The Teacher's Son

Chapter 9

Minerva waited outside the hospital wing. She knew that Albus was inside with Harry, and as much as she wanted to see her son, she knew that interrupting that conversation was not a good idea.

"All yours, Minerva." Albus emerged through the doors with a serene smile on his face, chewing what was probably a piece of candy.

McGonagall walked through the doors to find Madame Pomfrey fussing over a rather irritated Harry. The boy wasn't saying anything, but something in his posture told her exactly how he was feeling.

"Mimmy!" He exclaimed, seeing her.

Minerva's breath caught. She had planned on giving him a stern lecture. Tell him how disappointed she was that he had done something like that, and endangered his friends in the process.

But seeing him sitting there, on the hospital bed with bandages on his hands and a huge smile on his face, she found that she couldn't do it, which was rare for her.

"Oh Harry." She finally said, moving forward to pull him into a hug.

"Hey, Mum." Harry hugged her back and McGonagall found herself holding back tears.

"What have I told you about doing things you have been expressly told not to do?" She finally asked, pulling away.

Harry looked at his hands. "Not to do them?"

"And what did you do?"

"I did them."

"And you endangered your friends. Granted, Ronald and Hermione may have insisted on coming along but there were other ways to stop them from doing so."

"They helped." Harry said simply. "I wouldn't have gotten all the way without Ron and Hermione. I wouldn't have gotten past the giant chess set or the potions riddle." He frowned, seeming to think about something. "Actually, I wouldn't even have gotten past the second protection. Hermione and Ron figured that one out too."

Minerva sighed. "Be that as it may, I am very disappointed in you. I know you thought that Quirrell was going to get the stone, but you have to give Dumbledore more credit than that. He is an extremely smart man."

Harry nodded. "We didn't know what was down there. I just didn't want Voldemort to get the stone. And I thought it was Snape, not Quirrell."

Minerva smiled. "Well, it wasn't. And you achieved what you wanted. You set You-Know-Who's plans back a decent amount." Noting the time, she stood and ruffled her son's already unruly hair. "You did the right thing, Harry, even if it was rash and dangerous. Just don't make this a habit, young man."

Harry smiled. "I won't, Mum. I promise."

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Harry gave Hermione and Ron hugs at King's Cross.

"Do try and call, Harry!" Hermione said.

"Yeah, I'll try and call too, if we can get a hang of the phone. Don't get into too much trouble, mate." Ron grinned.

"Trust me, I won't." Harry could already imagine his mum's stern face if he did something else dangerous over the summer holidays.

"Bye, Harry!" Hermione ran off to meet her parents and Ron's mum swooped in to give him a huge hug.

"Be safe, Harry dear."

"I will, Mrs. Weasley."

The family of redheads trooped off to wherever they had planned on going.

"Ready to leave, Harry?" He turned to his mum.

"I want to ride the train next year too."

Minerva laughed. "Then how about this. I'll drop you off at the Burrow a few weeks before school. You can go shopping with them and ride the train. You'll have to come see me after the feast then."

"Okay!" Harry's face brightened. His summer might be a bit boring, at the castle the whole time, but he had things to look forward to.

Minerva placed her hand on his shoulder and they disapparated with a crack, re-appearing just outside the Hogwarts grounds.

"Back home." Harry said with a laugh.

"That you are, but not for long."

He turned to his mother. "What do you mean?"

"The headmaster has given me some time off to spend with you. We're taking a vacation." McGonagall explained.

"Where are we going?"

She smiled. Harry was already enthusiastic about the idea.

"You'll find out soon enough, young man. Right now, however, you need to go and pack. We'll be there for most of the summer, but I assume that you'd like to remove some things from your trunk and add others. You will be needing a bathing suit."

Harry turned on his heel and sprinted for the castle, a grin plastered on his face the entire way. Minerva watched with a smile.

"You are something, my son."

[A/N and that's the end of First year! Don't worry, the book isn't over yet! Hope you enjoyed and where do you think they're going?]