The Course of True Love

Issues

The next morning Albus woke up early. Minerva slept next to him, she looked so peaceful. Her long hair was gathered in a loose braid and she wore a white nightgown. He couldn't help but smile. Minerva trusted him enough to let him stay over night and she had missed him while he was away. This was still a new concept to him, but he really liked it. Just like he loved the way she'd looked at him last night. He'd never seen her face light up and then get so gentle as it had when he walked into the room. Thinking back to it made his heart flutter, but in a very good way, not the cardiac arrest kind of way.
He knew that she was everything he'd ever need. Wife material? Probably, other people might say that. But Albus didn't want to think of her in materialistic terms because he knew full well that she was not to be owned. Besides, he knew he wasn't good enough for her, so Albus plan was to be with her and make her happy for as long as she wanted to be with him,then he'd let her go.
Minerva yawned and cuddled up closer to him, but she didn't wake. Albus didn't know, but she had waited for him to come back every night. No wonder she was exhausted. He caressed Mina's hair, watching her sleep. She was such a pretty thing, everything about her was perfect to him, from the little freckle under her left eye to her laugh and her voice when she thought nobody could hear her sing. Around 8 he got up and got dressed, then he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Albus made all of Mina's favourite things, porridge with fresh fruit, pancakes and tea with just the right amount of milk, no sugar. He wasn't a good cook, far from it, but he pretended to be confident in the kitchen to impress her. He'd hate if she thought he was lazy or that he expected her to take care of everything.
Albus put all the things he'd prepared on a tray and arranged them nicely, then he went to wake Mina and they had breakfast in bed together.
Minerva could have spent all day like that, just sitting in bed and talking, but Albus had to go to the ministry, after all he had single-handedly ended a gruesome war the previous night.
"Wait." She said while he was preparing to leave and took a small, wooden box from her nightstand. "This is for you, it's nothing fancy but I hope you like it." A shy smile flickered across her face as she passed him the box. He carefully untied the ribbon she had decorated the box with and then opened it. The box contained a metal pin, shaped like a celtic knot. It was decorated with red stones that sparkled in the morning sun and a word was engraved on the back. It was beautifully made, yet very sturdy and it looked old, though it had obviously been polished and restored recently.
"It's wonderful, sweetheart, thank you very much. What does the engraving mean?" He traced the writing with his finger.
Mina smiled and kissed his hand. "It means 'beloved'. The pin has been in my family for a very long time, but I had it reworked and added the engraving for your eventual return." Her face turned red as she watched Albus fasten the pin on his robes, right above his heart.
"Darling, that is lovely, how kind of you to give me such a valuable family piece, I'll cherish it always. I love you and I'll be back tonight, I don't know how long they want to keep me there, but I will try to be back as soon as I can." He gave her a long kiss and then left.
Minerva leaned back and closed her eyes. Didn't he get what she was hinting at? Was she too subtle? Was he too preoccupied with other things? Or was he simply not interested in a more serious relationship? She knew she had to speak with him because over the last few weeks she had realised that she cared far too much about this man to have just a casual relationship with him. She'd anxiously waited for letters, scanned the Daily Prophet for any news and generally just hoped he'd safely make it back to her, sooner rather than later.  She couldn't go on like this, she needed clarity and if that meant she had to swallow her pride and make the first step, so be it.

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Albus walked the last part of the way to the ministry and took the visitors' entrance. Not very successfully, as he was distracted, so he needed four tries to get the code right. His mind kept wandering back to the pin she had just given him. It was definitely a beautiful piece and very meaningful, it was a family heirloom after all. And you don't just give away family heirlooms to random... Albus stopped. Minerva had given him a restored family piece. Was she hinting at something? He revisited their conversation from earlier and finally he realised that she had indeed been trying to talk about something. He must have been blind earlier because how could he not have noticed that.
"Dumbledore, you truly are an idiot." He muttered to himself and actually he wanted to turn around and go back home because talking to Minerva suddenly seemed far more important to him. But it was too late, in that very moment the Minister of Magic came around the corner, accompanied by an entourage of journalists, photographers, aurors and foreign dignitaries who must have traveled to London over night to take part in the festivities.
"There he is! The man of the hour!" the minister announced and shook Albus' hand. The cameras clicked and the journalists shouted. Albus smiled for the cameras and patiently answered some questions before the Minister pulled him aside for a meeting with the head of the Auror Department. He knew that it was just a formality, he had to give an account of what had happened and answer some questions. Still he was a little apprehensive but that was to be expected. The interrogation was long and thorough, the Aurors wanted to make sure to get every little detail right and Albus told them about 90 percent of the truth, however he didn't mention Minerva or his personal relationship with Gellert many moons ago. The people who had to know knew about it and as the Daily Prophet would have access to at least some of the protocol, it just wasn't safe.
After the interrogation it was way past lunch time, so Albus was starving. He was looking around for some sandwiches, which were usually aplenty in the meeting rooms, when Alexander, the ambassador to MACUSA took him aside. He handed him a sandwich and some water. Albus followed him to his temporary desk where Alexander cast a spell of silence around them and sat him down.
"Well, old sport. Where did you disappear to last night." He grinned knowingly.
Albus smiled. He knew his secret would be safe with him. Alexander was one of the few people he would consider a friend, a few years back Albus had taken him under his wing and Alexander had come far. Albus took a deep breath and fiddled with the pin.
"Let's just say that there was someone waiting for me to come home unharmed and I couldn't possibly let her wait any longer."
Alexander almost choked on his drink but Albus quickly changed the topic.
"So how are wife and kids?" He asked casually. Alex had met his wife Amaryllis at the ministry and they had three children, a daughter who was about 9 if Albus recalled  correctly and twins, a boy and another girl.
"Eva is coping well in the US, much better than we expected when the ministry first approached us about moving. We'll be coming back in about one and a half years though, The twins are so little and we want to move before they start school, that has been tough on Eva. Amaryllis thinks that the standards over there are too low, so she's tutoring Eva to make sure she can keep up with her peers here." Alexander smiled, he clearly loved his family and Eva was his pride and joy.
"That's all very sensible. I knew you were perfectly suited to represent us abroad." Albus praised his friend and hoped that he had avoided any further questions about the night before. How wrong he was, his avoidance just made his friend more curious.
"Thank you. So, I'm just going to change the topic back. Who is she? You know I can't just drop this, Amaryllis always said..."
"Someone very special." Albus replied. He knew that Alexander and his wife wanted him to be happy, but sometimes their concern for him was a bit much. "She is smart, kind and if you ask me, she's drop dead gorgeous." Alexander still didn't seem to be satisfied and kept digging, but Albus didn't really mind bragging about Mina to his friend, in fact, he actually quite liked it. He was proud of her and her achievements, much prouder than he'd ever been of something he had done.
"A triple threat, I see. Will we have the pleasure of meeting that mystery lady any time soon?"
Albus shook his head and suddenly looked quite sad. "I'm not sure, but I don't think you will. It's a little complicated, you know, because I shouldn't exactly be with her." Alexander wanted to say something but Albus had noticed the shocked expression on his friend's face and quickly continued speaking. "
It's not illegal or anything, don't worry. It's just something that would get her into more trouble than I am worth, you see, whether I like it or not, I'm a pretty big deal in our world and these circumstances, combined with others, would wreck the good life she currently has." Albus sighed. Actually saying this out loud hurt him more than he wanted to admit, but it was the truth. The cold, hard truth. He was the quickest way to ruin his beloved's life. However, Alexander seemed to disagree, his voice was not calm and gentle anymore.
"Albus, you listen to me now. You might be a great and powerful wizard and you might be considered one of the great minds of our time, but right now, you are being a coward, you're doing this woman a great injustice and you're deceiving yourself. If she's special enough for you to drop off the face of the earth for an entire night, especially after what happened last night, you shouldn't hide her, you should commit to her. Aren't you the one who keeps talking about love being stronger than fear and hate and evil in general and as long as we love fiercely, we can overcome anything? It's time to practice what you preach, Albus, I'm sorry that I am being so harsh, but this isn't right, neither for you or for her."
Alex looked as his friend, he was exasperated. Albus just had to stop sacrificing his and other people's happiness for what he perceived to be the greater good. His friend was obviously impressed by the little outburst and didn't quite know what to say, so he cleared his throat before speaking.
"Well, I guess we'll see. I need to talk to her about some issues from my past and other things, if that doesn't scare her off, my erratic and unpleasant nature probably will, sooner or later."
Alexander shook his head in disbelief, his friend was talking utter nonsense and worst of all, he believed it. What a fool he was, and now his foolish behaviour was once again threatening to hurt the very person he was trying to protect. Albus had told the young man his backstory, Alexander had never told anyone but right now he was questioning whether Albus had truly learnt from it. He looked him straight in the eye and spoke to him calmly, yet in a very assertive way, almost as if speaking to a naughty child.
"You're making a big mistake. Deep down you know it. And I bet that in a few years time you will be married to her, after almost messing up really badly and you will even have a little kid or two."
Albus laughed bitterly. "Alexander, I know you want me to be happy but marrying her would make her life hell. And I can't even father children, which is yet another reason I am not good enough for her."
"Mark my words." was all Alex replied but Albus just shook his head and moved to another topic. Alex had touched on another issue he thought about quite often and which troubled him. Mina was wonderful with children, he'd seen her at school, back in the day as prefect and now as well. Albus knew that she wanted a little family of her own and she deserved to have a family, even though something he would probably not be able to give her. Imagining her carrying their child... He couldn't finish that thought. Don't dream too far. He sighed. There were possibilities, he knew that, it just wasn't his call to make. And yet, the pin she had given him sparkled on his cloak. Beloved. Almost too good to be true. She loved him. And for now, that was enough, at least to get him through the day which turned out to be rather long and laborious.
When he finally returned to the castle it was long past midnight. There was still light in Minerva's apartment, but when he entered he saw that she'd fallen asleep on her desk, reading the Evening Prophet. His picture was on the front, the pin clearly visible, just as he had intended to.
Albus carefully put her to bed and held back for a second, before he decided to join her. " 'lbus?" She mumbled, still half asleep.
"I'm here, Kitten. I'm home, don't wake up, I'll still be here in the morning." He whispered and gently kissed her forehead. Minerva opened one eye, just to make sure it really was him and started smiling.
"Did you miss me?" she asked quietly.
"Terribly, my sweet. But now sleep. You must be exhausted." Mina didn't reply, she just yawned and then drifted off again. Albus held her close, he was shattered, but he couldn't sleep, the thoughts in his head were way too loud and they mixed with what Alexander had said to him earlier that day. He knew that it was selfish of him to keep her secret, he knew it was wrong to avoid all the serious conversations. But he couldn't be without her, then a thought entered his head. She was in danger, even with Gellert in prison, things still weren't safe and he needed to keep her safe. Yes, of course. He had to be with her to keep her safe. For the moment, this helped to put the conflicting thoughts in his head and finally he could find some sleep, holding Mina close.