Whoa, that was quite some response! The second chapter is here and the final chapter should be up tomorrow. If you think Snape is a little too nice to Minerva in this chapter its because in my Potterverse his relationship with Min is the same as in my fic The Ancient and Dwindling.

Emutet: I hope you enjoy this chapter, sadly, things have yet to be fixed between them.

Mellypoo622: Thanks!

Natsuyori: I'm honored to have provided you with your first AD/MM fic!

TartanLioness: I've posted this on the A&M site too.

Mollisk: My most faithful reviewer, thank you.

Fluffy 928: Thank you!

Twiggi Lala: Yes, poor Aberforth. Are you registered at the Albus and Minerva ff site too? I'm there under the alias, childminerva.

Warozaka: I'm so pleased you registered here just to review my fic! Everyone, meet warozaka, she's a fan of my fic The Ancient and Dwindling House of Snape on She's been keeping me focused so I'll write Chapter 10. I don't hate Aberforth either, yes he was being a naughty boy, but who can blame him? (Besides his brother, of course.)

Always Hopeful: Yes, it is embarassing, I was cringing as I dreamt up the plot.

Three hours later, Minerva took her seat in the Teacher's Box at the Quidditch Pitch. Minerva had always been an avid Quidditch fan. Her family had annual tickets to the World Cup and she had played Chaser on the Gryffindor team for six years as a student. She knew every rule of the game and in almost fifty years of teaching had missed only a single match.

Today, the Gryffindor Lions were facing the Ravenclaw Eagles in the Quidditch Final. Gryffindor had claimed the Cup in the last two Finals, but Ravenclaw's captain, Cho Chang, had put together an excellent team. Ever since the Ravenclaw victory two weeks ago that had brought them into the Championship, Minerva and Ravenclaw's Head of House, Filius Flitwick, had been looking forward to this game, discussing the odds of each team winning and even placing bets.

But at the moment, Minerva was in no mood for Quidditch; Albus had just entered the box and sat down, not in his customary seat beside her, but beside Professor Vector, five rows away.

Hufflepuff Fifth year, Melissa Crow had replaced Lee Jordan at the microphone as commentator and was announcing the players as they walked onto the field below. Now that Lee Jordan had graduated, Minerva no longer had to monitor what was said, but she often found that she missed Lee's humorous, barbed and occasionally inappropriate, commentary.

Minerva tried to focus on the game, hoping it would take her mind off what had happened earlier, but it was a hopeless endeavor. Ravenclaw had taken an early lead, which caused the tiny Flitwick to stand up in his seat and cheer excitedly. But when Gryffindor scored four goals in quick succession, Lyle McLaggen, the Auror turned Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and former Gryffindor, turned to Flitwick and poked him playfully in the back.

"Take that, you old goat!" he shouted teasingly, his handsome features glowing as he laughed.

Minerva winced at McLaggen's unfortunate choice of words. She looked back at Albus to see if he had noticed. He was gazing resolutely at the players in the air, but there was a tightness in his jaw that had not been there earlier. She sighed; it must have seemed pretty awful from his perspective too, his Deputy snogging his brother in his own bed. Just thinking about what had happened caused her cheeks to burn.

Apparently it was an exciting game. The crowd was screaming itself hoarse and several teachers around her were on their feet, clapping and cheering along with their students, not that teachers are supposed to take sides or anything.

Minerva remained seated, thoroughly miserable. If Albus didn't believe that she wasn't involved with his brother then their friendship would be forever damaged.

A cheer went up from the Gryffindor supporters; Minerva didn't even look up. On her left, Severus Snape leaned over to hiss in her ear.

"This is probably the best played game of Quidditch Hogwarts has seen in ages, and you're not even watching it!"

She glared at him and turned back to the game just in time to see Seekers Harry Potter and Cho Chang shoot towards each other from opposite ends of the Pitch. The crowd held its breath as the two raced to grab the Snitch; Cho was closer, but just as her hand was stretching towards it, Harry lurched forward on his broom and snatched it away. The crowd was beside itself; the score was now 260:170 and Gryffindor had claimed the Cup for the third year in a row.

Minerva breathed a sigh of relief; at least one thing had gone right today. She found her hand being shaken by a beaming Professor Flitwick.

"Congratulations, Minerva!" he squeaked happily, showing absolutely no disappointment that his House had lost. "It was a marvelous game!"

"Thank you, Filius."

"Here are your winnings," he said, holding out a bag of Galleons.

"What? Oh, I don't want the money."

"Nonsense, Minerva. Its only fifteen Galleons."

"I said I don't want it!" snapped Minerva, causing Flitwick's cheery smile to vanish.

"Minerva, are you-"

"I'm sorry, Filius," she said sadly. "It was a good game; Ravenclaw played very well. Please, just keep the money."

She left the Teacher's Box quickly and headed toward the center of the field where Albus was presenting the Gryffindor team with the Quidditch Cup. She was somewhat hampered by the students swarming onto the field, many of them shouting their congratulations on her House's victory. When she finally reached Albus he was walking back up to the castle with the other teachers.

"Albus, could I have a word?" she asked in a low voice as she walked up beside him and placed a hand on his arm.

He stopped walking and turned face her, stiffly removing her hand.

"I think not, Minerva," he said in a cool voice, his eyes staring down at her in contempt, "A picture is, after all, worth a thousand words and the picture that I saw painted of you this morning spoke quite clearly. Frankly, I've heard enough."

He set off toward the castle once more. Minerva felt as if she'd been slapped. The teachers standing nearby had followed their conversation closely and were now talking amongst themselves, shooting furtive looks in Minerva's direction.

"Trouble in paradise?" asked a low voice at her shoulder. Severus Snape was looking at her with thinly veiled concern.

She glared at him a moment before backing down.

"To be quite honest, I feel as if I've had the Forbidden Fruit shoved down my throat," she muttered; still conscious of the stares she was receiving.

"Well, whatever it is you've done, make up for it," said Severus quietly, "because, frankly, this tension between the two of you is scaring the hell out of the staff."

He began to leave, then paused.

"By the way, it really was a great game."

Minerva sighed bitterly. "So I've heard."