The effect you have on him
By: Griselda
Author's
Written for the first challenge tag on the messageboard.
I know the POV is a bit unusual, but I
saw it in another fandom and I thought it would be fun to try it.
***
Your best friend for the past fifty years comes into your office and sweeps you
up in a bear hug.
You’re not that surprised, after all, it is your
birthday. But you like it all the same. You allow yourself to lean in his
embrace and smell his wonderful scent. Books, cinnamon and of
course sherbet lemons.
“Happy birthday, my dear”, he whispers in your hair and you feel very glad that
you’ve washed it this morning. For a moment, you close your eyes and wish that
this moment could last forever.
But of course it doesn’t. He pulls back and looks at you with his twinkling
eyes. “I have a birthday gift for you, but I rather give it this evening… Can I
interest you in dinner for two tonight?”
You nod happily, already looking forward to spending the evening in his
company. Just the two of you.
He smiles and squeezes your hand, sending shivers up and down your spine. “Until tonight then”.
During breakfast, you can barely stop yourself from grinning like an idiot all
the time. ‘Get a grip’, you scold yourself inwardly, ‘you’ve turned
seventy-three today, you’re not a hormonal teenager’.
Oh, but you are.
Your good mood falters slightly when you notice that he’s very quiet. Looking
at him, you realise that he doesn’t look too well either. His eyes are red and
puffy and there are small, red spots all over his face.
“Albus, are you alright?” you ask softly, leaning
closer to him.
“I feel a bit odd, to tell you the truth”, he whispers back, “but don’t worry,
I’m sure it will pass”.
You continue to keep an eye on him, your good mood partly gone and replaced by
worry. He doesn’t eat much and his hands are trembling a little.
When breakfasts ends, you look at him worriedly, but
he smiles and says he will be fine. Only half convinced you leave.
The first lesson passes slowly, your mind is not on
Transfiguration. During the fifteen-minute break between the two morning
lessons, you realise that you’ve forgotten a book and you hurry back to your
office to get it.
On your way back you run into him again. He looks much better then during
breakfast. “How are you feeling”, you ask. He says he’s feeling fine again and
you spend the remaining ten minutes of your break chatting with him in the
silent corridor, until it’s time to go back to your classroom.
When you walk back you realise his eyes have become all red and puffy again.
You see him again at lunch. His eyes are
back to normal again and at first you chat and joke. You silently enjoy the
fact that he’s flirting with you. It’s meaningless of course, but you like it
all the same.
But after ten minutes or so, it’s starting again. Little, red spots appear on
his face and his breathing becomes uneven. “Albus,
what is the matter with you?”, you ask alarmed.
He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I don’t know, Minerva, but I think a
visit to Poppy is in order”.
He gets up, but as soon as he stands, he grabs the end of the chair. In a blink
of an eye you stand beside him, wrapping your arm around his waist, ignoring
the looks of your colleagues and the students.
“Nauseous…”, he mutters and you can feel him shaking. You guide him through the
small door behind the Staff Table and together you walk to the Hospital Wing. He
leans heavily on you and your worry is increasing with every passing second.
When you’re half way, he suddenly grabs your shoulders and utters your name. Looking
in his face, you see how his eyes roll away and he sags against you, pulling
you down with him on the floor. You try to cushion his fall and roll him on his
back. His eyes are closed and his face is covered with angry red spots.
You conjure up a stretcher and levitates him too the Hospital Wing, your heart
hammering in your chest with fear.
Once inside Poppy takes over from you. She places Albus
on one of the beds and gently shoves you out of the Hospital Wing. “There’s
nothing you can do for him now, Minerva. You need to back to the Great Hall”.
Reluctantly you do so. Of course the staff and students are unsettled because
of what happened and you try to ease them.
Classes that afternoon pass agonising slow. But finally they are over. Once the
last student leaves the classroom, you hurry to the Hospital Wing.
Inside you find a puzzled Poppy and a fully recovered Albus.
“I have no idea what has happened”, Poppy tells you. “Shortly after you left he
regained consciousness and the spots and all disappeared. I have no clue what
the cause of it is”.
You spend a few minutes at Albus bed and he assures
you that he has every attention of having dinner with you that evening.
You almost forget the reason why he is in the Hospital Wing, until it starts
again. This time it happens quick and it’s bad. He
doesn’t seem to be able to breathe and he moans that his eyes are itching terribly.
Poppy is at your side in a second and she casts a sedative spell on him. He
falls back on the bed, awake, but just barely.
“Minerva, I think you can better leave”, Poppy says urgently. “I have a feeling
that you are the cause of this reaction”.
Your eyes widen in shock. It’s you? But how?
“Poppy, that’s ridiculous”, Albus
groans from the bed. “How can Minerva be the cause of this?”
“I don’t know”, Poppy replies, “but you’ve told me that this happened during
breakfast, lunch and recess. And you’ve been with Minerva all those times.
Until I can determine what exactly causes this reaction, it will be better if
Minerva doesn’t come near you”.
“I’ve known her for over fifty years”, Albus answers,
“and all of a sudden I have this reaction?”
“Yes, you can call it morbid irony”, Poppy replies dryly and you frown your
brows. What can she mean by that?
You reach out your hand to touch him, but then realise what you are doing and
take a few steps back.
“Poppy is right”, you say with difficulty. “If there is even the smallest
chance that I am the cause of your illness, it will be better if I stay away
from you”.
You walk away from him, tears burning in
your eyes. You wonder what his happening. How is it possible that your best
friend suddenly can’t stand to be around with you anymore? Literally. What is
it about you that makes him ill? You feel like you’re
trapped in a nightmare.
You have a quick dinner in the Great Hall and answer the questions of students
and colleagues. All the time you think and worry. How? What?
What if Poppy can’t find the cause of it? What if… you can’t be near him
anymore…? You shake your head angrily. That’s ridiculous. Surely there will be
a solution…
After dinner you return to the Hospital Wing, hoping there
is news. Albus is his old self again, but Poppy won’t
let you come near him. So far, she hasn’t found anything.
“He’s told me that he’s very allergic to kiwi’s. He can’t even stand the smell
of them…”, although his symptoms are very similar to the reaction of that
allergy, it doesn’t explain why you have the same effect on him”.
You sigh deeply.
“I know”, Poppy replies understandingly, “and it’s your birthday too”.
You shrug. “I don’t care, Poppy. I just want him to be all right again. And I
want to be near him again”.
Once inside your private rooms you move around, trying to find something to
occupy your mind with. In the end you decide to reorganise your bathroom
drawers.
Then your eyes fall on the new bottle of shampoo. It’s something new, you’ve used it for the first time that morning. Your
eyes widen as you read the label. You open the bottle and smell…
Kiwi. No mistake.
“He’s told me that he’s very allergic to
kiwi’s. He can’t even stand the smell of them…”
With the bottle in your hand, you hurry back to the Hospital Wing, almost
beside yourself with joy. You have to stop yourself from running. The students
you pass give you strange looks and you realise you’re making a spectacle out
of yourself, but for once, you don’t care.
“I’ve got it!”, you yell when you enter the Hospital Wing.
Poppy looks at you in surprise. But when you’ve explained everything she starts
to laugh.
“It’s possible”, she says. “Go back, wash your hair and we’ll see what happens.
You dash back and shower, wash and dry your hair in
five minutes. The joys of being a witch. And return
once again to the Hospital Wing.
Albus is waking around, his blue eyes twinkling
madly. “Were you trying to tell me something today, my dear?” he asks
teasingly.
You feel yourself blushing. “Don’t start, Albus”, you
say as sternly as possible. Are you feeling anything?”
“No…”, he says slowly. “But you are standing awfully far away”.
You take a few steps closer to him and all of a sudden feel your loose bun
disappearing and your hair on your back.
You turn around and see Poppy putting her wand back in the pocket of her robes,
smiling sweetly, before she walks away.
He closes the distance between the two of you and wraps his arms around you. Once
again in his arms, you can’t help thinking that this is actually a nice bonus.
You feel him running his hands through your hair and inhaling its scent. “Sandalwood?”
he asks.
You nod against his shoulder and mutters “I’m sorry”.
“Are you crazy?” he replies, still stroking your hair, much to your delight. “how is this your fault?”
You smile, feeling immensely glad that everything is all right again.
“I love your hair”, he says slowly and you feel your heart skip a beat, for a
moment believing that he was going to say something else.
“As long as you don’t try to kill me with it”.
You pull back and slaps his chest playfully. He
catches your hand, pulling you closer.
And all of a sudden you realise that you are close. Very
close.
He releases your hand and lifts his to caress your cheek. You feel his fingers
brush over your skin, creating a tingling sensation.
You close your eyes, savouring the feel of it, not daring to believe that he
will go any further.
But he does.
You feel his lips on your own, soft and tender. You begin to respond, feeling
your heart burst with happiness. It’s a good thing he is holding you, for you
are no longer able to stand on your own feet.
He’s having quite an effect on you.