Chapter Seven

"Checkmate, Albus."

I leant back in my chair with a faint smile on my face. Even though I liked my Professor- whom I'd grown accustomed to call Albus in private- I liked winning as well, and every weekly chess match was another battle for victory. We were- and are- both excellent chess players, and neither of us was used to losing much. We were worthy opponents, as Albus always used to say.

My beloved teacher, sitting opposite me, bowed his head in acknowledgement after staring at the chess pieces for a split second. He was grinning, though, and when he looked up again, his eyes were twinkling in that very typical way of his.

"And once more you triumph, my dear."

I smiled and rolled my eyes at this remark. He very well knew he was just as good as I was, and that winning or losing between us two was almost entirely a matter of chance. Then again he was, and stayed, always the perfect gentleman in that positively preposterous yet so adorable way of his.

My eyes locked with his for a moment, and I knew I should have lowered my gaze- but I could not resist. A strange silence fell, the way it always fell after our chess match had ended- but it was different that time. More comfortable- and warmer.

"Well- I guess I should be going now, before someone catches me in the corridors after curfew."

Yet still he did not speak a word, and as he stood up as well, a gentle smile on his lips, I could not but mirror that smile. His eyes were, and still are, damn enchanting, and frankly, I have never been able to resist them.

Albus could and still can express the world with those eyes.

"Minerva?"

I looked up. There was something, hidden in the depths of his low voice, that was new and yet not new to me- and though it did not surprise me, I almost heard my own heart beating inside of my chest.

"Albus?"

His blue eyes bored in my green ones, and as his hand came to rest against my cheek, I was lost.

His lips touched mine just a moment later. It was the first kiss I had ever received, and it was short, but it was enough. As I rested my head against his chest a moment later, I heard the unspoken apology in his voice.

"Minerva- I…"

"I believe I love you."

I don't know which hidden power inside of me made me speak those words so seemingly rashly- and so quickly, too, to somebody who was my teacher no less. I honestly don't know, even now- but I meant them with all heart I possessed.

There was apology is his eyes as well, but that, too, I kissed away. I knew he loved me- his inability to let me go proved that- and at that moment I knew that no rule, regulation or scandal in the world would ever separate us.

As our lips touched each other again, though, this time for more than just an instant, something strange happened.

The fluttering feeling inside of my stomach did not subside- nor did the overwhelming amount of love leave my eyes for just an instant- but all of a sudden, I found myself staring at Albus in surprise. The clothes he wore- but before I could even finish my thought, our mouths left each other and we just stood there. His stare was no less surprised than mine, and I understood that we had seen the same thing. His words only proved that feeling of mine right.

"Minerva- your dress- it was…"

"Albus, your clothes-"

No more did we say, though. Both of us knew that the other had not got the answers we desired, and as we sank down on the couch together, my head on his chest, his hand toying with my braid, I knew, and he knew, that we were both wondering what this previous, strange experience of us could possibly mean.

I was the first one to speak up, though.

"I thinkI loved you beforeI met you."

And I had the strange feeling that I was right.