Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office thinking of Minerva McGonagall. What about the little witch could cause this great man a problem one might wonder? This man who had went toe to toe with the greatest dark wizards of his time and live to see another day, one who even Voldemort feared. Dumbledore's problem was that he liked McGonagall and more likely was in love with her. Decades had passed since he had been her teacher and now friendship had turned into more than that for him. "What would happen if I told her?" he wondered to no one out loud. "Will she care about how about old I am?" Time had not been that hard on him, but still it has passed none the less. He stood up and went to look in the mirror. His once reddish hair had turned a silver grey and time had carved lines in his face. It was not much for someone who was over a hundred years old, but she might still care. He was afraid that saying something it could change everything. If she did not feel the same way things would become odd. The other day at their weekly chess match he had thought to himself this was the time to tell her. Yet like all the times before that he could not bring himself to say anything at all. So here he stood wondering things like: "Does she like me too?" and "Can she tell that I like her?" He contemplated using magic to buff his courage or to make him forget his worries, but it all led down the same path. If nothing before in his life had given him this kind of problem how could magic help now? He went on for hours like that with the song of the phoenix in the background to keep his mind going. In the end it was not magic, but a quote that most everyone has heard that made up his mind for him. "A coward dies a thousand deaths wail a brave man dies but on". He would tell her how he felt during their next chess game. That would be the site of his last defeat in this area. Every other time he had defeated himself without giving her a chance to say how she felt about him.
There he was, a week had passed as if it was but a day. She entered the room, with the smile she gave only to him on her face. She too had aged since he'd first met her, but she still retained the charming wit he'd grown to love. Her beauty had not diminished with age, in his mind it had only grown. Today was the day that he would confess his feelings to his love. He thought all this as he sat across from her. He had spent the last week figuring out just how to tell her what he felt. He had decided that to tell her to much might ruin things. This was the time to speak up, so he thought.
"Minerva I have something to tell you," he began, "And please do not say anything until I am finished." Minerva nodded her head, somewhat confused, she lifted her eyebrow. "Well," He thought, here goes nothing. "I am in love with you." he paused looking for a sign that he had made her uncomfortable.
The only change was a light blush forming on her cheeks. Although he did not have much experience in this area, it was good sign if ever he had seen one! Minerva sat there stunned, and for a moment could not find the words to describe how she felt. But soon she found herself smiling and laughed at how silly they both had been. Fifty years and now was the time one of them had chose to say it! She sighed and said "I love you too". Both of them where glad that one of them had finally spoken up and ended the years of not knowing.