Angst-y drabble for now. Perhaps something more someday.
Joy sparkled in emerald irises as they met chocolate brown. Delight joined joy and together they transformed the face of Hogwarts's stoic headmistress into a breathtaking smile filled with warmth. A warmth that the silent observer had rarely experienced directed it at her. Heart aching, the watcher, for that was all she could ever hope to be, drank in the sight of Minerva McGonagall's happiness and allowed it to warm her chest just enough to keep her aching heart from tearing itself in two. Minerva, unaware of the watcher, reached out a hand and ran it through brown tresses, marveling at the softness of them. Her wife's tinkling laugh made her smile ever wider. She was happy. Hopelessly in love with her brown-haired witch and content with where life had guided her.
"I love you." She turned then, the hand that had been gliding through her wife's hair fisted in it just enough to pull the other witch's lips to her own. A sharp intake of breath startled her and she pulled back, turning away from her wife to meet another set of brown eyes.
"Hello, Hermione, dear. I didn't see you there."
The watcher, Hermione Granger, bit her lip. Hard enough to draw blood. The pain in her lip was nothing compared to the pain in her heart, however, so she ignored it. "Hi, Minerva. Hello, Poppy." With that she turned on her heel and fled. It never got easier to see Minerva with another woman. It helped that she was happy. It was enough that she was happy. It had to be enough because Hermione knew there would never be anything more. Not for her. Not with the woman she loved and the witch she could never call her own.