Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, settings or plots of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. I am not making money off of this. Oh right. I don't own the Lord of the Rings either.

Author's Note: Thank you for all of these reviews! I feel so loved! Wriggles with delight Ha-ha. But after this chapter, and the Ginny one, I will only have one more for each girl- woman. Teacher. Whatever. Plus, this one is rather short. But isn't that sad?

Minerva had been trembling- at least, that's what she thought she was doing- since she had sent that note. What a stupid thing to do! What if the secret admirer-Albus-was doing it for a joke?

But just as her last fourth year were trailing out the door, seeming to take as much time as possible taking a mere five steps, a fragile little paper crane, struggling to lift its wings, soared in through the open door.

Minerva refrained from lunging at the sad little crane at once, not wishing to seem crazy in front of her students, no matter how long they took to walk out of the door. While it hovered silently, for it had no mouth, the students took one last look at their teacher and the strange note. They stepped out.

Minerva tore the bird from the air and unfolded it, nearly frothing at the mouth. She looked nervously at the windows: someone could be watching. With a quick flick of her wand, the curtains closed and Minerva was left alone.

Dear Minerva,

Why don't you say we meet- face to face. Why don't you come to the edge of the Forbidden Forest at four-thirty o'clock today. My face is rather older than yours, but I think I shall be glad. Will you say yes? If not, I want you to know that I will think of you forever, until the day I die. And I have lived for a long time; death may still be in the distant future. Not everyone can live forever.

Hopefully, Lovingly, Devotedly Yours,

Secret Admirer

P.S. Send back your answer with this crane, he will know what to do.

So now she could find out if it really was Albus. And if it wasn't him… she would be completely embarrassed. Minerva hated embarrassment; it made fools of people. She didn't want to be a fool.

Four-thirty. Minerva glanced at the clock. It had just moved so that the time was now four o'clock. Thirty minutes! When had he sent this? Maybe the crane had just taken a long time… Either way, she had to get ready.

But how could she look… pretty, without looking fake? Minerva had never thought of herself as a beauty. Her looks were too harsh for that. Maybe a deep green robe to bring out the color in her eyes would be the way to go. Yes, that was right, Minerva decided.

Minerva hurried to her rooms; she had no more classes to teach. She listlessly thumbed through all her robes. She was lost in thought about what could happen when she went down to the forest at four-thirty.

She took a nervous look at the clock. It was only four-ten. Still twenty minutes. The glimpse put Minerva on edge. She tried to plan out every inch of what she should do but it didn't work very well. There were too many possibilities. She would leave in five minutes, to make sure she had enough time to get down to the Forest.

With the silky robe on and the minute hand pointing to the fifteen, Minerva left her rooms, trying to look confident. Walking through the long corridors, she felt as if every eye- including stone and painted eyes- was on her. Minerva had always tried to keep apprehension and nervousness since her very first day at Hogwarts. This was one of the few times that it had snuck past her barrier. She always kept a strong defense.

But without stopping to talk to anyone, Minerva made it out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She couldn't see anyone in the fading night- the day still went by quickly- so she tried to collect herself.

It was so peaceful out here. No students, no interruptions, no papers to grade. But it could get a little bit lonely if she stayed out here all the time. Some company was good, but it had to be the right company. No one idiotic, obnoxious, or… drooling. Drooling was never a good sign. Neither was frothing at the mouth, going into convulsions, or talking to themselves, like that one creature in The Lord of the Rings trilogy that she had read during the summer. She had almost laughed out loud at parts! That creature, Gollum or Sméagol, always said "My precious, my precious." He did sound rather creepy; Minerva hoped never to meet a Gollum, if there were such things.

Snap. Someone stepped on a twig. It was her secret admirer! Minerva glided in a rushed way over to where the noise had come from. She stood in the shadows, just looking for a minute. She couldn't see much because he was in the shadow of a large tree.

It was going to take a lot of courage to do this.

"Hello," Minerva called.

The figure spun around. She still couldn't see much; he hadn't stepped out of the shadows yet.

"Hello?" he asked cautiously. Minerva froze. That wasn't the kind old voice of Albus Dumbledore.

It was the voice of Severus Snape.