Post by ginger newts on Sept 18, 2004 20:20:14 GMT -5
A Mission for Love
As the Order meeting ended and the various members assembled at Grimmauld Place either left or drifted into small groups for conversation, one woman remained sitting alone at the table staring into a tea cup. This woman was Minerva McGonagall, for the most part she looked the way she had for as long as most people gathered could remember: ebony hair pulled back into the same severe bun, same square spectacles resting on her nose, she was wearing a green Muggle dress instead of her usual robes but that had come to be seen as usual at Order meetings. If anyone had bothered to look closely, however, they would have noticed a very big difference in her eyes. There was a sort of deadness to the usually lively green as if some unseen cloud had settled over them. As it happened, one very observant woman did notice, but Molly Weasley knew better than to question Minerva about it – if she had learned anything over the years it was that Minerva McGonagall was an intensely private person. Molly just watched with concern as her former professor slowly rose from the table and walked out of the room as if in a daze, she didn’t seem to notice anyone she passed along the way.
If Minerva had been less guarded and Molly had found the courage to ask, she would have found out just what was bothering the older witch. At the meeting Albus Dumbledore had given out many assignments and he seemed to have saved a very special one for Minerva. He handed her a portkey and told her that it would activate in an hour to take her to the site of her next mission, when she arrived she was to transform into her tabby cat alter-ego and stake out the area. Albus offered no other explanation and everyone present assumed it was something very secret and they would be filled in on details when Minerva returned. They had all also expected a more enthusiastic response from Minerva, as this would be her first mission since being given a clean bill of health after her attack earlier in the summer. The entire Order of the Phoenix had been outraged to hear that Dolores Umbridge and several Ministry aurors had stunned Minerva in such a cowardly way. Kingsley Shaklebolt and Tonks had been absolutely disgusted with their co-workers and reported that they were refusing to speak to them anymore. Mad-Eye Moody had wanted to storm up to the school and stun Umbridge a few times to see how she liked it, but thankfully had been stopped by Remus Lupin who was able to keep a cool head even through his anger. Everyone knew how much Minerva hated being seen as weak and useless and it was no secret that she had been after Dumbledore to give her an assignment for weeks, so it was expected that she would react happily today. Therefore, they were all greatly surprised when she took the portkey without making eye contact with Albus and said a simple “alright” as her only response. Questioning looks and shrugs were exchanged up and down the table as Albus continued telling the Order members what was needed of them in the coming week. If Molly had asked, she would have been given the answer to their unspoken question. No, Minerva was not happy to be going on this mission.
The reason for her unhappiness, however, may have been more difficult to uncover. It just so happened that today was Albus and Minerva’s 40th wedding anniversary and while Minerva hadn’t expected their usual romantic day, she was disappointed that Albus had made no mention of it. Usually, he would wake her up early just to tell her how much he loved her and then spend as much time as possible that day alone with Minerva, showering her with affection. Even during the last war with Voldemort, they had found a way each year to make this day special. Today, however, Albus seemed to have forgotten, he hadn’t come to her room that morning and had given her none of his usual subtle signs of love during the day. When he told Minerva she was being sent on a mission that would take her away from London overnight she finally had to face the fact that her husband had, for the first time in their long marriage, forgotten their anniversary. As much as she tried to remain her usual sensible self and to remind herself that they were after all in the process of trying to stop the second rise of the greatest dark wizard of modern times, Minerva was still a woman who had been let down and she couldn’t help the feelings of hurt and disappointment that filled her when she accepted the portkey from Albus. She hadn’t even been able to force herself to meet his gaze, she was afraid it might make it impossible to keep her emotions to herself.
Minerva had placed the portkey in her pocket so that she would be sure to be in contact with it when it activated and as the meeting broke apart she drifted away to find a place to be alone. She ended up retreating to her bedroom so that no one else saw her before she left, Minerva sat on the bed and wondered where Albus had gone. He had disappeared right after the meeting, citing important business as his reason, without so much as a goodbye to her. She sat there thinking until she felt the portkey activate and then wondered briefly where she was headed. Landing in a grove of trees, Minerva immediately transformed into a cat and slowly crept out from the cover of the trees. What she found was the last thing on earth she had expected.
Minerva had expected to run across a group of Death Eaters or possibly a site that Albus expected them to be plotting against. Instead, she had been transported to a lake in the French countryside. It was the exact place Albus had taken her on their first real date. Looking around, Minerva realized that the area was arranged exactly as it had been that night over forty years ago. There was a small round table, covered with a white table cloth with a single candle sitting in the center and a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting atop one of the plates. Transforming back into herself and walking slowly toward it, she felt a pair of familiar strong arms snake around her slender waist as warm lips caressed her neck. Sighing slightly, Minerva closed her eyes and leaned her head to the left, enjoying the attentions of her husband. After a few moments, Albus turned her around and she opened her eyes.
“Happy Anniversary, Minerva,” he said quietly, his eyes shining with love. “I know you thought I had forgotten and I do apologize for my deception today, but I wanted to surprise you.”
She favored him with a rare smile and said, “I forgive you, Albus. This is so beautiful, but can we really afford to be away for so long? I mean –“
He silenced her with a kiss and when it ended said, “My dear, tonight there is no war, no Order, and no Voldemort. I want to focus only on us and our love, a fortieth anniversary is not one to be celebrated in an ordinary manner and I feel recent events have given us cause to use every possible opportunity to lavish each other with affection.”
In answer, Minerva kissed him again and then allowed herself to be led over to the table where a wonderful meal for two suddenly appeared the moment she removed the flowers from her plate. They shared words of love and devotion as they enjoyed the food, getting a little playful with the whipped toping on the desert. After the meal was completed, Albus vanished the table and everything on it with a flick of his wand and with a second flick music began to play softly around them, like a melody carried on the wind. He pulled Minerva close against him and held her right hand over his heart as they danced together. Albus alternated humming the tune against her ear and nuzzling her neck as they moved together in the moonlight, sending shivers of delight up Minerva’s spine. When they decided it was time to call it a night, Albus revealed that he still had one more surprise and he led Minerva away from the lake across a field to a small country cottage. He had rented the cottage for the next two nights and intended to spend this night and the next, as well as the day in between, showing Minerva just how much love, not to mention passion, he still held for her after all their years together.
When they left on the morning of the second day, to return to London and the Order, Minerva told Albus that it was the nicest anniversary they had ever had and he joked that it would take him the next ten years to figure out how to top this on their fiftieth. Minerva had learned a lesson this week, that no matter what was going on in the world and how distant he may seem to be, she should never doubt Albus Dumbledore and never again entertain the notion that he might forget her, for Albus had promised forty years ago to always put her before everything else in his life and she knew he always would. As she continued to put him first in her life. In the few moments before the portkey activated to take them home, Minerva mused with a smile that this was the best mission she had ever been sent on.
As the Order meeting ended and the various members assembled at Grimmauld Place either left or drifted into small groups for conversation, one woman remained sitting alone at the table staring into a tea cup. This woman was Minerva McGonagall, for the most part she looked the way she had for as long as most people gathered could remember: ebony hair pulled back into the same severe bun, same square spectacles resting on her nose, she was wearing a green Muggle dress instead of her usual robes but that had come to be seen as usual at Order meetings. If anyone had bothered to look closely, however, they would have noticed a very big difference in her eyes. There was a sort of deadness to the usually lively green as if some unseen cloud had settled over them. As it happened, one very observant woman did notice, but Molly Weasley knew better than to question Minerva about it – if she had learned anything over the years it was that Minerva McGonagall was an intensely private person. Molly just watched with concern as her former professor slowly rose from the table and walked out of the room as if in a daze, she didn’t seem to notice anyone she passed along the way.
If Minerva had been less guarded and Molly had found the courage to ask, she would have found out just what was bothering the older witch. At the meeting Albus Dumbledore had given out many assignments and he seemed to have saved a very special one for Minerva. He handed her a portkey and told her that it would activate in an hour to take her to the site of her next mission, when she arrived she was to transform into her tabby cat alter-ego and stake out the area. Albus offered no other explanation and everyone present assumed it was something very secret and they would be filled in on details when Minerva returned. They had all also expected a more enthusiastic response from Minerva, as this would be her first mission since being given a clean bill of health after her attack earlier in the summer. The entire Order of the Phoenix had been outraged to hear that Dolores Umbridge and several Ministry aurors had stunned Minerva in such a cowardly way. Kingsley Shaklebolt and Tonks had been absolutely disgusted with their co-workers and reported that they were refusing to speak to them anymore. Mad-Eye Moody had wanted to storm up to the school and stun Umbridge a few times to see how she liked it, but thankfully had been stopped by Remus Lupin who was able to keep a cool head even through his anger. Everyone knew how much Minerva hated being seen as weak and useless and it was no secret that she had been after Dumbledore to give her an assignment for weeks, so it was expected that she would react happily today. Therefore, they were all greatly surprised when she took the portkey without making eye contact with Albus and said a simple “alright” as her only response. Questioning looks and shrugs were exchanged up and down the table as Albus continued telling the Order members what was needed of them in the coming week. If Molly had asked, she would have been given the answer to their unspoken question. No, Minerva was not happy to be going on this mission.
The reason for her unhappiness, however, may have been more difficult to uncover. It just so happened that today was Albus and Minerva’s 40th wedding anniversary and while Minerva hadn’t expected their usual romantic day, she was disappointed that Albus had made no mention of it. Usually, he would wake her up early just to tell her how much he loved her and then spend as much time as possible that day alone with Minerva, showering her with affection. Even during the last war with Voldemort, they had found a way each year to make this day special. Today, however, Albus seemed to have forgotten, he hadn’t come to her room that morning and had given her none of his usual subtle signs of love during the day. When he told Minerva she was being sent on a mission that would take her away from London overnight she finally had to face the fact that her husband had, for the first time in their long marriage, forgotten their anniversary. As much as she tried to remain her usual sensible self and to remind herself that they were after all in the process of trying to stop the second rise of the greatest dark wizard of modern times, Minerva was still a woman who had been let down and she couldn’t help the feelings of hurt and disappointment that filled her when she accepted the portkey from Albus. She hadn’t even been able to force herself to meet his gaze, she was afraid it might make it impossible to keep her emotions to herself.
Minerva had placed the portkey in her pocket so that she would be sure to be in contact with it when it activated and as the meeting broke apart she drifted away to find a place to be alone. She ended up retreating to her bedroom so that no one else saw her before she left, Minerva sat on the bed and wondered where Albus had gone. He had disappeared right after the meeting, citing important business as his reason, without so much as a goodbye to her. She sat there thinking until she felt the portkey activate and then wondered briefly where she was headed. Landing in a grove of trees, Minerva immediately transformed into a cat and slowly crept out from the cover of the trees. What she found was the last thing on earth she had expected.
Minerva had expected to run across a group of Death Eaters or possibly a site that Albus expected them to be plotting against. Instead, she had been transported to a lake in the French countryside. It was the exact place Albus had taken her on their first real date. Looking around, Minerva realized that the area was arranged exactly as it had been that night over forty years ago. There was a small round table, covered with a white table cloth with a single candle sitting in the center and a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting atop one of the plates. Transforming back into herself and walking slowly toward it, she felt a pair of familiar strong arms snake around her slender waist as warm lips caressed her neck. Sighing slightly, Minerva closed her eyes and leaned her head to the left, enjoying the attentions of her husband. After a few moments, Albus turned her around and she opened her eyes.
“Happy Anniversary, Minerva,” he said quietly, his eyes shining with love. “I know you thought I had forgotten and I do apologize for my deception today, but I wanted to surprise you.”
She favored him with a rare smile and said, “I forgive you, Albus. This is so beautiful, but can we really afford to be away for so long? I mean –“
He silenced her with a kiss and when it ended said, “My dear, tonight there is no war, no Order, and no Voldemort. I want to focus only on us and our love, a fortieth anniversary is not one to be celebrated in an ordinary manner and I feel recent events have given us cause to use every possible opportunity to lavish each other with affection.”
In answer, Minerva kissed him again and then allowed herself to be led over to the table where a wonderful meal for two suddenly appeared the moment she removed the flowers from her plate. They shared words of love and devotion as they enjoyed the food, getting a little playful with the whipped toping on the desert. After the meal was completed, Albus vanished the table and everything on it with a flick of his wand and with a second flick music began to play softly around them, like a melody carried on the wind. He pulled Minerva close against him and held her right hand over his heart as they danced together. Albus alternated humming the tune against her ear and nuzzling her neck as they moved together in the moonlight, sending shivers of delight up Minerva’s spine. When they decided it was time to call it a night, Albus revealed that he still had one more surprise and he led Minerva away from the lake across a field to a small country cottage. He had rented the cottage for the next two nights and intended to spend this night and the next, as well as the day in between, showing Minerva just how much love, not to mention passion, he still held for her after all their years together.
When they left on the morning of the second day, to return to London and the Order, Minerva told Albus that it was the nicest anniversary they had ever had and he joked that it would take him the next ten years to figure out how to top this on their fiftieth. Minerva had learned a lesson this week, that no matter what was going on in the world and how distant he may seem to be, she should never doubt Albus Dumbledore and never again entertain the notion that he might forget her, for Albus had promised forty years ago to always put her before everything else in his life and she knew he always would. As she continued to put him first in her life. In the few moments before the portkey activated to take them home, Minerva mused with a smile that this was the best mission she had ever been sent on.
