Chapter 11: Finding Light in Darkness
A couple of months later, Minerva flooed into Albus' rooms early one morning in her nightgown and bare feet, her dark hair falling in messy waves down her back.
"Albus!" she called into the dark, waking him up. "Look at the paper."
She spread a copy of the Daily Prophet over his body, which was only just beginning to stir. There, on the front page was a large and ghastly picture of a skull with a snake leaving the mouth hovering above a house.
Albus looked up at Minerva in concern when he heard the distress in her voice, but his gaze was stopped momentarily by the sight of her in nothing but the nightgown he had transfigured for her back in August. He couldn't believe she had kept it, or that she was wearing it now in the dead of winter. Finally, his blue eyes made it to her face and he was chagrined when he realized she was glaring at him. He reached for his half-moon spectacles and lit a few candles with his wand before finally looking at the paper. Albus picked the paper up off his stomach where Minerva had placed it and sat up, a frown creasing his face as he took in the picture.
"What does it mean, Albus?" she asked, worry evident in her voice.
He reached over and pulled her to sit beside him on the bed and sighed heavily before answering. "I believe it means he is finally ready to announce himself to the world," he said.
Minerva's brow furrowed in confusion. "Who is?"
Albus looked at her, troubled blue eyes met worried green and held them while he spoke, "Tom Riddle."
"What!" she gasped in surprise. "You mean Tom Riddle who was a prefect the year I graduated?"
"Yes," Albus nodded, "the very same. Tell me, did you ever notice anything...odd about him?"
"You mean like never trusting him although the rest of the school thought he was wonderful?" Minerva asked quickly.
"I never trusted him either, especially after your last year. It always seemed a bit too coincidental to me the way he just happened to catch Hagrid with a beast the very day they announced that the school would be closing. After he left I lost track of him during the last days of the war and then I received a report of suspicious activity in Asia. I followed up with my contacts and have been able to track Tom off and on for the last twenty-some years. I have no proof yet, but the last I heard he was heading toward Britain again. I believe he is the one behind the strange deaths this year and it looks as though he is finally announcing himself to the public."
Minerva sat looking at the picture in the paper in silence for nearly a full minute before speaking again, "What does he want?"
Albus' voice was grave when he answered, "He has been steeping himself in the dark arts. Traveling far and wide to acquire as many powers as he can and from what I hear, looking for ways to make himself immortal. I believe he has come back to his home country in order to prove himself more powerful than those he believes made his childhood miserable."
"He seeks power?" she asked.
"Yes, but I believe it is more than that. I believe he wants recognition, he desires to have others fear him," Albus added. "If he is leaving his mark over victims, it is safe to assume he has gathered followers."
"Then youthink he is not acting alone?"
"Thus far, he may have conducted all the killings himself, but before long I believe we will be seeing more frequent and large scale attacks," he said sadly. "We must be prepared."
"He will hide himself well," Minerva said. "What can we do?"
"We will watch, and listen. We will find those loyal to the light who are in positions to gather information and watch for strange behavior in others. Preferably people who remember Grindelwald's rise to power, people who will know what to look for," Albus answered.
"You've already made contacts haven't you?" she asked, looking him over carefully.
Albus gave a small smile, "You know me too well, my dear. Yes, I have had people looking and listening where ever possible since the first strange deaths were reported. We will have to begin meeting officially soon, I fear."
"I want to help you," she said quickly. "Whatever it is you plan to do, I want to be part of it."
"It will be dangerous, Minerva," he said seriously. "You will already be in danger because of your work here, because you publically support everything I do."
"Then there's no reason I shouldn't be part of this," Minerva countered logically. "If I'm going to be a target anyway, I might as well be useful rather than a sitting duck."
"Stubborn," Albus muttered. "But I suppose you're right. I could never keep you from joining the fight anyway."
"No, you couldn't," she agreed with a grin.
Albus checked his watch, "We still have an hour and a half before breakfast. You don't need that long to get dressed do you?"
"No..." she answered cautiously.
"Good," he replied, lying down again and bringing her with him.
Minerva shook her head and kissed him lightly on the lips before resting her head on his chest and snuggling into his arms. "If we're late I'm going to tell everyone it's your fault," she threatened.
"You would admit to your classes that you were in bed with the headmaster all morning?" he teased. "I don't know if our students could stand the scandal."
She rolled her eyes, "I doubt they would even hear me. Sometimes I swear they're not listening at all."
"You underestimate yourself, my dear," Albus said as he tightened his arms around her. "Most students never act like they're paying attention, but yours listen to you. They couldn't possibly avoid it, I've seen you teach a class."
"If you'd seen some of the accidents that occur in my classroom you might think otherwise," she countered.
"How could they possibly pay attention to anything else with you standing in front of them," Albus said.
Minerva propped herself up on one arm to look down at him. "Albus, most of my students don't share your view of me. They're teenagers, not barmy old men."
"I believe I should be offended," he said, "but somehow you're just too gorgeous first thing in the morning to get angry with." Albus reached up to cup the back of Minerva's head in one strong hand and pulled it down to his for a lingering kiss.
They spent the next half hour cuddling in the bed before Minerva reluctantly rose to return to her own rooms to prepare for the day.
Over the next week, letters began pouring into Albus' office again. The Ministry wanted his opinion on the recent appearance of the strange skull and his friends also wrote, either with questions or information. On Saturday afternoon while the older students and some of the staff were in Hogsmeade Albus and Minerva were in his office discussing Tom Riddle and the recent information that had been gathered. There wasn't much and they were succeeding in coming up with far more questions than answers. Albus had gotten up to look for something in his bedroom when another owl flew through the window and landed on the desk with a sharp hoot.
"See what that is will you, Minerva," he called from the bedroom. "Just open it up, I'll be there in a minute."
Minerva crossed to the desk and took the letter, giving the owl a couple of treats out of the drawer. She opened the scroll and began reading, green eyes narrowing behind her square spectacles as she neared the bottom.
Albus re-entered the room to see why Minerva wasn't reading the letter out to him and was shocked when he saw her rigid back, narrowed eyes, and thin lips. "Minerva?" he asked cautiously.
"What is this?" she asked harshly, waving the letter at him.
"I don't know," he answered, trying very hard to reign in his frustration. "What is it?"
"It is," Minerva said in a dangerous voice, "a letter from Ms. Marianne Dillmount, who is still asking you to visit her in Glasgow."
Albus took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he did so. "My dear, I fail to see why you are angry," he said as calmly as he could. "You have always known that I receive this type of mail. What is the problem?"
"What is the problem?" she repeated incredulously. "The problem is we weren't dating eight months ago when I first read your fan mail. The problem is that I am wondering right now why you haven't written to these women to tell them you are unavailable and do not wish to receive their letters anymore."
"Minerva, I don't even open those," Albus said, with just a trace of impatience in his voice. "Or if I open one by accident I throw it in the fire before I read it. You know I've never cared about any of my admirers."
"That's not the point," she countered, crushing the letter in her fist as she stepped closer to him.
Albus sighed, he really didn't understand women sometimes. "Then what is the point?" he asked.
"The point is that things are different now," Minerva answered with the air of explaining to a three year old that one and one really do add up to two. "You can't just ignore other women anymore, Albus."
Albus smiled on the inside, he could handle this. He took a few slow strides toward Minerva, closing the distance between them, and placed his hands gently on her upper arms. "You're the only woman I even notice these days," he said calmly and sincerely, rubbing her arms.
She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Men."
"And just what does that mean?" Albus asked, narrowing his own blue eyes.
"It means that ignoring them isn't enough," she answered much more quietly, looking up to meet his gaze. "It might not bother you that you receive these letters, but it bothers me. I want you to want other women to leave you alone, to know you're not available."
Suddenly, Albus understood. It wasn't about other women desiring him, it was about his disinterest in doing anything about the matter. He drew Minerva all the way to his body and held her there, despite the stiffening of her spine. When he spoke his voice was very serious.
"Minerva, those women have never meant anything to me. I don't want someone who treats me the way they do, some of them only want to be seen on the arm of a famous wizard. You have never acted that way around me, for as long as I've known you I've always felt like just another man in your presence. I have always known that you care about me for who I am rather than what I have done and I can never express to you how grateful I am for that."
He pulled back enough to look into her eyes, "What I'm trying to say is that I love you."
Minerva studied his eyes for a moment, as if searching for truth, and then spoke quietly, "I love you too. I'm sorry I yelled at you," she added with a sigh. "I know it's not your fault they write to you, I just hate the thought of other women believing you're available to them. I want you all to myself."
"You've got me," Albus whispered as he leaned his head forward to brush his lips over hers.
Their kiss quickly grew in intensity and passion until they had to break apart in order to breathe. Albus initiated another kiss almost instantly and his hands rubbed Minerva's back, both relaxing her and pressing her closer to his own body. After several more minutes of passionate kisses they pulled apart slightly, lips swollen, hair mussed, both breathing hard.
"Minerva," Albus said huskily.
"Albus," she answered breathlessly.
Without another word being spoken, they both knew what the other wanted and needed. Albus took Minerva by the hand and led her into his bedroom. If the students had known why the headmaster and deputy headmistress never arrived at dinner they would indeed have been scandalized.
