Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, and things, (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. (This story takes place during Harry's sixth year.)
Chapter 3: Following the clues.
Minerva gasped in surprise when she landed in the arms of none other than Albus. She raised an eyebrow at the smirk on his face. "It must be my lucky day," he remarked.
"And why is that?" she inquired.
"Because it is not everyday that beautiful women fall from the sky," he said chuckling.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Albus Dumbledore, put me down this instant."
He sighed dramatically and complied. "You really shouldn't be up on a ladder, my dear, considering that it was not too long ago that you abandoned your cane. What on earth possessed you to decorate the muggle way?"
"I wanted to feel like I had accomplished something," she admitted.
"There are much safer ways of doing that, you know. Suppose I had not walked by, what would you have done?" he inquired.
She grinned wryly. "Cats always land on their feet. I would have landed on my feet, of course."
They continued speaking as they hung a few lower decorations. "I don't believe I've seen you as a cat for a while now. Have you changed your routine or have you been a human lately?"
She looked at her shoes and did not answer immediately. Not wanting to tell the person who had helped her become an animagus that she had not been able to transform lately was not at the top of her list for conversation topics. "I've just changed my routine. Could you hand me that streamer over there?"
He noted her evasive answer, but let it pass and handed her the streamer. "Would you care to join me after you finish decorating for a game of chess?" he requested.
She smiled and nodded. "I would like that. I'll be along in a while, but I need to check on Ro first."
He left the Great Hall while she walked over to Rolanda. The flying instructor had previously been setting up table clothes and centerpieces when something else had caught her eye. Minerva walked over to her and quietly followed her line of site. Severus stood on the other side of the room, having been roped into decorating, and was assisting with the placement of the enchanted faux wrens.
"Ro, stop staring at Severus," Minerva lightly scolded, tapping her friend on the shoulder.
Rolanda stared at her incredulously. "I was not staring! Granted the man's handsome in his own macabre way but honestly Min, he was just over there and-"
"Admit it Ro: you were staring at him," she teased. By then Severus had finished his task and left the room.
The other woman sighed in defeat. "Alright, maybe I was. It's not like the man ever cared what I thought. He's so engrossed in his potions that he wouldn't notice if anyone was behind him until the person grabbed his shoulders and snogged him! The man's as dense as one of those cauldrons!"
Minerva had tried not to laugh but had failed miserably, dissolving into peals of laughter. "I believe this is the pot calling the kettle- no, calling the cauldron black! You always tell me that I should talk to Albus, and here you are gawking at a man yourself."
Rolanda put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I suppose you find this all terribly funny, well I don't!"
"Something tells me that you never even tried to get his attention. The little scene you described is more likely a fantasy of yours that you are afraid of indulging under pain of death," Minerva remarked.
The flying instructor sighed. "You know what, Min? You and I make quite a pair, don't we? We both have someone we can't tell things to. Well, now that you probably know my deepest darkest secret, as if you didn't already, I should be going."
Before she left the room, Minerva stopped her. "I bet he'd notice you if you put in a little effort."
"Thanks," she said as they hugged.
As she watched Rolanda saunter down the hall, Minerva's thoughts returned to Albus. I wish he cared about me as I care about him. The man's flirtatious and I only end up more confused than ever when he does that. This chess game is only going cause more stress for me, she realized reluctantly.
She soon reached his study and the two began the game. Not wanting to say anything relating to her own feelings, she remained silent and the game was quiet until Albus finally spoke. "My dear, you've been very quiet lately. I suppose you have much on your mind these days?"
Sighing, she realized she would have to say something. "Everyone avoids the topic, but that evil wizard out there is breathing down our necks, waiting to strike. You don't know how much I abhor telling students that someone they love has been killed," she expressed.
He nodded slowly. "But you forget, my dear, that I do know all about that. I had that sad duty during the days of Grindewald," he paused and touched her shoulder affectionately. "I am sorry though, that such a duty must be performed at all."
She smiled sadly. "Ro was right; I should have said something sooner."
As they turned back to the game, he spoke again. "Have you noticed Rolanda and Severus lately?"
Smirking, she nodded. "I caught her staring at him today when we were decorating. Ro even admitted to thinking of him as handsome."
Albus chuckled. "If only you had seen Severus before you fell off the ladder. He was so intent on watching her that he kept hanging those wrens upside-down like bats!"
Minerva laughed. "It doesn't look as though the two of them plan to do anything more than stare at each other before the other one stares back."
She won the chess game and they parted for the day after exchanging quick hugs. After spending a few hour marking, Minerva decided to take a walk. Outside on the beautifully white snowy grounds she noticed Severus also walking along, carrying a book in his hand. "Where are you going?" she inquired.
"I'm looking for Rolanda," he simply replied.
"You might try the Quidditch Pitch," Minerva suggested.
Severus and Minerva walked out to the Quidditch Pitch to locate Rolanda, the snow crunching beneath their feet. "Where on earth could that woman be? I need to ask her about some suspicious flying I observed at the last Quidditch game," he complained.
Minerva sighed. "Just because your side lost does not mean that anyone cheated," she reminded stiffly.
"I am well aware of that but…" he trailed off when he spotted something flying overhead. His jaw dropped upon realizing that the creature flying in loop formations in the sky was Rolanda. "What on earth is she bloody doing?"
The Transfiguration professor could not conceal a smirk. "I'm surprised that you did not know about Ro's habit of stunt-flying. It's something she does to, as some of the students put it, 'burn off steam.' As you can see, one of her favourites is walking on the broom without holding onto anything and diving."
Severus shook his head in disapproval. "That's one of the most dangerous things I've ever seen. She ought to at least have someone spotting her."
"If I didn't know better, I would say you are worried about her," Minerva teased.
He scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. I'd just rather not replace a flying instructor any time soon because the other one was killed while showing off. There she is up there, making quite a time of it as if she didn't know gravity existed."
"You're staring at her, and don't deny it. You have not taken your eyes off her since you noticed where she was," Minerva pointed out slyly.
"I don't know what you're implying, but frankly I…" he paused as Rolanda's routine took a twist no one had anticipated. "Hold this," he stated as he thrust the book into Minerva's hands and dashed toward the spare brooms lying on the ground.
Within seconds he was mounted on the broom and trailing Rolanda. She did what he had predicted she would do and accidentally fell backward. However, he caught her as the broom began its decent. Levitating her now vacant broom, he landed and helped her to her feet. Then he scolded her.
"Woman, that was the most reckless stunt I have ever seen! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to do that, let alone without someone to spot you?"
Rolanda glared at him indignantly. "I'll have you know that I was fine. What are you doing out here anyway?"
Minerva returned the book to Severus and he faced the flying instructor. "Some of the flying at the last Quidditch match looked suspicious and I wanted to know if you noticed anything odd. I suppose you could say that I was looking for the educated opinion on the subject of flying."
"But you found me instead," Rolanda added. "And don't think that I might be indebted to you at all because you caught me."
He chuckled. "Of course not, I was merely helping the school by keeping you from plummeting to your death."
"Now back to your question, you may be right. If there was more than one referee…" she and Severus were walking back to the castle, forgetting about Minerva in their discussion. She's going to recruit him to help her watch the game, Minerva surmised as she headed back to the castle to finish marking.
Just after Christmas, Minerva could not have been feeling worse. Certain she had some odd sort of long-term walking virus, she decided to visit Poppy. As she passed through the door, she stopped and steadied herself on a table, attempting to combat the dizziness. Poppy had been pouring over a few medical forms when she noticed Minerva.
"Min, are you alright? You should sit down for a moment," the medwitch advised.
"Poppy, I don't know what is bothering me. I have heard of walking pneumonia; perhaps I have some sort of walking virus," she stated.
As the medwitch performed a basic diagnosis spell, Rolanda burst into the room holding her left arm. "Poppy, I sprained my left elbow again. I was trying to clean off some of the Quidditch equipment and I had an incident with a bludger. I tell you, those things are-" she paused, noticing Minerva. "Min, what are you doing here? You look like death warmed over."
Minerva rolled her eyes. "Thank you," she said sarcastically. "I'm here to figure out why I've been feeling like death warmed over lately."
The spell finished, causing a purple glow to surround Minerva. Poppy raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "I think something didn't work right. The only way it would be purple was if- never mind, I'll try it again. Have you experienced any trouble lately in transforming into your animagus form?"
She nodded. "Yes, I was planning on asking you about that while I'm here."
After four tries, the result was the same. Poppy took a deep breath and sat down next to Minerva after quickly healing Rolanda's elbow. Rolanda had opted to stay due to her incurable curiosity. "Min," Poppy began, "there is a logical reason why you can't hold your animagus form at the moment. I wish there was an easier way to tell you this: you are with child."
Minerva was silent for what seemed like an eternity. She had her hand over her mouth in shock, but then slowly removed it. "Oh dear Merlin, no!" she gasped quietly.
"Dare I ask how you came to find yourself in this condition?" Poppy probed.
Rolanda stared at her friend, wide-eyed. "Min, care to tell us what this is all about and whom you've been seeing?"
Minerva turned her head away as a few teardrops hit her robes. "How am I ever going to explain this to Albus?" she whispered.
Grabbing Minerva's arm so she would face them, Rolanda spoke. "I've been trying to get you and Albus together for months. What does Albus have to do with your present circumstances?"
The Transfiguration professor stood and walked toward the window. "Do I have to spell things out for you?" she snapped. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, slowly facing them again. "Ro, do you recall the Halloween party and my or Albus' leaving?"
She nodded. "A think I vaguely remember you two ducking out early, but I didn't think anything of it because I was too busy looking for Sev- I mean the punch. What I do remember is that hippogriff and the mess that is made. Going back to the matter at hand, what happened after you left?"
"Before we left, Hagrid gave Albus a bottle of what he told him was sparkling cider for compensation regarding the trouble the hippogriff had caused," Minerva relayed.
"You mean it wasn't sparkling cider?" Poppy inquired.
Minerva sighed heavily and shook her head. Rolanda walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It was Champaign, wasn't it?" she asked. Minerva nodded.
"Within a span of less than twelve hours, I had the best and worst time of my life," she admitted.
"And how much did you two drink before you realized what it was?" Poppy questioned.
"We were having fun toasting and had consumed roughly two thirds of the bottle. When we discovered what it was and I realized how incredibly intoxicated we both were, I knew that I should have left," Minerva conveyed.
"Then why didn't you?" Rolanda gently inquired.
Minerva pressed her forehead against the window, watching as Albus left the castle to take a walk. "Because I didn't want to. I was weak and selfish. He was kissing me and I it was like a dream I didn't want to wake up from. When we finally did wake up, we realized what we had allowed ourselves to do and he blamed himself. He was worried that I was angry with him. I was only able to tell him that it was not his fault alone, and that I was not upset with him before he stated that we would not bring up the incident again."
"But you wanted to tell him more?" Rolanda surmised.
Turning back to face her friends, Minerva's eyes held an intensity rarely seen, along with a steady stream of tears. "Yes! I wanted to tell him that though it was unintended, I had no regrets. I wanted to tell him how much I truly love him, but he never gave me the chance."
"Oh Min, I'm so sorry. All this explains the terrible mood you've been in lately," Rolanda said as she wrapped her arms around her friend and let Minerva cry.
"Ro, I can't let this happen. I can't expect him to take any responsibility in this. He'll despise me for it, I'm certain. But how can I expect to be a mother and teach? This is such a ruddy mess!" Minerva lamented.
"Then one question remains: now that you know it is, what do you plan to do about it?" Poppy inquired.
(my thanks to miss mcGonagle, esb, Lady Jolly, Quill of Minerva, Leta McGotor, TartanLioness, LinZE, Alesia G, kidarock, Lady Urquentha, girl from iceland, and Always Hopeful for reviewing :D)