12. Discussions and Outcome
A/N: Thanks to Cielita for helping me out at the end. I'm not sure how long this story is going to be. It's already longer than I thought it would be. Heh.
Once Poppy had examined Minerva, she was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing, with strict orders to rest and relax. The injuries may have been healed, but Minerva's body still needed time to catch up. Naturally, Albus and Harry joined Minerva in her rooms and the three of them enjoyed a quiet evening together. Albus insisted on putting Harry to bed for that very reason. "Poppy told you to rest, my dear, and you can't do that if you're putting Harry to bed."
"Mr. Albus can take care of me," Harry chimed in, looking very solemn.
Minerva reclined back on the sofa with a smile, "I certainly can't argue with both of you."
"No, you can't." Albus smiled back before following Harry into the boy's room. "Harry, how much did you hear this afternoon?"
As Albus helped Harry into a set of sky blue pajamas with Snitches fluttering all over them, Harry matter-of-factly answered the question, "You telling Mum that you love her and Mum telling you that she loves you."
"I see." Albus was a little surprised at Harry's frankness.
"I won't tell if you don't want me to," Harry offered.
Albus gave him a boost onto the bed. "She and I will be discussing that tonight, so we will let you know in the morning."
"All right," Harry nodded as he crawled under the covers and Albus tucked him in. "Mr. Albus?"
Albus handed him his teddy bear. "Yes, m'boy?"
Harry cuddled his bear for a moment before saying in a small voice, "I need a Dad."
"I know you do, Harry." Albus felt his heart squeeze at the longing in Harry's unnaturally blue eyes. "Who he will be is largely dependent on your Mum."
Harry caught his hand before he could leave. "Will you be my Dad?"
"If your Mum will let me," Albus replied with a smile, "then I would like nothing better."
Harry smiled and snuggled under the covers. Kissing his forehead, Albus returned to the sitting room. Minerva was still stretched out on the sofa, her eyes now closed. Smiling, Albus lifted up her stocking-clad feet and sat down before resting her feet on his lap. When she didn't react, he began to massage the aforementioned feet. "Harry settled in?"
"Yes, Minerva," Albus replied, a little surprised that she hadn't even reacted to the foot rub.
Her eyes opened and she gazed at him from the other end of the sofa. "What did you wish to speak about tonight?"
"I would like to know the details of your relationship with Karl," Albus told her, quickly adding. "I realize it may hurt you to speak of it, but I need to know if we're going to continue our relationship."
Minerva stared at him for a moment. "If? Albus, we confessed our love for each other today. I thought it would be obvious that I want to continue."
"I didn't want to make assumptions, my dear," Albus reassured her, still massaging her feet.
Minerva smiled and flexed her feet in his hands. "I know, and I thank you for it, as well as the foot rub."
"Minerva, you're evading the question," Albus pointed out quietly.
She sighed softly and shifted so her head was in his lap instead of her feet. "Karl and I met after you defeated Grindelwald. I felt like I was at loose ends at the time. I had become an Auror so I could fight Grindelwald, but I didn't want to continue as an Auror, though Alastor did." Albus nodded, removing the pins from her hair. He knew what she was telling him already, but kept quiet as she continued her story. "I decided to work in the Ministry, doing Transfiguration research and Karl encouraged me in that respect." She sighed sadly. "After we'd been dating for almost a year, Karl began to hint that he wanted to take our relationship to the next level."
"Meaning he wanted sex," Albus inserted quietly, combing his fingers through her hair now that he'd removed the pins.
Minerva nodded, her voice strained as she continued. "When I refused, he became more agitated and refused to let the subject drop. When badgering me didn't work, he resorted to violence." She shuddered and Albus began to gently massage her scalp. After taking a few moments to calm herself, she resumed her story. "I gave in to his demands to keep him from hurting me any more. After we'd been lovers for some time, he began to beat me once more. One day, I told him I was expecting his child. This sent him into a rage and he beat me until I was unconscious."
"He did that when you were pregnant?" Albus asked, holding back the anger that welled up inside him.
Minerva nodded again, sounding miserable as she carried on with her story, "I woke up in St. Mungo's with Poppy waiting by my bed. She told me I'd lost the baby and wished to know what Karl had done to me. Apparently, Karl had told the Healers that I'd fallen down the stairs to explain my injuries." Albus shook his head; surprised that Karl had used that excuse. "I didn't tell Poppy the truth right away, but I eventually did and she immediately offered to help me get out of the situation. I was so upset by Karl's reaction to the baby that I didn't think twice about accepting."
"I'm glad you did, Minerva," he murmured, still massaging her scalp. "Why did you stay with him even after he resumed beating you?"
Minerva sighed and rolled onto her back so she could look up at him. "I kept telling myself it'd get better, that he'd stop beating me, but he never did. Killing his own unborn child was the last straw. I wanted nothing more to do with him. Poppy gave me the perfect way out."
"What did Poppy do to help you?" Albus asked curiously, stroking her hair now that he couldn't massage her scalp.
Minerva smiled. "She and Alastor gave me a place to stay until I could file a restraining order against Karl and find my own place. She supported me when the longing for Karl's touch became strong. He may have been a violent man, but he was quite skilled as a lover."
"That's a little more than I wished to know, Minerva," Albus told her before she could continue in that vein.
She laughed. "I'm sorry, Albus. In any case, Alastor and Poppy helped me get back on my feet, for which I'll always be grateful. I accepted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position when it was offered to me to help me get away from my memories of Karl, too. Working at the Ministry in London, I would see a place the two of us visited on our dates and be reminded of him. That didn't help me put him behind me, so I came here and it helped immensely."
"I'm glad for that," he answered softly, tracing her features with the tip of one finger.
She kissed his finger as it traced her lips. "Did you wish to speak about anything else?"
"Yes, I do, actually," he replied with a smile, touching his finger to his lips to capture her kiss. "Harry told me that he needs a dad."
Minerva closed her eyes with a sigh. "I knew he would realize that eventually."
"He wants me to be his dad," Albus told her, a little uncertain as to her reaction.
Her eyes snapped open at this and she grinned. "That makes everything easier, then."
"What do you mean?" he asked, startled by her reaction.
She sat up, still grinning. "Don't you see, Albus? We're already a family, in many ways. You already act like Harry's father and the two of us act like a married couple anyway."
"I had noticed that myself, in point of fact," he told her with a smile.
Her eyes widened for a moment and her face lit up. "Why don't we make that a fact?"
"You mean the two of us get married?" he asked, blindsided by the suggestion.
Her grin faded somewhat and she bit her lip. "Forget it, Albus, it's a stupid idea."
"No, Minerva it isn't." He caught her chin when she would have dropped her gaze. "You just managed to surprise me."
Her grin returned full force. "I actually managed to surprise the great Albus Dumbledore?"
"Yes, you did," he answered with a laugh, pulling her into a warm kiss that quickly deepened into something more.
When they pulled apart, both were gasping for breath. "When did you want to get married, Albus?"
"As soon as possible, Minerva."
They were married the next day, with only Harry, Poppy, Alastor, Rolanda, Severus, Sylvia Sprout and Filius Flitwick as witnesses. Actually, Filius conducted the brief ceremony. Everyone except Harry was surprised by the suddenness of the ceremony, but all of them were glad to see that Albus and Minerva had finally realized what they meant to each other. When the ceremony was over, Albus proudly signed the papers that would officially make Harry his son. So the newlyweds could fully enjoy their wedding night, Poppy and Alastor agreed to watch Harry for the night. Harry didn't fully understand why 'Mum' and 'Dad' needed to be alone, but he assumed he would understand when he was older.
The castle accommodated the change in living arrangements with little fuss. If anyone were to attribute human characteristics to a building, they would say that the castle was happy that Albus and Minerva had finally gotten married. Their new bedroom was done in Gryffindor colors. Their furniture had been moved in already, with a king-sized four-poster bed as the centerpiece. "Well, my dear, what do you say we see how the new bed suits us?"
"I would love to," Minerva replied with an impish smile.
He hesitated when she smiled, but scooped her up and carried her over to bed. Once he set her on it, she rolled onto her side and curled up, pretending to fall asleep. "Minerva?"
"Yes, Albus?" She looked at him, the picture of innocence.
He looked at her over the tops of his spectacles. "You're toying with me, aren't you?"
"You caught me out," she admitted, rolling onto her back as he climbed onto the bed beside her.
He smiled as he traced a finger along her cheek. She shivered at his touch, her eyes locking with his. Their gazes locked, he slowly lowered his head to kiss her. They were soon lost in a whirlwind of passion and emotion, giving themselves up to their appetites for each other.
Finally, they lay entangled in each other's arms, basking in the afterglow. "Minerva?"
"Hmm?" She didn't move from her spot, her head comfortably pillowed on his beard, one arm flung across his waist, and her legs entangled with his.
After a long moment, Albus told her, "Never mind."
"Albus, you obviously have something on your mind," Minerva told him, tilting her head to look up at him.
He shook his head. "It's silly. Never mind."
"Are you worried about what I said about Karl yesterday?" Minerva asked shrewdly.
He nodded, looking embarrassed. "I told you it was silly."
"Albus, my relationship with Karl ended up being purely about sex," she told him, stroking his beard. "My relationship with you is about so much more." She grinned. "Although I can tell you that no one can compare to you as a lover."
He smiled and kissed her once more. She gave herself up to the kiss and quickly realized she wasn't as tired as she thought she was.