A big thank-you to Sapho's Daughter for helping me out in my rot! I credit her for the ideas you'll read in this chapter and to a bigger extent for helping me find my way back to this fic.
The credit for keeping me writing also goes out to my devoted and amazing readers! You rock! Without you I would have given up on this story ages ago. Thank you all for your fantastic reviews and support!

With love,
Jellicos

------------------------------

Chapter fourteen: Decisions and discoveries.

"We need to talk…" The tone in Minerva's voice forcefully crushed Hermione to the floor. Those words where never good.

Hermione swallowed hard. The tears where not far away. She knew all too well what those four words spelled… disaster, heartbreak, doom.

She turned away, there was no way she'd be able to face Minerva as the woman ripped her heart out.

Every moment of the night before was played before her eyes as she braced herself for the impact, reminding herself to keep breathing.

"I need you to listen to what I have to say before interrupting." Minerva's voice was pleading which caught Hermione off guard. But all she could do was nod.

"This is very hard for me to say, but I've thought about it and I think it's for the best. You are only eighteen; Merlin knows it's been a very long time since I was that age." Sadness filled her voice, but Hermione let her continue. She still couldn't bring herself to look at the woman she loved so desperately.

"I don't regret what happened last night, I've wanted it for so long and for the first time in my life I felt truly alive. If you knew what you do to me, what feelings you have awoken in my old heart. I never thought I was capable of feeling this way…" The last part was but a whisper as tears threatened to cloud Minerva's eyes.

"Minerva..." Hermione tried, her pleading tone more than the older witch could stand.

"Please… just let me say this..." Minerva wasn't looking at her. She had moved to the window and her fingers where tracing the patterns that the rain had formed on the glass.

"I'm still your professor… at least for a few more months. After that you will leave this castle to pursue your dreams. The thought of loosing you is more than I can take, but I will not have you risking your future for me." Minerva almost jumped as she felt two tender arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"May I speak?" The soft and loving tone in Hermione's voice destroyed every effort to keep the tears at bay.

"You will never loose me Min..." Hermione started, her soft whisper had Minerva biting her lip to keep from crying.

"There's more…" Her voice was barely audible as she took a deep breath and freed herself from Hermione's grip. She needed to steady herself for this. Her young lover's painfully sad face didn't help matters. She sighed and walked a few paces, deciding that a little distance was essential for her to get through this.

"The ministry is sending personnel to evaluate the standard of education here at Hogwarts." Hermione flinched. Not so much at the words that where spoken, but how they had reached her. Minerva had again taken on her role as Headmistress; her tone was casual at best, professional at worst. Though the raven-haired woman had only taken a few steps away from her, Hermione suddenly felt as if she where miles away.

"They will be following lessons, examining papers, talking to students and teachers alike." She spun around to face Hermione, only to find her heart break at the sight. The young woman looked destroyed and Minerva hated herself for being responsible for that heartshattering expression in those soft features. Stunned, she just stood there, not able to continue.

"What are you saying Minerva?" Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to this, but the silence was worse yet. When the older woman still wasn't speaking, she panicked. "You can't do this…" Her whisper was cut short by the tears falling down her cheeks. Shaking her head in disbelief she looked at the woman she loved not able to hide her pain any longer. "After everything… After last nigh… You can't just leave me…"

For a moment longer Minerva was too stunned to speak, but as Hermione made an attempt for the door her voice found its way back.

She managed to grab a hold of Hermione's arm, forcing her to stay. But the brunette refused to face her.

"How can you think such a thing?" It had never crossed Minerva's mind that Hermione would ever be afraid of this. But she realised that just because this was an impossibility in her own reality, it wasn't in Hermione's. And as those deep hazel eyes turned to lock with hers she managed a small smile.

"We just need to be very careful…" Minerva said softly, stroking her lovers wet cheek.

A sudden knock on the door made them both jump, and before Minerva could react, the heavy wooden door was opened and a cheerful voice rang through the room.

"Minerva? Are you ready, we should really… Oh." Albus Dumbledore stopped mid sentence at seeing Hermione quickly wipe her cheeks and compose herself.

"I'll be right there." Minerva didn't even make an effort to hide her irritation at the rude interruption.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" But again Dumbledore's efforts where cut short.

"I was just leaving professor." Hermione gave her lover a last hurt glance before rushing past Dumbledore out of the office. The headmaster looked after her, a sad look of understanding and guilt flashing his usually twinkling eyes. He looked over at Minerva whose expression quickly changed from pained to annoyed at meeting his gaze.

"Don't say a word." She warned and Albus held up his hands in surrender as she brushed past him, a little more forcefully then necessary.

The old man sighed before closing the large office doors. He had been afraid of this…

--------------

As the school week dawned on Hogwars a change was evident for all. It wasn't so much the whispers and rumours, or that Slytherin house suddenly seemed much more careful in dropping snide remarks to rival house Gryffindor.

On Monday morning, all students where met at breakfast by three new faces.

Most of Gryffindor already knew who these three must be, by Hermione's declaration the day before.

Dumbledore had introduced the three members of the ministry that very morning. The two women looked frightfully dull in their closely buttoned robes, strict hairdos and vacant expressions. Like old candleholders that had been tucked away in a cupboard for far too long and where now covered in dust and spider web. Or maybe they just seemed that way sitting on each side of a very handsome and beaming man in his early forties. Wearing a deep blue robe, with his light brown hair slightly out of place, he was directly the centre of attention as he laughed heartedly at professor Flitwich's jokes.

It was needless to say that the disruption that this man, introduced to the students as Mr Peter Priapus, was much to the dislike of Severus Snape who looked more disgusted than ever as the seventh year class of Gryffindors and Slytherins where about to begin their Monday morning potions class.

Priapus had been very keen to chat with the students, looking into their cauldrons and making little jokes and giving pointers. And by the end of the lesson, Snape looked if possible more pale and furious than ever.

Only one student hadn't noticed any of this. She was to busy staring vacantly into her bubbling caldron. She had followed the instructions on the black board and her potion was done. But there was no gleam of excitement in her eyes, no joy over being the only one to finish her potion. She had walked the steps in the directions as by autopilot and now that it was done, she could do nothing but stare at it. Too many things where running through her head to make her care the slightest about a silly thing like a potion.

She wouldn't even have noticed the bell ringing if it hadn't been for Ron and Harry pulling her up from her chair.

She didn't struggle. But filled an empty bottle with the potion she'd made, sighing as the bright yellow fluid filled the tiny vial.

"Hermione…" Harry tried, but didn't know what to say.

"You two go on ahead." She said, not turning to face them. She didn't need their pity-glances right now. "I'm just going to turn this in."

"Come on…" Ron dragged Harry with him, for once realizing that his friend might need a little time for herself.

Emptying the remainder of her potion and collecting her books, Hermione walked up to her professor's desk to turn in the bottle.

"Well, well…" Snape's greasy voice rang through her ears as she put the vial on his desk. "Looks like one of you actually managed to make a potion that didn't explode." She didn't even look at him, but turned to leave. "I guess Priapus didn't have the same affect on you as on old McGonagall." At the sound of Minerva's name, she froze. She could almost feel Snape's smirk burning her back.

"Would you be so kind as to inform your Head of House that I'm not going to tolerate any more interruptions in my class, especially from her old boyfriend."

--------------------------

Looooooooook! The pretty button is back:) Such a good way to speed up updates… (Me? Fishing for reviews? Nooo…. Never! ...erhm...)