Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.

This is a story that I wrote in response to a challenge issued at the Albus and Minerva Fan Fiction Board.

Challenge Tag was invented by Dewey. The rules, as codified by Catwoman99 (snipped for brevity) are as follows:

1. Once a challenge is submitted by the "it" person everyone has one week from the time it's posted to complete the fic
2. Length of fic doesn't matter, it's the number of reviews that count.
3. Winner will be determined by counting the number of single reviews (five reviews from one person doesn't count as five, etc) at the end of the challenge week.
4. Winner must post the new challenge.

Challenge Tag 3, posted by Ginger Newts
The premise:
Albus is very sick and in her efforts to make him more comfortable, Minerva catches whatever it is he has. Poppy quickly quarantines the two in order to stop a school-wide epidemic (they're highly contageous). So, basically, you have Albus and Minerva confined to a small space for an indefinite period of time with no outside contact (food and potions are sent in magically, the way food appears in the Great Hall). How do they deal with it?

Things that are up to you:
They can be a couple or not when first quarantined.
They can have whatever symptoms you want.
They can be stuck in any one room of the castle you choose.
The length of time they stay cooped up can be as long as you want, but it must be over four days.
It can be any genre you like.
It can take place during any time period you like.

Bonus points if you deprive them of sherbet lemons and animagus transformations! evil grin

Heart Sickness

"Good heavens, Albus, it's downright tropical in here!"

It was early September at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. The students had duly arrived, the first years had been sorted, and Professor Snape had muttered his usual imprecations regarding "more dunderheads". In fact, everything seemed to be quite normal at Hogwarts, inasmuch as "normal" could be applied to that august institution. Thus, when Professor Minerva McGonagall entered the Headmaster's office, she was not expecting to walk into an equatorial zone.

"Is it?" Professor Dumbledore responded absently. "I rather thought it was still too cold."

"Too cold?" echoed Professor McGonagall incredulously. "Only for a salamander, perhaps." She paused to take a close look at her employer, dear friend, and secret love. "You're as white as a sheet," she exclaimed in alarm, "and your lips are blue!"

"As I said, it's cold in here," he replied between chattering teeth.

"It is not cold in here," she informed him. "You, however, are freezing, and I'm going to take you to Poppy this minute!" Suiting actions to words she came 'round the desk, took him by the hand, and hauled him to his feet. She met with little resistance, as Albus had learned many years ago that the woman he secretly loved had a will of iron, especially when it came to his health. Oddly enough, the moment her hand touched his, he began to feel warmer, and by the time they reached the door, he felt almost like himself again. However, once they left his office, and she released his hand, almost instantly he was shivering again. Seeing his discomfort, she put one arm around his shoulders and the other around his waist to steady him. Once again, relief was nearly instantaneous, though not quite as pronounced as before. Still, he managed to savor the feel of her arms about him while she, for her part, was glad for a chance to hold him. Thankfully, they passed no one on their way to the infirmary, though quite a few of the portraits expressed concern.

Madame Pomfrey was quite mystified. She ran test after test, and asked question after question to no avail. Finally she asked, "Have you had any relief at all? Has there been any time when you felt warmer, other than when you raised your office temperature?"

"Yes," Albus replied. "When Minerva held my hand, I felt much warmer right away," both he and Minerva blushed at this, "and when she put her arms around me, I felt a little warmer fairly quickly."

"Hmmm…" Poppy pondered for a minute. "Let's try something. Minerva, please place your hand on the Headmaster's shoulder." Minerva did as instructed, and Albus temperature went up enough to stop the worst of his shivering. "Now, put your hand in his," Poppy directed. Again, Minerva complied, giving Albus a reassuring squeeze as she did so. Almost immediately, his body temperature returned to normal, eliciting a sigh of relief from the ailing Headmaster.

"Interesting," was Poppy's comment. "It would seem that any body contact helps, but that skin contact actually restores normal temperature."

"Do you know what this is?" Albus asked.

"I have an idea, but I need to look up a few things first," Poppy replied, writing furiously in her notebook. "Minerva, will you hold onto Albus' hand until I get him stabilized?" Minerva nodded. "This will only take a moment," Poppy reassured them both as she proceeded to perform a dizzying array of incantations before giving Albus a sleeping draught.

Minerva was reluctant to let him go, doing so only once he was in a deep sleep. Poppy, meanwhile, was poring over her textbooks, mumbling to herself from time to time. She nearly forgot Minerva was there until she was roused from her research by a crisp "Poppy!"

"Yes, Minerva?"

"Is the Infirmary always this cold, or is it merely the lateness of the hour that makes it seem so?"

Poppy turned fully to look at Minerva, and saw that she, too, was pale and shivering. After quickly writing extremely contagious? in her notebook, she unceremoniously herded Minerva to a bed next to Albus. "Well, it would appear that you've caught whatever the Headmaster has," Poppy informed her. "Now, until I get a handle on whatever this is, I'm placing the both of you under quarantine."

"That's absurd!" Minerva chattered. "I have classes to teach!"

"You'll teach them more effectively if you're not buried under twelve layers of wool and speaking through chattering teeth," Poppy countered. "Now, hold his hand while I get you stabilized." That last was a guess on Poppy's part, but it paid off, as Minerva's temperature quickly returned to normal. Once Minerva was sound asleep, Poppy transfigured the two beds into one, and transported it and its occupants to the isolation ward. Then, with a broad smile, she went back to her research, knowing she was on the right track.

Albus was the first to awake the next morning, but the sight that met his eyes convinced him that he was still asleep, and having a perfectly marvelous dream. For there, next to him, lay Minerva, in a simple white gown, not unlike the one he was wearing, hair splayed luxuriously across her pillow, lips slightly parted in sleep, and one hand entwined in his. Waking up is vastly overrated, he thought happily as he leaned in to kiss her.

Minerva, too, woke to a perfectly marvelous dream. She didn't need to open her eyes to know who was kissing her so tenderly. Indeed, she didn't want to open her eyes at all for fear that this dream would evaporate. I'd much rather stay asleep, she concluded wantonly as she slipped her arms around Albus' neck and responded to his kiss with a passion that she would never have permitted her waking self.

Slowly, they each began to wonder if their initial assessment had been accurate, as dream kisses don't usually result in oxygen deprivation. They broke apart, wide-eyed and gasping for air. Luckily for them, any further awkwardness was cut short by the arrival of Madame Pomfrey.

"Good morning," she seemed quite pleased with herself. "Did you sleep well?" Albus and Minerva both nodded, neither having regained the power of speech.

"Good," Poppy replied briskly, making her way to the foot of the bed. "Please excuse the liberty I took with your sleeping arrangements," she began, "But it was the only practical way the two of you would stay warm for the night. I also moved you to this ward because, at the time, I didn't know what your illness was and, as I explained to Minerva, I needed to put you both in quarantine."

"Both?" Albus was puzzled.

Poppy nodded. "Minerva began to show the same symptoms shortly after you fell asleep."

"I'm sorry," said Albus, stricken.

"It's all right," Minerva replied softly.

Albus brought Minerva's hand to his lips for a brief kiss before turning to Poppy. "You said that you didn't know what our illness was 'at the time'," he reminded her. "Does this mean you know what it is now?"

Poppy nodded again. "You both have an extremely rare malady called Aeger Animi, roughly translated as 'Heart Sickness'," she informed them. "It is caused by the confluence of four conditions: Great Magical Power, Extreme Stress, Deep Loneliness, and Unrequited Love. Left untreated, this malady will result in hypothermia and death. Now," she continued, "you have already discovered the treatment: human contact, preferably skin-to-skin, preferably with a loved one. Luckily for all of us, this malady is not contagious, as I previously thought…"

"But you said…" Minerva interrupted.

Poppy held her hand up for silence. "I thought it might be contagious because you exhibited the symptoms Minerva, but the truth is that you have the same four previously existing conditions as the Headmaster. It was only a matter of time, though I believe his indisposition precipitated yours."

There was a long pause as Albus and Minerva digested all this information. Then Albus asked, "Is there a cure?"

"Certainly," Poppy answered cheerfully. "The cure is to remove one of the four conditions. Obviously, the removal of Great Magical Power is not desirable and the elimination of Extreme Stress is not probable, given the lives you two lead as well as our world's current state. That leaves Deep Loneliness and Unrequited Love." She gave them each a long, hard look before continuing. "I believe it is in your power to rid yourselves of both conditions," she stated. "But first, you need to have a little talk. It is no accident that each of you provided the greatest relief to the other." She paused to let that sink in before heading for the door. "When I leave this room, the door will be sealed. The house elves will provide anything you need. I will check on you every few hours, but you will not be allowed to leave until I have seen sufficient evidence that you have affected your cure." With that she left, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Albus chuckled. "Why do I feel like an errant child who has been sent to his room?"

"Why do I feel like a character in one of those Witch Weekly romantic serials?" Minerva was staring at their still-entwined hands.

"Perhaps because I'm about to tell you that you are my unrequited love," Albus offered gently.

Minerva looked up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. "And you are mine," she whispered.

The couple had very little need for words after that, and instead set about following the prescribed course of treatment. When Poppy looked in on them after lunch, they were fully absorbed in applying themselves to the portion of the regimen involving skin-to-skin contact, and she resolved then and there to listen and knock before opening that door ever again. After five days in the Isolation Ward, Albus and Minerva were each able to maintain a stable body temperature without any contact whatsoever though, truth be told, Poppy had begun to wonder if she would ever be able to pry them apart!

Life at Hogwarts returned to "normal" after that, with one notable exception. No matter what the thermometer reading, if Albus said, "Minerva, is it a bit chilly in here?" Minerva would smile and reply, "Not for long, Albus." The rest of the staff were baffled at first, but soon worked out that the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress were speaking some sort of code. Only Madame Pomfrey could decipher it…and she wasn't talking.