A/N Thanks again M! And don't worry, there is a special place in hell for FW!
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Albus looked at his watch – already it would take more than mere magic to get him to his next meeting on time. He really hadn't the time for this tomfoolery. He should just summon an elf to inform Minerva that he was leaving the castle – call it progress or regress, but the more efficient house elves had replaced owls for their communication needs.
He really should just use an elf to save time, but the truth was he wanted to see her.
He was still angry and hurt and a hundred other things, but he was also worried about her.
Minerva had missed breakfast that morning and she hadn't been looking well of late. He just wanted to see her and assure himself that she was all right. He still wasn't ready to even begin the conversation that they would eventually need to have, but he was already running so late that he had a perfectly valid excuse for not getting dragged into any long discussions.
Given the hour, Minerva's last class of the day would already have been dismissed. Assuming she would have returned to her rooms, he headed that way.
He still had trouble believing it – any of it.
He couldn't believe that people actually believed Minerva's tale. He had been so sure that by now her story would have begun to unravel like the emperor's new clothes – that someone would have the sense to stand up and say 'Bollocks!' It was a testament, he supposed, to her reputation and alleged integrity, that people were accepting her story. To be sure, there were a few, like Hagrid and Kettleburn, who had expressed doubts about certain aspects of Minerva's story, but Albus couldn't believe that no one had yet come forward to truly attempt to refute it.
And most of all, he found it inconceivable that Minerva would have deceived him. A part of him understood that it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission, but that knowledge didn't make it any less of a betrayal.
Reaching the door, he knocked once, twice, thrice to no answer.
Her bedroom was past the sitting room – if she were asleep, perhaps she hadn't heard his knocks. He could try knocking louder of course, but if she was asleep, did he really want to wake her?
Quietly letting himself inside, he crept through the sitting room. Finding her not in bed was mildly reassuring. If she hadn't retired to her rooms at the end of classes, surely she couldn't be feeling that unwell. He would just go on to his meeting. After all, just how long could he expect the Minister to keep everyone waiting for him? Perhaps if he hurried, he could be back in time to see Minerva at dinner.
Heading back towards the door, he saw it – or rather he didn't see it. Minerva's travel cloak was not hanging in its customary spot by the door. While he was sure there were a hundred other plausible reasons why it was missing – Minerva had worn it to go down to Hagrid's cabin to again experience his 'most amazing hands', or the elves in charge of laundry had absconded with it – he knew that none of those would be the case.
This feeling of having the rug pulled out from under him was becoming unwelcomely familiar.
Drawing his wand to cast the locator spell that he knew would fail as out of range, Albus vowed that the next time he saw her; he would put a permanent tracing spell on her.
Not having the first idea where Minerva could have gone, Albus hadn't the first idea where to start a search. All he could do was wait for her to return. Sitting there, with nothing else to do, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering to all the horrible things that could be happening to her and their child right at that very moment. All while he just sat there waiting for her to return – and wondering if that would ever happen.
He must have sat there for almost an hour – waiting and worrying, his anger and outrage growing, before she finally deemed to appear.
He could hear her in the hall – laughing and saying her goodbyes to Filius. Finally entering the room, weighted down with shopping bags, she looked startled to find him there.
She recovered quickly. "Good evening, Albus. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
His anger – at her disappearance, the sound of her laughter, the flippancy of her question, at the whole situation – left him momentarily speechless.
She moved further into the room, discarding garments as she went. Watching her undress before him, he wondered if she really thought that he could be seduced so easily.
She lost the incriminating travel cloak, her outer robes, even the blouse beneath. It had been a few months now since he had seen her disrobed. The changes to her body, while not unexpected, were startling. The breasts she exposed as she removed the final layer of her garments were fuller, than he recalled and her formerly flat abdomen was beginning to become convex. Seeing that slight swell, he felt the urge to reach out and place his hand there – no doubt that was Minerva's aim - but he refused to forget his anger so easily. The moment was soon lost as she began donning items from the bags before her.
He saw the glance she stole his way, as if trying to gauge his mood, before she again spoke. "I can't wait for you to see the bedding set Filius helped me pick out. It won't be delivered until tomorrow, but Albus, it's absolutely darling! And the dresses -"
Her attempt to start a conversation infuriated him. It should have been him, not Filius, picking out items for their baby. "It's one thing to put yourself at risk, but how dare you endanger our child for some ridiculous shopping excursion?"
Minerva continued moving about the room, changing her robes, as if nothing had happened. "Albus, it was the middle of the day and I didn't go alone. Filius escorted me - he's a dueling champion, you know. It was perfectly safe."
"So not only did you endanger my child, but Filius as well. Do you really think Voldemort cares about the time of day at this point? He just wants you dead."
He saw her cringe at the name and it was hardly as if his last words were reassuring, but still she tried to keep her tone blithe. "If you are so concerned about your child, perhaps you would like to have a conversation about plans for the future?"
"Wouldn't the time for discussing plans with me have been before you pulled your little stunt?"
Minerva sighed. "Albus, don't be angry."
He snapped back. "Don't be angry? What would you have me be?"
When she didn't immediately answer, Albus made to leave. "I have a meeting."
"Albus…" Finally there was some gravity to be found at least in her voice. "…are we ever going to talk about this?"
He was still far too hurt and angry to talk. Minerva's cavalier attitude and decision to go gallivanting around Hogsmeade hadn't made anything easier. "I have to get back to the Ministry."
"Albus, we have to talk some time."
He really needed her to let the matter alone for now, but she seemed adamant. "What do you want to talk about, Minerva? How you deceived me? How you betrayed me? How you destroyed any faith or trust I ever had in you?"
The look on her face, it was as if he had struck her, and a wretched part of him found satisfaction in that. Wanting to hurt her as she had hurt him, he continued – so what if he didn't actually mean the words he said? "Did you really think that you could trap me into marrying you this way?"
Hearing her repeat his words, he knew he had succeeded in getting her own anger to flare. "Trap you into marrying me?! How many times the past few months did you say you wanted to be married, but only if I would go into hiding for safety? Who exactly was trying to trap whom?"
Her voice was more hesitant now. "I found a way to have what we both wanted. I thought you would be happy."
"You found a way to have what you wanted. I never asked for this. I never wanted a child."
Now she sounded entirely unsure. "You did. You do – I know you do."
Her disregard of his wishes had hurt him deeply. Not being able to find her in the castle earlier had frightened him. He knew now was not the time to be having this conversation, but she had pressed the matter. "Why would I want to have a child with someone I can't even trust?"
Less excitedly, he continued. "I trusted you, Minerva. With everything I am and everything I have, I trusted you. You betrayed that trust. I don't know that that can ever be regained."
The earlier exuberance was gone from her voice. "Where does that leave us?"
He answered truthfully. "I don't know."
After a moment, he stood. "I really do have to be getting back to the Ministry."
She nodded in acknowledgement of his need to leave. Though she was trying to hide it by fidgeting with the flowers on the table before her, he could see that her lower lip was trembling. "Maybe we can talk more later?"
Nodding, he turned towards the door. He was almost to it when he heard a cry and the breaking of the flowers' vase. He half wondered if she had thrown it at him, but turning, he found her doubled over.