12.5- Autumn air and winter memories
November 4th 1973
Autumn was Minerva’s favorite season. She was back at Hogwarts, and boy was Hogwarts beautiful in the autumn. The crisp air perfectly put the castle together, the orange and red leaves blended together in a way that was only perfect for the old castle standing tall. Minerva thinks there’s beauty even in the forbidden forest and the cool air settles around it.
Every morning of the season Minnie stirs to wake up under a soft, heavy comforter around a chilled air the mixes to create a lovely temperature she could live in for forever.
~~~
January 2, 1971
The record player in the back of the living room in Minnie’s house was filling the room with The Velevet Underground’s Sweet Jane and Minnie doesn’t think she’s heard anything close to as beautiful. The lyrics, the guitar the rhythm, nothing as beautiful. The record kept eventually going to the next song and every time, Minnie would get up with her mug of hot tea and turn it back to Sweet Jane, enough times already where she’s found the exact spot in the record player she had to place the needle of the record player to get the song to start right at the beginning again. Nothing as beautiful as it.
It was January 2nd when she had to stop herself from getting up to get it to replay again as she had a visitor. Alastor Moody. Surprising. To her, at least. Seemingly, it came as a shock to the Alastor that she was surprised to see him.
She can’t directly recall how she behaved upon seeing him at her doorstep. It seems trivial now. She hopes she was polite.
She offered the man tea, listing the flavors that she could see in the cabinet in between glances at the Alastor in her living room.
“Oh. No thank you, Minerva.” The slightly older man muttered out.
Minnie wasn’t very close with him. Really only an acquaintance, if anything. Sure their Hogwarts years overlapped by one or two but with that large of a gap in ages they never really crossed paths.
Moody looked behind him to where there was a soft, green loveseat Minerva usually sits in while reading or watching the fire. “M-May I take a seat?” He asked.
Minerva knew she didn’t know this man but from the few things he had heard about him- this wasn’t normal.
She fully turns her body toward the man away from the cabinet. His eyes are sad, complimenting his blue eyes that if he were happy, appear as a sky blue but now they appear more of water. Maybe a still lake.
Minerva swallows.
“What’s happened, Moody?”
The room is silent except for the record.
Moody takes a breath.
Minerva’s eyes are half on the man and half facing the ground. She knows it mustn’t be someone close to her. Otherwise Albus would be there. He would. He wouldn’t leave her by herself with a strange, sad looking man. So it can’t be anyone she knows very well.
“Your Brother, Robert.” Moody states. Minerva knows he has more to say but can tell Moody doesn’t know where to go from there.
Moody looks around, looking in his mind for what to say. There’s nothing so he can only states facts.
“There were death eaters and,” Moody stutters not knowing what to say or even how to phrase what he doesn’t know what to say. There’s nothing anyone can say.
“Albus,” Minerva shakes her head, only the one name coming to her mind. “Where is he.”
“Hogwarts, you know that, even at Christmas he is.”
“No. He would be here. Why isn’t he here. Robert isn’t dead because Albus would be here.”
Moody shakes his head with pity. “Minerva…” He says, exasperated.
“No. He’s the only wizard I know well enough who would be here. He would be the one to tell me. He’s the one I’ve known forever. He’s the one who would be here to tell me. Right, please tell me if I’m crazy for thinking that. Please. And please tell me Robert isn’t dead.” Minerva said, gasping with a lip beginning to quiver at it all.
She wanted Robert, She wanted Albus, The man she considered another brother. She wanted anything else other than a strange man who didn’t know how to comfort her.
~~~
November 4th, 1973
It’s Monday. Still. She’s happy her house is happy. She thinks. Today is her brothers birthday. He would’ve been 47. She wonders a lot. She’s accepted she won’t get her answers. But yesterday was one certain black haired boy’s birthday so of course his friends have gotten the whole castle in on his birthday. Minerva likes to think that it’s everyone celebrating his birthday with her. She’ll feel bittersweet about it later. But she knows she’ll be ok. She’ll be ok when she falls asleep under her comforter that has cool, crisp air surrounding it.