Thank you dsrtchck (twice!), Kokotheevilone, Guest (thanks by the way. I kinda just throw the dialogue in how I would say it or how I imagine it being said. I'm glad it works well), DuchessofWords, & AryaElf for reviewing! I've gotten so many reviews today and I'm psyched. I love you guys! Haha... Also, thank you Readergirl99 & dsrtchck for either adding me to their favorites or story alerts. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or this world...

Upon reaching Minerva's quarters, Poppy pulled the brunette's wand out of her pocket and handed it over. "Thank you, Poppy." The trio made their way past the den and glanced around the study before realizing that the pair was probably sitting with Annabelle. Pomona sat in Minerva's vacated seat, reading a book that appeared to be on exotic underwater plants. Minerva gave a light chuckle and conjured three more chairs. Two landed by Pomona, but the third landed on the other side of the bed, practically touching the bed.

She walked around the other side of the bed to sit down and immediately grabbed her cub's hands in her own, lightly running her thumb over the soft skin. Taking a good look at the child's hands, Minerva frowned and lifted them to her lips to kiss them lightly. Even her hands were bruised by those monsters.

They sat in silence for awhile with Minerva's eyes firmly locked on Annabelle's. She would know the moment the child opened her eyes, and soon enough, she did.

Annabelle's eyes slowly fluttered open and she scanned the room, hands trying to ball into fists, but being stopped by Minerva's. Her eyes landed on each adult in turn before finally settling on the witch beside her. "You came back..." The child smiled as tears slowly began to leak from her eyes again. There was no use fighting it right now. She knew she didn't stand a chance.

Minerva lightly squeezed Annabelle's hands, trying to be careful of her bruises. "Yes, lass, I did. I'm here for you now." She let that thought linger in the air, not feeling the need to say anymore, but after a few moments, their silence was interrupted.

Albus cleared his throat and took a step toward the pair. "Tabby, I think you should mention your proposal to her now. We need to find out what she wants."

Minerva rounded on her husband, eyes blazing as she stepped in between the two people she cared about most in this life. "It can't wait until morning, dearest. I believe tonight we are celebrating the New Year's arrival." She looked toward the other witches in the room. "Am I right?"

Albus sighed, knowing it was a losing battle before he even began to fight. "Yes, Tabby. What do you women say I go get some drinks and lemon drops for us? Midnight is quickly approaching!" With that, he turned around and merrily walked towards the door, humming softly to himself.

"Minnie, your husband is the strangest man I've ever met." She chuckled and looked towards Annabelle. "Miss Wyte, how are you ever going to stand living with him?" Not noticing her mistake, Ro continued laughing as the other witches openly stared at her.

"Professor, what's going on?" Annabelle still wasn't feeling like her normal self, but that didn't stop her from being curious.

Minerva sighed, shooting daggers at Rolanda with her eyes. If looks could kill… "Annabelle, I think it's best if you start off with calling me Minerva in private. I want to talk to you about something rather important."

Annabelle quirked an eyebrow but slowly nodded her head, wincing at the pain this movement caused. "Alright, Minerva." She removed her hand from Minerva's for a moment, gesturing for her to continue, before letting it fall back into her mentor's hand.

"I was going to wait until morning to discuss your current predicament with you, but I suppose now's as good a time as any to get it out of the way." Minerva took a deep breath, steeling herself from the rejection she feared. "The thing is, we need to discuss where you're going to be living now since you can't go back to your parents."

Annabelle slowly took her hand away from Minerva's as she tried to sit up. The witch was going to send her away already. She'd end up in some foster home somewhere and not be able to go to Hogwarts. She'd end up far away from Ginny and they'd never see each other again. It wasn't the Chamber of Secrets that scared her now. It was the inevitable unknown future.

Minerva automatically reached out to her student and helped her move into a comfortable sitting position. Her muscles seemed to be responding poorly after the potion. She glanced over to Poppy, who was just watching in amusement before mouthing, 'She shouldn't be able to move, yet.' The medi-witch smiled at Minerva, knowing the elder witch would be proud of her determined pupil. "You have many options, and your opinion does matter in this case. There are many wizarding families or couples who would be happy to adopt you. In fact, we already have three prospective families in mind. Two of these couples are professors here at the school, but one is not. Does either option bother you?" If the child was against living with a professor, then there's no way it would work out. This questioning gave Minerva an opportunity to find out her options without totally getting her hopes up.

Annabelle shrugged, not knowing who the couples were she meant. Surely, she wasn't talking about herself, right? She seemed to stern and cold to want to be a parent. It would throw her off, make her go crazy, or something insane like that. "Either's fine."

Minerva swallowed her fear and pushed on, aware that the room's other inhabitants were sitting on the edges of their seat. "Well, the two couples here at Hogwarts would be Professors Sprout and Flitwick or," She took another deep breath and closed her eyes. "Professor Dumbledore and myself."

Annabelle's heart leapt into her throat. What if she was joking? What if she was just doing this to get her hopes up? Annabelle reached down and took her professor's hand in her own again. "You want me?" It was barely a whisper and Minerva felt her heart break once again. This girl was turning her to mush.

"If you'll let me, then yes." Minerva knew she was taking a leap with her next comment, but took it anyway. "Belle, I've wanted to adopt you since I met you. All you have to do is say the word."

Annabelle nodded her head, acknowledging what her professor had said. All she had to do was say the word. The word! The word! Her mind was doing summersaults on its own. Finally, Annabelle's face turned serious and she looked Minerva straight in the eye as she spoke, "The word."

All five witches in the room burst into fits of laughter. The tension was long gone as Albus sauntered into the room, levitating five glasses of fire whiskey and one butterbeer. He sent them each to their prospective owners and raised an eyebrow at the pealing laughter still coming from Rolanda who was now doubled over in her seat. "Did someone hit Rolanda with a tickling jinx?"

That did it for everyone else in the room. The laughter began again and Albus stood in the doorway at a loss for words. Walking over to Pomona, he leaned down and whispered, "I take it things went well, then?"

All the plump witch could do was nod as she attempted to regain her composure. Finally, she grinned and playfully spat out, "She's yours, you old coot."

Albus grinned, slowly walking over to Minerva with that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He crooked a finger at her, signaling her to stand up and the moment she did, he picked her up and spun her around before planting a kiss firmly on her lips. Turning to Annabelle, his smile grew exponentially. "Welcome to the family kiddo."

Sitting back down, Minerva picked up Annabelle's hand again and recast a warming spell over her. "You need to tell me when you get cold, Annabelle." The child's first name was rolling off her tongue now, as if that was the only thing she'd ever called her.

Annabelle looked sheepishly between the adults and was about to respond to Minerva when Rolanda jumped out of her seat, running from person to person as she slammed their glasses together. "Happy New Year!"

Everyone took a hearty drink of their glasses, and for a moment, the room was consumed by a comfortable silence. Soon enough though, Annabelle broke it with a noisy yawn.

Minerva grinned at her young charge: her soon-to-be daughter. "How about we get you to bed, Mi-Annabelle? We can talk about everything tomorrow when we're all wide awake."

Collective murmurs of agreement were heard across the room and the three witches began to get up, taking all of the glasses with them. Poppy ran one last diagnostic test before leaving, but first telling Minerva to have her take one of the blue potions. On her way out, she whispered, "It's a dreamless sleep drought."

Rolanda was the only witch who lingered longer than necessary, looking almost nervous as she glanced between the two witches. "Minnie?"

Minerva raised an eyebrow, hands on hips, as she stood up. "Does this need to be taken to another room, Rolanda?"

The spiky-haired witch shrugged. "I was just wondering if the promise you made me almost forty years ago was still valid. Am I still your child's aunt?"

Minerva chuckled as she noticed Rolanda's discomfort. "If Annabelle can tolerate having you as an aunt, then yes." She glanced toward Annabelle who seemed to slowly be nodding off. "We can discuss this further tomorrow though." She guided Rolanda out of the room, watching as she floo'ed away.

Minutes later, she came back to make sure Annabelle was ready for bed, only to see the child thoroughly passed out. "Goodnight, mo chroi."

Mo chroi=my heart :)