A/N: If this chapter makes you hate the backstabbing bastard that is Grindelwald, then I have done my job. Quick notes to reviewers before I begin:
Stoneygem - Thanks for reading. I'm a pretty exclusive shipper, too, contrary to what this story is implying... It's just to make things complicated.
Robin - That's exactly what I was going for with Dumbledore. Thanks for noticing, and this will definitely be AD/MM (AD being Albus Dumbledore, not Armando Dippet!) I'm getting there.
Child-of-the-Dawn - *cowers* Yes, she's kissing the wrong guy, but she doesn't know it yet. :-) And you thought the dogfight was going to be Tom and Dumbledore... hee hee hee...
Inca - I was wondering how you'd react to the kiss. *smiles innocently* Yes, I am very evil, and don't you forget it. Dippet's here to make things harder for Dumbledore.
MK - Grindelwald doesn't yell at Dippet. It's worse - he's nice to him! But like I said above, this is the chapter where we find out that Grindelwald is a backstabbing bastard. :-)
Aeryn Alexander - Thanks for your huge reviews. Makes my day. Alastor Moody may yet show up, but I haven't decided yet. Grindelwald is supposed to be a complex character, and no, he didn't attack Armando... directly... yet. (As for his first name... all it really comes down to is I like the name Quinn and it sounded okay with Grindelwald ^_^) And I started reading 'June Week' this morning, and it's VERY good.
Redwoman06 - It will be Dumbledore... eventually.
Queen Claire, Sofie, You-know-who, and Insaneflautist - Thanks, and I will.
Darkfire - Was the kiss evil enough for you? :-)
Laura - Yep, Dumbledore the perfect gentleman. ^_^ But alas, that may end up being his undoing...
Xela - Yes, Grindelwald is on staff. I thought that would be an interesting twist. And it will eventually be AD/MM, but after all, getting there is half the fun.
~~~
CHAPTER SIX: CONFESSIONS
Quinn Grindelwald replaced his angry scowl with the friendly grin he always wore as Armando Dippet turned to him as they, along with Dippet's Auror bodyguard, Tom Riddle, left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Dippet was all smiles, and Grindelwald wasn't surprised - he'd probably have the same look on his face if he'd just kissed Minerva McGonagall. "Well, someone certainly looks happy," he commented, nudging Dippet with his elbow.
"Someone is happy," Dippet returned.
"So, how long have you and Minerva been together?"
"We're not," Dippet said. "That just... happened. I don't know how or why; it just did."
"Mm-hmm." Grindelwald nodded. He thought about pointing out that Albus Dumbledore was going to be heartbroken, but he decided to wait. It was better to make sure he was holding all the cards before playing any. "So what are you going to do? Thinking about going after her?"
"That's not the way I would have put it, but yes, I think I will attempt to pursue a relationship with her. I'll talk to her and see if she's willing to try." There was still something Dippet wasn't quite sure about: Dumbledore. Although he insisted he felt nothing but friendship for Minerva, Dippet could tell Dumbledore was more than somewhat attracted to her, and he couldn't help noticing how Minerva's eyes always lit up when she saw him. But on the other hand, if she returned Dumbledore's attraction, she wouldn't have kissed him.
Would she?
"Good luck," Riddle said.
Grindelwald and Dippet both looked at him with mildly surprised expressions on their faces.
Riddle shrugged. "You'll need it with her."
~~~
The rest of the evening passed quickly for Minerva, and before she knew it, it was ten minutes to nine. Almost time to go talk to Dumbledore - might as well head in that direction now. She put the finishing touches on her lesson plan for the next few days, set her writing quill down, and headed for the door. There was so much they needed to talk about; after all, four years of being apart couldn't be made up for with a simple, "Hello, how are you, I am fine."
There were a lot of things they could discuss, but Minerva wasn't quite sure about one potential topic: the kiss. She'd never even thought about kissing Armando Dippet until it happened, and what surprised her the most was that it didn't surprise her at all. She had been a little nervous at first, but that was because she wasn't sure if he was going to kiss her or not. She wondered how Dumbledore would react to this. If they were going to be friends, then they should be able to tell each other when something like this happened, and besides, Dippet probably told him already, anyway. It would make their relationship open and honest. On the other hand, would his opinion of her change if he found out that she kissed Dippet? She almost wasn't sure if the positive outweighed the negative.
Finally, Minerva decided to just talk to Dumbledore for a while and see if she felt comfortable with telling him something so personal. By then she should know if it was a good idea or not. She would just have to wait and see.
On her way to the Transfiguration room, Minerva passed Grindelwald, who was walking in the opposite direction. He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him. They had just walked past each other when Grindelwald halted, turned around, and said, "So, have you and Armando made things official yet?"
Minerva stopped walking as well and turned toward him. "I don't know," she said. "He said he'd like to give it a try, and he asked that I think about it before giving him an answer."
"Have you thought about it?"
"I have."
"And..."
She laughed. "Why so interested, Professor Grindelwald?"
"You can call me Quinn, and as you probably know, Armando and I confide in each other. We've known each other for a long time, and I know he trusts me."
"Yes, I know, and that's exactly why I don't want to tell you," Minerva said. "You'll probably let something slip to him about my intentions."
Grindelwald smiled innocently. "I would never."
"Oh, you can probably read me like a book, anyway. All right, you can hint to Armando that I would love to start a relationship with him if you let me do the actual telling tomorrow morning."
"Sounds fair," he said with a nod. So Minerva returned Dippet's feelings for her... this complicated things. Might as well, he thought. "Professor Dumbledore is going to be heartbroken."
Minerva's lighthearted mood vanished. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"He's in love with you, you know," Grindelwald said. "He won't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he is. I can see it in his eyes. Not that I want to make you have second thoughts about Armando or anything, but I thought someone should let you know. It sure as hell won't be Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore, in love with me?" Minerva said. She let out a nervous laugh. "That's a stretch."
"You know, Minerva, you sell yourself short," said Grindelwald. "Promise not to take it the wrong way if I tell you the truth?"
She nodded. "All right."
"You're beautiful." She started to protest, but Grindelwald cut her off. "Hear me out. You are the most attractive woman I've ever seen, and on top of that, you're intelligent beyond comparison. When beauty and brains combine in a way like they have with you, the product they yield is sure to attract some attention, desired or otherwise."
Immediately, she thought of Tom Riddle.
Grindelwald continued. "I don't think you realize how intimidating a woman like yourself is to a man, and that's why you might not believe it. However, there are those out there who have waited their whole lives for a woman like you, and Albus Dumbledore is one of them."
Minerva was blown away by Grindelwald's words, and she wasn't quite sure what to think, especially concerning Dumbledore's alleged feelings for her. She took a deep breath to steady her racing heart, and said, "And Armando Dippet?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's been waiting for you his whole life, too," Grindelwald said nonchalantly. "I think you and Armando could be very happy together, Minerva, especially if you don't let anyone else come between you. Just do Albus a favor and break it to him gently."
~~~
Break it to him gently... those words were still echoing in her mind as she continued through the school toward the Transfiguration classroom. Could what Grindelwald said possibly be true? Was Dumbledore really in love with her? Peeves had hinted at it when she first arrived, but that was Peeves. This was Grindelwald - powerful, influential, respected, trusted Quinn Grindelwald, deputy headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Would he lie to her about something like that?
Minerva pushed those thoughts to the the back of her mind and knocked on the door. "Password!" came Dumbledore's voice.
She smiled to herself. She'd almost forgotten about their old password game. "It's me, Professor," she said.
She heard a soft chuckle from inside. "Come in, Miss McGonagall."
She opened the door and went inside. Dumbledore was sitting at a table in the third row and concentrating on making a marble hover a few inches above his palm. "And how was your day?" he asked as she walked toward him.
"It was good," she answered.
"Any students giving you problems?" He grew tired of the marble trick and let it fall into his palm.
Minerva shook her head. "For the most part, no. That third-year Gryffindor, Lyle Weasley, can be somewhat of a trial from time to time, but he really is a wonderful boy."
Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, yes, him. It's always an adventure to teach a Weasley."
She nodded. She'd always liked the Weasley family. The oldest of Lyle's three older siblings, a girl named Megan, was in her year, and the two were good friends. "Or learn with one," she added. As soon as those words left her lips, she wished she hadn't said them. That was going back to the student-teacher thing, and that was the last place she wanted their friendship to go.
"Or learn with one," he said. His voice had dropped slightly in volume, and Minerva sensed that he'd had the same thought she did.
She changed the subject, moving to the topic of the house Quidditch teams. She was an avid Quidditch fan, and he was fond of the sport as well, so that was a good place to begin a decent conversation. Ravenclaw had the best Seeker, but Gryffindor's Chaser trio was the best by far, and Slytherin had excellent players all around. Hufflepuff was in a recovery year; they lost a Seeker and a Chaser to graduation and a Keeper to an accidental death over the summer holidays, but they should still be able to surprise people.
After Quidditch, they moved on to politics. They spent the next half hour discussing Tobias Hawkins's approach to the war going on in the Muggle world and whether or not the wizards should get involved. Before she left the Ministry, a rumor had been going around that Hawkins was going to meet with the Muggle prime minister, Winston Churchill, and discuss strategy. That hadn't been confirmed, but when she mentioned it, Dumbledore said that sounded like something Hawkins would do.
As that conversation drew to a close, Minerva contemplated telling Dumbledore about the kiss. They were getting along well, and after her conversation with Grindelwald, she wanted to tell him more than ever; not just to let him know about her and Dippet, but to confirm her doubts about his feelings for her. As much as she trusted Grindelwald, she wasn't quite sure she agreed with him on the topic of Dumbledore being attracted to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped the words just before they came out.
"Something on your mind?" Dumbledore asked upon noticing her hesitation.
Well, now there was definitely no way out. "I kissed Professor Dippet."
He could barely believe what he just heard. "You kissed him?"
"Well, technically, he kissed me, but I kissed him back."
He didn't know what to think. Minerva and Dippet - who would have guessed? Certainly not him. He wanted to be happy for her, but couldn't find it in him at the moment. "So... what's happening?"
"Prof- Armando asked me if I wanted to try a relationship with him, and I think I should. I'm asking you this because I value your honest opinion - should I get involved with him?"
Dumbledore didn't know how to answer. He was surprised that Minerva and Dippet wanted to try a relationship, but what surprised him even more was how much it bothered him. "I think that's your decision, Minerva."
"Yes, it is, but your opinion means a lot to me."
His opinion? His opinion was that she she should go up to Dippet and say, "Sorry, but I'm in love with someone else." Damn it! he thought, and tried not to wince. He'd told himself he wasn't going to think thoughts like that. How was he ever supposed to get the others to believe he wasn't in love with her if he couldn't even convince himself? He could see only way out of this. If Minerva got involved with Dippet, that would certainly discourage any attraction on his part. Maybe things would be better once she was officially off-limits.
Dumbledore took a deep breath, forced a smile, and gave her his response. "Yes, I think you should."
Minerva smiled warmly at him. She thought she was going to explode with happiness, and not just because she had made her decision about Dippet. This proved Grindelwald was wrong about Dumbledore's feelings for her. If he was in love with her, then it wouldn't make any sense for him to encourage a relationship with Dippet. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Dippet! He still couldn't believe it. What was so special about Dippet? All right, so he was the headmaster of Hogwarts, the world's foremost expert in Potions (his field before becoming headmaster), a Ravenclaw (okay, so maybe that wasn't so special, but this was just a list of things that came to mind), an Animagus (falcon), a good friend, a Humphrey Bogart look-alike... maybe he should just stop now. Dippet was obviously more than qualified. And besides, there was no point in sizing up the competition. Minerva had made her decision.
Congrats, Dumbledore, he told himself. You lost.
Stoneygem - Thanks for reading. I'm a pretty exclusive shipper, too, contrary to what this story is implying... It's just to make things complicated.
Robin - That's exactly what I was going for with Dumbledore. Thanks for noticing, and this will definitely be AD/MM (AD being Albus Dumbledore, not Armando Dippet!) I'm getting there.
Child-of-the-Dawn - *cowers* Yes, she's kissing the wrong guy, but she doesn't know it yet. :-) And you thought the dogfight was going to be Tom and Dumbledore... hee hee hee...
Inca - I was wondering how you'd react to the kiss. *smiles innocently* Yes, I am very evil, and don't you forget it. Dippet's here to make things harder for Dumbledore.
MK - Grindelwald doesn't yell at Dippet. It's worse - he's nice to him! But like I said above, this is the chapter where we find out that Grindelwald is a backstabbing bastard. :-)
Aeryn Alexander - Thanks for your huge reviews. Makes my day. Alastor Moody may yet show up, but I haven't decided yet. Grindelwald is supposed to be a complex character, and no, he didn't attack Armando... directly... yet. (As for his first name... all it really comes down to is I like the name Quinn and it sounded okay with Grindelwald ^_^) And I started reading 'June Week' this morning, and it's VERY good.
Redwoman06 - It will be Dumbledore... eventually.
Queen Claire, Sofie, You-know-who, and Insaneflautist - Thanks, and I will.
Darkfire - Was the kiss evil enough for you? :-)
Laura - Yep, Dumbledore the perfect gentleman. ^_^ But alas, that may end up being his undoing...
Xela - Yes, Grindelwald is on staff. I thought that would be an interesting twist. And it will eventually be AD/MM, but after all, getting there is half the fun.
~~~
CHAPTER SIX: CONFESSIONS
Quinn Grindelwald replaced his angry scowl with the friendly grin he always wore as Armando Dippet turned to him as they, along with Dippet's Auror bodyguard, Tom Riddle, left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Dippet was all smiles, and Grindelwald wasn't surprised - he'd probably have the same look on his face if he'd just kissed Minerva McGonagall. "Well, someone certainly looks happy," he commented, nudging Dippet with his elbow.
"Someone is happy," Dippet returned.
"So, how long have you and Minerva been together?"
"We're not," Dippet said. "That just... happened. I don't know how or why; it just did."
"Mm-hmm." Grindelwald nodded. He thought about pointing out that Albus Dumbledore was going to be heartbroken, but he decided to wait. It was better to make sure he was holding all the cards before playing any. "So what are you going to do? Thinking about going after her?"
"That's not the way I would have put it, but yes, I think I will attempt to pursue a relationship with her. I'll talk to her and see if she's willing to try." There was still something Dippet wasn't quite sure about: Dumbledore. Although he insisted he felt nothing but friendship for Minerva, Dippet could tell Dumbledore was more than somewhat attracted to her, and he couldn't help noticing how Minerva's eyes always lit up when she saw him. But on the other hand, if she returned Dumbledore's attraction, she wouldn't have kissed him.
Would she?
"Good luck," Riddle said.
Grindelwald and Dippet both looked at him with mildly surprised expressions on their faces.
Riddle shrugged. "You'll need it with her."
~~~
The rest of the evening passed quickly for Minerva, and before she knew it, it was ten minutes to nine. Almost time to go talk to Dumbledore - might as well head in that direction now. She put the finishing touches on her lesson plan for the next few days, set her writing quill down, and headed for the door. There was so much they needed to talk about; after all, four years of being apart couldn't be made up for with a simple, "Hello, how are you, I am fine."
There were a lot of things they could discuss, but Minerva wasn't quite sure about one potential topic: the kiss. She'd never even thought about kissing Armando Dippet until it happened, and what surprised her the most was that it didn't surprise her at all. She had been a little nervous at first, but that was because she wasn't sure if he was going to kiss her or not. She wondered how Dumbledore would react to this. If they were going to be friends, then they should be able to tell each other when something like this happened, and besides, Dippet probably told him already, anyway. It would make their relationship open and honest. On the other hand, would his opinion of her change if he found out that she kissed Dippet? She almost wasn't sure if the positive outweighed the negative.
Finally, Minerva decided to just talk to Dumbledore for a while and see if she felt comfortable with telling him something so personal. By then she should know if it was a good idea or not. She would just have to wait and see.
On her way to the Transfiguration room, Minerva passed Grindelwald, who was walking in the opposite direction. He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him. They had just walked past each other when Grindelwald halted, turned around, and said, "So, have you and Armando made things official yet?"
Minerva stopped walking as well and turned toward him. "I don't know," she said. "He said he'd like to give it a try, and he asked that I think about it before giving him an answer."
"Have you thought about it?"
"I have."
"And..."
She laughed. "Why so interested, Professor Grindelwald?"
"You can call me Quinn, and as you probably know, Armando and I confide in each other. We've known each other for a long time, and I know he trusts me."
"Yes, I know, and that's exactly why I don't want to tell you," Minerva said. "You'll probably let something slip to him about my intentions."
Grindelwald smiled innocently. "I would never."
"Oh, you can probably read me like a book, anyway. All right, you can hint to Armando that I would love to start a relationship with him if you let me do the actual telling tomorrow morning."
"Sounds fair," he said with a nod. So Minerva returned Dippet's feelings for her... this complicated things. Might as well, he thought. "Professor Dumbledore is going to be heartbroken."
Minerva's lighthearted mood vanished. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"He's in love with you, you know," Grindelwald said. "He won't admit it to anyone, not even himself, but he is. I can see it in his eyes. Not that I want to make you have second thoughts about Armando or anything, but I thought someone should let you know. It sure as hell won't be Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore, in love with me?" Minerva said. She let out a nervous laugh. "That's a stretch."
"You know, Minerva, you sell yourself short," said Grindelwald. "Promise not to take it the wrong way if I tell you the truth?"
She nodded. "All right."
"You're beautiful." She started to protest, but Grindelwald cut her off. "Hear me out. You are the most attractive woman I've ever seen, and on top of that, you're intelligent beyond comparison. When beauty and brains combine in a way like they have with you, the product they yield is sure to attract some attention, desired or otherwise."
Immediately, she thought of Tom Riddle.
Grindelwald continued. "I don't think you realize how intimidating a woman like yourself is to a man, and that's why you might not believe it. However, there are those out there who have waited their whole lives for a woman like you, and Albus Dumbledore is one of them."
Minerva was blown away by Grindelwald's words, and she wasn't quite sure what to think, especially concerning Dumbledore's alleged feelings for her. She took a deep breath to steady her racing heart, and said, "And Armando Dippet?"
"Oh, I'm sure he's been waiting for you his whole life, too," Grindelwald said nonchalantly. "I think you and Armando could be very happy together, Minerva, especially if you don't let anyone else come between you. Just do Albus a favor and break it to him gently."
~~~
Break it to him gently... those words were still echoing in her mind as she continued through the school toward the Transfiguration classroom. Could what Grindelwald said possibly be true? Was Dumbledore really in love with her? Peeves had hinted at it when she first arrived, but that was Peeves. This was Grindelwald - powerful, influential, respected, trusted Quinn Grindelwald, deputy headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Would he lie to her about something like that?
Minerva pushed those thoughts to the the back of her mind and knocked on the door. "Password!" came Dumbledore's voice.
She smiled to herself. She'd almost forgotten about their old password game. "It's me, Professor," she said.
She heard a soft chuckle from inside. "Come in, Miss McGonagall."
She opened the door and went inside. Dumbledore was sitting at a table in the third row and concentrating on making a marble hover a few inches above his palm. "And how was your day?" he asked as she walked toward him.
"It was good," she answered.
"Any students giving you problems?" He grew tired of the marble trick and let it fall into his palm.
Minerva shook her head. "For the most part, no. That third-year Gryffindor, Lyle Weasley, can be somewhat of a trial from time to time, but he really is a wonderful boy."
Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, yes, him. It's always an adventure to teach a Weasley."
She nodded. She'd always liked the Weasley family. The oldest of Lyle's three older siblings, a girl named Megan, was in her year, and the two were good friends. "Or learn with one," she added. As soon as those words left her lips, she wished she hadn't said them. That was going back to the student-teacher thing, and that was the last place she wanted their friendship to go.
"Or learn with one," he said. His voice had dropped slightly in volume, and Minerva sensed that he'd had the same thought she did.
She changed the subject, moving to the topic of the house Quidditch teams. She was an avid Quidditch fan, and he was fond of the sport as well, so that was a good place to begin a decent conversation. Ravenclaw had the best Seeker, but Gryffindor's Chaser trio was the best by far, and Slytherin had excellent players all around. Hufflepuff was in a recovery year; they lost a Seeker and a Chaser to graduation and a Keeper to an accidental death over the summer holidays, but they should still be able to surprise people.
After Quidditch, they moved on to politics. They spent the next half hour discussing Tobias Hawkins's approach to the war going on in the Muggle world and whether or not the wizards should get involved. Before she left the Ministry, a rumor had been going around that Hawkins was going to meet with the Muggle prime minister, Winston Churchill, and discuss strategy. That hadn't been confirmed, but when she mentioned it, Dumbledore said that sounded like something Hawkins would do.
As that conversation drew to a close, Minerva contemplated telling Dumbledore about the kiss. They were getting along well, and after her conversation with Grindelwald, she wanted to tell him more than ever; not just to let him know about her and Dippet, but to confirm her doubts about his feelings for her. As much as she trusted Grindelwald, she wasn't quite sure she agreed with him on the topic of Dumbledore being attracted to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped the words just before they came out.
"Something on your mind?" Dumbledore asked upon noticing her hesitation.
Well, now there was definitely no way out. "I kissed Professor Dippet."
He could barely believe what he just heard. "You kissed him?"
"Well, technically, he kissed me, but I kissed him back."
He didn't know what to think. Minerva and Dippet - who would have guessed? Certainly not him. He wanted to be happy for her, but couldn't find it in him at the moment. "So... what's happening?"
"Prof- Armando asked me if I wanted to try a relationship with him, and I think I should. I'm asking you this because I value your honest opinion - should I get involved with him?"
Dumbledore didn't know how to answer. He was surprised that Minerva and Dippet wanted to try a relationship, but what surprised him even more was how much it bothered him. "I think that's your decision, Minerva."
"Yes, it is, but your opinion means a lot to me."
His opinion? His opinion was that she she should go up to Dippet and say, "Sorry, but I'm in love with someone else." Damn it! he thought, and tried not to wince. He'd told himself he wasn't going to think thoughts like that. How was he ever supposed to get the others to believe he wasn't in love with her if he couldn't even convince himself? He could see only way out of this. If Minerva got involved with Dippet, that would certainly discourage any attraction on his part. Maybe things would be better once she was officially off-limits.
Dumbledore took a deep breath, forced a smile, and gave her his response. "Yes, I think you should."
Minerva smiled warmly at him. She thought she was going to explode with happiness, and not just because she had made her decision about Dippet. This proved Grindelwald was wrong about Dumbledore's feelings for her. If he was in love with her, then it wouldn't make any sense for him to encourage a relationship with Dippet. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Dippet! He still couldn't believe it. What was so special about Dippet? All right, so he was the headmaster of Hogwarts, the world's foremost expert in Potions (his field before becoming headmaster), a Ravenclaw (okay, so maybe that wasn't so special, but this was just a list of things that came to mind), an Animagus (falcon), a good friend, a Humphrey Bogart look-alike... maybe he should just stop now. Dippet was obviously more than qualified. And besides, there was no point in sizing up the competition. Minerva had made her decision.
Congrats, Dumbledore, he told himself. You lost.
