Chapter Seventeen

Now that Lara was healed, Minerva felt she could properly enjoy life again without feeling guilty. Quidditch took on a new life for her, and she finally felt she'd found a niche at Hogwarts, even if had taken 7 years.

"Oy! Travis! If you were going any slower you'd be flying backwards!" Minerva shouted upward during one practice teasingly.

"Look, Min! It's the Snitch!"

Minerva whirled her head around.

"Made you look!"

The two beaters, Peggy Donnelly and Rachel Wellman, giggled immensely at this. The Captain and Keeper, David Green, shouted, "Come on, boys! Concentrate!"

"Boys, David? Do we need to give you a lesson about the birds and the bees?" Minerva yelled towards the goalposts. David shook his head in dismay.

"Come on David! We've been practicing three hours now!" shouted another Chaser, Brad MacDonald.

"I can't see my hand in front of my face," moaned the last chaser, John Wren.

David sighed. "HUDDLE!"

The team landed by the goalposts. "Okay men – "

"And women!" Peggy piped up.

"And women," David amended, "You gave a great practice today. The Hufflepuff game should be a breeze."

"To victory!" Rachel said, pumping her fist in the air. "We should celebrate."

"A pre-emptive celebration?" David asked. "Isn't that just asking to lose?"

"Oh, we haven't had a team party for three years now," said Brad, the only other 7th year on the team. "I think it'd be fun."

"A team party?" asked Minerva. "I suppose that would be a party…for just the team?"

"You truly are the brightest girl in your year," John teased.

Minerva shrugged. "I try."

"To answer your question, yes," David replied. "An all-nighter. The concept was originally to bring the team closer together in order to improve the ability to sense what the rest are feeling. A sense of team unity."

"It's decreased to an excuse for a party," Peggy finished.

Minerva nodded. "So, why don't we have one?"

"The administration doesn't like us having them…considering it involves heavy drinking," Rachel said, a gleam in her eye.

Amazingly enough, Minerva had never drunk alcohol. She didn't think it wise to bandy about that fact, considering most thought it ludicrous that a Scotswoman such as herself had never been given the chance for alcohol to pass through her lips. "How do you get the alcohol?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "You mean you don't know?"

"We have a stash," Brad said confidently. "Beneath the Gryffindor broom shed. For emergencies."

Minerva thought a minute. She was supposed to visit Albus before she returned to her dormitory for the night. She didn't want to disappoint him…

"How about we wait for the weekend?" Minerva suggested. "I hate to sound so stuffy, but I do have homework…"

"She's right – you guys will understand when you have your N.E.W.Ts," Brad said. Minerva had never been more grateful to have another 7th year on the team.

"Saturday, then?" asked David. "It gives us a day of recuperation before the game Monday evening."

There was a general murmur of assent. "Okay then, see you all tomorrow."

Minerva returned to the broom shed. She and Travis were the only ones to keep their brooms there, seeing as they both rode school-owned brooms. Minerva thought he had been oddly quiet during the team huddle…"

"Travis, everything okay?" she asked as she plucked a few stray twigs from her broom.

"Yeah, I just wasn't flying very well today," he said. "That and I had planned…well…something for Saturday."

"And that something was…?"

Travis shuffled his feet. "I can't tell you…you'll tell…her."

"Who's her?" Minerva was oddly reminded of Lara…in fact, hopefully…

"You can't tell her – I know you're friends with her!" Travis's eyes were very serious. Minerva smiled.

"You like Lara, don't you?"

Travis groaned. "Dammit, Minerva!" She laughed…she had missed the sound of a Scottish accent saying her name, the way the "r" rolled.

"She likes you too. She told me the other day. You can ask her out and hang out with her before the party, since it won't be until later."

"Thanks. You're the greatest." He flashed a goofy smile, and dashed off.

Minerva laughed and headed for Albus's office. Curiously enough, he was not there. She made sure no one was in the corridor, then closed and locked his office door and began her trip to his private quarters. The darkness of the ladder shaft wasn't so bad, once she got used to it (and cast a quick 'lumos'). She found Albus in his room, reading on his bed.

"Albus," she said softly. "Did you give up on me?"

He looked up. "No, I knew you'd come eventually. Did quidditch practice run late?"

"We were planning something," Minerva explained.

"What?"

She ran over to his bed and plopped down on it. "Switch to lover mode."

He raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

Minerva kissed him rather seriously. "Come on, Albus, please? I can't tell you unless we get you switched out of teacher mode!"

"It'll take more than one kiss to switch me out of teacher mode, love," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Two, then?" she inquired, pecking him on the cheek.

He laughed. "You're a hard bargainer, Minerva."

"Three, with the promise of more to come," she said, kissing his other cheek. "We're having a team party Saturday, where we plan on getting positively smashed. I know you won't approve, but I've never drank before, and I'd like at least one experience."

Albus was quiet a moment. "All right. I won't say anything against it."

She threw her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"Don't go kissing any other boys while you're drunk," he said, "I'd hate to lose my job because I hit a student."

"Yes, completely ignoring the reason as to why you hit the student!" Minerva laughed. "The rest of the quidditch team really likes me, Albus. I think I'm finally getting friends!"

"Friends you deserve," he said, "You more than anyone else. But please, don't forget about me because of them."

Minerva laughed again. "Albus! What do you take me for? I love you, and I won't leave you for a silly quidditch player, and as for the girls, well, I'm very thankful to finally have some girlfriends!"

She smiled and kissed Albus again. "Oh! I forgot! Would you happen to know why Headmaster Dippet would be sending Professor Slughorn on an errand about Grindewald?"

He shook his head. "No…where did you learn of this?"

"When I was retrieving the Mandrake potion from his office. He casually mentioned it, and I tried to get him to tell me more but he wouldn't. He almost said something about him knowing more about a certain subject than Professor Lambert would, but he cut himself off before I found out what the subject was."

"I'll ask Armando," Albus said. "I can't imagine…I don't know what Horace would know about that Ronald Lambert wouldn't…" He sighed. "I wish Armando gave me more information. It's sad that you learn more about staff affairs than I do."

"Well, I would say it's because I'm involved in a staff affair, but considering you're in the dark then that's obviously not the case…" Minerva grinned.

"I need to speak with Armando," Albus said after a moment's pause.

"All right. I need to be getting back to my dormitory anyway." She kissed him swiftly on the lips. "I love you."

"And I you. Get some sleep."

"I will," Minerva said. She stepped back into the shaft with the ladder and, merely to show off, she floated up it. The last thing she saw before leaving his quarters was his beautiful smile.