Let Me Introduce You~An Interactive Story

[nikkimouse]

Definetly voting for B. Looking forward to seeing what you do next

[ginger newts]

That was so unbelievably sweet, I love how Albus went to so much trouble and knew exactly what Minerva would want. *melts* They're going to be so distracted from working. ;D

Hmm, tough call for next week...I'll go with B.

[LadyJolly]

Loving this story and I choose TEXT!! No doubts gotta have Xiomara she makes most things interesting.

[LadyJolly]

Loving this story and I choose B!! No doubts gotta have Xiomara she makes most things interesting.

[MiniPrincess]

I've said it before but I love the coy options, I mean you told us he proposed but no one mentioned that she said yes! Sorry, I enjoy going off on tangents.
Since two of my best friends became engaged last week I am in need of some comic relief so - A.

[TartanPhoenix]

You guys have outdone yourselves again. I loved the hide-away room he created for her. Now, while I would be happy for Maggie, I'm going to have to vote B. I want to know what the secrets are.

[Jaya]

I see which way the wind is blowing so... I'm gonna vote for A! even though I know it doesn't stand a prayer... just to be evil

Jaya ;D

[tayryn]

oh this choice is easy!

B!!!!

i LOVE Hooch!! bring her on!!

lovely update, btw!

[Krystal]

I choose B! I hope to hear some great secrets. Krys

[Herzele]

That was a wonderful chapter !
I'm voting for B this week, because I'm interested in hearing some of Minerva's secrets, too.

[Sola]

This was sooooo sweat!
I like how Albus does everything to please Min.
Just one thing: Will there be a lemony part? ;D

Anyway...I go for B!

Sola

[Kacie]

I adored the last chapter. It gave me the urge to do a bit of redecorating of my own. I choose B.

[griseldalafey]

B ;D definitely

It's so much fun to see Albus so head over heels. wonderful chapter!

[Adrasteia]

Albus is so sweet *melts*
I'm still enjoying this story very much.
And for the next update: B! Xiomara can be so... euhm Xiomara ;D
Adrasteia

[Karmin]

I think I'll join the crowd and choose B also. I can't wait to hear what Minerva is hiding. Hopefully its something scandalous. Karmin

[bee.]

minerva's secrets you say? curiosity wins, [glow=beige,2,300]B[/glow] definetly! besides... what would i story be with our hooch?
post soon, and the story is wonderful!

[Tartan Tabby]

Wonderful update!!! I'm really curious about Minerva's secrets, so I say B!

[Hogwarts Duo]

A/N: As you recall, last week we promised you a little twist this week and here it is. Over the course of the next few chapters, we're going to be contacting you to give us YOUR input. Each person will eventually have one chance to tell us an object they'd like to see and give us one sentence to use in the chapter. We'll be going in the order in which you voted on the first chapter and then adding those who joined us for later ones. We thought that might be the fairest way to handle it. So, having said that we are asking Angeldust and Tayryn to EACH email us (either on the board or at our hogwarts account on yahoo) with one object and one sentence. They can be anything your little hearts desire and we promise to get them in somehow. (Please send them to us as early as possible so we can start planning ahead.) Oh and for this chapter there were 24 B’s and only 2 A’s.

When we first came up with this idea we were thrilled and excited to think of adding a new aspect to the challenge, both for us and for you. This past week it became something so much more. When the call for stories for Karlie went out, we immediately decided that we wanted her to share in our excitement too. We emailed Karlie and Alex, asking for their help, and she graciously accepted our challenge with a smile we're told. Her choice for an object was an elephant and her sentence was "Do you think we can do it again?" We had hoped to get the chapter completed sooner, but alas we were unable to send it to her and for that we are deeply sorry.

We would like to thank Karlie and her family for giving us the opportunity to share a little bit of ourselves with her through our stories. We hope she truly enjoyed them and that it helped in some small way to brighten her days. We humbly dedicate this chapter to her...Karlie...who was always so faithful in encouraging us in our stories and for giving us so many to read ourselves. And we hope when you read this chapter, you think not of us, but of our friend who was the first to add a great challenge for us with an elephant and an intriguing sentence.

Childhood Memories

It was well past midnight when Albus and Minerva truly noted the time. It seemed like only mere seconds ago they had walked through the large wooden door leading into her work area. Instead, they had managed to get caught up in a world of new emotions and feelings, so much so that they completely missed Maggie’s party.

“Mmmm, Al…bus…mmm, dear…ohhh my…” Minerva struggled to say. “Ahhh, look at the time.”

“I’d much rather look at you in the moonlight,” he mumbled against the hollow of her throat as his tongue began another lazy journey across her sensitive skin.

“I’m serious, Albus. Look out the window. It’s well past midnight and that means we’ve missed Maggie’s party altogether,” she said sitting up and brushing errand strands of hair from her eyes. “Oh she’s not going to be happy with me about this! I can’t believe I’ve let her down. She’ll never speak to me again! She’ll…” Minerva was well on her way into a frantic state thinking of all the things Maggie had every right to say to her.

Albus placed a finger across her lips to silence her then kissed the tip of her nose quickly. “It will be fine, Minerva. While she may not be pleased with us, I’m sure once everything is explained she’ll forgive and forget. And if need be, I am willing and ready to take full responsibility for your absence at her party.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Albus, but it’s a sweet gesture. No, I’ll just go to her and explain exactly what happened.” A twinkle appeared in Albus’ blue eyes as he watched Minerva’s face. “Well, maybe I won’t tell her everything that happened but I’ll hit the highlights and general terms,” she laughed nervously.

“Why don’t we make it a point to invite her to lunch on a day of her choice, my treat, and then offer our sincere apologies together? After all, I missed her birthday party as well and it will give me a wonderful excuse to escort two lovely women into town,” he winked. “Of course I will freely admit that one is more enchanting than the other but I am somewhat biased.”

She playfully slapped his arm and kissed his cheek as her way of saying ‘thank you’ for the compliment. “Do you think it’s too early to send her an owl now? I hate putting off apologies,” she huffed, “but this is one time I truly need to beg for forgiveness.”

Albus chuckled. This was a new side to Minerva and one that he found endearing. While at first she might appear stern and set in her ways, he knew that was not the case. This complex woman was actually getting all worked up at the thoughts of her best friend being angry with her. Most people he had met over his many years would not have put so much effort into maintaining a friendship and it was a quality he found most admirable.

“I have a feeling that despite our absence, Maggie had a wonderful time at her party yet that does not excuse our mistake. We can only offer our heartfelt regrets and I’m sure with a little time, she’ll find it in her heart to forget the incident. Who knows? She might not have missed us at all.” He drew Minerva back into his arms and reclined on the settee that faced the large windows.

“How do you do that, Albus?” she asked sincerely while playing with the end of his beard. Her head rested on his chest as she burrowed into his embrace.

“How do I do what, my dear? I’m quite accomplished at a great many things so I fear you will need to narrow down my choices,” he teased.

“Make even the worse scenarios seem like minor incidents?” She leaned up and kissed his lips softly.

“Simple. I try to keep everything in perspective, that’s all. While her party was important, we did not miss it intentionally. Had we purposefully set out to ruin her evening, then it would be an entirely different story and I think with time she’ll see that.”

Minerva snuggled beside him and sighed, both from happiness and sadness. While she honestly felt horrible for missing Maggie’s party, she couldn’t remember a time when she had received more attention and tenderness from a man who made her heart flutter.

The following day, both Minerva and Albus sent separate owls to Maggie and while she was hurt and dismayed she could understand the circumstances. Not that they needed to know but if it hadn’t been for Stephen’s comment about the great Albus Dumbledore waiting to make an entrance, it would have been quite some time before she noticed their absence. So, with a forgiving and understanding heart, she owled them and accepted the luncheon invitation, suggesting a date for later in the week.

Albus was busy pouring over some last minute paperwork for Armando when Minerva’s head appeared in his fireplace. “Do you have a spare minute for a woman who keeps late hours?” she giggled.

“Only if her name is Minerva and she’s as ravishing as I remember from last night,” he laughed heartily.

“You are always ready with a charming retort, aren’t you?” she smiled. “Anyway, I just thought I’d let you know that I received an owl from Maggie. She’s accepted our invitation and we’ll meet her on Friday for lunch. If that’s agreeable with you.”

“But I’m hungry now, Minerva, and it’s a long time until Friday! Let’s drop all of our work for a few hours and apparate to London. We can have an early dinner and then a stroll along the Thames in the moonlight before I take you home.”

“Sounds lovely but I have one question for you, handsome.” Albus raised his eyebrows and looked inquisitively at the lovely woman inside his fireplace. “Do you think we can do it again?”

[Hogwarts Duo]

Albus’ brows furrowed as he struggled to piece together what it was she was referring to with her question. “Whatever it is that you’d like to do again, I’m sure it can be arranged…as long as you tell me what it was that we did.” As soon as the words left his lips and he noted the particular gleam in her eyes and the naughty smile on her face.

“I must say that I thought last night’s quiet little adventure was wonderful but if you didn’t think it memorable enough to repeat…”

“Every single moment with you is memorable and soon I’ll need a new pensieve to store all my thoughts and dreams of you. As for last night’s adventure…I think a repeat performance can be arranged, provided you return with me to Hogwarts.”

“Won’t Headmaster Dippet frown upon my late night visit, especially if he should discover that we’re not exactly working on the project just yet?”

“We can always claim that we’re trying to get you settled into the rooms. Surely he’ll understand the need for you to feel comfortable in your surroundings, especially since this is such an important project for the Ministry.”

“Pick me up in an hour.” With a wink and an impetuous sparkle in her eyes, she disappeared, leaving Albus staring at the fireplace with a cheshire cat grin on his face.

Right on time, Albus apparated to her front door and then whisked her away to London for a night on the town. All thoughts of Maggie, or anyone else who might recognize them, were far from their minds as they shared a passionate kiss so it came as quite a shock to hear a boisterous voice shouting out two words…Minnie McGonagall!

It had been several years since Minerva had seen or heard from her friend, Xiomara Hooch, but she’d recognize that voice anywhere. During their school days, those two had managed to get into some rather tight spots while playing pranks or just making sure that their Slytherin counterparts didn’t get away with much. Out of all her friends, Minerva knew that Xiomara would be the most outspoken one about her relationship with Albus.

“Quick! Run! Hide me, Albus,” she shrieked quietly.

“Would you like me to transfigure you into my pocketwatch?” he asked just in time for Xiomara to overhear.

“Yes, Minnie. That’d be a wonderful new position for you,” the hawk eyed witch shot back. “From what I can tell by the way you two were kissing just a moment ago, you’d love to be inside Albus’ pants…er…pocket.”

Albus couldn’t contain the fit of laughter that bubbled inside him and one look at Minerva’s reddened face forced him to concede defeat. “I’m Albus Dumbledore and if I’m not mistaken, you’re Xiomara Hooch. I seem to remember you from your days at Hogwarts. Quite the prankster you were back then.”

“Yes, lovely to see you again, Xia. Love to stay and chat but we have important research to do. Maybe we could meet up one day next week for dinner…alone!”

“My dear, I think we have time to spare for your friend. Besides, the moon isn’t really high enough just yet to try last night’s experiment again properly. What a pity it would be if the moonlight did not hit at just the right angle to illuminate certain fascinating bits for my wandering eyes.”

“Good! Then if it’s agreeable with you, Professor, and you, Minnie, I’d like to buy you both a round of drinks. We can do some catching up and share a few shots in the process.” Xiomara had a reputation as somewhat of a tomgirl. Even at Hogwarts most of the wizards, both older and younger, knew better than to cross her either on or off the quidditch pitch. It was that quality that allowed both girls the opportunity to create their fair share of mischief.

The pub Xia had chosen to bring them to was decorated with quidditch paraphernalia from all over the world. And was just the kind of place Minerva would have guessed the yellow-eyed witch by their side would take them. Boisterous shouts and heated arguments over the latest game could be heard over the din of music being played in the background. Based on the shouts of greeting which were thrown their way, Minerva would guess that Xia was a regular customer.

Minerva looked over at Albus to see how he was taking in his surroundings. His face was alight with merriment as his eyes roved over the colorful decorations and the clusters of people intent on verbally assaulting each other. An unheard sigh escaped Minerva as she realized that Albus actually liked the place. Her chances of leaving had just dwindled to non-existent.

Xia led them to a booth in the corner. As Minerva scooted her way toward the wall, her hands hit the table, which was sticky to the touch. She frowned at the smooth wooden surface and taking out her wand, she cast a quick cleaning spell.

“Honestly Minnie, you really need to lighten up.” Xiomara turned to Albus and winked. “She has always been the neat freak in the family.”

Minerva felt a slight pounding develop just behind her temples. This was not what she had planned for this evening. She loved Xia as a sister but she would certainly not have chosen to expose Albus to her this early in their relationship if she could at all have helped it. Xia simply knew too much about her, and her past, to make her comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

The waitress in attendance sauntered up to their table, her eyes focused on Albus and Minerva didn’t like the way they seemed to be undressing him. “What can I get for you?”

Her last word was purred at Albus and Minerva glared at the forward witch. But before she could speak Xia cut in. “Honestly Bess, the man is spoken for, so lay off. How about a round of white elephants, for old time’s sake.”

As Xia eyes found hers, Minerva glared at her friend who had a syrupy-sweet smile on her face. “Oh yes Xia, I think that would be just lovely.”

“Very well, dears. A round of white elephants coming up.” The waitress left, her skirt nearly exposing more than Minerva cared to see as she sauntered back towards the bar.

“White elephants? I don’t believe I have had the pleasure of trying that drink before.”

“It was one of Minerva’s favorites while we were at university. She always had a thing for elephants, a fetish really.”

“It…was…not…a…fetish.” The staccato words were punctuated by the deadly tone that had entered Minerva’s voice.

Seemingly unaware of the dangerous look in her childhood friend’s eyes, Xiomara continued to talk as if she hadn’t been interrupted to a very intrigued Albus.

[Hogwarts Duo]

“Ever since the lass was little, she has been overly interested in the creatures. I attribute it to the little white stuffed elephant her father got her for her sixth birthday. What was its name? Oh yes, Snowball. It was charmed to walk about and even trumpeted when you touched its trunk. She wouldn’t go anywhere without it, not even to take a tub.”

Minerva’s headache seemed to be growing exponentially as the seconds ticked by. How could she have ever let herself get talked into spending time with Xia. Albus was sure to think she was a nutter by the end of the night. As unobtrusively as possible, Minerva kicked at her friend under the table. But even though she connected with a boot-clad leg, the only response Xiomara gave to her not-so-subtle hint was to raise an eyebrow while looking in her direction.

“By the time she turned eight, Minerva was hooked. Elephants everywhere and for her birthday that year, she talked her parents into taking us to a muggle zoo. We had a wonderful time, until we got to the elephant enclosure. You see, Minerva decided that the elephant there didn’t like her home. I must admit that she did look rather bored and the pen was small and not well kept. Well, none of us could talk her out of the fact. She went on and on about how the poor thing should be living free and how important family was to an elephant and here this one was all alone.

The next thing we know, the elephant disappears from sight. Her parents were beside themselves along with the other guests. After all, how do you explain an elephant disappearing to a bunch of muggles? The zoo officials spread out to search for their rogue elephant and finally found her in a city park not too far away. It seemed that Minerva’s powers at the time were only great enough to transport her a small way, thank Merlin. The poor creature could have ended up in the ocean.”

“She would not have ended up in the ocean! And it was not like I did it on purpose.” Minerva paused in her rant suddenly aware of how childish she sounded. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and turned to Albus and was horrified to see the highly amused expression on his face. His eyes were twinkling more brightly than she had ever seen, which caused her face to start burning brightly with embarrassment. “Really Albus, it was simply a childhood fixation that has long since abated.”

“I bet you still have Snowball. In fact, if I remember correctly…”

Xiomara’s sentence was cut short by a very irritated sounding Minerva. “That is quite enough!”

“But I haven’t gotten to the best part. Unless you have already told Albus that after your tenth birthday you ran away to join the circus.”

“Xiomara! If you so much as utter another sound, I will hex you into…”

The rich chuckle that escaped Albus had the two witches starting at him and luckily for Minerva the next moment brought their round of white elephants to the table. Albus picked his up and held the glass aloft. “To childhood dreams, may they never be laid to rest.”

Minerva smiled gratefully and downed the drink in one long swig. When she finished, Albus caught her eye and winked. She felt a warmth spread throughout her body and although it could have been the alcohol, Minerva would have bet a galleon that it had much more to do with the man beside her.

Your options for this week are:

A. Minerva learns that being Albus Dumbledore’s girlfriend isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

B. The research project starts and some interesting discoveries are made.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. We look forward to hearing your comments on the chapter and on our challenge idea. The voting for this chapter will end on June 2.

White Elephant Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup moist shredded Coconut
1 cup Coconut Milk
4 tbsp Sugar
6 oz White Rum
2 oz White Creme de Cacao
1 cup Crushed Ice

Mixing Instructions:
Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

[Kandice]

I think Karlie would have loved the elephants. She collected them. I think I will choose option B. Kandie

[tayryn]

well... since the mother is out on her smoke break, i took my break to read this wonderful chapter!!

i love Hooch!! i just love her! and you ladies did a wonderful job with her as usual!!

i will think on my item and sentence and will send them tonight when i get home from work.

and as for my choice between A & B... i'm gonna go with B!

[Karmin]

I think its too soon for the glow to leave the relationship so I will go with B. I would like to learn about new discoveries. Karmin

[Herzele]

Wonderful as always !

I'll vote for B this week ... Those discoveries could be very interesting ...

[QuillofMinerva]

Great Idea Ladies ;D

Another interesting update and once again two hard options to choose from but I think I am going to choose A....would love to see how you tackle that

[ginger newts]

Wonderful job, I loved the story about her wanting to free the elephant and sending it somewhere else. I'll go with B for next week, I don't want them to have problems yet.

[Rikki]

Great update, ladies! I'll go for

B

this time. Wonderful job.

Hugs, Rikki

[Orion's Guard]

Ahh, I don't want to see Minerva disappointed just yet, so I'll vote B. I do like getting a glimpse into Minerva's past. Now we need to see some of Albus' (how in the world did he end up with a friend like Stephen?)

I've always liked Hooch, though I've always wondered whether or not we know her first name? Xiomara and Rolanda are obviously the most popular. Do we just choose which one we like best (I do like Xio).

[Nerweniel]

Oh, wonderful chapter, love the elephants & Hoochie ! I choose for... B this week ;D!

Love,

Lies

[bee.]

oh, that was awesome! Xia rocks my socks. As for the next update... im thinking [glow=yellow,2,300]A.[/glow]Can't wait, and that white elephant drink looks super good.
[glow=yellow,2,300]bee[/glow]