Class finally ended for the day and a weary Minerva itched to head to her private quarters, let her hair down, and continue reading the book she'd started last night, but there was marking to be done that could not be avoided. Her fifth and seventh year students who would be writing Ministry examinations at the end of June liked to get their homework back promptly not matter how long the essay happened to be. Minerva sighed and conjured herself a cup of Earl Grey tea before settling behind her desk, in her office, to mark until dinnertime. Moments later she felt eyes on the back of her neck as if someone were staring intently at her. She gently laid down her quill and turned towards the door to her office. Albus Dumbledore was standing in the doorframe watching her mark, which was a habit she happened to hate. "I wish you wouldn't stare. It's very distracting when I'm trying to grade seventh year Transfiguration papers. If you want to talk to me why don't you come in? I could use a break anyways. Do you want a cup of tea or a cup of cocoa?" She asked as Albus finally entered her office.
"Cocoa, of course, I don't drink tea unless I'm particularly depressed and I have no reason to be depressed right now. Why don't we sit by the fire in these comfy chairs so I don't feel as if I'm at some very uncomfortable job interview trying to pretend that the woman in front of me isn't particularly beautiful?" Albus asked as Minerva passed him a cup of his favourite cocoa.
"If I sit down in one of those chairs I will never get up and I will never get any marking done and my students will be supremely angry at me. They need almost instant feedback or they start stressing out even more than usual." Minerva said by way of an explanation. "Besides, it's too tempting and that means I'll be even less likely to move once I sit down specifically because you're here as well. If it was just me and a hot cup of tea and a warm fire it would be easier to go back to work, but you relax me so much when we're sitting on the sofa that I really won't want to ever move."
"Alright, fair enough. Can I move my chair though I feel like I'm back in school being reprimanded by a very stern looking teacher? It gives me the willies actually because it's been so long since I've been in school." Albus moved his chair around to the other side of the desk as he spoke. "This chair isn't especially comfortable you know."
"Students aren't supposed to be comfortable when they're in trouble. I like to make them squirm a little bit. They're more likely to confess things to me if they're unnerved. I find out a lot of things because of that chair." Minerva said smiling at Albus over the rim of her teacup.
"You're far more cheeky and devious than I thought. No wonder students are so afraid of ending up in your office. When I threaten a student with telling you what they've done, they beg me not to because they were worried about the punishment, but they weren't worried about the punishment; they were terrified of the process that got them there. They had to sit in this horrible, hard chair that made them spill the beans." Albus smiled at his fiancée. She always had a way of getting to students whether it was by appealing to the better side of their human nature or by cracking down on them, all of Minerva's students responded to her eventually and usually in a positive way. "You know I don't know if you know this, but many of the students that come back to visit and say thank you for everything credit you with their success, but they're always afraid to tell you in person because you were so tough on them, but they appreciated it because it made them disciplined and strong."
"I try to give them as much as inspiration as you did when you taught me, but I go about it a different way than you did. You taught with kindness I teach with discipline and conviction. There were always accidents in your class because students weren't concentrating as hard as they should have. My students rarely have accidents that I can't fix. Your style of teaching worked for the time, but my approach works for the modern student who needs the discipline at school that they don't receive at home over the summer. We are both successful, but students are more willing to talk to you than me. I'm not the warm, fuzzy type of person; I'm here to challenge students and I can't do both. They don't respond to warm, fuzzy teachers they just walk all over them and I was determined not to be like that. Lockhart tried to be their friend; he hung himself the instant he made that decision. It's educational suicide and any experienced teacher knows that." Minerva set her teacup down gently and looked at Albus with a very stern countenance. She needed someone to understand why she taught the way she did.
"I know that. You care about all your students and you do show it if people ever look deep enough. You want to see them survive all this turmoil and war and you're trying to set them up to do just that. Teaching styles will continue to shift for years to come and I know my style would never work any more. That's why I always hesitate when someone asks me to take their classes for a couple of days. I don't know if I could handle a classroom any more. It's a talent one has to keep fresh and I haven't. You have a handle on the students and they respect you, which is something that children of this generation very rarely do. I see moments when you are so sweet with your Gryffindors: when you bought the broom for Harry, whenever you set up parties for them after exams and after particularly special Quidditch matches. The students never know that it's you that does all that, but I do and it makes you very endearing." Albus smiled and held Minerva's small delicate hands in his larger, rough ones.
"The students respect you too, Albus, just in a different way from me. They fear me, but they love you. You always manage to give them hope. When I was Headmistress in Harry's second year and again in what was supposed to be his seventh year because you'd faked your own death I couldn't inspire that hope in the students the way that you could. I didn't have the presence needed to do the job. I couldn't gloss over all my emotions in times of crisis the way you always managed to. The students saw through me every time and they knew I was concerned. They always knew when I was scared and both the times I was Headmistress I was terrified. I still don't know how you always managed to remain calm during times of crisis in this school. I admire you greatly for the job that you did." Minerva stood and then sat in Albus' lap as she spoke. Suddenly she felt the need to be very close to her fiancé who always made her feel safe.
"It's a learned behaviour. I learned to hide my emotions in public at an early age. It was ingrained in my brain very quickly. I would never have expected you to pretend through everything that you weren't scared. The emotion you displayed gave you a connection with the students. They knew that they weren't the only ones who were scared and that made them feel more secure. I'll bet that displaying your emotions made students open up to you more because they knew you were human and they could trust you with their deepest, darkest fears and concerns. You must have done a good job because the students and staff praise you every day for the job that you did while I was gone. They were glad you were Headmistress because you were still tied to me and somehow that made them feel safer." Albus smiled at Minerva and slipped his arms around her waist.
"Well it may have helped them but I didn't help me. I was a nervous wreck both times that I took over your job. I never want to be Headmistress; I'm going to retire when you do and not a moment later. The school is never the same when you're not here and I certainly can't create the same atmosphere because I'm not the same kind of person that you are. You are more fun all around but especially at parties. I'm simply too disciplined and I never let my hair down as you do. At least you don't allow me to ever become boring. I think without your influence I could certainly become far too dull and set in my ways. Even a school as interesting and exciting as Hogwarts couldn't have helped me escape such a fate. Only you could rescue me from such an existence and you have. Now I have work to do if I'm ever to get to bed tonight. I shall see you at dinner shall I?" Minerva asked as she laid her head on Albus' shoulder.
"Of course you will see me at dinner. Shall I come and collect you or will you remember what time dinner is at? You don't tend to remember when you are sunk into your marking. Even if you say you don't need me to come get you I'm going to anyway just so you don't decide to skip dinner as you are wont to do." Albus smiled as he moved to stand up. "I'll come collect you about six thirty then shall I? Good luck with the marking. I'm sure you'll get it all done."
"I have to otherwise I may end up in the hospital wing with extra arms due to a hex gone wrong." Minerva said as she flopped into the chair behind her desk, picked up a quill, and brought a pot of scarlet red ink towards her. "If Transfiguration wasn't so difficult a subject I wouldn't have as much marking to do and we'd have more time to spend together, but these students need the work to understand anything at all." She sighed as Albus grinned and closed the door gently behind him.