Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
In the early November chill, Minerva tripped off to the village of Hogsmead. She wanted to get a treat for Albus from Honeyduke's after the sugar crash post-Halloween Feast. The wind was a bit biting, but the sun was beaming on the highlands. The cheery November day was a rarity this far north, and Minerva decided to venture out. Bandy, the elf assigned to Albus at Hogwarts, refused to let her leave the grounds without a scarf. So they compromised on a tartan wool scarf that represented the McGonagall clan and provided the necessary insulation. The elf deemed this sufficient to "keeps baby Dumbledore warm and healthy."
On entering Honeyduke's, Minerva was bombarded with greets and questions from the owners, Fionnula and Farwell Honeyduke.
"Minerva McGonagall! I haven't seen you since this time last year! What on earth are you doing to keep yourself so busy?" Farwell Honeyduke smiled paternally.
"Mind you," Fionnula bustled over to chat at the counter as well, "we read all those stories about you in the Daily Prophet. Order of Merlin, First Class? You must have been quite the hero during the war! And then your parents… Minerva, dear, I am so sorry!" There was a solemn pause.
"But that still doesn't tell me why you have been too busy to stop by and see an old man!" Farwell chided in a droll tone.
"Ahh, the ministry has me busy training new Auror recruits. In concealing and Transfiguration. They have me working quite a bit, as I am about to go on a sabbatical."
"Fionnula, our young Miss McGonagall is all grown up! Order of Merlin and all!" Minerva blushed at his praise.
"Yes! But, Lass, don't forget to settle down and start a family! Nothing's more important than having people around you to love and support you!" Fionnula drew the sort of breath Minerva knew would end in a half-hour ramble. "Why just the other day, our Ianthe came to us saying she…"
Sure enough, Minerva returned to the November gusts forty-five minutes later with a tin of ginger newts and fizzing whizbees. Despite her lack of interest in sweets, since carrying this child, Minerva had a constant desire for ginger newts. Tucking the parcel into her bag, Minerva decided to jaunt around the side-streets of Hogsmead.
The wizarding world was in a busy, bustling mode. A few attacks had deeply scarred the little village, and repairs were still under way. With the constant bustle, and her now-evident pregnancy painstakingly concealed, Minerva had no fear wandering around the village. In fact, as she strolled down some side-street, Minerva's mind slipped into a few thoughts recently occupying her mind.
Albus had been so very busy lately. The ministry was pelting him with incessant owls. But the demands of his job at Hogwarts had not slacked either. In short, the now heavily pregnant Minerva would quite often find herself in bed alone at night, and rising to find her husband all ready about his daily routine. He promised Minerva when the baby came in the two months he would have fewer demands on his time and strong shift in priorities. But Minerva's hormones were creating shorter and shorter tolerance for his absences. She worried about being alone so close to the baby's arrival. All ready, she could feel the powerful magic of the child in her. Poppy was servicing as her Healer for the pregnancy under heavy supervision of Healer Doughan, as her mentor. Poppy assured her that the baby was perfectly fine and showed no signs of arriving early.
Minerva was physically pulled from her thoughts be a strong hand grabbing her by the elbow. Instantly, her wand was out and she turned to face her attacker. She was taken aback to meet her husband's eyes.
"Albus! You… You're not Albus…" Minerva finished with the obvious; her guard went back up, as did her wand. His eyes, hair, even his height were all so similar, buthis face, especially his nose, were a shade off.
"No! Don't insult me." Scoffed the wizard. "Are you Minerva McGonagall?" He growled. His eyes sized her up.
"Yes… Are you Aberforth?" She ventured. She had only seen a few photos, but had never met him. It was highly suspect that Albus had never attempted to introduce her. She knew Albus was not on good terms with his brother after his sister's death. But that was decades ago. She had been intending to ask Albus to invite him over for dinner. She was on the point of mentioning this to Aberforth, when he interrupted.
"You married him?" He glared at her warily.
"How did you…?" She whispered, afraid their secret had been exposed.
"Mutual friend," Aberforth murmured. "You look like you would have more sense than to do a fool thing like that."
"I see, well, Aberforth, I would love to meet you properly. Would you do me the honor of coming to dinner at the McGonagall estate next Saturday at seven?" She confronted his briskness with courtesy in the extreme.
"Will Albus be there?" He grunted shortly.
"I should think so, Aberforth. He is my husband." She chuckled to down play his obvious mistrust.
Aberforth looked her up and down again settling on her eyes. His piercing gaze was uncomfortably similar to Albus' "Well, he picked a beautiful one, I'll say that."
Minerva recognized the ungainly compliment, blushing, "Thank you."
"All right, I'll come to dinner, even if Albus is there." He turned to leave, but first threw back, "But only because you are so lovely." And he ducked back into the Hog's Head. Minerva left with a furious blush.
!*!*!*!
"Albus, darling, would it be possible to clear your schedule next Saturday?" Minerva wheedled as she came to the edge of the bed to massage his shoulders. He was home late from the Ministry again, and had only just finished showering. He was sitting on the end of their bed to put on his socks. Minerva dove for the opportunity.
"Next Saturday…Well, I might have light grading work during the day… but no Ministry meetings thus far. What is the occasion for keeping my schedule open?"
"I would like to have a dinner party! Deirdre and Neptune will just be getting back from the honeymoon the day before, and I would love to throw them a little celebration." She dug deeper into his shoulder knots and his head rolled back in pleasure mixed with pain. "And I met someone in Hogsmead that I thought would make an excellent guest. And I invited Poppy as well."
"Ahhh, so you've planned my schedule for me!" he chuckled. "All right, my dear. I will keep my schedule open for Saturday night." Minerva grinned and rewarded his acquiescence by bending down to kiss his upturned head. The rest of the night was lost in passion.