Quite a long chapter today. I hope you enjoy it :)
15 January 1997
Fifteen students gasped loudly and a panicked voice cried out, "Professor, watch out!"
Without batting an eyelid Minerva waved her wand and immediately the hedgehog Cecily Moore had accidentally sent flying towards Minerva's head, slowed down and landed gently on her desk.
"Can you tell me why that happened, Miss Moore?" Minerva asked.
The third year slowly lowered her hands from her eyes. She looked horrified. "I promise I wasn't trying to attack you, Professor McGonagall," she said.
A few of her classmates sniggered.
"No, I did not think that you were," Minerva said. She pursed her lips and looked at the three students who had laughed. "Might I remind you that none of you have managed to turn these hedgehogs into pincushions yet," she added. "The reason for that is because of your wand movements - they have been either too exaggerated or not exaggerated enough."
Minerva demonstrated the wand movement again, turning Cecily's hedgehog into a pincushion and then back again.
"Your turn now," she said, nodding at the hedgehog.
Cecily picked up her wand but just as she was about to attempt the spell, the bell rang and interrupted her.
All eyes turned to Minerva, and Minerva found it hard to suppress a sigh. Damn the Carrows and Severus for their new school regulations, she thought. A second late for class could amount to detention, or worse.
Minerva pursed her lips and pocketed her wand. "Class dismissed," she said. "I expect you to practice the spell for our next lesson."
There was a hum of general assent followed by the clattering of feet and bags as the students bustled out of the classroom. Minerva waited until the classroom was quite empty before she sighed and passed her hands over her eyes.
While the students had several more classes left before they could end their day, Minerva did not have any more Transfiguration lessons left to teach. Ordinarily, she would have returned to her rooms and read a book, or visited Albus for an amicable discussion. However, seeing as she could not do the latter, and because she felt unusually restless, Minerva made the sudden decision to go for a walk.
In one sweeping motion, she waved her hand so that her coat appeared in her left hand and her scarf in the other. A minute later and she was out of her classroom and marching purposefully towards the Entrance Hall and then out through the castle doors.
"Minerva?"
"I will be back shortly, Rolanda," Minerva said, and she smiled tightly as she passed Madame Hooch - but she did not pause to explain anything further.
She walked quickly and purposefully, her eyes never really straying far from the path she was walking on until she reached Hogsmeade. Her feet took her to the graveyard - she had not thought to go there explicitly, though Minerva realised that she must have subconsciously wanted to visit ever since she had woken that morning.
Elphinstone's headstone was the one closest to the railings surrounding the graveyard. Despite the years, it did not show much wear. Flowers Minerva had left a few weeks before were still sitting intact beside the stone bearing Finn's name.
Minerva sat on the small bench opposite the stone. She crossed her ankles and clasped her hands on her lap. The intrusive thought of Finn being sat next to her and placing his hands on top of hers made Minerva close her eyes and breath in deeply.
"I am very cross with you, Elphinstone Urquat," she said quietly. She opened her eyes again and looked at the stone sitting innocently before her. A familiar pain tugged at her heart as she imagined, again, Finn standing opposite her. He had always had a way of comforting her and, usually, he had not even needed to say very much to do so. He would have held her in his arms, kissed her hair perhaps, and then gently stroked her arms - perhaps even whispered a few words too, to ease her anxiety.
A twig snapped under someone's foot behind her and, startled, Minerva turned. Severus was behind her. Of course, he was, Minerva thought. It seemed an impossible feat these days to get any sort of privacy - any moment free from reminders that not all was once at it had been.
Minerva turned her back on him and waved her hand so that new flowers appeared on Elphinstone's grave. Then she stood and turned again towards the exit, already cursing the fact that she would have to walk past Severus to get back to Hogsmeade and then to Hogwarts.
"There is no need to leave on my account," Severus said quietly. He cleared his throat. "I did not mean to disturb you. I was visiting someone else."
Minerva spent a brief moment wondering who he might be visiting before she squashed the thought. Angry as she was whenever she saw, thought or spoke to Severus, Minerva found that she did not want to care about his troubles. He had intruded on an acutely private moment, and it annoyed her that he had caught her when she was feeling particularly emotional and vulnerable.
"I was already leaving," she said bluntly.
"As was I," Severus said.
They looked at each other and then Minerva sidestepped Severus and continued to walk up the path leading out of the graveyard. Frustratingly, she heard Severus' shoes crunch on the gravel as he began to follow her. As she passed a headstone she noticed new delicate flowers resting on the stone - Eileen Prince, she read. So that was who Severus had been visiting then, she thought.
Much against her will, Minerva felt a little empathy towards Severus - thinking of the boy she had taught several years ago, and the day they had had to tell him that his mother had died in hospital. Minerva remembered receiving a posthumous letter from Eileen detailing that it had been her wish not to tell her son of her illness, so as not to interrupt his studies and because she had not wished for him to see her and remember her as a different and weaker version of her true self.
Minerva had understood the reasoning, though she had not agreed with it entirely. She remembered that Severus had remained entirely silent when the news had been broken to him. The only indication of the blow was perhaps the way that his lips had pursed and his eyes had darkened. He had left the office without even sharing a glance with his father who had been in the same room for the duration of the conversation.
Minerva found herself surprised that Eileen was buried in Hogsmeade - she was not aware of the Snapes ever having lived in the village.
"Will you be following me all the way to the castle?" Minerva said, turning to look at Severus behind her. She did not particularly like the idea of having someone tailing her like that - it made her feel exposed, and Severus' history did nothing to reassure her.
Severus hesitated, which was all the evidence she needed. She stopped walking, Severus caught up, and then they left the graveyard together - side-by-side.
"Professor Carrow is unhappy with—"
"I am off duty, Headmaster," Minerva snapped. "I do not wish to speak about work. Besides, if Professor Carrow wishes to speak with me then they can do so to my face. I rather think they are old enough now not to need a babysitter."
There was a short silence. Then, Minerva heard Severus clear his throat. "That is true. We need not discuss work."
"I am tired, Severus. We need not discuss anything at all," Minerva said. She quickened her step, and Severus followed her in silence. They arrived at Hogwarts in record time, and Minerva strode off to her office, parting ways with Severus without so much as a glance in his direction
Though Minerva had been planning to collect her books from her office and then return discreetly to her quarters, her plans were foiled when Pomona suddenly appeared at the other end of the corridor Minerva was walking down, spotted her and made a beeline towards her.
"I have been looking for you everywhere, Minerva," she said, urgently taking Minerva's elbow and directing her somewhere Minerva knew not. "You need to tell me when you leave the castle. I was worried something had happened to you."
"You needn't be worried about me, Pomona," Minerva said.
"That is not true, and well you know it," Pomona snapped. "Now, have you seen Severus or those siblings?"
"Severus is likely in his office," Minerva said. "I have not seen Amycus or Alecto today."
"Good, we have time then."
Minerva frowned and looked behind them as though expecting to see Severus or the Carrows jump out from behind some armour. Nothing of the sort happened, which only confused her more. The castle was quiet and empty - the only sound coming from the hushed conversation she was having with Pomona and their footsteps on the stone slab floor. Why then was Pomona acting as though something terrible had happened, she thought.
"What has happened, Pomona?"
Her words were met by a frustrated tut from her friend, though Minerva was unsure if the frustration was directed towards her or whatever it was that had transpired during her absence.
"It's in the Great Hall," Pomona said, as they rounded the last corner and entered the Entrance Hall. "Filius and I have tried everything we can think of, but it is not coming off."
Finally, they entered the Great Hall and Filius came hurriedly to join them. "Minerva, thank goodness," he said, before turning to Pomona. "How are we doing for time?"
"Lunch doesn't start for another 15 minutes," Pomona said after she had glanced at her watch. "But Severus might come down earlier. If we can think of something—"
"Will somebody please tell me what is going on?" Minerva snapped.
Filius jumped and Pomona looked up and bit her lip.
"Someone—and I think we might know who—has left—erm—a message," Filius explained. He stepped to one side and Minerva's jaw almost dropped.
She covered her mouth with her hand as she read the golden words hanging in the air once more: 'Dumbledore's Army: still recruiting'.
"It isn't coming off," Pomona said nervously. "We have tried everything but—but nothing has worked."
Minerva's mind began to race as she tried to come up with possible solutions. "Could we re-arrange the letters perhaps? Or—" she broke off when Filius shook his head.
"We have already tried, Minerva. The words cannot be hidden either because they are directly above Severus' chair."
Minerva brought a hand to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. "How did this happen?"
"It must have been this morning," Filius said. "The first day back at school—Longbottom will be punished."
"Amycus seemed taken by Argus' suggestions to use chains—"
"That does not help, Pomona," Minerva interrupted. She tutted, a combination of frustration, fear, and panic, and then took a step forward to more closely examine the words. "Is there anything we can do?"
"The charm cannot be undone, Minerva," Filius said. "The words will disappear only when the time is right."
"We need solutions, Filius," Minerva said urgently. "In five minutes time, this room will be filled with the rest of the school! Erm—" she frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I believe we have apparition classes to organise. I can speak with Severus in his office perhaps—distract him long enough so that the students will have lunched and gone to their classes by the time we return to the Great Hall."
Pomona and Filius nodded slowly, though they seemed unconvinced. Minerva shared their sentiments - she did not think she would be able to speak with Severus for forty-five minutes about apparition classes.
Filius cleared his throat.
"How about Amycus and Alecto?" he said.
There was a short pause, broken finally by Pomona several seconds later.
"I can try to keep them occupied," she said. "I might not be able to for long, but perhaps long enough for Filius to herd the students out of the Great Hall before I return. Minerva?"
Minerva pursed her lips, and then she sighed. "I cannot think of another solution," she said. "Unless..." she trailed away and frowned as she removed her wand from her pocket and gave it a sharp flick. The Headteacher's chair elongated so the tips just about obscured the writing.
Filius and Pomona tilted their heads simultaneously as they examined Minerva's handiwork.
"He might not notice any difference?" Pomona said hesitantly.
Filius looked unconvinced, but he did not say anything. He merely caught Minerva's eye.
She sighed wearily. "I do not know what else to do," she said. "I fear this is all we can do for now. Pomona and I can attempt to keep Severus and the Carrows busy for as long as we are able. And if it does not work then...
"We must deal with the rest in due course," Filius finished solemnly.
"Regrettably," Minerva agreed. She looked up worriedly and smoothed down her robes to give her hands something to do. "Very well, I shall attempt to speak with Severus now."
"I'll catch Amycus and Alecto," Pomona said.
Filius nodded just as the bell marking the end of morning classes sounded throughout the school.