Title: Nightmares in Daylight
Characters: Minerva M.
Rating: M
Summary: Darkfic. Minerva has visions that disturb her sleep, but she soon finds out that her reality is just as dark as her nightmares.
A/N: This one is a dark fic. There will be torture, abuse, death, and destruction. I promise there will be some good in it, but it will mostly be drama and action. Not for the faint of heart. This will take place about 10 years after the second war with Voldemort. It will be somewhat D/H compliant, but not compliant to Minerva's Pottermore backstory. If everyone seems to enjoy this first chapter, I'll keep adding on. As always, I hope everyone enjoys!
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Prologue
There was a flash of light and a deafening crash.
The thunder clapped in sync with the curses that were flying- bolts of green light from the killing curse shattering the onyx sky.
Another crash, and a tree came smashing down into the thick, icy ground of the Forbidden Forest.
An acrid smell began filling the space between the trees. Off in the distance, a fire began to rage, burning everything and anyone in its path.
In only a few short moments, the air was gray and thick with smoke, clouding any vision, blocking out the scant light the moon and stars provided.
She knew it was going to happen. She knew even before it started. She ran forward, wand in front of her, desperately trying to stop what she knew had to come.
From somewhere in the forbidden forest, there was a scream of agony, a blood-curdling, horrid scream.
She moved towards the sound, heart filling with dread at what she knew she was about to see.
Before she could round the corner, she felt a curse hit her in the back, sending her sprawling to the ground. Her head collided with something hard, and in an instant she felt warm, slick blood coat the side of her face.
Then her world went black.
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Minerva's quill scratched furiously against her parchment. It was barely ten o'clock and already her desk was flooded with papers.
She loved Hogwarts. She had given it her life. Still, at times she wished that she could take some time for herself.
Not that she really understood that, either.
After she and Albus had married, they immediately started working at Hogwarts the very next day.
When she was pregnant with her children- Percival, Tessa and Esmerele, she had simply covered up her swelling stomach with hiding charms. When they were growing up, she kept them hidden in she and Albus's private rooms until they were old enough to attend Hogwarts.
She had even changed their last names to Brian so they could go through school with anonymity. The children understood that no one could know who their parents really were, and if anyone ever inquired, he was to say they were Percival Sr. and Katherine.
Percival was so withdrawn and quiet, much like his father, that Minerva never knew what he was thinking or how he felt about his parent's position and his secret identity. Tall, blonde and lanky, he had a natural aptitude for potions. Immediately after his last year at Hogwarts, he'd been accepted at the Wizarding Alchemy and Potions Order, and through the years he'd gradually risen in rank and prestige.
As an adult, he was much more open with Minerva, and after Albus's death he made an effort to have dinner with her at least once a week. And as he got older, he looked so much like Albus it nearly shattered her heart.
Tessa had opted to not even attend Hogwarts. When she was ten, she had asked her parents to send her to Beauxbaton's Academy. Apparently she had read about it in some book or another, and she didn't hesitate to ask if she could go away to school.
Minerva and Albus didn't even discuss it- they just sent her off. She came home in the summer, but when she was always sullen, moody, and bitterly sarcastic. She had a caustic tongue that could rival Minerva's, and she didn't hesitate to use it. She and Minerva had bitter arguments that always ended in slamming doors and strained dinners. Only Albus could talk reason into her.
Tessa would spend hours sitting in front of the Floo, speaking in rapid French to her classmates. During her third year, she had asked to stay in France with her best friend Gabrielle, and again Minerva had let her go.
Tessa was the classic middle child. With auburn hair that fell in perfect curls and icy blue eyes, she was never without a boyfriend. She had married as soon as she left school and had remained in France, only returning home for the holidays.
After Albus's death, Tessa and Minerva's relationship was even more strained than before. Tessa's sapphire eyes told Minerva that she held her solely responsible for her father's death.
It killed Minerva to know that, but there was nothing she could do except for love her daughter nonetheless.
Esmerele was the child Minerva was closest to. Esmerele was sweet and inquisitive and could always be found on her parent's bed with a book in her hand. She read as much as her mother, and Minerva would stay up for hours discussing different theories and philosophies with her.
Esmerele was a spitting image of Minerva, and it was a wonder none of her classmates had made the connection. Esmerele was a hat stall just like her mother, and she too had been placed in Gryffindor.
During Esmerele's years at Hogwarts, Minerva had allowed her to use the secret passageways so that they could see each other during their free time, which was few and far between.
Minerva often visited Esmerele late at night as an animagus and would crawl up and sleep beside her daughter when Albus was away.
She knew the other children knew it, but she was partial to Esmerele. She couldn't help it. She had inherited the best of both of her parent's traits. She was a natural peacekeeper, and even Tessa had a hard time staying angry with her younger sister.
Percival and Esmerele were close as siblings too. He was in his fourth year when she started school, and they spent most of their time together. Since he was so introverted and she was so intuitive, they didn't have to say a lot to understand each other.
Esmerele had become a Transfiguration master just like Minerva, and after school she moved to Scotland to work in the International Transfiguration Society, just like Minerva had done before she had finished school.
When Albus had died, it was Esmerele who had stayed with her mother those two months that she cried herself to sleep every night.
She visited Minerva every other weekend, but they exchanged letters everyday.
Minerva sighed as she thought about her children. They were so different, yet so alike. She wondered if she had messed up as a mother.
She knew she could have been more loving to Percival and Tessa, but neither of them was inclined to physical affection from either parent.
In fact, Esmerele had been the only child that had ever wanted hugs from her mother and father. But then again, she wondered if Percival and Tessa had wanted that too and just never said anything.
God knows- she loved her children more than anything. But she didn't understand them.
Banishing her thoughts, she continued working through her stacks of papers. She had a long day ahead.
Xxxxx
After the eight o'clock staff meeting, Minerva retreated to her bedroom, relieved that the day was finally over.
She ran her long fingers across the seam of her outer robe, magically unhooking the tiny clasps. She took it off and placed it in her wardrobe. Repeating the motion with her inner robes, she then stepped out of the smooth silk dress and hung it up.
Grabbing her favorite purple robe, she made her way to the bathroom. With a wave of her hand, the pins flew out of her hair. She groaned from the tenderness of her scalp, and she gingerly moved her hair around to ease the tension.
She brushed her teeth and removed her earrings. Opening her jewelry box, she saw her wedding rings sitting in the side compartment.
She withdrew them and slipped it onto her finger. She loved those rings. The band had diamonds and emeralds wrapped around them, and the engagement ring was a large princess cut diamond with two slightly smaller emeralds on either side with the same cut.
She hugged her hand to her chest, missing her husband.
Minerva closed her jewelry box and flicked her wrist, banishing the light from the bathroom.
She padded her way to her chest of drawers and pulled out her silk nightgown.
She walked back over to her large bed and snuggled under the thick comforter.
With a flick of her wrist, the candles extinguished, and the room was bathed in darkness.
Xxxxxx
She was walking down a pathway she knew from her past. How she knew where she was… well that was a mystery. It had to have been… sixty years ago since she'd seen this place.
She heard a snapping behind her and she whipped around to face a large man, easily six feet tall, with jet-black hair and deep sapphire eyes. She would know that man anywhere- Donal Bregger.
He had been a Transfiguration master with Minerva, but he had been sent to Azkaban prison after Minerva had testified that she had seen him stealing confidential Transfiguration texts from the Society, which he later gave to Grindelwald.
It was the year after Minerva finished school. She was living in Edinburgh and studying with the Society.
How had he escaped from Azkaban?
But he didn't stop when he saw Minerva; he walked through her as if she was nothing but an apparition.
She tried to call out to him, to demand an explanation as to how he had eluded his life sentence, but she found that she couldn't speak, couldn't utter a word at all.
Her body flooded with panic, and her hand instantly went to her inner robe to pull out her wand, only to find that it was gone, too.
She dashed forward, desperate to find out what exactly was going on.
Donal rounded the corner and went into a secluded house. Minerva followed behind him.
He walked to the back of the house and up a hidden flight of stairs. Minerva trailed close behind, trying to memorize her surroundings.
At the top of the stairs, Donal took a right turn to a dark hallway. There were no windows, only three doors. From behind the furthest door to the left, Minerva could hear a faint sound of crying.
It was this door that Donal approached, and he slowly opened the door to reveal a room lit dimly by two candles on the wall.
Minerva crept to the door and peered inside.
In the middle of the floor there was a empty metal cot, devoid of any mattress, only the harsh metal wiring.
On the cot lay a woman. She was thin and beaten. There were bruises covering the whole of her naked body, and in several places there were cuts and gashes. Dried crimson blood was all over her body and on the floor, and her head covered by a burlap sack.
Her arms, legs, and torso were restrained by magical binds that looked to Minerva like fire bonds- they would burn whoever they were restraining if they were to move.
From the looks of her arms, it was obvious she had been burned severely.
Donal laughed, a cold, merciless, cruel laugh.
Minerva could see the girl's body tense. Minerva ran forward to release the girl, but when she went to touch her, Minerva's fingers went through her as if she were a ghost. Minerva felt desperate, helpless…
There was nothing she could do except for witness whatever was about to happen.
Donal moved around the bed and withdrew his wand.
"Crucio!" He cried, and a flash of red burst from his wand. The girl rose up in pain, her back twisting and contorting against the curse. The binds on her wrist, legs and torso glowed a fierce orange and yellow, and fresh burns appeared.
With another cold laugh, he ended the curse, leaving the girl shaking and crying.
He stepped forward and whispered into her ear. "Giving her up now?"
"Ne….ver…." Came the strangled reply. Her voice was haggard and rough, as if she had been screaming for days on end.
"You know what she did to me. Why are you still protecting her?"
"She… was… right…."
Minerva's heart froze. Could he be talking about her? She was the only one who had testified against him… it was her testimony that had sentenced him to life.
"NO!" He bellowed. "She was wrong! The Darkness' presence is everywhere, and those who have fought against it will pay with blood! Now tell me, where is she?"
The woman didn't reply. Donal yelled out in rage and ripped the bag of her head and slapped her hard across the face. Minerva couldn't see who it was, for Donal had jerked her head to the side so she was facing him.
"You know you're going to die, right?" He sneered at her.
"Then … I… die… for… her…"
Donal drew his hand back and slapped her again, her face jerking to where Minerva was standing.
Her heart froze in her chest. She was staring into Esmerele's face.
She screamed and ran forward, only to find herself falling… falling into a dark whole with no light….
Her body jerked roughly and she screamed again, only to find herself drenched in sweat in her own bed.
She hugged her knees to her and started sobbing. Her dream… no, her nightmare… was so vivid and real. She could smell the blood, hear Esmerele's cries….
She had felt so helpless… Her precious daughter who had never hurt a soul in her life….
She ran her fingers through her hair, only to find that it too was tangled from her cold sweat.
Throwing off the covers and ripping off her gown, she ran into the bathroom and turned on the shower, making the water as cold as possible.
She stood underneath the icy water, body trembling from fear and cold.
Why had she had that dream? She barely dreamed at all, much less had nightmares. Even after Albus had died, her sleep hadn't been plagued by dreams…
When she couldn't feel her hands anymore, she cut off the water and stepped out.
Wrapping herself in her purple robe, she made her way through her bedroom to her study, where she withdrew a bottle of malt whiskey from her cabinet to calm her nerves.
After all, it was only a bad dream… What else could it possibly be?
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A/N:So,whatdideveryonethink?Isitsuspensefulenough?ShouldIcontinue?Readandreview… andifeveryonewantstocontinuewithitI'llkeepwritingandupdateitsoon! Xoxoxo