Another chapter of "Side-Along". Enjoy!
Minerva sighed as she waited for Hermione to finish getting ready. Today, they were going to tell the younger woman's parents what was going on, though if time wasn't off the essence per Hermione's rapidly expanding stomach, she might have preferred they put off this conversation for another week. Yesterday, telling both Minerva's staff and the Weasley family, after Hermione had already told Harry and Ronald, had been stressful enough. She hoped that the Grangers would be understanding, and that there would be considerably less yelling involved in the event.
The Hogwarts staff had been fairly accepting, though Minerva was still bristling at Horace's suggestion that she step down from her position as Headmistress to avoid tarnishing the school's name for marrying a much younger woman. In fairness, Filius had hexed Horace for the comment, and everyone else had offered polite congratulations - though Hagrid had wrapped an arm around Hermione and Minerva each, and offered to be Godfather right off the bat.
The visit to the Burrow had been more trying for Hermione than it had been for Minerva. Molly and Arthur were long time friends to Minerva, though they were surrogate parents to Hermione and the couple's opinion meant a great deal to the young witch. Lucky for both of them, post the booming hollar from normally docile Arthur, and the screech of dismay that every Weasley child new well from Molly, the two calmed down. Molly was the more understanding, respecting Hermione's distaste for abortion, and her desire to spare her offspring from the hardship of living with the bastard label.
Arthur had presented the idea of giving the baby up for adoption - by growing up with parents unknown, their children would be labeled muggleborn when they eventually came to Hogwarts, rather than bastard, and he felt it was selfish of Minerva to ask Hermione to commit to a marriage to a much older woman all for the sake of perpetuating her family line. While his idea was not without merit, Hermione had later confided, the younger woman didn't think she would be able to live with herself giving up one child, let alone three. By the end of the evening at the Burrow, Arthur had expressed his support, though they both knew he gave it with reservation.
George had gotten a kick out of the whole thing, going as far as saying he wished he had a girl to knock up so that his child could be in the same class as theirs, and thus adding their major brainpower to his own prankster nature in the newest generation. Hermione had threatened to hex off his bits if she saw him anywhere near a female in the next twelve months.
Young Ginny's support had been the most enthusiastic. Her response to the pregnancy was "I'll babysit!" and her response to a relationship between Minerva and Hermione had been "I'll ship that!" Minerva had not understood the comment at the time, though Hermione had later explained a muggle form of entertainment called 'fan fiction', which Ginny had recently spent most of her free time pursuing.
Molly had assured them that she would pass word along to Percy, Charlie, and Bill, who had not been there for dinner. Then, before leaving, she taken Minerva aside and assured her that "Headmistress or not, I expect you to make the proper time for Hermione and that child. That girl does not deserve a life of being lonely!"
"Ready?" Hermione asked, finally coming out of her bedroom.
"I've been ready," Minerva sighed, glancing at the clock which indicated that they should have left ten minutes ago.
"Sober?"
"Yes, dear!" the older witch groaned. "Hermione, I made a promise, and I do not break my word. Ever. Now can we please get going? We're already late!"
"A witch is never late," Hermione said, grabbing a light jacked off the coat hanger by the door. "Nor is she early. She arrives precisely when she means to."
Minerva couldn't help but laugh at the quote from Lord of the Rings, a book which she'd recommended to Hermione only two days prior. "Are your parents aware of this?"
Hermione shrugged, and threw a bit of Floo Powder into the fireplace. "No idea. Guess we'll find out."
As it turned out, John and Jean Granger were not aware of Tolkien's sentiments regarding a witch or wizard not being bound to arrival in a timely manner, as they chastised their daughter as soon as she and Minerva arrived, claiming the tea was getting cold. "Mum, Dad, this is Minerva," Hermione introduced as they all sat down in the sitting room.
Of course, as luck would have it, the act of sitting down proved an apt way for Hermione's growing baby bump to show clearly, prompting her mother to start the conversation with a gasp of dismay. "Hermione, are you pregnant?"
"Ain't you a professor up at that school?" John inquired, addressing Minerva with a suspicious tone.
"Mum, dad, please stay calm…" Hermione begged, reaching out and taking Minerva's hand, silently asking for support, which the older witch gladly gave.
"Saying that does not inspire me to remain calm, young lady!" Jean snapped. "Better explain yourself quickly, because I'm not so daft as to think that two women can't have a child in your world!"
Minerva decided now was a good time to teach these muggles a bit about apparation, and so she calmly launched into an explanation of how Hermione had become pregnant, and how it was she that was the proverbial father, clearly emphasizing that she and Hermione had never been physically intimate. "So, in answer to your questions - yes, Hermione is pregnant. Yes, my being here does mean that I was the second party in the conception process, but to be very, very clear, no, I did not inappropriately touch your daughter, or any other student under my care for that matter. This situation was as much a surprise to me as it is for you."
John and Jean glanced at each other for a moment, and then John nodded and spoke. "So am I to assume that regardless of how this… situation… came to be, your presence here today is an indicator that you are taking responsibility for it?"
"I am," Minerva replied evenly. "Though to what level is entirely up to Hermione."
"In the wizarding world," Hermione said, jumping in, "a child born out of wedlock is considered a bastard - they cannot take a wizarding name, or inherit, and their opportunities for education and employment are very limited. For this reason, Minerva has proposed that we marry. I have not accepted nor declined this offer as of yet, though to be perfectly honest, I'm leaning toward yes."
Minerva blinked. She had hoped that was the case, though it was the first Hermione had verbalized it. "You are?" she asked with a soft smile.
Hermione smiled back. "I am. But don't count your chickens just yet, McGonagall."
The older witch huffed. "With you, never. You are as unpredictable as a hippogriff."
Jean did not seem as thrilled with the prospect of Hermione's agreement to marry the Headmistress as Minerva was. "Excuse me, but what happened to not touching my daughter?" she asked, glaring.
"Mum," Hermione quickly said, drawing the muggle woman's attention away from Minerva. "I'm an adult. If Minerva and I choose to pursue a relationship now, it would not be inappropriate. Even if I weren't pregnant, we do have a lot in common, and a shared history which had built a level of respect and friendship that frankly, could have led to us becoming a couple down the road, anyway."
Again, Minerva was taken aback, surprised at the words tumbling out the supposedly straight Hermione Granger's mouth. In the last month, she too had come to realize that while the pregnancy was a catalyst for their potential union, their common interests were not lacking, and had she ever gotten a hint that Hermione was open to a woman's advances, she may have pursued the younger witch down the road in any case. Granted, it would have been at least a couple of years before she'd have been able to see Hermione as more than a student, but the younger woman had stated, the potential was very much there.
"You look pleasantly surprised to hear that, Professor McGonagall," John observed, raising an eyebrow in question.
"I am," Minerva confessed. "I won't lie - I have always been the sort of woman inclined to seek companionship with other women. To hear Hermione express that she might have been interested in myself, regardless of the pregnancy, is flattering. I'm certainly not blind - she is a beautiful young woman, body and mind, and could be with anyone she chooses. The fact that she is even considering me is mind-blowing, but it is a relief to find that consideration is not singularly based on the fact that she is carrying my children."
Jean didn't miss a beat. "Um… children?"
Hermione actually laughed at the expression on her mother's face. "Right. We're expecting triplets."
"TRIPLETS?" John exclaimed. "JESUS BLOODY CHRIST! DO YOU HAVE SUPER-SPERM OR SOMETHING, LADY?"
Minerva sighed. "Has Hermione explained anything about Animagi to you?"
Jean nodded, obviously recalling something her daughter had explained to her at one point. "The ability to change into an animal form, right?"
The older witch nodded. "In the case of an an Animagus procreating, should the witch or wizard's animal form be the sort which have litters, the potential for multiples is very common in pregnancy."
"So you are an Animagus?" Jean asked, looking more curious than anything. Minerva suddenly knew where Hermione's own curious nature had come from, though she suspected that the Gryffindor personality was more John's doing.
"Indeed," Minerva nodded. "My form is that of a cat."
"Thus the triplets," Hermione added with a grin.
"Well, one thing is for sure, Hermione." Jean said with resigned sigh. "I can stop worrying if you'll have problems getting pregnant the way I did."
After the lunch with her parents, Hermione and Minerva had done some shopping for maternity clothes, and then popped into the offices of The Daily Prophet for their interview. The article addressing their situation would be printed in the following Sunday's edition, post a copy being viewed and approved by Hermione and Minerva. The interviewer, Regis Barrow, had been a long time acquaintance of Minerva's, and he had wished the happy couple the best of luck with the public's response.
His comment had Hermione thinking. She'd not really, up to this point, looking at she and Minerva as a couple, per se, though she couldn't really say she'd put much thought into designating their relationship as anything at all. "Minerva, what are we?" she finally asked later that evening, as they sat down for a cup of tea after dinner.
"Witches?" the older woman responded with a questioning tone, obviously not understanding the question.
"No," Hermione laughed. "I mean what are we? Mr. Barrow called us a couple. But we're not that, really, are we?"
Minerva looked thoughtful. "Well, you did kiss me yesterday. Generally that is a thing couples do with each other."
The younger witch huffed. "I kissed Ron once, and that didn't make us a couple. On the other hand, we are getting to know each other for the sake of figuring out if we could manage to get on well enough for a marriage, and that is the principle behind dating… and people who are dating are considered couples…"
"But?"
"I don't know," Hermione huffed. "I didn't consider Viktor and myself a couple till we'd shagged, so one kiss doesn't really sound very couple like to me. Granted, that's probably my lack of experience talking. I didn't really have much time for dating while on the run from a murderous dark wizard with two guys I look at like brothers."
"Well," Minerva said, smirking. "We could shag if it would help clarify things for you."
"Minerva!" Hermione yelped, stunned at her mentor's forwardness.
The older woman kept right on smirking, and then after a moment, put down her cup of tea and moved from her spot on the armchair to right beside Hermione on the sofa. "Come now, dear," she whispered, taking a finger and trailing it down Hermione cheek, then along her arm, before reaching a shaking hand that was still clenching a cup of tea. "Would you feel better if I called it making love?"
Hermione's heart raced as Minerva pried the cup from her hand, and set it gently on the table, then placing a gentle hand on the younger woman's neck and pulling her into a kiss. Unlike Hermione's offered kiss the day before, the one that spoke of hesitation, the kiss Minerva offered was full of confidence and promise, and Hermione found herself responding to it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Her hands seemed to move on their own accord, reaching out and placing themselves; one on the older woman's hip, and the other on her neck. Minerva took this as encouragement, and pulled Hermione closer as she deepened the kiss. The taste of Minerva's tongue served as an aphrodisiac to Hermione. Quite suddenly, the younger woman wanted more. A lot more.
"Minerva…" she moaned as the older woman abandoned her lips and took to nibling just the right spot on Hermione's neck. "Oh, gods…"
"Still think you're straight?" Minerva inquired in a teasing tone.
Hermione wanted to be annoyed at that comment, but decided that she'd rather get this where she wanted it to be going. She grabbed Minerva's wrist and guided slender fingers under her loose summer skirt and up to the very moist scrap of fabric at the apex of her thighs. "The evidence suggests otherwise," she whispered as Minerva froze.
The older witch pulled back and stared intently into Hermione's smouldering brown eyes. "Hermione, when I suggested…" she uttered. "...I didn't seriously think…"
"Now, now," Hermione clucked, moving to straddle a stunned looking Headmistress' hips. "You can't get me all worked up and then just back down."
"Hermione, until you are sure about us getting married, I don't want to…" Minerva sputtered as the younger woman began unbuttoning her own shirt.
The older woman's consideration touched Hermione, and in a lurch, the brunette realized something incredible. She was in love. She, Hermione Granger, was totally and completely in love with Minerva McGonagall. When she'd realized she was pregnant and by whom, the best she had hoped for was a comfortable marriage to said witch, and that over time they'd developed a rapport not unlike many Pureblood couples with arranged marriages had. Hermione imagined contentment, but never love. Still, somehow, it had happened.
"We can get married tomorrow," she finally said, smiling softly at her very-soon-to-be lover. "Right now, I want to make love… to you."
Minerva could read between the lines, and Hermione knew it, and was therefore prepared when the older woman's lips crashed back onto her own, and the duel of tongues restarted in earnest. Hermione relished in every kiss and every touch over the next few hours, and by the time they were watching the sun rise through Minerva's bedroom window, each and every room in their quarters had borne witness to their naked forms.
"I do love you," Hermione finally confessed as they lay tangled together in bed, both finally ready for some well deserved sleep.
Minerva pressed her face into Hermione's neck and inhaled deeply. "And I love you," she replied.
Now for a question: Should I conclude this story with one final chapter that takes place after the birth of the triplets, or should I keep going and cover the entirety of how their relationship continues to evolve? Don't even ask me how long that would take - I have no bloody idea. PLEASE REVIEW!