Each time I upload a chapter it seems to be slightly longer than the last. The first one was only 884 words...while this one is a good 200 words longer...not that you guys are going to complain. LOL Read and Review!
Minerva paced her office, thinking about the girl that had consumed her thoughts for the last two months. Ever since Hermione Granger had showed up at the gates of Hogwarts, informing Minerva that Lucius had gotten her pregnant, she had not been able to get the girl out of her mind. Outwardly calm, Minerva had been inwardly panicking when she'd woken up that next morning to find Hermione wrapped in her arms, especially after the discussion that had followed.
When Minerva had attempted to lighten the mood by inferring that it was Hermione's turn to push the boundaries, after the unexpected compliment the young woman had paid her, Minerva had proceeded to ask herself what boundaries were left to cross. The barrier of student and teacher had been all but smashed to bits, but to what end? Minerva wondered.
A year ago, the one word Minerva McGonagall would have used to describe Hermione was "brilliant." Six months ago, the word would have been "loyal". Three months ago, when she'd seen Hermione the day of that final battle, that word may have begun to lean toward "beautiful", though she would have still firmly believed that compliment to the woman she hadn't seen in more than a year was strictly platonic. Now, however, Minerva could not just choose one word to describe her former cub. Hermione was intelligent, beautiful, loyal, graceful, trusting, and overall...timeless.
After what happened with Lucius, despite her pureblood status, Minerva had become a less desirable potential wife. She'd grown up in an era where marriages were most often arranged in pureblood families, and if you could not produce an heir for your potential husband, no one wanted to marry you. Despite that, Minerva had tried to see eligible men, but every time in got to the part where they wanted to be intimate, she found that she couldn't. Her encounter with Lucius had been brutal and terrifying, and in all of her life, the only man who'd ever gotten close enough to her to find out the truth of why she would not have sex had been Albus.
It was he that had introduced her to the world of homosexuality. He was gay as the day is long, and when she'd confessed to him in a fit of tears one night about the rape and why she could never be comfortable with a man, that way, he'd calmly suggested that she find a good woman. The thought had never occurred to her before then, but she'd embraced the concept for the rest of her life. Lucius Malfoy had been the last man to touch her that way, nearly thirty years ago. Since then she'd had several relationships with women, the last being with Amelia Bones, who had died during the last war. It had been two years now. And for the first time since Amelia's death, Minerva found herself becoming interested in another witch. It terrified her that the witch in questions was Hermione.
Today, despite her hesitation to agree when Hermione had Owled her and asked, Minerva was meeting the younger witch at the muggle doctor's office, for something Hermione had called a sonogram. According to Hermione it was a muggle invention that allowed you to make sure the baby was healthy, and to determine the gender of the child. Once Hermione had decided to keep the child growing inside of her, she had given the pregnancy her full attention. She'd rented a flat in London so that she was close to the muggle hospital - Hermione had insisted on doing everything the muggle way for this pregnancy, in part out of respect for her heritage, and in part to keep the pregnancy itself a secret for as long as she could. So far, Minerva was the only one who knew.
"Hermione," Minerva called, seeing the glowing witch standing by the door to the doctors, waiting. "I arrived early, in case I couldn't find the place, which means that you are very early."
Hermione blushed. "I was looking forward to this. We'll actually get to see the baby; no one has ever invented a spell to do that. This is an experience that few of our kind ever have."
"I'm honored that you would want me to be part of this," Minerva said, holding the door open. "Though are you quite sure it's alright? I won't get hexed for following you into the exam room?"
Hermione laughed, and then whispered under her breath as to not be overheard from the others in the waiting room. "Minerva, these are muggles. They can't hex you."
Minerva felt like an idiot. That was what this girl did to her. Five seconds in her presence, and that legendary brain of hers just fell out; gone with the wind, taking her breath away with it. In all of her life, Minerva could never remember falling for someone this quickly. On the other hand, of the five relationships she'd had in her lifetime, each had been missing something, usually being a comparable intelligence. Not that any of them had been stupid...just not intellectual. Amelia had been very gifted at Defense, but outside of that it was like talking to a brick wall; a fact Amelia had never denied.
Hermione was everything she'd ever wanted. Every thing about the young woman, right down to the fact that Minerva would never have to argue with her about why she loathed Lucius Malfoy, was perfect. The downside to all of this was that knowing how perfect Hermione was for her made it so easy to care greatly for the younger woman, and knowing Hermione well enough to already be unable to argue with herself about why it would never work, meant that she already loved her former student so much that she would never make a move, never risk damaging the level of intimacy they already have.
"Minerva, are you coming?" Hermione called, breaking the older witch's train of thought.
The firm Professor McGonagall mask in place, Minerva smoothed out the muggle jacket she'd worn today, and nodding to Hermione she took a seat and reached for a muggle magazine. No, she would not let Hermione get the slightest hint of what she was feeling, because now or later, should she let Hermione in, she knew damn well it would kill her if Hermione ever let her go.
Next chapter...Hermione and Minerva get lunch in Diagon Alley after finding out the baby's sex... and run into Lucius Malfoy. Duh-duh-duh-duh!
