Chapter Three: Preparations
With a quick swish of his wand, Albus conjured up a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers which he planned to give to Minerva as a way of apologizing for cancelling their arranged chess game. He hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed but he was sure she wouldn't be once he told her of the little trip he was making. He hoped that she would give him one of her rare delighted giggles. He loved to make her laugh as it was music to his ears and also to his soul. Perhaps one of these days he would finally muster up the courage to reveal his feeling to her. There had been times when he had been on the verge of revealing all but something had always stopped him.
He made his way out of his office and let the stairs revolve downwards till he reached the desired floor. He walked out of the secret passage way and made his way quickly along to Minerva's private office. As he approached the room, he found it strange that he saw no candlelight coming from underneath her door. He knocked and waited for an answer but did not receive one. He pushed open the door and poked his head into the room. He felt his heart drop a beat when he found that she wasn't in her office. He wondered where she could be for Minerva was known to be held up in her office at this time of the evening. He shut the door and stood outside her office for a moment or so, and collected his thoughts.
Albus decided that he didn't have time to go searching for Minerva as he had to get ready now otherwise he would be late to catch the jokers in the act. He returned to his office and placed the flowers into a vase so that they would keep fresh till he saw Minerva next. A note on his desk caught his attention and he realized that the handwriting belonged to Minerva. He eagerly opened the letter and read it thoroughly. It told him that she would be unable to make their arranged chess game due to unforeseen circumstances and that she would like to rearrange a match for the next evening. Albus was surprised that she had called off their game; she usually stuck to her engagements. Something important must have come up and he hoped that she was all right. He decided that he would go and see her once he returned from the restaurant. He swept into his bedroom and pulled out some deep purple dress robes; he might as well look his best even though it was to be a joke. Part of him had wanted to ask Minerva to go with him so they could laugh together and it would also give him some precious moments alone with her which were hard to come by. He combed through his beard and hair and found a few knots. That was a hazard when you had long hair and he didn't take much delight in trying to get the knots out. He had asked Minerva once how she dealt with knots as he knew that her lovely thick ebony-coloured hair reached her waist when she wore it down, which was not often. She had answered him by telling him that it was part of the reason she wore her hair in a bun, it lessened the chance of getting knots in it during her hectic day. After some minutes of hair pulling, his beard and hair were knot free and he observed himself in the nearby mirror.
"Not bad for a old man!" he said to himself before turning on his heel and sweeping out of his rooms. He had twenty minutes before the planned meeting but he wanted to get there early so he could look around for the students or even the professors who were trying to pull the wool over his vivid blue eyes.
Minerva McGonagall sat on her bed surrounded by the whole contents of her wardrobe. She had no idea what to wear. She had to disguise herself but she also wanted to look her best in case the man of her dreams sat waiting for her. She laughed to herself as she thought about the man of her dreams, she had cancelled their chess game so she could satisfy her curiosity. She would have gone to see him personally but she knew that he could read her like a book. Her excuse for cancelling their game would be dissected till he got the truth and she couldn't face the embarrassment.
She gave a sigh of frustration, she had tried on the complete contents of her wardrobe and nothing felt right. She just had enough time to transfigure one of her robes into a nicer set. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at a plain set of heavy black robes. With a few choice words and a swish of her wand, the robes transformed into a pair of sky-blue fitted dress robes. She smiled to herself and congratulated herself on a job well done before slipping the robes on over a simple black dress. She also put on a heavy dark blue travelling robe that would hide her from view so she could observe the scene in front of her. She decided that she wouldn't put her hair in her usual bun but opted for a French twist instead. It made her face look softer and took off the years that the bun would put on her.
She observed herself in the mirror and sighed to herself. What in the name of Merlin did she think she was doing? If anyone ever found out about this, she would be the laughing stock of the school. She would never live it down, especially if Severus Snape found out about it. She could just imagine the hushed whispers that would follow her around the school where ever she went. She could imagine groups of students and even professors giggling away at her in the corners. She hated to be the subject of gossip but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She decided that she had better make a move, otherwise her courage would leave her. She made her way out of her rooms and quickly swept along the corridor hoping that no one would see her.
She didn't see Xiomara Hooch perched up on the windowsill, watching her. A wide smile appeared on the Quidditch mistress' face as she slipped off the windowsill and ran off to find her husband who had been watching the headmaster.