"She's a wreck, Minerva is." Pomona Sprout said. She was sitting in the staff room with Filius Flitwick, Rolanda Hooch, and Poppy Pomfrey. Poppy nodded in agreement.
"I tried speaking with her last week after she and Horace had a face to face discussion with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but she snapped at me and walked away."
"She has been a wreck since Dumbledore died." Flitwick pointed out. Poppy and Rolanda looked at each other.
"Did any of you suspect they were more than colleagues and friends?" Pomona asked. Flitwick, Poppy, and Rolanda shook their head even though Poppy and Rolanda knew the truth. "But then again none of us suspected Severus was a trader."
"He played his part well I guess you could say, do you remember the day Minerva was stunned?" Rolanda asked. They all nodded flashing back to that moment.
Two years ago…
Rolanda found Severus and he was with Flitwick, Sprout, Trelawney, and Sinistra. They did not look happy. Not even Snape, no he was pissed. He was very loyal to both Albus and Minerva no matter how he treated them or how people saw he treated them. They were in front of the Great Hall. They saw the four Aurors that stunned Minerva. They approached the professors.
"And what would you all be doing here?" one Auror said. Snape had to grab Rolanda's robe, as she was about to run and strangle that guy.
"Hold her back Snape!" guy number 2 said. He was laughing with the other four. They were from Slytherin and always hated Minerva. Snape grabbed him and shoved him up against the wall.
"Severus! Umbridge is coming!" Sinistra said. Snape let go of him and stepped back. Umbridge was coming up from the grounds. She looked proud. Now Potter had nobody left. She had gotten rid of both Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Why are we all huddled out here? I do believe there are students you need to watch." Umbridge asked in her annoying / happy voice. Now both Snape and Pomona had to hold Rolanda back. She was one you did not want to tick off.
"I suggest you all return to your classes. As for you Rolanda, this is your warning. If I must speak with you again I am afraid you are going to be suspended without pay for the rest of the year." Umbridge said firmly.
"Why didn't you stop them? You better hope when Dumbledore returns you are far away! Mark my words!" Rolanda yelled as Pomona and Sinistra pushed her away followed by Trelawney behind them. Snape and Flitwick remained right where they were. They gave the Aurors the hawk eye Minerva gave them when they were little. Finally, Flitwick left for the stairs.
"He threw that auror up against the wall pretty hard." Poppy said finally after a moment of silence. They all nodded in agreement.
"Do you remember Severus questioning that as well at breakfast a couple years ago?" Sprout asked.
"I remember that!" Flitwick squeaked.
Breakfast two years ago….
"Professor Snape, have you seen Minerva or the Headmaster?" Professor Sprout asked.
"No, but do you find it as odd as I that they are both not here?" Snape asked.
"What er' hintin at Professor?" Hagrid asked.
"I am merely saying that after the way they danced last night, nobody else but me suspects that they are more than co- workers and friends?"
There was a pause.
"No, Minerva always puts work first and is very strict about the rules. I believe she may just have other things she has to attend to." Sprout answered. There were mummers of agreement.
"There indeed was a staff policy about those kinds of things. Minerva is one who follows the rules, even when she was younger." Rolanda spoke.
"He was just trying to stir up trouble." Poppy snapped. It was quiet for a while until Pomona spoke up.
"Have any of you seen Minerva today?"
They all shook their heads.
"Most likely in her study going over lessons." Rolanda sadly said. Poppy stood up.
"I will be back later. There things I need to pick up in Hogsmeade."
They all said good-bye to Poppy as she left and headed for Hogsmeade. She managed to make it there without running into trouble. There were a couple people walking the streets, but most were to terrified to come out of homes above their shops. She reached her destination and knocked on the door. A tall man opened the door.
"Yes?" he asked. Poppy looked up at him.
"I believe we have met before. A couple months ago, may I come in?" she asked. He simply nodded and moved aside so Poppy could enter. He led her downstairs to his living area. Poppy looked at the portrait and saw it must be Ariana. She turned to the man.
"So, what brings you here Poppy?" he asked.
Poppy sits down.
"Aberforth, do you remember the woman you met at Albus's funeral? The one in the green robes?"
"Ah yes, the one I picked out of the crowd to be my brother's mistress am I right? She never admitted it to me." Aberforth asked. Poppy gave a slight nod to him. She sat down on the bench and took her gloves off.
"Minerva, her name is, Minerva McGonagall. She is the transfigurations professor and was Albus's deputy. She is the most powerful witch I have ever met and some do underestimate what she can do…" Poppy said and trailed. She looked at Aberforth who sat across from her.
"But…" he said.
"But ever since your brother's death, she hasn't been herself. Every time anybody even tries to talk to her, she snaps and leaves to do paperwork."
Aberforth knew where this was going and stood up to get a drink. He took out two glasses.
"And you want me to try and talk to her since I am Albus's brother, right?" he finished and turned to her. Poppy nodded and took the glass Aberforth held out to her. "I hadn't spoken to Albus for decades, I barely knew him to be honest well besides what the papers said. I don't think I could be much of a help to her."
Poppy stood up and approached him.
"Please, I don't normally do this sort of thing, but I am her closest friend. The students are arriving tomorrow and we need Minerva back. Nobody has ever seen her like this. She will do everything to protect the students, but we need her at her fullest."
Aberforth just stood there and looked at Poppy debating on if he should follow her back to the castle, or not.