A/N: Thanks to everyone who has favourited, followed or reviewed this story so far. It's very much appreciated and I'm happy to know that there are at least some people who are still interested in Albus and Minerva.

12. Pumpkin Kisses

"Minerva, wake up! Come on! Hurry up!"

Groaning, Minerva tried to swat away the hand that was roughly shaking her shoulder. "What? What's going on?" she muttered, blinking up at the blurry outlines of Augusta's face.

"I'm going to duel Holter and I need you to be my second!"

"Uh-huh. Good luck with that," Minerva mumbled and shifted onto her other side.

But Augusta pulled her back around. "No! I'm not kidding, Minerva. Get your butt out of this bed!"

Finally truly shaken awake, Minerva sat up and reached for her glasses. It was still dark in the dormitory, but at least she could see Augusta more clearly now. "What in the name of Merlin are you going on about?"

"Shh! I'll explain outside," Augusta said, glancing at the other two beds where Alison and Drew were still sleeping. Minerva envied them.

"Outside where?"

"We're meeting Holter up on the Astronomy Tower."

Minerva's eyes widened. "Are you mental? It's the middle of the night. We're not allowed outside of Gryffindor Tower. You'd get in serious trouble for that!"

"Only if we get caught," Augusta argued.

"Famous last words of anyone who ever lost their house a lot of points," Minerva countered.

"Whatever. I'm going and I need you. So you can either follow the rules or be my friend!"

Minerva huffed. "Why can't I do both?"

"You're the smart one. Figure it out," Augusta said and walked out of the dormitory.

Minerva really didn't want to follow her, but the thought of letting Augusta roam the castle at night on her own was possibly even worse. So she quickly pulled her robes over her head, ran a couple of fingers through her messy, black hair and ran after her friend.

"I knew you'd come," Augusta said as she pushed open the portrait hole.

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?" The Fat Lady called after them.

"Sorry. Wizard's duel. Can't be late!" Augusta called back over her shoulder.

Debating with herself whether it was too dangerous to draw attention to themselves by lighting up her wand, Minerva eventually decided that the risk of running into a suit of armour or a trick step was worse and muttered, "Lumos!"

"Good thinking," Augusta nodded and followed her lead.

"Speaking of which, what are you thinking? Why are you duelling Holter?" Minerva whispered. "He's one of us!"

Augusta grinned. "So if I were to duel someone from Slytherin, you'd be fine with it? Because I'm sure that can be arranged."

"No! I mean, maybe. I just don't understand."

"He said that the Chudley Cannons are a team of pathetic losers!" Augusta explained.

"Who?"

"Holter!"

"You're kidding!"

"I know, right? The nerve! Sure, they haven't won the League since 1892, but they've had a lot of bad luck, injured players and then their Keeper wasn't right in the head, jumping off his broom, thinking he could fly like a duck…" Augusta paused when she noticed that Minerva was no longer walking next to her and had stopped a few feet back. "What?"

"You're telling me that we're breaking a dozen school rules because Holter insulted your Quidditch team?"

"Don't give me that look! You're the one who told Dumbledore – to his face – that playing Quidditch was more important than doing his homework!" Augusta reminded her and kept walking.

Her face red and with no other choice since standing still in this dark corridor was a great way to get caught, Minerva followed her. "Playing Quidditch to win points for Gryffindor," she defended her actions from last year, even though they were quite indefensible. "There's a difference."

"Not all of us can play Quidditch for Gryffindor, so we have to cheer for different teams," Augusta said.

"Why do you even care what Holter thinks about the Cannons?"

"I just do. I can't stand seeing him with that stupid Tutshill Tornados scarf! He only likes them because they are all the rage right now. I know he was a Ballycastle Bats fan before. A turncoat like that has no right to call the Cannons losers..."

"But they are!"

Augusta glared at her.

"I'm sorry, but they are last in the League right now, so objectively speaking that makes them losers."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that because you're my friend and my only se..."

"Augusta, shut up!" Minerva cut across her when she heard footsteps approaching from around the corner.

They were currently standing in the middle of a corridor that offered no doors or other means of escape. In her panic Minerva grabbed Augusta, pushed her up against the wall next to a very tall suit of armour and knocked her over the head with her wand, watching Augusta become the exact colour of the brick wall behind her. Then Minerva did the same thing to herself and barely dared to breathe, standing stock-still next to her friend.

With their hearts in their throats, they watched as Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker, entered their corridor and walked right past them, clearly in one of his foul moods but thankfully not looking left or right. Even after he was gone and his footsteps had stopped echoing through the halls, Minerva and Augusta didn't move for a while.

Eventually Minerva lifted her spell and stepped away from the wall. "What was that?" asked Augusta as she followed suit.

"Disillusionment Charm," Minerva told her.

Augusta's eyes were bright in the dark. "You're bloody brilliant, you know that?"

"Thanks," Minerva said, not very happy with the circumstances in which she had been given this compliment. But she was happy with how that charm had turned out. She hadn't actually tried it before. They had got lucky and their luck could run out at any moment. "Let's go now."

They made it to the top of the Astronomy Tower without being seen, but there was no one there.

"Are you sure he wasn't just messing with you?" Minerva asked. It would have been pretty silly to set Augusta up to get caught and consequently lose house points because Holter was in Gryffindor, too. Then again, this whole thing was stupid.

"He said he'd be here. He... listen!"

There were voices coming up the stairs. One of them was Holter. The other voice belonged to Duncan and they seemed to be arguing. They stopped as soon as they spotted the girls.

"You came," Holter said.

"Of course I came. I'm no chicken, am I?" Augusta shot back.

"Then why did you bring her?" Holter nodded towards Minerva.

"She's my second. You do know how a duel works, don't you?"

"Sure I do. Duncan's mine."

Duncan looked about as thrilled as Minerva felt.

"So," said Augusta.

"So," said Holter.

"I'll give you one last chance to take back what you said," Augusta offered.

Holter shook his head. "Never."

"You still think the Cannons are a bunch of losers?"

"I do. But I'll give you a chance to become a Tornados fan instead."

Augusta scoffed. "Never."

"Well, then."

They both raised their wands and pointed them at each other.

Nothing happened.

Minerva wondered if as Augusta's second she should tell her a spell she could use, since she didn't seem able to think of one on her own. But she didn't actually want anything to do with this duel.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Holter asked now.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Augusta countered.

"You're a girl. You should go first."

"You're scared you'll hurt me because I'm a girl?" Augusta asked irritably. Now Minerva would have definitely come up with a spell and a nasty one at that.

Holter scratched his head. "Not just because you're a girl. Because I think you're actually kind of wicked. Wickedly funny."

Augusta lowered her wand. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, that's why I thought you should support a different team. You know, one that's an actual winner. Like you."

No one said anything or moved for a full minute or so. Then Augusta thrust her wand into Minerva's hand and stepped up to Holter to kiss him. Holter in turn dropped his wand to the floor and suddenly the two of them were full-on snogging – making noises Minerva had never heard before and hadn't particularly wanted to either.

Gobsmacked, Minerva looked from the lip-locked shapes of Augusta and Holter to Duncan, who looked similarly grossed out.

"Er…" he said. "Did you… did you know they fancied each other?"

"No," Minerva said weakly.

"What exactly are we supposed to…?" Duncan glanced at their friends and then back at Minerva as though wondering if they should follow their example.

Minerva took a step back. "I'm not seconding that!"

"Right. Me either." Duncan picked up Holter's wand and turned around towards the stairs.

"Hey! We can't just leave them here!" Minerva called after him.

"I'm not. I'm just checking that the coast is clear. If Pringle hears them doing… that… we're done for. You can babysit them until I'm back," Duncan said and left her alone with the oblivious couple.

"Great," Minerva muttered and covered her ears with a Noise-Cancelling Spell.

As she was lazily stirring her finished Wit-Sharpening Potion, Minerva was tempted to fill a couple of drops into a flask and then add them to Augusta's pumpkin juice during dinner. Sure, the potion was supposed to serve as an antidote to the Confundus Charm, allowing the drinker to think clearly again and improve his intellect. But perhaps it could also cure momentarily induced stupidity due to lovesickness.

Ever since that night on the Astronomy Tower, Augusta and Holter were all over each other whenever they had the chance. And when they didn't, for example when they were sitting at different tables in the dungeons and were each supposed to mix their own potions, they still made eyes at each other.

Minerva had to stop Augusta from adding her scarab beetles whole and then she also cut her ginger root for her because she was afraid that Augusta would cut off her own finger if trusted with a sharp knife. As a result Augusta's potion wasn't a complete disaster by the end of class and Professor Slughorn was pleased enough with it.

Not as pleased as he was with Minerva's potion. "A perfect shade of purple! This Wit-Sharpening Potion would work instantly! Not that you need it, eh?" He winked at her and then leaned in closer. "Listen, my dear, I'm having a bit of a small gathering for Halloween in my office, and I've been meaning to invite you and Miss Longbottom." He handed them both a scroll of parchment with a wax seal. The seal had a snake on it. "I hope you'll do me the great honour of attending? And since it's such a fun holiday, you should both bring a guest, too!"

"Er…" said Minerva.

"Of course we'll come, Professor," said Augusta.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Professor Slughorn and walked away happily.

"I've been wondering when we'd get one of these," Augusta said excitedly when they made their way back up to the Entrance Hall. "I always knew you'd get invited eventually, but with me not being a genius at Potions I wasn't sure. Guess he really loves my mother's fudge…"

Everyone in the castle knew about Slughorn's parties, but unlike Augusta Minerva hadn't been so sure if she actually wanted to get invited. Now that Augusta had accepted on both of their behalves, she had no choice but to go. She didn't want to offend Professor Slughorn.

"Why do we have to bring guests?" Minerva asked.

"Because it's a party, ain't it? That's what people do at parties," Augusta shrugged.

"If you say so."

"Cheer up! Perhaps you'll find someone to snog, too. It's really not that hard. Easier than Potions." Augusta laughed. "I have to tell Holter."

She ran off, leaving Minerva behind to wonder whether there was something wrong with her because Potions did feel a lot easier to her than doing whatever Augusta and Holter were doing exactly. She was fifteen and so far she hadn't even come close to liking anyone that way. Thankfully, she didn't have to. She just needed to bring someone as a guest. Snogging was probably not a prerequisite, as Professor Slughorn would have got in a lot of trouble for that.

Minerva's eyes landed on Duncan, who had just turned away from Holter as soon as Augusta had caught up with him. Quickly, before she could change her mind, Minerva ran over to him. "Hey, do you want to go to Slughorn's Halloween party with me?"

Duncan looked confused for a moment, but then he shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

Well, that was easy, Minerva thought, and she put the whole thing out of her mind until the entire castle filled up with a heavenly smell that signalled the start of the Halloween feast. That's when Minerva began to wish that she could actually go to the feast. There had to be food at Slughorn's party as well, but she wasn't sure if it would be as good. The Hogwarts Halloween feasts were legendary. Last year the pumpkins had been the size of baby elephants.

Drew and Alison on the other hand were terribly jealous that Minerva and Augusta had got invited to the party. Before they left the dormitory, they made them promise to tell them everything later. Augusta promised, Minerva mumbled something indistinct and kept reading.

"Come on, we should get going. Aren't you going to change?" Augusta asked her five minutes later.

Minerva looked up from her book. "Why?"

Augusta shook her head in exasperation. "You've really never been to a party before, have you?"

"Does Sunday School brunch count?" Minerva asked.

"School on a Sunday?" Augusta made a face. "What's that? Some kind of Muggle torture?"

Minerva laughed. "Depends who you ask."

"Doesn't matter, but no one's going to wear their school robes tonight."

"Fine." Minerva closed her book and changed into a red tartan dress. When Augusta gave her an approving nod, she was about to fix her messy ponytail, but Augusta stopped her.

"Leave it open," she said. "Trust me."

Minerva didn't much care either way and so she didn't argue. They made their way down into the common room where Duncan and Holter were waiting for them. Augusta ran at Holter as though they had been apart for three years, not three hours. Minerva and Duncan stood next to them, feeling embarrassed. Somehow this didn't get any less awkward.

"You, uh, look nice," Duncan surprised her by saying.

"... Thanks," Minerva said after a bit of a pause.

"I like your hair that way," Duncan added.

Minerva stared at him, suddenly self-conscious. She had talked to Duncan on the Quidditch pitch a gazillion times, but never about her hair or her dress or stuff like that. This was weird. And she had a feeling it would only get weirder. She should have thought this through before she had asked Duncan to come with her. But it was too late now.

It was time for them to leave and they headed over to Slughorn's office, which had been magically altered to have enough room for all his guests. There were lots of wickedly grinning pumpkins, dancing skeletons and low-flying bats. Minerva ignored all of the decoration and went straight for the food. It was as good an excuse as any to get away from Duncan for a moment. He had looked at her hair as though he thought about touching it.

Unfortunately, Minerva ran right into Professor Slughorn at the buffet table. He was wearing a silver evening jacket with green lining and a top hat. Honestly, Minerva had no idea how she could have missed him.

"So happy to see you, my dear girl! And I see you've brought Mr Bayfield. Very nice, very nice," he said, momentarily pausing in his attempts to fill his plate, even though it was already bursting with food. "Although, if I had known that you had an interest in dating other Quidditch players, I could have introduced you to Mr Monahan…"

"Duncan and I aren't dating, Professor," Minerva said quickly, though she had no idea why she was telling him this.

"You're not?" Slughorn's face lit up. "But then you must absolutely talk to Padraig! He's an aspiring Potions master as well, just like you. You'd make a wonderful couple."

Minerva choked on her pumpkin juice. "No, sir, I, uh, already know Padraig. He's in my class…"

But Slughorn wasn't listening to her. "I saw him over there just a minute ago. I wonder where he's got off to…" He craned his neck, looking for Padraig, and Minerva couldn't decide if she was more terrified of staying here until Slughorn found him or of offending her teacher by simply running off.

Someone other than Padraig joined them first. "Good evening, Horace," Professor Dumbledore said and then turned to smile at Minerva. "And to you, Miss McGonagall."

"Hello, Professor," she replied somewhat too enthusiastically perhaps because she was so relieved to see him. Also, Dumbledore was wearing perfectly normal black evening robes.

"Albus, I thought you said you wanted to attend the feast instead," Professor Slughorn said distractedly.

"I did, but then I heard two of your ingenious skeletons sing a spectacular duet and I figured this had to be the place to be tonight," Professor Dumbledore explained and he did it with such a straight face, it was impossible to tell whether he was serious or not.

Either way, the flattery worked on Professor Slughorn. "They are quite fabulous, aren't they?" he nodded, smiling broadly. "I'm glad you're here, Albus, because I wanted to introduce you to my friend Giacomo. He's on the International Confederation of Wizards and well, I thought the two of you would have lots to talk about. Hold on a minute. I'll go look for him."

Slughorn took off, apparently having forgotten all about his plans for Minerva and Padraig.

"I apologise for stealing your Potions master away from you," Professor Dumbledore said once they were alone.

"Oh no, that's all right, Professor," Minerva replied. She had a feeling that Dumbledore knew exactly how uncomfortable she had been before his intervention, so she added, "Thanks."

He winked at her and reached for a pumpkin pasty. "How are you enjoying your first Slug party?"

"Not particularly, sir," Minerva said truthfully.

"Well, if you feel the need to leave early, I shall of course inform Professor Slughorn that you've taken unexpectedly ill and are terribly sorry."

Minerva's mood brightened and she wondered if that meant that she could leave as early as right now. Before she could decide, Duncan caught up with her.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked, tapping her on the shoulder and pointing towards some of their fellow students who were indeed dancing – something that would have never occurred to Minerva.

Horrified that Duncan would ask her that and in front of Professor Dumbledore, who looked at them curiously, Minerva blushed. "I don't dance," she mumbled.

"Then this is the perfect opportunity to start, don't you think?" Dumbledore said cheerfully.

The gratitude Minerva had felt towards her Head of House vanished instantly. "Uh, I guess."

She and Duncan joined the other students and Minerva tried to dance, but she felt too awkward to really enjoy herself.

"Can we stop?" she asked after a while, but she didn't really wait for Duncan's answer. She just took off, looking for a corner of the room that was mostly empty. "Sorry," she added when Duncan had once again caught up with her.

"No, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to step on your toes. I'm not much of a dancer."

"Then why did you ask me to?"

Duncan shrugged. "I thought that's why you asked me to go to this party with you."

"No, I just had to bring a guest, and I thought I'd ask someone I know how to talk to," Minerva explained, well aware of the irony that right now she didn't feel like she knew how to talk to Duncan at all.

All he said was, "Oh."

They were both quiet for a while.

"What did you think of Noah's 'This is our year to win the Quidditch Cup' speech?" Duncan asked eventually.

"I agree with him in principle, but the part where he suggested that we should all go drown ourselves in the lake if we lose was a tad much," Minerva replied.

"Right? If he'd said that we should all shave our heads or walk around with the Dancing Feet Jinx, I might have been okay with that. But I was sort of planning to graduate eventually."

"Also, I don't think you can drown yourself in the lake, actually. I think the Giant Squid would fish you back out."

"We could throw Noah in and find out…" Duncan suggested.

Minerva laughed, and suddenly they were talking about their next Quidditch game against Hufflepuff, about their favourite players in the British and Irish Quidditch League and who they thought would win the World Cup this year. Talking Quidditch with Duncan was so easy that the time they had to wait until they could leave the party without risking to offend Professor Slughorn (or forcing Professor Dumbledore to lie for them) went by in the blink of an eye.

Sharing a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans between them, they walked back to Gryffindor Tower, laughing whenever one of them made a face because they had bitten into a particularly nasty flavoured bean. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, Duncan stopped.

"Thanks for inviting me to come along tonight," he said.

"Thanks for sticking it out with me," Minerva replied. "You want to come to the Christmas party, too?"

She had meant it as a joke, but Duncan wasn't laughing when he said, "Yeah, I think I do."

Suddenly the look in his eyes turned sheepish and before Minerva knew what was going on, he leaned in and kissed her. He didn't try to eat her face like Augusta and Holter always seemed to be doing, but it still sent a sudden jolt, like an electric shock, through her body, from her lips all the way down to her toes.

"Hope that was okay," Duncan said when it was over.

Minerva didn't really know what to say, but she didn't need to because the Fat Lady now cleared her throat.

"It certainly made my night."