Filius opened the door to the staff room, drying his tears. Talking to the Ravenclaws had been draining- the students were all rightfully worried, especially the ones who were friends with Ginny Weasley. In all his years of teaching, he'd never had to break such scary news to his students. His own tears had let on his worry no matter how much he had tried to reassure them. Filius couldn't begin to imagine the owls they were going to get before morning. Minerva had asked that all the heads of houses meet back in the staff room after meeting with their students. When he had opened the door, Minerva was the only one back, pacing back and forth in the middle of the floor when Filius returned.
"Hello, dear," he said quietly, hoping not to startle her.
Minerva looked up, her face as white as it was earlier. "How did it go?"
"As good as it could have," he shrugged, trying not to upset her more.
Pressing her lips together, Minerva nodded, making her way to the table in the corner. She grasped the back of a chair, her hands clearly shaking. "I'm lost, Filius," she admitted.
Filius stared at her for a moment. A slew of emotions ran through him, but he couldn't help but let pride fill his chest- pride at how she always stepped up, pride at how she was running the school single-handedly, pride at how she took care of her friends. She was like a sister to him, and in that moment, she looked exhausted, something she rarely admitted to feeling. All year, she had been silently watching out for Pomona and Poppy, but the lack of care for herself was finally clear. Albus had left the world on her shoulders, and she was the right person to leave the responsibility to- they were in the most capable hands. Her hands were more capable, Filius would sometimes think to himself, than Albus's. Minerva's love for the students was paramount to anything in her life- she lived for her work. It was this quality that made her the esteemed teacher she was. But, it was this quality, they all knew, that made her exhaust herself the moment something was wrong with one of them. "There is nothing you can do about this- it's out of our hands."
"Then who's hands is it in?" she snapped.
Filius fell silent; she was right. They had to figure it out- a student was in danger, and none of them knew anything about the monster they had so long believed to be a myth. In the silence, the door to the staff room opened and Severus and Pomona walked back in. Severus's eyes went immediately to Minerva, swelling with, what Filius knew was, worry. "How did it go?" Minerva asked them.
Severus sighed. "I think it would do everyone some good not to know how some of the Slytherins responded," he muttered.
"Hufflepuffs were upset," Pomona said softly. "Understandably so."
"Thank you for speaking to your students," Minerva said slowly. The woman looked like she was struggling for words, and while Filius and Pomona remain unmoved, Severus walked towards her, placing a hand on her arm. For a moment, they stared as she allowed him to place it there, but she suddenly threw off his hand and walked to the other side of the table. "We have a long night ahead of us. I'm sorry that this is all falling on you three," she explained, looking at Filius, not looking back at Severus who stood with a hurt expression on his face. "We need to notify all the parents; preferably, they hear about this from us before the children. I'll go back to Albus's office and draft something and get it to you all as soon as I can. I want to make sure we are all saying the same thing when we write them." Minerva sighed, and Filius nodded for her to continue. "After that, we will need to convene the staff again to figure out, once the school is clear, how we want to deal with the monster. This is a time, where if we had a competent Defense teacher, we may have a solution already. Begin thinking on your own about how we should approach this. You three are my most trusted staff, now more than ever. I'm sure between all of us, we can come up with something. I am going to go work on writing up something for the parents."
Minerva moved towards the door, and Severus followed behind her, grabbing her hand. "Min..."
"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, pulling her wand out. Her voice, slightly hysterical, had filled the silent room. As angry as she looked, Filius could see her hand shaking. Severus's eyes were wide, and she lowered her wand, her face turning a shade of pink. "I have a lot to do."
"And despite what you seem to think, you don't have to do it alone," Severus replied, anger etched in his voice.
Minerva snapped back around to face him. "You don't know what I need to do! I have a student that could be dead somewhere in the school along with hundreds I need to get out of here as soon as possible."
"This isn't just your burden!" he snapped. "Look at the three of us sitting here- the entire staff you had gathered in here hours ago! When are you going to get off your high horse and let someone help you?"
"I don't need your help!" she shouted, opening the door. "I need to be alone!"
"So, what? You think you can solve this alone? You going to go grab the sword of Gryffindor and fight it off yourself?" A long pause followed; Filius could hear the two professors breathing heavily in the silence.
"I'll be in Albus's office," she finally said flatly, not bothering to turn back and face him. "I trust you're not stupid enough to follow."
Severus's lip was trembling, but he said nothing else as she let the door slam behind her. The Potion's Master stared at the door for a long few moments. Pomona looked at Filius with a worried expression. "Son," Filius said softly, reaching out to touch Severus's arm. "It's best to let her go."
"Why does she do this?" he asked, still not looking at anyone. As angry as he sounded, Filius knew he was worried.
"That's Minerva, sweetie," Pomona added in. "You know that."
Severus walked away from the door, using his foot to push one of the chairs back under the table. He leaned on the back of it and sighed, laughing bitterly to himself. "What does she think she's going to do? Solve this whole thing herself, locked up in Albus's office?"
"She's going to try," Filius said, nodding sadly.
"She's an idiot," Severus spat. "I don't know why Albus leaves her to do this shit alone. He knows how she gets."
"And that's why he leaves the school in her hands," Pomona said lightly.
Severus bit his lip, rolling his eyes. "Now what?"
"Let her cool down," Filius suggested. "She'll come around. This…it's a lot to take in for all of us."
"A student is probably dead," Pomona said, wiping the corners of her eyes.
"I know," Severus said softly. "If she's not going to talk to anyone…"
"She will," Filius assured him. "She'll come to you. Give her time."
Filius swore he saw a tear in the corner of Severus's eye, but he turned his face before he could see it fall. "I'm going for a walk," Severus said, his voice trembling as if he were about to cry. In an abrupt motion, he stood and brushed past Filius and Pomona, letting the door slam behind him just like his lover had moments before.
Once Severus had left, Filius sighed and took a seat on the sofa, patting the spot beside him for Pomona. "Down to the two of us," he said, looking at her as she sat down.
"The lion and the snake are often at war," Pomona replied.
"Merlin, they are so damn stubborn."
"Personally, I'm with Severus on this one," Pomona admitted.
Filius nodded. "I think we all share his frustrations."
Pomona took off her hat, smoothing her hair down. "She's going to make herself sick. I hate to say it, but she needs him."
"He'll get to her."
"I hate when they fight."
"They'll be fighting until the day they die," Filius joked, finding himself able to chuckle for the first time in hours. "It wouldn't be Minerva and Severus if they didn't."
Pomona smiled. "This is scary…this whole thing is so surreal." There was a long pause until Pomona asked, "Do you think Ginny is dead?"
Filius swallowed a lump that had been sitting in his throat. "I want to hold out hope that she's not. That's all I can do. And I know, if she is alive, Minerva will have her found."