Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, or ideas (Harry Potter nouns) belong to J.K. Rowlings. Olivia McGonagall, Ferris Longbottom, and Eudora are mine.
Chapter 4: A friendly blindness.
Thunder rumbled overhead as the angry dark clouds decided to empty every last drop of water onto the Quidditch field. The game between Gryffindor and Slytherin had been scheduled for the middle of November and Madam Hooch was not going to stop the game on account of the weather. The professors sat in their box holding black umbrellas.
None of the other teachers took noticed that Severus and Minerva, house rivals, had taken seats next to each other. They both looked out ahead as the game began. "You haven't forgotten our little wager, have you?" Minerva called out over the noise of the storm.
"Of course I haven't. The loser pays ten galleons," he replied, glancing at her.
She shook her head and turned toward him, shooting him a wry look. "No. I believe it was five. I'm the one who should be having memory problems. Or perhaps you're just being a scoundrel and hoping I won't notice."
He laughed sardonically. "If you haven't noticed by now that I am indeed a scoundrel, then I'm changing the password to your rooms to 'boa constrictor.'"
She jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Over my dead body you will!"
The game began with team members zipping to and fro, attempting to hold onto their brooms in the rain. Slytherin scored ten points when a bludger sent the Gryffindor keeper spinning on his broom. Minerva turned to Severus. "That was a cheep shot."
The snitch appeared and the Slytherin seeker and one of the chasers tailed the Gryffindor seeker until the boy dove down and the two Slytherins crashed into each other, not falling though. "If you want to know what a cheep shot is, that stunt was one of them," he grumbled.
Slytherin scored another ten points as seeker began to chase seeker in the pursuit of the snitch. Faster they flew, nearly weaving around the raindrops. Then the seekers flew next to each other, Slytherin attempting to bump Gryffindor out of the way. At a sharp turn, the Gryffindor seeker abruptly stopped and the Slytherin seeker accidentally flew past the snitch. Picking up where he left off, the Gryffindor seeker once again followed the snitch and caught it, ending the game.
"Alright Severus, I'd like the five galleons we negotiated," Minerva requested as they walked through the corridors of Hogwarts after the game.
"Gryffindor cheated!" he argued.
She glared at him and scoffed. "Slytherin accusing Gryffindor of cheating? Ha! Is the teapot calling the kettle black today?"
"Slytherin did not cheat," he retorted.
"Then I would like the five galleons," she ordered calmly. "Unless, you for whatever reason do not have the negotiated amount."
He stopped walking and grabbed her hand. She raised an eyebrow and met his gaze, wondering what he would do next. Noticing her slight confusion, he smiled. "I've got an idea. Why don't we settle this over a game of chess? If I win, you'll admit that Gryffindor cheated and if you win, I'll believe that they did not cheat. Either way, you will still get your five galleons. Are you up for it?"
"There couldn't be a better time to royally trounce you," she responded. They walked to his rooms, his hand still holding hers.
Severus used the black set, as was his custom. Minerva, using the white, moved first. "I cannot believe you would think that Gryffindor would cheat. Pawn to g4."
"And I cannot believe you failed to notice," he countered. "Pawn to a5."
"Don't you dare insinuate that I'm going blind," she retorted. "Pawn to f3."
He stared at the board. "I said 'failed to notice,' not 'failed to see.' Pawn to e6."
"I'm going to prove your assumptions wrong if I have to sit here all night," she told him through gritted teeth. "Bishop to h3."
"Then the winner becomes the person who stays awake to finish the game," he added wryly. "Pawn to d6."
She laughed, despite the fact that she was irritated with him. "In that case, I'll know when I've won because I will hear you snoring again. Pawn to a4."
"You will never know how embarrassing that was, to fall asleep in front of your opponent and knowing you may never regain your dignity," he added sarcastically. "Knight to e7."
"When I fall asleep in odd situations, I usually have the advantage of being in cat form," she smirked. "Pawn to g5."
He raised an eyebrow and pondered what he should move. "I wish I could have turned into a cat and taken a nap at the headmaster's wedding. Four hours is far too long to sit still. Rook to a6."
She nodded. "It was a wee bit longer than it could have been, but Eudora insisted on a wizard's wedding. Pawn to b3."
He had watched her as she spoke and noted the lack of hostility in her tone. "You seem to be taking the whole thing much better than you were in October. Rook to c6."
"I suppose I have. I find that I also have better things to think on lately. Bishop to g4." She eyed the board for her next moves.
He rested his elbow on the table and leaned toward her. "And what might some of those things be?" he probed. "Knight to d7."
"One might be winning my honour back," she relayed with a smile. "Rook to h2."
He shrugged. "Or changing your password when you lose. Pawn to b6."
"That is highly unlikely. I should have you change yours to 'lion's lunch.' Knight to h3," she remarked with a mischievous grin.
An hour later, Minerva had Severus' king in check with her knight sitting on f6. His pawn took it and he did not realize what she had set up. His king had few spaces to run to when she announced that he was in check by her white bishop, which had ended up on a4.
"I believe I have reclaimed my house's honour," she concluded.
"You've also proved to be a worthy opponent, as always," he told her as he handed her a small brown tied pouch.
She accepted the pouch, knowing it contained the negotiated five galleons. "Thank you. Would you care to walk me back to my rooms?"
"You would ask me that after I've been my usual foul self? Very well, I suppose I owe you a bit of courtesy," he replied flatly.
She laughed. "You're just trying to hide the fact that you would have offered again had I not asked."
"You're right," he admitted. "By the way, do you think Eudora will plan something awkward for Christmas too?"
She thought for a moment and shrugged lightly. "I can't really say, but I predict celebrations will be more traditional. However, she'll probably volunteer all of us for the decorating committees."
He nodded. "Let us hope that as the castle prepares for the Christmas holiday, we still have time for evenings like this."
The annual faculty Christmas party was held after the students had left for the break. Most of the staff had already arrived when Severus and Minerva entered the staffroom to find snowflakes, red and green strips of paper, wax fruit, and miniature villages throughout the room. The food smelled delicious and everyone appeared to be in a cheery mood.
As they passed through the doorway, Minerva and Severus looked up simultaneously and spotted the mistletoe above their heads. Leaning toward each other, both had intended to give the other only a light peck. Yet, as their lips touched, their fingers entwined and the kiss became tender and lingering. Slowly they broke away and glided off in opposite directions of the room to find various people. As Minerva poured herself a steaming cup of Wassail, Eudora seemed to materialize next to her.
"I saw that," Eudora commented with a smirk as she reached for the cherry punch she had made.
Minerva raised her eyebrow. "Saw what?"
Eudora sighed and shook her head. "I'm not playing this game again. Minerva, I saw you kiss him."
"We were standing under the mistletoe," Minerva answered rationally.
"That was more than the usual quick kiss two colleagues would give each other. It lasted for a solid minute," Eudora pointed out.
Minerva's jaw almost dropped. "You timed it? What you saw was nothing more than an exchange between friends!"
"You can protest all you want, but you need to open your eyes. You're too blind to see yourself falling in love," Eudora whispered.
Minerva rolled her eyes and walked away in a huff. She sat in a chair against the wall and watched the rest of the faculty mingle. Too lost in thought, she did not notice Severus as he sat down next to her until he spoke.
"Is Mrs. Dumbledore fraying your nerves again? I wonder how on earth you two managed to stay friends."
Minerva crossed her arms. "In truth, we can only stand little doses of each other. We are friends, but she seems to find ways to annoy me. The problem lies in the fact that there is some truth to what she says once in a while."
He nodded and stared out, watching the other professors. "The Wassail and the plum pudding are good, but I'm rather bored at the moment."
She faces him and smiled wryly. "You never have been very social."
"It's ironic that you should lecture me on not being social. I don't see you gossiping with everyone in earshot," he mentioned.
"That's because I don't gossip. And you are not the only one who's bored. What would you suggest we do?" she inquired.
He glanced toward the window. "You may find this amusing, but I'd like to build a snowman. It's been too long since I've done something… unusual like that."
She laughed. "I'll gladly join you. The snow seems like a welcome retreat from this."
Once outside, Minerva put her hands to her face and blew into them to keep herself warm. "You're not cold, are you?" Severus questioned.
Stubborn as always, she shook her head. "No, I couldn't be better."
He began gathering snow for the snowman. "If you're not cold, then find some things with which we might decorate our icy friend."
She disappeared for a while and returned with items she had transfigured: a carrot, seven pieces of round coal, a scarf, a wizard's hat, and a cleaning broom. They worked together to form the snowman and then placed the items in their correct places.
"I think he looks very good," Minerva observed.
Severus shook his head. "I think he's too pale," he added dryly.
She raised an eyebrow and he snickered. "I'd call it frigid, like the weather today," she commented.
"You said you weren't cold. Would you like to borrow the snowman's scarf?" he teased.
"Without his scarf, he'd freeze his nose off," she remarked rationally, causing them both to dissolve into peals of laughter a minute later. Still laughing, Severus picked up a snowball and tossed it at Minerva. She turned quickly when it made contact with her coat.
She smirked. "If that's the way you want to play, then I surmise that my only option is counterattack." For the next half an hour they pelted each other with snowballs. At last they headed back inside the castle for a change of clothes and a cup of Wassail.
January and February had seemed to melt together like snow in the day's sunlight. Minerva could hardly believe it was already the middle of March as she finished grading the latest Transfiguration essays. She looked at the clock in her office, which read 12:30. It's later than I thought. I suppose I should go to bed, but I feel like I could use a good walk, she reasoned as she stood.
Walking down the stairs to the lower floors, she held onto the railing as one staircase shifted with her on it. However, her feline hearing picked up the panicked sound of a student a few staircases up. Suddenly she heard Ferris Longbottom's voice cry out, "Professor, duck!" She moved aside and tried to comply. She missed the container he had dropped, but the liquid held in the container nearly drenched her.
"I'm so sorry about that, Professor McGonagall. I suppose I have detention now," he stated with concern.
Minerva shook her head and heard a few drips splash to the floor. "No, Mr. Longbottom, you do not have detention. I would like you to be more careful next time though," she told him. He nodded and went in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.
Now having been splattered with the purplish potion, Minerva tried to think of the closest place to wash it off. I'm closest to the Potions room and I just have to hope that Severus has a sink, she reasoned as she dashed off for the classroom. She saw that a few professors were walking through the castle, but did not remember how close they came to her and whether or not she bumped into them, let alone if they even noticed her. As she raced through the corridor, hoping not to see anyone else, a strange warm sensation came over her. At first it was tolerable, but then she began to feel as though she was walking through a blazing desert. She reached the Potions room and entered without knocking.
The Potions Master jerked his head up to see who had entered, intending to sharply scold the intruder for lacking the courtesy to knock. He was stunned to find Minerva covered in curious purple solution. "Minerva, what on earth happened to you and what is that stuff?" he questioned, dashing from his seat so quickly that he knocked over his desk chair.
Her green eyes held an almost childlike pleading expression. "Severus, please tell me you have a sink or someplace where I can wash off this mess. I don't know what it is, but I feel as if I'm on fire!" she declared.
She scurried about the classroom looking for a sink. He finally stepped in front of her and reached his hands out to touch her face in order to calm her. She gasped at his touch, so cool compared to the burning sensation, like water poured over a campfire. "Minerva, what happened?" he demanded.
"Ferris Longbottom," she stated flatly.
She noticed the concern in his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I was on one of the lower staircases when they began to shift. Apparently he was on an upper staircase carrying his potion assignment for your class. He called, 'Professor, duck!' but I only managed to avoid the falling container and not its contents," she explained.
He smirked and she raised an eyebrow. "He obviously batched the potion because the assignment was a sleeping draught. If he had followed instructions correctly, you would be sound asleep as well as covered in this purple mess." He then led her to his rooms. "Therefore, you need to wash this off, since there is no way of knowing what it contains," he told her, pushing her into the bathroom. "You will use my shower while I have your robes cleaned. I'll give you my bathrobe to transfigure into something more suitable to your tastes," he directed.
As he cleaned her robes while she showered, he attempted to smell the peculiar substance in an attempt to identify it; unfortunately nothing came to mind. She emerged wearing a simple black dress she had transfigured from the bathrobe. He walked over to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, leading her to sit on the couch.
She nodded and rubbed her eyes. "I think so, I'm simply tired at the moment."
"You should visit the infirmary," he advised.
She shook her head. "I don't want to bother Poppy at this hour, and I feel fine now."
He followed her as she stood and walked over to the door. "Would you like me to walk you to your rooms?" he offered.
"I think I would like that," she agreed.
They linked arms and walked toward her rooms in comfortable silence. When they reached the door to her rooms they stopped and faced each other. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are your certain you're alright? I can still have Longbottom transferred to Beaubaxton, you know."
She shook her head and laughed softly. "I'll be fine. And Mr. Longbottom, he will continue to plague us for the remainder of his school term, but he doesn't maliciously plan these things, and therefore I think he ought to remain."
He sighed. "I do wish he'd stop blowing things up so much. It takes a great deal of time and effort to clean up the messes he makes of my classroom."
She stepped closer to him. "You worry too much. Goodnight, Severus."
Their eyes locked. He loved looking into her olive-green eyes and seeing an inner quiet there that he had difficulty finding in himself. He closed the distance between himself and Minerva, kissing her warmly.
"Goodnight, Minerva," he finally said as they drew apart.
As she curled up in her bed and prepared to fall asleep, all Minerva could think about was how much compassion Severus had shown her. She had no idea he was capable of caring so much for someone else and she smiled to herself, realizing that she was quite fortunate to be that someone else.
(my thanks to LinZe, Clove, Quill of Minerva, and Aurinko for reviews )
