Toujours Pur | Euphemia Black

Chapter 39 | Midnight

It was a Monday morning and Minerva McGonnagal found herself wandering around the grounds of Hogwarts, the wind in the courtyard blowing her hair back as she also tried to control her Gryffindor scarf from flying away. The day before had been rather windy and it was obvious that the weather had carried onto this particular morning.

The leaves from the trees that scattered Hogwarts' grounds scudded over the ground and took small flights into the air, swirling around the girl's ankles as she tossed her head back and raised her eyes to the sky, a smile spreading from freckled cheek to cheek.

The branches swayed like the arms of a Quidditch crowd and in their chaotic dance they were hypnotically beautiful, especially in the crisp late September morning. Her mind relaxed from true stress of the workload that all the fourth years had found themselves buried under ever since the term had started.

She felt the happiness of her life bubble up from within, the memories from her past swimming before her and images of her and her brothers running around in the autumn air came flooding back to her. Were it not for the other early risers, the students heading out for a morning walk before breakfast like Minnie herself, she would've span like a little girl again, arms out wide and fingers spread, but instead she kept her hands in her robe pockets and inhaled deeply.

The wind carried the fragrance of the woodland, the essence of her childhood days....and Minerva considered flinging herself down underneath the tree opposite the path that she was stood on and she eventually did so with a sigh of relief. She was just about to close her eyes and let the fresh air wash over her when a sound from behind the tree caught her attention and she sat upright.

Miaow...

What on earth was that? Minnie scrambled up onto her knees and crawled across the grass so that she could peer around the bark of the tree, looking for the source of the noise. She felt twigs and leaves dig at her exposed knees but she didn't care in that moment, her unruly hair falling out of her plait as she looked around. Minerva definitely knew what she had heard, it was the distinct sound of a cat and Minnie was desperate to find it.

And then there it was. A small black kitten was curled up in the grass, it's little white paws complementing the sleek and shiny black fur that coated the majority of the animal's body with the exception of the chest that was also white and Minerva longed to stroke it but she didn't want to shock the little kitten in any way, shape or form. The kitten had shockingly bright blue eyes that took Minnie by surprise but the fourteen year old edged towards the kitten on her knees and took it as a good sign that it didn't move away from her.

"Hello, little one," she whispered, reaching her hand out towards the kitten as a sort of peace offering, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Minnie," Minerva smiled warmly at the kitten, being reminded of all the stray cats and kittens that she always found back at home, they seemed to follow her everywhere - as if she attracted them. Some of the cats had actually lived in her family's barn for a little while and Minnie had always loved looking after them all. This small one was no exception.

The kitten raised a paw towards Minerva and padded gently over, licking Minnie's palm with it's pink tongue which made Minerva giggle as her skin tingled. She then took that exact palm and ran it down the back of the kitten, smiling even more when the kitten purred and rolled over onto it's back as Minnie stroked it's white stomach.

"What on earth should I call you?" Minerva wondered out loud and she settled herself so that she was sat cross legged on the grass, with her hand still extended to the kitten in front of her. The wind was blowing her hair in all different directions which seemed to intrigue the kitten as it peered up with those gorgeous blue eyes and batted at the flying strands around Minnie's face.