AN: Woot! No classes tonight. Gotta love it! Here is the next chapter of our little melodrama; I hope it's up to snuff tonight. I just want to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Keep it up; you guy's absolutely rock my oversized socks!
The light was just beginning to creep over the mountain tops as Minerva once again entered the village. A few brave women were awake braving the cool morning air, sweeping out doorways and opening shutters for the day's business. The weather was just beginning to warm, and people were once again venturing outdoors. She bypassed them all, ignoring everything around her, focused on a sole point farther along the cobbled road. Her steps were slow, but sure, never faltering.
Finally, the cottage came into view. Nothing seemed to have changed since the day before; even the ivy still clung to the walls. But, everything had, and for the first time in her life, Minerva knocked on her own door.
There was movement and a muffled curse from the other side just before the door opened to reveal the object of her ire. He stood in the door way like an arrant school boy, eyes downcast and shoulders slumped. His hair was messy and it looked as if he hadn't slept well, if at all.
Without a word being spoken between them, Michael stepped aside to allow her entrance, shutting the door silently behind her. "I'm so glad you," she held up to hand.
"You said you had an explanation." There was a coolness in her voice that hadn't been there before.
He nodded and walked toward the couch beside the fire, waiting for her to join him before sitting down. Michael leaned forward, running his hands through his hair before looking back to her. "I thought it was you." The look he received could have made a pack of werewolves cry. "I swear Tabs. I thought she was you."
"The fact you couldn't tell the difference, Michael, is not at all reassuring."
His cheeks flushed, and he let a tinge of desperation infuse his voice. "She arrived not long before you were supposed to. She looked like you, moved like you, smelled like you," he added a little more quietly. "You cannot honestly think I would do something like that to you?"
"What would you have me think Michael? I come home to find..that," she waved her hand toward the bathroom in disgust. "What would you think in my place," she asked.
"I would hope," he began softly, choosing his words carefully, "that you love me enough to believe me."
She shook her head, giving a mirthless laugh. "Michael, the fact I love you is the only reason you're still in one piece," she said dryly. "Be thankful." She stood up and walked toward the empty fireplace. Her eyes were drawn to the many photographs sitting atop the mantle piece, and she ran her finger gently over several of them.
"Just for the sake of argument, let's say I believe you. The next question is why?"
Michael stared at her back, working to suppress his grin. It wasn't going as badly as he thought it would. "Why? Why what?"
"Don't Michael. Stupidity doesn't become you. Why would someone go through all of the trouble? What would there be to gain? A Polyjuice Potion could go wrong with little effort. What could possibly be worth the risk."
He stood, spurred on when she didn't shake off his hand from her shoulder. "Between your work with Albus and my research, there are many people who aren't fond of us. My guess is one of them decided to make our lives difficult. The question is," he whispered, leaning into her, "do we let them?"
Instantly, she turned on him, allowing her anger to show for the first time. "Don't! I need time to think Michael. You cannot expect me to simply fall into your arms sobbing like some hormonal school girl. Stay away from the castle, and me. When I've decided I will let you know."
She walked out the door and fled back to the sane insanity of Hogwarts. She wasn't even paying attention, but she wasn't surprised when her feet carried her to Albus' chambers. She gave the password and took her customary place on his sofa automatically. There were times when years of habit and familiarity came in handy.
"How did it go?" Albus asked, pushing a cup of peppermint tea into her hands before settling down beside her.
She sipped her tea, letting the heat flow through her, soothing her frayed nerves. "He says it wasn't him Albus. He says it was a Polyjuice Potion. He thinks someone is after us because our respective positions."
Albus could feel all the muscles in his hands contract, and it took everything not to shatter his own mug. "Do you believe him?" Albus asked, in what he hoped was a neutral tone.
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the arm he stretched along the sofa's edge. She vaguely noted he smelled of lemon, and the cloth of his robe was soft on her skin. "I want to...so much. I love him Albus; even after I saw..yesterday, I still love him. I can't explain it. When I walked in on them, I just stopped. I'm not sure what to do" She groaned, annoyed at her own jumbled thoughts. "Part of me says he loves me and to believe him, but another part says lock him in an extremely small box with a horde of unhappy blast ended sckrewts."
Albus chuckled, reaching to tuck a hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear before catching himself and withdrawing his hand. "I was thinking more along the lines of a herd of starving hippogriffs and a very large steak."
Staring at her, her eyes closed and the lines around her mouth drawn tight, he sobered. "What should I do Albus? Tell me what I should do."
He set his mug on the table and grasped her hands tenderly after doing the same to her cup. His voice was soothing, calm, her tiny rubber duck bobbing in the bathtub. "What do you want to do Minerva?"
She was looking at him, but he knew Minerva was seeing something, someone, utterly different. "I want to curl up in my husband's arms and pretend like the last two days never happened."
Albus inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the tidal wave of emotions washing over him. There was only one thing for him to say, no matter what it may cost. "Then go. Take his word, and his love, and never let go. You can leave the why for another day."
Minerva closed her eyes and released the enormous breath she was holding. When they opened again, the cloud that had fallen over her eyes was gone, and they were bright again. She leaned into him, pressing a hand against his wrinkled cheek and kissed the other, leaving a smear of lipstick there. "Thank you," she muttered into his ear. "I don't know what I would do without you Albus."
Albus took the moment to inhale the scent of vanilla that clung to her skin, savoring it. These memories were few and far between, and he cherished each of them. She pulled away and smiled softly.
"Go," he whispered, choking on his own words. And, that's exactly what she did. He watched her all but run from his rooms in her haste. He sat staring at the closed door long after she left, swallowing the unbearable pain. It wasn't until the closed chimed noon that Albus rose from his seat and turned toward his desk. There were some favors he needed to call in-starting with information about a certain trip to Cambodia.