*My Sherbet Lemon* Albus & Minerva Fan Fic 100

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Harry Potter. Characters are (c) to Jo Rowling for always and forever. I'm just borrowing them, and promise to return them in a reasonable condition. JKR = 100% Genius. we all know that.

004. 'insides'

Title: An Interesting Situation
Category: Humor
Rating: This one is for everybody! Enjoy :-)
Authors Note: This fic is written primarily in response to the Challenge set by EloquentPhoenix on the Challenge Section of the Albus and Minerva FanFiction Board, but I also wrote it with this prompt in mind!
Here is the challenge as it was issued:

1. Albus and Min are locked in the room of requirement by someone of your choice.
2. It shrinks to the size of a broom cuboard or closet because they both obviously want it to, and it is the room of requirement afterall.
3. Something happens between them in there.
4. Can be together or not at the start, but must be at the end.
5. They have to be let out and caught doing whatever happens between them as of point 3.
6. Someone must say 'You're an emotional wreck.' (Razorlight quote from Somewhere Else) or a minor variation

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Minerva McGonagall glared dangerously at her boss. Albus Dumbledore had been dragging her through the abandoned corridors of Hogwarts castle for over an hour now. They were, it seemed, somewhat lost.
Albus had been trying to find an old room which he claimed he had come across one night a few weeks earlier, which was at the time, filled to the brim with sherbet lemons, chocolate frogs, and Bertie Bott�s Every Flavour Beans.
Minerva had suggested, most subtly she thought, that perhaps Albus had simply been dreaming, and had not actually ever come across such a room on his nightly wanderings.
The headmaster had been insistent though, and she of course, had humored him.

�Yes�yes, I am most certain,� the Headmaster was muttering, �Back this way.�
He indicated back down the corridor in the direction from which they had just come. Minerva fought the urge to roll her eyes at him, as she spoke as patiently as possible.
�Albus,� she started, through gritted teeth, �We have been up and down this corridor three times now. Are you quite sure you know where you are going?�
But he was already walking down the corridor, past a large tapestry that depicted the futile attempts of some idiot wizard, attempting to teach trolls ballet.
�Of course I know where I am going, I just got a little��
�Wait a second,� Minerva interrupted, stopping in her tracks, �Look at that.�
Albus directed his eyes towards the opposite wall, where she was pointing.
�It�s a door,� he said, quite plainly stating the obvious.
�Well, clearly,� Minerva replied patiently, with the air of someone explaining something very simple to a small child, �What is significant is, that it was not there a moment ago.�

A deep crease of concentration appeared between Albus� eyebrows as he considered her proclamation carefully, and his eyes swept swiftly up and down the length of the empty corridor, before finally fixing themselves upon his Deputy once more.
�You�re right,� he admitted after a short moment.
Minerva sighed softly, but decided against pointing out that, quite usually, she was right. About most things in fact. Instead she just nodded.
The Headmaster moved, somewhat cautiously, toward the mysterious Oak door, and ran his long fingers lightly over the elaborately engraved door frame. The heavy wood seemed to send tingling energy through is fingertips, but he apparently could not detect any signs of danger as his hand moved to rest upon the polished brass door handle. He looked over his shoulder at Minerva.
�Shall we?�
�What?�
�Inside�� Albus answered, gesturing to the room beyond the threshold.
�Are you sure that�s a good idea? There could be anything in there, I don�t think��
But Albus had already turned the handle, and the door creaked slightly as he pushed it ajar. Minerva rolled her eyes exasperatedly, once more, but with his back to her, Albus did not notice. Of course, she followed him as he entered the mysterious room.

The darkened room inside seemed to resemble a large, disused classroom, excepting for the fact that the walls and the floor were completely bare. No desks, no chairs, no paintings, not even any windows.
�What do you supposed this room is here for?� Minerva asked, but as she did so, the heavy door behind her slammed shut, apparently of it�s own accord.
Both occupants of the room jumped slightly at the sudden interruption in their conversation, and glanced back toward the door through which they had entered.
�Can�t be sure,� Albus said in answer to her question, whilst he moved towards the closed door, �But then, I do not claim to know all of the castle�s secrets, Minerva.�
Minerva reached for the shiny door handle � and pulled � but nothing happened. The door, it seemed, was firmly locked. She glanced at the Headmaster, who quickly pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door.
�Alohamora,� he stated clearly, tapping the lock.

Nothing happened.

The pair stared, exasperatedly at the heavy oak slab for several moments.
�Perhaps there is another way out?� Minerva finally questioned, turning back to face the dark, empty room.
It was all she could do to stifle the shocked gasp that met her lips. In the time that their attention had been focused upon the locked door, it seemed that the mysterious room had somehow shrunk itself to around half the size of what it had been only minutes ago.
�Albus?� she questioned a little shakily.
�What is it�.ah,� he stated, taking in the drastically reduced size of the room.
Minerva glanced sideways at her friend, whose forehead was once more creased in concentration.
�So I am not imagining things then?� she asked softly.

Albus did not need to answer her question however, for at that moment, the bare wall behind the pair seemed to jump forward by about a foot, pushing them both in the backs so that they stumbled forward.
�That damn door is locked tight, and bloody room is shrinking!� Minerva exclaimed, a little hysterically, �This is all your fault you know,� she stated, her voice trembling slightly, glaring at Albus, �You and your stupid��

But her rant was cut short by Albus� soft fingers over her lips.
�Forgive me, but you seem to be turning into an emotional wreck, Minerva,� he said, his eyes twinkling and a sly smile spreading over his lips.
�I am really not in the mood for your jokes, Professor,� she snapped, reverting to formalities, and moving away from him �it seems that we are about to be crushed to death, and I will become an emotional wreck if I so wish.�
Albus merely raised his eyebrows, as the wall behind him shrunk forward another few inches, nudging him involuntarily closer to his Deputy.
�Any ideas?� he asked, glancing helplessly around the bare room, which couldn�t be more than six feet square by now.
Minerva said nothing, but merely pulled out her wand, and started viciously firing charms at the locked door�and when that didn�t produce any results, she shot off a few hexes that left scorch marks on the slab of oak�and finally attempted to break the door down with her own shoulder, but only succeeded in bouncing off it quite heavily, as the room shrunk itself still more.
�No,� she said miserably, slumping against the door behind her, �all out of ideas.�

It seemed that they were in quite a predicament. Quite a predicament indeed.

They both resorted for a moment to pushing with their bare hands, desperately against the encroaching stone walls, their feet sliding helplessly over the dusty wooden floor as the room continued to shrink. Albus had pulled out his wand once more, and was randomly tapping at the stone bricks of the walls. A bead of sweat dripped slowly down Minerva�s forehead as she hammered on the locked door with both fists, calling out desperately to anybody who might just be passing in the outside corridor. They were going to die. She was going to die, here, in this dank, empty, strange old classroom.
�At least,� she considered to herself, glancing over at the Headmaster briefly, �I will be dying in good company. What more could you ask for, really?�
She turned her back on the godforsaken door, and tilted her head back against it in defeat. Albus had abandoned his attempts at magicking their way out, and merely placed a hand on his Deputy�s shoulder, as the two were forced within inches of one and other.

Finally, just when the room seemed to reduce itself to what could not have been more than a three foot square space, it appeared to stop shrinking.
Minerva let out a sigh of relief at the fact that she was, indeed, still alive, and not crushed into something that closely resembled a pancake. Her back was pressed firmly against the locked door behind her, and although she knew that Albus� back was pressed just as firmly against the wall opposite, she could still feel his muscular chest brushing a little too closely against hers, and his warm breath against her cheek.
�Well,� Albus stated, �this certainly is an interesting situation.�
Minerva narrowed her eyes, and surveyed him as severely as she possibly could within such a short proximity.
�Interesting?� she hissed, �How so?�
�Well,� he started, seemingly unperturbed by her frustration, �I just meant that, I have never known a room in this castle to behave this way before. It is - interesting.�
�I can think of more appropriate words to describe this situation�� she muttered under her breath.
The Headmaster knew better than to ask her exactly what those words might be, and instead resumed tapping the door lightly with his wand and murmuring various incantations over Minerva�s shoulder.
This action caused Albus to lean (if possible) even closer towards her, the floaty material of his robe sleeves brushing against the side of her neck as he worked.
Minerva shifted awkwardly in an attempt to put a little more space between Albus� face and her own, but really only succeeded in tangling herself in her own robes, and stumbled forward against his chest. A deep blush rose in her cheeks as she planted her palms against his shoulders to steady herself, and his hands moved instinctively around her waist to assist in maintaining her balance.
�Sorry,� she muttered, straightening her robes, and attempting to press herself back against the door once more.
�No harm done,� his eyes twinkling in amusement at her embarrassment. Truthfully, he had no qualms about Minerva falling for him, even if it may be in the literal sense.

She had dropped her own hands from the firmness of his shoulders, but was very aware that his hands, which had settled themselves in the small of her back, had not moved away. In fact, if anything, they seemed to tighten their hold on her, pulling her protectively toward him.
�Albus,� she said softly, half in question, half in protest. It seemed that her mind was unable to find the words which were spinning wildly in her mind.
His proximity was causing her to become slightly giddy, and she as she looked up, she considered vaguely that there could not be half an inch of space between their lips � it would be so easy for either of them to simply move forward, just a fraction, and�

He kissed her. Or she kissed him. It was difficult to be sure, but either way, their lips were most definitely engaged in a passionate embrace � not wild or frantic � but just passionate. Almost gentle, but with so much power at the same time.
His hands ran softly over her hips, and up the sides of her body as he used the firmly locked door behind her as a point of support, and her fingers tangled themselves through his hair, then behind his neck, gripping tightly so as not to collapse to the floor. His lips moved slightly, to kiss the edge of her mouth, her cheeks, her jaw, all the way down her neck before he found his way back to her own lips again. She accepted his ministrations willingly, gasping softly against his lips as they waged battle with her own.

In fact, it was quite possible that this may have been the most passionate and mind-blowing kiss that she had ever received � had the apparently locked door upon which she was leaning heavily, not swung open quite suddenly, sending them both toppling to the cold stone floor of the corridor outside.

Minerva landed heavily on her back as Albus toppled forward onto her, the impact of his weight knocking the air from her lungs. They both lay stunned, for a moment, gasping desperately for air, until an annoyingly amused voice rung through the air of the otherwise empty corridor.
�Ah � don�t mind me,� Xiomara Hooch said, standing a few feet away and looking slightly surprised at the sudden appearance of the Headmaster and his Deputy. A sly smile spread over her face, as Albus and Minerva scrambled frantically, straightening robes and glasses, and rising to their feet.
�Xio, it�s not � we were just�� Minerva stammered indicating to the place where the mysterious door had appeared behind her, but stopped in shock at the realization that once more, there was no door, but merely a bare stretch of stone wall. Xiomara raised her hands defensively.
�None of my business,� she smirked, before turning on her heel, and hurrying around the corner, out of sight.
Minerva turned once more back to the headmaster, fixing him with her customary glare, but was almost unsuccessful at hiding the smile that threatened to spread over her lips. Albus watched, amusedly, as she waged battle with herself, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. Albus raised his eyebrows slightly, still a little breathless.
�Well that certainly was��
�An interesting situation?� Minerva interrupted, also raising her eyebrows.
�Indeed.�
She surveyed him under a fixed glare for a short while longer, before turning her back to him, and walking a short distance down the corridor. Albus stood, rooted to the spot as she walked away from him. Just as she reached the corner at the far end of the corridor however, the echoing of her footsteps ceased, and she turned back to look at him.

He was relieved to see that the smile with which she had been battling, had finally won, and her eyes were shining.
�Are you coming?� she questioned simply, her voice reverberating off the hallowed walls.
Albus� heart skipped a beat at these words, and as he walked swiftly to her side, he could not help throwing a grateful glance at the now bare, stone wall to his left.

His Deputy may have been surprised at the mysterious door apparently materializing out of thin air, but he certainly had not been. Albus Dumbledore knew perfectly well that if he walked back and forth by that ridiculous tapestry three times, thinking hard enough about what he required, then that door would be sure to appear once more. As he reached her side and took her hand in his own, Albus Dumbledore sincerely thanked Merlin that Minerva McGonagall had never heard of the Room of Requirement. Not yet anyway.

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