Author's Note: I'm back! It's been awhile but here is the latest chapter. Hopefully a few more will be coming soon. I have big plans for this story! Thank you so much to everyone who has continued to read this story, and to those who are reading it for the first time. It really means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter!
Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own the Harry Potter series,it belongs to the amazing JK Rowling. I just borrow the characters from time to time.
The first week of school went about as well as could be expected considering the state of things in their world. It was evident that some students would not be back this year. Although she had only been an assistant in the classroom last year, Minerva still felt the absence of some of those who would not be returning. Some had gone missing, others had gone into hiding with their families. She did not even want to think about the fate that had befallen some of the students.
Her heart ached for them, this war had been difficult on everyone, no one was exempt from it. She had thought it would be easy to forget some of the terrors going on in their world at the school, obviously she had thought wrong. Although being at the school provided some reprieve, there were still some things that she would not be able to escape.
For the sake of the students it was important that she paint on a smile everyday, and act as if everything was normal. Although it almost seemed irreverent to the memories of the ones who had been lost, she knew that the students, as young as they were, should have some sense of normalcy.
She was thankful that the first week of school was over, she had been looking forward to this for awhile now. Albus had promised her a chess game this evening and she could not help being excited for it. At this point it was just what she needed, to relax and unwind. Besides Albus would be able to provide good conversation, and he would always provide a listening ear. It was not that she wasn't friends with the other staff members, it was just that she was closer to Albus than any of them.
He had always been like a second father to her. Throughout her years at Hogwarts he had mentored her and worked with her tirelessly. Albus was the reason she had pursued transfiguration, the reason that she had jumped at the chance to return to Hogwarts as a staff member.
Now as she left her rooms to go to Albus's Office for the first time since the term began she felt some sense of happiness. The Headmaster's Office wasn't terribly far from her own rooms, and within a few short minutes she was there. Giving the gargoyle the password she ascended to the Headmaster's office. When she had reached it she knocked on his door and waited patiently for a did not have to wait long, within a minute the Headmaster bade her to enter.
"Good evening Headmaster." Minerva said upon entering the office. "I hope everything is well."
Albus looked up from his work upon her greeting. "Good evening Minerva, all is well with me, as I hope it is with you as well. How was your first week teaching?" He asked getting up from his desk to speak with her.
"I must confess that it has been a bit rough, I was not anticipating so many of our students being gone."
"That is the way of the world at war Minerva. All we can do is to work to make the world a better place our our students, and hope that they may soon live in peace again." Albus replied embracing Minerva warmly.
"Is everything going well in your classes with the exception of the missing students?" he asked once he had let go of her. "None of the students are giving you too much trouble yet, are they."
"No, not yet Albus. If any do try to give me trouble they will promptly be put in their places." She replied adamantly.
"It seems as if you have everything under control and I am so very happy to hear that." Albus said smiling. "I would love to hear all about your week, but sadly our conversation is going to have to be cut short. I know we were supposed to have a chess game today, but there is so much for me to work on right now. Perhaps another night this week?"
"I completely understand." Minerva said doing her best to hide her disappointment.
"Thank you Minerva, perhaps on Wednesday night?" Albus asked.
"Perhaps." Minerva replied pasting a smile on her face.
"Good, I'll mark it in my calendar then." he replied smiling at her. " Perhaps you might find someone in the staff room to talk to tonight. It is about time that you were a bit more social. I'm sure Poppy or Pomona are quite anxious to catch up with you about the summer."
"It has been a long week, perhaps if I just went back to my rooms and retired early tonight." Minerva began.
"Now now Minerva, I will hear no more of this. You have spent far too much time in your rooms it is time for you to come to terms with what happened this summer and return to life as usual. It will not do to sit and dwell on things that will never be. Rather, think of this time in a more positive light. This is your chance to make a difference, to help our world. It is time for you to rejoin us again and be that wonderful joyful, courageous woman we all know that you are." Albus told her kindly. "Now, I want you to promise me that you will not go straight to your rooms after this."
Reluctantly Minerva gave in. "Alright." she said "I promise that I will not go right back to my rooms."
"Good. I promise you Minerva that this request of mine is for your own good." Albus said comfortingly a twinkle in he blue eyes. "Now please go out and have a pleasant evening."
"I will try my best." Minerva said managing a small smile.
"That is what I like to hear." Albus said with a smile of his own.
The two colleagues bade one another farewell soon after and Minerva left the headmaster's office quietly afterwards. Walking down the halls towards the staff room Minerva considered the Headmaster's request. She knew that he was right, it was time fore her to start spending time outside of her rooms again. She needed to get out and socialize with the rest of the staff, with her friends. Just thinking about it made her realize just how much she had missed them.
When she reached the staffroom door however her confidence crumbled a little bit. On the other side she could hear talking and laughter. It sounded as if everyone was in there right now. Although she felt that it was time for her to rejoin the rest of the staff this was just a little too much at once. If it was just Poppy and Pomona that would be one thing, but this whole group was a different matter entirely.
A sudden thought struck Minerva as she was standing out side of the staffroom door. She had not promised Albus that she would go to the staffroom, only that she would not go straight to her rooms. Technically speaking she had gone out of her way to come here, so if she went to her rooms now she would not be breaking her promise to him. With that thought in mind she began heading back to her rooms.
As she was climbing one of the staircases to get back it suddenly decided to move. She groaned a bit at the inconvenience of this. It would add a few minutes to her trip. The staircase stopped at a point where there were no others that would take her back. In fact, unless she wanted to sit around and wait until this staircase would change again she would have to go around the other side of the castle to get to her rooms.
Since there really was no telling when the staircase was going to move again she stepped off and began walking down the corridor. She was not walking long before she heard the sounds of stone scraping and moving away behind her. Running back to take a look she saw that the staircase had moved again, stranding her here and ensuring that she would have to take this way back.
"Blasted staircase" she thought as she began to make her way to the other side of the castle. As she was walking that way she realized that she was quite close to the library. Perhaps she would make a slight detour before heading back to her rooms. Some new reading material would be nice. The library was also sure to be very quiet.
Upon entering the library she found it to be blissfully silent, just what she was looking for. On the first Friday of term it seemed that most of the students had decided not to spend their time studying in the library. Not that Minerva blamed them, it was only the beginning of term, no need to push them yet. Later in the year things would be different.
She leisurely walked through the stacks occasionally picking up books and glancing through them. After about fifteen minutes she had a small stack of books she was planning on checking out. She was looking for just one more book before she went back to her rooms and then she would be set for the weekend.
As she turned the next corner she noticed that she was not alone; someone else was at the end of the shelf looking intently at some of the books as well. It was the new potions master. Perhaps he had wanted to stay away from everyone in the staff room as well. She remembered that he liked to keep to himself and so she decided that she would give him some space.
Before she could make it out of the stacks he looked up from the book he held in his hands and spotted her. "Minerva." Severus said greeting her civilly.
"Severus." she replied equally as civil.
"What brings you to the library on a night such as this one?" He asked her. Evidently he was surprised to see her here.
"I was just looking for some books to read over the weekend." She said. "Why else does one go to a library?"
"Yes, I do suppose that is the whole purpose of going to the library. Shouldn't you be in the staff room right now though? It is the end of the week, I am sure our colleagues would love to hear about how your first week of teaching went." He said.
"I could ask the same thing of you." Minerva said wryly.
"Touché." Severus replied. "However it does seem as if you would already have plans for a Friday night. None of which would have involved spending your time in a library."
"Who are you to say what my plans would involve or not? Perhaps I was planning this all week."
"Minerva, I give you far more credit than that. I highly doubt that this was something you would plan out throughout the week. It is not as though stopping by the library requires that much planning." Severus said with a smirk. "Which is why it baffles me that our students cannot seem to find their way here a little more often."
"It's only the first week of school for them Severus, they are getting used to everything again. You can hardly blame them for not wanting to spend all of their time studying, especially with what has been going on in our world right now. It is fine for us to cut them a little slack now and then." Minerva said emphatically.
"What is going on in our world right now is precisely why they should be studying more and working harder in school. We need to do all that we can do to prepare them to face whatever is in store for them, and in order to do that we must arm them in whatever ways we can. As much as we may want to we cannot cut them any slack, at least not right now." Severus said quietly. "For every little thing we allow to slide by we may be putting our students at risk. The more they learn here the more they are equipped to survive in this world."
"I never thought of it that way before." Minerva said softly. What he said made perfect sense, even if she did not want it to.
"In order to prepare our students for the world we must think that way. Far too many innocent lives have been lost, far too many endangered by foolish mistakes." Severus said, for just a moment something in him wavered a bit. It was almost imperceptible but Minerva was sure she saw it.
"I understand." she replied gently. "Perhaps I have taken up too much of your time, after all you probably have plans for tonight that I may be interrupting."
"No, nothing of the sort I can assure you. Have I been keeping you from anything?" he asked.
"Nothing important." She replied.
"As neither of us have anything pressing, would you like to join me for a game of chess this evening?" He asked her. "We could continue our conversation. It is not very late, the library is still open for awhile."
"I would love that." She said with a smile.