Disclaimer: NOT MINE.
A/N I know, no weird allusion to some great poet. But just for all of you who don't know, April 23, 2007 was the Great Bard, William Shakespeare's Birthday!! Happy B-day, Will! Any who, this is the last chapter with the possibility of a short epilogue. Never know how these things will end up.
Again, Albus was worried. Life had been too quiet. Tom Riddle was planning something, it was irrefutable this time. The dark wizard had drawn in followers over the past six weeks. Albus had noted the incriminating activities of influential wizards representing nearly every aspect of their lives, powerful people with money and a political voice. There was a catastrophe in the oven. Albus smelled it and grew worried.
To compensate his unease, he had prepared every possible protection, shield and charm to prevent an attack on Hogwarts or any harm descending on Minerva. No matter what descended, his students, staff, and beloved must remain intact.
In the week before the final exams, Minerva's nerves had finally been pushed from tolerant, to exacerbated.
"Albus, you are entirely too protective! If you put one more protection on this school, it will collapse from nervousness! As for your actions towards me, another shield, and I'm afraid I'll have a reaction! You must stop all this doomsday…" Minerva started.
"Please, don't start, Minerva!" Albus was truly worried now, he stood up from behind his desk and rolled into his routine pacing pattern around his office. Minerva sat in what had lately become her favorite chair. The extravagant bulge over her stomach created discomfort now quite regularly. "I've had this feeling before, and remember what happened last time!" His eyes connected with hers to momentarily convey the pain they held.
"That's just the problem, dear! You're scaring me! If you're afraid of Voldemort, how will we be protected? What's stopping him now?..." Her voice faded, leaving her worries to cloud the air. The couple existed in silence, each tasting the other's fears. Only, neither one was stronger for it.
"We must protect this school, Minerva. All other concerns are secondary." His brows were entrenched deep into his pondering face, "Apart from that, I cannot let any harm come to you or our child. It would break my heart to loose you." His last words were a whispered confession, the mere vocalization of the thought scaring him.
For a moment, Minerva simply contemplated him, her heart overflowing with admiration and love for the man before her. Suddenly, she noted the odd clock on the wall. One of the planets had just swiveled around a quarter of a turn. "Albus, the Order meeting!" the Professor in her detested tardiness. And being late to a secret meeting to save the country from destruction was simply inexcusable.
Every member of the order had piled into the crowded backroom of the Hog's Head bar. It proved a rather snug, but secure location. As the meeting stumbled into progress, Albus shared his concerns with other members of the Order. Several other members confirmed his findings with observations of key public officials. Each member noted strange behavior about a month ago.
"I believe that Voldemort will strike soon. He is a gifted student, but not a very good strategist. I believe he will attempt another attack on Hogwarts, to compensate for his first unsuccessful sortie." A generally grim wave reverberated through the faces of every witch and wizard present. Each knew that the school must be defended at all costs. The future of their world rested within that castle. "I have placed nearly every possible protection on the school. But Tom knows that. He is very gifted in destroying shields and protections. I might as well surround the school with parchment at this point. One thing we can count on. Riddle hates me. He will do all he can to destroy me. This leads me to believe that he is planning a full scale attack. I even believe that he himself may lead the assault. Because of this, we need to be prepared. Each of you must be ready to defend the school at a moment's notice. I have informed the staff, all of whom are very talented witches and wizards, and they are all willing to fight should the need arise."
"We are all behind you, Dumbledoor." Edgar Bones boomed in his sweeping bass, "But will it be enough? How strong is Voldemort now?"
"I have reason to believe that, if it came down to a battle, we would have an advantage, not necessarily in numbers, but skill. Not only that, we will be defending our own ground. Not every spell I placed on the castle is inert. We will not be without our defenses." Albus smiled in a tight, prepared way.
"What about the students?" Dorcas Meadows' motherly voice transcended the crowd, "How can we be sure he won't attack while they are still there?"
"The staff and I have prepared a safe place for the students. They will come to no harm as long as a single Order member stands, I assure you." Albus gently patted her on the shoulder.
The meeting had gone on to calculate the most likely time for Voldemort's attack. Each member gave their unique insight into the problem, and then slowly dispersed into groups of quietly conversing members which slowly disintegrated into the night air. Albus and Minerva were one of the first of those groups. Lately, Albus had been making Minerva get more rest, and it was well past any decent hour. He gently guided her through the gates of Hogwarts and together they trudged through the many passages and hallways, pausing at the top of a particularly long flight of stairs to let Minerva catch her breath. Their conversation was aberrantly flirtatious after such a serious meeting. One would not connect the wizard who spoke of the possible end of his world with this man who was now shamelessly flirting with his wife.
"Your speech tonight was truly inspiring," Minerva purred, as Albus assisted her in mounting a flight of stairs. "I have always admired your gift of eloquence."
"Ah, Tabby, you have no need of eloquence," Albus grinned as they reached the top of the stairs, "You are a master of the gesture. You merely move and people know what your intent is. Not only that, you manage to convey a pretty good idea of your plans for them as well." He smiled as a slight cherry shade spilled over her cheeks.
"Are you implying something, Headmaster?" She asked playfully, measuring a wider gap between them, coyly.
"Well, it all depends on whether or not the lady next to me is game." Albus slipped closer to her, and whispered in her ear, "You know, when you're pregnant, you're practically irresistible!"
"Albus!" Minerva smiled with mock anger, and darted into their chambers.
Exams went surprisingly well. To Albus' relief, they were also without interruption. Friday's sun was beginning to doff its hat to a sliver of the moon. Minerva sat at the window, gazing down at the grounds. Albus had forbid her taking sentry duty outside the school. Instead, he assigned order members to patrol the grounds once per night, to make sure all the safe guards were in order. Minerva was frustrated by this, but a long discussion had ended in his favor. So now, she was regarding the stately green velvet of the floor below, wishing that there was a quiet place away from all this violence and turmoil. She and Albus had had quite the row on Tuesday:
"I won't let you keep me in a box, Albus Dumbledore!" Minerva had stamped across the rug in his office, "We need every able- bodied witch and wizard available to win this fight. I am perfectly capable of fighting and defending this castle!"
"I realize that, Minerva!" Albus put his hands on her shoulders and tried to get her to sit down, "I'm not questioning your abilities. I'm simply suggesting that you have a higher priority now. Your first duty is to our child." Minerva roughly pushed away his hands.
"And how would I be helping the child if Hogwarts fell to Voldemort?" She shouted angrily, stepping back to defiantly stare him in the face, "What if the Order fails, and Voldemort wins? Would you want me to raise our child in that kind of a world?"
"Minerva, I don't want you taking risks! This whole business is risky enough without you jumping out in front of the most dangerous dark wizard of our day!" Albus face became suddenly soft, as the fury condensed to fear that hung on the corners of his eyes. "What if we won, and something happened to you? I couldn't…"
Minerva cast a triumphant laugh in his face before circling around him, "Now! We are finally hitting the real issue! You simply want me safe for your own conscience's sake! You still feel guilty after… after December, don't you! So you think your guilt should decide the possible difference between victory and defeat? You selfish, foolish …" Minerva stepped closer to his back, slowly, as a cat would stalk its prey.
"Enough!" The Headmaster revolved in mighty movement, and there was furious power in his eyes. For a moment, Minerva realized that she had gone too far, and was afraid he would truly be angry with her. (she had never felt the power of his entire wrath before, but had seen it used on others.) "Yes, I love you, Minerva McGonagall. I even married you, though exactly why I did that escapes me at this moment! So, yes! I will be bloody selfish with you if I want to, because you are my wife," Albus paused and drew a shaky breath. He gathered Minerva to him as he continued, "And as such, you carry a part of my soul, my life, that I value greatly. You are my greatest treasure on this earth. Not only that, but you carry something wonderful, the beautiful union of our souls is now flesh and blood in your body! I don't want to loose that!!"
By this time, Minerva had completely melted into Albus' embrace guilt had washed over her, and she wanted to snatch her previous words back from the thieving air, "Albus," She whispered through a few tears.
But Albus had not heard, "Please, Minerva" And as Minerva looked up into his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. He had never looked so lost and sad all at once.
"Albus, I will do everything in my power to keep the child safe. I will stay within the boundaries of Hogwarts. And I will forgo patrol duty. But Albus, I cannot promise you that I will not fight. I must defend my child, my husband, my home, and my beliefs. I will try to be careful. I promise you that."
"Then that is all I can ask," Albus sighed, as he slipped away to partake in an intense study of one of the silver instruments in his office.
That had been an unpleasant night, but Minerva had kept her promise. Now, watching Dorcas patrol the boundaries, she felt a queer stirring on the back of her neck. Something was about to go horribly wrong. She glanced about their chambers, simply out of paranoia, nothing seemed amiss. The professor fire-called Poppy to see if any of the students were badly hurt. No one was injured. Suddenly, pacing past the window, she saw a fireworks-like burst of lights. Spells, those were spells!
Instantly, Minerva formed a plan of action. She returned to the fireplace and notified the order member responsible for assembling the other members. Then she summoned the staff, and called Albus.
There was a hurried meeting, and it was decided that Professor Slughorn and Professor Sinistra would escort the students to their hiding place. The rest were sent to meet the Death Eaters at the entrance to the castle. Poppy was to prepare the infirmary for any casualties. Once the rest of the staff left, Albus caught Minerva and looked into her eyes. His expression pleaded with her to reconsider.
"No, Albus," She said, gently and reached up to kiss him. It was a brief, but horribly sweet kiss. And then she set her face in a grim stance and went to join the other Staff.
Order members arrived and defended the castle from the outside, while the Staff descended the stairs to join them as they were backed closer and closer to the castle entrance. There were about fifty death eaters. Fifty death eaters against thirty Order members. The battle was furious, but the odds were quickly slipping into the Order's corner. Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the grounds, and Voldemort appeared in the middle of the grounds, ensconced in a fear-inducing smoke. He had broken through the anti-apparation charms. The battle quickly changed hands. The Order was now firmly up against the castle doors. Suddenly the doors burst open, and Severus Snape came out, leading a small band of Slytherin students. This was exactly the distraction Voldemort needed. He pressed the Order between the two groups of his followers, and they worked their way into the school, Snape swiftly tearing down the protections he had seen Dumbledore place, and leaving the rest to Voldemort. The students did little real damage. Most were stunned within a few minutes, but it still diverted their attention from the main fight.
Minerva was tiring. She could feel it. Not only that, there was an unpleasant tension forming in her lower back. I can hardly stop now! She admonished. She was in the middle of battling two death eaters. She took out the first while they recovered from a spell that accidentally connected with them, and was just on to the second when suddenly Severus Snape appeared and whispered something into the death eater's ear. He backed away, and Snape began working Minerva into a corner. She had to concentrate now, all her energy was being sapped much too quickly. Suddenly, Minerva realized that she was being pushed away from the main fight. In horror, she remembered the fight in December. Terrified, she pushed back toward the main group, when suddenly, Snape was not alone. Voldemort stood sneering at her. Snape bowed and scuttled away, to menace another staff member.
"I have been waiting to see you again, Minerva," Voldemort stuck his wand under Minerva's chin. Still frozen in shock, Minerva was merely gasping for air, "You see, after Abraxis told me the fascinating story of your marriage to Dumbledore, I knew I had to pay you a visit. And then when young Severus told me you were pregnant, nothing could keep me away. After all, I couldn't let the child of the most powerful witch and wizard of the age survive to challenge me, could I."
"You cannot stop Dumbledore, Tom," Minerva spat defiantly, "I know that's what you want. But Albus will forever be more powerful than you. Good will always triumph in the end."
"You will address me as Voldemort." The Dark Wizard glared, and flicked his wand at Minerva's stomach. She doubled over in pain. "I want to hear you say it before I kill you. That way, when you reach hell, you can tell them the thief of death sent you. Say it!" He shrieked, casting another curse at the poor professor.
Minerva was on the floor. All ready at such a level of pain that she could not scream for help, she managed to rasp, "Good always wins, Tom"
"I AM VOLDEMORT!!" The Dark Lord bellowed. This time he threw such a curse at Minerva that she was thrown back against the wall. Finally Minerva could tolerate no more. A scream managed to rip itself from her pain wracked body. It did not go unheeded.
Alexander Fortinbras knew his time had come. He caught the attention of an Order member, and together they approached Voldemort. The Edgar Bones swept Minerva off to the infirmary, while Fortinbras moved in for the Dark Wizard. Before a true duel could begin, Albus entered the fight, closely followed by Anton Dolohov. Dolohov started working against Fortinbras, while Dumbledore pursued Voldemort. The fighting seemed to be dying down everywhere else. Most of the death eaters, seeing their master cornered by the great Albus Dumbledore, had fled. There were simply a few isolated battles, but mostly tending to the wounded.
Seeing his followers in flight, Voldemort cast a fog that allowed him to escape. He had once again failed in his assault on Hogwarts, but not without leaving scars.
Meanwhile, Dolohov had suffered much damage at the hands of Fortinbras. Unfortunately, the professor appeared to have taken several mortally-wounding blows. Dolohov noted his master's departure, cast one last purple curse, and followed into the fog.
When the smoke cleared, there were very few wounded. Two Order members were dead, and three had severe wounds. Five death eaters were unconscious on the floor, and Alastor Moody was taking care of them. They would be in Azkaban before the next night. Snape and the other students were captured and would be dealt with the next day. They had knocked out Professor Sinistra and Professor Slughorn. But both were easily revived, and little harm was actually done.
Albus had a severely deformed hand from his duel with Voldemort. Poppy would be hard pressed to mend such evil magic. The rest of the staff seemed to be fine. All but Fortinbras. Anton Dolohov was about to claim another victim. Alexander was still conscious, but his soul was pulling up its roots and preparing to depart. He was taken up to the infirmary and given the few pointless comforts offered the dying.
His first inquiry was after Minerva.
Tears forming in the corners of her eyes at his hopeless romanticism, Poppy answered, "Well, the attack certainly weakened her, but aside from a cracked rib, it's nothing a few days' bed rest won't fix."
"Could I possibly talk to her?" Fortinbras wheezed. Albus walked through the infirmary door at that moment, and instantly rushed to Minerva's side. She was sitting propped up in a bed on the other side of the infirmary. Craning her neck to hear the conversation going on around Fortinbras' bedside, she turned to Albus.
"Will you help me go over there?" She queried softly. Minerva's eyes were misting over with regret at the imminent departure of a dear friend.
"Of course, darling." Albus smiled gently. He swiftly charmed a nearby chair into a wheelchair and had Edgar Bones, who was helping Poppy in the infirmary, lift Minerva into it. They rolled over to Fortinbras' bed.
"Alex," Minerva whispered, his eyes were closed. She laid her hand on his arm, and held his all ready frigid hand, "Alex, I'm here. We're both here, my husband and I."
His eyes cracked open with a valiant effort, "Ahhhh… Your husband. If you'd excuse me, Minerva, I must talk with him alone." Albus awkwardly wheeled the chair to face the other wall. When he returned, Fortinbras fixed him a terribly strong, stern glare for a dying man, "Dumbledore, there are very few women like that in this world. You are an outrageously lucky wizard. I expect you to take the best of care of this treasure you've been given. As for the child, keep it safe and away from all this insanity." He let his admonition sink in, then rallied his strength, "Now, if you could bring your wife back…"
Albus nodded, somewhat shocked by the depth of this man's feeling. When Minerva was turned back around, she was crying in earnest, but she was also in pain. Albus attempted to question her about it, but she waved him away, "Alex? You wanted to talk to me?" she managed, through her tears.
"Yes," His words were more costly now. His time in this level of the world was slipping away, "I want to tell you, Minerva Dumbledore," It sounded odd coming from someone else's lips, "I never stopped loving you. You are a rare, talented woman, Minerva. I am fortunate to have spent time with you."
"Thank you…" was all Minerva could manage. Her face contorted for the briefest moment in a spasm of pain, but she swiftly suppressed it and turned her attention back to Fortinbras. He was now truly leaving.
"Goodbye," He smiled and then his gaze began to see the far off world he was so quickly approaching. A terrible, shocked expression filled his face as he inhaled one last time. "Death is only the beginning!" He breathed as he slipped off into the undiscovered country.
Minerva broke into sobs. There was not a dry eye in the entire infirmary. Albus and Edgar helped Minerva back into her bed. As soon as she was settled, she burst out with a cry of pain.
"Let me through!" Poppy shrieked as the two men stood at the bedside, dumbfounded. A few spells later, and Poppy whipped around to Albus, "Albus, the baby! It's on its way! I can't stop it!"
"Is it safe?" Albus demanded, Minerva was clearly in pain again, the contractions were coming quickly.
"As safe as it's going to get. Voldemort's attack probably brought this on!" Poppy zipped about the room, preparing the area for the baby's arrival. Minerva moaned. "There, there, Minerva! Do you want something for the pain?"
Unfortunately, everyone had forgotten that Minerva's wand was still within arm's reach.
"DO I WANT SOMETHING FOR THE PAIN????" Minerva shrieked and sent a hex whistling in the mediwitch's direction. The Deputy Headmistress was clearly livid. A pool of dampness on the sheets showed that her water had broken. The baby would be entering the world very soon.
"I'll take that as a yes." Poppy cowed as she cast a spell on the cringing woman. Albus removed his wife's wand and escorted Edgar to a safe location. He returned to the infirmary.
Four hours later, a shrieking, purply-skinned baby girl entered the world. She was innocently tiny and helpless. Albus cradled her in his good arm and rocked her by his wife's bed. Minerva was sleeping, and everything seemed abnormally quiet, considering they had been in a fight for their existence six hours ago. Now the world was full of promise. The promise of returning the school to normal. The not-so-promising promise of hiring a new DADA teacher. The wonderful promise of spending more time with his wife. And now, this most wonderful of all promises, being able to spend time with his brand new daughter.
Minerva was staring from her pillows. A smile folded itself into her features. "We made it!"
"Just barely, Poppy told me that in a few minutes, Voldemort would…" But Albus stopped as Minerva flinched. "Minerva? Are you all right?"
"Yes, just please, let's not talk about, You-Know-Who all right?" She leaned further into the pillows, "Let's simply spend these moments celebrating the birth of our daughter. We have the rest of our lives to keep her safe from evil."
A/N Well, we made it. PLEASE REVIEW!!! I know it's over, but any suggestions you have will be applied to future (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) fan fics. Thank you for sticking with me through thirteen chapters!!