Minerva instinctively opened her mouth to speak, but closed it in the same breath. She realized she had no answer to the question Lily was pointing at.
Why was Albus so intensely interested in the love life of James and Lily when a hell of a lot of more important things were going on in Wizarding Britain? Lily had struck the nail on its head. She did not know.
Did Albus play matchmaker for the rest of the students? No. Let alone playing matchmaker or being interested in their personal lives, Albus hardly cared for the other students on a personal level. He barely ever spoke about them. She did not even remember the last time she had heard the name of any other student from his mouth.
"I..." she stammered, fishing for an answer. "I do not know."
Lily narrowed her eyes, staring directly at Minerva.
Meanwhile, Minerva's mind was already running in overdrive. Flashbacks assaulted her.
She remembered how the idea of James and Lily being a natural couple had been systematically imprinted into the minds of the professor of Hogwarts. No one had ever questioned the logic behind it. They had never wondered how Lily and James, who were absolute poles apart, could be considered a perfect match. The question had only truly arisen in her own head after Lily had complained about James and made her deep dislike for him known. Lily had made it known that she could hardly bear James even for a few moments. How could they have been a couple?
Now, looking back, she started to wonder. How could she have ever accepted a Headmaster playing the role of a matchmaker as something normal? It did not matter how compatible two students were or were not, a professor, let alone the Headmaster, had no business sticking his nose into such matters. Yet, until this very moment, she had treated Albus's intervention as entirely ordinary.
Why? For the first time, a massive, chilling suspicion began to brew in her mind.
"You do not know," Lily remarked, her voice flat. "This sounds weird given how much interest the headmaster has shown."
Minerva took a deep breath, fighting to regain her lost composure.
"There is nothing to know," she said, smoothening down her composure. "Headmaster Dumbledore thinks and does what he feels is right. I do not, and cannot, question him on his intentions."
That was the shield she offered to Lily, but inwardly, her own thoughts were churning violently.
"I see," Lily remarked, clearly unsatisfied but recognizing the dead end.
"How do you plan to deal with James?" Minerva asked, steering the conversation away before she gave anything else away. "Now that you know the truth."
"Before that," Lily said, leaning forward, "is Lord Olario going to continue training me? Given everything that has happened, will he even have the time or the desire to continue?"
"I do not know," Minerva responded honestly.
"To speak candidly," she continued, "I do not think he will be coming tomorrow, or even the day after."
"But perhaps he might resume next week. Things should settle down somewhat by then, and he gave his firm commitment to me. I do not believe he is a man to go back on his word. I will try to reach out and speak with him."
Lily's pragmatism shows exactly why Antonio took an interest in her training. She isn't letting her emotions dictate her strategy; instead, she is turning Dumbledore's own game against him, using James as a shield to buy time while she waits for her real mentor to return.
"I see," Lily repeated.
"For the next week, I will be patient enough with James. I will bear his presence and his over dramatic acts. I will let him and the Headmaster think they are getting exactly what they wanted," she said, a calculating glint in her eyes.
"Though even the sound of his voice irritates me, I am willing to bear it as long as I have the chance to continue training under Lord Olario," she added.
She had only trained with him for a couple of days, but she felt those two sessions had taught her more than she had learned in years at Hogwarts. For that training to continue, she was willing to tolerate even James Potter.
"But if it becomes clear that Lord Olario will not be training me anymore..." She paused, her voice turning dangerously cold. "I would not mind testing a few of the spells I learned under his tutelage on James if he oversteps his boundaries."
Minerva allowed a small, rare smile to grace her lips.
"That is exactly what you should do," she responded.
The duo discussed a few more things before Minerva dismissed Lily, her mind mandarin towards the thoughts she had been contemplating before Lily's arrival.
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.
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Abraxas Malfoy's heart was beating fast. He was anxious and tense, and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.
He was walking through a pitch black cave with a lone flame torch gripped tightly in his hand.
The cavern was immense and suffocatingly dark, the torchlight barely illuminating more than a few feet around him. The ground beneath his feet was highly uneven, with sharp, jagged rocks jutting out from the earth. Abraxas had to keep his footing steady, treading with extreme caution.
The Dark Lord had not contacted the Death Eaters even after the two days had passed. And as he had declared in the previous meeting with them, Abraxas had used his emergency method to initiate contact.
The only response he received from the Dark Lord was a summon to this isolated corner of Britain, deep within this specific cave. Now, as he was approaching closer to the meeting place, fear and dread consumed him.
After a few more minutes of walking, the narrow cave opened into a wide and large chamber. Unlike the rest of the cave, this space was not entirely dark. Flame torches were strapped to the rocky walls, illuminating ample light across the entire expanse.
Abraxas's eyes immediately locked onto the center of the chamber. Sitting upon a simple wooden chair was the man he had come to meet. The Dark Lord was sitting perfectly still, his eyes closed.
"My Lord," Abraxas said, instinctively dropping to one knee the moment he spotted Voldemort.
"Malfoy," Voldemort's hiss-like voice echoed through the stone chamber as he opened his slit-like, crimson eyes.
"You took long enough," he remarked coldly. "I have been waiting for you."
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