Minerva Mcgonagall was mortified, to say the very least. The thought of Harry Potter, the boy who had miraculously survived the attack from Voldemort, living here, in the most muggle place possible, was horrifying. She almost fainted when Albus suggested it in the first place.
"Albus, you can't be thinking of leaving the boy here! These people are the worst sort of muggles imaginable." She said warily, knowing that Dumbledore had already made up his mind about the whole ordeal. "This is not the right place for him."
"My dear Minerva," Albus sighed, "You know of the blood magic here. This sister is the only one able to make the best use of Lily's sacrifice. Here he will be able to live a peaceful life where he is not in the spotlight. We don't want him getting a big head over it."
"Use or no use Albus! He will not be treated with love here. You must not leave him in the hands of his aunt and uncle!"
"What else do you suggest?" Albus exclaimed, quite over talking about this subject.
"I will take him, of course."
Less than an hour later, Minerva was cradling Harry, the son of two of her former students, and the Boy Who Lived, in her arms. She had never had children herself, and the thought of having one suddenly thrust upon her was daunting. She had none of the necessary supplies to raise or house a child, so she did what anyone would naturally do, she called upon the expert of child rearing.
Molly Weasley was up with her young daughter, Ginny, for the fourth time that night when she got the letter from Minerva, asking to bring Harry to stay for a day or so. Minerva needed to settle some things and prepare a place in her smallish but comfortable house near the outskirts of London for the boy. Molly, astounded, woke Arthur, and wrote Minerva back with her approval. Five minutes later, Minerva and Harry appeared in the kitchen of the Burrow with a small pop.
"Molly, you won't believe how much this means to me." Minerva exclaimed, adjusting Harry's position in her arms. "Dumbledore would barely give him to me. He was going to leave him with his muggle relatives."
"So the rumors flying around are true? Lily and James are dead? Is You-Know-Who really gone?"
"Yes Molly, unfortunately they are all true. You-Know-Who seems to be gone."
"And Albus wanted to leave Harry with muggles? We would have taken him in if we would have been asked…." Molly trailed off, with a clear offer to take the boy off of Minerva's hands in her words.
"He wouldn't have asked. He was very set on leaving Harry with his relatives. You have your hands full with Ginny and Ron, I have everything under control." Minerva replied, politely and discreetly turning down Molly's subtle offer. "I know you have the two young ones, Molly, and I hate to ask, but I need a day or two to prepare for Harry to live with me. Would you and Arthur mind taking him for that time?"
"That time and any other time you need me to, Minerva. Anything for James and Lily's son."
"Thank you Molly. I will come back for Harry in less than 72 hours, please alert me if anything happens"
With that, Minerva transferred the sleeping Harry to Molly's outstretched arms. She knew that he would be safe here for the time being. Rather reluctantly, she looked at Harry one last time before disapparating to Diagon Alley.
She knew that Harry would be safe with the Weasleys. They were more than capable of caring for children. She thought back to the reluctant words spoken to her by Albus: "Keep him safe. I am watching." She knew that she was going to be on a tight leash for a while, and her leaving Harry for too long would make Albus change his mind. With a new spring in her step and sadness in her heart, she disapparated again to Godric's Hollow.
Visiting the spot where James and Lily were killed less than two days ago was devastating. But she had to do it, their ruined house would have precious mementos for Harry to grow up with. Minerva would not let him forget his parents or his past, no matter what. She, Minerva, would not let personal discomfort stand in the way of properly raising her new charge. It was not her way. She confidently strode into the ruined house, looking for the many pictures that she knew the Potters had had in their house before the attack. Finding some, she conjured a bag in which to put them while she scoured the rest of the house for other personal items. Upon entering Harry's room, she could feel the remnants of the Dark magic used by Voldemort to commit the brutal murders of Lily and James. With a slight shudder, she picked some of Harry's possessions from around the room; a blanket knitted by Molly, more pictures, and a small toy broom. She recalled when these things had been made and gifted to the young family; how happy everyone had been when Harry rode around on the broom, how much Lily had appreciated the blanket, and when the couple took their family photos to hang in the Nursery. Voldemort had ruined everything. Minerva's heart was breaking at the sight of the ruined nursery. Things shouldn't have been this way.
Finished with the task of gathering the prized possessions, Minerva left Godric's Hollow with a heavy heart. Stopping at her house, she grabbed a biscuit and dropped off the things from the Potter's house in the spare room before starting water for tea. She sat down at the table with a quill and parchment in hand, racking her brain for things that she would need in order to care for a young child. Crib, diapers, toys, baby food. The kettle sang out cheerily, calling Minerva away from her plans. Settling down with her tea, she went back to the growing list of necessities for rearing a child. The crib and toys she could either conjure up or transfigure, the other things she would need to buy. She set about doing what she could to create a nursery from the stark bleakness of her spare bedroom. Blue walls, a rocking chair, and a crib were soon in place. She created some stuffed animals from a couple of spare cloths and set her house cleaning itself. Shortly after, she left to go get the rest of the needed items.
At the Burrow, young Harry was doted upon. He was naturally scared at first, not recognizing anyone and not understanding where his parents were. He got along splendidly with the youngest son of the Weasley family, Ron. Molly and Arthur had their hands full, with the two one-year-olds and the newborn, but they managed. They were worried about Minerva, however, since she had never had any experience in child-rearing before. They knew that her time teaching at Hogwarts helped, but it was still different from raising a baby. Molly spent every waking moment knitting clothes and blankets for Harry to take with him, and she wrote her best parenting tips down to give to Minerva. Arthur made sure their house was warded against dark magic, in case any Death Eaters came for Harry. As the second day came to an end, everyone in the Weasley household (excluding the youngest three), waited anxiously for Minerva's return. They all knew that Dumbledore was unhappy with this situation, and they didn't want Minerva to get in trouble with the already angry wizard. All they could do, however, was wait.
Minerva returned to her house, arms laden with bags of supplies. With a wave of her wand, everything was organized and set up in anticipation for the new addition to the household. While the house was certainly ready for Harry's arrival, Minerva was not. She was nervous, and this perhaps, was the reason why instead of apparating to Ottery St. Catchpole, she took the train from London to Hampshire. She was now beginning to doubt. Thinking again of Harry and his other option of living with his Muggle relatives, she strengthened her resolve. She would not let Harry down, and she would prove Dumbledore wrong. Arriving at Hampshire two hours later, she let her worries fall away from her. After taking a deep breath, she turned on the spot and disapparated to the Burrow.
Upon arrival, she was slightly surprised to find how heavily the house was warded. She was almost immediately met outside the wards by Arthur, who questioned her to make sure that she was not a Death Eater in disguise. After her verification, she was allowed inside to see Harry.
"Molly! What is all of this protection for? Voldemort is gone and his followers disbanded. What have we to fear?"
"It was all just precautionary. We didn't want anyone who was a Death Eater to come here to get him. They are still out there, and many of them are angry." Molly replied.
Minerva could see their point. She was just anxious to see Harry and be sure of his well-being, which caused her to be angry at the delay. Since Minerva was to be taking the boy away, Arthur quietly excused himself to lower the wards on the house. Meanwhile, Molly went to retrieve Harry from Ron's room so Minerva could see him for the first time in almost 3 days.
"Ready to go home Harry?" She asked the young boy quietly, grateful to have him again under her care. In response, Harry nodded slightly with a smile. No sooner had the children said their goodbyes to the Professor and Harry, Arthur came running inside.
"Molly, take Minerva and the children down to the cellar and ward yourselves inside. They are attacking. GO! NOW!" He screamed. "HURRY!"
It was only then that Minerva realized who "they" were. They must have been waiting for the wards to be lowered so they could get to Harry.
The Death Eaters had arrived.