Thanks for the lovely reviews! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. My interview went really well too so thanks so much for the good luck messages :) I'm now just trying to crack through all my assignments! It's just that time of year folks (but thankfully I will be finished with uni in 3 more weeks) :)

Anyway, a very long post this week. I hope you enjoy it :) As always reviews are very much welcome

20 August 1994

Minerva walked into the small coffee shop, pulling off her gloves, hat and scarf as she did so. As she approached the bar, she spotted Albus seated in the left-hand corner of the shop with his back towards her. She was thrown off slightly by his most unusual attire; a purple pin-striped suit and a strange top hat that made him look even more eclectic than usual.

"Albus?" she said, causing the wizard to turn abruptly around.

"Minerva, my dear," he said, relief etched in his features. He stood up as she came closer and pulled her into a rare hug.

"Oh, goodness," she said, surprised. "All right." She patted his back awkwardly and, after a moment, Albus released her. "What was that about?" she asked, taking a seat opposite him.

"I am merely glad that you are safe and well," he said, sitting down too. "I trust that your family is safe too?"

"Yes," she said, nodding. "They got home a few hours after the incident. I wasn't actually at the match when it happened," she informed him still eyeing his clothes.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, noticing her slightly furrowed brow.

"A yellow tie, really?" she said.

Dumbledore looked down and placed a hand protectively on his tie. "I am fond of this one," he said, looking slightly affronted.

"And matching socks too," Minerva added, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. "You have outdone yourself this time, Dumbledore."

"You mock me," he said.

Minerva tried to hide a smile. "My apologies, Albus," she said. "I promise I was merely admiring your colour coordination. Quite enviable I must say."

Albus perked up a little at this, despite the fact that he knew that, in reality, she was humouring him. "I must admit, I have not needed to wear muggle clothing for quite some many years."

"I can tell," Minerva said quietly. She then sighed and straightened in the small wooden chair. "But I don't believe you asked to meet me here to discuss clothes," she said. "Any reason why you wanted to meet me in Caithness, rather than wait until my return to the castle on Saturday?"

"A few," Albus acknowledged with a small tip of the head. "I was interested in hearing your news," he said. "I also have some news for you too."

Minerva raised her eyebrows. "Very well," she said, clearing her throat. He nodded for her to start. "Well, firstly, I would just like to warn you that my news could be something or nothing," she warned him. "In fact, you have most probably seen some of it in the Prophet anyway."

"Go on."

Minerva nodded. "Ludo Bagman mentioned Bertha Jorkins has not yet returned from her holidays," she said, eyeing Albus carefully. "Malcolm informed me last night that she has been missing for several months. Because many have deemed her to be somewhat forgetful," she added, earning a nod from Albus - indeed, they had both taught Bertha Jorkins several years ago, "no one is looking for her."

"I believe I heard something similar a few weeks ago," he said. "What is it that concerns you particularly about this case?"

"Apart from the fact that a witch is missing and nobody is looking for her?" Minerva said. "Well, Malcolm told me that she was last known to be in Albania."

"Albania?" he repeated, his eyes widening just a fraction.

"Indeed. Where Quirinus went and met He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named three years ago," Minerva agreed. "What if—"

"Bertha ran into Voldemort as well?" Albus finished quietly.

Minerva shuddered at the name but nodded nonetheless. "I thought it was interesting, to say the least."

"I quite agree," Albus murmured, apparently deep in thought. "Yes, thank you for informing me, Minerva."

"Do you think," she began, hesitating slightly, as she tried to formulate her question, "if Pettigrew located—"

"Voldemort."

Minerva clucked her tongue. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," she said with emphasis, "would he even be able to help You-Know-Who return to human form?"

"I cannot be certain," Albus replied. "But if it was possible for Voldemort to carry out the process on his own, I am sure he would have done it long ago." He then paused and looked deep into her eyes. "I am concerned, Minerva," he admitted.

Minerva swallowed understanding, of course, the weight of his words. "The Minister was clear that the attack yesterday was a one-off," she said carefully. "But this is how it began last time," she added. "Is it possible that he is already back, whether that be due to Pettigrew's help or not?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I doubt it very much," he said. "But I do believe we must start to prepare ourselves."

He looked at her significantly, and Minerva nodded.

"Is this what you wanted to speak to me about?" she asked.

"To a certain extent," he replied. "There is a Town Hall in the village, is there not?"

"There is," Minerva said, failing to see the link between the Town Hall in Caithness and Voldemort. "Any reason why you would like to know?" she added.

Albus nodded and consulted his unusual watch. "We are due to meet someone there," he said, "in 5 minutes."

Minerva began to rise from her chair. "It will take us 5 minutes to get there," she said, pulling on her gloves and scarf; unfortunately a necessity when one lived in Scotland - even during the summer. "Could they not have met us here?" she asked, mostly because she was thinking about the cold outside.

"I did not think it would be wise to meet in such a public area," Dumbledore replied, though he did not elaborate. Getting up too he followed Minerva's lead and walked with her through the small shop. His suit and tie caused many curious glances in his direction.

As soon as they exited the coffee shop, they were met by a strong wind. Minerva quickly buttoned up her coat, covering the tartan knee-length skirt she was wearing, and her white blouse and green jumper.

As usual, it felt odd not wearing her customary attire — emerald green robes and a cloak. However, she reminded herself, the looks she would receive dressed like that in Caithness would be even stranger. Additionally, it would do no favours to the reputation the McGonagall family had already gained over the years, despite their best attempts to blend in. Isobel's marriage to Robert had been much the talk of the small town in 1920. Coupled with the pair's decision to send their children to a boarding school in Scotland that no one had ever heard of, since then, the McGonagall's had always been perceived as somewhat odd. Or misplaced.

"Just down this road," Minerva said, leading Albus to their destination. Ahead of them, the Town Hall could be seen. Beside it was a dense cluster of trees which Dumbledore seemed heading towards. "Who is it that we are meeting?" she asked when Dumbledore had led them through the trees and into a small clearing with a wooden bench.

Albus looked around, then suddenly said. "We are alone. It is safe to come out."

Minerva frowned but before she could say anything there was a crack of branches and twigs and suddenly a big black dog appeared from behind two trees. Before Minerva had even time to process what was happening, the dog transformed into none other than Sirius Black.

"Hello, Professors," said Black, giving them the familiar toothy grin he had given her many times before at school.

"Oh, my," Minerva said, weakly stumbling back. Albus smiled pleasantly and put a steadying hand on her elbow. Minerva knew, of course, of Sirius' innocence. But apart from the many 'wanted' photographs in the Prophet, and brief exchanges over the summer via owl - mainly delivering food baskets and news of the current investigation - Minerva had not seen the man in the flesh since 1987.

"I thought you would be more pleased to see me, Professor," said Sirius, passing a hand through his knotted hair. He smiled at Minerva as he sat down on the bench, wincing as he did so. "When I came all of this way to come and see you."

"I thought you were staying in Hogsmeade?" Minerva said, looking briefly at Albus for confirmation.

Albus sighed. "It was decided Sirius should move regularly. Particularly since the Ministry are still intent on searching Hogsmeade."

"Also, with my name being in the papers," added Sirius, folding his arms and looking at Dumbledore. "This whole Quidditch World Cup business."

Albus nodded. "Indeed," he said tiredly. He then looked at Minerva curiously, who had so far said nothing else and was looking around the clearing a little worriedly. "My dear?"

"I think it unwise that Sirius stay here," she said, turning back to the two men.

"There aren't many wizards—"

"My niece lives here. Goodness knows that if she knew of your innocence she would turn a blind eye. Yet, unfortunately for us, she does not. She is even working on your case."

"It seems like all the Aurors are working on my case," Sirius said grumpily, though looking not in the least perturbed by this information. "I've been here for the past 15 minutes, and no one other than you two has come here."

Minerva pursed her lips. "That does not mean that nobody else will," she said finally. "Where have you been staying?"

Sirius turned and pointed vaguely east. "In a small barn down the road. It doesn't seem like the family is home."

"No, there wouldn't be," Minerva said with a sigh. As fate would have it, it was the McGregors farm. Following the death of Dougal McGregor 12 years ago as a result of none other than Peter Pettigrew, the surviving members of the McGregor family had moved further north. Though, they had kept the farm and had been renting it out for several months. "The tenants will be arriving next week if I remember correctly."

"I wasn't planning on staying anyway," Sirius replied. "Buckbeak is hard to hide here."

"The Hippogriff is with you?" Minerva said, her eyebrows furrowed again. "The same Hippogriff that was meant to be executed in June?"

"The very same," Sirius agreed.

"But how?"

"Harry and Her..." but Sirius trailed away after glancing in Albus' direction. Clearly, there were still things that she did not know, Minerva thought, as she observed the short and silent interaction between her colleague and former student. Sirius cleared his throat. "I was lucky," he answered finally.

Albus nodded, but Minerva was not convinced.

"When will you and Buckbeak be leaving?" Albus asked, moving away from the topic of Buckbeak's mysterious escape.

"As soon as we are spotted by a few muggles here," Sirius replied, causing Minerva to raised her eyebrows up in alarm. He chuckled. "We're not trying to get caught," he explained. "We just thought that if someone saw us here, then the Auror Department will move their investigation away from Hogsmeade, and the Dementors will be allowed to leave Hogwarts."

"I suppose that could work," Minerva said uncertainly.

Sirius smiled. "No need to worry, Professor," he said, a hint of his teenage self coming through. "Professor Dumbledore says your family lives in Caithness. If someone spots me here the Ministry might offer extra protection for the town."

Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing as your niece, Minerva, is working on Sirius' case, the Ministry may believe that he is targetting her," clarified Albus.

"Oh," Minerva said, realising what Albus and Sirius meant. "Well, that is very thoughtful," she said. "But I do not wish for you to put yourself in danger of being caught merely for this reason."

Sirius shrugged. "I owe you, Professor," he said. "Both for putting up with James, Remus and I at school, but also for the help you've offered these last few weeks."

He smiled, however, this quickly morphed into worry when there were sounds of footsteps coming from behind then. Immediately Sirius transformed into his animagus-self and hid behind some bushes, while Albus slipped his arm through Minerva's to make it look like they were just having a stroll through the woods.

Two women appeared a second later, arm-in-arm.

"Aunt Minerva," said Chloe, giving her a wave. Her other arm was looped around Helen's who seemed tired but cheerful. Most likely because she had not left the house very much over the last few days. Minerva suspected going for a walk instead of to St Mungo's was a welcome distraction to Helen. "Professor Dumbledore?" Chloe added, recognising her old Headmaster amid the strange assortment of muggle clothing he was wearing.

Albus smiled as both mother and daughter approached.

"I didn't know you were meeting Professor Dumbledore, Minerva," commented Helen.

"It was quite a late arrangement," Albus said, looking at Minerva who nodded. "Just a few matters needing discussing before classes resume in September."

Helen nodded understandingly. "I expect you two have a lot to prepare for what with the—erm," she stopped and trailed away, realising that news of the Triwizard Tournament was not common knowledge yet, "amount of lesson planning involved."

Albus' eyes twinkled in amusement, and Helen shot Minerva a quick, apologetic look.

"I take it that your husband has told you of the Ministry's plans this year?" Albus said.

Helen looked relieved. "Yes," she said. "I forgot it was meant to be a secret," she added. "Malcolm heard it from a few friends still working at the Ministry."

"I see," said Dumbledore.

Helen smiled. "He never could keep a secret," she said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Chloe and I are just going to the market to get some groceries. If you are not in any hurry you are welcome to join us for lunch," she added, looking back at Albus.

"That is very kind of you," he replied.

Helen smiled. "There are always leftovers," she said, to which Chloe nodded her head vigorously.

"Mum cooks a feast every time," Chloe agreed, sharing an amused look with her aunt.

Helen shrugged and secured the strap of her small canvas bag back onto her shoulder. "Maybe see you two later, then," she said, giving Minerva's arm a small squeeze before letting Chloe guide her through the forest and towards the village.

Albus and Minerva waited a minute before signalling that Sirius could come out.

"I'll admit that was close," Sirius said.

"I think perhaps it is best if you return to Buckbeak," Minerva said, "and remain in your animagus form. I can bring you some supplies later this evening."

"Thank you, Professor."

Minerva nodded distractedly as she looked around the small clearing again. Seemingly sharing her concern, Sirius prepared to depart.

"I will see you soon, Sirius," said Albus.

Sirius nodded and transformed back into the big black dog. He was gone a minute later, and Minerva sighed.

"Goodness," she breathed, not realising up until now just how worried she had been in those last 15 minutes. Dumbledore, his arm still looped through hers, patted her hand.

"All right, my dear?" he asked.

"Next time, perhaps it would be best to meet in a more secretive location," she pointed out as they began to make their way out of the clearing and back towards the village. "So, will you be joining us for lunch?"

"I have no plans for the rest of the day," Albus said. "So, if you are comfortable—"

"Of course," Minerva cut in gently. She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "Might as well since there is no one at the castle this week."

She looked at him and raised her eyebrows questioningly. Finally, he smiled.

"You have convinced me, my dear," he said.

Minerva smiled too, and together they continued up the narrow lane to Helen and Malcolm's home.