And here we go...

As Hermione walked through the gates of Hogwarts she couldn't help but stop for a moment, smiling towards the castle. She had never dreamed that she could have so much, so soon.

Sure, she had hoped to eventually teach, and Transfiguration was her ultimate goal. But she had assumed Minerva would continue teaching for another thirty or forty years, and that even if another position became available, Hermione's youth would stop her from obtaining it.

But Hermione Granger had been wrong.

She had been hired to assist in teaching, and eventually replace, Minerva as the Transfiguration professor. That was her whole purpose for being here, all of her possessions in hand—new deep red robes to replace her old school ones. Hermione Granger had suddenly become Professor Hermione Granger.

"Welcome, Professor Granger," a voice said from ahead of her. She glanced up quickly, startled from her thoughts and smiled brightly at the beautiful witch in front her.

"Headmistress," Hermione smiled, "I hadn't expected you to meet me here, I was meant to find you in your office, wasn't I?"

Minerva laughed lightly, "You're correct, of course. But I had the extra few minutes, and thought I could meet you here. Welcome back to Hogwarts, Hermione."

"Thank you, Minerva," she said shyly. It was freeing—being able to call Minerva by her given name now. It wasn't nearly enough for Hermione, it never would be, but she could still appreciate the small step forward. She was free to be Hermione and could use the name Minerva whenever she pleased.

"Unfortunately, there have never been any other staff members housed in the Transfiguration corridor, therefore your rooms are slightly removed from where you will primarily be working," she said, leading Hermione towards the castle. "But I think you will find your accommodations quite acceptable, and you are far closer than you were as a Gryffindor student, or Head Girl. Years ago, the rooms were actually my own as I trained under Albus. I earned my mastery in those rooms, and therefore needed to be close to all of my research materials, above all else."

"Are you telling me," Hermione interrupted excitedly, "That my rooms are located near the library?"

Minerva smirked slightly, leading the younger witch into the castle and up a flight of stairs. She completely ignored the question for a moment. "For the next several weeks you will work with me as we develop a new lesson plan for the first and second year students. As you may recall, recent research has made me uncomfortable with the animal to object transfigurations, especially at that level. I am therefore in need of a whole new plan of attack for several portions of the school year. That will be our first task, along with various housekeeping and organizational tasks."

Hermione nodded, "That all makes sense to me."

"You will have an office, which will be attached to the classroom, much like mine. It is, admittedly, smaller, but it should be perfectly acceptable for meeting with students. We put several extension charms on one of the supply closets," Minerva laughed.

"So I'm headed back in the closet? Is that what you're telling me?" Hermione said, laughing.

"We added a window," Minerva replied with a straight face. Soon enough both witches were laughing, but Hermione's laughter quieted as they stopped outside of her quarters.

"Minerva, this isn't near the library—this is attached." Minerva smiled as if she had just given Hermione the greatest gift possible, which she had. "I can use the library, whenever I want?"

Minerva nodded, "It is at your disposal, and Madame Pince is happy to have you. You're probably her favorite student out of any."

She walked towards a portrait of a young girl reading and spoke the password, "A Libris."

Minerva then gestured for Hermione to enter first, and Hermione found herself gasping. It was nothing compared to Minerva's rooms, certainly, but it was hers, and it was perfect. The sitting room walls were painted a pale yellow, held built-in bookshelves, and a large window overlooking the forest. She nearly squealed when she discovered that she had her very own window seat.

In one corner of the room sat a small couch, table, and chair which surrounded a fire place. A small doorway on the opposite end of the room led into a small kitchen, with a table and chairs. Off to the right was a small hallway, connecting to the bathroom and bedroom, but Hermione vowed to explore all of that later.

She turned quickly and enveloped Minerva in a hug, "This is perfect, Minerva, thank you so much."

The older witch smiled, "Anything for you, love."

"Are there any rules I should be aware of?" Hermione asked with a smile, and Minerva looked at her questioningly, "I don't know, who is allowed to floo in, for instance? Painting, changing furniture, late night guests?"

Minerva smirked, "Late night guests?" she asked, and Hermione nodded. "Well I supposed you would need prior approval from the Headmistress."

Hermione hummed, kissing Minerva lightly, "And what would such an approval procedure entail, Headmistress?"

Minerva smirked, nipping at Hermione's ear as she whispered, "A lot of convincing." As the word escaped Minerva's mouth Hermione twirled her around pressing her against the wall and kissing her soundly, Minerva's moans echoed off of the walls as Hermione sucked gently on her lower lip.

"Minerva McGonagall, I want you," she growled, punctuating the statement with her hips rolling desperately against Minerva's. Minerva gasped, her control waning as her hands slid under Hermione's shirt.

"Good," Minerva smiled, and quickly switched their positions, Hermione wrapping her legs securely around Minerva's waist as their lips met desperately.

Both of them had been patient, Hermione had been forced to leave the castle, and they had seen each other so rarely since then. Minerva had missed the younger woman emotionally, and intellectually, but she had also missed her physically. They had reached their boiling point, and both were more than ready to simply let go.

As Hermione's new robes crumpled to the floor, Minerva set the woman down, straddling her thighs and kissing her way up Hermione's stomach. She pulled off her shirt and marveled at the woman she had found, "You are a goddess, Hermione Granger. Simply a goddess."

Hermione leaned up and took Minerva's mouth softly, quickly ridding Minerva of the heavy robes. "I love you, Minerva. You know that, right?"

Minerva smiled and nodded, "And I you," she said allowing her fingers to gently trace Hermione's nipples through the silk of her bra.

Hermione moaned deliciously, causing Minerva to grin. "You're torturing me," Hermione said with a smirk.

"Not torturing," she whispered, tracing her tongue over the smooth fabric and relishing in Hermione's shuddering response. "Prolonging. Patience, my dear."

Hermione groaned, arching herself off the floor, "Please, Minerva."

Minerva smiled, unclasping the bra gently, slowly fingering the straps of the torturous bit of clothing. Suddenly a firm knock sounded at the door, causing both women to jump, and Minerva to groan, "Fuck."

"We'll ignore it," Hermione begged senselessly, weaving her fingers into Minerva's hair as she pulled her down for another kiss.

Minerva chuckled lowly, "Hermione, the entire castle knows you arrived and that I just showed you to your rooms. Not a great time to hide…"

Hermione pouted as Minerva flicked her wand, replacing Hermione's clothing quickly, and placed her own robes back on, carefully buttoning them.

Hermione answered the door, "Remus," she said, surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you until dinner."

The werewolf smirked at the two women, "I'm sure. Unfortunately, Minerva," he called over Hermione's shoulder, "was supposed to bring you to your surprise welcoming party, I offered to go and fetch you two, assuming that you had gotten caught up discussing the most recent Transfiguration article, being the swots you are."

Hermione blushed brightly as Minerva scowled in Remus' direction, "Thank you Remus," Minerva said with an edge. "I had forgotten."

Remus nodded, "You're lucky that I am the one who came, Rolanda was concerned I would simply be drawn into the conversation and you would never arrive."

Hermione smirked, "Sorry, Remus. You're not invited." This caused Remus to burst out laughing and Minerva to scowl at the younger witch.

"Really, Hermione?" she chided. "Must you encourage him?"

Hermione laughed, "Sorry Minerva, I don't know what came over me."

Minerva sighed, "Are you both ready?" she asked.

Both nodded, as Remus piped up, "Though you may want to do something with you hair."

Minerva flushed again, forgetting that it had come undone amidst she and Hermione's… catching up. "Thank you Remus," she said icily, waving her wand as she passed her two ex-pupils, tying her hair up tightly once again.

Remus snickered as they followed her down the hall, and whispered, "Do you ever find yourself reverting back to a quivering first year around her?"

Hermione chuckled, taming her own hair with a spell as they walked. "No, Remus, no I don't."

The party had been magnificent, and Hermione had been amazed by how easily she had been welcomed back into the school. None of the professors, Severus included, had hesitated to ask her to refer to them by their first names, and she happily did so. The party picked up significantly after Minerva had mentioned Hermione's House elf margarita lesson.

"I'm sure I should be reprimanding you for giving this to students, Hermione, but I just can't find it in myself right now," Filius said, slurring ever so slightly. "You said muggles drink these?"

Hermione laughed, "Yes they do, but be careful with that—they'll give you a headache far worse than anything you've encountered with firewhiskey," she promised. "Tequila is not for the faint of heart."

Minerva chuckled behind Hermione, "Even I didn't expect this—I knew my staff was far from boring, but you turned them into party animals. I'm impressed, Professor."

Hermione smiled, "The more they drink, the less they pay attention to me," she said with a shrug.

Minerva laughed, "Brightest witch of her age—strikes again."

"I'm actually going to head back to my chambers," Hermione said, "Relax, settle in—it's been a very eventful day."

Minerva nodded, "Have a good night, Hermione."

"Goodnight, Minerva."

It took less than five minutes for Minerva to say her own goodbyes, casually return to her room, and to come through Hermione's fireplace, firing off a silencing spell as she went. From that point, clothing was scattered and neither woman could quite figure out where they ended, and the other began.

Months of attraction, outright adoration, and overpowering lust had led them here, and they couldn't look back if they had wanted to—not that either wanted to.

The next morning, Hermione woke up smiling as the sun filtered gently through her bedroom window. For the life of her, she couldn't remember when Minerva had transfigured blankets, but she wasn't complaining. She couldn't remember having ever slept better, and waking up with a beautiful witch in her arm wouldn't have her complaining any time soon.

Lightly kissing the back of Minerva's neck, she whispered, "Minerva, darling. It's time to wake up."

"Do I have to?" the older witch pouted, and Hermione laughed. "I'm comfy."

"Unfortunately, it's my first day of work. And my boss is a stickler for punctuality. I should also probably make an appearance at breakfast—to avoid rumors."

"Your boss is a ninny."

"My boss is a beautiful, charming, sexy witch—who apparently isn't fond of early mornings."

Minerva groaned and stretched as she sat up slowly. "You're sure that you have to go to work? I'm positive that your boss doesn't want to go either…"

Hermione kissed her lover softly, "I'm sure. I'm going to grab a quick shower before heading to breakfast, I'll see you there?"

Minerva nodded, searching the room for her hastily discarded clothing from the evening before, "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione smiled, she could definitely get used to waking up to those words. "I love you too, darling."

It had been nearly five years since Hermione and Minerva sat in her office that first day, since Hermione had snarled at Minerva; and Minerva had devised the plan to help her star pupil. It had been five years, and now Hermione found herself unpacking into that same office. She would be starting her first year of teaching in less than an hour, and she couldn't help but be excited.

When she had first begun teaching alongside Minerva it had been difficult. She had finally understood why relationships with coworkers were difficult. It was hard to concentrate on teaching when you were continuously imagining various positions on your coworker's desk—worse yet if those fantasies could easily become a reality after hours. Still, they found their rhythm and soon enough the two were easily the second most popular professors in the school.

Unfortunately, they could never quite beat out Remus. He had a "fun" subject, intriguing animals, and was "dreamy" on top of all of that. There was no competition when it came to most popular teacher, so Hermione and Minerva gladly accepted second place.

In more recent years they had taken to splitting the classes between them, while sharing the occasional Gryffindor and Slytherin class. In those situations, two sets of eyes—and wands, was often helpful.

It wasn't until New Years of that first year that Minerva and Hermione had come out about their relationship, though at that point, most everyone had their suspicions. Their colleagues had watched as the friends grew ever closer. It was obvious to all that the two women were bound to each other, no matter what others in their community may think.

When, at the New Year's Eve party, Hermione had drunk a slight bit too much whiskey and happily kissed Minerva at Midnight, Minerva had blushed furiously before glancing around quickly—almost daring anyone to challenge her. Instead of the discomfort, anger, or disgust she expected to encounter, her staff members and friends had broken out into a scattering of laughter and applause. Remus had topped the reaction by laughingly gesturing towards Minerva, "Can you blame her? The lucky witch."

Minerva had hexed him for that, but had done so with a laugh on her lips.

Molly Weasely was the only person they knew who had really been disturbed, though most people attributed that to her never ending hope to have Hermione marry into the Weasely family. When Ginny politely offered to steal Hermione away, and make a Weasely woman of her, Molly had given up completely and happily accepted Hermione's choices.

Now Professor Granger sat behind her own desk, curled up in wolf form, prepared to teach her first lesson of the year. As the fifth year's poured in she heard one of her student's, Elias Makelvoy, she thought, explaining to a new transfer, "You'll love Professor Granger, she's a brilliant teacher, a badass warrior witch, and ridiculously hot. But try not to stare… she always catches the students who are staring."

Hermione smirked, that sounded like a good invitation to start class. Leaping over her desk she transformed mid leap—blatantly stealing Minerva's signature move. "She also hears everything—five points from Gryffindor Mr. Makelvoy."

Elias groaned, and she heard him whisper to his classmate, "See? Badass…" The rest of her students simply sat staring at her in awe, they had all seen Minerva's transformations, but none of them knew that she had the same ability. She had kept her form rather carefully guarded until recently. It had come in handy when she and Minerva wanted more time to themselves.

As they stared at her, mouths agape, she smiled. "Welcome to 5th year Transfiguration, please take out your books and turn to page 425."

Professor Hermione Granger was going to be just fine.

A/N: Well there you are, the final chapter. When I started this story, I had no plans to move it this far, in fact, I had only written a couple of chapters, I think chapters 4 and 5, and suddenly it became this.

While there are still things I would like to change, and still moments which aren't completely right in my mind, I think this has turned out marvelously, and I couldn't have done it without all of you. Thank you for reading, and reviewing. Each favorite, follow, and review had my heart fluttering and my mind whirring to life. So thank you for the input, the support, and the suggestions.

A special thank you to the following reviewers, who have all been reading since the very beginning and have reviewed constantly. You all pushed me so far, and in the case of many of you, I was quite the fangirl about having my own favorite fanfic authors hounding me for new chapters. That felt fantastic. So thank you all!

Tlc125

Refreshingly Original

Eden's End

Miss Bee Farm

Bh8554

and MegaNerdAlert (For the record, I have read every single one of your stories, and your Minerva/Hermione fanfics were what inspired me to write my own, so thank you for reviewing and reading, it meant a lot to me.)

Thank you all, and hopefully you'll read more. I write romance, it's what I do, but I write it about a variety of pairing from HP and the occasional Hunger Games, so check it out!

3/29/2014 Update: Shameless plug for my newest Minerva/Hermione Fanfiction, Eighteen Again! If you can't get enough of our two favorite ladies, check it out!