Minerva McGonagall groaned a little as she got out of bed at such an ungodly hour, her husband still snoring softly beside her. He, of course, would not wake for another hour. Why should Dougal McGregor be the one to collect the eggs and cook breakfast? That was woman's work after all.
Minerva sighed as she sat on the edge of their king size and brushed her fingers through her long black hair. Slowly she collected it and tied it back in a high bun, out of the way so she could work. She shoved her feet in her slippers and straightened up.
In the bathroom mirror Minerva got a good look at her face. She had thinned quite significantly in the years following their impromptu marriage in the summer of '69. Her skin had become paler as well. She could not say why. Her mother had suggested she had changed her eating habits but she had not. She had made a conscious effort to eat properly.
"Have you stopped doing magic?" Isobel McGonagall had asked her daughter. "I found that when I stopped for as long as I did after marrying your father, I had lost weight as well. Magic is a part of you, my dear, if you suppress it there will be consequences to your health."
Though she had lied to her mother at the time, Minerva had in fact given up her magic for her husband. Dougal found it strange. He did not understand it and it had been quite a shock for him when she had revealed her secret on their honeymoon. She was a witch. A powerful one at that. One that came from a long line of powerful witches. He had not understood. He had not tried to understand.
"I hope you understand," he had said, watching her slowly set her beautifully sanded, polished, stiff wand down into a long thin box of similar colour. A tear had rolled down her cheek and her heart throbbed as she locked the box with a small key to be stored in his office desk drawer. "It's just not right. It's not natural. I'm sure your father would agree. Sorcery is condemned in the Bible."
"I'm sure he would," was all she said as she locked a piece of herself away in a tiny box and stuffed it unceremoniously under their shared bed on his side.
The wand called to her every day. It beat like a heart underneath the bed when she laid down to sleep. It asked her to free it, to hold it, to wield it. It called her to create beauty, because that was what magic was; to create. It was not to destroy or to sin like Dougal believed. It was to create.
Minerva sighed, ignoring the call from her wand as she did every morning, and looked away from her ghostly reflection in the mirror. She splashed some cold water on her face to wake herself up before getting dressed and ready for the day.
She looked back at the bed for a second as she passed through the bedroom quietly a few minutes later. An urge to push the sleeping man to the floor always washed over her every morning as she rose before sunrise to fetch the eggs and cook their breakfast without any assistance, from magic or from Dougal. Of course she never did. What kind of wife would she be if she did a thing like that?
Minerva started on her chores and the work was slow. Every morning was the same. The morning fog dulled her senses and time seemed to move at half speeds. She trudged along with it.
At sunrise Dougal rose and he expected the smells of eggs, beans, and bacon cooking waiting for him. Minerva delivered every single morning. She fried his eggs at breakfast, assembled his sandwiches at lunch, and cooked his pot roast at dinner. The same things every day. That's what he liked.
"Good morning, my lovely Minnie!"
Minnie. She absolutely hated the pet name. Her father had despised nicknames in general but her mother had delighted in them. She never called her daughter Minnie however. The only ones who would do a thing like that were her brothers, just to annoy her.
Dougal had laughed when she told him she'd prefer just Minerva or, sparingly, Min. He liked Minnie.
"Morning, love," Minerva said as she pulled out a plate from a cupboard and began pouring the egg, bacon, beans and toast onto it.
"Lots to do today," Dougal said, sitting down at the kitchen table with a tired grunt. "The farmhands should be up and about soon enough."
Minerva looked back at him. Unlike her, Dougal had gained weight since they had married. He was a little chubbier, a little less muscular, now. Not that she minded, of course. Looks were not everything. Dougal's hair was still the same mess of fire coloured curls that it had been at eighteen and he had his same green eyes that, unlike her piercing blue one's, still gleamed. His had not dulled over the years like hers had.
Though, things had changed. The fire that had once burned with energy and enthusiasm had matured. Now when his eyes gleamed, they gleamed at conformity and obedience. Normal. That's what he wanted. Normal.
Minerva walked over to the table and set his plate in front of him. He smiled and looked up at her, closing his eyes. She held back a sigh, leaned forward, and gave him a quick peck before moving back towards the kitchen to fix up breakfast for herself.
"I'm going into town today," she said. "Can you give me a ride please?"
"Whatever would you want to go into town for?" Dougal asked with a mouth full of food.
"Mother would like to meet for lunch," Minerva replied, walking back to the table with her own plate and sitting down in her seat opposite him. "Then I was thinking I could look through market square. I thought some fresh fruit might be nice."
"Hmm," he said. "I suppose I can have a farmhand drive you."
"Thank you, love," she said.
He gave her a little nod before turning back to his food. "Oh," he said. "It seems you've missed something this morning, dearest."
Minerva looked him over and raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"
"My paper."
Minerva sighed. She bit her tongue before she could tell him to get up and get his own damn paper and got up herself. She walked out of the kitchen to the front door and picked up the morning newspaper from the front step.
"I apologise, my love," she said as she set the rolled up paper beside him and sat down to eat her breakfast. "It must have slipped my mind."
"That is alright, love. We're all a bit slow Monday mornings."
Minerva didn't reply. She looked down at her food and focused on eating breakfast slowly. Dougal unrolled his paper and began reading it. She would read it after he finished and went out to work on the farm. He did not believe women should care about the news but she had always thought it best to keep informed. Her mother had always agreed.
They ate in silence for a while before Dougal looked over his paper at her. "Minnie," he said, using that wretched nickname again. "We've been married what? Two years?"
"Three," Minerva mumbled, not looking up from her food. "Three years."
"Right, right," he said. "We've been married a long time."
"We have," she said. She sighed, knowing exactly what was coming next.
"Much too long for it to still be just the two of us."
Dougal wanted children. He wanted seven, actually. He loved children and had been trying to convince Minerva to try for one since their honeymoon. He wanted a baby, which he would do nothing to help look after, immediately. He wanted there to be enough time for them to have all seven. Minerva did not want seven. She wasn't even sure she wanted one yet. She was still trying to figure that out.
"I think we should try again for a baby," Dougal said with a little smile.
"We've tried," Minerva said. "It didn't work."
"We tried once, Minnie," he said, laughing and shaking his head. "It doesn't always work the first time. Sometimes it takes time."
They had only had sex one time this month. As the years had progressed they had been doing it less and less. Minerva was certain that they had done it a lot more before they had gotten married than they did now. She did not mind in the very least however. The less they did it, the less likely it was for her to become pregnant.
"I still feel it's quite soon," Minerva said.
"It's been three years!" Dougal said. "Don't you think it's time? Your mother had you when she was nineteen, didn't she?"
"Yes, but -"
"And you're twenty one now."
"I know, but -"
"You're not getting any younger and if we don't start soon we won't have time to have as big a family as we'd like."
We. Minerva sighed. She did not want that large a family. "Have... have you thought, darling," she said a little uncertainly, "that seven may be far too many children to look after? I worry we may not be able to keep up with seven tiny little things."
Dougal laughed. "Which is why we must start soon," he said. "If we wait much longer we will be too old to keep up by the time our little seventh comes along."
"I - I suppose," Minerva said, "Though I wonder how effective we would be at parenting that many children. I mean, that would be enough to form their own Quidditch team!"
"Quidditch?" Dougal asked, frowning immediately.
"Oh, sorry, I meant football," Minerva amended quickly. "I worry raising enough to be their own football team could get quite difficult on us."
Dougal kept frowning, not happy about the slip of her tongue. He had thought that she had rid herself of those strange satanic practices. He was not happy about the ease at which they flew off her tongue.
"I believe we will manage," he said finally. "And the older children will help with the smaller ones."
Minerva looked down at her plate nervously. She was grasping at straws at this point. "I - I also worry," she said quietly. "I've - well, you know, I've lost quite a lot of weight and I don't know why. I worry that I may not be in the best physical state just yet to have a child."
"Hmm," he said thoughtfully as he inspected her tall thin frame. There was a pause in which he deliberated. Finally he spoke, "you are right."
Minerva looked up quickly. She had not expected that at all.
"You should visit the doctor while in town today," Dougal said. "He will be able to tell you for sure what's going on and whether it's safe for us to try."
Minerva sighed. This was more like Dougal. "Alright," she said. "I'll talk to Dr. MacDonald today after lunch. Will you be joining me?"
"Not today. I don't have time. Too much to do," he said. "I can have Alexander accompany you if you are frightened."
"No, of course not," Minerva said, making a face. "I am more than happy to go on my own."
Dougal smiled. "Always your own woman," he said. "I like that."
He didn't. She knew he didn't.
"I'll have Alexander pick you up from the doctor's office at one thirty," he said. "I'm sure that will be enough time."
Minerva nodded a little.
"Also, when we start having children," he said. "I would like you to finally change your name."
"Hmm?"
"McGonagall is a fine name, of course," Dougal said, "but you've been my wife for three years now and you still haven't changed it. You should be Minerva McGregor. It will make things simple and we won't have to try to explain it to the children."
"What is there to explain?" Minerva asked. "My name is my name. It has been since I was born."
"But when a woman gets married she changes her name," Dougal insisted. "It is what's done, Minnie. It's normal."
"A lot of women have started -"
"Maybe in the cities but not here," Dougal said with a frown. "Not in Castletown. Every woman here changes her name upon marriage. Now I've not forced you, I've respected your wishes up until now. It's a matter of tradition. With three years of marriage under your belt and soon to be a baby on the way, change your name to mine, Minnie."
"I will think about it," Minerva said softly. She was not going to. She was not going to think about it and she was not going to change her name. Her name was hers and it was one thing she was not going to give up.
Dougal grunted and turned back to his paper, apparently done with the conversation for now. They went back to eating in silence. Minerva looked over at the clock every so often. As soon as it struck seven, Dougal would get up and leave to do his farm work. She would have some peace for a while before she went out to continue her chores as well.
"Would you look at this," Dougal said suddenly, still looking through the paper.
"What is it?" Minerva asked.
"It looks like Mr. Jay Collins, the billionaire, has decided to start a project to get some of that new fancy farm equipment for the farmers up North," Dougal mumbled. "Says he's going to be traveling from small town to small town in the UK to talk to farmers and see what they need."
"That sounds nice," Minerva said.
"It's all for the publicity, my dear," he muttered. "People like Jay Collins don't really care about the working class."
"He sounds like he's trying to give back."
"He's trying to look good," Dougal said. "Or build a base for a political run next year."
Minerva didn't reply. He didn't want her too. She knew that.
"I'll tell you now though," Dougal continued. "We don't need some fancy billionaire telling us what we need. He's probably some out of touch wanker who'd be no good for us. He'd do nothing but line his and his buddies' pockets."
"Well, if he does run I'll doubt he'll get many votes," Minerva said reassuringly. "I'm sure others think along the same lines as you, darling."
"Right you are, my dear," he said. "When we're talking Castletown, that is. I can't say for sure what the leftists up in Glasgow or Edinburgh or, even worse, London will think."
Minerva smiled a little. "Leftists?"
"Liberals."
"I know what it means," she said. "I just wanted to point out that England is far more conservative than Scotland is in general, love."
"Not London, Minnie," he muttered. "It's a shit show in London. It's always a shit show with London. Why do you think I always say no when you ask to go visit there?"
Minerva didn't respond. She missed London. She hadn't been back to the city in a long time and she actually missed the congestion. It wasn't like here on the farm. There were people doing interesting thing, going interesting places, getting interesting jobs. The streets were crowded, yes, but one was never alone.
Finally the old grandfather clock in the living room chimed on the hour and Dougal folded up his paper. He set it down beside his empty plate and got up.
"Lots to do," he said as he walked towards the backdoor. "Come out as soon as you finish your housework."
"Darling, if you could just -" He walked out the door and closed it behind him. "- put your plate in the sink," she finished quietly. She sighed and looked at the dirty plate left behind on the table. Was it really that hard to make a trip to the sink before heading outside?
Minerva grumbled to herself a little as she reached over and picked up the paper. She unfolded it and began reading. There was not much news today other than the billionaire CEO of Collins Enterprises going from city to city. It said that he wanted to make it easier on the farmers and help them compete better on the world stage.
"In our increasingly interconnected world, farmers from the United Kingdom are having a more difficult time competing with the cheaply grown crops in Africa, Asia, and America," said Collins at a press conference in London. "We must help our farmers rival these growers with their superior product. It is not only in their best interest but in the best interest of our economy at large."
It seemed to make sense to her but Minerva did share Dougal's scepticism. Many politicians and businessmen had tried in the past to "help" struggling farmers to no avail. She doubted Jay Collins could make much of a difference either.
Minerva finished reading the paper and eating her breakfast. She got up and started on her house work. She cleaned the dishes, went upstairs to make the bed, and started on the laundry. At nine thirty she took the washing out to hang on the line and saw Dougal and his farmhands out in the fields. She watched them work for a minute before turning back to her laundry.
"Will be driving yeh to town at noon, Ma'am," said a young man from behind her, making her jump. Minerva turned and gave Alexander, a tall, muscular man with short blonde hair, a look. He smiled an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Ma'am. Didn't mean to scare yeh."
"That's alright, Alexander," she said with a sigh as she set her laundry basket down and picked up one of Dougal's shirts. As she started hanging it up on the line she said, "Noon is too late. I want to be at the restaurant by then so we will have to leave at eleven thirty."
"Alright, Ma'am," he said. "Then we'll be back by two, Mr. McGregor said."
"Mr. McGregor is mistaken," she muttered, picking up another shirt. "He wants me to speak with Dr. MacDonald after my lunch which will take more time than he anticipates."
"Oh, how long do yeh think we'll be?"
"I'm not sure but we will not be back in only two hours," she said.
"Alright, I'll let Mr. McGregor know."
"You do that."
He nodded and walked away. Minerva looked back and watched him go for a second before turning back to her own work.
She finished up with the laundry and went back inside. She finished up a few more chores inside, made Dougal and the farmhands some lunch sandwiches to eat while she was gone, and then went outside to feed the animals. When she was done that she went inside to get ready to go. She washed her hands, got dressed in her nice, going to town clothes and even did a little bit of makeup.
"Why can't you be back by two?" Dougal asked when she came down the stairs. He was standing in the hallway with his muddy boots still on. She could see his trail from the backdoor.
"If I leave now I'll get to town at twelve and even if I only stay an hour at the restaurant with Mother, that only leaves me half an hour at the doctor's office," Minerva said with a frown. "And you know how long it always take in those waiting rooms. I won't even have a chance to look through the market that way."
"Well, then don't spend that long at the restaurant and skip the market," Dougal muttered. "I need Alexander back here as soon as possible."
"I have not seen my mother in a long time, Dougal. I would like to spend at the very least an hour with her," Minerva said, furrowing her brow at him. She looked passed him at the front door where Alexander was waiting. She moved a little closer and lowered her voice. "I can always unlock my wand and go into town myself."
Dougal glared at her. "That is not an option."
"If you need Alexander here so bad," she said. "I can always go on my own."
Dougal closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. "Fine," he muttered quietly. "Take him for as long as you want. Give Isobel my best."
Minerva smiled a little. "I will," she said. "And please have your muddy footprints cleaned up by the time I return. I have told you multiple times not to wear your dirty boots in the house."
Dougal looked back at his footprints and sighed. "I'll have 'em cleaned up," he said. He moved a little closer and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I didn't say. You look nice today."
"Thank you," she said, stepping back a little to regain her balance. "I should really get going. Don't want to keep Mother waiting."
He nodded and gave her a kiss on the lips before letting her go. She said a quick goodbye and headed for the door. She put on her shoes and coat and Alexander opened the door for her. They went out to the car and Minerva got in. They drove the thirty minutes into town and Alexander pulled over in front of the small restaurant.
"What will you be doing while I'm at lunch, Alexander?" she asked as she picked up her purse.
"Eh, I'll find something to entertain meself," he said. "Probably meet some mates at Smithson's."
Minerva nodded. "Well, have a nice day," she said. "I will meet you at the doctor's office at... we'll do three."
"Sounds good, Ma'am."
Minerva left the car and walked towards the restaurant. It was a small, hole in the wall type of place that not many people in Castletown really appreciated but Minerva loved. The owners had been friends with her mother and father.
Minerva walked inside and saw a young woman her age sitting at a table nearby. Amelia Bones, a bright witch with shining green eyes and a bright smile, sat waiting for her friend. She had her dark brown hair tied up in a sophisticated updo.
"Hello!" Amelia said cheerfully.
Minerva gave her friend a small smile as she walked over and sat down in front of her. "Hello, Amelia," she said, less cheerfully. She had always been less cheerful than Amelia. Everyone was always less cheerful than Amelia. "How are you doing?"
"I am doing wonderfully," Amelia said with a smile. "I half expected you to cancel on me, if I'm being completely honest. How'd you convince the husband to let you come see me?"
"He thinks I'm meeting Mother," she mumbled.
Amelia's smile faltered a little but Minerva pretended not to notice. She knew Amelia's feelings towards Dougal and Dougal's feelings towards Amelia. He was never too thrilled when Amelia, or anyone from the Wizarding World, came over to the farm so Minerva and Amelia had taken to meeting off the farm. That meant that the two friends saw each other less, of course, as Minerva left the farm so rarely.
"So, how are things at the Ministry?" Minerva asked.
"Good, good," Amelia said with a small smile. "We've been really busy lately. London's been having a problem with illicit drug trade and the Aurors just found a pretty big dealer so we've been having our hands tied with all of that."
"Wow," Minerva said. "That sounds interesting."
"The paperwork is not," Amelia said with a laugh.
"Of course," Minerva said with a smile. "Well, congratulations on catching such a huge dealer. Will you be using him to get to others?"
"Yes, that's the plan," Amelia said with a nod. "I'm not really supposed to tell anyone that, of course, but I doubt you'll run off and tell a whole bunch of drug dealers that we're on to them."
"Well, you never know," Minerva said. "Maybe I'm the drug dealer kingpin that you've been looking for."
"If you have a drug empire and you're not telling me then I'm going to be very upset with you," Amelia said, giving her a look. "Don't you think that I would want in on that?"
"I'm very sorry, Amelia," Minerva said with a laugh.
They dropped their drug trade discussion as a waitress came over to take their orders. When she left Amelia asked her about how things were on the farm as well. Minerva sighed and told her about her and Dougal's discussion on children this morning.
"Seven!" Amelia exclaimed, eyes wide. "Seven children? That's so many!"
"I know."
"It's seven too many, I would say," Amelia said, laughing a little.
Minerva smiled. "I know you've never been one for children," she said. "Though I do think I might like one. One. Not seven. And not yet. We're still quite young, I think."
"You are," Amelia said with a nod. "You're only twenty one right now. You still have your whole twenties to live! I thought you wanted to travel. See the world. Get a job."
"I do," Minerva said softly, looking down at her food. "I do."
The waitress came back and set their food down in front of them. Minerva picked up her fork and started picking at her food while Amelia dug in. They ate in silence for a second before Amelia looked up at her and saw the look on her face.
"You can, you know," Amelia said quietly.
"Hmm?"
"You can still travel and get a job," she said. "He doesn't get to decide everything. You could apply to work at the Ministry again. I have no doubt in my mind that they would offer you another job and then we can work together like we wanted to in the first place."
Minerva sighed. "It's not that simple, Amelia," she said. "There is a lot of work to do on the farm, you know. I can't get another job on top of that."
"Well, that's why you have so many farmhands, isn't it?" Amelia said. "And if you had a job, you'd have the money to get another farmhand in your place as well."
"Hmm," Minerva mumbled.
Amelia sighed. "Well, why don't you think about it," she said. "If you decide you want to, then I will help you apply for them."
Minerva smiled a little and nodded. "Alright," she said. "Thank you."
"Of course," she said with a smile. Then her smile faded and she looked around to make sure the waitress wasn't coming back. "Ah, I wanted to ask you about something."
"Oh?"
"I - please don't take this wrong way, Minerva, I have just been getting worried lately," Amelia said quietly. "You've lost a lot of weight so suddenly and I just want to make sure that you're okay."
"I'm fine," Minerva said, giving her a little smile. "I don't know why I've lost so much weight. I haven't changed my eating habits."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Minerva said. "I've actually been trying to eat more to try to gain some weight back."
"Hmm," Amelia said thoughtfully. "Have you stopped doing magic? I've heard that witches and wizards who stop doing magic for a really long time start getting weaker because of it. They actually wrote a health warning in Witch Weekly, which I know is not the most reliable source but it's supported by other research findings."
"I'm still doing magic, don't worry," Minerva said. She had gotten good at lying about that. "I don't know why I've lost so much weight but I'm actually going to the doctor's office today to talk to him about it."
Amelia thought about this for a second before nodding. "Okay," she said. "That's good. I was just a little worried. You've never looked this skinny, even when you were studying so hard for your N.E.W.T.s that you forgot to eat!"
"I appreciate that you worry about me, Amelia," Minerva said with a little smile, "but I'm fine. I'll talk to the doctor and try to eat more fatty foods."
"Good," Amelia said with a smile. "If you want, I can come with you."
"Oh no, that's alright," Minerva said. "I'll be fine on my own."
Amelia nodded again and Minerva changed the topic. They finished their lunch and talked more about Amelia's work and her life in London. Minerva preferred talking about that than life on the McGregor farm. Amelia sounded like she was having a great time in London working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Minerva was happy for her though she couldn't help feel a bit jealous. If she hadn't given up her job offer in the same department three years ago then she could be working with Amelia right now too. Maybe she should try to talk Dougal into letting her get a job.
After they had a little bit of dessert, Minerva and Amelia paid their bill and walked outside. They hugged and said goodbye before Amelia walked around the restaurant to Apparate back to London in the alleyway and Minerva walked in the opposite direction towards market square.
She didn't have much time to walk through the market if she wanted to be able to finish up at the doctor's office in time to meet Alexander. She did a quick walk through and bought a few fruits and vegetables that looked nice before hurrying to the doctor's office.
When she got to the office, she was directed to sit down in the waiting room. She sat there reading a magazine for a while before finally being called and moved into a check-up room. She put down her things and sat down on the hospital bed to wait for the doctor.
"Ah! Minerva, how are you, my dear?" The old doctor said as he walked into the room a little while later. He had silver hair and a bushy beard. He was tall and a little round in the middle. Dr. MacDonald had known Minerva since the day she had been born. He had delivered her.
"I'm alright, Dr. MacDonald," she said, giving him a little smile as he pulled a chair over and sat down. "How are you? How is Mrs. MacDonald?"
"Oh, we're doing well, thank you for asking," Dr. MacDonald said with a smile. "What can I do you for today, love?"
"I wanted to ask you about something I read about recently," Minerva said. "It's a new pill I was reading in the paper about. A contraceptive, more reliable than the others."
"Ah, yes," he said with a nod. "The birth control pill. You and Dougal don't want to take the risk, eh?"
"No," Minerva said. "I just wanted to know what the side effects for such a pill were."
"Well, to be completely honest, most women feel virtually no side effects," Dr. MacDonald said. "In rare cases some do experience mood changes and breast tenderness but most are fine."
Minerva nodded. "Well, I would like to be prescribed it then," she said. "Dougal and I feel that we are just not in a place in our lives to have a child right now and would prefer to wait. You and Mrs. MacDonald didn't have children until you were a little older, right?"
"Yes, Velma was thirty three when we had Holly," Dr. MacDonald said. "I find more and more women are choosing to wait longer to have children."
Minerva nodded and Dr. MacDonald picked up his prescription pad. He talked her through how the pills worked, any other side effects, and how to take them properly. Minerva took the slip from him over to the pharmacy next door and bought the pills immediately. She then walked back to the doctor's office with the pills in her purse and waited in front of the office for Alexander to come around.
Alexander took her home and she lied to Dougal about having to wait a week before trying for a baby again. Seven days was how long the doctor had suggested they waited if she would be starting the pill immediately. Dougal agreed and made sure that Minerva ate a half more portion of food than she did regularly to try and get her body weight up a bit.
As the week went by Minerva took her pills at the same time every morning before Dougal woke up. It was only the following Monday night when he propositioned her. She wondered for half a moment if he had been counting down the days before nodding and letting him do what he saw fit.
It was never the same as it had been the first summer they had gotten together. Their summer romance had been a whirlwind of passion and companionship. It was at the end of the summer, the day before she was meant to leave for her job in London, that he had proposed and at the time the yes tumbled from her lips before she could stop it. After that things had slowly gone downhill as she realized more and more how different the two for them where. But she loved him and he loved her so of course everything else came second. Their love could overcome everything else.
More weeks passed and she let him love her every night he wanted. He was getting more and more frustrated as more time passed and still nothing changed. She debated stopping the pill and giving in often, but every morning, when she stared at her own pale ghostly face in the mirror, something told her that she had to keep taking it. She wasn't ready for a baby. She needed more time.
On the second week of the pill a letter arrived from Amelia outlining all the job opportunities available at the Ministry right now. The ones she believed Minerva would enjoy the most were underlined in red ink. Minerva read them over and was just reminded of how well this woman knew her. All the jobs Amelia had underlined seemed exciting and promising. Yet something still held her back from applying.
Amelia sent more jobs as more time past and then called on the phone to walk Minerva through them all. She offered to look over cover letters and resumes for her and offered her owl to make the deliveries.
It wasn't any of the job openings that caught her eye in the end however. It was a short passage in one of Amelia's letters sent almost two months after their conversation. It was written after the jobs and mostly in passing. Amelia always liked to keep Minerva in the loop with everything going on in the Wizarding World and Minerva appreciated it. She didn't get the Daily Prophet here, and she did not see her mother or brothers very often so without Amelia she would know very little about what was going on in her second world.
Also, you will be surprised to hear, but I just got news that Professor Delphine Nimble, the one who replaced Dumbledore as Transfigurations Professor after his promotion to Headmaster, has been in a horrible Transfigurations accident! It seems that she's managed to transform half of her body into a wildebeest while the rest remained human. The photos I've seen are quite shocking and no one can seem to reverse it. She stays at St. Mungo's now. Poor thing.
It seemed that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in need of a Transfiguration professor for the upcoming year. Minerva had always loved Transfigurations. She had won awards for her work in the discipline when she was in school. She had become an Animagus when she was only sixteen years old, meaning she could transform into a tabby cat at will. Though she had not used that skill in a very long time.
"Dougal," she said that night at dinner.
Dougal looked up at her. He had been in a very bad mood lately as more and more time passed and still Minerva was not pregnant.
"I've been thinking," she said. "I feel you and the others get along fine here on the farm without me. I mostly manage the house and feed the animals anyhow, which is all something I can manage in just a few hours in the morning and at night."
Dougal frowned. "What are you trying to say, Minnie?"
"I think it might be time for me to get a job of my own," she said. "Amelia's been sending me all these interesting job opening and I -"
"No," Dougal said.
Minerva looked up at him. "What?"
"No," Dougal replied. "You can't be running around waving your ridiculous stick willy nilly. It's not natural, Minnie, I've told you."
"Alright, then say I got a job in town," Minerva offered. "Nothing to do with magic at all."
"No, we need you here on the farm," Dougal said. "You have a job, my love. You work here. You don't need another job."
"But don't you think it might be nice to have a little bit more spending money, love," Minerva said. "Just a bit more to put our minds at easy. I could work at the school. I'd have summers off and I'll get off quite early so I can still help out on the farm."
"I don't think -"
"And when we do get pregnant," Minerva said quickly, thinking this may be the best approach to getting what she wanted. "We'll probably want some more money for things like diapers and baby clothes."
"If," Dougal muttered.
"We will, in time," Minerva said reassuringly. "Like you said, sometimes it takes time."
He grumbled something under his breath that she didn't hear.
"So I'll apply to the school house then," she said. "For the upcoming year."
"Well, when we get pregnant, you're not going to want to work, Minnie," he said. "Wouldn't you rather stay at home with our baby?"
"Well, I mean, a lot of women work while maintaining their -"
"Not good mothers," Dougal said. "A good mother would want to stay home with their children."
"I don't think -"
"No," he said. "Just stay on the farm. It's worked for us so far, we don't need to change anything. We're doing fine as we are."
"But I -"
"I said no, Minerva," Dougal said firmly. "Leave it be."
Minerva sighed but didn't respond. She would try again later. He was just in a foul mood right now and she shouldn't push him.
Dougal's foul mood only got worse as more time passed however. At the three months mark he started getting angry. Angry with Minerva and with himself. They started trying less and less. Minerva assured him that they would take a break and try again later. This seemed only to make him angrier.
"You should return to the doctor," Dougal said one night as he buttoned up his pajama top and watched her move around in the bathroom. "He'll be able to give us some more answers. And tips maybe. Something is wrong."
"I don't think -"
"This can't be normal. You still haven't gained any weight back, do you think that might be affecting it? You should be eating more."
"I've been trying but -"
"Maybe there's some sort of medication you can take. Talk to the doctor. I'll send Alexander to take you into town."
So Minerva went back into town. Alexander dropped her off at the clinic and she walked to the pharmacy to refill her prescription of birth control before going across the street to a nearby pub to await Alexander's return. She sat down at the bar and ordered herself a drink.
For a while Minerva drank alone. She sighed a deep sigh and asked herself the same question she asked herself every night she laid down beside her husband. Why? Why did she do this to herself? Why did she let him push her around? She would never have let any man do that before, would she? Why was she lying and sneaking birth control pill? She should just come clean.
The door opened behind her and something told Minerva to stop. She had a sudden urge to look back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to god that whoever was there was not Dougal. She looked back quickly and her eyes widened a little. The man standing at the door was not her husband. He was tall and muscular with messy, jet black hair and golden brown skin He walked towards the bar and she watched him sit down a few seats away from her and order a drink of his own. The bartender handed him a drink and he drank it slowly for a while. Minerva couldn't say why exactly but she just couldn't take her eyes away from him. He finally noticed her staring and met her eyes.
Those eyes. Light grey and stormy. The shock of them almost knocked the air out of her lungs. They looked exactly how Minerva remembered the sky in London looked. She had never seen more amazing eyes than these. They drew her to him in a way that she could not explain. It looked as if a storm was brewing behind them and Minerva felt herself wanting to learn more about this man.
The man noticed that she did not look away when he caught her staring and gave her a crooked little smile. "Alright?" he asked, voice just above a whisper. Minerva nodded and quickly looked away, apparently having snapped out of her trance. He smiled a little, this all felt very high school. He decided to try and start some conversation. The problem was that he was very out of practice when it came to talking with pretty women. "Looks like it might rain, huh?"
The weather? Really? Stupid. That was so stupid. He shook his head and glared down at his glass.
"Yes," Minerva said quietly. The man had an English accent. He wasn't from around here obviously. She had not met someone from outside of Castletown in a very long time. She looked up at the bartender and then around the bar to make sure that no one was paying attention to them before looking back down at her glass. "Um... where are you - where are you from? I've not seen you around here before."
"London," he said with a small smile. "This is my first time in this lovely little town. How long have you lived here?"
"My whole life," Minerva said with a little sigh, still not looking back up at him. She kept staring down at her glass.
"You don't sound that happy about that," Jay said.
"No," Minerva said, looking up now and giving him a look. "I'm fine here."
"Right, sorry," he said, giving her an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's fine," she muttered, looking away.
"Have you ever been outside of Castletown?" he asked.
"I have," she said. "I used to board when I was in school and my family and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to go on quite a few vacations."
"That's nice," he said. "What is your favourite place you've visited?"
"Hmm," Minerva said softly. She looked back at him and smiled a little. "That's a hard question. I suppose maybe Mont Saint-Michel in France."
"Oh, yes, that's an absolutely beautiful island, isn't it?" said the man with a crooked smile. "Have you ever been to Amsterdam? That's probably the most magical city I've ever been."
"I haven't actually," Minerva said, "but I would love to go sometime. I haven't been able to travel at all in the last few years unfortunately. I really do love traveling to new places."
"It is nice," he said. "I hope you get the opportunity to go everywhere you'd like to go soon."
Minerva smiled a little. "I doubt your travels are what has brought you to our tiny village," she said. "Why have you come so far up North?"
"I'm here for work," he said. "My work's been taking me to a lot of interesting places that I would never have even thought to go before which is quite nice. I get to meet and talk to people I never would have gotten to talk to."
"I see," Minerva said.
"Do you work?" he asked. "Or are you still in school? How old are you if you don't mind me asking."
"Twenty one," Minerva said. "I am not in school, no. I... I don't work either. Well, I do, I suppose. I work on my husband's farm, I guess, but I hope to maybe be a teacher one day."
"Oh, you're married," he said. "How long have you been married?"
"Three years," Minerva said in a tone that the man felt sounded a little off. He didn't comment on it though and let her continue. "We got married quite young. Are you married?"
"I am not," he said. He smiled a little. "I'm still looking, it seems. I'm young-ish though still. I don't think I need to get married right away."
"How old are you if you don't mind me asking," Minerva said.
"Twenty six," the man said.
"Yes, that's still young," she said, giving him a small smile.
He smiled too. "So, teaching, huh?" he asked. "What would you teach?"
"Um, physics," Minerva said. It wasn't a complete lie. Transfigurations was most like the Muggle discipline of physics. The theory required following mathematical formulas taking into account the body weight of the object to be transfigured, the viciousness, wand power, and concentration. She had heard many Muggleborns in her classes complain of the class's likeness to their previous science classes, physics in particular.
"Wow, physics," the man said. "So you must be very intelligent then."
"Well of course," Minerva said, giving him a look.
The man laughed and Minerva smiled a little. She liked this man's laugh. It sounded more genuine and happy than her husband's laugh usually was. It was almost like music.
"So, are you going to apply to teach here?" the man asked.
"Ah, I was thinking about it, yes," she said, "but... but I was thinking of actually applying to teach at the school I went to. A position opened up there recently so I thought... maybe I could apply. I don't know. Maybe."
"I think you should," he said. "Well, I've just met you and I don't know much about your qualifications but in just the little while of knowing you I imagine you would be a wonderful teacher."
Minerva smiled a little. "I don't know," she said. "I have done well in the field and I've received awards for my work while in school but... I don't know."
"What's stopping you?" he asked. "Are you scared of rejection? Or is it something else?"
Minerva furrowed her brow as she thought about this question.
"It's not my place, I'm sorry," the man said quickly. "I should have -"
"No, that's alright," Minerva said. "It's a perfectly fine question. I'm not a hundred percent sure what it is exactly that's stopping me."
"Have you talked to your husband about it?" he asked.
"I - I have," she said. "He did not seem too thrilled."
"Oh."
Minerva sighed. "I think..." she said quietly, looking back down at her glass, "I don't know. He worries that it would be harder if I'm not there to help him on the farm as well. We have farmhands, of course, but he still worries."
"I mean, those are not entirely unreasonable concerns."
"No, they aren't," she said with another sigh. "I just... well, I feel I could be doing more with my life than cleaning the house and cooking his meals. I could be teaching the next generation."
"A noble cause," he said.
She smiled a little. "I think so."
"I think that it is completely understandable that you would want to do more with your life than cooking and cleaning," he said with a small smile. "I mean, it's not the '50s anymore. Women should be able to work if they want to work."
"I think so too," Minerva said.
"I think you should apply," he said. "Then if you get the job, you can talk to your husband and maybe he'll come around when you have something definitive to show him."
"Maybe," she said. She smiled and looked at him. "I wish more people thought the way you did."
He gave her a smiled. "Well, I think I know what it feels like to be discriminated against because of something out of your control," he said. "I think I can understand people trying to put you in a box that you don't want to be in."
"Oh, right, of course," she said. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," he said.
"Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking," she said.
"Well, I was born in London but my parents were originally from India," he said. "They came over here during the war. My father was a general for the British Army."
"Wow," Minerva said. "One of my grandfathers died in the war as well. My parents were very young during it so my father was not drafted."
"Abu died in the war a few months after I was born," he said. "So I never met him. It was just me and my mother for a long time. She had a lot of problems with finding work as well. There wasn't a lot of work for women to begin with without having to also deal with all the racism she had to face on top of that. She managed though. She had to work three jobs so that we could have a roof over our head and food on the table. I used to fix cars and radios for the neighbours to make a little bit of extra money as well so that I could help but she never let me give her any money. She wanted me to keep the money I made for myself."
"Wow," Minerva said. "I'm very sorry about your father. Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman. Very hardworking."
"She was," he replied with a smile. "She did everything she could to make sure that I got everything I needed. Books for school, a uniform, lunch. And in return I tried to work just as hard as her in school. I got a full scholarship to Oxford. The money I saved from my mechanic work helped pay for living expenses. I never finished my degree, however. I got a great opportunity and decided to take it."
"What do you do now?" Minerva asked.
"I run a company. It's not really a big deal," he said. "I'm sure that Ami would be happy though."
"Oh, did she pass away?"
The man nodded. "Almost eight years ago now."
"I'm very sorry."
"That's alright," he said. "What did your parents do?"
"Mother didn't work," Minerva said. "And Father's a preacher. He runs the church at the end of May Road. Like I said, I've been here my whole life."
"That's interesting," the man said.
"You don't have to lie, that's alright," Minerva said with a small smile.
"I wasn't - I didn't mean -"
"That's alright," she said. "My father is always complaining about how godless the folks in the big city are."
The man smiled a little. "Well, I won't lie," he said. "I've never been completely convinced by any religion but, who knows, I've never been to one of your father's sermons."
"I doubt they will convince you any further," Minerva muttered. "I would not recommend you try to go to one of his sermons. I am afraid that he may not even let you in."
"Oh," the man said, smile fading.
"I'm sorry. Please don't think less of me," she said, realizing that she probably should not have said that. "I - I don't believe the things he believes. I would never look down on anyone because of the colour of their skin."
The man gave her a little smile. "Don't worry," he said. "I don't judge anyone by their parents."
Minerva smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I'm still sorry that people think like he does."
"It's not your fault," he said. "I am just glad that even though he does, you don't."
"My mother loves everyone," Minerva said softly. "I credit her with everything. If it wasn't for all the love she has in her heart, I fear that my brothers and I may have turned out like him."
"I can't imagine you being that bigoted," he said.
Minerva smiled. "You haven't known me that long."
"I don't have to," he said with a smile.
They kept talking and Minerva talked with this man for a long time before she realized how late it had gotten. She looked out the pub window and saw Alexander's car sitting in front of the doctor's office with the young man standing outside, leaning back against the door and smoking a cigarette as he waited for her.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, getting up and putting her coat back on. "I really need to get going."
"Oh, that's alright," the man said. "I enjoyed talking to you, ah... I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Minerva," she said with a small smile. "Minerva McGonagall. I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself to begin with."
"That's alright," he said, reaching out his hand to shake hers. "It was nice meeting you, Minerva McGonagall. I'm Jay Collins."
Minerva's eyes widened as she took his hand and shook it. "J-Jay? Jay Collins?" she asked. "The billionaire?"
"Yes," he said. "That is me but please don't think differently of me."
"I - well - no," Minerva said. She let go of his hand, realizing that she had been shaking it for too long, and gave him a smile. "It was nice to meet you, Jay Collins. I enjoyed talking with you as well and I hope that you enjoy the rest of your stay in Castletown."
Jay smiled. "Thank you," he said. "I wish you luck on your job application."
"Thank you," Minerva said with a smile. "Goodbye, Jay."
"Goodbye, Minerva," Jay said with a smile.
Minerva collected her things and hurried out of the pub. She hurried over to Alexander's car and apologized for making him wait so long.
"I'm sorry, I was a little late," he said instead. "Yeh must have went to the pub while yeh waited, huh?"
Minerva nodded as they got into the car. "Yes, it didn't take as long at the doctor's office as I thought it would," she said, holding onto the excuse. "I thought I'd get myself a quick drink and relax a little until you came back."
Alexander seemed to believe it. He drove them back to the farm and Minerva told Dougal that the doctor said that nothing seemed wrong but that she should come back in if they still couldn't seem to get pregnant. Dougal seemed happy with this answer.
They had sex that night and the next morning Minerva took her pill again. As she went through her daily routine her mind kept wandering back to the open Transfigurations position and her conversation with Jay Collins. After lunch, when she had some free time and Dougal was out in the fields, Minerva called Amelia's office and told her all about her meeting with the billionaire.
"Wow, Jay Collins," Amelia said. "I will not lie, I never would have guessed you would have met him in Castletown, Scotland."
"I know," Minerva said, leaning back on the counter and staring at the back door so she would be able to see if Dougal came back inside. "He would not normally come up here if it wasn't for his recent farming project."
"I met him once during a charity gala a year or two ago," Amelia said. "He is a very lovely person. I don't think I've ever met a kinder man."
Minerva smiled a little. "He was very nice," she said. She thought for a second before adding, "Amelia... do - do think it was inappropriate that I -"
"No," Amelia said with a laugh. "You were just talking. Like friends. Nothing else happened, right?"
"No, of course not," she said. "Nothing more than talking. I would never do that to Dougal."
"Right, so I don't think that it was inappropriate of you to talk to him. You told him you were married and neither of you tried to do anything else," she said. "It's the same as you getting a drink with me or Emmeline."
"I suppose," she said.
"So, have you looked at the updated list of job openings I sent you?" Amelia asked. "Have you applied for any yet?"
"No, not yet," Minerva said, "but... but, do you mind if I borrow an owl?"
"Of course not!" Amelia exclaimed happily. "I'll send Elfin to you right now! What are you planning to apply for? Elfin knows how to deliver multiple letters to different recipients so you can apply to a few different jobs all in the same go if you would like."
"I'll think about it and let you know which ones I decide to apply for," Minerva said with a small smile.
"That sounds wonderful," Amelia said.
"When can you come by again?" Minerva asked. "It's been so long since you last came up to visit."
"I can probably make a trip down sometime next week," Amelia said. "Do you think you can get away then?"
"I think you should come here. For dinner," Minerva said.
"Dinner? I thought I was banished from the McGregor Farm," Amelia said with a laugh.
"You are not banished," Minerva said. "It's my farm as well, you know, not just his, and I say that you're not banished. Come over for dinner. I'll cook us something nice. And if Dougal has a problem he can take it up with me."
Amelia smiled. Now this sounded more like the Minerva McGonagall that Amelia had met all those years ago in their first year of Hogwarts. "That sounds wonderful," she said. "Just let me know the day and time and I'll be there. I will wear my most elegantly over the top dress robes and maybe my traditional witch's hat."
"Are you trying to give my husband a heart attack?" Minerva asked with a laugh.
"Well, if that's all it takes, I can't say that I would feel very badly if..."
Minerva rolled her eyes though she smiled a little. "Come dressed nicely," she said. "Someone may see you on your way here, you know. You wouldn't want other Muggles getting any ideas."
"Okay, so maybe not the hat," Amelia said.
Minerva smiled. She finished her phone call with Amelia and walked out of the kitchen and to her husband's study. Taking a deep breath Minerva walked inside and sat down at the large wooden desk. She took out some paper and a pen and began to write her letter to her old Transfigurations Professor, Albus Dumbledore. She had no doubt that he remembered her, he had been the one to guide her through her Animagus training after all.
Thirteen drafts. That's how many it took before Minerva had the perfect letter. She folded it up, stuffed it in an envelope and wrote the professor's name on the back. She hid the letter in her purse and started on dinner.
It was early the next morning when Elfin arrived at the study window. Amelia's owl, like her, was excitable and cheerful. It was a tiny little thing that Amelia had very well trained. Minerva tied the letter to the bird's little leg, thanked it for its help, and set her off towards Hogwarts.
Six hours was all it took for the owl to return. Minerva was surprised to see Elfin back so soon. She opened the window and poured some water into a small bowl for the bird before taking the letter from her leg. She stared at Albus Dumbledore's thin, slanted writing for a minute before taking a deep breath and ripping open the letter.
Dear Minerva,
I was pleasantly surprised by your letter. I am very glad that you are well and am pleased to hear of your interest in the Transfigurations position. The work you did through your Hogwarts career was exemplary and I would be thrilled to welcome you into the Hogwarts Staff.
An interview will be set for the twenty third of July to iron out all the details, give you a chance to ask any more questions you may have about the position, and sign the contract if you are still interested. Does this date work for you? Please confirm this appointment as soon as possible. I am awaiting your response.
Albus Dumbledore
Minerva eyes widened and she read through the letter again. She had an interview but she had been basically offered the job! Minerva dug through the other papers in the envelope and found contract information, starting salaries, and benefit information. Her heart was beating so fast and she could barely breathe. She had gotten the job. She had gotten the job.
Minerva quickly sent Elfin back with her reply, informing him that the twenty third was perfect and he sent the owl back with a time and location. Three p.m., room number three, the Hogshead Inn, Hogsmeade.
Minerva sent Elfin back to Amelia and called her to inform her of everything. Amelia was very happy. She was so glad that Minerva had found something that would make her happy and she was sure that Minerva would be a wonderful teacher.
Minerva hid all her Hogwarts papers in her bag and tried her best to build up the courage to tell Dougal that she had gotten a job and had an interview with her new boss next week. Dougal was still on edge from their lack of pregnancy and was more irritable lately. Minerva decided to keep her mouth shut until after the interview. She would tell Dougal after the contract was signed that she would now be working.
With four days remaining until the interview, Minerva realized that she needed to brush up on her spell work in case they asked her to prove her abilities. She snuck back into her husband's office and sat down at the desk again. The top drawer on the right. It held a mess of papers, pens, and envelopes that they should probably clear out at some point. Minerva found a black ring box, opened it up, and picked up the small silver key inside.
Minerva hurried upstairs and pulled the wooden box from under the bed. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking. Minerva slowly stuck the key inside the box, unlocked the case and opened it up. Her heart did backflips as she looked down at elegantly carved wood. A smile appeared on her face and her palms began to sweat in anticipation as she slowly reached up and picked up the wand.
"What the hell is this?!"
Minerva turned quickly to see Dougal standing in the doorway glaring at her with her purse in one of his hands. Minerva straightened up but made no effort to hide what she was doing.
"Taking my wand out of its case," she said. "I thought it was time."
"Time," he muttered, stomping a few steps closer. He was still wearing his muddy farm boots. "You thought it was time for what, Minnie?"
"Time for me to use my magic in a healthy way," she said calmly. "When a witch suppresses her magic there are consequences to her health. I think it's why I haven't been gaining weight back and why we haven't been able to get pregnant."
"You do, do you?" he growled. He shoved his hand into her purse and Minerva stopped breathing.
"Why are you going through my -"
"These are the reason we haven't been able to get pregnant!" Dougal yelled, pulling the packages of pills out of the purse and throwing them at her. They hit her chest and fell to the floor. "Why the hell would you do that, Minerva?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Taking these blasted things while we were trying to get pregnant! Why the hell would you do that?!"
"Because I'm not ready!" Minerva said. "Because you don't listen to me when I tell you that I'm not! I don't want a baby right now! I'm not ready for one and I'm damn well not ready for seven!"
"You lied to me!" Dougal said. "That's not the only thing you've been lying about either!" He pulled out her Hogwarts papers. "You applied to that job even though I said no!"
"You don't get to decide everything, Dougal!" Minerva said. "Marriage is supposed to be a partnership! We're supposed to decide things together and you -"
"AND THIS IS DECIDING THINGS TOGETHER?!" Dougal yelled, moving closer to her. He threw the papers away from him in disgust and she watched them scatter everywhere.
He was very close to her now so Minerva took a step back. Her legs pressed against the bed. She took a couple deep breaths and did her best to stay calm.
"You never listen to what I want, Dougal," Minerva said. "You never take my feelings into account so why should I take yours? I know that I shouldn't have lied to you about this but every time I told you that I didn't want a baby yet you ignored me or laughed it off. When I told you I wanted to get a job you just shut me down without very much consideration. You want me to be a complicit housewife but I can't be that for you. I have bigger dreams than this farm. I feel trapped here."
"Trapped? You feel trapped?" he growled. "I give you everything you want and you feel trapped! I even let you go to town even when I knew you were lying about meeting your mother so you could see Amelia instead! You get everything you want, Minerva, you're just too selfish to see it!"
"You're the selfish one! You want me to do everything you say when you say it!" Minerva exclaimed. "You make me cook all your meals and feed all your animals and clean your house with no consideration for if that's what I want to do! You don't even offer me any help and you don't let me use my magic to make the work easier on me! We wouldn't even need farmhands if you just let me use magic to get the work done!"
"Your bloody magic is unnatural and satanic!"
"No it's not! It's beautiful!" Minerva said. "It's beautiful and brilliant and it makes everything in this world a little more special and I wish that you could see that, Dougal."
"Put the wand back, throw out the pills and burn the papers," Dougal ordered. "We'll pretend this never happened."
"I will not be doing that," Minerva said glaring at him. He took another step forward but she stood her ground. "My magic is part of me and you can't make me lock it away!"
"YOU ARE MY WIFE AND YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY!"
"I don't need to take orders from some man who can't get off his fat arse to help -"
Before Minerva could finish she felt Dougal's hand smack across her cheek. It pushed her head to the side and made tears fill her eyes. Her free hand shot up to cup her cheek as she reeled from what happened. Had Dougal just hit her? That could not have happened. He would never.
Before she could understand what happened fully, Dougal snatched the wand from her other hand. This snapped her out of the strange trance she had been in. He stepped backwards from her but she hurried after him.
"No! Stop! Give it back!" she screamed, tears falling down her cheeks now.
He stopped and held the wand out of her reach. She tried to get it but he pushed her back and she stumbled into the bed.
"This is for your own good, Minerva," he said, grabbing hold of each end of the wand in a fist.
Her eyes widened. "No, Dougal! Please," she begged. "Don't -"
Minerva watched in complete horror as Dougal's massive hands moved. In one swift motion he snapped her wand cleanly in half. Sparks few up from the splinter and Dougal threw the pieces, still connected together by exposed unicorn hair, onto the floor. The sparks died down and the wood lost the soft glow that she had not realized it had until now. It was dead. Her wand had been destroyed.
Minerva slid off the bed and fell to her knees. Tears fell down her cheeks and blurred her vision as she picked up the two pieces of her wand. She let out a sob as she foolishly tried to put the pieces back together. When it didn't work she threw it to the floor and put her head in her hands.
"Clean up this mess," Dougal grumbled as he walked towards the bedroom door. "And I don't want to hear about bloody magic ever again."
He walked out of the room and slammed the door closed behind him.
Minerva sat on the floor crying for a very long time. She felt like a piece of her had been broken along with the wand. Her heart ached and she couldn't think clearly.
Finally her tears came to an end and she slowly pushed herself up to her feet. She collected her papers and pill packages and stuffed them back into her purse. She picked up the pieces of her wand and put them in there as well.
Minerva moved in slow motion. She didn't speak or even look up when spoken to. She did her work, she cooked dinner, and she listened to her husband. Dougal seemed to be in a better mood. He ate his dinner happily as she pushed hers around in her plate.
"Eat up, Minnie," Dougal said. "With that blasted thing out of the way you'll finally be able to focus on what's important."
Minerva stuck her fork through some peas and slowly lifted it to her mouth, not looking up at her husband. She ate them slowly and Dougal smiled.
"With those pills no longer stopping us anymore, I'm sure we'll get pregnant in no time," Dougal said. "You know, I have a right mind to go down to Dr. MacDonald's office right now. He shouldn't be going around prescribing these medications without the husband's approval."
Minerva didn't speak. He did not want her to. She knew that.
Dougal kept talking all through dinner and then while they got ready for bed. He didn't shut up when he was laying on top of her and he didn't stop talking when he fell down beside her after he was done. She didn't say a word.
Finally he fell asleep and Minerva got some peace. She laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling without really seeing anything. She could not sleep. She didn't even try. Minerva just stared.
The next day was the same. Dougal woke up and immediately would not shut up. She did not say a word. She cooked breakfast, she did her chores, she cooked lunch, she did more chores, she cooked dinner. She spoke a word to no one and moved as if she was underwater.
Dougal talked happily all through dinner again. He talked through sex and then when he was lying beside her in bed again. Then he fell asleep and she got more peace. She stared at the ceiling.
Again. She woke up. She cooked breakfast. She did her chores. She cooked lunch. She did more chores. She cooked dinner. She did not speak a word and didn't even make a sound. Her body moved automatically and she had no control.
The farmhands began to whisper that she may be a zombie. She didn't speak when they tried to talk to her. During their conversations she would just stare at them without even blinking. They would laugh and dare each other to go bug her.
One day left until the twenty third. Minerva laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling. Dougal made a loud snoring sound in his sleep and mumbled, "Bloody magic." He rolled over and his arm ended up around her. "Minnie, stop."
Minerva blinked. She looked around and she saw things. She saw her bedroom and she realized what she was doing. What she was letting happen to her.
Minerva gently pushed his arm away as not to wake him up, kicked her feet off the bed and sat up. She looked back at Dougal for a second before standing up, shoving her feet in her slippers and pulling on her robe. She quickly and quietly left the room and hurried downstairs.
In the kitchen she picked up the telephone and dialled the number. She placed the phone to her ear and took a deep breath. It rang for a long time before finally a groggy voice came through.
"Hello?" Amelia said sleepily.
"Amelia," Minerva said, speaking for the first time in days. Her voice came out as little over a whisper. "I need you to come to the farm right now."
"Wh-what?" Amelia asked, still half asleep and not really understanding what was going on. "What time is it? What's going on?"
"It's two a.m. and I need you to get down here quickly," Minerva said. "I need you to help me pack and Apparate me to London."
"London? Why?"
"Amelia, please just come."
"Um, okay, but -"
"Dougal hit me."
"He what?!"
"He slapped me and he broke my wand. I need to leave but I can't on my own. I need your help. Please, can you help me?"
"Of course! Of course," Amelia said, fully awake now. "I'm coming. I'm coming. Don't worry, I'll be there in two minutes. You can stay with me."
"Thank you, Amelia," Minerva said softly. "Thank you."
"Of course."
Minerva hung up the phone and walked to the study. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote a short letter to Dougal, informing him that she had gone and that she would not be returning.
Amelia arrived and Minerva let her inside. Amelia used her wand to pack all of Minerva's things quickly. She shrunk the bags and stuffed them in her pocket before going back downstairs and giving Minerva a minute.
Minerva stood in her bedroom and stared at her sleeping husband for a long time before taking a deep breath and setting the envelope with her letter down on her pillow.
"I loved you," she whispered. "I really did but I can't live like this anymore. I have to go."
With that she left the room and walked downstairs where Amelia was waiting. Amelia gave her a smile and held out her arms. Minerva walked over and hugged her.
"You're doing the right thing," Amelia whispered. "I'm very proud of you."
"Thank you, Amelia," Minerva said quietly.
They pulled away and Minerva put on her shoes and coat before taking Amelia's hand. Amelia raised her wand and with a flick Minerva's home spun out of existence around them. They were transported to Amelia's small flat in London.
Tomorrow she would go down to Diagon Alley and, with the little money she had, she would buy a new wand. She would practice her Transfigurations spell work and borrow some of Amelia's work clothes for her interview. Tomorrow she would start her life for real and she would be happy.
"Minerva McGonagall?"
Minerva looked over her shoulder to see a man walking towards her. She smiled. "Jay Collins," she said, sounding pleasantly surprised. She had not thought that she would ever run into this man again. She could feel her heart do somersaults in her chest as she watched him walk towards her but did her best to control herself. "It's been nearly three years since we met. I never imagined you would remember my name."
Jay smiled his crooked little smile as he sat down at the bar beside her. He noticed that Minerva looked a lot happier and healthier than she had the first time they had met. "Well, I never forget a name," he said. "I do my best not too and you are very hard to forget."
She smiled. The first time they had met, Minerva had been nervous because of the strange feelings she had felt. They had not been appropriate for who she was and where she was then but now she was free to feel how she felt and she was glad that she had been given the opportunity to make up for the last time now.
"So, what brings you all the way up to London?" he asked.
"I live here now," Minerva said. "This is one of my favourite pubs."
"Oh, do you? That's wonderful," he said. "Are you a teacher now then?"
"I am," Minerva said with a smile. "I have been for three years now and I'm really enjoying it."
"I'm glad," Jay said with a smile. "I'm glad you and your husband worked it all out."
"Oh, I'm not married anymore," Minerva said. She raised her left hand for him to see the lack of a ring. It had taken a little more time than she would have wanted but she was officially no longer Dougal McGregor's wife. "We have been divorced for a while."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"That's alright," Minerva said. "It's better this way. I'm happier."
"I'm glad you are," Jay said.
There was a pause before Minerva decidedly spoke again. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Jay looked at her and laughed. "Well, I don't usually do this but I can't see the harm. Thank you."
Minerva smiled and ordered a drink for him and another for herself. She moved her stool a little closer to his. The bartender brought two glasses over and the two of them drank as they talked for a long time. At the end of the night, Minerva picked up a napkin and a pen and scribbled her number down for him.
"Give me a call if you ever want to get another drink," she said, handing him the napkin.
Jay smiled. "I will," he said, taking the napkin from her. "You've really changed, you know that, Minerva McGonagall."
"Have I?"
"Yes," he said. "You're more confident. I like that."
"Well, I no longer feel the need to wait for someone else to do something for me," Minerva said. "I can take control of my own life."
"That is very true," Jay said.
Minerva smiled. "You give me a call, Jay Collins," she said. "I will be waiting."
Jay laughed. "I'll call you tomorrow," he said. "I want to learn more about these crazy students of yours. I want to hear more of your stories."
"I would be happy to tell them," she said. "Goodbye, Jay."
"Goodbye, Minerva."
Thank you for reading my work. Please leave a review telling me what you thought. I am trying to improve my writing and I think this is the best thing I've written so far. That being said if you have any suggests or critiques, I would love to hear them. Thank you so much and I can't wait to read your reviews.
(Special thanks to forwhenthebeestings on tumblr for beta reading my story)