Disclaimer: I still don't own anything from Harry Potter.

A/N: I can't believe it's nearly a month after I last updated! Time is ridiculous. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I don't leave you thinking, I waited a month for this?

Fallen Lioness

Chapter 7: Care

"Min! Min! Minerva!"

Minerva could barely hear somebody calling her name. It was a familiar voice. Why was she hearing it now? She was asleep… right? But this wasn't a dream; everything was dark. Then what…?

"Min! You dead?"

Someone was shaking her shoulders. This was real, but she didn't feel awake. Her eyes felt heavy, and her head hurt. She could hear footsteps, fast. They were moving away. Slowly, Minerva pried her eyes open. Her surroundings gradually came into focus. She was lying on the grass outside the castle. It was the Quidditch pitch; she recognized it by the faint outlines of the large hoops at the end of the field. It was still dark. Whoever was speaking to her had gone away.

Minerva rubbed her head, which was aching severely. She tried to remember why she was outside in the first place. She looked around until her eyes landed on the Quidditch ball set by her feet. There were two Bludgers resting beside it, struggling to move.

The person who was here must have cast a spell upon them, she reasoned. Otherwise…! Then she remembered what had happened. She was putting them away and de-Charming them at the same time. Then one hit her, and… she couldn't recall what happened next. The voice was the next thing in her memory, but it didn't seem that that happened right after she got hit.

The footsteps returned. There were two sets of them, both running across the pitch towards her. She tried to focus on their faces, but it was too dark to identify them.

"She's over here," one of them said breathlessly. It was the voice from before, and now Minerva could tell who was speaking to her before. It was Rolanda.

The second person picked up the pace and rushed closer and closer to Minerva. This person was taller, with a long white beard, and as he neared, Minerva could see glittering stars on his robes.

"Minerva!" he gasped and dropped to his knees beside her. "Minerva, are you all right?"

Minerva nodded dumbly, even though she felt like she had been punched several times in the face and head.

"What happened?" he asked, brushing a few stray black hairs out of her face.

Minerva didn't know what to say. She felt stupid telling him that she had gotten hit by Bludgers from which she had removed a Charm before strapping them down. She lowered her eyes and looked at the ground.

"Bludgers," Rolanda, who was crouched down by her feet, said for her. "I saw them whizzing by my window and went out to put them away. I figured someone had set them loose as a prank. Then I found Minerva out here by her broom and the ball case. That's when I decided to get you, Headmaster."

"Oh, Merlin…," Albus murmured. "Minerva, did the Bludgers knock you off your broom?"

She shook her head.

"No. It's my fault," she said. "I was stupid is all." She sat up slowly, clutching at the side of her head.

Albus stared at her for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Minerva said shortly. "Don't worry about it." She didn't feel like looking any more like a fool. "What time is it? We should probably just go to bed."

"It's almost two," Rolanda said. "You should see Poppy before you go anywhere, Min. Your nose looks broken, and if you got hit in the head by those two Bludgers, you might have suffered a mild concussion."

"Rolanda's right," Albus agreed. "Come now, I'll take you to see Madam Pomfrey." He extended his hand.

Minerva frowned as she grabbed his hand and they stood up.

"I'm fine," she insisted, even with a sudden wave of dizziness and her splitting headache. "There's no need to disturb Madam Pomfrey at this hour. She's probably asleep. Really, I'm all right."

Albus raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I'm sure Poppy won't mind if we wake her to examine you. She would be furious to find out I let you go to bed without seeing her," he said, with his eyes twinkling as usual. "Rolanda, you can go to bed. I'll escort Minerva to the Hospital Wing."

"Good night, Professor," Rolanda said, and they parted ways.

Minerva avoided eye contact with Albus as they walked across the pitch and back into the castle. She felt ashamed of her idiocy and didn't enjoy feeling like a fool. She didn't want to explain how she managed to get hit by the Bludgers or why she was even out there in the first place. She wanted to return to her rooms, where she would not have to deal with Poppy and whatever lecture she might pull out tonight. Whatever injury she might have suffered could wait until morning for treatment. She wanted to go to bed and rest after this long, stressful week.

The silence persisted as the two of them walked down the candlelit corridors. With a quick glance to her side, she tried to read Albus's expression. There was something other than the customary twinkle in his eyes, but she couldn't quite tell what. She looked away, and they simply continued their path toward the Hospital Wing.

"Wait here," Albus whispered when they entered the quiet hospital wing. "I'll wake Madam Pomfrey." He let go of her arm, which he had been holding gently throughout their trek to the infirmary, and went to find the mediwitch.

Minerva sat down at the foot of one of the beds and glanced around the room. No one else was in it, which seemed to be a rarity at Hogwarts, considering it was full of rowdy children and teenagers. Minerva clutched at her aching head again and awaited the return of Albus with Poppy. Within moments, she could hear two figures bustling into the room, Albus first, with Poppy at his heels. She was still pulling on her dressing gown as they swept toward Minerva.

"Mmhm, broken nose, you were right," Poppy murmured to Dumbledore, almost as if Minerva could not hear. "Give me a second, and I can mend it." She drew her wand and raised it to Minerva's face. After tapping Minerva's nose and uttering an incantation, Madam Pomfrey had mended the nose perfectly.

"Thank you," Minerva said and touched her face, feeling her repaired nose.

"Not a problem," Madam Pomfrey said. "What happened?"

"Bludgers," Minerva muttered, clutching at her head again. "Please… don't ask anything else about it."

Poppy straightened up and gave Minerva a searching look.

"Fine." She summoned a bottle of a dark liquid, which glided gently into her hand. "Drink half a goblet-full of this tonight and again in the morning. It's for your head." She handed the bottle to Minerva and then summoned a medicinal goblet from the cabinet and gave her that, too.

"All right."

"Be careful that your measurements are precise. Taking too much can be dangerous," Poppy warned. Then she adjusted her tone to a softer one. "See me tomorrow after breakfast, and I'll prescribe additional amounts if necessary."

Minerva nodded.

"Is there anything else, Poppy?" Albus, who had been silent this whole time, asked.

"No… that's all," Poppy answered, shaking her head.

"Thank you," Albus said. "Good night, Poppy."

"Good night, Headmaster, Minerva," Madam Pomfrey said and returned to her quarters.

Once she was out of sight, Albus turned to Minerva. His concerned eyes studied Minerva as he placed his hand upon her shoulder. Minerva gazed back into his eyes and said nothing.

"Come, I'll walk you to your rooms," Albus offered.

Minerva rose slowly.

"You don't have to. I can take care of myself," she said, gazing impassively into his cool blue eyes.

"I know."

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, after admitting to herself that she could use some assistance, Minerva resignedly leaned into his body, and he wrapped his extended arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the Hospital Wing. Their bodies could not be much closer as he helped up to her private chambers in Gryffindor Tower. They stood at Godric Gryffindor's portrait, not saying anything, staring at each other yet again.

"…Thank you," Minerva whispered, piercing the awkward silence.

"Of course," Albus breathed.

In the dark shadows they stood, close but not touching, facing each other but not speaking. All was still and quiet, both of them focusing on each other's eyes. Minerva fixed her eyes upon his blue ones, feeling just like a teenage schoolgirl, as if they had just come from a date, and Albus didn't know whether to kiss her or not. She knew a kiss wasn't coming, but so strongly did she urge to kiss him! But that could not happen, and she knew it.

"Well… good night, Albus," Minerva said, turning toward the portrait. His presence made her feel so protected and special, but the simultaneous heartbrokenness told her she needed to get away.

For a moment, he didn't respond. He was still staring at her, with a strange expression in his eyes. Minerva had seen it before, when something on his mind was bothering him. She tore her eyes away and muttered her password. She began to open the door behind Gryffindor, when Albus's voice sounded from behind her.

"Minerva," he said finally.

She turned around.

"What is it?" she said.

"What—what did you mean by… you 'were stupid'?" he asked.

Minerva sighed inside. Why was he asking about this now? She had said those words nearly an hour ago. She didn't want to be bothered with the question. Explaining would probably lead him to more questions, and she didn't want to deal with that right now.

"Is that bothering you?"

"Yes," he said, nodding. "I… I want to know that you're all right, Minerva."

She sighed audibly.

"I am," she said firmly. "Don't worry about what happened out there on the pitch, all right? Now, please let me go, Albus. I'll see you in the morning."

"…All right," he said. "Good night, Minerva."

Minerva nodded and slipped into her private chambers. She sank into her red sofa and poured the medicine into the goblet. Half a goblet-full… At the goblets midpoint, she stopped and placed the bottle on the coffee table. Before bringing the goblet to her lips, she paused and wondered what would happen to her if she did drink all of the potion tonight. Poppy didn't say; she just said not to overdose.

Perhaps it'd kill me, she thought, and promptly downed her first dose of potion.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and also thanks for all the comments from last chapter. I really appreciate them. Sorry I didn't respond; I guess I got caught up in other things.