Her Chance Gone
a/n: many thanks to my beta Ang :) and to those who read and reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Three Girl Talk.
Minerva turned the corner abruptly and ran along the corridor before coming to a stop. She cursed out loud as she slammed herself against the wall. Silent tears began to fall from her emerald green eyes as the full force of Albus' announcement hit her. She heard voices drawing nearer so she dried her eyes quickly and darted along the hallways to the safety of her rooms. She knew that sooner or later, her friends would come and check on her. They all knew how she felt about the Headmaster and they would want to be with her.
She swept into her rooms and moved across the room, sinking into her chair. With a wave of her wand, a bottle of firewhiskey appeared. It was not her usual tipple but then this was not a situation she in which usually found herself. She poured herself a big glass of whiskey and nursed the glass as she stared into the empty fireplace. She kept replaying his words over and over in her mind...his fiancée; his fiancée...The knock on her door that she had been expecting sounded and in walked Poppy, followed by Xiomara Hooch.
"Help yourself," said Minerva, pointing to the bottle of firewhiskey.
"I don't' think that will solve anything," pointed out the medi-.witch.
"But it helps numb the bloody pain for a while," interrupted Xiomara as she poured herself a glass. "How are you holding up, Min?"
"How do you think?" snapped Minerva.
Poppy and Xiomara exchanged glances before sitting down on the sofa near Minerva. They knew she was hurting. IT was evident by the large firewhiskey in her hand.
"Min, would you like talk about it?" asked Poppy nervously.
"There is nothing to talk about," answered Minerva sadly as she looked into her glass.
"Oh no! You're not getting around it that easily. We know you better than anyone at this bloody school and Albus' announcement certainly deserves some talk. Now, it's either you tell us now while you're still sober, or later when you're not so sober," exclaimed Minerva.
"What would you have me say?" asked Minerva. "You know how I felt about him, so how do you think I'm feeling?"
"We know it was a real shocker for you. Merlin, who knew he was going to go out and get himself engaged over the holidays? But you can't bottle everything up inside Minerva. Let's have a drink and when you're ready to cry, rant or start hexing things, we are here for you," said Poppy.
"He didn't even mention her in his letters to me," said Minerva looking up at her friends. "How could he do this?"
"You know, I bet she's got him under some kind of spell! We all know he would never keep anything from you. I bet she is working for You-Know-Who," said Xiomara.
"Well, he has obviously kept something from me!" snapped Minerva before downing her whiskey.
"You know what you need to do...you need to go to his office and speak to him about this. It will only eat you up inside if you don't let it out. Get angry with him or at least tell him how hurt you are," suggested Poppy.
"Poppy is right. Hey, maybe if you reveal your feelings, he will drop Regina and all will be right," said Xiomara.
"I have no right to tell him how I feel," replied Minerva rising to her feet. "I have no claim to him. He can marry whomever he bloody wants!" Minerva wandered around her living room, trying to think of what to do when her eyes fell upon a picture of herself with Albus. It had been taken two years ago at a staff picnic. Minerva had thoroughly enjoyed the picnic and it had given her the chance to spend some quality time with Albus.
"Min, he's been your best friend for years. You can't just throw that all away. He will eventually come and ask you these same questions and your feelings won't be so easy to hide," said Poppy breaking into her thoughts.
"Besides, he can read your bloody thoughts so do you honestly think that he won't know what's bothering you," threw in Xiomara.
"I can throw away our friendship and I must. I can't be around them. It will kill me. I will just avoid him at all costs," replied Minerva, avoiding her friends' looks.
"You are his Deputy Headmistress, Minerva! There are bound to be times when you are alone. After all, Regina wont' be allowed in the meetings you two have and he wont' allow you to throw away your friendship," Poppy said softly. "We can all see how much your friendship means...to both of you."
"Obviously it's not as important to Albus as it is to me! Why are you pushing me like this? I can't' be around him! I just can't...don't you see?"
"NO! What we see is a woman who has loved a man for years and never told him. And now she is very hurt that he has brought in some...some...woman to try and take your place. The worst thing is that you aren't even fighting," ranted Xiomara raising her voice slightly. She wanted Minerva to rant or to at least show some emotion. It wasn't like her friend to give up so easily.
"I never had a place to take, Xio," snapped Minerva as she slammed down the bottle of firewhiskey. "I will not ruin his happiness because of my jealousy."
"Fine! Then I think we will all just sit here and watch you drink away your future," she answered coldly.
"You do that, then!" Minerva replied harshly. "I don't understand what she has that I don't!"
"That's just it, Minerva. She has nothing..." spoke Poppy.
"Except Albus," Xiomara wasted no time in pointing out to the women.
"Yes, I think we know that Xiomara Hooch!" snapped Poppy who was rather annoyed with the flying instructor for stating the obvious.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"But tat can all chance if you tell him," continued Poppy as she placed a hand over Minerva's glass to prevent her from pouring another shot.
"If he felt anything for me, then why ask another woman to marry him?" Minerva paused to gather her thoughts. "I was stupid to ever think he could love someone like me." Minerva looked at the glass in her hand and the need to explode took over her. She couldn't stop herself from screaming and throwing the glass against the wall, where it shattered into dozens of small pieces.
To say that her friends were shocked would have been a lie. They looked at each other with worried expressions, neither saying a word. As Minerva dropped to the floor and began to sob, they both rose from their seats and made their way over to her. They enveloped her in a tight hug, the kind of hug that said...we can't make it better, but we can cry with you. And that's exactly what they did.
To be continued...