POTTERMORE SPOILERS! ... even though all information is on the HP Wikia as well... (That's where I got it.)

At day, Isobel McGonagall's waist-length raven hair had always been in a bun, as was tradition in her family for married women. Her daughter and two sons had only ever seen it down when she was either clustered to the bed with an illness or when the sun had set for the day, and she wouldn't leave the house anymore. Women customarily did not wear their hair down anymore from the moment they had gotten engaged. Loose hair was something for maiden… for still uncommitted women, and since engagement was seen as the step to commitment – a lifetime one at that… Women were usually described as being most attractive when their hair was down; when they still needed to invite men to court them…

Minerva McGonagall had worn her hair in a bun at daytime for over fifty years, having held onto the tradition she had been raised with. Minerva had adapted to it the day right after Dougal McGregor, the Muggle boy she had hopelessly fallen in love with at age eighteen, had asked to marry him in the ploughed field… the day when she returned to him to hand him the shiny silver band back, saying she could not do it… they were too different… Yet from that day she had never left those silken raven strands down again. Her last words to him had been, "I love you."… and Minerva had loved him until the day he died.

There had been questions about her change in hairstyle. She had easily dismissed each and every one of them by mentioning that in her line of duty, she could be ambushed anytime… and she couldn't afford being bothered by her hair in the middle of a battle in which her own and her companions' life might well be at stake. None of the women at the Ministry in that same position wore their hair down… Maybe coincidentally they were all older and married, though. Minerva McGonagall had been one of the most youthful – if not the most youthful – to become an official for the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but few witches who might be older than she would have managed to perform with a wand that what she could… easily. She had the best pieces of magic Hogwarts had known in decades.

Three days after her chance for love had arisen… to be shriveled by Minerva's being a witch and inability to push aside her magic, unable to bear it any longer, she left for London, having used those three days to get all in order with the Ministry. As an official for the Ministry and especially after the early heartbreak Minerva had suffered, she didn't really seek to invite men to court her anymore either way.

Oftentimes Minerva still wondered what life could have been like as the handsome farm boy's wife. Could she have lived without the magic? Should she have tried? She knew how her mother had suffered from it all… which had been her main reason to return the ring, but still in the pit of her stomach she wondered if maybe… she could have been happier having been his wife – even if it cost her her magic.

Leaving the British Ministry for Magic to return to the castle of Hogwarts as a teacher had been one of her best decisions in life. Elphinstone Urquart, Minerva's former boss, however, had been smitten by her since the very first time he had seen her, and had never ceased loving her, nor to ask for her hand in marriage every now and again even though many refusals. She did not regret eventually having married Elphinstone at the age of forty-two even though the marriage had only lasted three years, until his early death. She had been barely forty-five when she had already become a widow. She had never had another, but still she had kept her hair in a bun. Maybe the customary hairstyle was a conscious decision, serving as façade of sorts, to at least look she had not lost and to ignore her loneliness… and maybe it was a means of showing she wasn't interested in another anymore.

Either way… That particular night was the ideal opportunity for the females at the castle to leave their hair entirely down. She had told her pupils herself in not so different words, and so she should give them the lead… Elphinstone had been gone for decades, and he had always loved her hair loose… He would have wanted her to…

There was no Triwizard Tournament every day, and that one had been even more unusual than the event in itself often was, with Harry Potter having been chosen for Hogwarts' second champion. She should… but still, Minerva sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed looking at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of the wardrobe. Minerva was wearing beautiful dress robes and a light spread of make-up… nearly noticeable, yet enough to emphasize her stunning green eyes that bit more, as a pale red color coated her lips. Her long graying hair… was up in its traditional bun though if possible even just that bit tighter. Albus would be in time as always, meaning that in two minutes the Headmaster would be at her door to accompany her to the Great Hall.

She rose, sighing. There was no time anymore. This would have to do. She would not look very appealing with her graying hair loose either way, she told herself quietly. If her hair had been ebony still and silky then maybe… She shook her head – most likely not even then. As she made her way into the sitting room, she could already hear Albus' knock on her door. She moved over to the door to join him.

As she threw open the door to her personal quarters and looked into her former professor's eyes and saw his gaze going over her, she couldn't really help but blush slightly. His mouth hung slightly open as his vivid blue eyes raked over her, taking in her appearance. "My, Professor McGonagall, you look truly breathtaking tonight," he said.

"Oh, Albus…" she said. "Please. I don't look all that different at all."

He marginally cocked his head as he seemed to mull over the just spoken words. "I secretly wonder why you haven't taken the liberty to leave your beautiful hair down, my dear. If I heard correctly, a lot of the girls in the corridors were under the impression you slightly pushed them to do so tonight."

"Albus, we don't have the time anymore. They're expecting us."

Teal green and vivid blue connected. A mad twinkle shone in Albus' eyes for a moment as he quietly ran through his options. He had been her former professor and she his former pupil. Minerva and he had already known each other for a very long time, and he truly considered her to be his very best companion – one of the few whom he could and occasionally did confide in. Maybe Minerva would be cross with him for a couple of days, but certainly not forever, would she? Even if it would cause her not to talk to him for some time, wouldn't this be worth it either way?

A soundless, motionless and wandless little spell aided the pins that held the woman's graying hair to loosen and carefully extricate themselves before fluttering over to Minerva's sitting room table until her long graying hair hung about her face in silken rivulets, much like they always had when she had been a pupil – the only difference was that the color had begun to slowly leave the ebony strands. She looked even more truly breathtaking to him like that. Catching the look in her eye, Albus chose to make matters momentarily worse and with a smile, offered her his arm. "Come on," he said, "we shouldn't arrive late."

Her nostrils flared as she stepped into the hallway and accepted his arm, the door giving entrance to her personal quarters falling shut and sealing itself behind her magically. Every pupil they passed on the way to the Great Hall was left wide-eyed upon seeing her appearance, Albus' mischievous little spell causing quite a bit of consternation. There had been bets among the pupils, and those who had voted that Minerva McGonagall wouldn't leave her long hair down no matter circumstances… well…

Pupils had gaped at her most of the night, seemingly unable to adjust to the sight of a Minerva McGonagall with her hair not in its customary bun. Severus Snape had commented and had teased her most of the night as well until eventually even Snape had had to truthfully admit she really looked stunning… after Minerva had threatened to hex him if he spoke of the matter one more time.

As she tottered into her personal quarters early morning, having been escorted there by an equally tipsy and slightly giggly Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall didn't regret not having turned about again to replace the pins. In fact, Minerva had been on the verge of doing just so, unable to care about coming late… Minerva didn't regret not having done so. Minerva McGonagall had felt beautiful again for the first time in quite a while, even though she had not necessarily liked having been the professorial centre of attention. Albus would pay for it later, though. She just still had to figure how…