Minerva's and Severus' Snowball Fight

Minerva's and Severus' Snowball Fight

"Minerva, Severus, that's enough!" the Headmaster suddenly exploded, glaring over the breakfast table. "I have enough of your constant bickering. As soon as you quietly finish your breakfast, you will dress warmly and go out on the grounds, where you will have a snowball fight. However, with each snowball you throw at each other, you will tell the other what you think of the other. You may insult each other as much as you please, you may be as unfair towards each other as you wish, we don't mind. Poppy and I will be the judges; we're going to decide when the fight is over."

"Albus, are you sure you're not mistaking us for first years?" Severus snarled, glaring at the Headmaster.

"Albus, I wouldn't want to catch a cold just a few hours before the students come back," Minerva replied in a small voice, trying not to aggravate her already sore throat.

"You behave like first years," the Headmaster replied as a matter of fact, "and Minerva, if you dress properly, you won't catch a cold."

Severus glared at the Headmaster, while Minerva let out a small snort, still feeling the steam in her ears from the Pepper Up potion she had taken just an hour ago together with a fever reducing potion in order to hide her indisposition from her fussing colleagues.

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An hour later, Minerva and Severus met on the Quidditch pitch, while all the other teachers were assembled on the teachers' tribune, Poppy and the Headmaster sitting in the first row. 'Maybe Albus is slowly losing it,' Minerva thought, glancing around. It was a fairly dark day, and heavy snow clouds were hanging in the snow.

"All right, you may begin," the Headmaster shouted.

"Ladies first," Severus said, bowing lightly into her direction.

Minerva sighed and quickly formed a snowball, glad that the warming charm she had put on herself worked so well. Throwing the snowball at Severus, who easily dodged the ball so that it hit the Headmaster, she shouted, "You always favour your Slytherins!"

Before she knew what was happening, Severus' snowball hit her on the nose. "You behave exactly as unfair. Why for example didn't you expel Black when he tried to kill me?"

"You don't talk civilly to anyone other than your own students," Minerva shouted, throwing the next ball.

"You don't give your students detention when they call me 'greasy git' or 'bat of the dungeons' or such things!"

"You always try to read my mind!"

"You still treat me as if I was your student!"

"You always sneak up on me!"

"You always cover up for Potter and his friends if they act against the rules!"

"You..." Minerva stopped, noticing that her throat was becoming too sore to shout and that her voice was slowly fading away anyway.

"Are you all right, Minerva?" Severus asked in concern, stepping over to his colleague, who was his best friend apart from Poppy, who was very close to both of them.

"I'm fine of course," Minerva replied quietly, knowing better than to raise her voice.

Severus gave her a sharp look, before he gently extended a hand to feel her forehead. "Minerva, my hands are probably very cold from making snowballs, but nevertheless you're obviously burning up. Let's go back inside."

"But don't tell Albus or Poppy," Minerva begged her friend from half open glassy eyes, causing him to snort.

"You're unable to admit to the slightest flaw," he said, gently throwing a fake snowball, before he took Minerva's arm under his own and pulled her to Poppy and the Headmaster, who were watching them curiously. "Well, we agreed that she's insufferable and I'm a git. May we go back into the castle? It's getting cold."

Without even waiting for an answer, he pulled Minerva into the entrance hall and accompanied her to her quarters, where he gently helped her into bed, changing her clothes into soft pyjamas with a flick of his wand. Seeing that she sighed in relief as her head hit the pillow, he waved his wand over her, casting a diagnostic spell that caused a small parchment to emerge from the tip of his wand, containing a small list.

'Second degree headache,

Fever of thirty-nine point two (one hundred and two point five) degrees,

Throat infection,

Beginning bronchitis.'

"Minerva, I'll be back in a minute. I'll just floo to my lab and fetch a few potions for you," Severus said softly, before he hurried from the room only to return a minute later with a few phials, seeing that his colleague was shivering violently.

"Minerva, let me help you sit up. You're very ill, and you need to take all these potions," he informed her, before he gently supported her back with one hand, while he pressed one phial after another against her lips.

"Severus," she mumbled tiredly, reaching for his icy cold hand, "please don't tell Poppy or Albus about it."

Severus let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Minerva, but I have to tell them, because you won't be in a condition to teach tomorrow morning. You'll have to remain in bed for at least two more days excluding today."

"Then don't let Poppy take me to the hospital wing please," Minerva croaked, looking pleadingly at her younger colleague.

"Do you want me to come and check on you?" Severus queried in his soft silky voice.

"Yes please Severus. At least you don't make such a fuss, and you understand what I mean even without saying it."

A small chuckle coming from the doorframe interrupted their conversation. "Ah, I thought they'd learn to tell each other what they think of each other, negative things as well as positive things, and it seems I was right," Dumbledore smiled, turning to Poppy, who was standing next to him. "I understood that I'll have to teach Transfiguration for at least two days. From when do you estimate will I have to teach Potions?"

Throwing a thoughtful look at her colleagues, Poppy replied, "Probably from the day after that onwards until the weekend. At least, Minerva should be well enough by then to nurse Severus back to health."

Severus let out a snort, gently bathing Minerva's flushed face with a cool cloth. "Be careful, Poppy; even Mediwitches can catch bronchitis and need potions."

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A few days later, Minerva spent every free minute between her classes in the hospital wing, looking after Albus, Poppy, and Severus, who were ill with bronchitis. "It's simply too quiet without Severus' bickering," she mused aloud, while she absentmindedly stuck the business end of a thermometer into Severus' mouth, causing the Headmaster's eyes to twinkle with amusement.

"Gegieg ge, ik ga koo," Severus replied around the thermometer, making Minerva glare at him.

"What was that?" she queried as she took the thermometer back, throwing a horrified look at the display.

"Believe me, it was too quiet without your bickering, too," Severus croaked, leaning into the cold touch as she gently wiped his face.

The End

This one-shot was written for Minerva McGonagall 62 in return for her participation in my writing contest (newsgroup). I hope you enjoyed?!

I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.