When Eternity Ceases
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Minerva threw herself behind a tree to avoid the green streak of light. She heard it hit the trunk and crack the strong, aged wood as if it were a twig. Desperately she looked around, trying to locate anyone who was not trying to kill her. Because of the smoke, she could only see about fifteen feet to each side, so her search was fruitless.
She knew what she had to do. She had to leap out from behind the tree and kill the wizard. Minerva knew she could do it; after all, she was the best dueler Hogwarts, and indeed Britain, had seen for around one hundred years. She knew she had to do it; she knew she had already used that terrible curse countless times, but one more was too much. The Knights of Darkness were horrible, it was true, and their leader Grindelwald was even worse, but they were still people. Minerva forced herself to see a picture in her mind of her parents after Grindelwald's Knights had tortured and murdered them, and she needed no more persuasion.
Wand in hand, Minerva ran out into the open and fixed her aim on the cloaked Knight. "Avada Kedavra!" she shouted. The green jet connected with the wizard and he fell to the ground. Minerva closed her eyes.
Turning her back on the crumpled wizard, Minerva peered around through the smoke and listened as hard as she could. She could still hear shouts, screams, and shrieks, but there seemed to be fewer than earlier that night.
Minerva turned her gaze to the sky above her, clearly visible despite the smoke. It was amazing that, despite the carnage, the stars could still shine so brightly and beautifully. There was also something solemn about the night sky, and Minerva was convinced that God had witnessed the horrors of that night, and was weeping.
Minerva suddenly realized that she felt very weak, that the stars were beginning to spin, and that she was having trouble breathing. Something warm was trickling down her neck. She raised her hand to her ebony hair and felt blood. She looked at her right side and saw that her shoulder, chest, and part of her arm were soaked with blood- far too much blood. She was bleeding to death. "Oh, God," she whispered.
She tried to perform a spell to stem the blood flow, but she was so weakened and spent from the day that she could not do it. Seeing no other option, she began walking, stumbling, and crawling to where she thought she would find the other Aurors. On the way, she passed Alastra Moody, obviously dead. "No," Minerva gasped.
Minerva soon felt that she could not make it any farther. She could not tell which way was up, she could not tell if she was still moving, she could hardly remember her own name. "Albus…" she said quietly, and then fell to the ground, unable to move anymore.
As Minerva lay unconscious, two fleeing Knights passed her. "Oh, so the McGonagall bitch gets to join her parents."
"How did those idiots at the Ministry think she could fight us and live?" He kicked her ribs sharply, hearing several crack, and they both went on, leaving Minerva bleeding and dying on the ground.