To say that Minerva McGonagall was stressed would have been a gross understatement. She had spent the last day watching over a muggle's house, and what she saw disturbed her. What concerned her the most, however, was when Albus Dumbledore approached her, "Good evening Minerva, how was your day?"

Minerva fixed Albus with a withering glare, "Beyond cold, wet, and miserable?" Albus flinched, she was his Depute Headmistress for a good reason, "I have no idea why you want me to watch these muggles, but I do know that considering their apparent hatred of Magic, any Magical person wouldn't last in that house."

Albus frowned, "That's not good, with the demise of Voldemort, I fear that people will stick their head in the sand, and possibly harass the one who did the deed. This will not do at all," he muttered.

Minerva was boggled "Why would that matter in this case, why did you have me sit out here then?"

Albus' eyes softened, "It pains me to tell you this, but the Potters were the ones to defeat him, only baby Harry survived."

Minerva's eyes widen, "You can't send him to these people Albus! He wouldn't last a week, much less ten years!"

Albus nodded, "I've no intention of doing so now, I had hoped that Harry would be able to grow up with his family, but that is impossible, off to Gringotts we will go in the morning, hopefully, the Potters filed a will there as the ministry has no record."

Albus and Minerva apparated back to Hogwarts and found Hagrid waiting for them with a bundle in his arms, "Here he is Professor, it's all over isn't it?"

Handing the bundle over the Minerva, Albus nodded, "I hope so my friend, but I'm worried what the society will do, after all, I suspect that many of the people we've fought will be free come morning."

Hagrid shook his head, "Just like that? Surely this will not end well?"

Albus shook his head, "That's what I'm afraid of, but that is neither here nor there, our first task is Harry's safety."

Hagrid chuckled, "Just seeing how Professor McGonagall is handling him now, she would be a perfect choice."

Albus turned and what he saw amazed him; rocking young Harry in her arms, humming to the lad, Minerva had become rather oblivious to her surroundings, so much so that she had not heard a word they had said. This gave Albus food for thought, but nothing of consequence could happen until the morning. "Minerva, do you think you could take care of Harry for the night at least?" not surprisingly, she didn't react at all, until Albus laid a hand on her shoulder and repeated himself, "Minerva, Harry seems attached to you, could you take care of him for the night?"

Minerva nodded, "Of course Albus."

The next morning came rather anti-climatically, there were of course still celebrations happening in the streets and it made it rather easy to get into Gringotts undisturbed. A goblin met them at the counter and brought them into a private room, Harry was in Minerva's arms and Albus wondered if he had ever left them since Hagrid placed him in them. Then a goblin entered, "I apologize for the wait, but Wizards are not the only ones thankful for the Dark One's demise. My name is Barchoke and I understand that you're here about the Potter Wills?" he asked.

Albus nodded, "Yes, specifically what it details for young Harry here."

Barchoke nodded, "I understand," before reading the will, "I cannot read the will before people until all affected persons are in the same room but in regards to young Master Potter's guardianship, I can enact that before then," his face drew grim as he continued, "I don't know if you've seen, but Harry's godfather, one Sirius Orion Black has been thrown into Azkaban for the murder of Peter Pettigrew," he ignored the gasp from Minerva, "And his godmother, one Alice Lillian Longbottom has suffered permanent damage at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange from the use of the Cruciatus Curse, leaving only one person in the wills to take care of Mister Potter," he nodded to Minerva, "One Minerva McGonagall."

Minerva nodded, "I'll do it," she then turned to Albus, "I may need some help balancing everything,"

Albus was quick to reassure her, "Whatever you need, you'll have it, I only hope it will be enough."

Barchoke interrupted, "Pardon me, but our wards detected a dark object of the highest concern entering with you, as I can tell you have no such items on you, may we offer the services of our healers to determine if last night had any lingering effects on baby Potter?"

Minerva was shocked but Albus kept his wits about him, "Dark object? If your healers can do anything to help him, do it, I will personally front the gold for the costs."

Barchoke shook his head, "There would be no cost this time Headmaster, only the promise that we are able to help the young boy grow into his positions as he grows older, something we would have done anyway."

Albus nodded and turned to Minerva, "Let's head with Mr Barchoke Minerva, then we'll be able to take care of Harry."

Minerva nodded mutely and followed behind the Headmaster with Harry. They soon entered a room where some goblins were puttering about and when one came over to them, Barchoke spoke to him in the goblin language before he replied in kind and turned to the adults, "Greetings, I am healer Ulnok, let us examine Mr Potter so you may leave this dreary place."

Minerva, very reluctantly, handed over Harry to the healer. Then they had to wait outside the room. A few minutes passed before they heard screaming, a baby's screams to be precise. This caused Minerva to begin pacing, Albus was intrigued, "Tell me, Minerva, when did the Potters introduce you to Harry?" Albus hoped that talking would distract her.

It seemed to work, "Not long after Harry was born, Lily apparently asked James to get me and Filus. Needless to say, we came as fast as we could and were delighted to meet Harry for the first time," Minerva paused, reminiscing about that day.

Minerva had come as fast as she could to St Mungo's, Filus wasn't much better but they didn't really care that much, after all, Lily had been their favourite student and James, well though she would never admit it, she thought of James practically as her son. Soon they came to the door that James was standing in front of, beaming the brightest smile ever thought possible, "James? Has it happened already?"

James simply nodded, "Yes, and she's been waiting for you so you can be introduced…"

James tried to say more, but the two professors rushed past him into the room. Upon entering, they were treated to the sight of Lily holding baby Harry, "Professors, I'm glad to see you," Lily said.

Minerva shook her head, "We came as fast as we could Lily, and there is no need to call us Professor, you and James are like family to us."

Lily smiled, "In that case, this is Harry James Potter," she said before handing him to Minerva.

Minerva chuckled, "I don't think James or Lily held him much that day after we arrived,"

Minerva would have said more, except that Healer Ulnok reemerged from the room, "I apologize for the wait, the magic behind young Master Potter's scar was some of the darkest known," he then turned to Albus, "Gringotts will be searching for more of the Dark One's Horcruxes as we believe that he made several and the one behind Mr Potter's scar was, thankfully, an incomplete one."

To say Albus was surprised would be an understatement, but it was Minerva's reaction that got the goblin's attention, "Voldemort is still out there? He's going to regret the day he heard the name Potter!"

Ulnok was impressed at the courage shown by Minerva, not many would boast being able to impress a goblin, the McGonagall's would be getting the best services for as long as she lived. It was at that point that one of the other goblin healers came out carrying baby Harry, "Here we are, young Harry Potter, in perfect health."

Soon he had been placed in Minerva's arms and they were back at Hogwarts. Her days centered around four things; teaching, eating, sleeping, and taking care of Harry, often Albus would cover for her Transfiguration classes if she needed it and sometimes he would watch over Harry.

This carried on for almost nine years, as Harry got older Minerva would often bring him to help her visit Muggleborns and introduce them to the magical world. Often the parents, after seeing the Depute Headmistress with a child herself, would agree that much easier to sending their child to Hogwarts. This carried on until September 19, 1990; Minerva was going to visit a Muggleborn and also take Harry and this Muggleborn to Diagon Alley to get the basic supplies, such as their Wands, Cauldrons, and other things, "Harry! The Portkey activates in five minutes, we don't want to be late now do we?" she hollered in her quarters at Hogwarts, knowing Harry would come quickly.

Sure enough, Harry burst out from his room, "Coming Aunt Minnie!"

Minerva couldn't help but chuckle, she would miss these days when Harry would be in her class but she would always have a place for him. Soon Harry was standing with her and holding the Portkey when it activated. Soon they appeared in the lovely little town known as Crawley and Minerva knocked on the door of the house they were in front of, and a middle-aged woman opened it, "Professor McGonagall I presume?" at her nod, the woman relaxed, "Thank you for coming, as you can imagine, we're a little apprehensive about this."

Minerva nodded and they followed her into the family room where a man and girl were sitting, and the man spoke up, "Greetings, I am John Granger, you've already met my wife Helen, and this is Hermione."

Minerva smiled, "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Depute Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the Transfiguration Professor, a core class that will see your daughter in my classes for the next seven years, this young man, as he has so often told me, is my adopted nephew Harry Potter-McGonagall, he will be in the same year group as Hermione."

Harry waved, "Hello,"

Helen seemed to relax and Minerva went into her spiel about magic and introducing them into magic, she even turned their coffee table into a lion before turning it back. This seemed to satisfy the Grangers and Hermione was very eager to see Diagon Alley. Taking Minerva's hand, Harry and Hermione apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and into the Alley.

Hermione was in awe at the busy alley, and they made their way to Ollivander's. Upon their entry, Mr Ollivander came out from the back, "Ah Mr Potter, here for your wand are you? And the young miss, Minerva?"

Minerva nodded, "Hermione Granger, she'll be starting next year."

Ollivander nodded, "Now Mr Potter and Miss Granger, remember; no two wands are the same, they may look the same and be made of the same materials but they are very different, much like the Wizard or Witch that they chose, after all, the wand chooses the Wizard and Witch," he said, before pulling out several wands, "Well, ladies first?"

In the end, it took several attempts, and many cleaning spells, to find the one for her; they had just tried a Vine wand and caused the book in front of her to catch fire, after extinguishing the flames, Ollivander thought to himself before saying, "Hmm, try this, English Oak with Unicorn Hair, 7 ½ inches," At her wits' end, Hermione grasped it and red sparks shot out, Ollivander was pleased, "Oh marvelous, simply marvelous, and curious too. If the legends are true, then that wand is as near a copy to the wand used by the great Merlin himself as one could get and has never been used since, bravo Miss Granger, I think we can expect great things from you," he then turned to Harry, "Now Mr Potter, humour an old man and let's try this wand, Fir with Dragon Heartstring and 9 ½ inches," unlike Hermione, Harry merely touched the wand and he could feel it's acceptance of him, "Oh my, I didn't actually think that would work, I'm sure your Aunt Minerva could tell you all about your wand young man, take care!" he said before going into the back working.

Hermione and Harry turned to Minerva, who was quite shocked but managed to explain, "That is the same as my wand, the Ollivander's have only sold three Fir wands, leading them to be named 'The Survivor's Wand' because we've all survived some mortal peril at some point in our lives, I sure hope he's talking about when Voldemort tried to kill you as a baby Harry,"

They were rather quiet while they got their other supplies, and soon they came back to the Granger's home in Crawley. Hermione hugged Harry in farewell and asked, "Harry can I sit with you when we get on the Express?"

Harry nodded, "Of course Hermione,"

With that, Minerva and Harry returned to Hogwarts, where Headmaster Dumbledore met them at the entrance, "Ah, Minerva, Harry, how was this day's Muggleborn adventure?" he asked.

Minerva relayed the events of the day to him as they walked to the Headmaster's office, she had just finished when they entered the room, "Hmm most curious," Albus said, he then turned to Harry, "You have practically the same wand as Minerva?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, Aunt Minnie said that they were called 'Survivor's wands' and that she hoped it was referring to Halloween of '81," he replied. Then Harry thought for a moment, "But Hermione's was different as well," he began.

Albus nodded, "Yes, the same as the great Merlin himself. We'll have to watch her I think, she'll do great things."

Minerva stood, "Well, I better be off, those lesson plans won't write themselves after all. Coming Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "I'm going to stay a few moments and wait until after the hour to head out," he replied.

Thankfully for him, Minerva didn't question it and left, Albus though was curious, "I take it you wanted to ask me something that you don't want Minerva to hear?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, it was strange today," he paused a moment to collect his thoughts, "It was like when I was around Hermione that I wanted to know everything about her, like my magic was pushing me towards her for some reason," he said.

Albus stroked his beard, "Hmm, I will look into it, but I am fairly certain that it is nothing to be afraid of," he replied before smirking, "After all, many young boys your age start to become attracted to girls at this time, Merlin knows that we have to teach you boys when your hormones are all over the place," he chuckled.

Harry grew red, "Really Uncle Albus? That is where your mind turns to?"

This only caused Albus to start laughing full out, "Of course, your Aunt Minerva and I have to tease you every now and then, it's part of being a parent!"

As Harry left, shaking his head, Dumbledore looked to Fawkes, "I think it's happening, my friend."

Fawkes trilled, he knew what it meant and was delighted. Soon, the prophecy would take hold and darkness would be banished. Of course, there would be trial and tribulations along the way, nothing would ever be easy, but it was a better life for the boy than that which would have happened if Albus had left Harry at the Dursley's like he originally wanted, for Fawkes had seen it and was disturbed. From then on Fawkes vowed to personally ensure Harry's wellbeing and it seemed to be working. 'Yes,' Fawkes thought, 'Harry will be taken care of forever, his Soulmate will ensure that' it came with a hint of sadness as Fawkes knew that Albus was not long for the earth, but Harry would be a good companion, considering that he was one of the few that Fawkes enjoyed being around other than Albus or Minerva. For now though, Fawkes shut his eyes, Harry's first year was almost a year away, and, though he was sure that this would pass much too fast, much like the last nine, he wanted to be ready for the first day, where many would be surprised, but, like Albus said, sometimes you must choose between what is right and what is easy.