Disclaimer: Not mine.

Summary: It's hard telling someone you're in love with them. AD/MM

A/N: Just a short fic, not anything to yell hooray for. Though I hope you like it. The title is supposed to mean courage and love, but I'm not superb at Latin.

Fortitudo et amor

Courage is a strange thing. When you really need it; it's nowhere to be found. And when you don't, it unexpectedly creeps up on you. Minerva thought, and had always thought, that courage was something she would never lack. However it seemed to have abandoned her now. Most of all she wanted to dig a humungous hole and bury herself. Taking her wand out of pocket she was about to transfigure her biscuit into a shovel, unfortunately someone knocked on her door and entered before she could give her permission for the person to enter.

In came the one who had stolen her infamous courage from her. He was unaware of the theft of her heart, and courage, and was like always smiling.

It was not as if she didn't knew he would come, she had asked him after all. In a fit of daring her lack of courage she had told Albus to visit her this night. Told him she wanted to tell him something. She wished she had shut her stinking mouth.

Again without permission he sat down on a chair opposite her, not even saying a simple 'hello'. He just watched her with interest.

It's now or never, screamed her mind. Her stomach told a different story. Her mind felt foreign, as if she had absolute no control whatsoever of her life. It was despairing. Yet again, any other normal being would be floating with purple clouds hanging around their heads. Love was so much easier for ordinary people. Just not her!

Taking a deep breath, gathering her non-existence courage, she decided she might as well get it over.

"Do you find me pretty?"

"No," he replied calmly.

Her mouth got dry and she thought she would faint. The next question was much harder.

"Do you want to be with me forever?"

"No," he said.

This time she couldn't help but avert her eyes, gazing at her wardrobe. Her eyes stinged and she had to use all her strength to stop any tears from falling. This was the worst nightmare imaginable. But she had to continue, to end the humiliation.

"If I am to leave, would you cry?"

"No," he said once again.

Minerva had heard enough, she could already feel her mind numbing. As she spun around, away from him, tears streaming down her face, he grabbed her arm and turned her around, so they were face to face. She wished he would just go. Lifting her chin with a gentle hand, he forced her to look him in the eye. At first he was a blur of tears, then slowly he became his normal self. He looked rather happy, and all she wanted to do was punch he happy face.

"You're not pretty, you're beautiful," he paused as if to let it sink in, "I don't want to be with you forever, I NEED to be with you!"

She could hardly believe her ears, but after another pause he spoke again:

"And I wouldn't cry if you walked away... I'd die!"

And then she was truly floating around purple clouds; that is until he pulled her down for a kiss.

Pal )