Albus sighed as he thought. His favorite student, Minerva McGonagall, had once again been giving him problems. Behavioral problems. They way she twirled her quill as she thought, how her hair always posed a tantalizing enigma of her hidden self, how secret her inner self was. He rubbed his temples, and Fawkes let out a concerned note. Albus looked over at the phoenix and said,
"I dunno Fawkes. Do you think I should?" Albus got positive vibes from his phoenix. He had been rolling an idea around his mind. Albus desperately wanted to cast a Scrying Spell to find Minerva and what exactly she was doing, but at the same time Albus feared that he would invade her privacy and ruin any chance they had at ever being friends. Even though it was a school night, Albus knew that Minerva left the castle every night. There had been times when he caught glimpses of two of her, one always disappearing soon after he saw them. Fawkes had decided for him. Albus pulled out a large mirror and, casting the spell, he looked into it.
At first Albus didn't understand exactly what he was seeing. It looked like a dark building. It had a low ceiling, and many small curtained-off rooms. The mirror seemed to be zeroing in on a certain room, and at first it looked empty. With a start, Albus realized that there was a small quivering bundle of person in the corner. It was skinny, and barely clothed. Her hair was long and dark, but that was the only distinguishing feature Albus could make out, besides her alarmingly thin figure. Even from this distance, Albus could easily count her ribs. The figure turned to look at the floor, and Albus was able to see its face. It was Minerva.
There were mascara trails down her face, and dark eye shadow making her eyes look like they were 3 times larger. Albus gasped, and ended the spell. He tried it again, and the same thing showed up. This time, however, there was a man in the room. A man who was advancing on Minerva as she tried to back even farther into the corner, failing to get away. The man leered at her, and started ripping her clothes off.
Albus ended the spell, his hands shaking with fury. Without a second thought, he Apparated directly to the room. Minerva was still trying to back into the corner, although the fat man in the room was now undoing the button on his pants. Minerva screamed. Albus flew at the man and with one quick curse the man crumpled to floor, blood flowing from a deep cut on his head. Minerva looked up at her savior, and started crying when she saw it to be Albus. He rushed over to her, and held Minerva as she cried. Footsteps came along the make-shift hallway, and an accented male voice said,
"You. 30 minute was all paid for. 5 minute left." The footsteps continued on. Albus tilted Minerva's face up to his and he asked,
"Minerva? What is this place?" Minerva said in a shuddering voice,
"Professor Dumbledore. This is a Muggle place called a brothel. It houses pros- women who are forced to sell sex for money in order to make it in this world." Minerva started gently crying again as she said,
"I'm sorry Professor. I'm sorry I can't be strong like you and just shrug this off. Please forgive me. I'm sorry I got your robes full of muck. Thank you for saving me. Now, you have to get out of here. If they come and find you—" Albus cut her off as he said,
"Minerva. I will be leaving. With you. Now, can you stand?" Minerva tried to get up, but her thin legs gave way, and she fell back to the ground. Albus picked her up bride-style and was about to Apparate when Minerva said,
"Wait. Xiomara's here too. Miss Hooch, sorry." Albus was shocked. How many other students were here? He said,
"Where is she Minerva?" Minerva pointed to the room next to hers, from which loud screams were emitting. Albus glared at the wall, and it blasted away to reveal a good-looking man having sex with the screaming Xiomara. He looked over at Albus, and his red eyes registered surprise in the split-second it took him to pull out of Xiomara and Apparate. Albus ran over to Xiomara, and holding her to his chest, he Apparated directly back to his office, wondering where Tom Riddle had gone after he Apparated.
As soon as his feet hit the floor, Albus lay Minerva and Xiomara on the couch. He immediately Flooed the school nurse, Madame Grime. As she appeared in Albus's office, Minerva was trying to calm the still-screaming Xiomara. She pulled Xiomara over to her and held her as she said,
"Shush, Mara. It's okay. He isn't there. He can't hurt you anymore. Professor Dumbledore took us away from the bad place. Shush…" Minerva continued to comfort Mara as Madame Grime checked them both over. Slowly, Mara's sobs subsided as she fell asleep. Madame Grime stepped back and said,
"Well, they both seem like they will recover. Much bedrest, and some psych evaluations, and they will recover. It will take time, but they will get better." Madame Grime walked back to the fire, threw some Floo powder in, and went back to the Hospital Wing. Albus Levitated Mara, and placed her on his bed. After he was sure she was settled, he walked back out to the living area. There, he found Minerva, dressed in her school robes, her face completely makeup-free, and sipping a cup of Earl Grey as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Albus sat down in the chair across from her and asked,
"Minerva? Are you okay?" Minerva nodded primly and said,
"Yes Professor Dumbledore. I am quite alright. Just as Madame Grime said, nothing a good night's sleep won't cure. If it is quite alright with you, I would like permission to retire to my dormitory." Albus shook his head and said,
"Minerva, there is no way at all you can be okay. I just brought you out of a—a…"
"Brothel." Minerva supplied for him. Albus nodded and said,
"Yes, a brothel. You can't be alright. For crying out loud, you were being forced to have sex!" Albus got up nearly pulled his hair out. He started pacing, his hands still shaking with fury. Minerva followed him with her eyes and said calmly,
"Yes, I was having sex most unwillingly. But I am alright. That was only my sixth. There have been nights where it was much worse." Albus stared at her, his eyes huge. His Minerva had been forced to have sex six times that night? Wait, thought Albus, when did she become my Minerva? He pushed the thought from his mind and continued,
"But Minerva, how long have you been there?" Minerva thought for a second and continued,
"I believe that it would have been three years this coming December." Albus couldn't believe his ears. Minerva was only sixteen years old. She first went there when she was thirteen, Albus realized in horror. Minerva looked at him, mild curiosity permeating her gaze. Albus stopped pacing and said,
"Miss McGonagall, I'm going to have to ask you to call me Albus, if that would please you. Why did you keep on going back? How did you keep on going back?" Minerva placed her tea on its saucer and politely folded her hands in her lap as she answered,
"I continued going back because my mother threatened to stop paying my tuition if I didn't do my part to help the family. Our family's fortune is gone. Squandered away by mother on a rich lifestyle she can't afford to support. In order to keep our ancient grounds in Scotland, supply her wardrobe, and keep my father happy at the tavern, I had to bring in money or risk being taken away from this place forever," tears started falling down Minerva's face, but her voice was as steady as ever. She was truly starting to scare Albus with the way she had no overwhelming emotions thickening her voice. Minerva continued, "So I have been going through Vanishing Cabinets to my family estate. There, I have been Apparating to the brothel, and then bringing the money home to my family, thus allowing me to stay here." Albus shook his head, not believing his ears. How could anyone have possibly done something so incredibly horrible to this intelligent beauty. He asked,
"If you feel up to talking about it, how come you haven't fallen asleep in class? How do you still do so well in all your classes?" Minerva pulled out a fine golden chain around her neck and produced a Time-Turner. She said,
"I've been turning the time of the night back. Then, I can sleep, and no one notices me missing if something happens in the middle of the night." Albus nodded his understanding. He sat down on the couch next to Minerva. Almost instinctively, Minerva scooted over next to him, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. Within the next few minutes, she was peacefully sleeping. Albus didn't move, afraid to wake her. What was he going to do?
It went against everything he believed in to just leave Minerva to the existence she knew now. And yet, what could he do? Albus went over his options, and all he could come up with was this:
Sue for custody. This one didn't particularly appeal to Albus. If he wanted custody, there was no way he would ever be able to have any other sort of relationship that he wanted with her.
Dispose of the Vanishing Cabinets and have the school pay her tuition. Or pay it himself. But that left him with the problem of an underage student with no guardian. The court would never go for that.
Convince someone else to sue for custody. Perhaps some of friends would be willing to do that for him. Poppy Pomfrey was always saying how she wanted a daughter.
Albus could think of nothing else. It was quite obvious to him what he wanted to do. Convince his dear friend Poppy to sue for him. Of course, he would have to inform her of what she had to do, and perhaps he out to tell Minerva about his plan as well. Albus sighed and placed his arm around Minerva, drawing her closer to him. In her sleep, she smiled lightly, and snuggled closer. Albus thought as he drifted off, Let her be dreaming happily.