Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, so don't even ask!

A/N: I just wanted to thank all those who have reviewed, including Quill of Minerva, ginger newts, Hogwarts Duo, Intelligent Witch 1, Lenora (yes, you Len Len!), and all the rest!

Minerva couldn't believe what she was hearing. It had been Adam all along, and she had never even thought to consider him.

"Adam how could you?" she hissed.

"Easy," smiled Adam. "All I had to do was to enter your dreams and transform your dreams into nightmares. It was quite simple. I was hoping those nightmares might scare you off, but it appears I was wrong."

"Put the wand down, White!" Albus commanded, standing in front of Minerva. He knew that Minerva could probably defend herself, should the need rise, but he didn't want to take any chances. "It will be bad enough that you have barged into the dreams of others, including an innocent seventeen year old boy, without adding murder to the list!"

"There will be no murder, if Minerva will just sign a new contract for our marriage," replied Adam.

"She shall do no such thing," spat Albus. "She'd sooner-,"

"Let her speak for herself!" cried Adam. He looked around Albus and saw Minerva's cold eyes. She frowned and shook her head solemnly.

"You see?" cried Albus. "She does not want to marry you!" Adam's lower lip quivered.

"No, no!" He looked icily at Albus. "You brainwashed her, didn't you?"

"HA!" cried Albus. "If you know Minerva, you'll know that she is too strong a person to let anyone brainwash her." Adam thought for a moment, anger evident in his eyes.

"Alright, I'll make you both a deal," he said. "Minerva, if you really don't want to marry me, then duel with me! If I win, a new contract shall be formed, and we are to wed in one week."

"And if I win?" inquired Minerva. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"Then I leave you and Albus to live alone, together forever, and ne'er return," Adam replied.

"Is that a promise?" asked Minerva.

"Of course," said Adam. "I've been called many things, but liar has never been one of them." Minerva looked at Albus and nodded. He turned to face her, kissed her on her lips, and respectfully stepped aside. Surely, he did not want to see her fight; but he knew better than to express his concerns to her. She was a very stubborn woman and would never back out of a challenge- as long as it didn't endanger the lives of her family or friends.

"Wands at the ready," prompted Minerva. They both placed their wands in front of their faces, and then quickly brought them down again. Then, turning, they both walked ten paces in either direction and faced each other.

"1…2…3!" A ray of black light emitted from Adam's wand while a ray of red light spit from Minerva's wand as each cast a spell. They just bounced off each other, Minerva's spell flying into the air and Adam's plunging into the ground. For the next several minutes, spells were being fired as quickly as the two could think of them.

"Stupify!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Infringo!"

"Potrificus Totalous!"

All the while, Albus was fighting an internal battle. Should he aid Minerva and risk her Scottish temper later on, or should he stay out of this and let her battle it out. Either way, the outcome didn't seem too appealing. Then, he decided that he should help her. After all, he'd rather have her live and yell at him than to have her die, thinking he wouldn't have helped her if he had the chance. Pulling out his wand, he prepared himself to enter the battlefield when he saw a spell hit Minerva in the shoulder.

"AAAHHH!" she cried, grabbing at it in pain.

"Minerva!" he cried. He made to head for her, but she held up her hand.

"Stay where you are, Albus!" she commanded. Adam called out a curse, and Minerva narrowly escaped it, rolling on the floor. Standing quickly, she ignored the pain that was now searing through the left side of her body and called out a curse. This hit Adam in the right leg, causing him to fall to the ground, his leg twitching violently.

"Minerva, please let me help you!" pleaded Albus. Minerva just shook her head and kept her gaze on Adam. She then drew back her wand for one final strike, but immediately fell to the ground, convulsing as she had done the day she had watched her students leave from the platform. Albus rushed to her side and held her in his arms.

"Minerva, please don't do this!" he cried. It was then that she stopped convulsing, and Albus could see the life literally draining from her eyes. Tears fell down his cheeks as he saw her face pale, and her eyes drain from her eyes. The sound of evil laughter forced him to look upon Adam once more. His leg had stopped twitching, but he was still lying on the ground.

"You're too late, Dumbledore!" he said. "I told you I'd make you suffer! If I can't have her, then neither can you!"

"Bloody bastard!" Albus cried, pulling out his wand and pointing it at Adam. He was now crying violently. "Don't do this to me! Don't do this to Minerva! If you kill her, I shall kill you too!"

"And then what?" laughed Adam. "She'll be dead, I'll be dead, and you'll be in Azkaban, awaiting the dementors kiss! A perfect ending for Albus Dumbledore, don't you think?" Albus then held his hand up and, not even using his wand, brought Adam up to his face.

"I'll give you one last chance!" he said through gritted teeth. "Don't take Minerva away from either of us. If you kill her, she won't be able to come back." Then, as if he expected Adam to feel sympathetic, he added, "I am begging you, please." Adam stared at him, a smile on his face. Then, he looked towards Minerva, the life nearly gone from her completely.

"What's in it for me?" he asked, not even looking at Albus.

"My word that I will not kill you slowly and painfully with my own two hands," replied Albus in a dangerously low voice. Adam looked at him. His eyes were a mixture of nervousness and attempted humor.

"You wouldn't kill me," he said. Then, he frowned. "Would you?"

"Try me," hissed Albus. With a flick of a wand, life began to pour into Minerva's face once again. Slowly, she began to convulse again, this time more violently than ever before. Thirty seconds later, her body lay limp on the ground. Albus dropped Adam on the ground and placed a locking charm on his legs before running to his lover.

"Minerva, please stay with me," he pleaded. He prayed that Minerva could hear him. "I love and need you. Please don't leave me like this!"

Minerva did, indeed, hear him. But his voice began to fade as his outline became fuzzy and everything began to go dark. She was slipping rapidly into the dark nothing of the unconscious. Another few seconds and she could no longer hear or see him…

A/N2: There it is. I hope you liked that chapter. One more chapter to go! Well, maybe two. It depends on how I feel! Well, will she die or will she live? You'll have to find out soon enough! Always Hopeful