet, but just the same, my heart tells me it wasn't him."
"Do you think it might have been Tom himself behind the attacks?"
He shook his head and let out a long, heavy sigh. "I don't know, Professor. I really don't know. I just think Riddle wasn't telling us everything. He was so anxious to see the blame placed on Hagrid, and I cannot help but wonder..." He let his voice trail, and then said to Minerva, "Why don't you trust him?"
Minerva sighed, lifted her eyes to the ceiling for a moment, dropped her gaze to the floor, and then looked Dumbledore in the eyes. "This is trivial compared to your reason, but..."
"But what?"
"Have you ever been stalked?"
He was slightly taken aback. "Well... no, I can't say that I have."
"Let's just say that Tom Riddle is the type of man who doesn't take no for an answer."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your problem."
"Since when does a problem have to be my own for me to worry about when someone I care for is being bothered by it?"
A smile worked its way onto Minerva's face. "I've missed talking to you, Professor Dumbledore."
"Well, Professor McGonagall, we shall have to talk some time. Do you anticipate being very busy this evening?"
She could feel herself blushing slightly, and hoped Dumbledore didn't notice. "I'll have some papers to correct, but that shouldn't take too long. Most of my curriculum is notes and in-class discussions."
He nodded approvingly. "Good method for that course. How does the Transfiguration classroom at nine o'clock sound to you?"
Their old meeting place. It sounded great. "Yes, that should be fine."
"Excellent." He smiled at her, and his blue eyes sparkled brightly. "I'll see you then."
~~~
"Your homework for tonight is an essay about vampires," Minerva told the fifth-year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws as the bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day. "It needs to be three to five pages long and needs to be on my desk by the beginning of class on Friday. Enjoy the rest of your day."
The students began filing out of the room, and she picked up a stack of papers from the second-years' class. There wasn't a lot to be done, but she wanted to get everything out of the way early so it would all be done when she went to meet Dumbledore. That way, it wouldn't be hanging over her head as they attempted to pick up the pieces of their relationship.
Minerva was looking forward to resurrecting her friendship with Dumbledore. They would spend hours talking and studying together when she was a student, and it was he who inspired her and helped her train to become an Animagus. Some thought their relationship was too intimate to be appropriate for a student and a teacher, but they were careful to keep things on a strictly platonic level. She'd had something of a crush on him since about halfway through her third year, but never took it seriously. After all, what were the chances of a powerful, respected wizard like Albus Dumbledore falling for a student? She'd be a Slytherin before that happened.
Although they never openly admitted it to each other, both of them wanted to remain friends after her graduation from Hogwarts. She wrote to him a few times over the following summer, and he wrote back. However, since she didn't want to seem overly eager about jumping into a relationship, platonic or otherwise, her letters were short and impersonal. That turned out to be her undoing - his became just as short and impersonal, and letters were exchanged less frequently, about one every two weeks or so. By the end of that year, both had come to the conclusion that the other had no interest in them, and the letters stopped altogether. She meant to write to him eventually, but she became so busy with her job as an Auror that she never found the time.
Now, though, that was going to change. She was determined to get her friend back, and who knew? Maybe her schoolgirl crush was more than a crush. Maybe it was real...
The second-years' papers took her about half an hour to correct, and once that task was finished, she moved on to a stack of papers from the sixth-years. They had been assigned a brief report on a magical creature of their choosing. She was about halfway through a rather good paper about griffins when there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she called. She expected it was Natalie Cypher, the Potions instructor and head of Hufflepuff house. She said she might come by some time that day to compare notes.
It wasn't Professor Cypher. It was Tom Riddle.
"Tom, what are you doing here?" Minerva exclaimed when she saw him. "You should be with Professor Dippet!"
"He said I could take a break," Riddle said. He came inside the room and walked toward her, closing the door behind him. "Anyway, he's with Grindelwald. I don't think he's in any danger there."
"No, probably not," she agreed, "but just the same, it's your duty to protect him. You shouldn't leave him."
"He said I could go."
She was starting to get frustrated. "Armando has been against this from the start. If his own bodyguard won't be firm with him, what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do?"
Riddle didn't answer. He sat down on a desk in the front row and gazed intently at her. "Why are you like this, Minerva?" he asked. "You haven't answered any of my letters, and this morning, you acted like you barely knew me. What's come over you?"
"Please don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like that!"
He smiled innocently at her.
She wasn't biting. "What's this really about, Tom?"
"I don't know, Minerva," he replied. "Why don't you tell me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Riddle's smile vanished, and he narrowed his eyes. "I think you know what I mean. You're only twenty-two years old, Minerva, and you're a teacher at Hogwarts. You had a promising career as an Auror. You could have easily moved up the ranks in the Ministry, and maybe even become the Minister of Magic someday, but instead, you became a teacher. Why?"
"If I recall, it was you who told me to take this job."
"It was," he said, "but do you ever listen to me?"
Minerva glared at him. "I don't have time for your games," she said, standing up and walking over to him. "This is serious. Armando Dippet could have been killed last night, and all you care about is working your adolescent charms on me. Perhaps I should let you know that one of the reasons I left the Ministry was to get away from you!"
Riddle seized her by the wrists and pulled her close to him. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to get rid of me," he said, and leaned in to kiss her.
Their lips were just starting to touch when there was a knock on the door. "You in here, Riddle?" came Grindelwald's voice.
"Come in, Professor Grindelwald," Minerva said, and jerked her hands away from Riddle.
Grindelwald opened the door and came inside, followed closely by Dippet. "Mind if I have a word with you?" he asked Riddle.
"Not at all," Riddle replied, pasting on a fake smile. He glanced at Minerva out of the corner of his eye and narrowed it angrily, as if warning her to watch her back.
"Good. Let's go out in the hall. I think Armando will be safe with Minerva for a few minutes."
Riddle followed Grindelwald out into the hall. Dippet noticed the angry look on Minerva's face and walked over to her. "Are you all right?" he asked.
A small, phony smile crossed her face. "I'm fine," she said. "I just really don't like Tom Riddle, that's all."
"He was hitting on you, wasn't he?"
She nodded. "Don't worry about it. It happens all the time; from him, anyway."
"Just from him? Surely there must be other men who always hit on you."
"You'd be surprised."
"Would I?" he asked, and smiled.
Minerva laughed, and it was genuine. "Armando Dippet, are you hitting on me?"
"Actually, I was trying to prove you wrong, but yes, I guess you could say that I am hitting on you."
They smiled at each other for a few moments, and then Minerva, anxious to initiate conversation again, asked, "How's your arm?"
"It hurts," he admitted, "but it'll heal."
"Do you have any idea who could have attacked you?"
Dippet groaned. "Do we really have to have this conversation, Minerva? I'm tired of everyone worrying about my safety. Did you even see that man? I did more damage to him than he did to me." His voice was steadily increasing in volume. "No matter what any of you say, I do not need to be protected! I will not hide like a coward behind an Auror while this mystery is solved!"
Gone was the joking, flirtatious mood they had been in seconds ago. Minerva turned her head away, unable to make eye contact with him, and mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Dippet sighed. His outburst was out of line, and he knew it. "No, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I just... I just don't think think this is necessary."
"Think what's necessary?" she asked, turning her head towards him again. "That we care about you?"
"I didn't mean it like that, Minerva."
"Then what did you mean it like, Armando?"
A hot, angry tear slowly trickled down her cheek. He reached over with his hand and brushed it away. "It's all right," he assured her. "Everything will be fine."
He leaned in toward her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Just before he did, though, he stopped his advance and held still, as if he wasn't quite certain he should progress.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Minerva asked, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.
"No," he replied, but didn't pull away.
"No as in this isn't a good idea, no as in you're not sure if this is a good idea or a bad idea, or no as in you didn't hear a word I said and are struggling with some inner conflict that I am completely oblivious to?"
Dippet chuckled. "Run that by me again, Minerva, and then let me know if I can kiss you."
So he did want to kiss her. For a moment, she didn't know what to think. After coming so close to kissing Riddle against her will just minutes ago, she wasn't so sure she wanted to kiss anyone. And yet, here she was, with her lips just inches away from Armando Dippet's, and just a word away from kissing a man she'd always admired and recently become good friends with, a man who treated her as an equal and not like some silly girl. Never before in her life had something become so clear so quickly.
She tried to say yes, but no sound came out, so she opted for a nod instead. Even though she knew it was going to happen, nothing could prepare her for the feeling that ran through her body when Dippet's lips touched hers. A wave of warmth swept over her, and she thought she was going to melt into his arms. The world around them seemed to vanished as they kissed each other, and for a few precious seconds, nothing else mattered.
They probably would have kissed all night had it not been for Grindelwald opening the door and saying, "All right, Armando, you can have your bodyguard back."
"Duty calls," Dippet said as they pulled away from each other.
Minerva, surprised she had the ability to do so, nodded and said, "Yes, I should get back to work, too."
Neither one of them moved.
Grindelwald laughed. "Don't make me come over there."
"I'm coming," Dippet told him. He smiled at Minerva, and she smiled back at him. They gazed at each other for a few more moments, and then he turned away and walked over to the doorway. She watched him go, and then her eyes moved to Riddle. Riddle looked ready to murder someone, and if looks could kill, she would be dead.
Had Minerva not been so preoccupied with the Death Stare that Riddle was giving her, she might have noticed that Grindelwald was looking at Dippet the same way.
