Past Lives

Chapter Two: Favour

The door slammed shut behind Minerva, causing the tinkling bell to ring again. As she stepped towards the bar, Aberforth set the now-polished glass down on the counter and gripped the edge of the bar, steadying himself.

"What are you doing here, Minerva?" Aberforth whispered, his hoarse voice wavering with emotion, "why aren't you with Albus?"

Minerva sat down gracefully on one of the old, chipped barstools, and rested her elbows on the rough wooden counter. "I told your brother that I loved him tonight," she began, eyes watering as she wiped the back of her hand across her eyes exasperatedly.

Aberforth shoved the glass away, and leaned further across the bar to place his old hand gently over Minerva's pale, smooth one. "What did he say?" Aberforth asked, this time his voice a comforting caress to her broken heart. She could almost imagine that Albus was talking to her...

She breathed in sharply, and forcefully yanked her mind from that train of thought. Focus on the present, Minerva; she thought to herself, Aberforth would not kick you out of the Hog's Head. "He said...he said that I could either resign my position or be fired," she laughed bitterly, "I resigned."

His eyes grew wide at the implications of what she was telling him hit home, and he clenched his teeth in anger. That bastard, Aberforth thought, that bastard broke the heart of the woman I love - the one who loves him, and not me.

"I'll kill him," Aberforth growled, his harsh voice and flashing eyes shocking Minerva.

"No, Aberforth! Don't. It was my fault, anyway, I should have known that he would never love me, who could love such a pathetic creature as myself, anyway?" she said, her eyes once more filling with tears as she laid her head down on her folded arms and sobbed.

Aberforth immediately calmed down - he knew that harming his brother, no matter how satisfying it might be - would only hurt Minerva more. Walking around the bar, he reached Minerva's barstool and gently gathered her in his arms. "Oh, Minerva," he murmured into her ear, as her soft body against his spurred on a fantasy of both of them lying in his bed after a night of making love. His desire for her grew, and she looked up at him when the evidence of his need for her began pressing against her stomach. Her eyes, as they locked with Aberforth's, held a strange mix of desire and desperation - and she stepped further into his embrace, wrapping her arms firmly around her neck and pressing herself more firmly against him.

"I won't mind if you kiss me, Aberforth," she said breathily, as her eyes bore into his. He wasted no time in bending down to catch her lips with his, the kiss making any of his fantasies featuring Minerva pale in comparison to the woman he was kissing right now.

"Make love to be, Aberforth," she whispered, her voice husky with desire as she began unbuttoning his robes. He did not need to be told twice - scooping her up gently in his strong arms, he carried her to his bedroom, where they made love.