AN1: Corrected a small mistake in ch5, nothing major, I just seem to have an issue with numbers...

AN2: I got carried away writing this chapter, it's twice as long as the other's are. But because I reached over 2000 visitors with my two recently written fics I decided to play nice and post it as one anyway.

AN3: I would like to thank you all for the wonderful reviews, especially those of you who always took the time to leave me a few words. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

Chapter 6:

To Hermione, Monday and Tuesday seemed to drag with annoyingly slow speed. Between classes she could have sworn that time had altogether stopped, just to torment her. Admittedly, teaching classes was tolerable, there was always someone who could preoccupy her thoughts.

Actually, most of her classes demanded her full attention, especially the seventh years, whose class Hermione took over until Minerva recovered. She would never admit it out loud, but when on Monday a seventh year needed to go to the hospital wing five minutes before the end of class she was all too eager to dismiss the others and escort the boy to the wing herself.

When Tuesday morning finally came Hermione caught herself staring at her watch every few minutes to see if it was afternoon yet.

The moment Hermione's last class was finished she sprinted down the hall, straight for the hospital wing. She burst through the door as if her robes were on fire.

"Is she awake yet?" She demanded breathlessly.

Madam Pomfrey looked startled for a moment but quickly composed herself.

"Keep your voice down, Hermione! This is a hospital... and no, she is not awake yet." She answered. She wanted to continue, there was plenty more on her mind she wanted to discuss with the young witch, but Hermione was already past the other door that lead into the sick room.

Hours had passed yet again, but if someone had asked her, Hermione couldn't have guessed how much. Her world was timeless again, sitting by the side of the bed, her gaze steady on the rising and lowering chest of the cat that slept comfortably in the middle.

The last time Hermione had seen Minerva she had been lying on her side, uncannily like a dead creature, stretched out on the bed. This time, however, Hermione was greeted with a much more heart warming sight. Minerva was curled up into a ball, all of her legs disappearing under her stomach, her head snugly buried between them.

Hermione reached out more than once to caress the silvery coat of the sleeping cat but stopped at the last second, afraid that touching her would somehow harm the sleeping Animagus.

'God, I wish you would wake up soon...' Hermione thought, after pulling her hand away from the sleeping cat for the hundredth time.

Hermione felt oddly comforted. Although everything was dark, she didn't think about it, she felt warm and loved, the soft vibrating sensation against her cheek was especially pleasant. 'Wait, what... vibrating? What's vibrating?' Some of the fog around Hermione's sleepy brain had lifted and she suddenly realized that she could not only feel but also hear the vibration. 'Purring!' The single word slammed into her brain with such force that she instantly woke up, jerking her head up.

A startled cat, previously curled up next to the spot where the young witch's head was a moment ago, jumped up as well. Sitting down again in an almost aristocratic manner, the silver tabby cat cocked her head to the side and just stared at Hermione.

"Minerva!" The young professor exclaimed, not able to utter another word. Although her greeting turned out to be rather short, the Animagus did not need more. The way Hermione said her name revealed a myriad of emotions: joy, relief and love among the most prominent. These were also fairly evident on Hermione's features, her eyes were shiny and misty from unshed tears, yet they clearly radiated love and warmth as she allowed herself to take in Minerva's once again animate form.

Her lips twisted into a goofy smile, her bottom lip quivering from the effort to express all the feelings she had no words for. Without noticing it, her hand reached out once again and this time the tips of her fingers touched soft fur. However, they only lingered a moment as Minerva decided to end the conflict so obviously raging inside her young love.

She stood again and jumped off the bed, but before she hit the floor she was human again. She was still wearing the elegant dress she donned Sunday morning. Hermione thought she looked absolutely breathtaking, the past few days did not seem to leave any mark on her. Minerva was smiling down at the young witch, although her expression was curiously unreadable.

A second later, Hermione's overloaded brain caught up with the moment as well and she flung herself into the taller witch's arms. One arm went around Minerva's neck, the other around her back and Hermione clung to her almost desperately, sobbing into the older witch's neck.

Only Minerva's quick reflexes saved them from being sprawled on the cold, hard, stone floor as Hermione's body collided with her own. Two protective arms wrapped around the shorter woman's back and Minerva slowly rocked the woman back and forth, mumbling comforting nonsense into Hermione's hair.

After a few minutes the younger witch calmed down and she stepped back to disentangle herself from the warm embrace. She let her eyes take in the now human features of the recovered Headmistress with joy.

"Oh, Minerva... are you all right? I was so worried about you..the potion.. Madam Pom... did it..." Hermione's head was so full of unasked questions and thoughts demanding attention that she tried to express them all at once, which resulted in an incoherent jumble of words. Minerva quickly stopped the flow of questions with a thin finger softly pressed to Hermione's lips.

"I'm fine, my love. Almost as good as new." She replied, her tone reassuring, although it had a definitely amused undertone, which the twisted half smile on her lips betrayed as well. But anything else she might have wanted to say was cut short as she suddenly felt Hermione's body collide with hers once again, only this time she felt soft lips meshed against her own as well.

Although the kiss started out chaste, it was nothing short of fiery. Their lips merged as one, fitting perfectly, as if they had been designed for each other. It continued like this for a few seconds, soft and almost innocent but neither witches had the will power or the desire to hold back for much longer.

Needing to feel the woman, seeking as much physical confirmation that this was indeed happening to her as possible, Hermione parted her lips, brushing Minerva's with the tip of her tongue. The older witch responded earnestly, parting her lips as well, allowing Hermione to deepen the kiss.

However, the kiss turned out to be much shorter than either of them intended it, as they suddenly had to pull away from the sweet contact, hoots and cat calls and various other obscene noises suddenly hitting their ears.

They turned around, realizing that they were still in the hospital wing. On the far side of the room they noticed that some beds were occupied by students who were now sitting up, clapping and cheering for them. Both witches could feel their faces heating up, turning scarlet red, but they were also rather relieved to see that their students didn't seem to think worse of them.

On the entrance side there were others, colleagues and students as well. Among them were Madam Pomfrey, Rolanda Hooch and a sixth year student Hermione recognized as Alison Smith, the only one present who did not seem to be too happy.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at them for a moment, shook her head, muttering something about stubborn witches showing off and hurried to shush her noisy patients. Hooch, on the other hand, was grinning like a maniac. "It's about time you two opened your eyes!" She exclaimed.

The sixth year student Hermione recognized as a Ravenclaw stood there gaping at them for a few more seconds before she rushed out of the hospital wing without a word. Minerva glanced at the younger witch, an eyebrow raised questioningly. Hermione however, turned to the flying instructor.

"Well yes, Rolanda, you are quite right. Now if you'll excuse us, Minerva and I have a lot to discuss." She said with a cheeky grin and dragged a surprised but all too willing Minerva out of the room, laughing as she heard the woman snort at the word 'discuss'.

On their way out they passed a surprised Neville without stopping, and Minerva's keen hearing picked up Hooch's voice, talking about coughing up galleons, but at that moment she couldn't care less.

By the time they reached Hermione's rooms, the young witch had thought of a dozen scenarios, all centred around ravishing a certain very enticing Headmistress, but when the portrait closed behind them her advances weren't as smooth as she planned them to be.

"I do believe you... mentioned discussing some things, my dear." Minerva said teasingly, stifling a moan that bubbled to the surface when Hermione pressed her lips to the soft skin behind her ear.

"I was sort of hoping most of our discussion would be spent showing things rather than speaking about them..." Hermione answered, disbelief and need clearly written on her face. Minerva nearly let an uncharacteristic giggle slip from her lips at the sight.

She kissed the eager witch in her arms briefly, not trusting herself to deepen the kiss just yet and quickly broke the contact before it could get out of hand. "Patience, my love, is a virtue. I merely want to ask about Miss Smith. She looked quite unhappy a few minutes ago."

The somewhat guilty expression sneaking into Hermione's eyes did not go unnoticed by the older woman. But before she could think anything of it Hermione's answer cleared the mystery. "Erm, yes. Last week she tried to ask me out. She was quite open about it, I had to wonder what she was doing in Ravenclaw with guts like that."

The bewildered expression on Minerva's face urged Hermione to carry on with her explanation. "I immediately told her that it cannot happen, for multiple reasons. Apparently, she didn't take my words seriously enough." Hermione let out a defeated sigh as the next thought formed in her head. "I guess I'll have to speak to her about this."

"Tomorrow, love, everything can wait until tomorrow." Minerva replied, secretly relieved by the answer, and closed the distance between them once again. Lips met in another passionate, scorching kiss, and it would be hours before another set of coherent words were uttered by either witches.

Two entangled, sweaty bodies were lying on top of each other, the covers bunched in a heap at the foot of the bed, exchanging casual caresses and kisses every now and then. Both women's lips were graced by pleased smiles and their eyes shone with the love they felt for each other.

"I first fell in love with you in my seventh year here at Hogwarts, you know. I tried to resist it so hard, I was convinced that it would never happen. And now look at us." Hermione grinned, pointing at their entangled bodies.

Minerva quickly did the Math in her head and was quite astonished at the younger witch's revelation. "But... that was fifteen years ago. What about Mr. Weasley?"

"Yes.. well, everyone expected us to be together but... I sort of realized that no matter how happy he made me, he could never make me forget you." Hermione answered, softly caressing Minerva's cheek.

"One day he sat me down and asked me about it. He said he could see that I wasn't completely happy. You have no idea how much insight he actually has. When I told him that he was right, his first question was if it's you. He's been badgering me about telling you ever since." She continued the tale with a chuckle.

"You remember that great big row we had? He wanted to play matchmaker but I was terrified and told him to mind his own business. I think I owe him an apology..." Hermione said with a dreamy smile on her face.

Minerva smirked at the man's antics and made a mental note to thank him when they next met. Another thought that crossed her mind, however, quickly melted the amused expression off her face and guilt crept into her eyes. "Speaking of apologies... Hermione, I owe you one as well..."

Not understanding where her lover was coming from, Hermione arched an eyebrow, silently asking Minerva to elaborate. The Animagus could feel her cheek redden quickly as she took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

"Sunday morning... remember that I was so flustered and tongue-tied I couldn't get out what I wanted?"

"Could I ever forget? I thought you were going to tell me you couldn't return my feelings." The younger woman answered, briefly kissing her lover to reassure her.

"Well... what I actually wanted to say was... well... that Isawyoumasturbating thenightbefore ." Minerva said the second part in such a rush that Hermione was not sure she heard her correctly.

"What... what did you just say? You..." Her eyes widened in surprise and she could feel her face heating up somewhat. Minerva braced herself, fully expecting the young woman to be outraged.

"I said I saw you pleasuring yourself Saturday night..." She answered, not meeting Hermione's eyes.

"I was fed up with paperwork and thought I'd see if you felt like spending time with me. When I arrived at your room you weren't anywhere to be seen. However, my Animagus senses picked up some strange noise from your bed chamber. You were listening to music. I was about to knock when I heard you moan." Minerva carried on with her explanation, dreading the storm she was sure would come. "I... I'm rather ashamed of myself but I couldn't help it. I heard my own name and I snuck into the room. I am so sorry Hermione, but I couldn't not tell you." A single tear ran down her cheek and she was surprised to feel the tip of Hermione's index finger catch it.

She raised her eyes, looking at the beautiful young witch beside her, and to her utter surprise she found love and something similar to amusement reflected in the chocolate orbs, rather than shame, anger and regret. They stared at each other for a few moments before Hermione spoke up.

"Well... I can't say I'm not shocked to hear this. But I'm not angry, my love." Again pointing out their nudity and close proximity she chuckled. "It would be pointless anyway. I hardly think you could have seen anything you haven't seen from a different angle today." She leaned in and planted a sweet kiss on her lover's lips before pulling her on top of her.

Minerva, relieved of her burden, kissed back with all the passion that was suddenly raging inside her. She allowed a muscular leg to slip between Hermione's thighs and both of them groaned in pleasure at the contact.

Hermione's hands mapped out Minerva's back, wanting to memorize every tiny detail about the woman's body. Her lips ever so softly grazed the witch's ear as she whispered "Did you enjoy the show?" Minerva's hips jerked in surprise as Hermione's hand squeezed her backside a moment later.

Minerva panted as she tried to keep the pace of her movements slow. "Yessss... you were divine." She whispered against inviting lips. "I was so aroused I didn't sleep at all that night. Too guilty to do anything about it though..." Hermione's breath was growing shallower as well and Minerva could feel her body quivering under hers. "Didn't you hear me the next morning?" She asked breathlessly, her curiosity now piqued.

Hermione's brain was engulfed in a thick cloud of desire and she found it extremely hard to think straight, especially while Minerva's skillful movements were driving her wild with pleasure. "What... was... was I supposed to hear?" She managed between breaths.

"The... other reason... I was so flushed that morning was...that I... I thought you heard me pleasuring myself in the shower." Minerva pushed the words out between gritted teeth. "Couldn't stop...thinking about you... couldn't...help myself."

Hermione's brain overloaded with the image of a wet Minerva McGonagall standing in the shower, with one hand between her legs, the other hand on the wall of the shower for support, moaning her name.

All attempts at communication abandoned, Hermione grabbed Minerva's hips and ground their bodies together more forcibly. Her eyes were screwed shut as she panted against the older woman's shoulder, on the edge.

"Look at me." Minerva panted, nothing but her willpower keeping her from tumbling over the edge before Hermione was ready. "Her...mione... open your...eyes... look... at me." Her words left her mouth in sync with her thrusts, she almost desperately wanted to see the beautiful witch come.

With strength Hermione had no idea she possessed she managed to open her eyes. Her pupils were dilated to their limits and one look into Minerva's eyes, normally green orbs black with desire, sent her over the edge. Her hips jerked around uncontrollably and her eyes unavoidably rolled up into her head, she screamed Minerva's name as she came. Seeing the pleasure wash over her lover, Minerva let go as well and roared her own release in time with Hermione's.

They had lain in a jumbled heap of limbs for some minutes before either of them found the energy and breath to speak.

"That...was amazing..." Hermione muttered finally, completely sated and spent. Minerva could only nod, kissing Hermione's shoulder contentedly.

"Did you... in the shower..." Hermione started, oddly self-conscious about using the word, regardless of their recent activities. "I didn't have the faintest idea..." She said almost annoyed with herself for not noticing it.

"Water must have been louder than I thought..." the older witch offered as an explanation.

"Well... at any rate, it was quite a lucky set of events." The younger witch concluded. "Could have done without the heart attacks though."

"Mmmmm, I agree, my love. It was a set of the most fortunate coincidences I could have imagined." Minerva replied sleepily, snuggling close to her lover, a slurred 'I love you' barely escaping her lips before she drifted off to sleep.

Fin.

AN: Well...this is it folks, this was the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a review, they are immensely appreciated.