The Special One

Kayjay, sweety, I hope you like the reference to "One Special Night" in the title. Have fun with the story.

To everybody: Thank you very much for the great reviews. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

A few weeks later the new school year was about to start. Minerva and Albus had prepared everything for the arrival of the other students while Harry and his friends had enjoyed the last days they had the common room and the grounds to themselves.

Tonight was August 31st, and staff members had already arrived at school. Even though Dumbledore had tried to conceal all details about Minerva being attacked – again – by Umbridge a couple of weeks ago somehow his colleagues knew about it. As well as obviously everyone else. Owls had arrived constantly since the day Umbridge had been brought to St. Mungo's. Most of them came from the Ministry of Magic, over and over apologizing for the incident and expressing their heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery for Minerva.

Though officially Minerva had not been injured thanks to the quick reaction of Harry and his friends, Albus knew that it had shaken her up more than she would ever admit. But since they spent their nights together he knew about her nightmares. Every night she would wake up with ragged breathing and cold sweat all over her body. For the public Minerva seemed to be as calm and self-confident as ever, only those who knew her better could tell from small gestures and the seconds when she let her guard down that she was still troubled.

Poppy had tried to talk to her, but had finally given up. She knew Albus would eventually be able to get through to her. So she had left Minerva alone for the remainder of the holidays.

Minerva had gone on with the usual business. She had prepared the lesson plans for the year and checked all the timetables for the students.

But most of all she had enjoyed her time with Albus. She wasn't so sure how things would be once the new term had started, but thanks to Albus everything would be just fine.

The following day Hagrid brought the first years to the castle as always where she took over. The sorting took quite long this year since there were so many new students. But Minerva was proud when she looked into their shining faces. And there were quite a lot of new Gryffindors among them.

When she took her seat next to Albus at the head table she saw that Hermione, Ron and Harry were looking at her. She gave them a small smile. Ever since the incident the three of them had been quite protective of her, offering to carry things for her, asking if she needed anything. At first she had suspected that Hermione made the boys do all this but after a couple of days she found out that they did this all on their own. And that warmed her heart even more.

After Albus had held his welcome speech and waved his hands for dinner to start she felt his hand on her knee searching for her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She squeezed back and smiled at him briefly before turning to Professor Sprout who had some questions concerning a project she planned for the upcoming term.

A few weeks later Minerva could tell that there was more than the usual tension between her young lions and the Slytherins. Up to now she hadn't been able to figure out what it was all about.

When she strode through the corridors one October afternoon after classes she couldn't believe her eyes at the sight that greeted her when she turned a corner. Harry and Malfoy were engaged in a desperate fight, Hermione and Ron each yelling and kicking at Crabbe and Goyle who had caught them in a tight grip.

"What is this all about?" Minerva asked in a dangerous tone of voice. All of a sudden Malfoy stopped his attack on Harry and Crabbe and Goyle released Ron and Hermione. The three Slytherins looked a bit ruffled but were still glancing at her with a weird look in their eyes. Minerva couldn't quite identify what it was but decided to leave it for now.

"Ten points for each of you taken from your houses. Explain yourselves." She glared at the boys. Malfoy just smirked and obviously decided to say nothing. Harry couldn't even look her in the eye.

"Very well then. Mr Malfoy, you and your friends will report to your head of house immediately. Mr Potter, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley, you will come with me." Turning around Minerva left, with the three Gryffindors following her to her office.

"Is there any chance I might get an answer out of you now?" Minerva asked looking at the three of them sternly.

"Malfoy was ..." Hermione started but stopped when Harry poked her in the ribs.

"Mr Potter!" Minerva motioned for them to sit down on the chairs she had just conjured while she paced her office.

"This is just outrageous. I thought you had learned something about not letting yourself be provoked." Minerva turned to face Harry who looked at his shoes.

"But Harry did it just ..." Hermione tried again to explain everything.

"Hermione, no." Harry hissed under his breath but Minerva heard it nonetheless.

"Very well then. Detention for you. You shall report to me tonight after dinner." Nodding curtly Minerva focused on the papers in front of her, indicating that the children could leave.

Once outside her office Hermione turned to Harry, face flushed with anger.

"Why didn't you let me tell her what Malfoy said?" Hermione asked angrily.

"Because I don't want her to know. That's why." Harry snapped and walked away. Ron and Hermione stood dumbfounded for a moment until realization hit them. They hurried after him.

"Oh please. Stop being so overprotective of her. You know she's capable of dealing with that on her own. Besides, there's still Dumbledore to cheer her up." Ron grinned at him. The thought of their two teachers being a couple was still quite new to them but at least they knew about it. Everyone else was still in the dark as both Minerva and Albus wanted to keep up the appearance of mere friendship between them.

"Ron's right, you know." Hermione gently patted Harry's arm. She knew that he liked Professor McGonagall very much and ever since these incidents over the summer he had developed a kind of protectiveness towards her that was a bit creepy sometimes. But somehow all of them felt the same way for her. She had taken much on her to protect them from Umbridge during the last school year, and they felt grateful for that. Anyway, over the years McGonagall had become a kind of surrogate mother for them despite her usually cool and distant demeanour.

"But Hermione, don't you see it? That's exactly the point. She's happy now with Dumbledore. Do you want her to stop seeing him just because Malfoy says something stupid?" Harry looked at her impatiently. Hermione was usually the one who figured everything out first.

"Do you think she would do that?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. That was certainly a possibility she hadn't thought of.

"I'm not sure. I just don't want to take chances. If she feels that her relationship with Dumbledore endangers his professional image she might just give it up for his sake."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"That sounds like something she would do."

Ron opened and closed his mouth immediately when he saw that his two friends were probably right.

A couple of days later Harry and Ron were outside the castle getting their brooms ready for a flight around the quidditch pitch. Hermione sat in the ranks and watched them when she saw three all too familiar figures appear.

"Hey Potter! Got yourself detention for defending your precious head of house?" Malfoy said smirking at him.

Ron's face turned as red as his hair and he clenched his fists. "Just you wait, Malfoy." He tried to fling himself at the laughing Slytherin but Harry held him back.

"No, Ron. Remember, don't let yourself be provoked." He stared at Ron intently. A second later Hermione was with them.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry glared at Draco.

"Oh come on, Potter. Surely you can do better than that? Want me to give you some inspiration?" Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.

"Leave him alone, Malfoy." Hermione said quietly.

"Shut up, mud blood." He snapped.

"And don't think that old fool Dumbledore and his whore will be able to protect you for long, now that the Dark Lord has returned to power." Malfoy hissed.

"Hem, hem."

Draco whirled around on his heels to find Professor Snape standing right behind him. Harry, Ron and Hermione remained silent, curious what was about to happen. Snape must have heard Malfoy's words for sure.

"Explain yourself, Malfoy." Snape said in a dangerous tone of voice.

"They provoked me." Malfoy pointed at the three Gryffindors, knowing about Snape's special dislike of Harry.

"I don't think so. Anyway that would be no excuse for calling our headmaster a fool and the deputy headmistress a whore." Snape's voice became more and more dangerous. He grabbed Malfoy's arm and motioned for the others to follow him.

Together they went back to the castle, Snape still scowling at Malfoy. Harry and Ron cast a worried glance to Hermione who just shrugged. She couldn't explain Snape's behaviour, and even though he was a staff member and thus bound to do something about such an outrageous behaviour he usually didn't say much about his beloved Slytherins. So they just followed him to Dumbledore's office where the headmaster and his deputy were apparently in a meeting.

"Excuse me, headmaster. But I think young Mr Malfoy would like to tell you something." Snape sneered at the blonde boy who tried to wriggle out of his grip.

"Mr Malfoy?" Albus shot the young man a questioning glance, then looked at the other students.

"There's nothing I would want to tell YOU." Draco spat.

"Very well, Potter you tell the headmaster." Snape turned towards Harry who turned a violent shade of pink. Harry shook his head.

"No, professor. I'd rather not tell Professor Dumbledore."

Snape looked bewildered. He didn't understand why for Merlin's sake Potter and Malfoy – the arch enemies – seemed to agree for once.

"Very well, then I will tell what I heard. You see, I just caught Potter and Malfoy in another fight." Snape looked at Malfoy who looked at him disbelievingly.

"Yes Malfoy I know about the first one even though you disobeyed Professor McGonagall's orders."

Blushing slightly Malfoy looked at his head of house defiantly.

"So what?"

"So what were you fighting about?" Albus turned to Harry, hoping the boy would open up a bit.

"Please, sir, don't make me say it." Harry locked his eyes with Dumbledore's as if willing him to stop the interrogation. But knowing his headmaster he knew as well that he wouldn't stop questioning them until he got the answers he wanted.

"Minerva?" Albus looked at his deputy instead. She just shook her head.

"I don't know, Albus. They wouldn't tell me either."

"Sir, from what I've heard today, Mr Potter and his friends were merely defending Professor McGonagall." Snape said. Even though he noticed the shocked expression on the Gryffindors' faces he showed no expression.

Minerva narrowed her eyes. She couldn't believe the kids had gotten themselves into a fight just because of her.

"Mr Potter, I insist on an explanation."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. They had the same worried expression on their faces as he did but then Hermione shrugged and gave him a tiny nod. After all there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Okay professor." Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

"Last week when you caught us fighting in the corridor Malfoy had ... well, he had said that it was really a shame that Umbridge hadn't succeeded in killing you. And that he hoped someone would finish the job off soon." Harry stopped talking, hatred and anger rising again in him. He didn't dare to look at Minerva.

"Go on, Harry." Dumbledore's calm voice encouraged him.

Looking at his headmaster he just nodded.

"Malfoy called you an old fool and Professor McGonagall your ... whore." The last word was barely a whisper but both Minerva and Albus had good ears so they got it nonetheless. Minerva paled slightly but regained her composure immediately.

Snape looked angrier than ever before. His grip on Malfoy's arm tightened as the boy struggled to get away from him.

"I'll make sure you get kicked out of this place faster than you can say quidditch." Snape said through gritted teeth.

"Oh come off it. That old bitch isn't worth it." Malfoy said calmly.

"Severus, please take Mr Malfoy to his dormitory to pack his belongings. I'll inform the Board of Governors about my decision." Albus said curtly, not even looking at the paling young Slytherin.

When the potions master and Malfoy had left, Minerva sat down abruptly.

"Now, that certainly was interesting." She said quietly.

"I'm so sorry professor." Hermione sat down beside her and covered her hand with her own. Minerva looked up and smiled at the girl.

"I know, Miss Granger. But you don't have to be. And even though what Mr Malfoy said hurt it is no reason for you to engage in a fight." She looked sternly at Ron and Harry.

"But we couldn't just let him get away with saying these awful things about you!" Ron exclaimed.

"Perhaps not, but the wisest action would have been to inform a teacher. But nonetheless I have to admit that I'm touched by your care." She gave them a brief smile before turning to Albus.

"Do you really want to expel Malfoy?"

"Most certainly, my dear. You don't expect me to wait for him realizing his threats of ... finishing what Umbridge had started, don't you?" Albus asked quietly. He looked at her so intensely that her heart nearly broke about what she saw in his eyes.

There was so much love for her but also sorrow about the future. He was worried about her safety and her well-being, not just the physical. He knew that all she had just heard hurt her as well.

Minerva just shook her head. She knew she couldn't change his mind. And if truth be told, she would feel much better without seeing that smirk of Malfoy's all day.

"Anyway, I think we should stop..." she was about to say when Harry and Ron rushed to her side as well and all of her three Gryffindors started talking at once.

"Please don't..."

"Not because of that stupid idiot."

"You are so happy with him!"

She looked at her students quizzically. But then comprehension dawned on her face and she laughed.

"You are so sweet. But if you would hear me out first you would know that I was about to say something completely different from what you had in mind." Still smiling Minerva got up and went to Albus who looked at her quite surprised.

"Albus, my love. I know that you want to protect me and therefore keep our relationship a secret. But I don't care. I want to cry out loud from the tallest tower and tell everyone how much in love I am with you. Please, let's give it a try." Minerva took his hands into hers and looked at him expectantly.

Albus smiled and looked at Ron who blushed violently.

"Ronald would you bring me the small box on the coffee table?"

When Ron gave him the small black velvet box he turned back to Minerva.

"My dear, even without these incidents I had come to the same conclusion. You are the special one I've always looked for. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I want the world to know it." Kneeling down Albus opened the box. Inside was a golden ring with tiny emeralds and diamonds all over.

"Minerva, would you marry me?"

Minerva gasped slightly and looked at the ring. Then she nodded slowly. That wasn't exactly what she had had in mind but it was much better.

"Of course, Albus. I love you."

"And I love you."

There was a small sob from the back of the room. Minerva and Albus turned around to find Hermione with tears on her cheeks and the boys blushing violently. But all three of them rushed to their teachers to congratulate them. Hermione hugged both Minerva and Albus while the boys kissed Minerva on the cheek and shook hands with Albus.

"But please don't say anything. I think we should surprise everyone." Albus' eyes twinkled.

"Of course not, Professor." Harry grinned at the thought of the surprised faces of his schoolmates. Many of them suspected something but no one knew for sure. Except them. And the teachers of course.

The next days Minerva could be seen with a huge smile on her face. Even though Malfoy had said some quite disturbing things about her she knew that as long as Albus loved her she could go through everything. And somehow it was also rather nice to know that her young trio had fought for her and her happiness.

But now she had to concentrate on her wedding. Fortunately, Poppy Pomfrey and Rolanda Hooch could help her with her wedding dress, and even Hermione Granger had approached her one afternoon after Transfiguration to ask if she needed any help with the wedding preparations. Minerva had gladly accepted, and now there were her three favourite students not only carrying her books for her but also helping with the invitations and other things.

One evening Minerva was sitting on her couch, her bare feet tucked under her, looking through a magazine with wedding dresses Hermione had given her when Albus sneaked up behind her.

"Don't even try that. I heard you." She smiled at his frustrated look.

"Well, I just thought it might be worth a try." Shrugging he glanced at the magazine.

"You want to wear a muggle dress?" He asked pointing at the dresses.

"Well, no. Miss Granger said that there might be an inspiration for my wedding dress in here. Actually she's quite a good painter and said that she could try to design one according to my wishes."

"That's a lovely idea." Albus sat next to her on the couch and she snuggled into his warm embrace.

"But I think that's enough for today. You can view the rest tomorrow. For now I want my fiancée to myself." With a wicked smile Albus turned her face to him and kissed her passionately. She moaned lightly into his mouth. Seconds later the magazine lay forgotten on the floor while Albus carried his love to their bedroom.