Post by Lamenting Quill on Oct 6, 2006 4:23:17 GMT -5
Disclaimer: Not mine, J. K. Rowling’s. I’ll return them when I’m finished 
This fic is for ages 13+
Summary: Minerva is livid, and Albus has some explaining to do. Can he sweet talk his way out of trouble, and perhaps even get a treat, too?
“Minerva, I know you’re angry, but please, give me a chance to explain,” Albus pleaded, a hint of desperation in his voice.
Minerva stood before him, her arms folded over her chest, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes shooting daggers, and foot tapping impatiently. “Fine,” she snapped, “but it had better be a bloody good explanation!”
Albus rubbed his hands briefly over his face with a sigh before gently unfolding Minerva’s arms and taking both of her soft, elegant hands into his own. He looked into her fiery eyes and spoke with as much sincerity as he could find within himself. “Minerva, I understand why you are so upset with me, but once you hear my reasoning behind this, I hope that you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Minerva snorted, but Albus continued, gently stroking his thumbs over her hands.
“I have known you for over half a century, Minerva. First as a student, then as a colleague, then as a friend, then as a best friend, and then as something much more, and then as something I will forever marvel at; my wife. Throughout my life, I have made many mistakes, done things I’m not proud of, said things that I regret, not taken action when I should have. Throughout everything, through all my mistakes, through my lowest points, you were always there at my side. Even when you agreed with others when they said I was in the wrong, you stood up against them for me. You are one of the few things in my life that I do not regret, and definitely the most important.
“It is your opinion that I value above all others, Minerva, and no one else’s. I would journey to the sky and capture a star for you if I thought it would make you smile. I would dive into the deepest ocean to search for a lost treasure if I thought it would put that sparkle in your eye. I would travel to the ends of the Earth for just one of your sweet kisses. It is not worth waking to another day if I cannot gaze at your peacefully sleeping face in our bed, lit aglow by the first rays of morning sun. Nor is it worth returning to our rooms at night if you are not there waiting for me with a hot cup of cocoa and a smile.” He paused to stroke her cheek lovingly, before letting his hand slide slowly down her arm, and grip her freed hand once more.
“Minerva, you are everything to me; and it is my sole mission in life to make you as happy as you make me by just being the wonderful woman that by the grace of Merlin chose to marry me. I love you, with all that I am, all that I used to be, and all that I will become. I am a better man for loving you, and a happier one for being loved by you. It is with every fibre of my being that I apologise for upsetting you so, but you must understand that it was not my intention at all; quite the contrary. I only did what I did in the sincere hopes of making you happy, for that, my darling, is more important to me than anything else could ever dream of being,” he finished, hoping that she would accept his words.
Minerva gently squeezed his hands and said, her voice barely above a whisper, “Oh, Albus…”
Albus grinned at her, feeling triumphant until…
Minerva removed her hands from Albus’s grasp violently. “That is by far the most over the top, inane, poor excuse of a bloody explanation that I ever heard!” she raged, her fury making him take a subconscious step backwards. “I cannot believe your nerve! Did you really think that I would fall for that sentimental garbage, you old fool? And wanting to make me happy is certainly, I repeat, CERTAINLY no excuse for what you did! Do I LOOK happy to you, Albus? Well, do I?”
“Well, n-no, but-” he stammered, quelling under the intensity of his wife’s temper.
“But nothing!” She let out a growl of frustration, her fists clenching at her sides. “Do you know what my day was like? No! You have no idea, because you have been up in your office all bloody day! Meanwhile, I’ve had to put up with the antics of little snot-nosed brats that make it their life’s goal to top Fred and George’s swamp fiasco! Peeves decided that it would be fun to throw chewed up Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum in my Transfiguration corridor, and in the end I was forced to CUT MY HAIR because the ruddy stuff wouldn’t come out!” She reached up a hand and jerked out her hair pins, to prove her point.
Albus’s eyes widened slightly, as her silky black hair fell loose. The beautiful tresses which once fell slightly below the small of her back now dusted the top of the cleavage he knew lurked beneath those conservative tartan robes. Her cheeks were flush in her rage, her pupils dilated, and her lips were glistening where she had just wet them. Albus was never more attracted to his wife for some reason than when she was at the heights of her Scottish temper.
“And THEN,” she screamed, “as if things couldn’t possibly get worse, a first year student stole one of Hagrid’s Nifflers after class because she thought it was cute! And do you know which class she had right after Care of Magical Creatures, Albus?”
“Um, yours?” he offered weakly.
“Bloody right mine! The little beast effectively destroyed my classroom! And then, do you KNOW what it did?”
“I, er, I have no-”
“It went after my necklace! The necklace that YOU bought me for our tenth anniversary! And you know where I keep that necklace, don’t you?”
Despite his wife’s lividness, he was almost overcome with the urge to laugh. The scene that was instantly created in his mind was quite amusing. However, he did not have a death wish, so he kept his face as straight as he could.
“Tucked inside my robes; yes! Apparently the little blighter caught a glimpse of the gold chain around my neck, and it pounced on me! It burrowed down the neck of my robes to get to the new treasure it had found! I was the laughing stock of the entire school today! How does that make you feel?” she spat.
Albus couldn’t keep the small smirk from his face. “Rather jealous of the Niffler,” he replied, letting his eyes travel over her body, causing her to let out another howl of frustration.
“You’re impossible! My day was a nightmare, and all I wanted was to come back here to our rooms, sit down with you on the sofa, and read a book in peace! Secure within the walls of our own residence! But did you grant me that joy? NO! Instead, I walk into our rooms, and find THIS!” she screeched, gesturing wildly about the room.
Albus sighed. “You’ve been complaining about the décor in the sitting room for ages, Minerva! So I finally decided to do something about it in the hopes of making you happy! I like it!” he said, Minerva’s words finally starting to get him riled up. Honestly, she had been going on about the sitting room needing redecorating for years. Now, he had finally done just that and she wasn’t satisfied! Well, he knew he should have gotten her input, and well, he had also known that it wasn’t to her tastes… but still! Surely it should mean something that he at least tried!
Minerva snarled her nose. “Yes, Albus, it makes YOU happy! You did not ask me my opinion, you did not ask me for help, you went out and YOU did it! You cannot possibly tell me that you truly believed that I would approve of this?”
“Well, I had hoped there might be a possibility,” he mumbled, realising defeat.
She snorted. “That’s what I thought. You could not have had me in mind when you picked out that table OR that couch!”
Albus looked to the items of furniture in question, and then back to his wife. “You don’t like the table? It is my favourite thing in the room! And I loved the couch, too,” he mumbled.
The glare Minerva gave him would have sent any other person running in the opposite direction. “Well, Mr. Dumbledore,” she bit out between clenched teeth, “since you obviously adore your new couch so much, you won’t mind sleeping on it!” And with that, she stormed past him and into their bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Albus stared at the door she had just gone through, and jumped slightly when it flew back open. He saw a blanket being thrown from the room, before his vision was briefly obscured by the bed pillow that hit him in the face, and he heard the door slam once more. He looked again around the room and the new design that his wife obviously hated.
The beige paint on the walls had been changed to vibrant yellow. The lush cream carpet that had once encompassed their floor had been changed to deep red. The once white couch with cream throw pillows had been replaced by a dark purple one with embroidered sherbet lemons on it, and the throw pillows were in the shape of the sweets as well. The once elegant toffee drapes were now the same purple as the couch, and had silver shooting stars on them that kept darting across the fabric. The coffee table had gone from rich wood to crystal clear glass, and was filled with blue water that had enchanted goldfish swimming around inside.
With a sigh, he flopped down on the couch, covering himself with the blanket, and fluffing his pillow, getting comfortable. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, marvelling at the wonder that was his woman. He did so love to see her so stirred up. He couldn’t deny that he had known Minerva would not like his decorating. He had known it very well. However, she kept complaining that their sitting room was too ‘boring’ so he thought he would liven it up a bit, and liven her up a bit in the process. She was beautiful all the time in his eyes, but she was even more-so when angry. He hadn’t meant to add to her bad day, but he couldn’t help smiling at the memory of the way she looked when she furiously pulled the pins from her hair. He longed to run his fingers through her now much shorter tresses.
Wriggling about and fussing with the covers, he tried to get comfortable. He hated sleeping on the couch. He could never sleep well when Minerva was not nestled in his embrace. Turning his head to the side, he watched the goldfish chasing one another around inside of the table. He really did like that table.
Hearing the sudden creak of a door, Albus felt his hopes rise. He heard the soft sound of bare feet as they padded across the floor, and looking at the deep red carpet at the corner of the couch, he saw the perfect toes of his wife come into view. He allowed his eyes to slowly travel from her toes to her ankles, up her legs and then to the hem of her short, green nightgown, and on up her flat stomach, over the swell of her delicious breasts, up her slender neck, to her soft pink lips, and finally to her apologetic eyes.
He said nothing, but offered a smile as she stood before him. He raised his blanket invitingly, and she climbed inside with him, snuggling close and planting a gentle kiss on his neck. He stroked the small of her back through her nightgown.
“Albus,” Minerva whispered softly, “about what you said earlier…you really don’t regret marrying me?”
Albus placed his finger beneath her chin and raised her head up so he could look into her sparkling green eyes. “Never; not even for a second.”
She smiled at him; one of those rare, breathtaking smiles that only he was privileged enough to see. “I love you, Albus.”
“And I you, Minerva,” he replied, kissing her lovingly on the lips before she laid her head back down on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I went off on you like that,” she said, tracing a lazy pattern across his shoulder with her finger.
“And I’m sorry that you had such a bad day,” he replied, staring at the fish once more as he let his hand travel from her back, down her thigh.
She raised her head up slightly, noticing he was watching something, and shifted in his embrace to see what it was. She smirked as she saw the goldfish swimming inside the table. “You know, Albus,” she purred, “I might be persuaded to let you keep that table.”
Albus turned his twinkling blue eyes to her and grinned in that mischievous manner that always stole Minerva’s breath right from her lungs. “Is that so, my dear?” he asked, a playful lilt to his voice. “And just how, pray tell, could I do that?”
Minerva draped her leg across Albus’s thighs and licked her lips suggestively. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
He leaned in to capture those succulent lips. Yes, he had quite a few ideas, actually, and he was sure that she would thoroughly enjoy each.
……….
One month later....
“Ah, Alastor, Poppy, come in!” Minerva greeted, welcoming the couple into her and Albus's private quarters. It had become a tradition that she and Albus would spend Saturday nights with Poppy and Alastor, their long time friends.
“Oh, Minerva, I love what you’ve done with the place!” Poppy exclaimed, looking around the sitting room. It was painted a deep rusty red colour, and the carpeted floor had been forgone in favour of deep cherry hardwood. The furniture was crisp white with deep red and brown throw pillows. The curtains were elegant beige that matched the large rug in the centre of the room. The end tables were made of a darker cherry than that of the floor, and complimented the white of the couch. The only thing that was severely out of place in the breathtaking room was a clear glass coffee table in front of the couch that was filled with what looked to be blue water and swimming goldfish. It clearly had Albus written all over it. “Minerva, what in Merlin's name did Albus do for you to let him have that?” she snickered.
Minerva blushed slightly as she took her friend's cloak, and glanced to Albus, who winked at her with a small smirk. “Oh, let’s just say that he can be very…persuasive.”
Author’s Note: Well, there we have it! I hoped you enjoyed, please let me know! And, er, yes, I know that I should be working on ‘Delicious Torment’ but I couldn’t help but write this little plot bunny! I promise I’ll go back to DT now! ::runs off before she’s smacked::
Cheers!
Lamenting Quill
This fic is for ages 13+
Summary: Minerva is livid, and Albus has some explaining to do. Can he sweet talk his way out of trouble, and perhaps even get a treat, too?
Explanations and Persuasion
by
Lamenting Quill
by
Lamenting Quill
“Minerva, I know you’re angry, but please, give me a chance to explain,” Albus pleaded, a hint of desperation in his voice.
Minerva stood before him, her arms folded over her chest, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes shooting daggers, and foot tapping impatiently. “Fine,” she snapped, “but it had better be a bloody good explanation!”
Albus rubbed his hands briefly over his face with a sigh before gently unfolding Minerva’s arms and taking both of her soft, elegant hands into his own. He looked into her fiery eyes and spoke with as much sincerity as he could find within himself. “Minerva, I understand why you are so upset with me, but once you hear my reasoning behind this, I hope that you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Minerva snorted, but Albus continued, gently stroking his thumbs over her hands.
“I have known you for over half a century, Minerva. First as a student, then as a colleague, then as a friend, then as a best friend, and then as something much more, and then as something I will forever marvel at; my wife. Throughout my life, I have made many mistakes, done things I’m not proud of, said things that I regret, not taken action when I should have. Throughout everything, through all my mistakes, through my lowest points, you were always there at my side. Even when you agreed with others when they said I was in the wrong, you stood up against them for me. You are one of the few things in my life that I do not regret, and definitely the most important.
“It is your opinion that I value above all others, Minerva, and no one else’s. I would journey to the sky and capture a star for you if I thought it would make you smile. I would dive into the deepest ocean to search for a lost treasure if I thought it would put that sparkle in your eye. I would travel to the ends of the Earth for just one of your sweet kisses. It is not worth waking to another day if I cannot gaze at your peacefully sleeping face in our bed, lit aglow by the first rays of morning sun. Nor is it worth returning to our rooms at night if you are not there waiting for me with a hot cup of cocoa and a smile.” He paused to stroke her cheek lovingly, before letting his hand slide slowly down her arm, and grip her freed hand once more.
“Minerva, you are everything to me; and it is my sole mission in life to make you as happy as you make me by just being the wonderful woman that by the grace of Merlin chose to marry me. I love you, with all that I am, all that I used to be, and all that I will become. I am a better man for loving you, and a happier one for being loved by you. It is with every fibre of my being that I apologise for upsetting you so, but you must understand that it was not my intention at all; quite the contrary. I only did what I did in the sincere hopes of making you happy, for that, my darling, is more important to me than anything else could ever dream of being,” he finished, hoping that she would accept his words.
Minerva gently squeezed his hands and said, her voice barely above a whisper, “Oh, Albus…”
Albus grinned at her, feeling triumphant until…
Minerva removed her hands from Albus’s grasp violently. “That is by far the most over the top, inane, poor excuse of a bloody explanation that I ever heard!” she raged, her fury making him take a subconscious step backwards. “I cannot believe your nerve! Did you really think that I would fall for that sentimental garbage, you old fool? And wanting to make me happy is certainly, I repeat, CERTAINLY no excuse for what you did! Do I LOOK happy to you, Albus? Well, do I?”
“Well, n-no, but-” he stammered, quelling under the intensity of his wife’s temper.
“But nothing!” She let out a growl of frustration, her fists clenching at her sides. “Do you know what my day was like? No! You have no idea, because you have been up in your office all bloody day! Meanwhile, I’ve had to put up with the antics of little snot-nosed brats that make it their life’s goal to top Fred and George’s swamp fiasco! Peeves decided that it would be fun to throw chewed up Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum in my Transfiguration corridor, and in the end I was forced to CUT MY HAIR because the ruddy stuff wouldn’t come out!” She reached up a hand and jerked out her hair pins, to prove her point.
Albus’s eyes widened slightly, as her silky black hair fell loose. The beautiful tresses which once fell slightly below the small of her back now dusted the top of the cleavage he knew lurked beneath those conservative tartan robes. Her cheeks were flush in her rage, her pupils dilated, and her lips were glistening where she had just wet them. Albus was never more attracted to his wife for some reason than when she was at the heights of her Scottish temper.
“And THEN,” she screamed, “as if things couldn’t possibly get worse, a first year student stole one of Hagrid’s Nifflers after class because she thought it was cute! And do you know which class she had right after Care of Magical Creatures, Albus?”
“Um, yours?” he offered weakly.
“Bloody right mine! The little beast effectively destroyed my classroom! And then, do you KNOW what it did?”
“I, er, I have no-”
“It went after my necklace! The necklace that YOU bought me for our tenth anniversary! And you know where I keep that necklace, don’t you?”
Despite his wife’s lividness, he was almost overcome with the urge to laugh. The scene that was instantly created in his mind was quite amusing. However, he did not have a death wish, so he kept his face as straight as he could.
“Tucked inside my robes; yes! Apparently the little blighter caught a glimpse of the gold chain around my neck, and it pounced on me! It burrowed down the neck of my robes to get to the new treasure it had found! I was the laughing stock of the entire school today! How does that make you feel?” she spat.
Albus couldn’t keep the small smirk from his face. “Rather jealous of the Niffler,” he replied, letting his eyes travel over her body, causing her to let out another howl of frustration.
“You’re impossible! My day was a nightmare, and all I wanted was to come back here to our rooms, sit down with you on the sofa, and read a book in peace! Secure within the walls of our own residence! But did you grant me that joy? NO! Instead, I walk into our rooms, and find THIS!” she screeched, gesturing wildly about the room.
Albus sighed. “You’ve been complaining about the décor in the sitting room for ages, Minerva! So I finally decided to do something about it in the hopes of making you happy! I like it!” he said, Minerva’s words finally starting to get him riled up. Honestly, she had been going on about the sitting room needing redecorating for years. Now, he had finally done just that and she wasn’t satisfied! Well, he knew he should have gotten her input, and well, he had also known that it wasn’t to her tastes… but still! Surely it should mean something that he at least tried!
Minerva snarled her nose. “Yes, Albus, it makes YOU happy! You did not ask me my opinion, you did not ask me for help, you went out and YOU did it! You cannot possibly tell me that you truly believed that I would approve of this?”
“Well, I had hoped there might be a possibility,” he mumbled, realising defeat.
She snorted. “That’s what I thought. You could not have had me in mind when you picked out that table OR that couch!”
Albus looked to the items of furniture in question, and then back to his wife. “You don’t like the table? It is my favourite thing in the room! And I loved the couch, too,” he mumbled.
The glare Minerva gave him would have sent any other person running in the opposite direction. “Well, Mr. Dumbledore,” she bit out between clenched teeth, “since you obviously adore your new couch so much, you won’t mind sleeping on it!” And with that, she stormed past him and into their bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Albus stared at the door she had just gone through, and jumped slightly when it flew back open. He saw a blanket being thrown from the room, before his vision was briefly obscured by the bed pillow that hit him in the face, and he heard the door slam once more. He looked again around the room and the new design that his wife obviously hated.
The beige paint on the walls had been changed to vibrant yellow. The lush cream carpet that had once encompassed their floor had been changed to deep red. The once white couch with cream throw pillows had been replaced by a dark purple one with embroidered sherbet lemons on it, and the throw pillows were in the shape of the sweets as well. The once elegant toffee drapes were now the same purple as the couch, and had silver shooting stars on them that kept darting across the fabric. The coffee table had gone from rich wood to crystal clear glass, and was filled with blue water that had enchanted goldfish swimming around inside.
With a sigh, he flopped down on the couch, covering himself with the blanket, and fluffing his pillow, getting comfortable. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, marvelling at the wonder that was his woman. He did so love to see her so stirred up. He couldn’t deny that he had known Minerva would not like his decorating. He had known it very well. However, she kept complaining that their sitting room was too ‘boring’ so he thought he would liven it up a bit, and liven her up a bit in the process. She was beautiful all the time in his eyes, but she was even more-so when angry. He hadn’t meant to add to her bad day, but he couldn’t help smiling at the memory of the way she looked when she furiously pulled the pins from her hair. He longed to run his fingers through her now much shorter tresses.
Wriggling about and fussing with the covers, he tried to get comfortable. He hated sleeping on the couch. He could never sleep well when Minerva was not nestled in his embrace. Turning his head to the side, he watched the goldfish chasing one another around inside of the table. He really did like that table.
Hearing the sudden creak of a door, Albus felt his hopes rise. He heard the soft sound of bare feet as they padded across the floor, and looking at the deep red carpet at the corner of the couch, he saw the perfect toes of his wife come into view. He allowed his eyes to slowly travel from her toes to her ankles, up her legs and then to the hem of her short, green nightgown, and on up her flat stomach, over the swell of her delicious breasts, up her slender neck, to her soft pink lips, and finally to her apologetic eyes.
He said nothing, but offered a smile as she stood before him. He raised his blanket invitingly, and she climbed inside with him, snuggling close and planting a gentle kiss on his neck. He stroked the small of her back through her nightgown.
“Albus,” Minerva whispered softly, “about what you said earlier…you really don’t regret marrying me?”
Albus placed his finger beneath her chin and raised her head up so he could look into her sparkling green eyes. “Never; not even for a second.”
She smiled at him; one of those rare, breathtaking smiles that only he was privileged enough to see. “I love you, Albus.”
“And I you, Minerva,” he replied, kissing her lovingly on the lips before she laid her head back down on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I went off on you like that,” she said, tracing a lazy pattern across his shoulder with her finger.
“And I’m sorry that you had such a bad day,” he replied, staring at the fish once more as he let his hand travel from her back, down her thigh.
She raised her head up slightly, noticing he was watching something, and shifted in his embrace to see what it was. She smirked as she saw the goldfish swimming inside the table. “You know, Albus,” she purred, “I might be persuaded to let you keep that table.”
Albus turned his twinkling blue eyes to her and grinned in that mischievous manner that always stole Minerva’s breath right from her lungs. “Is that so, my dear?” he asked, a playful lilt to his voice. “And just how, pray tell, could I do that?”
Minerva draped her leg across Albus’s thighs and licked her lips suggestively. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
He leaned in to capture those succulent lips. Yes, he had quite a few ideas, actually, and he was sure that she would thoroughly enjoy each.
……….
One month later....
“Ah, Alastor, Poppy, come in!” Minerva greeted, welcoming the couple into her and Albus's private quarters. It had become a tradition that she and Albus would spend Saturday nights with Poppy and Alastor, their long time friends.
“Oh, Minerva, I love what you’ve done with the place!” Poppy exclaimed, looking around the sitting room. It was painted a deep rusty red colour, and the carpeted floor had been forgone in favour of deep cherry hardwood. The furniture was crisp white with deep red and brown throw pillows. The curtains were elegant beige that matched the large rug in the centre of the room. The end tables were made of a darker cherry than that of the floor, and complimented the white of the couch. The only thing that was severely out of place in the breathtaking room was a clear glass coffee table in front of the couch that was filled with what looked to be blue water and swimming goldfish. It clearly had Albus written all over it. “Minerva, what in Merlin's name did Albus do for you to let him have that?” she snickered.
Minerva blushed slightly as she took her friend's cloak, and glanced to Albus, who winked at her with a small smirk. “Oh, let’s just say that he can be very…persuasive.”
Author’s Note: Well, there we have it! I hoped you enjoyed, please let me know! And, er, yes, I know that I should be working on ‘Delicious Torment’ but I couldn’t help but write this little plot bunny! I promise I’ll go back to DT now! ::runs off before she’s smacked::
Cheers!
Lamenting Quill
