Title: Ribbons and Beaux
Author: milotzi
Prompt(s) Used:ribbons and bows, first line from Celebrate by Three Dog Night “Ready or not, gonna make it to the city”, party game, honorific celebration -- i.e. an event to honour someone, bestow an award etc./celebrity party in the city (Celebrate by Three Dog Night),A May-December Relationship: an anniversary they never thought they'd get to see
Characters/Pairings:Minerva/Dougal, Minerva/various unnamed partners, Minerva/Elphinstone, Minerva/Severus, Hermione/Severus, Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Neville, Minerva's parents, Granny McGonagall
Word Count: 6927
Content/Warnings: Life narrative informed by porn: pornography, male/male, male/female, female/female (mentioned) prostitution, ribbon fetish, boots, anal sex, oral sex, vaginal sex, old age sex, adultery, masturbation, sex toys (mentioned), spikes (mentioned), dangerous sex games (mentioned), sex in a public place, sex in a former office, sex in unspecified locations, death by Venomous Tentacula, NC17, mostly Minerva POV. Parties get a mention but also other things, Minerva can't sleep after her anniversary and thinks about things and takes some action
Additional Notes:
A snood is a traditional Highland ribbon worn by girls until they get married
A bampot is an idiot
The Lady of the Lake (Scott), see also note 636 for snood
Explanation of Highland Dress for Women
image of girl with snood
Lady Godiva

1. Foreword

When does a couple's story start? When the older of the two is born? With his or in our case her first memories? And you do realize that if there is quite an age gap it might take a while until the younger of the two turns up in that case. So does the story start with the first time they clap eyes on each other, with their first date if they have any, with their first sex, their first quarrel? Does it matter as long they live and occasionally celebrate their togetherness?

2. Introduction

The older she gets the more Minerva McGonagall enjoys lying awake in the dark early hours of the morning, with only her thoughts and her memories and the sometimes not so gentle snores of the man lying by her side as company. There were times in her life when she dreaded those hours as the time of personal reckoning, worrying and regret but now she welcomes the chance to order her thoughts for the day, to think about what happened in their lives recently, and, increasingly, to revisit the past and count her blessings. Especially when they have had a few drinks and ended up physically exerting themselves as they did the night before, he is fast asleep and she is wide awake at 4 a.m. Were she alone she would probably perform a lumos spell and read but, since she is not and does not wish to disturb his sleep, she allows herself to mull over memories instead.

I love the peaceful picture you create of Minerva in the early morning hours, the contrast between past and present. Yes, I can just see her responding like this, using the time for reflection. And of course for a tiny moment of trademark wry sarcasm ("not-so-gentle snores" -- ha)

Thank you. Snoring can be quite a contributing factor to sleeplessness, or so I have been told (having been the offending party).