Post by Annus Miribilis on Oct 30, 2004 18:22:15 GMT -5
A/N: This is a late response to Griselda La fey's "Albus I've got something to tell you..." challenge.
“I’m what? That far also? Poppy, that cannot be right, can it?” a frightened young woman asked the healer-in-training. “I mean, how can it be? I was only with him for one night. How could it have happened that fast?” the witch said terrified, thinking of the night she’d spent with him the day before the faced and defeated Grindelwald.
“It can and it did, I’m afraid?” Poppy told her friend softly, yet also firmly.
The woman put the back of her hand to her forehead, breathing in and out deeply for a minute to regain to her composure, all the while not believing a word of what Poppy had told her. “How did this happen?” she said miserably.
“If you have to ask me that, then I think we should sit down and have a little chat, don’t you?”
“Poppy, I didn’t literally mean that,” she said irritably. She turned around for a moment to collect her thoughts. Then fully realizing she had snapped at her dear friend, she turned remorse. “Oh, Poppy, I’m sorry, it’s just….oh, what am I going to do? I’ll probably never see him again.”
“I’ll tell you what you’re not going to do, you’re not going to feel sorry for yourself. You’re going to at least try to find him again for your sake and your child’s sake. You have to tell him. If not, how are you going to raise a child on your own?”
“Poppy, I don’t want him to feel obligated. He already has an established career to be thinking about, now, since Grindelwald has been destroyed. He doesn’t need me to come in and disrupt that.”
“Would you listen to yourself, for one moment here? He should feel obligated to help you, since he is partly, if not all responsible for getting you into this position—“
“He is not, Poppy!” the other woman interrupted her. “I am just as much to blame.”
“Yes, but you have to bear the brunt of it, while he can go prancing around as if nothing had happened between you.”
“He would never!” Minerva gasped horrified.
“Let me finish please. I have nothing against him, but if you want to keep this child you find him and demand that he help you raise the child. I don’t care if it is the last thing you do, but the next time I see you, I had better be sitting in a pew waiting for you to come down the aisle! That’s an order!” Poppy said firmly once more, but smiling a bit this time.
“Excuse me, but could you please tell me where I might find Albus Dumbledore?” Minerva McGonagall politely asked the Welcome Witch at the entrance to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
“I’m sorry, but he and the other chairmen of the Wizengamot are in a very important meeting right now and won’t be out for a t least another hour,” said the Welcome Witch equally being polite. “Good day to you.” she made to close the little window at her desk and go back to whatever it was she was doing, but Minerva stopped her.
“Oh, but wait, please…. it’s urgent!” Minerva said holding the window back so the other witch could not close it.
“I’m sorry but I can’t break up a very important meeting just because I am told by a woman needing to speak to a member about petty matters. Now, would you let go of my window? I really need to get back to my work!” With that Minerva released the window.
“Fine! I’ll wait here for him then! And it’s some ‘petty matter.’ It happens to very important; probably more important than whatever is going on in that meeting,” she mumbled hotly to herself as she sat down in a chair in the lobby in front of the Welcome Witch’s desk.
A few minutes later, footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. “Can I help you ladies with anything? You quite distracted us from our meeting.” Minerva’s head snapped up and saw Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway to the lobby. The Welcome Witch came scrambling out of her little cubicle, pointing her finger at Minerva.
“Dumbledore, this incomprehensible woman has been demanding to speak with you and she refuses to leave until you do!” she said as though she were a four-year-old tattling on Minerva for stealing a toy from her.
“I see,” said Dumbledore glancing over to Minerva, wondering why she had come to see him of all people. He went over to her. “Will you follow me, please?” He inclined for her to follow him down the opposite corridor of which he had just come out of. “Jayne, will you please tell the others I will only be a moment?”
The Welcome Witch nodded her head and did as he bid her to. Minerva followed him into a private room and he let her precede him through the door. She looked around the room and them turned back to Albus as he closed the door behind himself quietly. To her surprise he did not say anything and she surprised herself by not speaking a word. He stood there, simply surveying her for a moment. It reminded her much of that night she had spent with him those short two months ago. Finally she could no longer bear the silence them and she spoke timidly, so unlike herself.
“I-I suppose you’re a bit surprised to see me here of all places and at such a time too for that matter,” she said, her Scottish brogue more pronounced now that she was nervous. If truth be told, that had been what attracted him to her in the first place.
“I guess you could look at it that way,” said Albus almost coldly. Minerva gaped at him, not believing he had just spoke to her in that tone of voice, especially after how gently he had spoken to in the past.
“Please, Albus, there is a reason as to why I had to come here, and it most certainly is not a petty matter as the Welcome Witch said,” Minerva told him a little unnerved. “It happens to be very important.”
“By all means then,” he said gesturing for her to tell him, “tell me what it is that is so important.”
“You may want to sit down…or if you don’t want to that’s fine also.” Minerva began mentally chiding herself for being so nervous in front of him. “I will understand completely if you don’t want to be involved with this. I will simply leave you alone if you do not wish—“
“Minerva,” he said gently but firmly cutting her off, “please, stop stalling and get to the point. I may die of anticipation before you tell me whatever it is that you were going to tell me and I hardly think that that is what you would like to have happen.”
“Albus, I’m going to have a baby,” she told him quickly and then fell silent.
He was in such a state of shock that he had not completely heard what she had said. “You’re going to what?”
“I’m going to have a baby, your baby that is,” she told him looking down at the floor.
He was still recovering slowly. “Are you sure Minerva?”
“Albus, you are the only man I have ever allowed to come this close to me, and even at my age,” she said firmly though she was afraid he might completely reject her now. Her eyes were glazed with fear when she spoke next, “I-I understand if you don’t want to—“
Dumbledore cut her off gently by simply pressing his fingertip to lips. She ceased talking immediately. “Minerva, I would never intend to leave you to raise our child on your own, nor would I let you,” he told her sincerely. She looked down at the floor again without interest. It allowed her to focus her attention on something other than the man standing before her.
Albus put one of his long fingers under her chin and lifted it so he could look into her deep blue eyes. “If you were afraid that I’d turn you away because of this, you are seriously mistaken, Minerva.”
“But you have your career to think about. What about that?”
“True I had not planned on being a father just yet, but if that is what is happening I must face it like a man and take on the challenge.”
She looked into his eyes then. “You’re really not going to abandon me with this child?”
“Minerva, do I look like the type of person to do that?” She gazed at him, shyly smiling as she shook her head in response. He noted how fearful she still looked. Pregnancy, it seemed, made this very strong, confident woman feel and look gaunt and vulnerable. “I’m glad you think so too. I only wished this could have happened under different circumstances.”
“Me too,” she whispered, turning her head away for a moment before feeling Albus turn her chin to face him once again.
“I wondered, Minerva,” he said stepping even closer to her, if I might be able to kiss you again.”
She held her hand up to create a little space between them, the fear still present in her eyes. “Only on one condition, Albus. I need to know if you are only agreeing to help me with this child because you feel obligated or if you really do care and willingly want to help. I also need to know if you agreeing to this because you love me, truly love me enough to help care for and bring up this child. I need to know this because I have loved you for so long and have never said anything until that night. I guess what I want to know is you were only caught up in the moment,” she finished lamely, her voice soft as she peered deep into his eyes.
“You drive a hard bargain, Minerva McGonagall, but believe me when I tell you, I was not ‘only caught up in the moment’ as you so elequotely put it. I agreed to this because I do with all my heart love you more than life it self. I would do anything for you as I promised when you were still at Hogwarts seven years ago and when I asked you to accompany me on my search for Grindelwald. I truly care you and love you unconditionally as I love our unborn child.”
She saw sincerity and deep love radiating from his eyes as he whispered to her. “I do believe then that you owe me a kiss for that confession, good sir.”
“And I shall grant your request, m’lady,” he said closing the remaining distance between them as he took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers softly. As a low, raspy moan escaped her lips, he took it upon himself to deepen their kiss.
to be continued....
“I’m what? That far also? Poppy, that cannot be right, can it?” a frightened young woman asked the healer-in-training. “I mean, how can it be? I was only with him for one night. How could it have happened that fast?” the witch said terrified, thinking of the night she’d spent with him the day before the faced and defeated Grindelwald.
“It can and it did, I’m afraid?” Poppy told her friend softly, yet also firmly.
The woman put the back of her hand to her forehead, breathing in and out deeply for a minute to regain to her composure, all the while not believing a word of what Poppy had told her. “How did this happen?” she said miserably.
“If you have to ask me that, then I think we should sit down and have a little chat, don’t you?”
“Poppy, I didn’t literally mean that,” she said irritably. She turned around for a moment to collect her thoughts. Then fully realizing she had snapped at her dear friend, she turned remorse. “Oh, Poppy, I’m sorry, it’s just….oh, what am I going to do? I’ll probably never see him again.”
“I’ll tell you what you’re not going to do, you’re not going to feel sorry for yourself. You’re going to at least try to find him again for your sake and your child’s sake. You have to tell him. If not, how are you going to raise a child on your own?”
“Poppy, I don’t want him to feel obligated. He already has an established career to be thinking about, now, since Grindelwald has been destroyed. He doesn’t need me to come in and disrupt that.”
“Would you listen to yourself, for one moment here? He should feel obligated to help you, since he is partly, if not all responsible for getting you into this position—“
“He is not, Poppy!” the other woman interrupted her. “I am just as much to blame.”
“Yes, but you have to bear the brunt of it, while he can go prancing around as if nothing had happened between you.”
“He would never!” Minerva gasped horrified.
“Let me finish please. I have nothing against him, but if you want to keep this child you find him and demand that he help you raise the child. I don’t care if it is the last thing you do, but the next time I see you, I had better be sitting in a pew waiting for you to come down the aisle! That’s an order!” Poppy said firmly once more, but smiling a bit this time.
“Excuse me, but could you please tell me where I might find Albus Dumbledore?” Minerva McGonagall politely asked the Welcome Witch at the entrance to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
“I’m sorry, but he and the other chairmen of the Wizengamot are in a very important meeting right now and won’t be out for a t least another hour,” said the Welcome Witch equally being polite. “Good day to you.” she made to close the little window at her desk and go back to whatever it was she was doing, but Minerva stopped her.
“Oh, but wait, please…. it’s urgent!” Minerva said holding the window back so the other witch could not close it.
“I’m sorry but I can’t break up a very important meeting just because I am told by a woman needing to speak to a member about petty matters. Now, would you let go of my window? I really need to get back to my work!” With that Minerva released the window.
“Fine! I’ll wait here for him then! And it’s some ‘petty matter.’ It happens to very important; probably more important than whatever is going on in that meeting,” she mumbled hotly to herself as she sat down in a chair in the lobby in front of the Welcome Witch’s desk.
A few minutes later, footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. “Can I help you ladies with anything? You quite distracted us from our meeting.” Minerva’s head snapped up and saw Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway to the lobby. The Welcome Witch came scrambling out of her little cubicle, pointing her finger at Minerva.
“Dumbledore, this incomprehensible woman has been demanding to speak with you and she refuses to leave until you do!” she said as though she were a four-year-old tattling on Minerva for stealing a toy from her.
“I see,” said Dumbledore glancing over to Minerva, wondering why she had come to see him of all people. He went over to her. “Will you follow me, please?” He inclined for her to follow him down the opposite corridor of which he had just come out of. “Jayne, will you please tell the others I will only be a moment?”
The Welcome Witch nodded her head and did as he bid her to. Minerva followed him into a private room and he let her precede him through the door. She looked around the room and them turned back to Albus as he closed the door behind himself quietly. To her surprise he did not say anything and she surprised herself by not speaking a word. He stood there, simply surveying her for a moment. It reminded her much of that night she had spent with him those short two months ago. Finally she could no longer bear the silence them and she spoke timidly, so unlike herself.
“I-I suppose you’re a bit surprised to see me here of all places and at such a time too for that matter,” she said, her Scottish brogue more pronounced now that she was nervous. If truth be told, that had been what attracted him to her in the first place.
“I guess you could look at it that way,” said Albus almost coldly. Minerva gaped at him, not believing he had just spoke to her in that tone of voice, especially after how gently he had spoken to in the past.
“Please, Albus, there is a reason as to why I had to come here, and it most certainly is not a petty matter as the Welcome Witch said,” Minerva told him a little unnerved. “It happens to be very important.”
“By all means then,” he said gesturing for her to tell him, “tell me what it is that is so important.”
“You may want to sit down…or if you don’t want to that’s fine also.” Minerva began mentally chiding herself for being so nervous in front of him. “I will understand completely if you don’t want to be involved with this. I will simply leave you alone if you do not wish—“
“Minerva,” he said gently but firmly cutting her off, “please, stop stalling and get to the point. I may die of anticipation before you tell me whatever it is that you were going to tell me and I hardly think that that is what you would like to have happen.”
“Albus, I’m going to have a baby,” she told him quickly and then fell silent.
He was in such a state of shock that he had not completely heard what she had said. “You’re going to what?”
“I’m going to have a baby, your baby that is,” she told him looking down at the floor.
He was still recovering slowly. “Are you sure Minerva?”
“Albus, you are the only man I have ever allowed to come this close to me, and even at my age,” she said firmly though she was afraid he might completely reject her now. Her eyes were glazed with fear when she spoke next, “I-I understand if you don’t want to—“
Dumbledore cut her off gently by simply pressing his fingertip to lips. She ceased talking immediately. “Minerva, I would never intend to leave you to raise our child on your own, nor would I let you,” he told her sincerely. She looked down at the floor again without interest. It allowed her to focus her attention on something other than the man standing before her.
Albus put one of his long fingers under her chin and lifted it so he could look into her deep blue eyes. “If you were afraid that I’d turn you away because of this, you are seriously mistaken, Minerva.”
“But you have your career to think about. What about that?”
“True I had not planned on being a father just yet, but if that is what is happening I must face it like a man and take on the challenge.”
She looked into his eyes then. “You’re really not going to abandon me with this child?”
“Minerva, do I look like the type of person to do that?” She gazed at him, shyly smiling as she shook her head in response. He noted how fearful she still looked. Pregnancy, it seemed, made this very strong, confident woman feel and look gaunt and vulnerable. “I’m glad you think so too. I only wished this could have happened under different circumstances.”
“Me too,” she whispered, turning her head away for a moment before feeling Albus turn her chin to face him once again.
“I wondered, Minerva,” he said stepping even closer to her, if I might be able to kiss you again.”
She held her hand up to create a little space between them, the fear still present in her eyes. “Only on one condition, Albus. I need to know if you are only agreeing to help me with this child because you feel obligated or if you really do care and willingly want to help. I also need to know if you agreeing to this because you love me, truly love me enough to help care for and bring up this child. I need to know this because I have loved you for so long and have never said anything until that night. I guess what I want to know is you were only caught up in the moment,” she finished lamely, her voice soft as she peered deep into his eyes.
“You drive a hard bargain, Minerva McGonagall, but believe me when I tell you, I was not ‘only caught up in the moment’ as you so elequotely put it. I agreed to this because I do with all my heart love you more than life it self. I would do anything for you as I promised when you were still at Hogwarts seven years ago and when I asked you to accompany me on my search for Grindelwald. I truly care you and love you unconditionally as I love our unborn child.”
She saw sincerity and deep love radiating from his eyes as he whispered to her. “I do believe then that you owe me a kiss for that confession, good sir.”
“And I shall grant your request, m’lady,” he said closing the remaining distance between them as he took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers softly. As a low, raspy moan escaped her lips, he took it upon himself to deepen their kiss.
to be continued....
