20. The End
A/N: Like the title says, this is the end of the story. However, I've written an epilogue to tie up some of the loose ends. Thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed and given me feedback; it was greatly appreciated.
"Albus, may I have a moment?" Sandra asked after Tracey had left to join her friends.
He nodded and gestured to the couch. "Certainly. What did you wish to speak about?"
"Your engagement," Sandra answered without preamble.
This caught him off-guard and he studied her for a moment before answering. "I am guessing that Tracey told you?"
"That's beside the point," Sandra told him, looking stern.
His brow furrowed slightly in puzzlement. "What is your point, then?"
"I was watching you and Minerva, both last night and this morning," Sandra explained. "You've asked her to delay the wedding, haven't you?"
He fought the urge to squirm like schoolboy caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. "I am not sure what you mean."
Sandra sighed and rolled her eyes. "Albus, I know the return of Voldemort means danger, not only for Harry, but for you and anyone close to you." She paused before adding. "Including Minerva and Tracey."
"Yes, I am afraid you are right," he told her quietly, staring into the flames flickering in the fireplace. "Voldemort's return has changed everything." He turned to her. "Take Tracey and go."
She blinked and stared at him. "What are you talking about?"
"I do not want to see my daughter hurt just because I happen to be her father." His eyes bored into hers.
She stared at him for a moment before bristling. "Albus Dumbledore, you're being an idiot."
He blinked, surprised. "I do believe that is the first time someone has called me that to my face."
"Don't you dare laugh!" she warned him. "I realize that Tracey is in danger because she is your daughter, but I won't take away her chance to truly get to know you. We'll protect her as best we can, but I refuse to turn tail and run just because you don't want her to get hurt."
Apparently Tracey got her Gryffindor courage from more than one parent. "Sandra, be reasonable--"
"No, Albus." Sandra glared at him. "You can't always protect her and you'll just have to accept that, just like every parent has to eventually."
He sighed and closed his eyes. "Very well, Sandra, I see your point."
"Good. What about Minerva?" Sandra's question surprised him and he opened his eyes to stare at her. "Don't you dare say you've no idea what I'm talking about. You know very well what I mean."
He sighed. Unfortunately, he knew what she meant. "I asked her if she would mind waiting until after the war to be married."
"I take that back, you're not an idiot." He didn't have a chance to be relieved before she added, "You're an imbecile."
"What, pray tell, makes you say that?" he asked, feeling nettled.
Sandra leaned forward, looking annoyed more than anything else. "You're doing exactly what Voldemort would want: putting your life on hold until everything's over. No one knows how long this war will last, nor how many lives will be lost. For all you know, you could die before the war is over. You don't know how much time you and Minerva have left. Take this chance you have, marry her, and enjoy however much time you two will have together. If you don't, Voldemort wins already."
Tracey was feeling much better now. It felt like she'd been full of bad feeling for the last six or seven months, which hadn't been helped by the fact that the weather was colder than she was used to. She was already planning on buying trousers in the summer when her family went to Diagon Alley for school things. Skirts were just too drafty for her tastes, particularly on breezy days.
What surprised Tracey was that none of her friends asked where she'd disappeared to when she'd gone to her father's office. She mentioned this when she went to Minerva's office to share a cup of tea. "Lynne, at least would have asked where I was, but she didn't."
"That is because your friend, Dennis Creevey, came looking for you the following morning," Minerva told the girl. "I told him you were with your parents and asked him not to badger you about the reason you needed to see them."
Tracey smiled, very thankful that Minerva had been able to prevent awkward questions being asked of her. "Thank you, Professor. I was not looking forward to avoiding questions."
"You are welcome, Miss Cooper," Minerva replied, taking a sip of tea. "Is there anything else?"
Tracey thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, there is, actually."
"Oh?" Minerva raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Tracey nodded again. "Yes. Lynne did comment that I seemed to be more cheerful, more upbeat. I'm not quite sure what she means."
"You may not have realized this, but the anger and hurt festering inside you, not to mention the guilt, have made you rather quiet and reserved," Minerva quietly explained. "You never laughed, hardly smiled, and tended to snap at people who annoyed you. Now that those bad feelings have been released, you're much more like the cheerful, bouncy young lady you were when you first arrived here at Hogwarts."
Tracey stared at Minerva with wide eyes, thinking back over the school year. "You're right. It didn't help that I'm still not used to the cold, although the weather today is closer to what we got in California."
"I am glad to hear that," Minerva replied, smiling slightly.
Tracey grinned. "So am I." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "I'd better go. I'll see you at dinner, Professor." Before Minerva could reply, Tracey was gone, heading to the Gryffindor common room to spend time with her friends. Life wasn't perfect, but Tracey had come to realize that it never would be, no matter how much she wished otherwise.
Minerva had been rather quiet of late, but most attributed it to the supposed return of Voldemort. That, however, was not true. The true cause had taken place the day after. Albus had asked her to have lunch with him in his office. She'd agreed...
Lunch was delicious and they ate eat in silence. When they finally finished and the remains vanished, Minerva voiced the question that had been on her mind all morning, "Albus, did you wish to discuss something with me?""Yes, my dear, I do," he replied with a nod.
She'd thought as much. "Very well, what is it?"
"Given what happened last night, I hope you will understand when I ask that we postpone our wedding," he said all this very calmly and could have been discussing the weather they'd been having for all the emotion he'd shown.
Minerva hadn't been expecting this! She sat and stared at him, fighting to control her emotions before replying. "How long would you want to postpone the wedding for?"
"Until after the war," he told her, no twinkle in his eyes, which told her he was very serious.
Feeling tears threaten, she nodded. "Very well. Until after the war." With that, she hurried from his office and to her rooms, where the tears flowed, unbidden down her cheeks. Was it just an excuse to avoid marrying her? Had he decided he didn't love her anymore and didn't know how to tell her? These and other questions tortured her until she fell asleep on the sofa...
She'd never asked him those questions, unwilling risk confirming her suspicions. She'd been utterly miserable the past few days, but none had questioned her. The only one who might was Poppy and she'd been spending all her spare time in the Hospital Wing with Alastor Moody. "Minerva?"
"Yes, Albus?" She looked up to see him standing in the doorway to her office. "Was there something you wanted?"
He nodded, closing the door and locking it. "There was, actually."
"What is it, then?" she asked, feeling as if the little food she'd managed to eat had become a lump of lead in her stomach. This was it, what she'd dreaded: he wanted the ring back.
He crossed to the desk and stood looking down at her for a long moment. She fought the urge to squirm, determined not to let him see how much she was hurting. "My dear, it has come to my attention that you've not been eating well. Are you ill?"
"No, Albus, I am fine." Unless you count heartbreak as an illness.
She watched as he moved around the desk to stand beside her. She didn't resist when he gently pulled her to her feet and into his arms. She let herself lean into him, breathing in the smell of chocolate and lemons that was uniquely him. "Minerva?"
"Yes, Albus?" She closed her eyes, determined to savor this last moment in his arms.
He picked up her left hand and kissed the invisible engagement ring. "Would you like to get married this summer?"
"What?" She pulled back and stared up at him, surprised. "Why the sudden change of mind, Albus?"
"Sandra reminded me that war is uncertain and one or both of us might not live through it," he explained, his eyes meeting hers. "She suggested I marry you now and enjoy whatever time we have left together."
She continued to stare at him for several moments, trying to sort through everything. Slowly, the full import of what he'd asked hit her. "You want to get married this summer, as we'd planned?"
"Yes, I do," he nodded. "I love you, Minerva, and want to be with you always." Overcome with emotion, buried her face in her hands and turned away. "Minerva?" he sounded worried. "My dear, what is it?"
Joy, wonder, confusion, and anger tumbled through her, fighting for supremacy. "Why did you ask to postpone our marriage in the first place?"
"I do not wish to see you hurt," he explained, his voice reasonable.
That infuriated her and spun to face him. "Then you decided not to postpone our marriage just because Sandra thought it was a good idea?"
"My dear, please." He looked and sounded worried. "I had been reconsidering my request ever since you left my office so precipitously."
Anger was uppermost in her now and she let it have free rain. "Do you have any idea what you've put me through?" He mutely shook his head. "I've been utterly miserable the past few days because I thought you didn't want to marry me at all, that your request to postpone our marriage was a way for you to stall for time as you tried to determine how best to tell me you've no wish to marry me after all, that you regretted asking in the first place."
"Oh, Minerva, no." He tried to take her in his arms, but she held up a hand. "My love, please, listen to me." She nodded, glaring at him. "I asked to postpone the marriage because I truly feared for your safety. I do not wish to see you harmed."
She frowned at him. "I asked you last summer not to do this to me."
"Do what to you?" he asked, puzzled.
She sighed. "Try to protect me. No matter how hard you try, Albus, you cannot prevent everyone you care about from getting hurt."
"I am sorry for putting you through this, Minerva," he told her sincerely. "Please forgive me."
A smile broke her stony expression as she stepped into his arms and kissed him soundly.
Finite, with an Epilogue to follow.