...
The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
― Hellen Keller
...
"Excuse me, Madam …?"
"Headnurse Holloway, please. What can I do for you, Sir?"
The old man smiled on the inside, but for the sake of his cover he put on a rather disturbed expression – even though he was wearing big, round muggle sun-glasses – , then faked a heavy breathing and looked with wide, black eyes at the St. Mungos nurse.
"Please, Mad – Headnurse Holloway," he stuttered. "I – I just found a man in front of the hospital. He seems to be severely injured and beaten up. And he was talking words of utter nonsense before he broke down. I – I, "
The elderly, grey-haired nurse held up her hand, a look of worry on her face. My, I should have really pursued a career as an actor!
"Sir, please, lead the way."
Playing the – quite fabulous – role of the distracted witness, the old wizard suppressed yet another laugh and hurried after the medi-witch out of the hospital entrance.
Then he pointed with an incredibly shaking hand towards the wizard on the ground. Headnurse Holloway cried out in surprise, then immediately bent down to inspect the victim.
This was easier than I had anticipated… The old wizard, clad in dark black robes, thought amusedly and quickly brought his red-hair-wig back into place; it had loosened a little during their sprint.
He watched as Holloway sent her patronus – what kind of patronus was a lady-bug anyway? – back to her colleagues in the hospital, conjured a stretcher and levitated the wizard on it.
Then she turned around to face him and he put on the best concerned expression he could come up with. I must look so handsome and young now… he thought and was glad he had remembered the instructions for the temporary glamour spell, that had changed most of his appearance to a handsome, red-haired middle-aged man.
"Please, Sir, come with me. We will be taking good care of you and your friend…" she said and escorted the old wizard along with the quite bad looking man on the stretcher back to the hospital.
"What – what is going on? Will the good man be alright?" the wizard asked in his – very well trained – frightened voice.
Nurse Holloway shook his head for a moment. "Sir, I'll be answering you questions in a minute," she said and turned to her arriving colleagues.
"What's the matter, Dorothy?" One of the arriving healers asked.
"Injured wizard, mid-sixties, broken bones, concussion, probably some severe internal bleeding as well as a concerning amount of alcohol in his blood-system… I even assume some kind of alcohol poisoning…" the mediwitch explained the situation quickly and the old man smirked. My, I really get back to my old form again!
Another one took a few steps closer and his eyes widened. "Dorothy, isn't that…?"
Headnurse Holloway nodded sharply. "Yes, former Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge," she answered and quickly searched her desk for a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. "After he was succeeded, he became a drunk, however recently managed to quit drinking again. This has to be handled completely confidential, do you hear me?"
The couple of healers and nurses around the grey-haired medi-witch only nodded; too shocked to see the former Minister in such a state.
"Good," Holloway barked and pressed the note into one of her assistance's hands. "Send this immediately to the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Aidan Gold. He is currently residing at Hogwarts, but he is the only one I want on this case."
Then she waved her wand and a copy of the note flew into the hands of another girl. "This goes out to Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Confused eyes looked at her and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "People, we still don't have officially elected a new Minister of Magic. Were Minerva to run for Minister, I am sure that literary the whole wizarding world would vote for her. And from what I recall she knows Fudge from her own school days. Now don't question my choices, of you go."
Minister… The old man thought and worked hard to resist the urge to role his eyes, 'She could be Queen of the whole bloody world if she would just embrace her whole powers…'
"Now, sorry for that, Sir," Holloway turned her attention back to him. "I am very grateful that you came here immediately. If you don't mind… some people might have a couple of questions for you… so might I have your name in case someone wants to contact you?"
His plan was working splendid. "Of course you may," the old wizard acted sweeter than he ever had and luckily he had prepared himself for this part, so he handed her a little piece of paper. "Here is my card."
The nurse took it and smiled relieved. "Thank you, Mr. … Wind!"
The old – well, currently red-haired and brown-eyed young – wizard smiled sweetly at the nurse and outstretched his hand to say goodbye. "Please, my name is Geralld. Yes, with the double L… I still don't know what my mother was thinking when she named me… And despite the circumstances, it was really nice making your acquaintance."
The nurse even had the nerve to blush, but it meant that his lovely, in last minute invented name had fulfilled its purpose. He bowed his head a little and made his way out of the hospital.
.
Despite himself, the old wizard had to admit that he shouldn't have been surprised that the little emerald eyed Queen of Gryffindor House – he still couldn't quite believe that part… - was tougher than he had anticipated in the first place; but even though his plan with the knife hadn't worked out quite the way he had intended it to be… this was only a little throwback. With a little bit more planning and plotting it was nothing to worry about. And what would the life be without a good game every now and then, hmm?
Though why in Merlin's name he had assumed that the pink toad would throw his lovely cursed knife at the right person was still a mystery to him. 'And what do we learn from that?' He asked himself as he continued his walk out of St. Mungos. 'The only way to do something the proper way… is to do it on your own.'
"Well, that's a start…" Harry thought as he managed to land on his bottom instead of face forward on the ground.
Quite at the same time, Hermione also turned around, eager to finally talk to Arina properly. But instead of the lovely blue eyes of Harry's godmother, tey only saw disappointed, sad and teary eyed faces.
It didn't take much of a brain to figure out what had happened… Harry's eyes immediately focused on the small hospital bed. And despite his hopes and earlier excitement, Dan was sitting there, obviously frustrated with himself, since his kiss had apparently not been strong enough to break the spell Arina was under. She was still lying on the bed, completely unchanged, with her long, curly black hair sprawled around the pillow and her beautiful blue eyes still closed.
The only mysterious thing was that the faint, golden glow was still hovering around her. She really does look like a princess, Harry thought and a small smile appeared on his face.
Hermione took a few steps closer and a few tears were forming in her eyes upon seeing that her aunt hasn't woken up. "The kiss didn't work?"
The young Surgeon didn't say anything, just shook his head. Professor McGonagall was silently staring at the blue-eyed witch and fiddling with her hands again. The other people at the Round Table just whispered quietly to themselves with the occasional gesture towards the sleeping witch.
Due to the fact that Professor Snape had changed his previous position and currently occupied Harry's usual spot right next to Arina's side, the boy-who-lived made his way over to the Round Table. He passed Aberforth's wooden chair and sneaked into a place between Fleur and Ginny, who were seated right behind the Transfiguration Mistress' Gryffindory-red armchair.
Hermione mirrored his actions but before she was able to choose one of the empty chairs for herself, Ron swiftly encircled her slim waist with his arm and pulled her down on his lap.
The young witch sweetly kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. Harry also put his own arms around Ginny when he felt her leaning into his embrace.
"Don't give up, Harry," his red-headed girlfriend whispered into his ear, "Arina will be fighting for you. She's Professor Dumbledore's daughter after all."
The black haired young man looked at her gratefully, but instead of saying something he slightly turned her head and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Argh, get a room, you two," Ron said with a disgusted expression on his face.
"Well, you have been occupying the broom closet earlier; there was nothing we could have done about it," Ginny shot back everyone burst into laughter. Well, probably everyone except Arthur Weasely, who apparently didn't like the idea of his little girl and a boy in a closet…
"Doo nott look like zis, Arzur. Ginnie est une fille trés jolie, " Fleur laughed and Molly, who grinned from one ear to the other, clapped her husband happily on the back.
Hermione also had a small smile on her face, but it didn't really reach her eyes. Xemerius, who had apparently seen this, reached out and tapped her softly on the leg in a comforting gesture.
"No need to look so disappointed, hun," the silvery eyed wizard said, "it was a good idea. It's not your fault the kiss didn't work the way it was supposed to – "
"This time, good magic just wasn't strong enough," Aidan sighed, but he managed to send his niece a small smile.
"It was strong, the bloody curse was sadly stronger," the transfiguration Mistress whispered.
"Why don't you kiss her for a second time?" Harry wondered out aloud. "Maybe it is – "
"Good try, Potter," Snape interrupted, and Harry still couldn't quite believe his ears upon hearing the nice tone his Professor used. "But unfortunately, Gold already gave this a try. Nothing changed."
Hermione sighed. "Are you sure you did it … properly?"
As soon as the words had left her mouth, a dark red, crimson blush flushed over her cheeks and everyone started laughing again.
Neville, Ron and Draco whispered something he couldn't quite make out, the Weasleys, Fleur and Luna chuckled. Rolanda and Augusta tried – in vain – to calm the hysterically laughing silvery-eyed wizard down.
Relieved, Harry saw that a small smile was also playing around the Transfiguration Mistress' lips and even Snape struggled to keep his usual neutral expression.
"Honestly, your father wouldn't believe that his little girl has just said something like this, " Dan laughed and smiled brightly at his niece and right when her cheeks had reached a sort of normal white-ish colour again, yet another blush turned her creamy cheeks into a bright crimson again.
"I can assure you, Hermione," Xemerius said in-between laughers, "the boy fulfilled his job exemplary!"
"Who did what exemplary?" The voice of Madam Pompfrey asked as the mediwitch neared the table; holding two plates of food in her hands.
"Nothing important, Poppy," Rolanda answered smirking.
The mediwitch raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Instead, she walked right over to Harry and Hermione and placed the plates right in front of them.
"Now, since the two of you are apparetnl unable to quit stumbling from one adventure into the other, have at least something to eat before that mirror of yours sucks you in once more."
Both Harry and Hermione smiled gratefully at the elderly witch, whose blonde hair was already streaked with parts of grey.
Harry examined the contents of his plate and realized that his stomach has been grumbling for quite some time already, so he eagerly stated eating.
"Speaking of eating!" Xem pointed out, jumped up from his chair and extended his arm to the Transfiguration Mistress, who looked at him questioning.
"We are getting you some food," the silvery eyed wizard explained in a surprisingly demanding voice.
"Xem, I really don't – "
"Wait, wait, wait," the mediwitch interrupted and glanced at Professor McGonagall accusingly. "You still haven't had anything to eat yet?"
The witch in question just rolled her eyes. "Heavens, Poppy…" she mumbled rather exasperated, "stop making such a fuss. I really – "
"Ah! No excuses this time, Missy!" This really left no room for any further argumentation.
Reluctantly, she got up and leaned heavily on her walking stick; at the same time mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "You sound like my mother…"
"Oh, believe me, Min, if Rose were here today, she'd be totally agreeing with Poppy!" Rolanda said, smiling kindly.
"Probably…" said the emerald eyed with a soft, but sort of sad smile.
Then she glanced once more down to Arina on the bed and sighed.
"Until we have figured something else out, there's nothing we can do for Arina now, Min," Xemerius added upon noticing the witch's sad look.
"I know…" the emerald eyed witch mumbled and Harry knew that she hated it to just sit around, unable to do anything to help the daughter of her – probably – best and oldest deceased friend.
"Come one, now, let's go," the silvery eyed wizard repeated.
"Yes… yes… just a moment, please…"
Bending down, and ignoring the obvious pain the action caused her, she brushed her long, delicate fingers once more through Arina's black, curly hair, whispered something Harry couldn't quite understand and then gave her a small, soft kiss on the forehead.
.
However, before she was able to completely turn around to link her own arm with Xemerius', yet another circle-ish wave of golden light erupted around Arina.
Harry rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming, because this time, the light was at least four times brighter than when Dan had kissed his wife. But it actually wasn't necessary, because he somehow felt the magic ripping right through him and everyone else that was standing in direct distance to Arina.
Ron, Neville, Draco, Luna, Aberforth and the other Weasleys also sat at the Round Table with utterly stunned expressions.
Fleur used her hands to touch her legs, stomach and finally reached her chest. "What just 'appened? Did yu feel tzis, too?"
Ginny, Augusta, Rolanda and Madam Pompfrey just nodded wordlessly, and continued to stare at Arina open mouthed.
Hermione, like Harry himself, had immediately jumped out of her chair and took a few steps closer to her aunt.
Xemerius, Aidan and Professor Snape were all simply standing there and staring at the emerald-eyed witch; silver, brown and black eyes wider than Harry had ever seen them.
And Professor McGonagall herself, still leaning heavily on her walking stick, looked like she also had trouble understanding what exactly had just happened, so she looked helplessly from one to the other; though her emerald eyes were sparkling with hope.
For a moment, it seemed like the entire scene had been frozen. That was, however, only until the soft and weakly whispered "Holly Morgana…" was heard, followed by an almost invisible movement from the previously injured black haired witch on the bed.
.
Suddenly Arina's bright blue eyes opened and she slowly looked around, searching for something. But Harry could see that she was still a little confused and not quite herself yet.
Dan's healer instincts kicked in immediately and he was by his wife's side only seconds later. "It's alright, Princess…"
"Harry…?" His name was said in nothing more than a soft whisper, followed by a little cough.
The black haired young man immediately stepped forward so she was able to see him. "It's alright, I'm here," he assured her smiling and took her small hand in his own. "And I'm fine, thanks to you."
Hermione also came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed, smiling brightly at her aunt.
"You gave us quite the fright you know…" the young witch pointed out and gestured towards the more and more relieved looking people at the Round Table.
Arina looked a little guilty, but her blue eyes finally started to clear up, and they wandered from her godson to her niece and back.
"Did – Did you really mean it?" she asked, obviously a little unsure. Though Harry didn't at first understand what she was trying to say. "What you said earlier… That you forgive me?"
Harry almost laughed out loud when he finally got what she meant. Smiling, he shook his head a little and stared directly and honestly into the now teary bright blue eyes of his godmother.
"Of course I meant it!" The young wizard replied and softly squeezed her hand, trying to make the guilty looking witch smile again. "You are my godmother. And I'm just so very glad that I have you now. And like I said; you are stuck with me now."
"And with me, too!" Hermione added, smiling brightly.
This said, Harry and the brown haired witch quickly glanced at each other and without words, they embraced the blue-eyed witch lovingly.
Despite the tears of relieve that were running freely down her cheeks now, the blue-eyed witch was giving him a soft, tiny smile. "Thank you," she whispered, "thank you both so much."
Loosening the embrace, but still remaining close to the black-haired witch, Harry glanced around again.
Molly was crying as well, Arthur softly patted his wife on the shoulder; Ron, Neville Bill, and Draco were all grinning and holding their thumbs up. Fleur had apparently conjured some tissues and passed the ones she didn't use herself around. Ginny and Luna smiled brightly at them. Augusta and Rolanda were excitedly and quietly talking to each other with the occasional gesture towards Arina.
Xemerius wore a bright, sheepish grin on his face, meanwhile still supporting the Transfiguration Mistress, who had apparently dropped her walking stick in shock due to Arina's enexpected awakening.
The young wizard didn't know why, but he looked a little closer at the emerald eyed witch and assumed that she had to be in some kind of shock – after all, she hadn't spoken a single word since the blue-eyed witch had woken up.
All she did was stare at Arina with her dark, emerald eyes and silent tears flowing down her cheeks.
"But wait – how do you even know what we said?" Hermione suddenly asked and looked at her aunt with a rather confused expression.
Turning his attention back to his godmother, Harry glanced around and saw that the others were apparently wondering the same; including Dan and Professor Snape who had started whispering to each other, though Harry couldn't understand what was being said.
Arina whipped away the last remains of her tears and opened her mouth to answer the question, but was interrupted by the unkind voice of Aberforth.
"Hold on a second," he grunted and stared from Arina to Harry and back to his niece again. "You're his godmother? Potter's godmother?"
Arina raised her eyebrow in a very Professor McGonagall style and looked at him with a challenging expression.
"Yes, I am," she stated matter of factly, but Harry smiled when he heard the pride that was lingering in her voice. Then she looked at the white-bearded wizard with angry blue eyes and a challenging expression. "Now, is there some kind of hidden meaning underneath your question or should I just assume that you are not familiar with any sort of politeness?"
Harry's eyes widened at her sassy response and he saw that he wasn't the only one who had to bite back a rather unfitting giggle. Though he had to admit that the smirk Professor Snape wore at the moment was resembling Xemerius' and that was something completely new.
Dan looked pretty pleased with his wife's answer and he softly stroked her shoulder.
Aberforth had apparently not expected this. He stared at Arina completely dumbfounded.
"I suggest," Snape's deep voice sounded from behind Arina, and the witch's head jerked up at hearing it. "I suggest that you think about what you are going to answer before you speak."
Abe just nodded wordlessly and continued to stare at all of them.
"Sev!" Arina exclaimed smiling and tried to sit up straight to face him completely.
"Slow down, Princess," the blond haired surgeon said a little concerned, though Harry could see the joy and relieve that was sparkling in his brown eyes upon seeing his wife in an already better state of health.
And despite himself, the boy-who-lived chuckled when Arina stubbornly shook her head, ignoring her husband's advice, and tried to push herself into a more upright position in order to get a better sight; only to end up sucking in a sharp breath and clutching her bandaged chest with a pained expression.
Snape shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes but in a somewhat caring way. He walked around the bed so the witch could look at him. They exchanged a look, which said a lot more than words.
"You know, I'm still waiting for the day when you'll finally listen to what I have to say…" Dan chuckled, then carefully pulled his own arms around the black haired witch and simultaneously conjured a big pillow, which he pushed behind her back. His wife smiled at him gratefully and whispered a quiet "Thank you."
"Haha! That was a good one, Aidan! I doubt you'll ever see that day coming… One can say that the famous Gryffindor stubbornness is practically encoded in Arina's genes… It gets passed on from the Queen to the Princess..." Xemerius laughed and promptly got another elbow in the ribs, this time however by the mediwitch.
"Really, Xem," she said scolding and turned towards Arina. "Honey, don't listen to him. You know how he can be… We are all so very glad you are alright, do you hear me?"
Harry chuckled but then he saw that Arina's eyes widened; apparently she had just now noticed the silvery eyed wizard and the emerald-eyed witch that was still leaning against him. She coughed a little and was about to reply something, when Xem once more interrupted. He winked at the younger black haired witch in a really cute way.
"Really, Poppy," he repeated the mediwitch's earlier phrase with a bright grin, "I have been the kiddo's godfather for long enough that the little Princess knows that I love her, right? I mean despite all the little nonsense I say every now and then."
"Little bit of nonsense…?" Rolanda asked laughing and the wizard rolled his eyes at her.
But this time, Arina chuckled, though her eyes were still focused on the emerald eyed witch by Xem's side. "Right, Uncle Xem. Besides," she added smiling and looked at Poppy, "we all know that he can be as stubborn as a hippogriff, too."
Augusta, Poppy and Rolanda burst into laughter. Xem just smiled proudly at his goddaughter. "That's my girl."
Harry laughed at the little banter between the two of them.
Now it all made a little more sense that Professor Dumbledore sent Arina to Ilvermorny, seeing that her very own godfather was the headmaster of the magical school.
His good mood was however interrupted by Aberforth grumpy voice again. "Why in Merlin's name are you her godfather?"
.
The usually funny Ilvermorny Headmaster instinctively tightened his arms around Professor McGonagall, but mirrored everyone else's reaction and raised an eyebrow in a strict no-nonsense manner. "You've got a problem with that, too, Abe?"
"Well, I just find it interesting as to why my brother would name you his daughter's godfather, since I wasn't aware of the fact that you were a part of the family,"
Xemerius was about to voice his anger, but his goddaughter was faster.
She ignored the window that was shattered by her uncontrolled magic and glared at the old wizard furiously.
"First of all, the term family can be seen different in everyone's eyes. I'm Harry's godmother because Lily considered me her family," the black haired witch snapped and Aberforth made a step backwards. "Second of all, I love Xem. And he is the best godfather I could ever wish for! Besides, even unrelated, he's a better Uncle than you could ever be, I'm sorry."
Xemerius was visibly touched by her lovely words; Aberforth on the other hand stared at his niece, apparently he hadn't expected such a fiery outburst.
"You don't even know me," he stated with a raised eyebrow, but Arina's blue eyes only darkened more.
"I know enough. And honestly, I wanted to get to know you, even though my parents were never really found of the idea - " she started but was interrupted.
"Of course Albus wouldn't want you to talk to me!" Abe barked angrily, "That is not the least surprisi – "
"He wanted to tell you," Professor McGonagall spoke up for the first time since she had woken Arina with her kiss. "But the letters he wrote in order to start making amends with you all received a rather insulting answer."
The younger Dumbledore brother stared at the transfiguration mistress. "You had no right to read those letters, Minerva. They were private."
The witch rolled her eyes. "He showed them to me. He had planned on telling you about Arina, but he had to make sure that you were to be trusted. But your answers clearly showed that you still didn't want to have anything to do with your brother," she explained simply and to Harry, this was absolutely logical.
Arina used her uncle's stunned silence to smile brightly at the emerald eyed witch. "Thanks for waking me up, by the way."
The Professor took a deep breath, and limped towards the blue-eyed witch. Harry got up to make room so the injured witch was able to sit next to Arina on the bed. She then softly reached out and took Arina's hand in hers and squeezed it softly. "Had I known what I had to do, I would have done it sooner, believe me, Kitten," she whispered, "But I have absolutely no idea how I did it…"
Xemerius laughed and the people at the Round Table as well as everyone else looked at him.
"It's just probably the first time I know something that Min doesn't. And it's actually pretty simple," he grinned even more upon seeing the Professor's interested expression, "The little kiss you gave her on the fore head… that was also 'True Love's kiss'; just in a different way."
Professor McGonagall's eyes as well as everyone else's eyes widened in realization and Arina carefully re-positioned herself and leaned against the elderly witch's chest. "Like I said. Thank you."
The emerald eyed witch smiled and put her own arms around Arina. "You're more than welcome, Kitten. Just do me the favour and stay away from knives in the future, will you…?"
Arina chuckled. "Believe me, I really don't plan on running into one anytime soon again…" she stopped her little joke upon seeing that the emerald eyed witch looked at her with a rather pleading expression. "I'll try, I promise."
"That's all I ask for."
Several 'awws' and 'oohhs' followed, but Aberforth once again interrupted.
"I'm sorry, but I really want to know what I did that you are not even willing to give me a chance to get to know you, properly," he said and looked at Arina with a raised eyebrow. "I am your uncle, after all."
The blue-eyed witch ignored the professor, who had rolled her eyes at the older man.
"Like I said, I wanted to get to know you. I really did!" Arina's voice sounded colder than Harry had ever heard her. "But well, you just accused my father of sleeping with hundreds of women, you basically called me a the unfortunate result of a one-night-stand and my mother a whore… So I am sad to say that I can finally see now why my parents were rather hesitating about introducing you to me."
.
For a moment, no one said a single word. Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna stared at the scene openmouthed. The other Weasleys, Hermione, Dan, Snape, Draco, Augusta and Rolanda looked equally surprised. The transfiguration Mistress' emerald eyes had widened, but she didn't say anything and even wore a tiny, almost undetectable smirk on her face. Xemerius on the other hand looked like a little boy who had just been handed a giant birthday present.
"You – you heard that?" The old wizard stuttered, obviously taken aback.
Arina glared at him. "As I was trying to say before you interrupted me the first time: Yes, I was able to hear everything while I was under this 'sleeping curse'. You should have listened to my husband. He isn't called the best for nothing."
Aidan chuckled and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Thanks, Princess. But it was more of a lucky guess than actually knowing it for sure."
Harry chuckled when he saw that the blue-eyed witch rolled her eyes at the people around her and looked at Aberforth again.
"You know, considering all the lovely things you mentioned about my family; especially about my mother… I'm actually quite astonished that you are still amongst the living," Arina mentioned casually, but her eyes still sparkled angrily, "She usually doesn't take it well when people insult her the way you just did..."
"Fine. Then, why don't you tell me who she is, so I can make an apology?" Abe asked in a not really convincing manner.
"Apart from the fact that I doubt one apology will be enough, why don't you ask my lovely niece instead?" Arina asked and smirked at Hermione, whose eyes had grown a little wider. "I'm sure she has already figured it out, haven't you?"
Harry looked at the now blushing brown haired witch in surprise. Ever since they had discovered that Arina was Professor Dumbledore's daughter, he had had the feeling that the witch knew more than she let on.
"Come on now, Hermione," Draco smiled and emphasized her first name.
"Yes, listen to him," Ron added and grinned at Draco. "I can see it in your eyes that you want to share your information with us!"
This time, Ron got elbowed by Ginny and Fleur. "Ouch!"
"That's for pressuring your girlfriend," Ginny snapped and rolled her eyes at her brother.
"Now that's enough, children," Molly intertwined. "If Hermione isn't comfortable in saying something about it, then she doesn't have to."
Hermione shifted from one leg to the other a little nervously. "It's not that I'm not comfortable, but…" here she glanced at Professor McGonagall. "I'm just not sure if it's my place to tell."
Surprisingly enough, the Professor just shrugged her shoulders and smiled at the young witch. "Go ahead, dear."
The brightest witch of her age stared at the emerald eyed witch for a moment, then she glanced at Arina and back to the Professor. "Are you sure?"
"I have expected you to put two and two together ever since the two of you started viewing the memories in the mirror," the elderly witch spoke kindly and gestured towards the mirror which Harry had laid down on the bed with Batty. "Though I am almost certain that you knew before, didn't you?"
Hermione blushed. "I had my suspicions, but – "
"Can you get to the important thing already, and tell me about the girl's mother, Granger? " Aberforth interrupted impatiently, "or whoever Albus might have– "
He didn't finish the sentence, mainly because Snape, Dan, Poppy, Xem, Arina and the emerald eyed witch glared at him furiously.
The young brown haired witch rolled her eyes, and looked once more to the emerald eyed witch, who she only nodded.
"Well, who is it?"
Ignoring the wizard, Hermione held her glance for a moment, then a small smile appeared on her face.
"It's Professor McGonagall, of course."
.
The people at the Round Table cried out in excitement and eagerly glanced from the Professor to Arina and back and forth again.
Harry's eyes had also widened as he realized how stupid he had been for not recognizing the so obvious resemblance between the two witches, but before he was able to sort out his thoughts, he was distracted by Aberforth, whose head turned in a neck-breaking speed to stare at the transfiguration Mistress.
The emerald eyes of the witch sparkled dangerously when their glances met. "Seeing that the cat's out of the bag now, I want to make one thing clear," she said and Harry could see that she was struggling to keep her famous Scottish temper in control. "I can assure you, Aberforth, that I'm not a dirty little slut."
Everyone looked at the emerald-eyed witch in shock, only Xemerius laughed whole-heartedly.
"Well done, Min! Spoken like the true Queen of Gryffindor House!"
A.N. This note is for all the lovely people that left such amazing reviews! I love you all so much for this!
Sonja: I'm really happy you liked it! And you really made my day when I read your review! I never thought that someone would ever mention my writing in the same sentence with JKR! *I'm still blushing furiously* But thanks so much for that! Danke!
Paige: Yes she is :D
Amiliana & Huntress: I'm so very glad you liked it! Next chap is coming right up :)
TealBlueEyes: Arina does know :) during the next chappies I will - hopefully - be able to show that the two do have a really really close mother/daughter relationship. I just have the cenario in my head, that they always act like that in public; careful not to give to much of their relationship away; but you will see soon :)
Another thing... I usually don't update that often, but since I have a horribly long train ride (2 hours!) to Uni and again (2!) back home everyday, I have quite some time to kill and writing help a lot to keep me occupied :) *though I do have some trouble reading the things I have scribbled on my papers every now and then :D*
Now, enough from me! I hope you will enjoy the next chapter! And again, thanks so much for reading!
(warnings... mentions of the words slut and whore... but only once)
