A/N: I adore you all, thank you.
-0-
Hermione had raced through her homework and had paced up and down the Common Room until she received her summons to Minerva's rooms. She wasn't sure what prompted her, but at one point, she paused her pacing, ignoring Harry's snort and then set off out of the portrait hole. She was halfway to Minerva's room when she turned the corner and bumped into the woman.
"Oof. What -" Minerva blinked. "How did you know I was on my way?"
"Um," Hermione frowned. "I don't really even know," she chuckled. "I just guessed, I guess."
Minerva snorted at the alliteration and nodded for Hermione to join her.
"Now," Minerva muttered, her arm looping around Hermione's. "We have just a little bit of detour before we go to my rooms; I wondered if you would join me back at Albus'."
"Why?"
"We are going to borrow something."
"Oh?"
"It's a surprise," Minerva chuckled.
"And my knives?"
"We aren't done with them yet. We can find no dark-imbued magic but that means little if there's something specific hiding somewhere."
Hermione sighed as she nodded and leaned a little on Minerva. She was tired, really, but nothing was going to get in the way of this evening. She wanted to soak it up like a sponge. She didn't even care that they hadn't properly trained for their mission in more than a week. Whatever happened, would happen, but she could deal with it but she had missed being in Minerva's presence so much that she didn't care if all they did was sit in silence. She would take it and enjoy it as well.
"Alright?"
"Mhmm," Hermione smiled. "Just enjoying."
Minerva chuckled and nudged her gently.
"We shall enjoy it together, then."
They climbed the steps to Dumbledore's office without incident and she smiled as he greeted her.
"It is good to see you, Miss Granger."
"Hermione," she corrected. "Remember."
"I do," he winked. "Now. I'm sure Minerva has told you we're not quite done with your things, yet, but I hear tell something interesting happened today?"
"What?" Hermione asked, looking at Minerva.
"You stunned my Transfiguration Professor."
"Oh." Hermione giggled. "I did do that."
"Wordlessly," Minerva reminded them. "And," she said as Albus chuckled. "She was quite right when she said I would not hit the floor."
"I did say that, too," Hermione smirked.
"Did you do that wordlessly too?"
"No," Hermione blushed. "I wanted to be sure it was strong enough." She turned to Minerva. "I wouldn't have hurt you, not even accidentally."
She saw the look they gave each other and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not vindictive, you know," she grumbled.
"I never thought so," Dumbledore soothed. "Now. Last time you were here, you expressed some interest in my Pensieve?"
"Oh," Hermione grinned. "Yes!"
"We wondered if you'd allow us to see your memory of the lesson today?"
"How?"
Dumbledore explained how it worked and she followed along while Minerva sat beside her.
"Have you ever?"
"I am not blessed to own one," Minerva chuckled. "Nor do I feel the need to rewatch my memories, most days. That is a personal choice, though in this case, it would be helpful."
"Alright," Hermione nodded. "I'm in."
"Ladies?" he offered, inviting them to stand beside the Pensieve.
"I want you to think about that lesson, the moment and what happened. Concentrate on that moment."
"Okay," she nodded.
"Ready?"
She nodded again and Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand against her temple. She blinked as she felt like something had lifted from her mind.
"Oh," she said as she blinked. "So it copies the memory?"
"It takes most of it from you, in order to capture the details. In time the original will return to its full strength," Albus nodded.
"Cool." She blinked. "Now what?"
"This is your memory," Albus said, passing her a little bottle. "If you wish to watch it first, or allow us all to join in, that is up to you. To do so, you would simply tip the memory into the pool and then," he chuckled. "The instructions say to plunge your face into the pool but I find one can simply lean into it."
"Does it hurt?"
"No. For a moment it feels a little like you are underwater but then you are drawn into the memory and the feeling passes."
"You're coming, right?" she asked Minerva.
"I would like to if that is alright?" She asked. "I am intrigued as to how you did. I quite forgot that in stunning me, I would not be able to see how you did."
"Okay," she grinned. "Let's do it then."
She uncorked the little bottle and poured it in, watching as it shimmered on the surface, showing glimpses of the classroom.
"After you, my dear," Dumbledore smiled.
She pushed her face into it, holding her breath and suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked around the classroom. It took her a moment to adjust to the almost foggy look to it but after a while, she realised that it was a foggy experience.
"Hello," Minerva said softly by her side.
"Oh," Hermione grinned. "Hi."
"Now," Dumbledore said. "Give me some context."
"Um," Hermione checked what was going on and found they were reading. "Oh, they were just reading the chapter. In a minute, Min's going to explain wordless casting and whatever. We're a long way back, sorry."
"It is of no matter," Dumbledore smiled. They watched for a while as MemoryHermione thumbed through her book and then huffed. "You are very bored in your classes aren't you," he smiled.
Hermione blushed and refused to look up at Minerva but the woman chuckled.
"She is, rather."
"I don't mean to be," she almost whined.
"I know," Minerva soothed, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "It is a reflection of your intelligence, not anyone else's."
"When we're reading, especially. I've already read it all. I want to do the magic. I just wish everyone else would turn up prepared for a lesson."
"Minerva," Dumbledore stage-whispered. "I think Hermione is going to make a fabulous teacher."
Minerva threw her head back and laughed, making Hermione grin at their teasing. She leaned against Minerva a little heavier and they watched as Minerva's lecture came to a close and Ron got up.
"I can't recall this in the syllabus, Tabby?"
"You call her Tabby?" Hermione grinned. "That's so -"
Her final word was muffled as Minerva pressed a hand over her mouth.
"That is enough, Trouble," she snorted. "And he does so very sparingly."
"I'm going to start calling you Tabby."
"You certainly are not," Minerva ordered, making Hermione laugh. "Now," she said imperiously. "Here we are."
They watched as Pavarti complained and Minerva chuckled at the cheeky smirk her Memory self gave.
"You look positively gleeful, Professor McGonagall," Albus grinned.
"I was trying to find a way to extend an olive branch," Minerva shrugged. "Turns out, stunning me is exactly the thing we needed."
"I thought you were avoiding me," Hermione mumbled, feeling the embarrassment building.
"It does not matter anymore," Minerva said gently. "Let us concentrate on the classroom."
Hermione watched as she stepped up and very cockily told Minerva she wasn't going to hit the floor.
"God," she muttered. "That's so obnoxious. Sorry." Minerva chuckled but didn't reply. "Can you remember anything at all, when you're stunned?"
"No," Dumbledore muttered as MemoryHermione took a deep breath.
She remembered the tension in the room and though she was confident in her abilities, she would never admit that she was a little nervous at the thought. She grinned as she stunned Minerva wordlessly, then immobilised her almost immediately afterwards so she froze where she was.
"Well," Minerva smiled. "If we had any queries as to your skills before, darling, we shall not ever again."
"And you say your casting needs speeding up," Dumbledore mused. "I see no problem here, my dears. Let us return to my room and we shall have some hot chocolate."
"Professor!"
"Albus!"
They emerged giggling and without really meaning to, Hermione reached forward and helped Minerva stand. They retired to the sofas where both of the adults seemed to be thinking pensively but Hermione was just happy to be next to Minerva for the evening. She sat as close as was proper. In Minerva's rooms, she probably would have laid on the sofa with her head on Minerva's thigh but instead, she got comfortable next to Minerva while they waited for Dumbledore to ask an elf for their drinks.
"Lemon and ginger tea for two very lovely witches. I will have a hot chocolate, myself."
Hermione giggled as she took her cup and hummed happily.
"I'm not going to take up your whole night, young lady, I know you are eager to spend time with Minerva but I would like to discuss Harry for a moment."
"Sure," she shrugged.
"How is he?"
"Generally? Okay," she shrugged. "He's doing fine in class and whathaveyou?"
"And outside of class?"
Hermione looked at him for a moment before she realised he was asking about Harry the boy, not Harry the student.
"It really helped spending time at Grimmauld Place. Even though it wasn't quite what we thought it would be, he enjoys being there with Sirius. I -" she stopped herself and bit her lip, looking into her cup to avoid everyone's eyes. "Well, yeah, he's fine."
"Hermione?" Minerva said gently. "What is it?"
She looked between the two of them and noted Minerva's slight nod. Hermione sighed as she came to a decision.
"I know why you send him there." She looked again and found a very guarded look on Dumbledore's face before she dropped the hammer. "To the Dursleys, I mean. And," she whispered. "I told him why."
The heavy silence was punctuated by Fawkes' sharp trill at the back of the room and the crackling of the fire. Minerva, very softly, touched Hermione's thigh, but Hermione was staring at Dumbledore instead. He finished his hot chocolate and put his cup on the table before sitting back.
"I really wish you hadn't."
"Why," Hermione asked a little testily. "Why don't you just tell him what he needs to know? He -"
"Hermione," Minerva said softly. Hermione turned to her and stared. "Gently, please."
"I -"
She took a deep breath and tried to sort her thoughts so that she could discuss it maturely instead of railing at him like she wanted to.
"Okay," she said with a nod as she put the rest of her tea down. "Look, I need you to understand something about Harry," she said carefully. To his credit, he did look up and regard her carefully, so she ploughed on. "He's like a puppy." Minerva snorted but didn't interrupt. "He loves endlessly and you can treat him really badly and he'll still want your love. He's learning, slowly, but his baseline is that. So you -" she paused and rephrased. "So the need for him to go back there?" She said it carefully. It was clear that Minerva didn't know the details and despite her opinions on it, Hermione decided right then that she wasn't going to be the one to spill the beans. "That necessity? He didn't understand it, he thought he was being punished for something. Because they don't like him, they never have. They are scared of him and they treat him badly." Dumbledore sat up a bit at that, so Hermione expounded. "Less so these days, but in Second Year? They locked him in his room and fed him food through a slot in the door."
"Al -"
"The flying car?" she watched Dumbledore's eyes twitch and she knew she was giving him information that he didn't have. "They stole it originally to break Harry out of his room. They had to pull bars off his windows and when they kidnapped him? Nobody reported it, nobody told anyone. He spent the rest of the holidays at the Weasleys. He's a great cook. Because they treat him like a servant. He lived in a cupboard for the first eleven years of his life."
"Albus -"
Hermione ploughed on ignoring Minerva's interruptions.
"I do understand the necessity of it, Professor, I really do. But knowing why you send him back there has really helped him understand that he doesn't owe them his love and that despite the pain, he doesn't hate them for it either. I think he will probably always love them because he is like that and I know that there has to be something but the idea no longer drains him as it did. He isn't part of their family, it's just somewhere he goes. And now, he doesn't expect himself to be accepted. He goes there to 'recharge' as it were, and then he gets the hell out of there before anything else can happen. He -"
"Hermione," Minerva muttered quietly. "I believe that's enough."
She looked up at Dumbledore and noticed his eyes shining and an overwhelming feeling of sadness rolling off him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
He scoffed and got up to pace in front of the fire. It may have all needed to be said, but this wasn't anything like the evening she had planned.
"I have hurt him," Dumbledore said finally as he stared at the flames. "With my inaction. With my machinations."
"He doesn't blame you for it," Hermione said quietly. "He never has, he just didn't understand. Now that we know? He understands. He accepts it."
"He shouldn't," Dumbledore muttered.
"Hermione," Minerva said gently. "Perhaps you and I can meet tomorrow evening, before six. For now, I think it best for you to return to your dormitory."
"You have a Duty, though?"
"I do, but we can meet for a while beforehand. Go on now. That's enough for today."
Hermione looked between Minerva and Dumbledore and when she looked back at Minerva, the woman nodded towards the door.
"Okay," she muttered. "Sorry. Thank you."
She paused by the door and watched as Minerva took a moment to herself and then stood and went over to join Dumbledore by the fire. Minerva waited for him to finish pacing before she reached out and gripped his hand. Hermione wasn't sure why it felt right to have seen that, but it did and she left without another word, closing the door quietly behind her.