Staring at the mound of paperwork Albus just has left on my desk, I have a strange desire to chuck the whole thing in the fire and tell him to do it himself. The insufferable old coot can single-handedly destroy one of the darkest wizards of all time, act as puppet master to the Minster of Magic, and command an army against a returning evil, but hand him a requisition form and he is useless.

Using a finger to push my glasses up, I settle down at my desk for a long, hopefully uninterrupted stint of tedious work. Honestly, looking at the dozens of forms on my desk, a person likely thinks I run the school myself. Sighing, I pick up my quill and begin crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's'. Just as I am getting into the flow of things and beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a knock on the door. Glaring at the door, I set my quill down, hoping this isn't going to take long.

"Come in," I call brusquely, hoping the person on the other side of the door takes the hint.

No such luck.

"Hello, Minerva," Aurora says warmly. As much as I love the young woman making herself comfortable across the desk from me, I really do want to finish the paperwork.

"Aurora," I return the greeting with a small smile and a nod. "I hope you have the final grades you were supposed to turn in two days ago."

Aurora rolls her eyes and hands me more papers to add to the pile, but remains seated in front of the desk.

The office is silent as I wait for her to say something. Raising my eyebrows, I watch her tap her nails against the arms of the chair as she smiles at me. I can only imagine what is going through her head as she sits there. Finally, I can take no more and break the silence.

"Is there something else you needed, Aurora?"

"As a matter of fact…" Aurora began, "I was hoping you could tell me why I haven't received the new lenses for my telescope that I requested six months ago."

Staring at the pile of forms Albus has just delivered, I repress a sigh. "I have yet to see any such form, Aurora."

"It's in that pile of papers you're glaring at, isn't it?" Aurora asks with a small smile.

Smiling back, I reply, "Probably, since Albus just now left these for me."

"I need those lenses as soon as possible, Minerva, especially the ones used for daylight viewing. I don't want my students going blind trying to see Mars eclipsing the sun in six weeks."

I nod my head in understanding and begin thumbing through the pile of papers Albus has so kindly delivered. Pulling out one with Aurora's name on it, I look it over to make sure it is for her telescope lenses.

"I have the form here, Aurora. I'll make it top priority."

Inclining her head, she rises from the chair. "Thank you. Next time I'll be sure to give the request to you instead of Albus."

"That might be wise," I mumble in what I hope is a voice she can't overhear.

Aurora only smirks, letting me know she, in fact, has overheard. "I'll let you get back to work then, Minerva."

"Have a good day," I say as she makes her way to the door.

Her hand has just reached the door handle when there is a hesitant knock from the other side of the door.

I nearly throw my hands up in the air and slouch back at my desk at yet another interruption. Resisting the temptation, I nod at Aurora, giving her permission to open the door and let the person in.

"Miss Granger," I say, eyeing the obviously nervous girl in front of me. Why that girl always gets so worked up over her grades I'll never understand. Not that grades aren't important, but she makes perfect marks on everything. I simply cannot understand her anxiety every time exams roll around. The girl is going to make herself ill.

"Professor," she says hesitantly. I know it isn't about her grades now. Granger is never hesitant to ask about schoolwork.

"Sit down, Miss Granger," I instruct softly, preparing myself for the worst. Aurora is obviously concerned as well, as she closes the office door, but remains in the back of the room out of the young Gryffindor's line of sight.

Granger takes a seat, clutching her book bag tightly to her.

"What seems to be the problem, Miss Granger?"

"I'm sorry for interrupting you, Professor. I'm sure you're very busy. Much too busy to help with something too silly, so if you want me to come back later I can. It really is very silly, you see-"

"Miss Granger," I interrupt in what I hope is not an overly stern tone of voice. "Please come to the point, and cease this rambling."

Granger nods jerkily and squares her shoulders before meeting my gaze once again. "The Yule Ball is coming up soon, Professor, and…I was hoping you could show me how to dance. The lessons you gave last year were very helpful, but I'm still not very good and I don't want to embarrass myself-"

Blocking out her chatter, I sit there both shocked and relieved. I've been thinking something horrible has happened. I am expecting her to tell me she has been molested, or that Potter is planning some asinine scheme again. Instead, she is merely scared of a simple dance. It is easy to forget that Miss Granger is still just an insecure teenage girl sometimes, despite all her intelligence.

"Miss Granger," I'm startled out of my thoughts at Aurora's soft voice.

Granger has either forgotten Aurora's presence or not realized the Astronomy professor is still in the office. She turns in her chair to face Aurora, and when she turns back to face me, I can only hope I am imagining the moisture building in her chocolate eyes.

"Perhaps," Aurora continues softly in a soothing and caring voice, "I can assist you. Professor McGonagall has a lot of work to attend to."

Granger only nods, obviously embarrassed. With a flick of my wand, the old turntable I have against the wall comes to life, emitting a soft waltz.

"There should be enough room for you to practice in here."

"Are you sure, Minerva?" Aurora asks. "I don't want to disturb you."

Waving off her concerns, I pick up my quill once more. "You won't, I assure you. I often work listening to music anyway."

Aurora doesn't look convinced, as if she realizes I just want to watch what promises to be a very entertaining spectacle. She nods her head anyway, though, beckoning Granger towards her as she moves to the middle of the room.

Still nervous but no longer hesitant, Granger stands up, leaving her bag by the chair to make her way towards Aurora. Lowering my head, I start to work on the mountain of paperwork once again, but keep my attention on Aurora and Granger as well.

It is a rather amusing show actually. Both Aurora and Granger are about as coordinated as a newborn giraffe. They step on one another's feet, Aurora falls and lands on her arse at least twice, and Granger stumbles as if drunk every time she spins around. Not long after they begin, I give up all pretenses on pretending to work and instead laugh along with them as they 'dance' around the room. Occasionally, I give them pointers between bouts of laughter.

After about an hour of amusing and new dance moves, Granger finally seems to be catching on. Deciding on one last dance, Aurora and Granger come together in the middle of the room. As the music plays in the background, Aurora and Granger dance. Their moves are drastically different from those at the beginning of the lesson. Granger is much less nervous and jittery now, allowing her to enjoy the graceful movements of dancing now. The two are unlikely to win any awards for executing a perfect waltz, but they have come a long way in an hour.

Besides, it is not the dance steps Granger needs, it is the confidence.

When the music comes to an end, I turn off the turntable and applaud the two young women. "Very nice, Miss Granger. I'm sure you'll dance beautifully at the Yule Ball."

Granger smiles widely, her perfectly white teeth on display. "Thank you, Professor!"

I smile softly back at her. "I believe you should get to your dorm and put your things away. It's almost time for dinner."

"Yes, Professor," she answers before turning to Aurora. "Thank you, Professor, for teaching me how to dance."

"You've very welcome, Miss Granger," Aurora answers, smiling.

Granger turns to leave, picking up her book bag; she begins walking towards the door.

Her hand has just come to rest on the doorknob when Aurora speaks up. "Miss Granger."

Granger turns back around to face Aurora.

"Draco won't care how well you dance. I promise." Aurora smiles reassuringly at the girl, mischievous amusement sparkling in her eyes.

Granger blushes, her whole face turning the color of a strawberry. She mumbles a quick thank you before leaving.

Aurora sighs, "I hope you enjoyed the show, Minerva."

"I did. I needed that break, Aurora. Thank you," I tell her sincerely.

Aurora inclines her head. "Not a problem. I should be leaving as well. I need to drag Severus away from his potions to eat."

I chuckle at that bit. Severus's dedication to his profession is legendary. He once shut himself up in his lab for over a week. When one of the house elves brought it to my attention how little he'd been eating, I had to drag him out of his lab myself. Well…hex him out actually. The man simply does not see reason.

"Good evening, Minerva," Aurora says, taking her leave.

With a sigh, I sit down at my desk, determined to finish the paperwork for Aurora's telescope lenses before going to dinner.