Dear Reader,

This is the beginning of the end. I am not much of a climax writer with action type things, but I am doing my best. This will be my last chapter for a while, so please enjoy. I will not be able to update for another 3 weeks, because I'm going to Alaska and don't expect to have access to FanFiction up there. Please hang with me; I'll update as soon as I get back.

Oh, and by the way, no one told me on the last chapter which beginning to my new oneshot they preferred. I would really, really appreciate advice on that, so if you could go back to the last chapter and read the two beginnings and tell me in this review which one you like better, I'd appreciate that.

Also, I received some reviews of last chapter wondering if Albus is really Grindelwald. And yes, Albus is Grindelwald. (I know some of you don't believe me because "Dumbledore defeated (not killed, necessarily) the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945," but just wait and see what happens; it'll all work out, I promise.) Albus awoke before Minerva on the day in question, transfigured himself into the "Grindelwald" look (he does this to hide his true identity) and met with the other man, then he undid the transfiguration, which was what Minerva saw. (Btw, regreso means return in Spanish, so "return my self-transfiguration" is the rough translation of that spell.) But he really is both Dumbledore and Grindelwald. If some of you don't like this plot twist, I'm sorry, but just wait; as I said before, it will all turn out great. (and did anyone get the hint in chapter 21 maybe? Where he bends town in the tunnel to do something like tie his shoe…well, he was really looking at the "scar on his knee that is a perfect map of the London underground" that Dumbledore mentioned in the very beginning of book 1.) Well, enough explaining; on to the story.

-LunarLitLover

Preview for Next Time: Either Slughorn explains and they meet Riley, or Albus/Grindelwald tries to convince Reese to legalize his rule of the Ministry.

Recap: Minerva slept with Albus and awoke to find out he's actually Grindelwald himself. Grindelwald also intends on making himself head of the Ministry legally by having Reese legalize it. Yet Reese won't succumb to the usual methods of bribery and blackmail and Grindelwald will have to deal with him personally.

Chapter 24: What Now!

Minerva couldn't believe her eyes. Albus! My Albus! No, it can't be! She thought, beginning to panic.

Through the crack between the door and the wall, she saw the normal Albus begin to walk towards the bedroom. Minerva, in alarm, lay back down and pretended to be sleeping, so that when Albus entered, she could act like nothing had happened.

However, that part of the plan failed. Albus being Grindelwald was too much of a shock to Minerva for her to act completely calm and normal.

Albus approached her form and kissed her shoulder gently. She shivered at his touch, for it was the touch of a killer.

"Were you awake?" he asked.

"No!" she replied too suddenly and forcefully. "You…you just woke me! And…I…I was cold…I shivered!"

Albus tilted his head and raised one eyebrow. He had picked up on her strange demeanor immediately. "Is everything alright, Minerva?"

"Is it alright! Well, of course it is! It's fine!" She replied, rising from bed and turning away. She was now very subconscious about her nakedness, and tried to cover parts of herself subtly with her hair and hanging arms.

"Are you sure, Minerva?" Albus asked Minerva again, this time turning her to face him.

She could not meet his eyes. This was after all, Grindelwald, the vicious wizard who had rebelled against the Ministry, tried to gain power, and killed many. No, Minerva could not meet his eyes, for she no longer saw him as her lover, but as this monster.

"Is this about last night?" Albus asked gently. "I know that the first time is very intense emotionally, no matter how you normally feel about your partner. Minerva, it's ok. I will understand if you are afraid or confused or overwhelmed. If you regret it, will never go there again, and we can try to forget it ever happened."

Minerva stared at the ground. She regretted the night's events immensely now, even though five minutes ago, she had felt completely different. Before overhearing Albus's conversation, Minerva would have considered it the best night of her life. However, with the new truth, she realized it was the biggest mistake she'd ever made.

But she couldn't tell Albus that. She needed to assure him everything was fine and get out of this room as quickly as possible. Therefore, she tried to summon her most calm-sounding voice and said, "No. Everything's fine. Last night was brilliant." She smiled, but wasn't sure if it was convincing.

Even if Albus hadn't bought it, he didn't say anything more about it. Instead, he said, "I love you, Minerva," and kissed her lips.

At this Minerva really panicked. Here is the most wanted wizard in Britain snogging me! And he said he loved me! But how could that be true, if he's been able to lie so much! And how can I know if I truly love him if I don't know who he really is!

Needless to say, she did not return Albus's kiss.

He pulled away and looked at her in surprise. Yet she was too quick; she'd thought of a perfect way to both disguise her reluctance and to get out of his rooms quick.

"Damn! Class will be starting soon! It's Monday! I have to go!" she yelled, finally in her true panic. She began racing around the room grabbing her clothes and putting them on as quickly as she could. Finally dressed, she ran out of Albus's rooms, with only a fleeting "Goodbye!"

She left Albus standing in the doorway, in utter confusion.

However, she did not see this, for she did not look back.

---

Minerva, in her haste to get out of Albus's rooms, had not thought about what her next action should be. She was sure that not many others knew Grindelwald's true identity, and someone needed to, someone who could actually act against Grindelwald's new regime. Yet, she didn't want to get Albus in terrible trouble or worse yet, killed, so she needed someone she could trust.

But she couldn't think of anyone who fit both of those descriptors.

Instead, she proceeded to the Great Hall in hopes that she would find someone to help. On her fast walk, she began to think about the likelihood of Albus being Grindelwald, and things began to make sense. Albus had been gone the week before the invasion, and was always missing before a new and bigger move of Grindelwald's early campaign. He had never declared a solid opinion on the matter of Grindelwald, but had instead played Devil's Advocate with her, changing his field constantly. There was also the entire conversation with Slughorn, where he had been warned about the dangers from Slughorn. But that meant that Slughorn knew Albus was involved. But then why didn't Slughorn do anything? But then Minerva remembered that Slughorn had said he was covering for Albus because Albus had covered for him, and he also warned Albus about Grindelwald, so obviously he didn't know Albus was actually Grindelwald. However, that still didn't explain Slughorn's relationship with the goblins.

Pondering all these mysteries, she had reached the Great Hall without noticing it. She rushed over to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Sam. Breakfast was almost over, and she was now just reading the Daily Prophet. But when she saw Minerva she put it down immediately.

"Where were you lat night! You never came to bed! What happened!" she said, with both a worried and accusatory tone in her voice.

"Not here, Sam," Minerva whispered, still completely flustered from her discovery. "Come out into any empty classroom with me, and I'll explain it all."

She obliged, and soon they were standing alone in a deserted classroom just outside of the Great Hall.

"What is it, Min?" she asked, now with concern. "I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"I slept with Albus last night."

"You shagged him!" Sam shrieked. "I can't believe it! How was it!"

"Wonderful, at the time, but that's irrelevant," Minerva said hastily.

"What do you mean, 'it's irrelevant'? It's very important to a first-"

Minerva cut her off. "Sam, just listen, alright? And please don't tell anyone, no matter what, ok?"

Minerva was surprised at herself for saying these things. Why did she care if Sam told? What they needed was help and that would require snitching, so why was Minerva still determined to keep all of this quiet? Damn! she thought. I still care what happens to him! I still care what happens to that lousy git who's created so much trouble…

But Minerva's thoughts were broken by Sam's urging her to continue. "Min, you just told me to listen," she said. "Now I'm quiet and listening and you aren't even talking!"

"Sorry. Anyway, I woke up this morning completely content, but Albus was out of bed and I heard voices in his office. I could just see into it through the crack in the door, but I couldn't see anyone at first. There were two men talking about someone else who they couldn't "crack by all the usual methods", like bribery and blackmail, so one of them would have to come in and deal with this man. Then one of them moved into my line of vision and it was Grindelwald himself!"

Sam's eyes grew wide. "But, Minerva, surely you were imagining-"

"No, Sam, it was him. Just hear me out, alright? So anyway they finished the conversation – oh, and the man they were having trouble with was the Minister of Magic, by the way – and after they finished the conversation, Grindelwald transfigured himself back to his normal self and guess who it was! It was Albus! My Albus! I pretended to be asleep and when he came in acted like everything was fine, but I got out as soon as I could! And I don't know what to do now! What do I do!"

"Minerva, slow down here," Sam said, making Minerva more frustrated. Every moment that was wasted was one more that Albus got to convince Reese to put his ideas into laws. Haste was essential! But Sam continued slowly, "Are you sure all of this is true? That it wasn't your eyes or your head or your imagination seeing things? And if not, are you sure this was the real Grindelwald? And the real Albus?"

"Sam, I'm sure! Plus it all makes sense with some of the stuff that has happened recently."

Light seemed to come to Sam's eyes. "You know you have a point, Minerva. The paper today mentioned Slughorn as the resistance leader against Grindelwald and I just assumed Albus was under him. But you said they were at odds, so it's logical that they are on different sides!"

Minerva had ignored the entire end of Sam's revelation. Slughorn is the resistance leader? Slughorn? But then something clicked. Of course! Slughorn! I'll go to him with this information! He may be able to help me right all of this and stop it before it goes farther!

Minerva turned and ran from the room, leaving a confused Sam behind for the third time in the recent past.

---

Minerva did not even knock on Slughorn's office door. She simply barged in. He was sitting behind his desk, and due to instinct, he had drawn his wand upon her entrance. However, she took care of that with a quick "Expelliarmus!"

Slughorn's wand flew out of his hand, and Minerva caught it. He sputtered. "What is the meaning of this, Miss Mcgonagall!"

She looked at him critically, her wand still pointed at him. He eyes it nervously, but she kept it angled at him as she answered his question.

"I need your help."