Chapter 6:
The One with the Potion
Later that evening, Albus and Minerva sat together in his office. Albus was drinking hot chocolate and Minerva licked chocolate milk from a saucer in the opposite chair. Fawkes sat on the rim of Albus' chair.
"Oh, before I forgot", Albus began, "I spoke to Ginny at the end of the class. She asked me to tell you she said hello".
Minerva looked up and meowed in surprise. 'Really?' Albus told her about their conversation.
'The first thing I will do when I'm human again is having a talk with you, Ginny', Minerva thought.
In the meantime, Albus was getting more and more curious as to know what Ginny had told her.
On the afternoon of the next day, Minerva was sitting on a bed at the Hospital Wing. Albus was pacing through the room, feeling anxious. Jane and Poppy were whispering softly to each other.
There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in", Poppy called and to her surprise Ginny entered the room.
"Professor Dumbledore said I could come too", she said shyly.
Minerva jumped of the bed and rubbed her head against Ginny's leg. Ginny laughed and picked her up. "It's good to see you again, Professor McGonagall", she said smiling and placed her on the bed again.
Another knock on the door announced the arrival of Severus. He entered the room, holding a saucer and a small vial. Jane smiled and him winked.
"This it is", he said and poured the potion on the saucer and placed it in front of Minerva. Minerva looked at the others. Jane and Poppy were looking very anxious, while Ginny was biting her nails. Severus was wearing his usual Severus- expression and Albus secretly crossed his fingers behind his back.
"Mrauw", she said, "here it goes' and drank the potion. Immediately she felt very dizzy and before she knew it she was a human again.
Poppy and Ginny cheered excitedly and Jane hugged Severus. Albus looked very, very relieved.
Her robes were dirty and her hair was tousled, but Minerva couldn't care less. "Finally", she said relieved. Jane hugged her and said, "Welcome back".
"Thanks", Minerva grinned, then she turned to Severus. "Thank you Severus, for the Potion, if it wasn't for you…"
Severus held up his hands. "Don't mention it, I'm glad I could help".
Albus moved closer towards her. "We've missed you", he said simply. Ginny giggled softly.
After a shower and a final check-up from Poppy to see if everything was all right, Minerva was free to leave the Hospital Wing.
Outside the Hospital Wing she walked into Albus. "Would you care for some tea?" he asked, "We've much to talk about".
"Defiantly", Minerva replied smiling.
Just outside Albus' Office they met Peeves, holding out a bouquet of flowers. "These are for you", he said, "I'm sorry about everything".
"That's quite all right, just don't ever do it again", Minerva replied sternly. Albus grinned.
After Peeves had gone, Minerva started to laugh. "He's not that bad", she said, smelling the flowers. Then a stream of water hit her straight in her face. "I should have known!" she exclaimed angrily, accepting a handkerchief from Albus, who was howling with laughter.
Once they were inside his office, Minerva walked to Fawkes. "Hi Fawkes", she said softly, caressing his head, "I will miss our conversations". Fawkes nodded and hooted.
Albus caught himself staring at her. He felt so glad she was back, he wanted nothing more then to scoop her in his arms and kiss her. And he wanted to know what she had talked about with Fawkes.
"Thank you", Minerva said when Albus handed her a cup of tea. They sat down in front of the fire. "Did you talk to Ginny?" Albus asked.
"Not yet", Minerva replied, "I haven't had the chance yet".
"What exactly happened", Albus asked.
"She told me some things you wouldn't normally tell your Professor", Minerva answered, "You know, girl things. I can understand she felt embarrassed. She's only twelve years old".
"And I want to talk to her about what happened last year. She's not over it, Albus. One night, I slept on her bed and she had nightmare, in which she begged Tom Riddle not to kill her".
Albus looked thoughtfully for a moment. "It will take some time for her to get over it', he said, "it was a terrible ordeal for her".
He reached out and grasped her hand, "She could use every help she can get. I've missed you, Minerva".
Minerva smiled and felt better then ever, since the last two weeks.
The next day, after Transfiguration class, Minerva asked Ginny to stay behind. "I need to talk to you", she said after all the students had left the classroom, "please, sit down".
Ginny sat down across the desk and looked shyly at the floor.
"Ginny, I'm sorry about everything", Minerva began, "I didn't mean to…" But Ginny stopped her.
"It's not your fault Professor. It's my own mistake. I just wish I that I had never told you about Harry and… well… you know…"
Minerva smiled. "I promise you, I won't breath a word to anyone. Just enjoy it. Isn't it wonderful to be in love at you age? And as far as the other matter concerns… I… hope… I hope you will ever be right".
Ginny looked at her in surprise. "Don't tell anyone", Minerva added and winked. "I won't", Ginny replied laughing.
"Do you often have nightmares?" Minerva asked.
"Sometimes", Ginny answered, her face sobering. "Sometimes I'm afraid that You Know Who will come back and kills more people than he already has.
And then I'm afraid because of Harry… and the school… and my parents and everything".
Minerva reached out and patted her shoulder. "Everyone is afraid, Ginny", she said softly, "there is no shame in that. What he has done to you is terrible, it's only normal that you are even more afraid. But everyone else is too. Just take your time to get over what happened".
"Thank you, Professor", Ginny answered, looking a little more relieved.
"And I've got something else for you", Minerva continued. She pulled a box from under her desk and opened it. "Consider it an early Christmas gift and a 'thank you' for taking care of me".
Ginny gasped when she lifted a small, red kitten from the box.
"Oh Professor, she's adorable", Ginny said as Minerva handed her the kitten. "Thank you so much".
Minerva smiled. "Have fun with her. Just promise me one thing, don't carry her around the castle in your schoolbag. I can assure you, it's not that comfortable".
Ginny nodded and walked out of the classroom with the kitten in her arms. At the door she turned around. "Professor, would you mind if I called her Birdie?"
"Of course not", Minerva replied
After Ginny has left, Minerva walked to the window and looked outside. 'She's a sweet girl, I'm glad I've talked to her'.
Then her eyes turned wide as she saw Severus and Jane walking towards the Quidditch Pitch arm in arm, closely together…
Will there be another chapter? Will that be the last one? Will you enjoy it? Will you all review?