An artist for him (Cedric Diggory fanfiction)

Chapter 22. Happy Christmas

The early beams of sun were perfect for this attempt to capture the woman in front of me. Her emerald green dress robes and the grey hair on her head somehow always seemed to come together in the perfect way possible. And to think that this woman had looked the same for as long as I could remember...Alice certainly wanted to know her secret.

"You ought not to be smiling head mistress," I smiled gently as I took my eyes off the canvas and looked at the woman in front of me, sitting behind the old office table, that used to belong to Albus Dumbledore.

"Why, I can not help it, it's so very nice to see my old students," she answered and took a better posture.

I smiled and shook my head amused. "Well, it is great to see you again as well professor McGonagall."

My right hand put down the brush as I sighed deeply and walked over to the table, sitting in front of the head of the school that was so beloved. "So, how is everything? I haven't been able to visit in a while, I still have some of the paintings unfinished and I know I promised them for Christmas but-"

"No need to fuss Ariana," She cut me off gently. "Being a mother of a 11 year old is not an easy job I assume."

"No, it's not," I giggled slightly, but smiled instantly at the thought of my daughter. "She is very curious child, who so much reminds me of her father."

"Oh yes, how is Cedric? I assume he's quite busy, especially during Christmas time?""Yes. He just opened his own department at the Ministry, and although appreciated, he still needs to do most of the work there."

"Ah yes, but it's nice to see that you haven't given up on painting, even though you indeed have a daughter and a husband working at the Ministry," she said in a joking way.

"Oh no, I wouldn't give it up for anything at all," I assured her.

My eyes started to wonder around the room that was filled with all sort of things that I couldn't even name or recognize, but there was one painting that stood out from the rest. "If my portrait is going to be even as beautiful as his, I would be honored."

A smile spread across my face as I looked at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore, that I had painted after his untimely passing, to remember him in the best way I could. He had indeed helped me more than I thought, and while his death had the most impact on Harry Potter, it had a lot of impact in me...and not to mention Minerva McGonagall.

"It wasn't easy to take this after him. The school was under distraught and war had not treated single one of us well. There was a lot to do...a lot to build up again," she explained, looking back at me.

"But you have done a wonderful job at that. I hear it all the time from Stella."

She smiled brightly. "How is she liking it? Studying at Hogwarts?"

The thought of my own daughter wearing the same robes as I had once wore, always made me feel warm inside. "She has her troubles, but I know that she enjoys it oh so much," I muttered. "Although teaching is something I have mostly left behind, I still go onto some of the lessons to see the new students. And of course I still do the sorting ceremony, it's a tradition."