Minerva was waiting for me in her tower, pacing back and forth anxiously. The moment I entered, she ran to me and cupped my face in both her hands. I blushed at her touch, intimately aware of how close we were, how soft her lips looked and how they were only inches from mine.

"Are you alright?" she begged. "Did they hurt you?"

Her eyes were wide with fear; the light that danced in them was no less mesmerizing. It took me several moments to process her question.

"Who, ...