McGonagall With The Marauders #6
Sequel to McGonagall With The Marauders #4
Minerva waited in her office next to the fireplace. She was growing impatient, shifting her weight back from one foot to the other, eventually pacing the room. It was something of a sight - she was wearing one of her best sets of robes, and she had her hair in a looser bun than usual. She reached over and straightened a photograph on the mantle as the fireplace roared to life with green flames.
She stepped back to let her husband come through the flames, and he threw his arms around her when he emerged. “Minnie.”
“Phin,” she said, pulling back to plant a kiss on his lips.
It wasn’t often that he could come up to Hogwarts to visit her. He was so busy at the Ministry that he was usually working well into the night, and she had plenty to keep her occupied here at Hogwarts. A few names came immediately to mind. But right now, she could spend a day with him. A beautiful day it was, too - one of the first warm days of spring, the sun was shining, students were roaming the grounds of the castle.
“It’s great to see you,” she said to him, holding him tight. They sat in this position for a few moments before separating. She lead him to her living room, where they sat close together on the couch and chatted over tea about Phin’s work, when a knock came from the door. Minerva gave him a confused look.
“Are you expecting anyone?” said Phin.
“Just you,” she went over and answered the door, coming face-to-face with a red-headed fourth year.
“Miss Evans,” she said, surprised, “What brings you here on a Saturday? Is everything alright?”
“Oh, yes, Professor, I’m terribly sorry to bother you on a weekend,” Lily was speaking fast, not wanting to use too much of her professor’s time, but taken aback by the looser hair that she was sporting, “I’ve just been thinking about this one question on the Transfiguration homework since you assigned it and I was hoping that you could help me with it - oh, hello!”
Minerva turned around to see her husband had stood up and was now only a few inches behind her, looking down at Lily. “Hello there.”
“Miss Evans, this is my husband, Elphinstone Urquart. Phin, Lily Evans.”
“Oh, yes! Lily Evans!” he exclaimed gleefully, “I’ve heard great things about you!”
“You have?” Lily asked, closing her mouth. She hadn’t realized it had been hanging open. “I didn’t even know you were married, Professor!”
“That seems to be a recurring theme here,” Phin teased. Minerva gave him a smirk and elbowed him in the ribs, to which he feigned pain.
“Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you, Professor McGonagall, I wouldn’t have if I’d have known you had company. I can come back another time, or we can discuss it in class.”
“Oh, nonsense!” said Phin, stepping aside, “don’t let me get in the way of Minnie’s work. Besides, I know quite a bit about Transfiguration, myself.”
A few minutes later, Lily left her Head of House’s private living quarters with her parchment in her hand and tea in her stomach. She was thoroughly confused at the events that transpired.
She made her way back to her common room, still a little dazed and lost in thought. James and Sirius were arguing about the Quidditch match next week, but James interrupted Sirius when he saw Lily enter. “Are you okay?”
“Did you know McGonagall was married?”
They were surprised. “We knew that … how did you know that?”
“I - I just had tea with her and her husband. He’s great. She really seemed happy.”
James and Sirius exchanged a look of disbelief, and didn’t speak for a moment. It was Sirius that recovered first. “Phin is here,” he said, trying to confirm that he was hearing everything correctly.
Lily nodded. The two boys sprung into action at the same time, calling up the stairs for Remus and Peter, and that it was urgent.
The four boys were nudging each other nervously, trying to make one of the others knock on the painting. Eventually, it was decided that Sirius would knock, and he did. He knocked multiple times, and no answer came to the door. They stared up at the painting.
“She’s not here,” said the painting of a woman eating grapes, looking rather bored. “She left about a half hour ago.”
“Where did she go?” asked Sirius.
The painting simply laughed at them and continued to eat her grapes, before the four boys huffed away.
James looked out of the window next to them in the corridor and saw a few figures moving outside on the grounds. He smiled. “Outside!” he proclaimed, running down the hallway as his friends scrambled behind him.
“Min, I know you think the Magpies are going to win the cup, and I’m sorry that I have to be the one to tell you that you’re wrong.”
“Yes, it’s obviously going to the Kestrels this year!” chimed in Poppy Pomfrey, which received laughs from the group.
Minerva and Elphinstone had found their way outside, and were now standing in a circle with Albus Dumbledore and Poppy Pomfrey next to the lake. They were enjoying the nice weather, and the breeze felt good.
“No, no, no,” said Phin in mock anger, “No. I will not accept these subpar Quidditch opinions. The Ballycastle Bats is the only decent answer to this question!”
Albus, with his back to the lake and facing the castle, tilted his head slightly to look past Minerva at a certain set of Gryffindor boys charging toward them. “Oh, this will be fun,” he said with a lightness in his voice.
Minerva quirked her eyebrows at him, before turning to see what the rest had already noticed.
“So, we meet again, Elphinstone!” Sirius Black announced loudly, turning heads of the few students within earshot.
“Oh, sweet Merlin,” Minerva rubbed her temple.
Phin, amused, turned to look at them. “I suppose we do, Sirius Black!”
Sirius stopped walking for a moment, shocked that he had remembered his name from their previous encounter, but soon began walking again, until he was only a few feet in front of him. The rest caught up, filing into a straight line in front of him.
“They’ve all drawn their wands,” Poppy whispered to Albus behind her hand. They shared a giggle at the scene in front of them.
“Anyone married to our dear, sweet Minnie must be put to the test!” James shouted, holding his head high and crossing his wand over his chest.
“You four are so - !” Minerva started, only to be cut off by Phin.
“No, no, they are absolutely correct, Minnie.”
That left all of the boys and Minerva shocked. “We are?”
“They are! I mean, I must fight for your honor, my darling!”
“That is exactly right!” said Remus. “We wouldn’t let our favourite professor see just anyone, you know. No offense, Professor Dumbledore.”
Albus raised his hands, gesturing none taken.
“We are prepared to duel you, Sir Urquart!” said Sirius. “Right here, right now.”
Minerva walked over to hide behind Poppy, who would simply move out of the way so that she must be exposed to what was happening. She sighed and buried her face in her hands, wondering how in the world she didn’t expect this to happen. She just wanted one day with her husband on school grounds.
The three staff members watched as Phin took his stance against the four boys, ready to face off. “Uh, Professor Dumbledore, sir? Could you officiate?” said James.
“Absolutely, my boy!” Minerva groaned loudly and tried to face the lake, but Poppy grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around.
“Alright, everyone,” he said, looking between the Marauders and Phin, “I want a clean fight. First to disarm their opponent wins. On my mark!”
He backed out of the way, and dropped his hand, signaling the start of the duel.
By now, many students had gathered around to watch the spectacle, and were laughing. The boys were firing hexes at Phin, who was dodging them one after the other. His wife knew that he was just letting them get a couple of spells in before -
Suddenly, Phin waved his wand in a series of patterns so fast that few could process what was happening before it was done. He was holding four wands and the four boys to match them were laying on the ground in a leg-locker jinx.
“The winner is - Elphinstone!”
The crowd of students cheered for him as he ran over to his wife and planted a kiss on her cheeks. She was less than thrilled.
“Oh, come on, darling, now we don’t have to be apart! I’ve won your honor!”
“You win this time, Urquart!” Sirius sweared from his spot on the lawn, “But you haven’t seen the last of us!”
Minerva walked over to them and deducted fifteen house points each and announced that they would lay there until either the spell wore off or someone took pity on them to undo it. She marched up to the castle, only a few catching the tint of red that was creeping on her cheeks. Phin followed her in, but stopped next to James. “Well, I think we’ve made her mad. Perhaps it’s for the best that you stay here.”
