"Patil?" Albus asked, adjusting his glasses to the somewhat cryptic writing on the parchment.

"I have two for Patil," Minerva replied, holding up two envelopes.

"Ah, twins!" he exclaimed, seeing a similar name was listed below.

"Like we need another set of twins," Minerva laughed, placing the letters aside as they made their way through the list of incoming first years. While Minerva did all of of the work organizing the class, Albus made sure every year he helped her double check the list. Enchanted quills were quite literally magical, but the writing was often far from legible. It took two eyes to get through the list accurately. Each students' letter was to be delivered in the morning and the pair hadn't been able to find a time to get together.

"Two ladies, I highly doubt they can come close to the Weasleys. However, I do believe we will have another one further down the list."

Minerva nodded. "Ronald, I believe?" she asked.

"Yes; Ginny is younger." Albus couldn't believe they were so close to the end of the Weasley family's time at Hogwarts. Checking off the twins, he widened his eyes as he read the next name. "Potter..." Albus's voice trailed off. He looked at the woman across the desk, her face hard to read. "Amazing how we lose track of the time, isn't it?" There was a pregnant pause until he spoke again. "I suppose I knew it was the year, but it hadn't been real until just now."

"Merlin," she sighed, taking her glasses off and rubbing her eyes. Exhaustion suddenly crept onto her features. "Believe me I'm glad he will be out of that house..."

"But you have another problem on your hands," he finished. Minerva looked up at him, her eyes a deeper green than he had seen them in a long time. His friend had always had mesmerizing eyes. She had a heavy stare, usually most prominent when she was angry, but occasionally one that revealed the depths of her worry. Albus knew he was one of a few that ever saw her in such a state. He felt extremely lucky for it. A silence fell between them until he broke it. "Does he know?" he asked, reaching out and squeezing her hand.

Minerva squeezed back. "He must. He hasn't said a word but...he did seem rather shaken when I told him I had this meeting." She tossed Harry's letter down on the desk. "I'm so thick, I should have known something was wrong."

"Nothing will make it easy...if you need anything..."

"No," she said curtly. She removed her hand from his, lifting it to indicate she wanted him to stop talking. "No part of this is about me. Do not make it about me. I am tired of it always being about my needs."

For a moment he was hurt at her refusal of his affection. Her face was pained, and it became clear to him she didn't want pity. It wasn't hard because of his love for Lily. She was worried for him. A sudden warmth filled him from her compassion for a man who had known none until her.

"The boy has her eyes."

Minerva nodded, fiddling with the parchment in front of her. "I know." He said nothing. She still looked deep in thought. Minerva rarely spoke her feelings, so when she did, Albus did his best to give her the floor. "I know what you're thinking," she suddenly said. They locked eyes, and it was clear she did. Images of Severus upon his changing of loyalties flashed through his mind. It was about Lily. It always had been. "Do not pity me. I am not some...distraction for him. Severus is too solitary a man for that." Her voice was firm, quiet, but firm. "I am not Lily. I never will be, and I will never try to fill the place he holds for her." Albus nodded. It was the first time she had ever spoken so candidly about their relationship. While she hadn't hid that they were lovers, especially as the years went by, she had never spoken to any length about their feelings for one another. Albus had always wondered where his love for Lily, which had so fiercely shaped his life, had fit in. "But, it seems...for now...he has found a place for me. I have never asked him to forget her."

"Like Dougal?"

She stared at him, looking sidelined by his mentioning of her dead lover. "Yes."

He nodded, understanding. "It will be hard on him. Harry looks so much like James."

"I know," she said softly. "I've been thinking about it for some time."

"I know you won't take me up on my offer, but, my dear, should you need me-"

"I know. And thank you, Albus." She sighed, sliding her glasses back onto her nose. I'm sorry for being so short with you..."

"It's alright, love."

"Ever since Severus and I have been...whatever we are...I feel like people look at me with pity. I am not a woman to be pitied."

Albus chuckled softly. "Trust me, after 40 years I know that much about you."

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "For Merlin's sake, I am a grown woman. Why pity me because of the company I choose?"

"You know it's his past, Min."

"I know. I know, but it has a way of getting old quickly, as if I'm Severus's abused lover."

"People assume."

"Indeed." Silence fell over the friends again. For anyone else, the silence may have been uncomfortable, but not for them. The Headmaster and his Deputy had been friends for too long to not be comfortable in one another's presence. Talking wasn't needed to fill a space that was already filled with such a strong bond. "I'm sorry I told you all of that."

"We have been friends far too long for you to apologize." He clapped his hands together and pulled out his bowl of lemon candies, sliding it along the desk to her as he snagged one for himself. "Shall we get through the rest of these names so we can perhaps have a rematch of our last chess game?"

He smiled as one also overtook her face. She always looked beautiful when she smiled. "The one where I so skillfully won at the last minute?"

Minerva smirked. "Cheated is more like it."

Albus laughed. "Not from a Gryffindor."

"Even Gryffindors can break the rules now and then." Minerva grabbed a candy, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth. Her face scrunched at the sour taste.

"You really have never grown to like them."

"I've tried after all these years- for you. But, I admit I suffer through it every time."

Albus smoothed the parchment in front of him. "Mr. Potter, I suspect, will be taking up quite enough of our time when he arrives this term. Let us not allow him to take up anymore of this evening," he joked.

Minerva smiled. "Next?"