Minerva almost ran from the young woman, wishing for all the world that the Ministry allowed apparition but knowing that she would have to make it at least down to the Floo before she could leave. Her footsteps were the only sound and they echoed in her chest as she marched through the halls. Every step felt like a death blow and she swiped ineffectually at her cheeks, not even caring if the little bit of makeup she'd put on, ran down her face. She turned the last corner, pulling her wand from the small pocket in her dress at her thigh and paused as she saw what was waiting.
"I have friends in high places that know a shorter way to the closest exit," Hermione smiled.
Minerva stared, so confused she couldn't even speak.
"I took a cancellation potion," Hermione explained gently as she stepped forward. "I'm not drunk. I think we need to speak though, don't you?"
"Hermione -"
"I"m not with Lee, Minerva. Lee is very much in love with his boyfriend and it turns out that I'm going to really enjoy being his friend."
His boyfriend.
Minerva stared as that information pierced her soggy brain. She stared endlessly at the beautiful woman in front of her, no longer giggly or wobbly, but patient, somehow as she comprehended.
"His -"
"His name is Ben. And apparently, he's quite dreamy, but he's also Muggle so Lee didn't want to drop him in the deep end, so to speak."
"His -"
"Did you think I was leaving you?"
Something about that made Minerva irrationally angry.
"YES!" Her voice echoed in the empty chamber. "My best friend and then yours told me that you should! That I have been the most horrendously selfish and obnoxious woman and that I don't even deserve you." Hermione's look didn't change and that made her even angrier. "And they're RIGHT!"
"What we have is none of their business," Hermione said simply, easing some of the anger. "I was hurt. I am hurt," she shrugged. "But I could also have come and said something to you. I should have remembered that you have lived in a castle where your every whim has been taken care of by indentured creatures."
Minerva cringed.
"Hermione -"
"But," she sighed. "I think we should talk now, seeing as how you are about to go back to the Castle and I am not."
"You're not?"
"I can't very well go back to school now, can I," Hermione said, with that little head tilt that Minerva found so endearing. "Whatever happens between us, I cannot go back to being your student. That would be," she frowned. "Well. We're not doing that."
"Hermione, I need -"
"What?"
"I need to apologise."
Minerva expected a snort of derision or an argument of some sort but instead, Hermione nodded expectantly and Minerva was suddenly clueless how to start. She took a few minutes to gather her thoughts and remembered that she was Minerva McGonagall.
"I apologise, Hermione, for treating you the way I have. Though not an excuse, I was so caught up in getting Hogwarts ready and so busy that I forgot not only your hospitality but that you are my friend and -" Her voice broke and she tried to hide it by clearing her throat. "And I should have done better."
"Your friend?"
"I -"
"Min, let me ask you something that has only really occurred to me in the last few hours." She was thankful Hermione seemed to be taking over a little. "Do you want to be with me?"
Minerva stared at her in horror.
"Ah. Okay."
"Wait," Minerva almost yelled. "Okay, what?"
"Well, you looked incredibly uncomfortable when I asked that and I find usually the first reaction is often the most truthful."
"I wasn't uncomfortable," Minerva argued.
"Minerva," Hermione chastised her. "I've known you for so long. It's alright. I mean, it hurts, I wish you'd have -"
Minerva couldn't listen to another word and instead did something she'd longed to do since seeing Hermione stand up in that scintillating dress earlier. She gripped Hermione's arms and kissed her, at first just to stop her talking, but then, as she felt Hermione's lips on hers and felt her warm body against hers through this ridiculous dress she'd bought just for Hermione's eyes, the true stupidity of her actions finally sunk in.
"I love you," Minerva whispered against Hermione's lips. "I am horrified that you felt the need to ask. That I have done such a poor job at showing you, that I have ignored you for so long that I -"
Hermione kissed her this time, winding her arms around Minerva's neck and holding her close. Minerva could feel tears on her cheeks but she couldn't tell whose they were and she didn't really care, either. Her hands traced their way from Hermione's elbows, over her biceps, which flexed under her palms, and over her shoulders. She moaned a little as she felt the warm skin behind her hands, down Hermione's back, over her ribs and her middle.
"Hermione, I -"
"Stop talking, will you?" Hermione said with a shaking breath. "Do you swear you'll do better?"
"I swear it," Minerva whispered, cupping Hermione's face and looking into her eyes. "Darling, I'm so sorry. I will do better. I will be better. It is not an excuse but I want," she frowned. "I need you to understand those words you spoke to me? On my birthday? Have both haunted me and made me so happy."
"Which ones?" Hermione asked, stroking her fingers maddeningly against Minerva's cheek.
"The one where you weren't afraid of my previous relationships. And that while you wouldn't be the first person to," she couldn't help the little sob. "Fall in love with me, you might like to be the last? It reminds me that I am close to the end of life and you are just at the beginning. I don't wish to saddle you with an ailing partner or a burden that you wish for the end of by the time it comes.."
"Minerva," Hermione sighed. "That was supposed to be a happy thought. You are so far from the end of your life and caring for you would never be a burden," she realised that some of their problems were exactly that and she pressed her fingers to Minerva's lips before she could speak. "What we just went through wasn't that. There was a misunderstanding and we needed to adjust our boundaries and expectations before moving on. I vaguely also remember telling you that I love you enough to let you go if you wish it. If you can't love me, Minerva, tell me now."
"I can," Minerva whispered desperately. "I do. I will."
"You're sure?"
"Hermione, you fill me with so much joy that sometimes I sit at that stupid desk and think ridiculous thoughts about us together. I am so stupid sometimes that I sat that and daydream when I could have been -"
"Come here," Hermione said, stepping away but keeping hold of her hands. She followed like a moth to a flame until Hermione pulled her close and apparated them back to her place.
"Show me what you were thinking," she whispered, her breath tickling Minerva's ear.
"You don't want to -"
"Min?" Hermione whispered. "I have loved you for the better part of two and a half years. I will love you until the day I die. I am only a little less to blame for all this. I should have come and talked to you. But I equally wanted to give you your space and take care of you."
"Then it is clearly my turn to take care of you," Minerva whispered hotly, feeling her body tighten in places that seemed dormant for so long. She stared at Hermione, in a beautiful, silver, flowy dress that made her eyes look deeper than Minerva had ever seen before. "Merlin, but you are beautiful."
"You like it?"
"I do," Minerva whispered, standing back a little to look properly. "I have been looking forward to the Ball since you reminded me about it. I," she bit her lip. "Was looking forward to spending the evening with you. I bought," she plucked at the dress she wore. "For you."
"I nearly told you to take it off before we left," Hermione chuckled. Minerva's stomach flopped uncomfortably.
"It's too young, isn't it. I should have -"
"I nearly told you that you are not to wear it for anyone other than me." Minerva's heart thumped and her brain stopped and she stared for a long time. "Are you with me?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you are so deliciously beautiful that I don't want anyone else to see this much of you."
The blush Minerva had fought off was back with a vengeance and she pressed her cool hands to her cheeks for some relief.
"Hermione," she giggled, unable to do anything else.
"I," Hermione sighed. "I know I just pushed us here, but I do actually want to discuss something before we decide to go any further, okay?"
"Okay," Minerva swallowed, the dread back. She felt like a muggle yo-yo.
"What are your plans for January?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Hermione said, sitting down beside her and taking her hand. "I'm not coming back to school, okay? I'm not. I'm going to take my N.E.W.T.s remotely and then find a job or go to university but I'm not coming back as a student."
"You did say that," Minerva said, trying to find her Professor's voice again.
"Don't be like that," Hermione chuckled, leaning forward and pressing a kiss beneath Minerva's chin.
It was all incredibly confusing.
"I do not know what you are telling me, Hermione."
"I wondered," she said gently. "Perhaps. If the problem with you being here and me being here is that," she picked at her nails, which Minerva knew she only did when she was nervous.
"Hermione?"
"It seems to me that the problems that we have encountered here would be alleviated if we were in the castle. If, I mean, I -"
Minerva blinked and realised what she was saying. And how monumentally stupid she felt for not thinking about it first.
"Hermione," she groaned. She rubbed her head and then looked up and cupped her young lover's face. "I should have realised. And invited you without you having to ask me to do so."
"Well, because I know you so well, I think I've been giving you a little bit too much latitude."
"Do you remember me saying that I didn't have many lovers? Before?"
"I do," Hermione smiled.
"Poppy made me realise that while I did love and was loved by those people, we were all so very independent. I did my thing and they did theirs. I have never had anyone who wished to spend their life with me, Hermione. And it is," she sighed, feeling every inch of this new feeling. "Both an incredible compliment but also feels so very big."
"I'm -"
"No, don't apologise," Minerva chuckled. "I will, and am trying to, be more open to you. I want this, Hermione. I genuinely do. I just do not really know how to go about it."
"Let's start with this," Hermione said kindly. "Let's have breakfast together, every morning. Or a cup of tea. Something, before the minutiae of the day, interrupts," she asked hesitantly. "Together?"
"Definitely," Minerva smiled. "And until we get back to the Castle and sort everything out there. I will work on keeping the weekend to ourselves. I will have to plan the duty rosters and the meetings and the like, but for now, I would like that?"
"I would love that," Hermione smiled. "And I'll -"
"Move in with me," Minerva breathed, feeling all the world for both a fool for not thinking of it and so incredibly privileged for being able to offer it.
"I would love that too," Hermione grinned.
"We will work out everything else, at a later date?"
"Yes."
Hermione's smile softened and before Minerva could catalogue it, Hermione had reached forward and taken Minerva's face in her hands and kissed her softly.
"Would you like to invite me to your room?"
Minerva lost her breath, her thighs pressing together unconsciously.
"I would love that," Minerva whispered, her voice gravelly. "If you are amenable?"
"I most certainly am," Hermione breathed.
Minerva realised through the haze of want that she needed to be the one that led Hermione upstairs. She knew why they were going to her room and she knew why she needed to be the one. This was Hermione's parent's house. And that was uncomfortable enough for her, she couldn't imagine how it might be for Hermione.
"Stop thinking," Hermione whispered, pressing a kiss on Minerva's throat. "Take me upstairs."
Minerva stood and offered her hand, smiling as their fingers tangled together. She could feel the clamminess of Hermione's hand and knew it matched her own so she squeezed gently as they walked.
"We don't -"
"I want to," Hermione whispered. "I've wanted to since you kissed me by the beach."
"I'm an old fool," Minerva whispered. "You should have been in here, with me, since the beginning," she shook her head as they entered her room. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. We're going to change that now, right?"
"Yes," Minerva smiled, feeling for the first time like she had a little control back in her life. "Starting now."
She pulled Hermione in and kissed her softly, moaning at the feel of Hermione's body pressed against hers. She held onto Hermione's hips for fear the younger woman would realise that her hands were shaking if she let go.
"Min?" Hermione breathed as she pressed kisses along Minerva's cheeks and down her neck to her shoulder. "Relax. I love you."
The words echoed in her head as Hermione's lips pressed against her pulse and she felt suddenly very serene.
"Hermione," she whispered, pushing her back a little and looking at her. "Let me take care of you," she smiled. "May I?"
Hermione looked at her like the sun rose and set on her say so and Minerva took a moment just to look at her.
"You are so beautiful. I feel woefully prepared to be your lover, Hermione. Please," she took Hermione's hands. "Please don't ever doubt my love for you, ever again. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are certain of my feelings for you, no matter what is going on in our lives. I promise you that."
"Every moment I spend with you makes me the luckiest woman in the world, Min," Hermione breathed. "Please don't feel like you need to do or say anything extravagant or out of the ordinary. Just," she shrugged. "Don't forget about me."
"I could never," Minerva muttered, pressing kisses along the soft skin of her shoulder. "I will never."