Post by maritelske on Feb 4, 2007 6:17:31 GMT -5
Summary: AU: Albus and Minerva have a history that has remained forgotten. Until the rise of Grindelwald – and old wounds are reopened. Darkness is looming and it is originating from a source much too close to home.
With thanks: to minniequill, who read this when it was first written. And back then, this piece was originally fluff! (Oh, how it has changed with this third re-writing). The characters had a mind of their own, and what began as a sugar coated one shot suddenly grew into something more.
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to JK Rowling. Blah blah.
Smaointe, ar an la
Raibh sibh ar mo thaobh.
I think of the day,
that you were beside me.
[Smaointe]
August 2nd, 1945
The house loomed above him like a magnificent omen, yet he knew the family was wealthy – he expected no less. The glass of the antique windows gleamed in the bursting sunlight, the curtains still drawn across all floors. He surmised that it was probably a mark of privacy, rather than solitude, which had caused this and he was not deterred.
He knocked firmly, and the door creaked open.
Long, grey fingernails passed through the crack in the door – pushing it open, the golden sunlight streaming through the darkened house.
“Master will see you now, Dumbledore mister” The tiny house elf squeaked, and gestured for the great wizard to follow him into the McGonagall mansion.
Portraits of family members adorned the shadows cast by the walls, and the thin hallway stretched ominously into the darkness. An eerie silence had descended across the house yet the house elf seemed hardly to notice, and walked steadily on – leading Albus to a rectangular room.
In the centre stood Aedan McGonagall.
He was staring resolutely out across the vast landscape of their property, as though perhaps admiring his wealth or basking in his own reassurances.
The house elf knocked twice, and then bowed lowly.
“Master, Etta has brought the Dumbledore”
“Thank you. That will be all” The house elf bowed lowly again, until her crooked nose had pressed against the gleaming floor boards, and then hurried out of the room.
Albus Dumbledore was not a man born of fear, and he met courage with courage – anger with contempt. He seemed completely undeterred with Aedan’s presence, and admired the room cheerfully as though he had come to discuss the weather.
“Hello, Aedan”
It was only then that the master of the house turned, and regarded Albus in his defiance. His arms remained resolutely crossed across his torso, and he starred fixedly at the wizard before him.
“Why are you here Albus?”
“I have come to see Minerva” Aedan gave a low laugh, and brushed his hand across the great table which stretched the length of the room and gave leverage between them.
“She doesn’t want to see you”
“I think that she will want to hear what I have to say” Albus smiled pointedly – determined to win. And he always won, and was so used to winning, that he hardly seemed to consider the notion of losing as a valid conclusion.
“You will not see her, Albus – not for as long as Minerva lives under my room! She is my daughter!” His hand slammed down on the dining table. Shards of crystal shattered across the wood, and his flesh flushed raw-red at the contact.
His eyes spoke of his fury, as his face crumpled in his anger.
“Father, what on earth – ”
The voice pierced the hollow silence, and Aedan’s youngest child flung open the door to the room - her green dress sweeping behind her.
For a moment, Albus Dumbledore forgot how to breathe.
Minerva McGonagall stood before him, hallowed by the light of the open window, her expression aghast – her wand outstretched in her hand.
“It is alright, Minerva. Professor Dumbledore was just leaving” Her father’s voice was steady and firm, yet his daughter’s eyes were firmly fixed on her old professor.
She seemed hardly to notice her father’s presence at all.
“What are you doing here?” She spoke to Albus directly, and he bowed his head ever so slightly towards her. It was a mark of respect, and she lowered her wand just moments later, placing it back in the front pocket of her dress.
“I came to speak to you, Minerva” As if suddenly coming to her senses, Minerva immediately stood straight – upright, her ankles pressed together.
“You can have nothing to say to me that you can not say in front of my father”
Aedan McGonagall crossed his arms over his robes, and surveyed the wizard before him with such intensity that seemed to cause the air around him to burn.
“Then perhaps a walk?” Albus gestured to the grounds beyond the room, the endless greenery that stretched into the horizon. He watched as her green eyes flickered slightly, and he was sure – for a moment – that he saw desire reflected back at him. Just a breath later, it was gone.
“A walk” She agreed, and looked to her father for reassurance. Aedan McGonagall sighed heavily, his shoulders falling with her question. Instead of an answer, he said nothing at all – and watched on as his youngest daughter followed Albus from the room.
They walked down the darkened hallway once more, and when they arrived at the front door – it was Albus’ hand which reached the handle first, opening it for the beauty before him. She nodded her thanks, and inhaled sharply as she passed within such close proximity of him.
Silence passed between them, just as common as words, and Minerva stared fixedly at the path ahead – hardly daring to look at him, should her resolve break. When her eyes finally lingered on his face, she saw his cheeks lacked colour – his eyes their usual sparkle.
For a moment, she could hardly think to breathe.
“I need your help, Minerva”
She appeared faintly amused, a slight smile playing across her lips. It was soon replaced by a glare he knew all-to-well, and he swallowed hard to see her fury boring into him.
“YOU need my help? YOU need MY HELP? Do you see anything wrong with this?”
“Minerva, I would not have come if what I speak was not true. I am in need of your assistance – now more so than ever. Grindelwald is gaining strength” There was a slight indentation in his words, and for a brief moment – Minerva suddenly realised the man before her could fear, “Hogwarts is not the same. I have come to ask you to be my Transfiguration professor. You were, after all, my greatest student”
“Flattery will get you no where” She remained unchanged, peering across the vast grounds before them as though seeking a reprieve. The morning sun caused her cheeks to flush, and she brushed a wayward hair from her clammy forehead.
“I haven’t come to flatter you”
“Then why have you come?”
“To beg you, Minerva. Please – come back to Hogwarts”
She closed her eyes briefly, bringing her hands together, her forehead furrowed in a crease. Vaguely aware of her father watching them from the kitchen window, she shook her head – her ebony hair cascading over her shoulder in a way that Albus found almost cruel.
He had missed her, and suddenly he found it harder than ever to stop himself from reaching for her hand.
“Let me think about it?” Her reply was dignified – it was just what he had come to expect her from her. And with a faint smile, he nodded his head lowly.
“Of course. But can I ask you just one last favour?” Her eyes darkened, but still she nodded her agreement, “Please, don’t think about it for too long. Time is far too precious”
“Of course”
She turned, and he was gone.
As she returned to the house, Etta hurried to open all the blinds – causing the portraits to frown, their noviciate voices breaking the endless quiet.
Her father paced the length of the kitchen furiously, red sparks shooting quiet unadorned from his wand with each step.
“MINERVA!” Aedan bellowed, and Etta winced – hurrying up stairs, and leaving Minerva quite alone. Her father faced her with a clenched jaw, his face hollow and lack-lustre. His forehead creased – the lines stretching across his face, a resolute sign of the passing of time, “You swore to me to never see that man again”
“Father, Albus came to me”
Aedan’s heart grew colder still to hear her use the man’s first name so freely. His vehemence grew, and his finger nails cut daggers into the palm of his hand.
“You will not go back there! Do you hear me, Minerva? You are never to step foot into Hogwarts for as long as you live!”
She looked at him; her eyes alight with fury – her cheeks reddened in her anger, and her limbs rigid and still.
“You can not control me like this! I am not a child!”
She hesitated as she heaved in her anger, her chest rising and falling steadily. Her father turned – his hand cracking down across the table once more. Any crystal that had not broken previously shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Minerva, you are a child!”
Her voice wavered as she searched for her reply. Instead, she fled the room and swept up the stairs, two at a time, her cheeks wet with burning tears.
- - -
July 31st, 1944
“Well...” Her voice was hardly raised above a whisper, and he was sure it was more than just the chance of them being over-head that she feared.
“Minerva, I was wondering if perhaps you might consider seeing me across the summer break” And for the first time in his life, Albus Dumbledore felt truly fearful.
Her head snapped up, and she looked at him – aghast. Almost instantly, he began to berate himself for having ever asked her. She had graduated less than two hours ago, and already he was asking for a future.
“With you?” A small smile played across Minerva lips as she unconsciously straightened her dress robes, willing herself to not meet the intensity of his gaze – his piercing blue eyes that caused her heart to skip.
“With me” He nodded slowly, tracing his hand across the fine mahogany wood of his desk. A list of the graduates sat on a piece of parchment before him – her name seeing to glow above the rest, and he could barely drag his eyes from the infinite beauty before him.
It shocked them both when she finally gave her answer.
“I would love to”
Albus then did something he had never dared to do before.
He reached for her hand.
- - -
A/N: Well, I did demand Minniequill write a Grindelwald story some many moons ago. But I had to have a go at my own - it was an idea that would not leave me. Let me know what you think...
Reviews make the world go around
With thanks: to minniequill, who read this when it was first written. And back then, this piece was originally fluff! (Oh, how it has changed with this third re-writing). The characters had a mind of their own, and what began as a sugar coated one shot suddenly grew into something more.
Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to JK Rowling. Blah blah.
THE LAST ENCHANTMENT
[/center]Smaointe, ar an la
Raibh sibh ar mo thaobh.
I think of the day,
that you were beside me.
[Smaointe]
Prejudice
August 2nd, 1945
The house loomed above him like a magnificent omen, yet he knew the family was wealthy – he expected no less. The glass of the antique windows gleamed in the bursting sunlight, the curtains still drawn across all floors. He surmised that it was probably a mark of privacy, rather than solitude, which had caused this and he was not deterred.
He knocked firmly, and the door creaked open.
Long, grey fingernails passed through the crack in the door – pushing it open, the golden sunlight streaming through the darkened house.
“Master will see you now, Dumbledore mister” The tiny house elf squeaked, and gestured for the great wizard to follow him into the McGonagall mansion.
Portraits of family members adorned the shadows cast by the walls, and the thin hallway stretched ominously into the darkness. An eerie silence had descended across the house yet the house elf seemed hardly to notice, and walked steadily on – leading Albus to a rectangular room.
In the centre stood Aedan McGonagall.
He was staring resolutely out across the vast landscape of their property, as though perhaps admiring his wealth or basking in his own reassurances.
The house elf knocked twice, and then bowed lowly.
“Master, Etta has brought the Dumbledore”
“Thank you. That will be all” The house elf bowed lowly again, until her crooked nose had pressed against the gleaming floor boards, and then hurried out of the room.
Albus Dumbledore was not a man born of fear, and he met courage with courage – anger with contempt. He seemed completely undeterred with Aedan’s presence, and admired the room cheerfully as though he had come to discuss the weather.
“Hello, Aedan”
It was only then that the master of the house turned, and regarded Albus in his defiance. His arms remained resolutely crossed across his torso, and he starred fixedly at the wizard before him.
“Why are you here Albus?”
“I have come to see Minerva” Aedan gave a low laugh, and brushed his hand across the great table which stretched the length of the room and gave leverage between them.
“She doesn’t want to see you”
“I think that she will want to hear what I have to say” Albus smiled pointedly – determined to win. And he always won, and was so used to winning, that he hardly seemed to consider the notion of losing as a valid conclusion.
“You will not see her, Albus – not for as long as Minerva lives under my room! She is my daughter!” His hand slammed down on the dining table. Shards of crystal shattered across the wood, and his flesh flushed raw-red at the contact.
His eyes spoke of his fury, as his face crumpled in his anger.
“Father, what on earth – ”
The voice pierced the hollow silence, and Aedan’s youngest child flung open the door to the room - her green dress sweeping behind her.
For a moment, Albus Dumbledore forgot how to breathe.
Minerva McGonagall stood before him, hallowed by the light of the open window, her expression aghast – her wand outstretched in her hand.
“It is alright, Minerva. Professor Dumbledore was just leaving” Her father’s voice was steady and firm, yet his daughter’s eyes were firmly fixed on her old professor.
She seemed hardly to notice her father’s presence at all.
“What are you doing here?” She spoke to Albus directly, and he bowed his head ever so slightly towards her. It was a mark of respect, and she lowered her wand just moments later, placing it back in the front pocket of her dress.
“I came to speak to you, Minerva” As if suddenly coming to her senses, Minerva immediately stood straight – upright, her ankles pressed together.
“You can have nothing to say to me that you can not say in front of my father”
Aedan McGonagall crossed his arms over his robes, and surveyed the wizard before him with such intensity that seemed to cause the air around him to burn.
“Then perhaps a walk?” Albus gestured to the grounds beyond the room, the endless greenery that stretched into the horizon. He watched as her green eyes flickered slightly, and he was sure – for a moment – that he saw desire reflected back at him. Just a breath later, it was gone.
“A walk” She agreed, and looked to her father for reassurance. Aedan McGonagall sighed heavily, his shoulders falling with her question. Instead of an answer, he said nothing at all – and watched on as his youngest daughter followed Albus from the room.
They walked down the darkened hallway once more, and when they arrived at the front door – it was Albus’ hand which reached the handle first, opening it for the beauty before him. She nodded her thanks, and inhaled sharply as she passed within such close proximity of him.
Silence passed between them, just as common as words, and Minerva stared fixedly at the path ahead – hardly daring to look at him, should her resolve break. When her eyes finally lingered on his face, she saw his cheeks lacked colour – his eyes their usual sparkle.
For a moment, she could hardly think to breathe.
“I need your help, Minerva”
She appeared faintly amused, a slight smile playing across her lips. It was soon replaced by a glare he knew all-to-well, and he swallowed hard to see her fury boring into him.
“YOU need my help? YOU need MY HELP? Do you see anything wrong with this?”
“Minerva, I would not have come if what I speak was not true. I am in need of your assistance – now more so than ever. Grindelwald is gaining strength” There was a slight indentation in his words, and for a brief moment – Minerva suddenly realised the man before her could fear, “Hogwarts is not the same. I have come to ask you to be my Transfiguration professor. You were, after all, my greatest student”
“Flattery will get you no where” She remained unchanged, peering across the vast grounds before them as though seeking a reprieve. The morning sun caused her cheeks to flush, and she brushed a wayward hair from her clammy forehead.
“I haven’t come to flatter you”
“Then why have you come?”
“To beg you, Minerva. Please – come back to Hogwarts”
She closed her eyes briefly, bringing her hands together, her forehead furrowed in a crease. Vaguely aware of her father watching them from the kitchen window, she shook her head – her ebony hair cascading over her shoulder in a way that Albus found almost cruel.
He had missed her, and suddenly he found it harder than ever to stop himself from reaching for her hand.
“Let me think about it?” Her reply was dignified – it was just what he had come to expect her from her. And with a faint smile, he nodded his head lowly.
“Of course. But can I ask you just one last favour?” Her eyes darkened, but still she nodded her agreement, “Please, don’t think about it for too long. Time is far too precious”
“Of course”
She turned, and he was gone.
As she returned to the house, Etta hurried to open all the blinds – causing the portraits to frown, their noviciate voices breaking the endless quiet.
Her father paced the length of the kitchen furiously, red sparks shooting quiet unadorned from his wand with each step.
“MINERVA!” Aedan bellowed, and Etta winced – hurrying up stairs, and leaving Minerva quite alone. Her father faced her with a clenched jaw, his face hollow and lack-lustre. His forehead creased – the lines stretching across his face, a resolute sign of the passing of time, “You swore to me to never see that man again”
“Father, Albus came to me”
Aedan’s heart grew colder still to hear her use the man’s first name so freely. His vehemence grew, and his finger nails cut daggers into the palm of his hand.
“You will not go back there! Do you hear me, Minerva? You are never to step foot into Hogwarts for as long as you live!”
She looked at him; her eyes alight with fury – her cheeks reddened in her anger, and her limbs rigid and still.
“You can not control me like this! I am not a child!”
She hesitated as she heaved in her anger, her chest rising and falling steadily. Her father turned – his hand cracking down across the table once more. Any crystal that had not broken previously shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Minerva, you are a child!”
Her voice wavered as she searched for her reply. Instead, she fled the room and swept up the stairs, two at a time, her cheeks wet with burning tears.
- - -
July 31st, 1944
“Well...” Her voice was hardly raised above a whisper, and he was sure it was more than just the chance of them being over-head that she feared.
“Minerva, I was wondering if perhaps you might consider seeing me across the summer break” And for the first time in his life, Albus Dumbledore felt truly fearful.
Her head snapped up, and she looked at him – aghast. Almost instantly, he began to berate himself for having ever asked her. She had graduated less than two hours ago, and already he was asking for a future.
“With you?” A small smile played across Minerva lips as she unconsciously straightened her dress robes, willing herself to not meet the intensity of his gaze – his piercing blue eyes that caused her heart to skip.
“With me” He nodded slowly, tracing his hand across the fine mahogany wood of his desk. A list of the graduates sat on a piece of parchment before him – her name seeing to glow above the rest, and he could barely drag his eyes from the infinite beauty before him.
It shocked them both when she finally gave her answer.
“I would love to”
Albus then did something he had never dared to do before.
He reached for her hand.
- - -
A/N: Well, I did demand Minniequill write a Grindelwald story some many moons ago. But I had to have a go at my own - it was an idea that would not leave me. Let me know what you think...
Reviews make the world go around
