Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Epilogue.
It had been a harder job to clear the rest of the group from his office than it had been to shoo the new parents out of the door, but that was hardly surprising. Albus Dumbledore was certain he had never seen either of them look quite as relieved and happy as they had done today, and he could hardly think of a couple who deserved this completion more than they. Despite what some people seemed to expect, he was genuinely and truly happy for them and yet…
The gaping hole in his chest was as open as it had been when he had first realised what had happened. It was a month to the day that he had last seen Minerva; since they had sat next to each other at the staff table, since he had poured tea for her as she had chided him over his third helping of pudding. On impulse he stood and left the haven of his office to traverse the short distance to Minerva's quarters. To what had previously been Minerva's quarters: they were bare now, stripped of anything that could possibly hold any significance, trigger any memory of her. The Ministry had seen to that. As he stood there, in the shell of the room that had at one point been such a vibrant reminder of her, he realised just how far away she now was. He supposed that if she had died it would have been different; he knew that she would have waited for him wherever she was, as he would have done for her, but now…
And if she had passed away in the night, if she had been in an accident, been ill or even attacked, he would still have something to remind him, to keep the memories rather than the pain so fresh. But there was nothing. He was left with nothing. They had come in like a whirlwind and removed every essence of her from the castle, not only from her rooms but her office and classroom stripped bare as well, like a deserted town with no sign that anyone once lived there.
Neither of then had ever been in the habit of buying each other gifts; years of concealing a relationship taught you that some things just weren't worth the risks. There was the odd thing that she had left in his room, hairpins and underwear, but they lacked something that he couldn't even identify. As he stood there now, he let the tears fall despite himself. Today had been a triumph. Anna had been given the best possible chance that she could have had and in turn had given something to two of the people he cared most for in the world. He was happy for them. And he couldn't tell why it was that this wasn't enough to overcome the pain that threatened to consume him. He knew that Anna was key in his ability to overcome this, knew that he only had to look at her for his heart to lift, if only a little, but yet the selfish part of him wanted something, just something that had been purely Minerva, something that he could cling to as a life raft, if only for a while.
He must have been there in that almost bare room for hours, as when he came back to himself it was growing dark outside. It was only as he realised that he required a light now to guide his way that sudden inspiration struck him. He could not be sure, but there was only one way to possibly establish whether of not his idea had any merit and so, doing his utmost to remain restrained he made his way up the staircases and along the myriad of corridors until he reached the Room of Requirement. As he walked, he tried frantically to remember whether he'd seen what it was he sought listed in the pages and pages of confiscated items that they had compiled and sent him. There was a door there, waiting for him, as he turned the corner and he paused outside it for a moment before turning the door handle. There was one thing that meant more to Minerva than almost any other and yet did not typically live in any of the rooms that the Law Enforcement Officials had searched. Albus had closed his eyes as he stepped through the threshold without even realising it, and when he opened them and saw it lying there on the scrubbed oak table in the middle of the non-descript room, he had almost forgotten to breathe. On the opposite wall was a large sash-window through which the sun poured and caught on the battered but well loved wood of a traditional Scots fiddle.
When her father had died this was what Minerva had felt the closest tie with, and, along with Lamblet, this was what she had chosen to bring to with her to Hogwarts when she had left her Highland home for the last time. He had rarely heard her play, though from what he had caught over the years it was plain that she had a natural talent for the, traditional celtic tunes that she had learned from her father. That said, she had never learned to play by anything other than ear and seemed to have been plagued by a chronic shyness or fear of being overheard. When things got on top of her however, she often retreated, usually here where she could be certain that no-one would be able to hear, or stumble upon her, and threw herself into the music. Albus himself was no musician but as he picked up the violin and bow they sparked off a warm contentment. He remembered Minerva's one and only attempt to teach him to play even Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Their attempt had been a short one and the lessons had been spent primarily in laughter rather than actually teaching or learning. It was not something of huge significance in and of itself, and yet it seemed that it was what he had needed, the anchor he had craved for. The next big trial was perhaps more telling; if this was, in fact, the instrument that Minerva had treasured so closely then when he stepped back over the threshold then it would remain within his grip, otherwise it would disappear and leave him clutching at thin air.
He paused once more before the doorway, closed his eyes and held his breath before taking that telling step forward. He knew the result without having to open his eyes; the strings were still biting into his fingers and the bow wrapped firmly in his other hand.
A/N: Well that's it the end of the first part of R2T. Feels quite odd…
Oh well.
Genuinely hope that some of you enjoyed reading this nearly as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Much thanks to Maria, Q, Mascarat and Rachel who have all at one stage or another, beta'd, made invaluable suggestions and put up with me spraffing about it.
There will be multiple sequels to this at some stage (hopefully in the near future as I've made a start on the first chapter of part 2…) so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Ummmm, yeah – thanks again for reading.
Please review
Linds
xxx
UPDATE (05/02/06): Sequel posted here - http/
