Live Forever

5: Acquiesce - Part 4

August 27, 1995

As she entered Grimmauld Place, Minerva did her best to calm her nerves. She was the matriarch of the group, the one that the others expected to be calm and considered. It would do her (or Harry) no good to turn into an emotional ninny at this point. She'd willingly signed up for GIT and they were on the threshold of something monumental. It was imperative that she kept a level head for her two younger compatriots. Besides, the plan was brilliant in its simplicity and as she gazed at the ethereal beauty in front of her, she realized it was bound to work. The newest initiate into GIT was their secret weapon.

"Miss McGonagall!" Fleur Delacour enthused as she glided toward her, ignoring the now slightly dazed young man she passed along the way. "It is good to see you again!"

"Hello Miss Delacour," she greeted. "Are you enjoying your extended stay in England?"

She nodded happily. "My work at Gringotts has been very interesting and has made up for the horrid English summer weather," she concluded.

Minerva did her best to ignore the thinly veiled insult and focused on the group sitting at the end of the table. Sirius and Hermione were doing their best to not appear nervous. Sirius seemed to be managing it relatively well but Miss Granger was struggling. Mightily.

Harry, however, simply seemed determined...much more confident and calm than his disposition on the tube a couple weeks prior. "We should get going, Harry," she informed, purposely using his first name for a bit of personal reassurance. She had no idea if it would work but Albus seemed to think it was effective. He nodded his head and quickly moved to stand beside her.

"You both know the plan?" She received two fervent nods.

"And you have your cloak?" Harry held up the magical artifact for her inspection.

"Then we best be off!" she intoned with as much confidence as she could muster, drawing nods once again from the pair. Harry nodded to his godfather and girlfriend before quickly following her out of the kitchen.

They'd made it into the Ministry without a hitch and were now walking toward the security desk. Based on the now bulging eyes of the guard on duty, Kingsley's prediction had been correct. She heard Fleur's chuckle of acknowledgement and did her best not to laugh. "This will not be a problem," Fleur commented absently.

"Tap the mirror," Harry" she murmured as they approached Fleur's prey.

"Hello, Malcolm!" Minerva greeted her thoroughly distracted former student. "This is Fleur Delacour. I trust that Miss Delacour is on your schedule?"

"Uh, yes. Hello professor," he managed to spit out eventually. "I'm assuming you are here for your...uh...meeting?"

"Oui...I mean, yes," Fleur replied in false embarrassment as she shyly tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. "I am zorry. I am ztill getting used to zee English language."

Minerva fought the urge to laugh at the sudden thickness of Fleur's accent. Malcolm didn't seem to be about to laugh though. She wasn't sure if it was possible to laugh with his mouth hanging down to the floor. She hadn't done much research into Veela magic but whatever it involved it seemed to be working magnificently on poor Malcolm.

"I, uh, have to inspect you," he managed, bumping his knee rather loudly as he made his way around the security desk. Malcolm let out a rather loud gulp as he began waving his examination rod in front of and behind Fleur. Fleur's posture was excellent and Malcolm seemed to be sweating more and more the longer the inspection lasted.

"Minerva!" Kingsley greeted right on cue from down the hallway. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Kingsley," she greeted, "Miss Delacour is new to England and I offered to escort her to the Ministry."

"Odd day for a meeting," Kingsley observed as he nodded a greeting. "You were the TriWizard Champion for Beauxbatons, right?"

Everyone was playing their part and following the script expertly in spite of the fact that it most likely was a moot point. Malcolm seemed so flummoxed by his inspection that she wasn't sure he had processed anything being said.

"Would you mind showing me where to go? Zis place is zo confusing!" Fleur asked Malcolm, drawing a grimace. It was clear that Malcolm wanted nothing more than to escort Fleur and was facing a conundrum. "I'm not supposed to leave my desk."

"I've got it, "Malcolm," Kingsley offered. "You help Fleur and I'll watch the desk while I catch up with Minnie. Nothing happens here on Sundays anyways."

The look on Malcolm's face suggested he was now thinking of naming his firstborn son after Kingsley. He was so ecstatic that Minerva wondered if the name 'Kingsley' would still be in play even if he had a daughter.

"Well that worked spectacularly," Minerva observed with a laugh.

"A little too well. I need to study up on Veela," Kingsley mumbled as he shook the cobwebs out of his head. "You two best be going. Arthur is on duty right now so we're all set. I trust you know the way?"

With a quick nod she and her invisible companion set off for the Department of Mysteries.

The tension was palpable as she, Sirius and Hermione huddled around the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place. All eyes were pinned on Harry as he removed the prophecy orb from his pocket and placed it on the table.

Every silencing and locking spell imaginable had been cast and Kreacher had been ordered to keep anyone and everyone out until he received further instructions. Minerva wasn't quite sure why or how she had earned this extraordinary amount of trust from Harry but she vowed never to forget it.

"So I just need to break it, right?" he asked. Not surprisingly Harry's eyes were drawn to Hermione for the answer.

"Now that you've touched it, it can be any of us," she supplied, "but yes. Once it's broken we should all hear the prophecy."

"Remember, Harry," Sirius added nervously, "Minnie and I can listen to it first if you don't think you're ready."

It was the proper and kind thing to do but Minerva knew that Harry would decline. It wasn't in his nature to run away from a fight...a truly magnificent and horrible trait to possess. She felt that she should make one final attempt at her prior suggestion as well.

"If you wish for us to take a vow-"

'"No," he interrupted forcefully, never taking his eyes off of the globe. "No. I trust you."

It was at that point that Minerva's loyalties unequivocally and unreservedly shifted to Harry and Harry alone. This boy who trusted her despite her many prior failures. She would not let him down again.

"I can do it if you'd like, Harry," Sirius offered. Harry nodded his agreement and Sirius reached forward, picking up the orb with slightly trembling hands.

"Whatever it says we'll sort it out," Hermione consoled as she reached for Harry's hand.

"Yeah, what she said," Sirius added as he waited for Harry's signal to proceed.

As she watched Harry's nod she felt a keen sense of pride at his ability to always do what was right over what was easy. The conversation she would be having with Albus informing him of the day's events would surely be difficult but it was the least she could do. For Harry.