A Sackful of Holiday Horsefeathers

we proudly present

the fourteenth installment of

A Sackful of Holiday Horsefeathers

~~~~~~~

As always, no animals were harmed in the making of this chapter.

~~~~~~~

Minerva hurried back to the dining hall, but all was deserted. There was no friendly fire blazing in the hearth. The room was cold and empty.

Minerva didn't think she'd been gone for such a long time. Stupid men, they didn't know how to wait five minutes. She had told him she wouldn't be long. Did he not listen? Did he not speak English?

'But maybe he has a good reason,' she thought. 'Maybe he's in the bathroom.'

Minerva crossed her arms and paced to and fro. She noted approvingly that the floor had just been swept and mopped, for it now displayed her reflection. There was nothing she hated more than a dirty floor.

After a minute, however, the house-elves' mopping job failed to amuse her. She began to think of other things--more terrifying things--that could have befallen her Remus.

What if he got lost on the way to the bathroom--and ended up going down a forgotten secret passageway? But that couldn't happen; Remus already knew all the secret passages.

Or what if Severus got hold of him? No--Severus was accounted for and had plenty of alibis.

But what if Remus fell down a flight of stairs and accidentally touched a portkey and ended up in--no, that couldn't have happened either; portkeys don't work inside the castle.

"That settles it, then. Remus is a thoughtless bastard. And he hasn't even left me a note," Minerva grumbled, but she immediately regretted calling him a bastard. "Where on earth can he be? Ugh. What a day this is turning out to be! Nothing is going along the way I wanted it to. I wanted to spend all day with him, and now he's nowhere to be seen, because of Pomfrey and those stupid samples. Oh, goodness. Why can't I get a weekend off? Just once, lord..."

Minerva retreated to the staff lounge and sat down at the desk. She had no intention of working at the moment, however, even though her fifth years' exams were piled up before her waiting to be corrected. They'd been there for the past three days, and no one had interfered with them.

The dark wood paneling closed in around her. There was no light, and she laid her head down and cried softly, tears splashing upon her papers.

She longed to fall asleep and be freed from this nightmare around her. The nightmare of her life, one long day following the next, not knowing what the next pitfall would be. She longed to fall asleep and enter a new dream, where she would be with Remus and far, far away from Hogwarts and Lord Voldemort and silly Secret Santa Christmas parties where she had to pretend to like her co-workers.

She liked Poppy and Filius, and Albus, too, but Trelawney and Snape were just abominable.

How dreadful it would be to endure the next semester without Remus... How dreadful to be on the verge of getting what one has always dreamed of--and terrified that it will inevitably drift away. Drift away, the way a dream melts as one awakens early in the morning to the sound of the alarm clock...

Minerva had a dream last night--a secret dream that she had told no one about. It was of her husband Jules, now long gone from this world and hopefully at peace. It seemed to hold so much significance. So much meaning. She was with Remus in her dream, when they suddenly ran into Jules. She tried to run away and hide, but Jules came after her and smiled. He reached out a hand and pulled her up from where she was cowering in a little corner. He kissed her and told her not to be ashamed, not to hide from him because she was with another man. And Jules held her while Remus looked on.

Yet no one was jealous, and Jules faded away as surely as he had appeared. Minerva woke up then, but she soon went back to sleep.

Now she was remembering this vision--this interruption of her nightly abode. However, she looked upon it as a blessing of sorts. It might be a message from her husband telling her to go on and follow her heart's desire. The future seemed a little brighter if she looked at it that way.

There was a slight breeze behind her; it ruffled the loose strands of hair on the nape of her neck. This tickled her, so she brushed aside the offending hair--and felt another's hand close on top of hers.

"Remus," she whispered and wiped away the tears in her eyes.

He leaned over her shoulder and said, "Hello." He brought his hand out from behind his back and presented her with a single red rose. Then he took a seat next to the desk, grinning at her with a pleasant, yet mischievous, gleam in his eyes.

Minerva fingered the red, silky petals. The rose was nearly in full bloom. "I was just thinking about you," she said.

This revelation made Remus even happier, if such a thing were possible. He asked her, "So, why are you cooped up in here on Christmas Eve? I've been looking all over for you."

Minerva replied, "I'm grading my fifth years' examinations."

Remus laughed. "No, I--I meant that it's a holiday. You shouldn't have to work."

"It's not a holiday for me," said Minerva. "I'm Jewish."

"You're Jewish?" exclaimed Remus. "I didn't know that."

"Because I never told you," said Minerva, setting down her quill.

"Well, that explains that," said Remus. "Oh, and what about that opium scare?"

"Are you trying to distract me from my work?" asked Minerva.

"No, I just like the atmosphere. I've fond memories of this staff room. Like the time Poppy and Hagrid got tipsy on butterbeer and danced the Charleston right over there," he nodded toward the piano.

"I remember that..." She thought, 'You're going to leave me in two weeks...' She said aloud, "You are trying to distract me from my work, aren't you? With your wispy brown hair and your boyish good looks. And the way you smell, like a man who's been out hunting in the woods and rolling around in the grass..."

He gripped the arms of his chair and leaned forward slightly.

"Honestly, what gets into you women? I just enter a room, and you're all ready to devour me," said Remus.

"That sounds like a good idea. Care if I take you up on it?" she offered politely.

Remus smiled bashfully. "I'd enjoy that very much."

"After all, these other things can wait," said Minerva, dismissing the exams with a harried glance.

"You're not being too harsh on the students, I hope?" said Remus.

"I'm only being fair," she said.

"You didn't give them any tricky questions, did you? Like those 'A and B,' 'A and C,' 'B and C,' 'None of the above' questions?"

"Are you trying to pester me?" she asked.

"Yes. Is it working?"

"No," she said calmly. "It takes a lot more than that to get on my nerves."

"Wait a minute; I'll think of something," Remus assured her.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, apparently deep in thought. Minerva smiled and picked up her quill. Then the corners of her mouth quivered, and she began to laugh.

"What are you giggling about?" inquired Remus.

"I was just thinking about what the kids said this morning--when you were chasing me around the picnic table. Do you think they're going to start talking about us?"

"Does it matter?" asked Remus.

"Of course it matters! I'm their teacher. They have to take me seriously," said Minerva.

"You don't have to be single to be taken seriously," said Remus.

Minerva was blushing furiously. "Oh, but I've always been--I mean, ever since, ever since I've been their teacher."

Remus reminded her, "You were married when you began teaching here, and I don't remember any of your students running wild back then."

"But marriage is different," declared Minerva. "It's respectable, and traditional, and nobody thinks about two married people having sex together."

"Well, I should hope the students don't think about their teachers like that," said Remus.

"But what if they do?" breathed Minerva.

"Then we refer them to a psychoanalyst," replied her mate.

"Remus, did you ever think about me when you were in school?"

"Yes, I thought you gave us too much homework and your exams were tricky."

"Is that all?" she asked.

"Well, considering you were only eight years older than me, I thought you were pretty. And you still are pretty," he added. "You're beautiful now."

Minerva smiled.

Remus continued, "Don't worry about what they think. I mean, as long as we're discreet, everything should be fine. You're their professor. That's the way they see you, and it shouldn't matter if you have a... significant other."

"A lover?" Minerva said.

Remus uttered, "Shhh!" He put a finger to his lips and looked around the room as if expecting to see the Queen of England.

Minerva giggled at his silly joking, feeling herself loosen up again. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Remus heard her singing in his ear, "Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me..."

"My dear," Remus said playfully, "I will sail away with you to the edge of the world and the River Styx."

"And beyond the Styx?" Minerva inquired, giving his lips another peck.

"We will sail all the way... to the Elysian Fields," declared Remus.

"Oh, wonderful," said Minerva. "But is there a river running through the Elysian Fields?"

"I would think so; otherwise, how could they irrigate the fields or have any drinking water?"

"I see," she murmured. "And if I left, would you come too?"

Remus furrowed his brow. "Left where?"

"Here. Hogwarts," said Minerva.

"Don't you like it here?" asked Remus.

"Sometimes," she said. "I like it just enough to keep staying here. You know, there are moments every once in a while that are wonderful and rewarding, and they wipe away all my doubts. They renew my ambition.

"But it feels like a burden. I can't explain why--"

Remus nodded. "I know it's a burden."

"But it's my duty," said Minerva. "Oh, Remus, tell me that it's not my duty, and that I'm free to go as I wish. Tell me that I can roam the world as you did. Tell me that it's not my fate to spend the rest of my days holed up in this loony bin."

Remus couldn't help but laugh as she compared Hogwarts to a loony bin. "It does seem that way sometimes."

Minerva sighed. "It's getting crazier. I have this crazy urge to resign--out of the blue, in the middle of a class!" She paused briefly. "But I can't resign. Dumbledore couldn't find a replacement for me so soon."

"But he would," Remus said. "Don't worry about that. He'll find somebody else."

"Oh, this is craziness. Don't mind me," said Minerva. "I've been here all my life; I can't just up and leave."

"If you don't do it now, you never will," said Remus. "Too long have you lingered on the past. It's time to start a new life. You went to school here, and you've been teaching here for the past twenty years. You've also been the Deputy Headmistress for the last ten years. You've been here your whole life, and that's precisely the reason why you have to leave."

Minerva looked wonderingly into his eyes. "You're reading my mind. How are you doing that?"

"I'm not reading your mind, although I wish I had that power. It just stands to reason that you need a change," said Remus.

"I do," said Minerva.

"So sail away with me," said Remus.

They were all of a sudden swept up in such an excitement that they burst out laughing.

"So, are you allowed to tell me about that opium business?" asked Remus. "You sort of sidestepped that issue earlier--"

She clamped a hand over his mouth and told him, "You don't ask, because I can't tell. Dumbledore has given his orders."

Seeing the curiosity still burning within him, she added, "It's nothing. Believe me. There was nothing illegal about it, anyway."

"So the Chief of Magical Inquiry isn't about to barge in here?" Remus said.

Minerva shook her head.

"Darn." Remus sighed in mock disappointment.

Minerva laughed. "Maybe I'll tell you when we get to Brazil."

Remus grinned. "It's a deal," he said and shook her hand heartily.

"Come here, you silly," said Minerva as she drew him closer and gave him a hug.

..................to be continued