The Remains of the Day
In the meantime, headmaster Albus Dumbledore had other problems to deal with. He knocked on the door of Professor McGonagall�s office and entered as she called �come in�.
Minerva smiled when she saw her friend enter. �Albus, what can I do for you?�
�I wondered if I could use your office to read some of this letters�, he asked, holding out a hand of parchment.
Minerva frowned. �Of course you can. But what happened to your own office?�
Albus let out a resigned sigh and said: �the portraits are having another row�.
�About what?� Minerval asked, trying to hide a smile.
Albus shook his head. �Don�t ask. Apparently Pinheas insulted Dilly and she tried to hex him. That wasn�t so much of a problem, until the others decided to interfere. They are all shouting at each other like banshees now. I can�t even hear myself think�.
Minerva failed to suppress her laughter and gestured to a chair near the fire. �Well, be my guest. Would you like some tea?� After she poured them both a cup of tea she sat down on her desk again and continued to grade papers.
Albus tried to read the letters, but he found that he couldn�t concentrate. After a couple of minutes he gave up and stared at Minerva. He liked watching her when he was sure she wasn�t looking. She was now completely engrossed in the papers she was grading. Her face frowned as the students had done and pore job and lighten with joy as they had got the answers right. He loved the fact that she was always so dedicated to everything she did.
He also loved her hair. It was tied in the usual bun now, but he knew it reached her waist when she wore it down. Not that he had seen it down in a long time. The last time was more then fifty years ago, when they where both students at Hogwarts.
He smiled sadly at the memory. She was five years his junior. He had been in his fifth year when she arrived at Hogwarts. He had liked her immediately. Just brotherly affection, he had told himself sternly. Nothing more. But the more time he spend with her, the more his feelings changed. And by the time it was Christmas he realised that he was in love with her.
He didn�t tell her, or showed his feelings. He feared that he would lose their friendship if she didn�t return his feelings. Which he thought was a high possibility. An age difference of five years was a lot if you where a teenager. He enjoyed their friendship and expected nothing more.
Until the holidays before his final year. Spending the summer at his home and missing her it suddenly hit him. This would be his last year. Their last year. After that he would lose her. Of course they could owl and meet ocasionily, but it wouldn�t be the same.
He decided that he would tell her that he loved her that year. Whatever the outcome may be, he was going to take his change.
The seventh year started and at first he was just glad to be around her again. Then he began to look for the right opportunity to tell her. But it never came. He didn�t worried about it, he had the entire year to tell her. Until one evening in January when he overheard a conversation that ruined all his changes
Two girls where excitedly whispering to each other by the fire. He pretended to be engrossed in his book and they didn�t notice him listening. �Did you noticed that Minerva has been seeing a lot of Charles Weasley over the past month?� one of them giggled.
The other girl nodded. �Of course, they make a lovely couple, don�t you think?�
His mind was racing. Charles Weasley and Minerva? Could that be possible? He had noticed too that they had been spending a lot of time together. But he hadn�t read too much into it. He�d always figured that they where just classmates that get along well.
�You know�, the first girl was saying, �I always thought Minerva would end up with Albus�.
�Nah, he�s too old for her�, the other said. �she and Charles are a much better match�.
He had heard enough. He closed his book and made his way to the boys dormitory. After that day he had stepped back. They were right after all, he was too old for her. With a broken heart he watched as the two of them get closer over the moths. They never actually became a couple. He guessed that happened after he had graduated.
He started to work as an Auror first and later as a Transfiguration Teacher. He lost contact with her after she moved to France to become an Animagus. After two years he heard the surprising news that Charles Weasley had married Virginia Matthews. He had felt sorry for her, imagining how heartbroken she must feel.
Then he became Headmaster of Hogwarts and the position of Transfiguration teacher came open. Minerva McGonagall was his first choice and he was happy when he heard she had accept, thinking that he was over his infatuation. He was wrong. The moment he saw her back, after twenty years he knew that he still loved her.
And now, almost forty years later, he still did, more then ever. But he never told her. They settled back in their old friendship, which go stronger over the years. Afraid to jeopardise what he had gained back, he remained silent.
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