Author's Note: Written for Round 8 of the QLFC
Team: Pride of Portree
Position: Captain
Captain Prompt: [Beater 2, Book of Hope, Arrows]-[Over the years, Professor McGonagall loved to visit the Potters and their children as often as she could. Soon, she was considered a part of the family. When Harry and Ginny are gifted with another child, they name their little girl Minerva Hermione Potter in honour of their best friend and the witch who had turned out to be the best grandmother they had wished for their children.
Word Count (excluding Author's Note): 2996
Additional note: I'm going to assume that everything else in canon is the same- Harry and Ginny already have three children, and Minerva Hermione Potter is their fourth child. This story takes place on a Saturday in September of 2026.
Beta Love to Corvus Draconis, sekdaniels, FragileReality, and Sehanine! You guys rock!
What's in a Name?
"Mum? Dad? I need to tell you something." Eight-year-old Minerva Hermione Potter fixed her parents with a very serious look as she stood before them in the kitchen.
"Mrf, mrf," Ginny managed, gesturing at her husband to translate since her mouth was full of waffle.
"Muuuum!" Minerva whined, "It's important!"
Harry arched an eyebrow at his wife in understanding and put his spatula down next to the waffle maker.
"I think what we both mean to say is: what is it, sweetheart?" Harry asked, his eyes full of concern.
Their youngest daughter looked at them both, her lower lip quivering with emotion.
"I...I hate my name!" Minerva squeezed her eyes shut and balled her hands into fists as she shouted out the words that she'd held inside all day at school.
"But why would you want to change your name, Minerva? It's lovely!" Harry said in a soothing voice.
"It's not lovely!" Minerva grit out, trying not to cry. "It's ugly. Everyone thinks so."
"I don't think so," Ginny replied, having finished washing down her breakfast with a glass of juice. "It's a magical name!"
"That makes it even worse because I go to Muggle school!" Minerva replied miserably.
"Is this normal?" Ginny muttered out the side of her mouth. "Mum homeschooled the lot of us, so I can't comment on it."
"Minerva," Harry said softly, crouching down at her side and looking into her eyes. "Is someone at school being mean to you?"
"Only everyone!" Minerva huffed, her eyes full of tears. "Especially Stacy McDonald, who everyone adores. Unlike me. Because of my name."
"Minerva—" Ginny started.
"Why do James and Al and Lily have normal names?" Minerva interrupted, her voice choked with sadness.
"Well, to be fair, Al—" Harry went silent as Ginny shot him an irritated look.
"I want to have a normal name!" Minerva shouted. At this point, her eyes had gone all puffy and her nose was all sniffly, but she couldn't seem to stop the tears from coming.
"Well, you could go by your middle name, I suppose," Harry said, frowning.
"That's even worse!" Minerva replied angrily.
"Love, I need to talk to your father for a moment," Ginny said, grabbing Harry by the sleeve and pulling him into the walk-in pantry.
"Gin, we're in the dark," Harry pointed out.
Ginny lit the tip of her wand. "There, better?"
"You do realize that the waffles are going to burn without me out there to mind them, right? Oh, right, and also our daughter is crying. Alone!" Harry replied, gesturing towards the door, where the sound of Minerva's muffled sniffles could still be heard. "And just for the record, you know how I feel about enclosed spaces."
"Have a fourth, you said," Ginny replied, crossing her arms. "It'll be fine, you said. Face it, Harry. She's a mix of Ron when he's gone hungry and you when you are forced to be in the same room as your uncle. If she keeps on like this, she's going to suffer a burst of accidental magic and then our waffle breakfast will be ruined and then I'm going to cry too."
"Hold on. I know what we have to do," Harry said.
"Well, that makes one of us," Ginny replied. "I'll have you know that we're missing the last of the Saturday morning sunlight! Not to mention the waffles!"
Harry gave her a look that clearly implied that Ron wasn't the only one who was known for his hunger-induced meltdowns. "You just go and calm her down a bit and I'll take care of it."
Ginny let out a world-weary sigh and rolled her eyes before extinguishing her wand, but Harry knew she would do it. He watched as she took a deep breath and stepped out of the pantry, her mini-tantrum erased by her Comforting Mom expression, which had obviously been learnt from Molly Weasley. "I'm so sorry you're feeling so low, love," she said, wrapping her arms around Minerva, who'd been sitting on a chair and sniffling loudly into the comics section of the Daily Prophet.
Harry smiled as he watched the tender scene unfold. As much as Ginny had complained about having added a fourth child to their family, she and her daughter were quite a lot more alike than she would admit. With that, he headed up to the highest room in Grimmauld Place to send out a Patronus to the one person he knew who would be able to convince young Minerva Potter of the importance of her name.
Minerva McGonagall rolled onto her back in bed with a groan and began her morning leg exercises. Out and in and out and in. She switched legs and repeated the steps, listening to her old bones creaking in protest. Whoever said that witches and wizards aged more gracefully than Muggles needed a swift kick in the arse.
Minerva smiled. When had she become so crude? Come to think of it, she'd begun swearing far too much as well. Her cat, Alistair, had given her a positively baleful look the other night when she'd dropped a dish and shouted obscenities for a good five minutes while undoing the mess. Albus had been right all those years ago. Retirement simply did not suit someone like her.
"As me ma would say, a mind is a terrible thing to waste," Minerva muttered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up at last.
It had been less than six months since her formal retirement, and she was already going stir-crazy. While she was certain that Headmistress Chang would be perfectly fine in the position, she was also somewhat disappointed that Cho had not called upon her for advice more than a handful of times during the summer while they were in the middle of transitioning duties. Minerva dressed slowly, feeling all of her ninety years as she did so. It hadn't bothered her like this before, not when she had the running of Hogwarts to attend to.
She'd finally finished getting ready and was puttering around in the kitchen when a luminous stag patronus placed its head through the window and fixed her with a long look.
"Morning, Minerva. It's me, Harry. In case you didn't know by the giant bloody stag. We haven't seen you in awhile. So, how's retirement? I guess you can't answer directly because this is a Patronus message, but anyway, Ginny and little Minerva and I were hoping that you might be able to work a visit into your busy schedule, possibly sometime today? No hurry, or anything—it's just—well—Minerva is having some issues in school, and I think that she might benefit from hearing your perspective."
The stag snorted once, pawed at the ground, then disappeared.
Minerva sighed and made sure to brew herself an extra strong cup of Scottish Breakfast tea.
She was going to need it.
"Retirement is boring as hell, as well you know. I'll be on my way after breakfast." The little silver tabby with spectacle markings delivered its message and then yawned before abruptly disappearing.
Harry grinned across the table at Ginny and Minerva. "See? That was your Nanny Min."
Minerva blushed. "You didn't have to call her over. I'm not a baby."
"No, you're not a baby," Ginny said reasonably. "However, if you'd rather be reminded of that fact, I could call your other grandmother to pop by instead. I'm sure she'll be happy to go on at length about how much you've grown."
Minerva's panicked expression was priceless.
"It'll be fine, love," Harry said, smiling at his daughter. "Now, why don't you get dressed and watch some cartoons on your tablet until she arrives?"
It had taken a year or two and some of Hermione's experimental charm work, but they'd managed to get wireless internet installed at Grimmauld Place back in March of 2006, and Harry didn't know how he'd survived without it.
"What about Minnie?" Ginny said suddenly, as Minerva put her dishes in the sink.
"I am not a mouse, Mum!" Minerva replied, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Good one, Gin," Harry said sarcastically as their daughter tromped up the stairs in a decidedly dejected manner.
"Hmph, I was just trying to be helpful," Ginny replied, morosely picking at her remaining bit of waffle.
Not long after, the fireplace glowed green and a familiar voice crackled through the grate.
"May I come through?"
"Of course!" Harry said, running over to twist the connection open all the way.
Minerva Mcgonagall stepped through the floo with a regal air about her. She'd definitely gone out of her way to dress in her best emerald-green robes, and she wore a hat studded with topaz and garnets.
"I hope you know that when I invited you over, it wasn't for a fancy luncheon with the Minister of Magic," Harry said cautiously.
"I am ninety years of age, Harry," McGonagall replied with an austere look, "if I don't wear my best, I may just lose the chance to do so."
"Oh, don't talk like that, Minerva," Ginny said, "you don't look a day above sixty-two."
"I may not be fooled by your flattery, but at this point, I'll take anything I can get," McGonagall replied ruefully, and they both shared a laugh while Harry simply shook his head and smiled.
"I remember when we used to sit around the table every Sunday for tea all those years after the war. Now look at us. We're so old," Harry said wistfully.
"Speak for yourself," Ginny replied, sliding her fingers through her red hair. "I'm just like Mum. Probably won't go gray for another twenty years."
"Well bully for you," McGonagall said grumpily, but she was smirking just a little. "I remember being so glad for the company after all that loss and suffering. And then when that business with Severus came to light, it was even harder to come to terms with the last time we saw each other. It's a shame that I've been so busy this past year. I miss it here."
"Well, you're always welcome," Harry replied.
"Al sent me an owl last week. Seems he's enjoying his Advanced Transfiguration studies," McGonagall said with a knowing smile.
"At this rate, he's going to be one of the youngest Transfiguration Masters in Wizarding Britain," Ginny said, obviously proud of her second son.
"And James—well, I knew he was always a fan of magical creatures, but did he have to go off to Romania and work with Charlie in the dragon preserve?" Harry lamented.
"I blame Hagrid," McGonagall said, clucking her tongue, "He and Charlie smuggled in a red pygmy Three Claw dragon when James was in his third year, and that was that."
"Remember all of those 'unofficial' parent meetings at this very table?" Harry replied, shaking his head. "And here I was, thinking that Quidditch and Voldemort were the biggest dangers one might face while away at Hogwarts."
"Well, his eyebrows did grow back after a time, and he learned to get out of the way of Tiny's fire." McGonagall said with a shrug. "He's got a way with those beasties, and vice versa. His marks improved significantly with that creature on his shoulder."
"Lily decided to go to Muggle university," Harry said, "She's developed an interest in chemistry, you know."
"I hear she got into Oxford easily after Hermione tutored her last summer. It's a shame; she'd have been a talented Potions mistress," McGonagall said with a nod, "however, she isn't much for the finicky way that potions tend to behave. She'll do much better in the hard sciences, I'm sure."
"Remember that time we took James and Al to the cinema while you stayed home with Lily?" Harry asked.
"Oh, and that little troublemaker used a burst of accidental magic to float all the way to the top of the refrigerator to get to the biscuits you'd put up there earlier? How could I ever forget?" McGonagall replied with an amused laugh. "I had her pegged for a Keeper long before she Sorted into Gryffindor and kept our quidditch team on a winning streak for the whole time she was in school."
"James was so furious that his younger sister got onto the team before he did!" Ginny snickered. "But I do suppose that his Beater skills did improve after he realized that he'd have to step up his game in order to avoid being overshadowed."
"Nanny Min!"
All three sets of eyes fixed upon the girl running through the door in a slightly too-large set of robes.
"Look! Look!" Minerva exclaimed. "Lily told me I could have her old school robes!"
As if summoned by her name, Lily Potter appeared in the doorway, her brown eyes sparkling. "Hi, Mum! Hi, Dad! Hi, Nanny Min! Just Apparated in for the weekend, if that's ok?"
"Of course, sweetheart. You're always welcome here," Harry said happily, setting to work on more waffles.
Ginny stood and hugged her older daughter while her youngest sat next to her adoptive grandmother.
"So, I hear that you're having some troubles," McGonagall said matter-of-factly. "I also hear that I might be able to help."
Little Minerva rolled up her too-long sleeves and sighed. "It's complicated, Nanny Min. The girls laugh at me. They say that my name is—weird."
Well, you know from the books I read to you all the time when you were very little that Minerva is the name of the goddess of wisdom, right?"
"Yes, that's true—" The girl fidgeted with her sleeve, which made McGonagall feel as though she was trapped in one of her first year Transfiguration classes all over again.
"Well, then, how about I tell you the story about the day that you were born?" McGonagall said kindly.
"You don't have to. Mum and Dad told me about it already," Minerva replied, but McGonagall could see the excitement in the girl's eyes.
"Well I want to tell it, so I suppose you'll just have to listen, now won't you?" McGonagall smiled as the girl leaned forward with interest. It did not escape her notice that Harry, too, had turned his head to listen in.
Lily and Ginny had gone into the other room to chat, so it was only the three of them in the sunny kitchen as McGonagall began her story.
"It was one of the worst storms of the season, and your father had been filling in for the Defense professor while he was in St Mungo's with dragon pox. Of course, your Mum was about ready to pop, and we all knew that you would be coming any time, so the plan had been for her to floo me in my office the moment she went into labor so that I could get your father and he could take her to St Mungo's.
"Now, over the years, I've always been there for all of your siblings and your parents whenever your family needed my advice or my help. In a way, Harry is like a son to me, and all of you are my grandchildren, despite what genetics have to say about the matter. So, when Ginny called long after her water had broken because she's a stubborn little chit—"
"Hey! I heard that!" Ginny's voice could be heard faintly from the other room.
"As I was saying, "McGonagall resumed, glaring at the kitchen doorway. "Your mum was shouting 'I wanna push! I wanna push!' and there just simply wasn't any time."
"What happened next?" Minerva asked, on the edge of her seat.
"Well, I caught you, little bairn. Wrapped you up warm as you please in my tartan shoulder wrap and tended to your mother until she'd finished the birthing process. I'd never helped birth a human child before, but my father raised dairy cattle, and I know a bit about delivering calves."
"And I got there just as soon as all the excitement was over," Harry interjected. "She'd cleaned up the entire mess and Ginny was resting in bed with you wrapped in plaid and suckling away like a greedy wee beast. And that's when we realized that there was no other name that could ever suit you."
Minerva's eyes went wide. "Do—do you mean—"
"That's right," McGonagall said with a knowing smile. "I'm not just your Nanny Min. My name is Minerva as well."
Minerva's mouth opened wide with shock, and for a moment, all she could do was make strange choking noises.
"Are you alright, dear?" McGonagall said gently.
"But—that's ten times better than being named for a goddess!" Minerva exclaimed, which made both Harry and McGonagall snicker.
"Aye, that may be so, but you also need to understand that bullies will always find a reason to treat you terribly," McGonagall said seriously. "Never let them convince you that they have the power to take your dignity from you. It will always be yours and yours alone. If you hold tight to that knowledge, then you will never fear losing it."
At that, Minerva smiled and threw her arms around McGonagall, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh, you're simply the best, Nanny Min!"
"There, there," McGonagall said, patting the girl's back. "I only told you something you already knew in your heart. You'll be able to do the rest, I'm sure of it."
As Minerva skipped off to find her older sister and mother, Harry chuckled and served McGonagall another waffle. "I have to hand it to you, Minerva, I never pegged you for being such an old softie."
"Oh tosh," McGonagall replied, pouring a hearty helping of syrup over the top of hers. "The girl needed it, just like a certain young boy with a scar needed a biscuit all those years ago."
Harry grinned at this. "You're right, as usual."
"Of course," McGonagall replied with a knowing smile. "I think you'll find that I always am, one way or another."