Her Chance Gone

A/N: A huge thank you to my lovely beta reader, Ang! Thank you to all my reviewers. You are fantastic.

Chapter Nine: That Woman!

Minerva stormed down the quidditch storerooms. Xiomara would be waiting there for her to arrive. Minerva could feel her blood pumping through her body as she rushed down the stone steps that lead out into the plush grounds of Hogwarts. Never in her life had she felt so much anger towards one woman. Minerva had never been naturally violent. She would protect herself when need she needed to and was an expert duelist but Regina had made her actually want slap her around the face. Minerva wanted to wipe the smug smile off Regina's face and replace with an ugly bruise.

"Hey, where are the wild hippogriffs?" called out Xiomara Hooch as she saw her friend charge down the path as if something was chasing her.

"What?" snapped Minerva, who was still slightly rattled.

"You have a face of thunder and you were walking so fast that you walked straight by me," Xiomara explained as Minerva finally came to a stop.

"I think I may seriously hurt her!" announced Minerva.

"Her, I presume is Ms. Hardcastle," said Xiomara.

"That woman," said Minerva through gritted teeth, "is the most ignorant, self-centered, loathsome, money hungry, power seeking, manipulative, oversexed, conceited harlots I have ever seen…and I've seen my share of them in my days!"

Xiomara was taken slightly back as she heard Minerva reel off a list of insults directed at the Headmasters fiancée. Minerva was not one to swear like a trooper; that was Xiomara's job. And she could count on one hand the amount of times Minerva had sworn and that was usually when she had, had a bit too much firewhiskey. Xiomara watched Minerva shake slightly as she finished her rant and caught her breath.

"Do you know she even said she would buy you some new broomsticks," Minerva told the quidditch mistress!

"Really!" asked Xiomara, as her eyes lit up. "Well she is good for something."

"Albus thought it was lovely but what he doesn't know is that she is buying them out of his money!" declared Minerva.

"I wonder what model of broomstick," Xiomara asked as she slipped into her world of quidditch and brooms.

"Xiomara!" scolded Minerva angrily.

"Min, Albus is a grown man," replied Xiomara. "He needs to make his own mistakes. If he can't see what she is really like then there is nothing we can do!"

Minerva looked at her friend with amazement. She couldn't believe that Xiomara would say something like that. Did she want the Headmaster to look a fool? Was she so fickle that she would accept the new brooms from that woman?

"I don't like her, Minerva, and only Merlin knows why he choose her! But he has and you have to deal with it. I am being harsh but look at you! You are losing weight and locking yourself away in your rooms so you won't have to see them together," Xiomara explained. "Tell him how you feel and then see what happens."

"Even if I wanted to tell him, I couldn't;" snapped Minerva. "He is not allowed to be alone with me. She is even going to sit in when we have staff meetings!"

"What does that tell you?" asked Xiomara.

"That she is an overbearing flobberworm of a woman…" Minerva began to rant.

"It tells you that she feels threatened by you!" explained Xiomara, as she rolled her eyes. As intelligent ad her friend was, she sometimes missed the point and would continue ranting.

Minerva was about to open her mouth and tell Xiomara exactly what she thought of that idea but then shut it again when she began to think. Why had Regina singled her out? Perhaps she realized how Minerva felt about Albus. What if Regina had told Albus and they laughed about it in bed before they turned out the lights? That would explain why Albus didn't mind Regina being present at their meetings. He wanted her there to make it clear to Minerva that he was taken and felt nothing for her. Minerva's mind began to work overtime and each thought was a negative thought. Not for one moment did a positive thought float into her mind.

"Minerva," Xiomara said interrupting her friend's thoughts, "let's go into town and get some lunch before I die of starvation."

"I'm not hungry!" announced Minerva.

"You are going to eat something, even if I have to feed you like a baby," Xiomara declared as she took Minerva by the hand and lead her towards Hogsmeade.

Lunch was a quiet affair with Minerva thinking and Xiomara watching her friend closely. She was aware of Minerva's mind working because she had seen that look on Minerva's face when she was in deep thought. Minerva picked at her food and only gave one-word answers to Xiomara's questions.

"Min, will you snap out of it," pleaded Xiomara?

"I'm sorry Xio," apologized Minerva sincerely. "I just don't know what to do or think anymore. I am not in control of the situation and I hate it."

"I think the only way forward is to tell him how you feel," suggested Xiomara. "Or tell him that you think Ms. Hardcastle isn't the one for him."

"How can I do that?" asked Minerva seriously. "He must be in love with her. He is marrying her and we all know that love is blind. I might be overreacting because of my feelings for him. She might even be nice if I got to know her. Maybe I should try, for Albus' sake."

"You're kidding me!" said Xiomara.

"Of course I am," answered Minerva with a smile. "I'd rather be friends with Severus."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Xiomara, with interest.

"I need to let go," Minerva said sadly.

........To be continued…....