Please porn up my birthday card with:
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Alastor Moody plus Minerva/anyone except current students, Albus, Trelawney, Molly
Kink(s): voyeurism
Anti-Kink(s) (AKA Squicks): teacher/student (while the student still is)
Prompt: Their romantic relationship is over, but Alastor still has a thing for Minerva. He knows he shouldn't, but he can't resist checking out her private life with his magic eye.

Claiming as a watcher! :D

You wouldn’t take advantage of your magical eye. It’s meant to help you catch dark wizards. To see through their Disillusionment charms and under their invisibility cloaks. It’s a priceless artifact, and wielding it comes with great responsibility.

Except — sometimes you do take advantage of your eye.

You’re hiding behind the statue of Athena that’s conveniently outside Minerva’s private quarters. Officially, you’re at Hogwarts to check on the Dementors. Dumbledore doesn’t like them at the school, and you’re here to make sure they haven’t set up any hidden nests in the halls. Dumbledore read the creatures the riot act, but they don’t listen. The school is the perfect feeding ground for them, so much tastier than Azkaban and its stale meals.

And while you’re at Hogwarts on official business, you can’t resist a bit of unofficial business. You tell yourself there’s no harm in making sure Minerva is safe, because the school would fall apart without her. Dumbledore is the brain of the school, but Minerva is the heart of Hogwarts.

Her devotion to Hogwarts was an unending argument back in the day. Years out, you can see why the place is important to her, and why she feels that she must stay and protect the school. But back then, you were jealous of Hogwarts and its hold on her. You wanted Minerva to be your heart, to keep you steady and sane. If she had stayed in your life, you might be a tad less paranoid. Not much less, because paranoia keeps you alive, but with Minerva at your side, perhaps your house wouldn’t be festooned with Dark Detectors.

So you tell yourself that it’s not wrong to peer past the heavy word door guarding her rooms. All you want to do is see if she’s sleeping instead of up worrying about Black’s escape and obsession with the Potter boy.

You don’t expect to see Rolanda Hooch.

Her back is to the door and her hands are moving up and down. You place the motions easily, familiar from doing it yourself: Rolanda is brushing out Minerva’s hair. It’s still mostly black, with only a few gray sections you don’t remember. You miss that hair trapped between your bodies when you laid together after, how it was so soft but got everywhere.

Minerva taught you how to brush it the way she liked. First she’d release the charm securing her bun (so much better than pins, she’d explained), and let her hair fall, heavy and loose down her back. Next, you’d carefully spray on some Muggle conditioner, because while Minerva wasn’t vain about much, her hair was important to her, and she took excellent care of it. Finally, you’d pick up the brush (the same one since childhood, she’d proudly shared once) and start. First the ends, next up to the middle of her back, and finally to the crown of her head. It took forever to do it properly, but you enjoyed every minute, because it calmed your brain and you could simply be.

Be a man taking care of his partner instead of the fearsome Mad-Eye Moody.

Dear Dexstarr, thank you so much! I'm so pleased you picked this prompt, and this opening is already excellent: such a spot-on Alastor voice, just exactly how he'd think. I love the second-person here, because it makes such sense for the character: of course he'd be distanced from himself, always standing on the outside of things, even his own mind.

I love your description of the hair-brushing, too, and the poignance of this line: Be a man taking care of his partner instead of the fearsome Mad-Eye Moody.

As you watch, Rolanda follows each of those steps in the correct order and the correct way. Jealousy stirs within you, along with something else — longing. Not that you expected Minerva to spend the rest of her life alone, as you have. (Because there was no one else for you after her.) You didn’t expect her to share something so intimate with every partner.

(Even if you know Rolanda and Minerva have been together for the last twenty years, and she’s as cautious about relationships as you are. Jealousy isn’t logical.)

Eye swiveling round the hall, you make sure there’s no one else skulking about, then your hand dips into your trousers. Eye back on Minerva’s closed door, you observe as Rolanda finishes, puts the silver-backed brush down, and runs her hands through the glorious fall of Minerva’s hair.

You remember what Minerva’s hair felt like at every step of the process. How it flowed so smoothly over your calloused fingers once you were finished. How it glistened in the candlelight, like unicorn hair under the shine of the moon. Brushing her hair was foreplay for both of you, a heady buildup of anticipation and desire. Knowing you were the only one who saw her free and unbound with the shield of deputy headmistress forgotten for the evening. By the time you were finished, you ached for her, and she was ready for you, hot and relaxed.

As you watch, hand wrapped around your cock, Minerva slings herself over Rolanda’s lap. Your thumb lazily strokes along the side of your shaft as Minerva’s mouth comes down on Rolanda’s. It looks like — yes, she still kisses as fiercely as ever, like a siren seducing a sailor.

You wouldn’t take advantage of your magical eye, except when you do. Biting back a grunt, you tell yourself this is an exception. A momentary lapse in judgment. You’re making sure Minerva is safe, because you need to do so. You know more darkness is coming. Black’s escape is merely the second harbinger.

Hand in your trousers, eye on her door, you spy on Minerva and Rolanda. She’s not yours anymore, but you can’t give her up, so you stand there and watch and take advantage of your magical eye.

Just excellent -- such a taut, fine, well-characterized story in so few words.

Love this line: It looks like — yes, she still kisses as fiercely as ever, like a siren seducing a sailor.

Love your Alastor, your Minerva, your writing. Thank you SO much. I just adore this.

♥ I'm glad you liked it! I'm super out of practice, but as soon as I saw your prompt, the fill jumped into my head. I went through your LJ and tried to pick out some of the things you mentioned liking, so good to see I hit them.

Oh, this is so sad and so beautifully written. How he might not be so paranoid, but he probably would be nearly as much; how much Minerva loves Hogwarts, and her long relationship with Hooch. Gorgeous.

Thank you so much!

This is wonderfully written and heartbreaking. I'd never considered a romantic history between these two, but you made it all fit perfectly into place. ♥

♥ Thank you so much! Alastor's head is an interesting yet sad place.

Oh, I love seeing Minerva though Moody's eyes.
You paint such a delicious picture. :)
Gorgeous writing!