Chapter Four

The sky was dark, save for the occasional little red on-and-off light coming from a muggle war airplane crossing the sky- and Minerva tilted her head back a little, resting it against the stone wall behind her once more. The top of the Astronomy Tower had always been one of her favourite spots at Hogwarts, and visiting it at night was one of the rare abuses of her Head Girl power that she permitted herself. Her natural feeling for what was right and what wasn't opposed to the idea of her sneaking out of her dormitory- but she couldn't help it. Summer was coming closer, and the temperatures at night were, if not warm, then still agreeable- but that was not what made her come here at night.

A sigh escaped her lips as, with a monotone sound, another plane passed above her head, and her black braid curtly shook along with the rest of her head as she tried to think of where it was heading for.

The East- Germany, she knew, and for a short moment, she actually wondered why that idea gave her an uncomfortable feeling, low in her stomach

The next second, though, she remembered it again- and sighed once more at the thought of the stupidity of some of the people surrounding her. Most of her muggleborn classmates really believed that throwing bombs on Germany was the solution- but Minerva only knew too well that it wasn't.

They didn't understand it if she voiced her opinion, though.

"Minerva, you of all people…"

But they did not get it.

"When I see those planes fly over to Germany, I don't think about those leaders, safely hidden in their underground palaces. I think about the little girl in Berlin who perhaps gets a bombshell in her leg on this very moment…"

Minerva bit her lips and looked up at the stars once more- eyes having adjusted at the darkness, finally able to see more than just the poignant red lights. She'd never really been the one for stargazing, actually, but sometimes, she liked it.

It helped her to think.

And sometimes…

A pair of warm arms enfolding her from behind did not even make her look up again, and a soft smile graced her lips as, leaning back, the back of her head was cradled by what only could be the thick, auburn beard of the man she loved so very much. A pair of lips gently kissing the top of head made her turn around, and almost impulsively she pressed her lips to his, over and over again, as if to never let go. When, moments later, Minerva pulled back again, slightly panting- she still did not say a word. She just leant her hands against Albus's cheeks and then, at his pulling her closer, gladly fell into his embrace once more.

"You're cold, Minerva."

"No, I'm not…" was her muttered, absent-minded reply, but only as he covered her shoulders by his own thick, purple cloak did she realize how comfortable that felt.

"Yes, you are."

"Perhaps- a little."

A faint, impish smile of his made her smile as well, and in silence, the two people sat there, atop of the Astronomy Tower, her head on his shoulder, his head atop of her head. The stars were bright, that night- yet Minerva could not keep her eyes off the seven stars which, to her, seemed to stand out more than the others.

"Ursa Major, my dear; The so-called "Great Bear". Seven stars, quite bright tonight." came Albus's soft answer to her unspoken question, and Minerva sighed.

"Seven… yes, seven. You see that one, that faint one on the left? I bet that's my grandmother. Ill, and old, but ever-present… and that one close to her is granddad- he loves her so much, you know? And then that one is mother- it's bright and somehow seems to watch over the other stars, and next to her is dad, of course. I bet he's winking at me right now. Then there is Tosia- already such a big girl- and the bright one is little Betty. And then that one- that- that must be me, I suppose."

The silence which followed was filled with tension, sadness- and a strange sort of melancholy, too. The expression in Minerva's eyes, Albus realized, came, perhaps, closest to "dumbfounded".

Only moments later, tears started to fall.