Post by childminerva on Mar 28, 2007 20:14:25 GMT -5
hehe...1,100 words and I just thought it up and wrote it today! Please let me know what you think, and then write your own entry!!!
This is for you, Pops!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is for you, Pops!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minerva McGonagall cast a quick glance around her personal quarters to make sure that everything was ready for the party she was about to host. There were a lot of brightly colored balloons floating near the ceiling which made Minerva cringe, but she knew that Albus would love them, and as the party was for him, she had made sure to include them.
There was also a large lemon flavored cake with the words “Happy Birthday Albus” written in icing and surrounded by a dizzying amount of lemon drops. Besides cake, there was a huge bowl of muggle candy and several bottles of Madam Rosmerta’s mulled mead. There was even a Happy Birthday banner draped across the mantle.
All of this was part of the surprise birthday party that Minerva was throwing for Albus Dumbledore’s one hundred and eleventh birthday. Minerva had decided to throw this party as a way of reminding Albus how much she loved him. Things had been a bit tense between them lately as school business and Ministry problems had kept them both busy and on edge and Minerva hated how they had grown apart over the past few weeks.
Minerva had asked her friends Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout and Poppy Pomfrey to help her plan and set up the party and they were to be the only other guests present. To keep it a surprise, Minerva had asked Albus to come up to her rooms for a birthday chess match. He had agreed and now it was only a matter of minutes before he arrived.
Poppy, Pomona and Filius had each found a place to hide and waited eagerly for Albus to knock on the door. Minerva smiled and shushed their whispers and giggles good-naturedly; she was just as excited about the party as her co-conspirators.
They were not expecting what happened next.
In a quick whoosh of flames, Albus’s head appeared in Minerva’s fireplace.
“Minerva, dear,” he said by way of greeting.
“Albus! Why are you in the fireplace, aren’t you going t-“
But Albus cut her off.
“I’m very sorry Minerva,” he told her, “but an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot has been called and I’m afraid I have to cancel our plans.”
Minerva stared at Albus silently.
“I’m terribly sorry,” he apologized again. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Of course,” even with the flames dancing around his ears, Albus did not miss the flat tone of her voice.
He sighed.
“Good night, Minerva.”
When Albus’s head had disappeared, the three other professors peeked out from their hiding spots and exchanged wary glances. Poppy was the first to speak.
“Min, I am so sorry,” the mediwitch voiced her sympathy, but did not dare to step any closer to her volatile friend. “Do you want us to help you put things away?”
Minerva waved a hand at her friends.
“No, just go. Thanks for helping me anyway.”
Pomona smiled sadly and hugged Minerva tightly before leaving with Poppy and Filius.
When they had gone, Minerva looked around at the party decorations and the food ruefully before sinking down onto the couch in an unhappy slump.
Several hours later, Albus Dumbledore made his way to Minerva McGonagall’s rooms, wanting to apologize. He knew it was late at night, but he also knew that she liked to stay up grading papers and that there was a good chance that he would find her awake.
Today had not been one of his better birthdays; in fact, it had been one of his worst, which was saying something considering how many birthdays he had lived through. The day had started well enough when Minerva had greeted him with a kiss and invited him to her rooms after dinner for a game of chess to quietly celebrate his birthday.
Albus had been looking forward to that time with her all day and had felt like throwing a tantrum when the summons from the Wizengamot appeared in his office. But he was now one hundred and eleven and tantrums were no longer acceptable so he had been forced to tell Minerva that he would not be able to join her. He knew she had been hurt and he was now heading to her chambers to so that he could apologize as soon as possible.
Minerva did not answer the door when he knocked so Albus gave the portrait guarding her chambers the password and let himself in. What he saw upon entering made tears spring into his eyes.
There were balloons of every possible color floating near the ceiling and a large banner hanging over the fireplace read “Happy Birthday”. Glancing to his left, Albus noticed a large cake bearing the words “Happy Birthday Albus” and also a bowl of his favorite muggle candies and some bottles that looked like his favorite mulled mead.
Finally, Albus noticed Minerva, curled up on the couch asleep, with an unhappy expression upon her face. He crept silently to her side and knelt down beside the couch. She stirred when he traced a gentle finger across her cheek and then opened her eyes.
“Albus,” she mumbled, still partly asleep.
“Yes, I came by to apologize for missing our chess game earlier, though now I see that it was a bit more than just a chess game.”
“The party,” Minerva said softly, remembering where she was and what had happened earlier. “I wanted to surprise you. Poppy and Mona and Filius were here too.”
“I am so sorry,” Albus whispered. “I hate that we haven’t seen much of each other lately, and that I ruined the party you had worked so hard on.”
Minerva sighed and smiled gently up at Albus.
“Me too,” she told him. “But it’s all right now, really.”
She sat up and patted the seat next to her on the couch. Albus settled himself beside her and then pulled her close to him, letting her rest her head upon his shoulder.
They sat like that for several minutes in a comfortable silence until Albus suddenly began to chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Minerva demanded.
“I never thought I’d see so much muggle candy, or candy of any kind really, in your sitting room my dear,” he told her, still grinning.
Minerva glared at him a moment and then smiled and laughed softly.
“It’s all for you,” she told him, swatting at his chest playfully. “I won’t touch that sickly sweet stuff and none of the others seemed very interested either.”
“All the better for me then.”
“Albus?’
“Yes dear?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“And Albus?”
“Hmm?”
“Happy Birthday.”
