Post by McGonagallsGirl on Jun 20, 2009 3:27:06 GMT -5
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I thought perhaps it was too tense, but of course that was a tense night... Characterization was my main concern, so notes on that would be appreciated, although all reviews are most humbly welcome, as always ;D
Here, have a link to the first part of the story:
admmfics.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=drama&thread=4043
--MG
It was nearly four o’clock in the morning when Minerva returned to Albus’ office. He was staring out the window, listlessly wandering in his mind and Minerva did not approve of his timing.
“Albus? Perhaps you might return to me for the rest of this evening?”
“You went to the hospital wing?” he did not look at her. She thought it rude, considering.
“Yes. Harry Potter is there now, trying to determine where exactly he went wrong.” She stepped out of the doorway and walked to his desk, setting two vials of potion down. “We need to talk about this, Albus.”
“Not tonight.”
“You’re keeping your thoughts to yourself, your plans, your ideas. You’re keeping secrets from me, and it’s not fair. Come here and sit down.” She was stern, a sharpness in her voice belying her anger though her volume remained conversational.
He turned to her, upset that she was upset. “Minerva, you don’t understand—“
She snapped at him, “If I don’t understand, Albus, then it’s because you stopped speaking to me! But I think I bloody well do understand. I told you there was something wrong with Alastor, I told you he was not himself, I told you not to let Potter compete, I told you there was something—“
He raised his voice, “I remember very well what you told me, Minerva!”
“Don’t you dare yell at me tonight. Tonight, it is my turn to yell!”
“You think this is my fault.” He accused her.
“No, You think this is your fault. I think you should have learned a lesson from the way your plans fell apart this year, but at the moment you are only perpetuating the behavior that got us here in the first place. You’re aloof, you think you’re the only one worthy of—“
“I think no such thing.”
“I understand the need for secrecy, Albus. And I would think that after keeping our marriage a secret for nigh on 40 years I might have earned your esteem, your trust when it comes to items that are secret—“
“Stop it. Stop it right now! I trust you, Minerva, but I don’t trust the people who might attack and capture you if you were to know the details of my plan.”
“By Merlin, that’s a tired excuse for keeping things secret. I believe you used the same one when convincing me to keep our relationship thus.”
“That’s because it’s the truth.”
“Truth?! Albus you aren’t interested in truth in the least!!” Now she was yelling. “I gave you truth earlier this year, and you chose to ignore it. Tom Riddle has returned and people will die! That is the truth! It could have been prevented and we didn’t prevent it! We sent Lily and James Potter’s son on a mission of death, not for the first time, and he scraped by with his life but Cedric Diggory wasn’t as lucky! That’s the truth!!”
Anger flashed through Albus’ eyes and manifested itself in his body, magic crackling through the room. “Voldemort could not have been stopped from returning. There was nothing that would have stopped Barty Crouch Jr. from getting to Harry, there was no way to prevent—“
“If that’s the case,” She was dangerously quiet, “and we were powerless this entire year to alter the events of our lives then you are suggesting predestination, Albus. You’re suggesting that this entire war has been decided already, and there is nothing to be done but wait.”
“I don’t mean that—“
“Then there is something that could have been done, we simply missed it. Or, rather, you weren’t looking for it.”
“I was—“
“You were foolishly confident in Harry’s ability to rise above every challenge he will ever face . I think that may well be your grand, mysterious plan, and you know it will sound ridiculous to any and everyone who hears it so you keep it quiet.”
“You understand nothing of—“
“I understand you! I understand wars! I understand both Harry Potter and his parents! By Merlin, I understand Tom Riddle! What am I missing, Albus? Why are you more equipped to play this game than I am?!” She was yelling again.
“Because I’ve been here before!” So was he. “I have been down this exact road, I know what’s going to happen, I’ve done it before with—“
“Tom Riddle is not Gellert Grindlewald!”
“What do you know of Grindlewald?!”
“I fought him with you, Albus. I was on the field, right behind you, as you fought him. Or have you forgotten?”
“You weren’t there for what led to that battle.”
“You mean the months that the aurors spent trying to put a stop to him? The reconnaissance missions you and I made together in the weeks leading to the battle?”
“I mean when I was a child and he was my friend, Minerva! You don’t know what made him evil.”
“...We aren’t about to wage war with Gellert Grindlewald. We’re about to wage war with Tom Riddle. I may not have known Grindlewald when he was a toddler, but Riddle I know.” She was very grave about her words and Albus calmed himself.
They were silent for a while. Albus left his place at the window and crossed to his desk. They took their familiar seats, him behind the desk, she in front of it. Albus had tea brought to them. When he finally spoke to her, it was gently.
“Minerva, give me time. Let me better organize my thoughts before I divulge my plans to you.”
“Don’t bother, Albus. I’ve played you at chess, I know what your plans are.” She practically spat, and she did not look at him but glared into her tea cup.
“What do you mean by that?” He was still infinitely gentle.
“You’re going to sacrifice your queen for the king. “
“Minerva, the prophesy—“
“The prophesy is one eventuality. There are millions. You’ve never subscribed to predestination before, don’t you dare start now. This isn’t the time to change your views on religion—“
“Minerva!” and she shut her mouth. She had come upon the line she was not to cross and had very nearly passed it up. He looked at her a bit longer as she angrily sipped her tea. Having been married to her for so long, he knew it was wisest to try an apologetic route, “Honestly, Minerva, I never meant—“
“Albus, if you wanted honesty you’d have come to me sooner. Or come to me at all. What you wanted was to hear an affirmation of your beliefs, so you went everywhere else in the world but to me. …Because you’re the only person who holds all of the puzzle pieces, you’ve placed yourself beyond reproach, and that’s dangerous. There are millions of possibilities, Albus. The truth is that yours is not the only one. And if you were at all interested in honesty, you’d have stopped lying to yourself by now and realized it.” She stood. “I’ll be in my rooms, Albus, gathering contact information for the Order.” She went to leave but tarried in the doorway and turned to him. “You should watch your press on this, Albus. The Prophet may try to turn popular opinion against you, and without public sentiment on your side our fight is going to be rather more difficult for a while. If I were you I’d start thinking of ways to alert the public and convince them before The Prophet begins to discredit you.”
“…Minerva, there’s simply not time at the moment to worry about what the public thinks of me—“
“Have it your way then.” And she left.
Here, have a link to the first part of the story:
admmfics.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=drama&thread=4043
--MG
The Truth
It was nearly four o’clock in the morning when Minerva returned to Albus’ office. He was staring out the window, listlessly wandering in his mind and Minerva did not approve of his timing.
“Albus? Perhaps you might return to me for the rest of this evening?”
“You went to the hospital wing?” he did not look at her. She thought it rude, considering.
“Yes. Harry Potter is there now, trying to determine where exactly he went wrong.” She stepped out of the doorway and walked to his desk, setting two vials of potion down. “We need to talk about this, Albus.”
“Not tonight.”
“You’re keeping your thoughts to yourself, your plans, your ideas. You’re keeping secrets from me, and it’s not fair. Come here and sit down.” She was stern, a sharpness in her voice belying her anger though her volume remained conversational.
He turned to her, upset that she was upset. “Minerva, you don’t understand—“
She snapped at him, “If I don’t understand, Albus, then it’s because you stopped speaking to me! But I think I bloody well do understand. I told you there was something wrong with Alastor, I told you he was not himself, I told you not to let Potter compete, I told you there was something—“
He raised his voice, “I remember very well what you told me, Minerva!”
“Don’t you dare yell at me tonight. Tonight, it is my turn to yell!”
“You think this is my fault.” He accused her.
“No, You think this is your fault. I think you should have learned a lesson from the way your plans fell apart this year, but at the moment you are only perpetuating the behavior that got us here in the first place. You’re aloof, you think you’re the only one worthy of—“
“I think no such thing.”
“I understand the need for secrecy, Albus. And I would think that after keeping our marriage a secret for nigh on 40 years I might have earned your esteem, your trust when it comes to items that are secret—“
“Stop it. Stop it right now! I trust you, Minerva, but I don’t trust the people who might attack and capture you if you were to know the details of my plan.”
“By Merlin, that’s a tired excuse for keeping things secret. I believe you used the same one when convincing me to keep our relationship thus.”
“That’s because it’s the truth.”
“Truth?! Albus you aren’t interested in truth in the least!!” Now she was yelling. “I gave you truth earlier this year, and you chose to ignore it. Tom Riddle has returned and people will die! That is the truth! It could have been prevented and we didn’t prevent it! We sent Lily and James Potter’s son on a mission of death, not for the first time, and he scraped by with his life but Cedric Diggory wasn’t as lucky! That’s the truth!!”
Anger flashed through Albus’ eyes and manifested itself in his body, magic crackling through the room. “Voldemort could not have been stopped from returning. There was nothing that would have stopped Barty Crouch Jr. from getting to Harry, there was no way to prevent—“
“If that’s the case,” She was dangerously quiet, “and we were powerless this entire year to alter the events of our lives then you are suggesting predestination, Albus. You’re suggesting that this entire war has been decided already, and there is nothing to be done but wait.”
“I don’t mean that—“
“Then there is something that could have been done, we simply missed it. Or, rather, you weren’t looking for it.”
“I was—“
“You were foolishly confident in Harry’s ability to rise above every challenge he will ever face . I think that may well be your grand, mysterious plan, and you know it will sound ridiculous to any and everyone who hears it so you keep it quiet.”
“You understand nothing of—“
“I understand you! I understand wars! I understand both Harry Potter and his parents! By Merlin, I understand Tom Riddle! What am I missing, Albus? Why are you more equipped to play this game than I am?!” She was yelling again.
“Because I’ve been here before!” So was he. “I have been down this exact road, I know what’s going to happen, I’ve done it before with—“
“Tom Riddle is not Gellert Grindlewald!”
“What do you know of Grindlewald?!”
“I fought him with you, Albus. I was on the field, right behind you, as you fought him. Or have you forgotten?”
“You weren’t there for what led to that battle.”
“You mean the months that the aurors spent trying to put a stop to him? The reconnaissance missions you and I made together in the weeks leading to the battle?”
“I mean when I was a child and he was my friend, Minerva! You don’t know what made him evil.”
“...We aren’t about to wage war with Gellert Grindlewald. We’re about to wage war with Tom Riddle. I may not have known Grindlewald when he was a toddler, but Riddle I know.” She was very grave about her words and Albus calmed himself.
They were silent for a while. Albus left his place at the window and crossed to his desk. They took their familiar seats, him behind the desk, she in front of it. Albus had tea brought to them. When he finally spoke to her, it was gently.
“Minerva, give me time. Let me better organize my thoughts before I divulge my plans to you.”
“Don’t bother, Albus. I’ve played you at chess, I know what your plans are.” She practically spat, and she did not look at him but glared into her tea cup.
“What do you mean by that?” He was still infinitely gentle.
“You’re going to sacrifice your queen for the king. “
“Minerva, the prophesy—“
“The prophesy is one eventuality. There are millions. You’ve never subscribed to predestination before, don’t you dare start now. This isn’t the time to change your views on religion—“
“Minerva!” and she shut her mouth. She had come upon the line she was not to cross and had very nearly passed it up. He looked at her a bit longer as she angrily sipped her tea. Having been married to her for so long, he knew it was wisest to try an apologetic route, “Honestly, Minerva, I never meant—“
“Albus, if you wanted honesty you’d have come to me sooner. Or come to me at all. What you wanted was to hear an affirmation of your beliefs, so you went everywhere else in the world but to me. …Because you’re the only person who holds all of the puzzle pieces, you’ve placed yourself beyond reproach, and that’s dangerous. There are millions of possibilities, Albus. The truth is that yours is not the only one. And if you were at all interested in honesty, you’d have stopped lying to yourself by now and realized it.” She stood. “I’ll be in my rooms, Albus, gathering contact information for the Order.” She went to leave but tarried in the doorway and turned to him. “You should watch your press on this, Albus. The Prophet may try to turn popular opinion against you, and without public sentiment on your side our fight is going to be rather more difficult for a while. If I were you I’d start thinking of ways to alert the public and convince them before The Prophet begins to discredit you.”
“…Minerva, there’s simply not time at the moment to worry about what the public thinks of me—“
“Have it your way then.” And she left.
WOW !!! This is absolutely FANTASTIC! Kind of "the background-story" for the adult HP-reader (sounds stupid, I know). This is the most serious argument and questioning of Albus' handling of the situation I have ever read - and just what has been in my mind without being able to write it down in such a breathtaking style!!
awesome story, I hope you keep writing