The Course of True Love

A Surprise and a Shock

Mina's popularity amongst "her" Gryffindors was unbroken and even the other houses caught on. Professor McGonagall was known to be one of the fairest, most respected teachers in the whole school. She pretended that she didn't care about what the students said but actually she cared a great deal and being so appreciated meant a lot to her.
Albus barely got to see her in the beginning of the school year, he was busy, but so was Mina, who had taken on a bunch of responsibilities besides being a teacher and head of house. She was overseeing a homework group for the younger students and exam preparation classes for the older students, as well as privately tutoring and having an eye on Cecily Sunderland. Albus teased her a little about her attachment to this particular student and reminded her of professional distance and not picking favourites. However, Mina didn't want to hear about it. Something told her that there was more to Cecily and whatever she was hiding. There was no rational explanation for this feeling whatsoever, but it was most certainly real.
She was so busy that she kept ignoring the subtle and not so subtle changes that were happening to her. She had no time to be tired or sick, so she just soldiered on. That was until she started to feel really sick. She had been feeling nauseous quite a lot in the past few weeks but now it was going to far. That surely couldn't be normal, so on Saturday, after a few days of suffering and retching in relative silence, she went to see her best friend, Poppy, who was the resident mediwitch and healer in Hogwarts.
She took Mina to her office for some privacy and started to run some tests. Mina hated holding still but endured the procedure more or less patiently. When Poppy packed up her things, Mina couldn't help but ask.
"Soooo? Was it that weird dessert from a few days ago or is it the first stomach bug of the year?"
Poppy looked at her friend and shook her head. She tried hard to hide a grin but didn't quite succeed. "Mina, who have you been shagging?" She was really curious because to her knowledge, Mina was single.
Mina turned bright red and looked down, trying to figure something out. She hated lying to her friend but Albus was a secret. "Uuhm... Nobody? I don't get why that's relevant though." Great, Mina, wonderful, get defensive, that will make you look casual.
Poppy raised an eyebrow and sat down, twirling her quill between her fingers. "Well that is very interesting because to my knowledge it's fairly impossible to get pregnant on your own."
Mina felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and the room started spinning, so she sat down, shaking her head. "To get what now?" Poppy was probably just teasing her, making a silly joke and they would laugh about it together.
The mediwitch looked at her friend with disbelief. The oh so organised and careful Minerva McGonagall had had an accident. Unbelievable. "Preeegnant. Preggo. Preggers. Expecting. Get it? Mina, you're having a baby! And now spill, who is the father, I cannot believe you've been seeing someone without telling me, I thought we're friends! Or was it just a hookup? I want to know all the details."
Mina looked away. "It's Dumbledore. I somehow, kind of, might be in a relationship with Dumbledore."She mumbled and looked away, looking her friend in the eye was just impossible. But telling her also made Mina's heart feel a little lighter.
Poppy gasped. "You've got to be kidding me! Albus Dumbledore? The Albus Dumbledore?"
Mina sighed deeply. "No, I'm not kidding, yes, the Albus Dumbledore, look, I can prove it." She showed her friend the signet ring on her finger, polished and heavy as always.
"MINA!" Poppy couldn't believe what she was seeing and suddenly, everything started to fall into place and make sense.
"Shhhhhhhhh." Mina whispered, "Nobody is supposed to know."
"Minerva McGonagall, for Merlin's sake. You should've told me, now I owe Richard 30 Galleons and also...." Was betting silly? Yes. But it was their thing.
"Poppy, I'm begging you, don't judge. I can explain all but... What am I going to do?" Mina's voice was very small now and even her friend's stupid betting habits couldn't put a smile on her face. Panic started to creep in as the full implications of what was going on started to dawn on her.
Her friend felt that and so she stopped messing around and her voice became firm but caring. "Sweetie, you are going to have a baby. You're too far along for a removal anyway. This is your baby now. And you're going to be an amazing mum and Dumbledore, well, he's going to manage I suppose."
Mina sighed and buried her face in her hands. "That's another problem. We're not exactly official, you know."
"You don't say."
Mina began to tell her the whole story. "I don't even know how this could happen, he said it's very unlikely and we used that moonflower potion. Most of the times, you know how it is."
"Mina, look, your little tale is terribly romantic. But also..."
"...stupid? Reckless? Out of character? I know. I'll have to tell him and honestly, I have no idea how"
"Beating yourself up about it won't help. You'll have to tell him, that's for certain, but you need to come to terms with it first." Wise words but Mina couldn't make sense of them yet. She desperately needed time.
"Hmmm." was all she could say.
Poppy hugged her friend and held her tight, she felt that this was what was needed in this moment. "Whatever happens, I'm here for you. Aunty Poppy is here."
Mina smiled weakly. "Are you?"
"You're my best friend, silly. Of course I am. And you know, Richard and I, we have been trying for a baby for a while now, maybe we can do this together." Poppy tried her best to reassure her friend and it seemed to work.
"That would be wonderful. Because Poppy, I'm so scared. This wasn't part of my plan at all."
"I know, sweetie. But don't be afraid, it's going to be alright." Poppy made her friend a cup of tea and passed her a tissue before busying herself with some tasks while Mina regained at least some of her composure.
After a while she cleared her throat and changed the topic. "So you and Richard..."
Poppy nodded. "Yes. Me and Richard. Never thought it would be that way but we're very serious. It's great. Honestly I haven't been this happy in a long time." The usually very composed mediwitch blushed. Her partner was one of her few weaknesses.
"I'm so happy for you." Mina got up. "I better go. One last thing. When will I know what I'm having?"
Poppy smiled. "Always so curious. That will still take a while but I'm rooting for a little Mina."
"I'll have to wait then. But well, as long as it's healthy I'll be happy."
"Very smart. But now off you go, Quidditch practice is about to start and that means I'll have to be ready."
Mina returned to her apartment in some kind of trance. Was this really happening? Albus would be back from yet another mission that night and she definitely had to tell him. Sooner rather than later. It wouldn't be easy, but she was confident that they would get through this together