CHAPTER 5

Minerva, Xiomara, and Poppy had just arrived at the Excelsior Hotel and thanks to some strong glamour charms by Minerva, they were able to walk freely among the guests without fear of being noticed. It had taken some strongly worded threats from Minerva before Xiomara would allow her to alter her spiky hair and place her in more feminine robes, but in the end, she'd given up. After all, this was for Minerva and the disguise would only be needed for a short period of time…just long enough to catch Albus…doing whatever it was he was doing.

"We have a reservation and are attending the conference," Xiomara announced to the wizard behind the counter at the front desk. "I think you'll find we're on the seventh floor."

"Indeed you are, ladies. Those are some of our best suites, and I can assure you, you'll be in great company." The brown-eyed man looked around, as if expecting someone to step around the corner and reprimand him at any moment. "I shouldn't tell you this, but Albus Dumbledore…THE Albus Dumbledore, is staying on that very same floor! You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to hold this room for you ladies," he said as he rubbed together his fingertips, indicating a little compensation for his troubles wouldn't be refused.

Minerva picked up rather quickly on the man's intentions, and despite several elbows to the ribs from Poppy and a very disgruntled Xiomara, Minerva slipped the man a few galleons and a winning smile. "Any chance you'd tell us the room number for a few extra galleons?" she dared to ask the wiry man.

After seeing that his palm was now glistening with gold coins, he smiled a very toothy grin. "He's in room 717 and it has a lovely view from the balcony. Your room is located two doors down from his on the opposite side of the hall. If you play your cards just right, you might be able to catch him in between seminars or even in the hallway. He's a pretty hard fellow to miss."

"Indeed," Minerva bit back sarcastically. She turned to Xiomara and Poppy as she took the key and headed upstairs, but was suddenly stopped in her tracks by Poppy's firm hand on her arm.

"Look, Minerva…going across the lobby over there," she whispered softly. Xiomara, having missed the initial pause caught sight of something that made even her heart break, and she turned around just in time to see shock register across Minerva's face.

Albus and Aurelia were holding on to each other tightly as they laughed and crossed the main entranceway towards the street. Obviously Albus had said something rather charming for just before they stepped outside, Aurelia burst into a peal of laughter and smacked his arm playfully then leaned against him, her head resting on his upper arm.

Minerva's knees went weak as she watched her husband and his former lover exit the hotel for the hustle and bustle of the city. "Let's go get this over with. I'm beginning to feel ill, and I need to know where I stand, though from the looks of it, it's not in my favor," she said with a resolve unlike any other.

Xiomara had never felt the urge to hex Albus Dumbledore as much as she did at this particular moment in time. The look on Minerva's face was almost unbearable, and it pained even her cavalier heart to know that love could be so fickle and so cruel sometimes. "The absolute nerve of him," she announced through gritted teeth. "I ought to follow him and that…that…shameless git into the street and hex them in front of everyone. Hell, it would be worth all the trouble it would cause the Ministry and all the Aurors who would have to come in and Obliviate the Muggles!"

"Xiomara Hooch! You will do no such a thing. We are here to help Minerva, and hexing Albus and Aurelia won't get us any answers. There may be a logical explanation for what we just saw, and there's no need to go around stirring up more trouble. We're not even supposed to be here, remember?" Poppy was trying desperately to keep her voice down so as not to draw unnecessary attention towards herself or their little trio.

"Can we please go upstairs now? I've seen enough already to make me even more suspicious than I was before, and if I'm to have any peace I may as well get it tonight rather than waiting for THE Albus Dumbledore to answer my bloody questions. It certainly didn't take him long to forget that he's supposed to be enjoying this time with me, his wife, on our holiday." She paused and laughed bitterly. "I wonder if he even knows how much planning and time I put into arranging our little trip. No matter now, I suppose, since he seems happy as a lark with Aurelia," she spat vehemently.

Xiomara grabbed Minerva's hand and pulled her into the corridor leading to the stairs. "We came here to put this issue to rest, and we're not going until we see it through. I promise you that, Minerva. We're in this to the end and if we have to hex them both into oblivion, then I'm ready. We already know what room number he's in, and THAT THING is staying across the hall. It shouldn't be too hard for us to do a little snooping since we've already come this far." Xiomara took a look at Minerva, and she felt a cold wave pass over her, seeing the fire beginning to bubble in those green eyes. "Min, I think you need to go upstairs and take a little rest. You're not looking so well, dearie…no offense intended," she added quickly upon seeing Minerva's brow furrow even more.

"Xia's right, Minerva. You aren't looking all that well, and maybe a little tea would help to calm your nerves. Getting angry won't help anything. We will sneak around while you rest for a bit."

Seeing the sense in Poppy and Xiomara's suggestions, Minerva acquiesced, and the three witches headed upstairs. Once Minerva had a strong cup of tea and was sitting down, Xiomara and Poppy promised they'd be back soon. They were going downstairs to see if they could catch a glimpse of Albus and Aurelia, or at least learn more information about where they'd gone. But as soon as the door closed, Minerva was on her feet and headed across the hall to Albus' room.

Using her cat like instincts, Minerva sniffed the air and was not surprised to find the scent of jasmine hanging in the air. Having never been overly fond of the scent herself, she found she wasn't very surprised when Aurelia showed up wearing it when Minerva had met her for the first time. So, she's been here already, though it could just be lingering in the hallway. As I recall, she did used to bathe in the stuff, Minerva thought as she reached out to touch the doorknob. Stealthily, she whispered a spell at the door and was surprised to find that Albus hadn't even bothered to ward his rooms beyond the usual hotel security. Hmm, guess it's hard to keep people out if in your heart you really want to let HER in, she mused as she began to grit her teeth, seething..

The door opened with no resistance and Minerva stepped inside. She could already sense Albus' presence in the room and smell his wonderful cologne, her favorite. He must have packed it at the last minute, despite already knowing that Minerva had included her second favorite in his bag. Obviously he had packed both the cologne and his blue dress robes after the owls arrived from Aurelia. It fit perfectly with everything else going on in their lives and her growing suspicions. She cast a critical eye around the room and suddenly felt her heart leap into her throat, and not for the first time today.

Before her was a large bed with rumpled sheets. It looked as if someone had either had a struggle or a very good time. Quickly disregarding the first option, she was left with just the one, and it caused tears to well in Minerva's eyes. She also noticed a woman's stockings and dress thrown onto the floor, along with a pair of boots which certainly didn't belong to Albus. Minerva had seen Aurelia a few times in her life, and each time she'd been wearing something red. It wasn't hard to believe that the red dress belonged to her and that the boots and that sickeningly jasmine smell went along with it. But the moment she spotted Albus' pajamas among the bedding, she lost all resolve and fled from the room. Her worst fears had been realized, for what other reason could there be to describe everything she'd just seen with her own two eyes?

The instant she stepped out into the hall and slammed the door, Poppy and Xiomara rounded the corner, excited that they finally had directions to the restaurant mentioned in Aurelia's letter.

"Merlin's beard, Min…what's wrong with you? Do you want to get us caught or kicked out of the hotel for being rowdy? I mean, really. I am the one who's supposed to be known for causing a ruckus in hotels, but you…never you!" Xiomara should have known better than to challenge Minerva when she was this angry, but the words had spilled from her mouth before she had a chance to think.

"I think it would be wise for you to get out of my way. I am going to hex Albus Perceival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore into the next year and his little tart of a former lover will be lucky if she makes it to the next century!" Minerva's fists were balled and her anger was palpable. "So help me Athena and all the other deities, I will not stand by and let either of them make a fool out of me. I may have wasted my time planning a bloody vacation for the two of us, but I'll be damned if they're going to parade around the streets of Italy while I'm supposed to be back at home pining away for him to return. I am a Gryffindor, and by all means, I come by my Sorting honest. I'll confront him in front of the entire conference if necessary!"

Minerva was well on her way to a full rant as Poppy pulled Minerva and Xiomara into their rooms, quickly locking and warding the door behind her to keep other guests from hearing her shouting. "Minerva McGonagall! Stop that this instant and tell us exactly what you saw to stoke your fires."

"Rumpled sheets, clothes on the floor, and a certain red dress and stockings, which unless Albus has something else he'd like to admit, most assuredly don't belong to him. It might be common for his brother to parade around with goats, Merlin love him, but if Albus has taken to wearing women's clothing…well I may have bigger problems than Aurelia."

"Holy Harpies, Min…you mean you actually saw the evidence with your own eyes? Sweet Nick's Ghost…he's a bold little bugger, but maybe you're making too much out of this. There could be a logical explanation for it that we're missing," Xiomara stated.

It wasn't like Hooch to be the calm and level headed one but in this case, she felt she had to be. Poppy wasn't exactly the daring sort, and Minerva was more hell-bent on revenge for what she thought she saw in that room rather than seeking out the truth and hearing it from Albus.

"Oh, Minerva, I'm so sorry," Poppy exclaimed as she hugged her friend.

Minerva felt tears start in her eyes as her friend squeezed her reassuringly. However, she wasn't about to become a miserable mess. If Albus was cheating on her with that tramp, she would show him she was made of sterner stuff.

"Don't coddle me, Poppy. At this moment, I would much rather just find the bastard and hex off his bits."

Poppy jumped back and looked toward Xiomara, who was in the process of deciding what she could do to diffuse the situation. "Tell you what…let's get ourselves some dinner and plot out our course for the morning. Poppy and I managed to get directions to the café where they are having breakfast tomorrow. If we can get close enough to their table, maybe they will give us either a logical explanation or more ammunition." Secretly, she was hoping they'd find a reasonable set of excuses and explanations, because as angry as Minerva was at this point, it would not be pretty for Albus, Aurelia, or anyone else who got in Minerva's path.

"Fine, but I know what I saw," Minerva said, still furious.

"We believe you," Poppy said reassuringly. "But I also think Xiomara has a point. Let's not react too quickly. Best to have actual proof of them together than to go in with just a dress on the hotel room floor. That way they can't lie to you. Besides, you wouldn't want to throw out accusations that are not true, right?"

Minerva paced as Poppy spoke and her anger started to fade. Her heart hurt but she wouldn't let herself think on it. As far as she was concerned Albus had broken their marriage vows. Though both Xia and Poppy thought there could be an explanation, there is nothing that she knew of which could explain having another woman's clothes on his hotel room floor and rumpled sheets. Still, they did have a point about having visual evidence. It might kill her to see it, but if she went charging in now and he came up with some excuse where she had to forgive him, she didn't know that she could ever trust him again.

Feeling suddenly very tired, Minerva sat down. "Let's have dinner brought in. I'm not in much of a mood for traipsing around the city."

Xiomara seemed to think this was an excellent idea and started to search for a menu. "And to lighten things up, I say we all get some Flaming Phoenixes. My treat!"

Poppy and Minerva looked at one another. It probably wasn't the best idea with a busy day ahead. "Come on, live a little," Xiomara prodded.

Well, they had been rather good, after all.

A/N: And the plot thickens…dun dun dun! We hope you enjoyed this chapter! And as a special note…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LISA (August 21)…the other half of Hogwarts Duo!