New Year, New Start
Chapter Five: The surprise delivery
A/N: Many thanks to my beta, Ang, and to all those who took the time to review. Each update is for you.
Minerva McGonagall was so engrossed in writing her lesson plans for the coming year that she did not notice the owl speeding towards her. Until, of course, it a small box wrapped in brown paper landed with a thud on her desk, upsetting her inkpot that spilled all over her neatly written plans. She glanced up and gave the owl a piecing glare. She noticed it was a school owl and made a mental note to inform Albus that the school owls should have a couple of weeks retraining at the owl school in London. This was not the first time a school owl had flown in and caused destruction. She knew for a fact that the other teachers where also having problems. She pulled out her wand and dealt with the mess before acknowledging the owl's presence. The owl watched her mop up the ink and waited patiently in hope of getting a treat.
"Honestly, how do you expect me to be mad at you when look at me like that?" she sighed as she turned to look at the owl who was flashing her puppy dog eyes. "Here you go. Have a treat and be off with you."
The owl nibbled at the ginger newt she offered before taking off and exiting through the open window. Minerva smiled softly. The owls that came to drop post to her always loved snacking on her ginger newts and even though they often caused mess when they landed, she couldn't help but treat them.
Turning her attention back to the parcel that had been delivered, she unwrapped it and looked at the small velvet box with interest. There had been no note with the box except for her name that had been written on the brown paper. She didn't recognize the writing either. She opened the box and gasped slightly. Inside the box there were ten handmade chocolates. She racked her brain to try and think who would be sending her chocolate and came up with no one. Perhaps it had been a former student or someone who had forgotten her birthday. She looked at the chocolate, a small smile on her face as she fingered each one in turn. Her paperwork could wait for now. She could put up her feet, grab a good book and eat her chocolates. She closed the lid and made her way to her rooms where she kicked off her shoes and sunk into her comfortable wing backed chair that was near a roaring fire. She cast a quick spell over the chocolates to make sure that they weren't poisonous and that they hadn't come directly from the Weasley twins. To her relief, the chocolates seemed to be edible.
She relaxed into her chair and picked up the book she had received for Christmas from Poppy Pomfrey. It was about a nurse in an unconventional hospital who falls in love with one of her patients. Minerva didn't usually read muggle romances but since Poppy had given it to her, Minerva decided that she should at least try to read it.
Minerva became comfortable in her chair before reaching for a chocolate. She tucked her legs up underneath her and began to read. As she read, her right hand idly reached out and picked up a chocolate. She brought it to her lips and popped it into her mouth. She coughed and sputtered when she felt something rough and tasteless in her mouth. She pulled it out of her mouth and saw that it was a piece of small parchment. She unrolled it and saw that there was writing on it.
"If I could be any part of you, I'd be your tears. To be conceived in your heart, born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips, she read aloud.
Minerva read it again. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't seeing things. She set the note aside and opened another chocolate. There was another note in that one as well.
"I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you." She read it aloud. She needed to read them like this because she wouldn't believe they existed otherwise.
She opened another one and once again there was another note in the chocolate.
"Love is friendship set to music." She read the third note in same fashion as the other two.
She continued to open the chocolates up and was amazed to find a note in each one. All the notes were about love and friendship. And they all tugged at her heartstrings. They were all so beautiful. Some of them she was familiar with while others were completely new. Someone had gone to an awful lot of trouble in making these for her. She looked at the notes and wondered who would be sending her handmade chocolate with notes inside. She knew of no one who would do such a thing. Could they be from someone who wanted to love her from a distance? She quickly dismissed that one because if they had meant it, they would have signed their name so she would know whom they were from.
The only other reason, which seemed to be the only plausible reason, was that someone was playing a joke on her. She packed the chocolates away and threw the notes in the fire. She watched them burn as tears welled up in her emerald green eyes. How could she be so stupid to think someone truly loved someone like her? She tried to think who would be so cruel as to do this. Many names came into her head. She had annoyed Severus Snape only the other morning when she had scribbled his name off the quidditch timetable and put her name and her house name in its' place. Well, she had always booked that session for her team to practice and she would have gotten there first if the Potions Master hadn't hidden the sheet. Severus could be snide and nasty at times but would he resort to this to get back at her? Could it have been one of his snakes that she had given Christmas Eve detention to when she had caught them teasing a poor defenseless cat?
Minerva was hurt and there was no denying it. She was lonely and filled her life with her teaching, her duties for the Order and other small things. At the beginning of every year, she was painfully reminded that she was still alone. She had close friends that were always around but that wasn't the same as someone to come home to each night. She sighed as she got to her feet, picking up the box of chocolates and putting them into the bin before she headed back to her office and her work.
To be continued!
A/N2: These are the quotes again and who wrote them:
If I could be any part of you, I'd be your tears. To be conceived in your heart, born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips. By Unknown
I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you. By Unknown
Love is friendship set to music by E. Joseph Crossman