Chapter 20 - Afternoon tea
"You wanted to see me Albus?" McGonagall asked as she entered the Headmasters office.
"I thought you would like to take afternoon tea with me today, Minerva." Dumbledore replied and he shuffled a stack of parchment into a neat pile and placed them aside.
"Thank you, Albus. I would like that very much." Minerva replied but she was instantly on guard. Albus Dumbledore never simply had tea with anyone. There would be more to this than that.
Dumbledore and McGonagall moved to the small drawing room off the office. They often had quiet tea and conversation here. The formalities passed as they always did. Albus Dumbledore played mother when the house elf had placed the tea service upon the little table between them and poured the two cups of tea. He asked Minerva McGonagall how many lumps of sugar to add, a fact that always slightly irritated Minerva McGonagall. She and Albus Dumbledore had been working closely for more than thirty years and had tea together many, many times and yet he never remembered that she always took one and one half teaspoons of sugar in her tea. She often wondered if he did it deliberately just to put her a little off balance. She replied simply again stating the required amount of sugar and never batted an eyelid. Albus smiled as he always did handing her the cup of steaming tea.
"I must admit I have an ulterior motive for inviting you to tea today, Minerva. I am concerned that a rift seems to have developed between us as of late." Albus Dumbledore said.
"Indeed Albus." McGonagall replied.
"Why have I lost your support, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked looking sadly at his deputy Headmistress.
"You haven't lost my support Albus. I will always support you in the running of this school." McGonagall replied stiffly.
"But not about young Harry." Dumbledore replied.
Minerva McGonagall sat quietly for a few moments thing before replying; "I have always disagreed with you over your actions concerning Harry Potter, Albus. Right from that night when you left him with those appalling muggle relatives." She said looking sternly at the Headmaster, "And now you want to force him to marry that… that horrible Malfoy boy."
"It is Harry's duty to marry Draco, Minerva. It has nothing to do with me." Dumbledore defended himself.
"Bullshit, Albus." McGonagall replied, "You could prevent this happening in a moment if you wanted too."
"Minerva, what would the students say if they heard you using such language?" Albus said shocked. He had never known Minerva McGonagall to swear like that even as a student.
"They might think that it was about time that their deputy Headmistress told the Headmaster to pull his head out of his arse." McGonagall replied as her Scottish blood got up.
Dumbledore's eye's flashed with anger. "You forget yourself, Minerva." He warned sternly.
There was a tense moment between the two as they glared at each other. Dumbledore was shocked at the resolve he saw in her eyes. Sighing he looked down into his cup of tea thinking of his next move.
"Do you not think I too care for Harry?" he asked.
"I am no longer sure, Albus." McGonagall replied tensely, "I do know that Harry is certain you do not care for him."
Dumbledore looked up at her. "Sometimes I must do what is right and not what is easy, Minerva. But that does not mean that I do not care. You think it is easy to hold back the darkness that would engulf us all if I fail."
McGonagall watched her friend closely. In years gone past she would have accepted his words in an instant. But over the years she had seen Albus Dumbledore control his face to portray the emotions he chose and then once it was no longer needed shake it off as if it had never been there. He was simply to good at hiding his true emotions to ever be taken at face value.
"I will always support your efforts against the Dark Lord, Albus. But with Harry…" McGonagall answered.
"Ah! But Minerva, they are one and the same." Dumbledore told her looking sadly over his half moon glasses.
McGonagall looked puzzled. "Why would they be the same, Albus? You surely don't think Harry is going dark."
"I hope it is not so, Minerva but Harry is opposing me in this matter concerning Draco Malfoy." Dumbledore replied.
"Just because he disagrees with you about marrying someone he hates, does not indicate he his going dark, Albus. I am surprised you could even hint at that." McGonagall rebuked him.
"You fail to realise just how important a matter this is, Minerva. The marriage offers the Order a unique chance to disrupt the death eaters. I cannot in all conscience let that opportunity pass. It is regrettable for Harry's sake certainly but sacrifices must be made in a time of war." Dumbledore replied.
"What has having Harry marry Draco Malfoy to do with the death eaters, Albus?" McGonagall asked puzzled at the Headmaster's statement.
"More than you realise Minerva." Dumbledore replied. "Harry must eventually face Voldemort. The only question is whether you wish him to face a Voldemort surrounded by his legions of death eaters or not? Narcissa Malfoy has offered us vital information as a dowry for this marriage. Information that will allow us to decimate Voldemort's support long before the final confrontation with Harry."
"Great Merlin Albus. I still cannot believe that it must be Harry to face you-know-who. Are you sure there is no other way?" McGonall exclaimed.
"Unfortunately Minerva there is no other way. It must be Harry. Who else could do it? You, like most others, are even too scared to say his name and I am simply too old. No it must be Harry and even he stands no chance to survive the encounter. The best we can hope for is that Voldemort perishes along with Harry."
"No, Albus, no." McGonagall cried as tears ran down her check.
"There, there Minerva." Dumbledore patted her on her back to comfort his friend. "It is sometimes a terrible thing to have the fate of the world in your hands. Few decisions are without consequences both good and evil."
"But Harry…" McGonagall said.
"For the common good Minerva, for the common good we must be prepared to allow Harry to fulfil his fate. We must give him his best chance at removing the great evil of Voldemort from this world." Dumbledore replied.
"But why is it always Harry that must suffer?" McGonagall asked.
"Strength is built in adversity Minerva and not comfort. I wish it was otherwise but it is not." Dumbledore said.
"You did it on purpose didn't you? Putting him with those horrible muggles and all the times he ended up facing the Dark Lord, you orchestrated them all didn't you?" McGonagall asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"To be truthful most but not all, Minerva. Harry has an ability to find his way to where he needs to be to oppose Voldemort on his own." Dumbledore replied.
"And you expect me to go along with this Albus?" McGonagall said looking up at Dumbledore with red-rimmed eyes.
"It is your decision Minerva. You can not save Harry but you can help save the rest of the world." Dumbledore responded sadly.
Minerva McGonagall sat for some time struggling with her decision. Her heart told her to stand by Harry come what may but her head told her the Headmaster was correct. She would not be able to save Harry from his fate and a sixteen-year-old boy, no matter how talented, stood little chance of surviving a confrontation with the Dark Lord.
Finally as she still held the now cold cup of tea in her hand, Minerva McGonagall spoke, "What do you want me to do Albus?"
"Tell me everything Harry has told you in his counselling sessions Minerva. I must understand why Harry is so rebellious. Then we must find a way to bring him back to complying with our directions." Albus Dumbledore replied as his eyes twinkled with his victory.