25 December 1994

"Good morning," Minerva said, pushing open the door to the Headmaster's office and stepping inside.

Albus looked up from his work and put his quill down. "It is a beautiful morning," he agreed, glancing briefly out of the window where the sun could be seen shining brightly in the blue sky.

Minerva looked at him amusedly and then pulled out 3 letters from her pocket. "A little excessive, Albus," she said, giving them a wave as she came to sit down. All three bore her name on the front.

"I recall you sent 1000 letters to a single house once," he commented lightly.

Minerva pursed her lips. "That was different."

"Even inside the eggs, my dear."

"That," Minerva repeated, "was a different case entirely. Potter was not answering our letters and," she added, "I gave him more than enough time to answer us. You, on the other hand, Albus Dumbledore, gave me 5 minutes."

"It was rather urgent," he said apologetically. "I was unsure if you had left for Caithness yet, or if you were at Hogsmeade or still at the castle."

"You do realise owls know intuitively where the recipient is?" she reminded him. "There is also such a thing as a Patronus."

Albus smiled.

"I was just about to leave for my brother's," Minerva said, crossing her legs. "Who would have thought I would be in such high demand 3 minutes before I'm due to go on leave?" she added, though not in an accusing way. She folded her hands on her lap. "What is so urgent, then, that you needed to write three consecutive letters to me for?"

"I am afraid, it is not good news, my dear," Albus began apologetically. "As you know I have been attempting to make Grimmauld Place a safe base for Sirius to stay at."

Minerva nodded.

"Unfortunately, it is proving difficult for 3 reasons. The first being that there are numerous spells on the house, and I would rather no one entered until we are quite certain that all of them have been dismantled. Then, there is the problem regarding how much the Ministry knows of Grimmauld Place. Seeing as Sirius is the last remaining heir of the house, I am sure the Ministry will have organised to keep an eye on the house should Sirius attempt to return and hide there."

"I was under the impression that the house was unplottable?" Minerva said, frowning slightly.

"It is, however, the Ministry may know the general area in which the house may be located," Albus answered, tiredly. "I would prefer if we did not take any unnecessary risks."

Minerva nodded. "That makes sense," she said. "But you still think the house will be ready soon?"

"No more than a few weeks," he replied, causing Minerva to frown even more.

"How about the third reason?"

This time Albus sighed. "Sirius is quite adamant that he would rather not return to live at Grimmauld Place this year despite the overall benefits."

Minerva frowned and straightened slightly in her chair. "For what reason?"

"Sirius is intent on remaining close to Harry should Harry need additional help this year," Albus explained, "He is convinced Igor may be the person who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire."

Minerva let out a sharp, irritated sigh. "Even if it was, which I doubt, does Sirius expect to run inside the castle and force Igor to leave? He will be of no use to Potter if he gets caught," she added, irritably. Though she partly understood Sirius' reasoning, he was not making matters any less complicated for her or for Albus.

Indeed, between carrying out her duties as a teacher, as Deputy Headmistress, as well as additional work with Albus and Severus regarding locating a spy, Minerva was already very much stretched. Sirius hiding in Hogsmeade had only added to her list of things to do. Namely, rushing down to Hogsmeade during her free time, which at the moment consisted of her lunch hour, and giving Sirius supplies such as food and blankets. Not to mention, locating food for Buckbeak, which was no easy feat to carry out discreetly.

This had meant Minerva had been going to Hogsmeade in her animagus form. And although she was much more nimble as a cat, Minerva's animagus was not immune to ageing. Increasingly, Minerva had found that being in her cat form for too long was tiring. Especially when it involved lots of running, hiding and sneaking about.

"Very well," she said finally. "If that is his wish then so be it. However, I strongly believe that moving to Grimmauld Place, when it is ready, would be the most sensible idea. A hippogriff is not the most conspicuous of animals. Sooner or later someone is going to notice that the cottage is not empty."

"I agree," Albus said before sighing. "Which is why Grimmauld Place must be prepared as soon as possible. Though I am afraid doing so will rob you of your holiday. I have some important business that I must take care of next week," he explained. "Sirius does not want to leave Hogsmeade while Harry is at school, which poses some complications as I will be needing him when I visit Grimmauld Place. I have persuaded him that the Yule Ball will be highly supervised..."

"So he has agreed to leave with you this evening?" Minerva finished with a sigh. "While I will be left to supervise the students?"

Dumbledore nodded gently as Minerva sighed. She had not liked the idea of going to the ball at all and for that reason had been pleased when Albus had made her aware that because it was Christmas Day, she was of course most welcome to visit her family. After all, Minerva had worked tirelessly all year and had not seen her family since September because of it. However, now, as a result of this new plan, combined with the last one requiring Minerva to stay at the school for the whole of next week as well, it looked as though she would not be seeing her family until mid-January.

Minerva took a deep breath. "Fine," she said. "I will send a message to Malcolm now," she added, getting up.

"I am sorry, Minerva," Albus said sincerely.

Minerva shrugged lightly, trying to mask how she was slightly crestfallen about this news. "It is a good thing your letters reached me or else I would have been miles away by now," she said. "These things happen, Albus. As long as I am not required to dance," she added seriously, "then all is forgiven."

He smiled. "You are hereby excused from dancing, my dear. You have my word."

Minerva smiled too, though very briefly. "I will see you later then, Albus."


McGonagall being a little bit hypocritical there. In her defence, she never did say anything about the teachers having to dance. She only taught the Gryffindors so that they didn't behave like hooligans. And then made sure Harry had lessons so that he didn't make a fool of himself in front of the whole school.

Also, I realise Sirius said he was living off rats when he met Harry, Ron and Hermione. And that he was also living in a cave. But bear with me! I do have a plan :)

And again, sorry for the late update... I've been working all day and only just got back.