Beyond the Universe - Jily AU

3. Like Fire and Ice

Monday, October 17th, 2016, 12:00 PM

"I knew it!" declares Minerva McGonagall, slamming her hands down onto the coffee table in front of her, causing the half filled mugs and spare sheets of paper sitting on it to shake. It's lunch time for the seniors, and the teachers are gathered in the teachers' lounge, their ears eager to receive a fresh vat of gossip from Filius Flitwick.

"We all knew you'd be right all along, Minerva," booms Horace Slughorn, the senior chemistry teacher.

"Hush, Horace," counters McGonagall, glaring at her colleague, "you claimed that Lily would end up with that Snape boy two years ago!"

"Ah, we all make mistakes, Min," admits the plump teacher, biting into a blueberry muffin and spreading crumbs all over his shirt and his bushy mustache, "but we all knew you'd be right."

"I am rather surprised that it was dear Minerva here to predict this wonderful outcome and not you, Horace," remarks the headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, as he walks into the room with a swing in his step and a bright twinkle in his eye. "After all, this is chemistry we're talking about, and not calculus," he winks.

"Oh, Albus, how many times must I tell you this? Love has equal parts to do with math and chemistry! You can't have one without the other, it's up to both!"

'Right you are again, Minerva!" chuckles the tall, blue-eyed man, making his way to the tea kettle, his blue coat billowing behind him ever so slightly.

"Why is it, Albus," inquires the creative writing teacher in his squeaky voice, "that you wear that trench coat so often, and indoors too?"

"Ah, but what would life be without a little mystery, dear Filius?" Albus counters with another question, smiling and winking once more. A mumble of agreement amongst the teachers ripples throughout the room. "Shall anybody bother to catch me up on this discussion?" asks the headmaster.

"Yes, of course," pipes up Pomona Sprout, the art teacher. "Aurora, I believe you have an eloquent summary to provide?" she nods her head towards Aurora Sinistra, the Psychology teacher.

"Indeed I do, Pom," smiles the youngest teacher in the room, her face lighting up the whole lounge. "It appears that Mr. James Potter and Miss Lily Evans have discovered that they're soulmates, from what Filius has told us, and in the most peculiar way, too. Rather than saying the same thing, they each wrote the same thing, word for word, without ever glancing at each other. As we all know, young Potter has quite obviously displayed some strong feelings towards Miss Evans, and from Filius' observations, it seems that this is the beginning of the blooming of a wonderful relationship!"

"So they never said the same thing at the same time beforehand?" Dumbledore inquires.

"They both mumbled the same thing at the beginning of class," Flitwick clarifies, "though it was out of sync, so I'm concluding that that didn't count."

"If you don't mind my asking, what was this thing they mumbled?"

"They both mumbled an apology, Mr. Potter for wearing a hood, and Miss Evans for wearing earbuds."

"Ah, what a ridiculous thing to apologize for," the headmaster remarks. "I've been meaning to rescind that rule. After all, who can blame a person for such insignificant things?" Another murmur of agreement waves through the room. Dumbledore glances at his watch, his eyes widening in surprise, before rushing out the room, madly apologizing for his abrupt exit while mumbling about a meeting with freshmen teachers.

"Typical Albus," remarks a sighing McGonagall, "always rushing somewhere."

"Can't blame him, Min," counters Slughorn. "He's a busy man, you and I both know that."