Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, or ideas (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings.
Chapter 2: Had a love like you.
Minerva woke the next morning in a bed that was not hers. When she moved to sit up, she noticed a pair of arms wrapped lovingly around her. She turned to find Albus next to her. "Good morning, my love," she whispered as she stroked his cheek with her hand.
He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I thought it was all a dream."
"Never doubt how much I love you," she told him before she kissed him lightly.
"The same goes for you my dear," he added as they exchanged a tender kiss.
She craned her neck to look at the clock. "I suppose we really ought to go down for breakfast."
"Must we? We could just ask the house elves to bring us something," he attempted to persuade her.
She wormed her way out of his embrace and began collecting her clothing. "Do you realize how many scandalous rumors the staff will spread if at least one of us is not present? Xiomara will see to it that the entire school gets involved in the rumors as well."
He chuckled and also dressed himself. "I suppose you are correct as usual, my dear, I will see you at breakfast then."
They kissed again before Minerva left in her animagus form and each could not get the other out of their heads as they prepared for the day. As they ate they exchanged flirtatious glances. They were the last to leave the Great Hall after the meal and stopped walking in the hallway, noticing that no one else seemed to be around. "I suppose I really should dash off to my class," Minerva mentioned without moving.
Albus stayed in the same spot as well. "I should probably be on my way as well with all the paperwork I have."
"I love you with every fiber of my being," she whispered.
"I love you too, so very much," he conveyed.
They kissed deeply, as if both of them new instinctively that such good things could not last for long. She looked into his eyes, still seeing the melancholy expression of foreboding and attempted to kiss it away before they walked off in their separate directions.
Later that day she had heard noises and found that deatheaters had come to the castle. She had sent Filius Flitwick to alert Snape and was still waiting for a message or a plan. As she stared out of the window at the chaotic battle that had begun, for some reason her eyes drifted off and out, as if she was looking up for something. Then an icy feeling suddenly hit her in the pit of her stomach and knocked the wind out of her.
Before she even knew what she was saying, she whispered "Albus."
Then the realization hit her that something unfathomably terrible had just occurred. It was not until she went to the infirmary to check on Harry Potter that the news came to her: Albus was dead, murdered by Snape. Poppy was asking her something, but she could not understand what it was as her world suddenly began to spin and then went black.
She woke on one of the beds in the infirmary with Poppy and Xiomara watching her. "Poppy, what am I doing here? Where is Albus?" Minerva mumbled groggily.
The two women exchanged concerned looks. "Minerva, you are here because you fainted. Albus… Albus has… left us," Poppy said with as much tact as she could muster.
Minerva slowly sat up. "I was hoping that it was a nightmare and I would wake up in his arms again," she said more to herself than anyone else.
"Perhaps it would be best if we let her get back to her rooms for a while," Xiomara suggested.
Poppy looked from Xiomara to Minerva. "Well, I suppose it would be better than staying here and she might be able to have a better rest."
When they were out in the hall, Minerva faced her friend. "Thank you, Mara, you're a lifesaver. It is nearly impossible to think coherently in that place."
"You're welcome, Min. I must admit though that I did it partly for selfish reasons. Why did you say what you said about waking up with Albus?" the flying instructor questioned.
Minerva began to quicken her pace. "Not here, we'll talk in my rooms," she explained.
Later when they were seated in two chairs, Minerva sighed heavily and prepared to tell Xiomara the truth. "Mara, last night he and I finally confessed our true feelings for each other. One thing led to another and we spent the night together," she admitted.
The other witch's eyes were like saucers. "I never thought it would happen. I owe Sprout ten galleons. She said you two would get on with it this year and I was betting on never."
Tears began to run down Minerva's cheeks and she could not hold them back. Xiomara came over to her and wrapped her arms around her in a sisterly manner. "I'm so sorry. That was so insensitive of me. I was trying to lighten the situation. Min, I'm so sorry."
Minerva nodded and sniffed. "I have not only lost my best friend: I have lost the only man I have ever truly loved. Mara, I cannot run this school without him. What am I going to do?"
Xiomara answered in a matter-o-fact tone. "You are the only one he could trust enough to run the school. He knew you were capable, so he made you his deputy. You are going to run the school and you are going to do it to the best of your abilities."
"Thank you, Mara, I know I need to pull myself together and I should, but-"
The flying instructor attempted to cheer her up. "Minerva, allow yourself time to grieve and then everything else can come once you have a focus again. You'll get back on your feet and put yourself back together like you always have. Then you'll-"
"You don't understand. I could always put myself back together before because I had Albus to help me! I am alone now," she lamented.
The other woman shook her head. "I am right here with you. I will only leave you alone if you ask me to. I have the ability to hang around you so much that you will undoubtedly be sick of me."
Despite her pain, Minerva smiled at her friend. "Thank you again. Will you… will you help me with the funeral preparations? I don't think that I can do it on my own without completely breaking down."
She nodded. "Of course I'll help. I was actually about to offer. What do you intend to do about the school?"
The new Headmistress closed her eyes for a moment to organize her thoughts. Finally she opened them and was ready to speak again. "I need to ask a favor of you: would you gather the remaining heads of the houses and tell them to meet me in my office? I think we should consider closing the school for now."
"Don't you think that might be a bit rash?" her friend asked.
Minerva shook her head. "I think it is the safest course of action at the moment."
It was decided that the school would be closed for the remainder of the year as Minerva prepared for Albus' funeral. It was a touching ceremony and Minerva managed to use every ounce of Gryffindor courage she had as she gave the eulogy. After Albus' body had been laid to rest she went to the headmaster's suit to see if there was anything she could move or organize.
When she reached his study she felt drained and sank down into a chair. "Albus, why did you have to leave me just as we finally understood each other? How am I supposed to do this with out you? Don't you realize that I love you so much that it hurts to breath without you?" she said aloud before allowing herself to succumb to the deep well of grief she had hardened herself against during the ceremony.
Over the next few days, morose would have been an understatement for her quiet depression. She went through the motions and preparations, still unable to transfer most of her things to the other suit. Poppy and Xiomara took note of her behavior and decided to speak with her, having not only noticed her mood, but also her self-inflicted fast.
Minerva had settled down after having rearranged the desk and was seated in one of the chairs in Albus' study when she heard a knock at the door. She had kept the old password in his memory, "Oatmeal Scotchies." She answered the door to find Poppy and Xiomara.
"Is there something either of you-" they did not let her finish.
"Minerva, the whole staff is worried about you. Makeup can only hide so much of a person's emotional state. I also know you have not been eating as you should. I have here a list of foods and meal arrangements that should put some colour back into your cheeks," Poppy explained.
The Headmistress graciously accepted the list and then glanced at Xiomara, as if asking her why she had come. "Min, I just came to ask you if there was anything you'd like me to do, any task you don't feel up to doing."
She smiled wanly. "I appreciate this visit, I really do. Believe me when I tell you that I will be alright. I am just trying to adjust and to collect myself."
A voice belonging to a figure whose painted eyes closed previously, spoke. "Ahem, Minerva let them do a few things for you and have a goodnight's sleep. We have important things to discuss when you feel better, my dear."
Xiomara caught Minerva as she turned white as a sheet and seemed unsteady on her feet for a moment. "Min, it's his painting. Here, sit down."
Minerva took a deep breath to steady her nerves once she was seated on the couch and looked to where the painting now hung. "I had forgotten about that. On second thought, extra sleep seems like the appropriate idea. Mara, would you look through a few of those files on the desk and see if anyone looks like a potential candidate for a new Transfiguration professor?"
The flying instructor nodded. "Of course, now you get some sleep, or I'll have Poppy make sure you get some sleep."
She put her hands up in defense. "Alright, you have convinced me. Goodnight." For the first time since Albus' death, she slept solidly all through the night.
I do apologize for such a painful chapter after a fluffy one, but I had to keep to the summary. My thanks to magic cheese, Quill of Minerva, TartanLioness, skichik, HMS Frivolity and Felines, Isabelle (), TheGryffindorSeeker, SherbetKitty, and excessivelyperky for reviewing :D.