Post by gmshed on Aug 2, 2006 9:21:34 GMT -5
This is a response to a challenge issued by Jellybeans.
-Albus and Minerva end up stuck together while walking down a corridor.
-Must involve students
-Students must be from Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff.
-Must explain why they did it.
It was an ordinary Thursday night at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore was escorting Minerva McGonagall back to her quarters after their weekly chess game. As usual, Albus had lost. The large puddle of water across the corridor was even within the borders of normality; the toilets were frequently flooded when a bored poltergeist was around.
And the students out of bed after curfew were normal.
What wasn’t normal that the said students were waiting around a corner, watching for their Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress to come along.
“They’re coming.” A girl with a yellow emblem on her robes hissed.
“Philip, can you do it?” Another girl with a blue emblem on her robes crouched in the entrance to the secret passageway.
The boy Philip, another Ravenclaw, looked up from the book he was studying.
“I’ve never seen such a complicated spell, Katherine.”
The Hufflepuff glanced back.
“That’s so McGonagall and Dumbledore don’t immediately recognise it and know the counter-spell. That’s why you clever Ravenclaws have to cast it. I can cast a simpler spell, but Professor Flitwick thought this would be better.”
“How many points are we getting for this again?” Philip asked.
“Fifty.” His fellow Ravenclaw, Katherine, replied.
“Points aren’t going to matter if we get caught. We’ll be expelled.”
“That’s why Madame Hooch showed us this secret passageway. And Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout for Anne will give us an alibi. Besides, the entire school is sick of them! Remember when Dumbledore came into our transfigurations class and McGonagall-”
“Shut up!” Anne hissed. “They’ve reached the puddle!”
“Oh Merlin, not again! Can’t we find some other way to entertain that poltergeist?”
“I’ll find Filch on my way back.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we are standing on one side of a puddle and need to be on the other side!” She began to gather her robes up.
“Minerva, what are you doing?”
“My wand is back in my rooms and I distinctly remember seeing yours lying on the desk when we left. And unless you can summon your wand through several closed doors, we are going to have to walk through this and I would prefer not to get my robes wet.”
“Allow me to be your white knight, damsel.”
“Dam- Albus! Albus, what do you think you’re doing? Put me down!”
“Do you really want me to drop you in the middle of the puddle?”
She gave him the best glare she could from her position in his arms. “Really Albus, what would people think?”
“They would wish themselves in my shoes.”
The students could see Minerva’s blush.
Having reached dry land, Albus gently lowered Minerva to the ground.
“Thank you, my white knight.”
“It is a pleasure to serve such a fair damsel.”
Their laughter rang down the corridor and they resumed their journey.
Anne, struck by a sudden inspiration, cast a silent trip jinx.
Minerva suddenly stumbled and Albus caught her.
“Careful! Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just tripped.”
Neither of them noticed how their hands slipped together as they continued once more. It seemed natural.
The students noticed.
Philip performed the complicated wand movements as best as he could without attracting the unwanted attention. The stone column was suddenly very little protection.
“Verita moid amore.” He whispered.
Minerva and Albus’ joined hands glowed scarlet. The spell was successful.
Katherine, Philip and Anne scrambled through the entrance to the passageway just as their professors drew level.
“I did it. What was the difference between that and yours, Anne?”
“Yours only joins them if they are true soul mates. The simpler version just stuck them together whether they were or not.”
Philip nodded. “Did you see that colour? Bright red! The book said warm pink was really good! How can they love each other that much and not know it?”
“I think they know it. They just don’t know the other feels the same. Professor Sprout said that she, Madame Hooch and Madame Pomfrey have had to put up with Professor McGonagall talking about Professor Dumbledore for nearly fifty years.”
“Fifty years? She’s only taught here for thirty-five years.”
“I don’t know! Perhaps they were friends- Aargh!”
“Ouch!”
“How did it go? Lumos.”
The glowing wandtip illuminated the angular face of Hogwarts flying instructor.
“Oh hi, Madame Hooch. It worked. They were scarlet! The book said pink was good.”
“Excellent! Seventy points to Ravenclaw and seventy points to Hufflepuff. I’ll give the book back to Madam Pince. Now back to your common rooms, you’ve been there since dinner.”
They ran down the passageway.
Xiomara Hooch grinned, in the way her friends had learned to fear.
“No more skirting the issue, Minnie.”
“Thank you for a wonderful evening, Albus.”
“It is I who should be thanking you.”
“What for? Beating you at chess yet again?”
“For abandoning your marking to spend your evening with a barmy old codger.”
“You know I would never miss a Thursday evening.”
“No protestation against me being called a barmy old codger?”
“You are a barmy old codger.”
“I’m wounded.” He dramatically pressed a hand to his chest.
Minerva laughed. Albus loved the sound of her laughter. It was like a precious jewel, rare but incredibly beautiful. He treasured the fact that he was one of the select few able to invoke her laughter. In his wildest flights of fancy, he even dared to imagine that it meant she felt something more than friendship for him. But of course, she couldn’t love an old man.
“Goodnight Albus.”
“Goodnight Minerva. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
“The what?”
“Creatures that live in damp Muggle mattresses.”
“Oh, like Doxies?”
“Sort of, except-”
“Goodnight Albus.” Minerva said firmly. She could spend the rest of her life listening to his voice, but she had a full day of classes the next day and needed a good night’s sleep.
“Goodnight, my dear.” Leaning down, he pecked her on the cheek.
Minerva blushed. Albus was one of maybe four or five people who could make her blush and he managed to do it often. With just a look, when she thought, for an instant, that she could see something that couldn’t possibly be there. Then the next moment it was gone and she would berate herself for daring to imagine that he might have conceivably have something more than platonic feelings for her. And this was just a friendly goodnight kiss between friends. Nothing more. Nothing was meant by it. He did it every week, she blushed every week, she told herself the same thing every week but the next week, when he kissed her cheek, everything flew out of her head and she blushed again.
Trying to banish such thoughts in order to cool her cheeks, she turned to her guarding portrait and spoke the password. She tried to walk inside, but was pulled back. She quickly identified the problem.
“Albus, could you let go of my hand?”
“I’m not- oh.” He unsuccessfully tried to pull his hand away.
“Albus, this is not amusing.”
“Who’s laughing? My hand appears to be stuck to yours.”
“Albus, let go!”
“I can’t!”
“This is a joke.”
“I assure you it isn’t.” As if to prove it, he yanked his arm back. Minerva was completely unprepared and crashed into him, knocking them both to the floor.
They lay there, frozen. Albus could feel Minerva’s warm breath on his neck, Minerva could feel his heart beating with hers.
“I’ll just hang around, shall I?”
The portrait’s sarcastic voice broke the spell. Minerva jumped to her feet. Or rather, she attempted to.
“Oww.”
Albus could only wheeze. Minerva had crashed to her knees on his chest.
“Oh Albus! I’m so sorry.”
She tried to jump to her feet again and ended up sprawled on top of Albus.
“How- about- we try- getting- up- together?” Albus gasped.
They gingerly got to their feet. Unfortunately, Albus’ immediate inclination to rub his aches caused Minerva to end up on the floor again.
“Can we at least get into my rooms? At least I have carpet.”
It took them another five minutes to actually get inside Minerva’s quarters. Two minutes were spent jammed in the door that was too narrow for two people to walk through abreast and three minutes were spent on the floor.
“I am becoming entirely too familiar with this floor.” Minerva groaned.
“Do you believe me now?”
“Yes, yes! And you might want to start looking for a new flying instructor, because you won’t have one when I’m finished with her.”
“What makes you so sure it was Hooch?”
Minerva raised her eyebrow and their joined hands.
“This absolutely reeks of Xiomara. And you can’t stop me.”
“Why not? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find flying instructors?”
“Because your wand hand is holding my hand, whereas my wand hand is free. And I doubt that you can duel wandlessly, even if you are the most powerful wizard of modern times.”
“Can you?”
“Of course I can’t!”
“Then I can’t. For if I am the most powerful wizard of modern times, you are the most powerful witch of modern times.”
“You keep saying that.”
“It is truer every time I say it.”
Stupid blushes. This must be a record.
“Right, shall we try again?” She would jump to her feet, but now she knows better.
They eventually manage to get through the door in single file.
“If we’re going to be stuck together for any length of time, can you get the castle to make my door wider?” Minerva stopped, realising what she had said. “We can’t be stuck together! I have a full day of classes tomorrow! Come on, out!”
“Out?”
“Yes, we need to go to the library. Find the counter-spell.”
“Minerva, like you said, you have a full day of classes tomorrow. You need a good night’s sleep.”
“And what do we do tomorrow? ‘Good morning class, please ignore the fact that I’m stuck to the Headmaster?’”
“Something like that.”
She opened her mouth and closed it. And reached for her wand.
“Mobicorpus.”
Albus floated up into the air, much like a balloon that Minerva held the string of.
“Minerva!”
“Sorry Albus.”
The door disappeared.
“Albus, open the door!”
“Minerva, you have class in the morning. You are going to get some sleep. You are not leaving this room. If I have to spend the rest of the night floating so be it.”
“Open the door!”
“You know it’s not going to work. If the castle changes around, only the headmaster can make it change back. I’m afraid deputy headmistress doesn’t count.”
Minerva flopped down onto her sofa.
“Crazy old coot.”
She removed the spell a bit more forcefully than she needed to. Albus dropped like a stone.
“So are you going to bed then?”
“Fine, fine.” She transfigured her robes into her usual summer nightwear.
“Minerva…what are you wearing?”
“My usual.” She looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with it?”
He could think of a lot of things wrong with it. The neckline, the hem, the material, the style, the slit up the side. It was all transpiring to make him extremely uncomfortable. But he could never say that. He settled for swallowing and croaking “Nothing.”
She looked at him curiously before turning her attention to other matters.
“What do you normally sleep in?”
His silence said it all.
“Not in my bed.” She waved her wand. His robes were transfigured into bright purple pyjamas with vivid yellow sherbet lemons dancing across the fabric.
“Wow. These are brilliant. Can I keep them?”
“Wow?”
“It’s an expression the students use a lot. I think it conveys appreciation.”
Minerva pointed at her bed. “I sleep on the left. You get the right. Get under the covers, those pyjamas are already giving me a headache.”
“Get in your bed?” He hadn’t actually registered that.
“Yes. Unless you have amazing stretching arms that can reach from my bed to the sofa?”
Albus didn’t reply.
They got in somewhat awkwardly, each clinging to their respective edge.
“And no hogging the blankets.”
Her tone was light, but a heavy weight was settling in her heart. However was she going to cope? She was painfully aware of his presence and every fibre of her being screamed for her to roll towards him. But it was impossible.
He was surrounded by her. Her rooms, her bed, her scent. She was only a foot away, clothed in that- in that. Their entire friendship was in jeopardy: if he had to spend another night in her bed he was likely to do something rather excessive. Just what he might do he didn’t really want to think.
“Goodnight Albus.”
“Goodnight Minerva.”
“Nox.”
The moonlight shone on their joined hands, lying in the middle of the bed.
To be continued.
I probably won't be updating my stories for a few weeks. I go to Cornwall for two weeks on Saturday and am desperately trying to update all my stories before then. Probably wasn't a good idea to start another...but it was such a wonderful challenge!
-Albus and Minerva end up stuck together while walking down a corridor.
-Must involve students
-Students must be from Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff.
-Must explain why they did it.
It was an ordinary Thursday night at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore was escorting Minerva McGonagall back to her quarters after their weekly chess game. As usual, Albus had lost. The large puddle of water across the corridor was even within the borders of normality; the toilets were frequently flooded when a bored poltergeist was around.
And the students out of bed after curfew were normal.
What wasn’t normal that the said students were waiting around a corner, watching for their Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress to come along.
“They’re coming.” A girl with a yellow emblem on her robes hissed.
“Philip, can you do it?” Another girl with a blue emblem on her robes crouched in the entrance to the secret passageway.
The boy Philip, another Ravenclaw, looked up from the book he was studying.
“I’ve never seen such a complicated spell, Katherine.”
The Hufflepuff glanced back.
“That’s so McGonagall and Dumbledore don’t immediately recognise it and know the counter-spell. That’s why you clever Ravenclaws have to cast it. I can cast a simpler spell, but Professor Flitwick thought this would be better.”
“How many points are we getting for this again?” Philip asked.
“Fifty.” His fellow Ravenclaw, Katherine, replied.
“Points aren’t going to matter if we get caught. We’ll be expelled.”
“That’s why Madame Hooch showed us this secret passageway. And Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout for Anne will give us an alibi. Besides, the entire school is sick of them! Remember when Dumbledore came into our transfigurations class and McGonagall-”
“Shut up!” Anne hissed. “They’ve reached the puddle!”
“Oh Merlin, not again! Can’t we find some other way to entertain that poltergeist?”
“I’ll find Filch on my way back.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that we are standing on one side of a puddle and need to be on the other side!” She began to gather her robes up.
“Minerva, what are you doing?”
“My wand is back in my rooms and I distinctly remember seeing yours lying on the desk when we left. And unless you can summon your wand through several closed doors, we are going to have to walk through this and I would prefer not to get my robes wet.”
“Allow me to be your white knight, damsel.”
“Dam- Albus! Albus, what do you think you’re doing? Put me down!”
“Do you really want me to drop you in the middle of the puddle?”
She gave him the best glare she could from her position in his arms. “Really Albus, what would people think?”
“They would wish themselves in my shoes.”
The students could see Minerva’s blush.
Having reached dry land, Albus gently lowered Minerva to the ground.
“Thank you, my white knight.”
“It is a pleasure to serve such a fair damsel.”
Their laughter rang down the corridor and they resumed their journey.
Anne, struck by a sudden inspiration, cast a silent trip jinx.
Minerva suddenly stumbled and Albus caught her.
“Careful! Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I just tripped.”
Neither of them noticed how their hands slipped together as they continued once more. It seemed natural.
The students noticed.
Philip performed the complicated wand movements as best as he could without attracting the unwanted attention. The stone column was suddenly very little protection.
“Verita moid amore.” He whispered.
Minerva and Albus’ joined hands glowed scarlet. The spell was successful.
Katherine, Philip and Anne scrambled through the entrance to the passageway just as their professors drew level.
“I did it. What was the difference between that and yours, Anne?”
“Yours only joins them if they are true soul mates. The simpler version just stuck them together whether they were or not.”
Philip nodded. “Did you see that colour? Bright red! The book said warm pink was really good! How can they love each other that much and not know it?”
“I think they know it. They just don’t know the other feels the same. Professor Sprout said that she, Madame Hooch and Madame Pomfrey have had to put up with Professor McGonagall talking about Professor Dumbledore for nearly fifty years.”
“Fifty years? She’s only taught here for thirty-five years.”
“I don’t know! Perhaps they were friends- Aargh!”
“Ouch!”
“How did it go? Lumos.”
The glowing wandtip illuminated the angular face of Hogwarts flying instructor.
“Oh hi, Madame Hooch. It worked. They were scarlet! The book said pink was good.”
“Excellent! Seventy points to Ravenclaw and seventy points to Hufflepuff. I’ll give the book back to Madam Pince. Now back to your common rooms, you’ve been there since dinner.”
They ran down the passageway.
Xiomara Hooch grinned, in the way her friends had learned to fear.
“No more skirting the issue, Minnie.”
“Thank you for a wonderful evening, Albus.”
“It is I who should be thanking you.”
“What for? Beating you at chess yet again?”
“For abandoning your marking to spend your evening with a barmy old codger.”
“You know I would never miss a Thursday evening.”
“No protestation against me being called a barmy old codger?”
“You are a barmy old codger.”
“I’m wounded.” He dramatically pressed a hand to his chest.
Minerva laughed. Albus loved the sound of her laughter. It was like a precious jewel, rare but incredibly beautiful. He treasured the fact that he was one of the select few able to invoke her laughter. In his wildest flights of fancy, he even dared to imagine that it meant she felt something more than friendship for him. But of course, she couldn’t love an old man.
“Goodnight Albus.”
“Goodnight Minerva. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
“The what?”
“Creatures that live in damp Muggle mattresses.”
“Oh, like Doxies?”
“Sort of, except-”
“Goodnight Albus.” Minerva said firmly. She could spend the rest of her life listening to his voice, but she had a full day of classes the next day and needed a good night’s sleep.
“Goodnight, my dear.” Leaning down, he pecked her on the cheek.
Minerva blushed. Albus was one of maybe four or five people who could make her blush and he managed to do it often. With just a look, when she thought, for an instant, that she could see something that couldn’t possibly be there. Then the next moment it was gone and she would berate herself for daring to imagine that he might have conceivably have something more than platonic feelings for her. And this was just a friendly goodnight kiss between friends. Nothing more. Nothing was meant by it. He did it every week, she blushed every week, she told herself the same thing every week but the next week, when he kissed her cheek, everything flew out of her head and she blushed again.
Trying to banish such thoughts in order to cool her cheeks, she turned to her guarding portrait and spoke the password. She tried to walk inside, but was pulled back. She quickly identified the problem.
“Albus, could you let go of my hand?”
“I’m not- oh.” He unsuccessfully tried to pull his hand away.
“Albus, this is not amusing.”
“Who’s laughing? My hand appears to be stuck to yours.”
“Albus, let go!”
“I can’t!”
“This is a joke.”
“I assure you it isn’t.” As if to prove it, he yanked his arm back. Minerva was completely unprepared and crashed into him, knocking them both to the floor.
They lay there, frozen. Albus could feel Minerva’s warm breath on his neck, Minerva could feel his heart beating with hers.
“I’ll just hang around, shall I?”
The portrait’s sarcastic voice broke the spell. Minerva jumped to her feet. Or rather, she attempted to.
“Oww.”
Albus could only wheeze. Minerva had crashed to her knees on his chest.
“Oh Albus! I’m so sorry.”
She tried to jump to her feet again and ended up sprawled on top of Albus.
“How- about- we try- getting- up- together?” Albus gasped.
They gingerly got to their feet. Unfortunately, Albus’ immediate inclination to rub his aches caused Minerva to end up on the floor again.
“Can we at least get into my rooms? At least I have carpet.”
It took them another five minutes to actually get inside Minerva’s quarters. Two minutes were spent jammed in the door that was too narrow for two people to walk through abreast and three minutes were spent on the floor.
“I am becoming entirely too familiar with this floor.” Minerva groaned.
“Do you believe me now?”
“Yes, yes! And you might want to start looking for a new flying instructor, because you won’t have one when I’m finished with her.”
“What makes you so sure it was Hooch?”
Minerva raised her eyebrow and their joined hands.
“This absolutely reeks of Xiomara. And you can’t stop me.”
“Why not? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find flying instructors?”
“Because your wand hand is holding my hand, whereas my wand hand is free. And I doubt that you can duel wandlessly, even if you are the most powerful wizard of modern times.”
“Can you?”
“Of course I can’t!”
“Then I can’t. For if I am the most powerful wizard of modern times, you are the most powerful witch of modern times.”
“You keep saying that.”
“It is truer every time I say it.”
Stupid blushes. This must be a record.
“Right, shall we try again?” She would jump to her feet, but now she knows better.
They eventually manage to get through the door in single file.
“If we’re going to be stuck together for any length of time, can you get the castle to make my door wider?” Minerva stopped, realising what she had said. “We can’t be stuck together! I have a full day of classes tomorrow! Come on, out!”
“Out?”
“Yes, we need to go to the library. Find the counter-spell.”
“Minerva, like you said, you have a full day of classes tomorrow. You need a good night’s sleep.”
“And what do we do tomorrow? ‘Good morning class, please ignore the fact that I’m stuck to the Headmaster?’”
“Something like that.”
She opened her mouth and closed it. And reached for her wand.
“Mobicorpus.”
Albus floated up into the air, much like a balloon that Minerva held the string of.
“Minerva!”
“Sorry Albus.”
The door disappeared.
“Albus, open the door!”
“Minerva, you have class in the morning. You are going to get some sleep. You are not leaving this room. If I have to spend the rest of the night floating so be it.”
“Open the door!”
“You know it’s not going to work. If the castle changes around, only the headmaster can make it change back. I’m afraid deputy headmistress doesn’t count.”
Minerva flopped down onto her sofa.
“Crazy old coot.”
She removed the spell a bit more forcefully than she needed to. Albus dropped like a stone.
“So are you going to bed then?”
“Fine, fine.” She transfigured her robes into her usual summer nightwear.
“Minerva…what are you wearing?”
“My usual.” She looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with it?”
He could think of a lot of things wrong with it. The neckline, the hem, the material, the style, the slit up the side. It was all transpiring to make him extremely uncomfortable. But he could never say that. He settled for swallowing and croaking “Nothing.”
She looked at him curiously before turning her attention to other matters.
“What do you normally sleep in?”
His silence said it all.
“Not in my bed.” She waved her wand. His robes were transfigured into bright purple pyjamas with vivid yellow sherbet lemons dancing across the fabric.
“Wow. These are brilliant. Can I keep them?”
“Wow?”
“It’s an expression the students use a lot. I think it conveys appreciation.”
Minerva pointed at her bed. “I sleep on the left. You get the right. Get under the covers, those pyjamas are already giving me a headache.”
“Get in your bed?” He hadn’t actually registered that.
“Yes. Unless you have amazing stretching arms that can reach from my bed to the sofa?”
Albus didn’t reply.
They got in somewhat awkwardly, each clinging to their respective edge.
“And no hogging the blankets.”
Her tone was light, but a heavy weight was settling in her heart. However was she going to cope? She was painfully aware of his presence and every fibre of her being screamed for her to roll towards him. But it was impossible.
He was surrounded by her. Her rooms, her bed, her scent. She was only a foot away, clothed in that- in that. Their entire friendship was in jeopardy: if he had to spend another night in her bed he was likely to do something rather excessive. Just what he might do he didn’t really want to think.
“Goodnight Albus.”
“Goodnight Minerva.”
“Nox.”
The moonlight shone on their joined hands, lying in the middle of the bed.
To be continued.
I probably won't be updating my stories for a few weeks. I go to Cornwall for two weeks on Saturday and am desperately trying to update all my stories before then. Probably wasn't a good idea to start another...but it was such a wonderful challenge!
... But I have a feeling its worth it. 
I'm always bored out of my head in the summer break, but reading AD/MM fics, (like such brill ones as this) give me something to do, and I looooooove reading them. Can't beat a good AD/MM story. 
I really like the idea about them stucked 
