Chapter 2: Sorting the Letters
"Albus!" Minerva called surprised at what she saw as she entered his office one hot day in July.
His office was buried in papers, on his desk and in chairs. Four owls were flying around the ceiling with more letters in their mouths. Many of the portraits were talking at once all attempting to give him advice.
"Headmaster, you should organize all the letters based upon importance." "Dumbledore, you must get these owls!"
"Dumbledore! Dumbledore!"
Minerva closed her eyes against the noise, and tried to close her mind to an impending headache. She looked in vain for Albus, and after ten minutes realized he had been sitting at his desk the whole time. The silver of his hair blended in with the mass of letters in front of him, and she had missed him completely. Walking to his desk Minerva came upon a sleeping Headmaster. His upper body was sprawled out on the mass of letters, and he was snoring ever so slightly. As much as she hated to do it, well maybe not she thought, smiling evilly Minerva bent to wake Albus up.
"ALBUS! YOU HAVE A VISITOR, A CERTAIN LADY IN PINK!"
"W-what?" Albus' head shot up quickly, and dazed he frantically looked around the office until his eyes fell upon his Deputy. Narrowing his eyes Albus tried to send Minerva the nastiest glare he could, but his mussed hair and skewed glasses only made him look cute and not menacing. "You are the epitome of Malice, Minerva."
"I am the epitome of class."
"Which class? Certainly not upper."
Minerva did a much better job of glaring at Albus, and he immediately retracted his last statement. Minerva moved to stand behind one of the chairs sitting before Albus' desk, because she could not sit down in them.
"Albus, why is your office such a mess? And please tell your portraits to stop talking."
Doing as directed things quieted down, and for her part Minerva retrieved the letters from the owls. One was a bit difficult, but in the end relented after giving Minerva's finger a nip. Albus straightened his glasses before answering Minerva's first question.
"All these letters are from Governors, parents, colleagues, and admirers. I cannot sort through them all, because as soon as I start more arrive and I'm lost again."
Minerva felt sympathy for her dear friend. Albus Dumbledore was never one of the most organized men, and since taking on the Headmastership he had been swamped. Her work was done, so she offered her help. "I'll start the sorting, Albus. How bout admirers, governors, other, and then arrange those from most to least important?"
"Would you? I'm forever in your debt."
For the next three hours the heads of the finest establishment in their world were busy sorting through letters, and intercepting in-coming owls. Minerva was exhausted as she gracefully collapsed into a chair that had been relieved of the burdensome letters. Finished with her sorting she decided to open some of Albus' 'fan mail,' dare she say.
Dear Albus,
I am only too happy to learn that you were named Hogwarts' new Headmaster. I know you will be the best it has seen, not to mention the most handsome. Are you seeing anyone? If not, and even if you are, look me up if you are ever in Glasgow.
Marianne Dillmount.
"Albus, will you be in Glasgow any time soon?"
"No, why?"
"A Ms. Dillmount wants you to look her up."
Albus heaved a dramatic sigh as he glanced up from the letter he was reading. "Do me a favor: draft a generic reply to send to each letter, and then burn them, throw them away, whatever you deem best."
"Are you sure you don't want to read them? The future Mrs. Albus Dumbledore could be in that pile."
"The future Mrs. Dumbledore would know better than to send any note in that way. I mean it, get rid of them."
Minerva smiled faintly to herself as she set about drafting a generic reply, though she did not know why. It made her happy to know Albus would never read those letters, or did not seem curious about the women that adored him. However with work in front of her Minerva did not allow herself the time for self-introspection as to why she felt so happy.
At six o'clock the pair gave up trying to work after much insistence from Minerva's stomach for dinner. Deciding for a change of scenery Albus escorted Minerva to the kitchen, where their only company would be some overzealous house elves.
"Albus you need to get a goodnight's sleep tonight. You are very tired, and worn out after the chaos of the past few weeks. Go to bed early tonight."
"I would love to, but I need to do some more work I'm afraid. I hope this will calm down after awhile, and I being Headmaster is old news."
Minerva surveyed her friend from across the table, and took note of the drooped shoulders and the dullness of his baby blue eyes. "I insist, Albus. I can do some of your work tonight, but you are very tired."
Albus raised his head from his plate, and smiled at his friend. She always tried to make things better, and without realizing it somewhere in the abyss of Albus' overstuffed brain he noted that she always did. "I cannot allow you to do that, Minerva. You have your own work, and I could not sleep knowing you were working on my stuff."
"Well you will just have to try. As your Deputy I'm supposed to help you, and help is what you need now. So when we return I shall do your work, and you will relax then go to bed."
Having been privy to Minerva's temper, and stubborn nature, Albus knew which battles to fight and which not to; and Albus knew he would never win this one. So with gentleman gallantry he conceded his loss to the goddess, and quietly ate the rest of his dinner.
After they finished eating Albus and Minerva returned to his office, where Minerva continued to insist she do all the work. She physically pushed Albus through the door to his sitting room and ordered him to relax with a novel or to take a long bath before going to bed early. Then she settled into the large ornate chair behind his desk and surveyed the still enormous stacks of correspondence. With a sigh she set to work reading and answering those of the letters that she could, leaving a neat pile for Albus to sign and seal in the morning. On the other side of the desk she left a pile of correspondence that she did not feel qualified to answer for Albus to look over himself. After several hours she stood up to stretch and removed her spectacles to rub her tired and itching eyes, sighing at how many letters were left to sort through.
Albus spent the hours after dinner sipping hot chocolate and reading a novel while his favorite chamber music played lightly in the background. By the time he went to bed around ten he felt completely relaxed and made a mental note to pay back Minerva's kindness at some point. Around two in the morning he awoke, feeling the effects of so much hot chocolate. He rose from the bed and sleepily slid his feet into his slippers to shuffle to the loo. On his return to bed, Albus noticed a light coming through the door from his office. Thinking that was odd, he went to investigate, forgetting he was only in his nightshirt. What he found was Minerva slumped over his desk in the dying candlelight, his quill still in her hand, asleep.
Shaking his head, Albus crossed to her side and gently shook her shoulder. "Minerva," he called softly. "Minerva, wake up."
The muffled response he received seemed to be in the negative as Minerva twisted her sleeping self out of his grasp. He tried twice more to wake her and then decided to just carry her to her own rooms. Bending down he gently maneuvered her into an upright position and then hooked one arm under her knees while the other cradled her back. Standing, Albus held Minerva close to his chest and began the walk to Gryffindor Tower. It was a bit of a long walk, but she was light and he didn't seem to notice the distance.
Albus gave the password into Minerva's rooms and carried her inside and across the darkened sitting room. Only the beam of moonlight filtering in the window and the fact that prior to this summer these had been Albus' own quarters allowed him to find the way without dropping her or worse falling on her. He nudged open the door to the bedroom with his foot and placed Minerva gently on top of the bed. Albus removed her boots and the pins from her hair and then took a moment to debate changing her robes into something more comfortable. In the end, his desire for her to rest easily won out over any sense of modesty and a flick of his wand changed her emerald green day robes to a lovely but tasteful nightgown. Another flick of the wand and Minerva was under the covers rather than on top of them.
Pausing a moment to smooth a strand of hair back off her forehead, Albus shook his head again. "You work too hard, Minerva, sleep well," he whispered before heading back to his own rooms and bed.
Minerva woke up the next morning in complete confusion, she couldn't recall going to bed the night before; and what was she wearing? There was only one explanation as there was only one other occupant of the castle this summer capable of doing magic: Albus must have brought her to bed and transfigured the nightgown. She got out of bed and looked into the full length mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door, promptly blushing. The nightgown was absolutely lovely and certainly not undignified in the least, but it was very different from anything she would normally wear to bed. Her cheeks grew warm again thinking about her friend not only seeing her in such attire, but having chosen it for her. Whatever could he have been thinking? As she changed for the day, Minerva decided to keep the nightgown Albus had made for her rather than re-transfiguring her robes. She had decided that she quite liked it and that a lady should always have at least one nice thing to wear to bed.
Minerva usually joined Albus as well as Hogwart's Groundskeeper and Caretaker, Rubeus Hagrid and Argus Filch respectively, for breakfast in the Great Hall during the summer holidays, so that was her destination this Wednesday morning. When she arrived, the three men were already seated and each rose slightly from his seat to acknowledge the entrance of a woman into the room. Minerva had to stifle a giggle when Hagrid nearly knocked over the table, sometimes the man forgot how large he was.
She took her seat to the right of Albus, nodding to them all. "Good morning, gentlemen," she greeted them.
"Ah, I see the goddess has finally arisen from her slumber," Albus replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "I must say that I hope you will not be falling asleep at my desk every evening, although it was not entirely unpleasant to tuck you in," he added in a quieter tone.
Minerva blushed, "Why didn't you just wake me?"
He laughed, "I tried, Professor, believe me I tried. However, a certain witch who was told not to work too hard or too long seems to have taken it upon herself to do both and would not awaken no matter what I did."
"Have you forgotten your fairy tales, Headmaster?" she teased. "Perhaps a kiss would have woken the sleeping woman."
"I shall keep that in mind for next time," he answered with a chuckle. "Though I hope we will not be making a habit of my carrying you to bed at two in the morning."
"You carried me?" she asked.
"How did you think you arrived, banishing charm? Hmm, perhaps I'll try that next time."
Minerva glared at him, but Albus could tell she wasn't truly angry. "You could have levitated me. Albus, it's rather a long walk from your office to my rooms."
"It's not so far," he said airily.
"Oh, of course, how silly of me," Minerva replied. "I forgot you had been granted god status. I suppose such a task would hardly tap your many powers."
They shared a smile and turned to the bacon, eggs, and toast that was waiting for them. For a few minutes there was silence as they ate breakfast and then Minerva turned back to Albus.
"Have you received anymore declarations of love this morning?" she teased. "I feel as your deputy I should be kept informed that way, if you disappear, I'll know it was to elope with one of these women."
Albus shook his head and sighed, "Thankfully there have been no owls thus far today, but I am sure the stack will grow to be as large as yesterday's. I can't begin to thank you for your help in sorting and answering the mail. Do you think you could help me organize a calendar? Many of yesterday's letters were asking for meetings, or rather demanding my presence at various meetings, with the Board and the Ministry. There is also a conference I must attend one weekend. I'm afraid I will be traveling much this summer, but I'll never keep it all straight without your help."
"Of course, Albus," she agreed immediately. "We can begin after breakfast if you like. I have at least learned never to leave you to your own organizational devices."
"You speak the truth, my dear. I'm afraid I've never been good at keeping diaries or even keeping my office in order. I count myself lucky to have a friend and colleague such as yourself who is so skilled in these matters. After breakfast would be perfect," he agreed.
The rest of the week passed in a similar manner, Albus received enough mail to sink a ship and Minerva helped him answer it all. They also arranged a diary that would not only keep track of his meetings, but vocally remind him of upcoming events so that none would be forgotten. After that first night, Albus made sure to send Minerva to bed at eleven each night, no matter how much she protested that there was still work to do. He didn't want her working so hard just to help him when she had her own work to do. She still had all the letters to sent to first years as well as those containing O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores, granted the work would be done by enchanted quills but Minerva needed to oversee it.
The next Monday Albus had his first meeting with the Board of Governors in London, leaving the castle in Minerva's charge for the day.
