If I have my calculations correct, it is 1962. The Marauders are 2 years old or so.
"I'm sorry, but... we aren't... I can't do this anymore." I whispered to my boyfriend of five years.
"What?" He hissed, staring at me.
"I fell in love with Tom, Tom from the orphanage. A man who cared and loved me. You aren't him- you're Voldemort, the heartless man. I'm tired of pretending not to notice that you often come home with blood on your robes, and your eyes are turning red! I'm done with it!"
His eyes narrowed. Suddenly, I was reliving the last few months.
My boss, my best friend and I laughing at the stupidity of the students, my cleaning his robes, frowning at the stains, waving goodbye to the school nearly three months ago, last week with him, noticing he was cold and methodic in his affections, the sickness, Poppy testing me for...
I threw him out of my head. That's private! You told me- no, you promised me you would never use legilimens against me!" I cried, then slapped him, tears running down my face. I ran up the stairs, leaving him shocked at the table. I put all my things in my trunk using my wand, and then levitated it down the stairs. Tom was waiting for me at the bottom.
"Where are you going?" he asked. He was calm, and it scared me. He was only this calm when he was angry.
"I don't know. But we're done Tom. I love you, so much it hurts, because I can see that you don't love anything." The tears were pouring down my face now. I started towards the door. I was waiting for him to walk towards me, but he didn't come. I looked back once, to see him standing in the door, looking at me with no expression. I mouthed I love you to him one last time, then disapparated, holding tight to my trunk.
With a slight pop, I appeared in Hogsmead, in front of the Hogs Head. I entered the pub, and saw Aberforth sitting with Albus. I shouldn't have been surprised- they are brothers, after all- but I was. I set down my trunk.
"Hello Albus, Aberforth." I announced my presence while pulling down my sleeves to cover the bruises and cuts from last night. I remembered that Tom beating me was the final straw and that I was leaving. Good thing I had worn a long- necked cloak. I knew that Aberforth wouldn't ask about them, but Albus...
"Ah, hello Minerva. Why are you here this late?" Albus asked, his blue eyes concerned.
"Erm, just came back for the school year early, and just finished packing." I invented widely. True, I had to be back at the school in two days, but Albus always knew when someone was lying. He and Aberforth exchanged looks.
"Of course you did. When you're ready to tell us the truth, you can come down. There's a room upstairs. Here's the key." Aberforth said bluntly, tossing me a key. I took it and my trunk upstairs.
I unlocked the room. It had a bed, a dresser, and a bathroom. It was small, but had everything that I needed. I locked the room and then started unpacking. Once everything I needed was out, I fell on my bed and went to sleep.
I woke up suddenly, and very early, the next morning. Knowing what to expect, I dashed for the bathroom, and made it just in time to throw up. After I had cleaned up, changed- you know, the whole morning routine- then went downstairs. I was surprised to see Albus there again.
"Good Morning Albus. Where is Aberforth?" I asked.
"Oh, he likes a bit of a lie- in. Are you ready to tell?" he asked me.
I took a deep breath. "No. I'm sorry Albus, but I can't tell you everything. A few may become clear in the future, but for now they shall remain a secret. "
He nodded. "Would you like some eggs and sausages?" he asked, changing the subject.
"No, thank you. I haven't been able to keep anything but toast for a while now." I replied. He flicked his wand, and a few pieces of toast appeared in front of me on a plate. I sat, slowly crunching my bread, feeling somewhat awkward. I mean, my boss was sitting across from me, watching me eat. I glanced down, making sure I wasn't missing anything important. I winced slightly when I saw that my lower arms weren't covered, and the bruises stood out. Even worse, the scars were pale against the brown of the bruises.
Unfortunately for me, Albus had followed my eyes to my arms, and saw the bruising. He started to speak, but I cut him off.
"It's a bit chilly, isn't it? I think I'll go grab a sweater." I stood up and walked quickly to the stairs. I went to my room and locked the door. I took a few deep breaths, then looked at my arms.
"I think I'm going to have to stop now. I'm away from Tom. He can't hurt us now." I muttered to myself.
After a few hours of reading and going over lesson plans, I went back downstairs. Thankfully, Albus wasn't there. Aberforth nodded to me as I left. I headed to Honeydukes, I had been craving chocolate and caramel for a while. I knew, in the back of my head that I would be throwing it up later, but oh well.
I purchased a few bars of caramel chocolate, then headed back to the Hogs Head with most of the chocolate in my arms- I had eaten one as soon as I stepped out of the store. I entered, went to my room, and had closed the door before I registered that Albus was sitting on my bed.
"Merlin, Albus!" I exclaimed. "You scared me. Why are you in my room?"
"I know." Was all he said.
I sank down next to him. "How much? Why are you talking to me, shouldn't a Healer or something be here?"
"I'm here because I know what it's like to fall in love with a dark wizard." He said, looking me in the eyes. I froze.
"What?" I whispered.
"Minerva, I know you far better than you realize. When you hear of Voldemort in the paper, your face closes up, and it' s like someone stabbed you. Therefore, I made the connection to Tom." He explained.
"He's not Tom. Not anymore." I said, and I felt a tear running down my cheek. Albus hugged me with one arm.
"About your arms..." he started.
"I'm stopping. I have two good reasons now. So... who was it that you fell in love with?" she deflected the conversation away from her.
"What are your two reasons? One is obviously that you are away from Tom, but the other?" Okay, so that deflection thing didn't work.
"I'll answer you if you answer me. You go first." I said. We stared at each other for a bit, then...
"Gellert Grindelwald." Came his answer. My eyebrow's rose.
"That explains a lot." I murmured. "Okay, my second reason- you would've figured it out in a few months, anyway- but... I'm... oh Merlin." I felt the bile rushing to my throat, and I ran towards the bathroom. I threw up in the toilet, then straightened to find Albus looking at me. I washed out my mouth. "I'm sorry you had to se that. You see... I'm pregnant." Stunned silence followed my words.
"I see. Is it his?" I nodded.
"I'm keeping it Albus. Even if it means that I lose my job or something." I said firmly. This was one thin I was sure of.
"You won't loose your job. It will be very hard, seeing as a baby takes up a lot of time, but I'm sure you will manage. When is it due, and are you planning on letting him know about it?" he asked, concern etched in his face.
"I'm about three months along. He won't know anything, I hope." I answered. "Albus, I'm sorry, but... can I be left alone for a bit?" He nodded, then stood up.
"Remember, I will be there if you need it." He said as he left. I shut the door behind him, then curled up in a ball on my bed, tears streaming down my cheeks. He was the first person that I had told was pregnant, excepting Poppy- she was a healer, so she didn't count. It was supposed to be a great day for a woman- telling her significant other that she was going to have his child, and then the man telling the woman that he loved her, and for the next months, was going to coddle her. I wept until I fell asleep.
The next morning came with a stuffy head and nausea. I ran to the bathroom, then washed my mouth and came back to the room. I sighed as I realized that it was August 27. Today, I was going back to Hogwarts. I sighed as I packed up all my stuff. I knew that at Hogwarts, soon everyone would know that I was pregnant, and people would ask me who the father was.
Life at Hogwarts was hard. The first month or so wasn't too bad, but then I started showing, and the questions from the students started. My first and second years- along with some third years- were so happy that I was going to have a baby, but the other students knew where babies came from, and therefore knew that there had to be a father and a mother for the baby. My discussion with the 7th years went something like this:
"So, class, I'm sure that most of you have heard or guessed, but, yes, I am pregnant." There were the normal congratulations and all, and I smiled in thanks. Then came the one million-galleon question-
"Professor, who is the father?" Edward Macabee, a Ravenclaw asked.
"A man. Now, turn to page 109, Human to Animal Transfiguration." I said, avoiding the question. They did as they were told, but at the end of class, a Hufflepuff asked another embarrassing question.
"Who is your husband?" That was James Fewemburgh.
I cleared my throat. "I am not married. You may leave now." The class stood still, shocked.
"Is the father your fiancée?" I shook my head. "Your boyfriend?"
"That is enough! I know who the father is, and that's enough! Class is dismissed, an you will be late to your next class if you don't leave immediately!" I snapped.
Oh yeah. That was a lot of fun. They hounded me for days!
Anyway, my due date was February 4th. The fourth came, and went. On February 13th, I went into labor in the middle of a class.
"If someone could please get Professor Dumbledore?" I asked, as calm as a pregnant woman could be. A student brought him back in about 5 minutes.
"Professor, could you take over the class? I need to go to St. Mungos." Albus raised his eyebrows and then nodded.
"I shall send Poppy with you." He said. I flooed to St. Mungos', then went to the Maternity Ward. After checking myself in, I was put in a room and told to not lie down. It was getting painful. Every hour or so, a healer would come in to check on me. After about five hours, they allowed me to lie on the bed. I sighed in relief. About that time, Poppy showed up.
"How are you? How far along?" she asked.
"I'm as good as can be, I still have a few hours, apparently."
The next few hours were loads of fun. Yes, I do get very sarcastic when I mad. Deal with it- you're not the one giving birth! I had been in labor for about 10 hours when Andrew Hodpird entered.
"Please. Please tell me you're not going to be delivering my baby." I told my former student. I don't think he realized who he was delivering, but at the sound of my voice, he looked at me and screamed and ran out of the room.
"I don't look that bad, do I?" I asked a laughing Poppy.
"I think it was the though of delivering his strictest teacher's baby is a tad more frightening than your appearance, Minnie." She said, grinning. After a few moments, a new healer came in. Thank Merlin, it was not a former student, and it was a girl.
"Hello, I'm Elizabeth. I understand you scared away your first healer." She said, a faint smile on her lips.
"I didn't mean to! He was a former student! And he was scared of me when he was a student!" I cried.
"Okay then." She laughed. "Anyway, this baby is ready to be born, and he's my assistant, so he will be here, just not the actual one delivering."
"Wonderful."
"Merlin, that hurts like hell!" I swore. Andrew raised an eyebrow. "I am perfectly within my limits to swear, young man. You may have graduated, but I am still your teacher, so don't laugh at me! Bloody hell!" Poppy was laughing at Andrew's cowed expression. After another hour of intense pushing (A/N: I don't want to botch it, cuz I've never seen it.) my baby came out.
"It's a girl!" said Elizabeth.
"May I hold her?" I asked, reaching out my hands.
"In a moment- I need to clean her, and cut the umbilical cord. Annnd... here you go." She said.
"What's her name?" asked Poppy.
"Hmm..." I thought about it.
McKenzie Merope McGonagall, born on February 14th, 1963, 6 pounds, 7 ounces, and 17 inches, was a perfect mix of Tom and I. She had tufts of black hair, her father's pale skin, nose and smile, and my nose and hands. Her eyes were grey, but the healers said that they would find a color in a month or so.
They darkened to red, so she had her father's eyes, as well. When I saw them, I bit my lip. A girl with those eyes could hardly go unnoticed, so I changed them to match my eyes, green. I hoped that her father would never find out about her, and vise versa.
**McKenzie grew to be a beautiful girl. All the boys in school admired her, but only one caught her eye. Sirius Black, the bane of my existence, fell in love with my daughter. I wasn't happy at first, but I went for it. Sirius always did see me as a mother. On McKenzie 17th birthday, I told her who her father was, and took the enchantment off her eyes. She wasn't happy with me- we didn't talk for about a year, actually- and it was the hardest year of my life. She came back to tell me that when Lily and James had died, Sirius had run away, and was in prison for killing Lily, James, and a bakers dozen of Muggles. I held her as she cried that they had eloped, and she was pregnant. I cried with her, and was there when Birgit Bambi Black and Ben Balen Black were born on May 2nd, 1981. And, when Sirius came back from prison, the first time I saw him at an Order of the Phoenix meeting, I punched him for her, twice, one for each kid. **
If you want me to elaborate on McKenzie's story, please tell me! And see that green/ grey/ blue button? Press it, please!!!