Chapter Two

For what seemed the hundredth time in the week, Minerva unrolled the scroll laying it out flat on her desk. Most of the questions were answered except for two.

Question 1: How do you feel about me - as a colleague, as a friend and as a person? Answer each separately.

Question 2: If there was one thing concerning me which you have never revealed to me but wanted to, what would it be?

Her hand shook as she wrote down an answer to the first question. Her words appeared on the parchment as "I respect and admire you greatly as a colleague." She took a deep breath before continuing. "As a friend, you have my deepest affection and .." The words 'deepest affection' were magically crossed off and the single word 'love' was written in.

Minerva threw down the quill with some force, saidthe spell to remove her partial answer then covered her face with her hands. No matter what she wrote, the word love somehow found its way into her answer to both questions, always.

Albus had not begun to ask about her responses yet but it was only a matter of time. She did what she could to divert his attentions. Each time she was with Albus she steered the conversation as far away from the scroll as possible. She encouraged him to go on more research trips while she looked after the school. She found areas in his notes that needed verification or correction thereby sending him scurrying off with robes flying.

Knowing Severus' own thwarted efforts to rid himself of his scroll, Minerva struggled every night to write something; anything at all that did not translate into the word love. So far, she had been singularly unsuccessful. Her desperation was growing. Something had to be done and soon.

On the last evening of the allotted two weeks, as she sat in her office pondering the scroll yet again, a solution came to her. It was really quite simple. She didn't have to write the answers at all. If I don't write it myself, how could the scroll know what the truth was? How, indeed? She rolled up the scroll and went to see Albus in his office.

"Albus, I have a problem that I need your help on."

Behind his desk, Albus looked at her over the top of his spectacles. "I am at your service as always, my dear."

"I have been marking essays all day." Minerva sat down in her favorite chair. She made a point to slouch her shoulders and lay her head back. For effect, she lay quiet for a few seconds. "I'm simply worn out."

"You work too hard, Minerva. There is no task that cannot be put aside and done tomorrow." Dumbledore observed.

"Nothing but this," Minerva held her scroll aloft. "Your deadline is tomorrow. My hands are quite tired, Albus. Could you please write down my last answers for me?"

"I would be honored to do so. Hand it over please."

Minerva placed the scroll on his desk. "Thank you, Albus. The last week has simply been horrid."

"Tomorrow is Saturday, you shall have a lie in and rest the entire day. I shall personally look after your charges."

"Oh, could you?" Minerva rubbed her temples. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "I feel such a headache coming on."

"Think nothing of it." Albus unrolled the scroll and set his auto quill upon it. He scanned the scroll for the unanswered questions and committed them to memory. He posed the first question to Minerva.

Minerva took a moment before responding. "I respect and admire you greatly as a colleague. As a friend, you have my deepest affection, loyalty, trust and, of course friendship. As a person, I can only say that your magnetism and charm draw people around you."

Without looking at the words appearing on the scroll, Albus said. "I do not deserve such high praise, Minerva."

Minerva brought her hand to rest over her eyes. "It is only the truth, Albus."

Albus asked the next question. She answered with "I would like to tell you that your friendship, affection and trust is something that I truly cherish in my heart."

Minerva felt a mixture of relief and sadness. Relief that her dilemma was over and sadness that she had not told him the truth.

Dumbledore could not respond. Her words echoed the same sentiments in his heart. But I would add love to that, Minerva, I would. Dumbledore looked at her closely. He knew every nuance of expression in her face and body. Her robes seemed looser around her. She's lost weight. Is she not taking care of herself properly? He rose and went to her. "Minerva?"

"Yes, Albus?" Her eyes opened when she felt him lifting her hand.

"You are exhausted from overwork. That is plain to see. Let me escort you to your quarters," Albus took her other hand and gently coaxed her to her feet despite her protests.

How he longed to do more for her. For some years now he had realized that his feelings for herwent beyond professional regard or even deep friendship. But he could no longerindicate his intentions as make the moon drop from the sky.The wistful voiceof his heart whispered, "Friendship may be sufficient for now, but what willsustain you should she find comfort with someone else? Will you dance carefree at her wedding? Will you smile when she kisses another in your view?"

Albus shook his head silencing the voice within. He had no answers to its questions.He insisted that he was content where he was, in the periphery of her life looking in, just looking in. "I insist. Besides, I am in need of some hot cocoa and your quarters are on the way to the kitchens."

Minerva acquiesced. She was very tired after all and slightly depressed with the deception she had been forced to employ. She could not say, even to herself, when she had fallen for her colleague and friend. One day the feeling had taken residence in her heart and there it had stayed despite her past efforts to either rid herself of it or find a substitute. She was a realistic woman in all things. Office romances were rarely successful and often only led to shattering heartbreak. Time heals all, she repeated to herself. It must.

With a quick flick of Dumbledore's hand, the scroll rolled itself up and levitated into a box of finished responses. Together they walked through the corridors enveloped in a companionable silence; they were at ease in each other's presence with words superfluous.

A week later, Professor Snape surrendered. He had surpassed the two week grace period forcing the scroll's nuisance condition to activate. Day by day, the scrolll made his life an incremental misery until he could endure it no longer..

It hovered around him just out of reach. It intruded into his lessons with sudden broadcasts from the wireless service or renditions on the virtues of punctuality and truthfulness. Finally, it started to repeat the questions and his answers (where there were any) when any person was within hearing distance. That would not have been embarrassing in and of itself, however, the scroll never forgot a word it had written. It also repeated the professor's honest answers, all of them even the ones he had thought erased.

The fourth year potions class was treated to Snape's confessions of seeing the headmaster as a father figure for whom he had the utmost respect and love. Yes, love, as a son for a father, the scroll clarified. The students did their best to stifle their snickers. Red-faced, Snape could take no more. He slammed the scroll on to his desk and scribbled his answers. He then went to the headmaster's office to personally deliver it.

Inside his office, the headmaster was just beginning to sift through all the finished responses. His office door opened with a bang. "Severus, do come in," He began.

"I have done some difficult things in my life, Albus, but this," Severus tossed the scroll on to the desk. "this is heinous! The most torturous thing I have had to endure! Ever!"

Dumbledore took his time answering back. He was well used to Snape's displays of temper. "Wish you had thought of it yourself, eh?"

"Too bloody right!" Snape huffed. "I hope you're happy. I am about to take mass quantities of points from my fourth year class of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. It will be on your head if Minerva raises a fuss."

"Of course, Severus, just send her to me." Dumbledore agreed absently as he read over Snape's scroll. He sniffed once before looking at the potions master. "Thank you, Severus, for everything."

"It's the truth," Snape shuffled his feet.

"I assure you that I will burn all these responses once I've read them and noted any salient, non-personal information. Will that suffice?" Albus began to lay out the remaining scrolls he had to read. Minerva's was right on top.

"They don't burn."

"They will but only for me."

Snape gritted his teeth. The man thought of everything. "And what of the sheer embarrassment that I have suffered because of you, I want -"

"I only gave you the opportunity for some self examination, Severus. Don't you feel better about having told me the truth?"

Snape slapped his hand on the desk. "In private, Albus, why couldn't you do it privately. I am a laughingstock!"

"If you had answered within the time period specified, you need not have had to suffer at all."

"Fine. Let us see how you like it." Snape grabbed the scroll closest to him which unbeknownst to him was Minerva's. Albus had been saving it to read last. Severus read the first answer he saw. "I respect and admire you greatly as a colleague. As a friend, you have my love, loyalty, trust and, of course, friendship."

The headmaster was stunned. "Love?"

Snape continued. "As a person, I can only say that your attractiveness and charm draw people around you."

"Attractiveness?" Snape looked at the headmaster, then at the note, then back to the headmaster. His eyes scanned the rest of the scroll. "Minerva? How very interesting for you, Albus."

Dumbledore grabbed the scroll. He read another response. " 'I would like to tell you that your love is something that I truly cherish in my heart.' That's not what she said. I know that's not what she said. She said friendship and affection and trust. I know that's what she said."

"Perhaps verbally but she meant love. In her secret heart, she's in love with you," Snape said smugly.

"These scrolls are designed to tell the truth." Dumbledore still refused to believe the obvious. "Whatever is truly in the recipient's heart and no other."

"And they have, headmaster." The smirk on Snape's face seemed almost permanent. "Someone is in love with you. A further question comes to mind, how do you feel about her?"

No denial came from the older man. His attention was captured by the scroll still. "There must be something wrong with the veracity spell."

After promising not to mention anything to Minerva on pain of Albus' ingenuity by way of retribution, Snape left the shocked but clearly delightedheadmaster purposefully double checking the various charms inlaid into the scrolls. Some truths after all are too near to one's heart to be taken lightly. One had to be sure before any action could be contemplated.

Snape strode to his dungeons with a lively spring to his steps. He was still going to deduct points but he was going to feel so much better about it. Life is good.