I do not own any of these characters! They are all complements of J.K. Rowling. I hope that you enjoy, and please comment and let me know what you liked and didn't like! :)

Chapter 1: Sick

"Stay with me Minerva, please stay with me" Albus murmured as he ran up the stairs to the hospital wing, Minerva laying lifeless and dying in his arms. Her black hair was bloody mats, which contrasted with her pale skin that was covered from head to toe with bruises. She felt almost weightless as he ran into the infirmary, yelling for Poppy as he gently set her on the bed.

Three Months Ago

"Minerva, are you alright? You haven't touched your meal" Albus whispered to Minerva, watching her move her peas from one side of the plate to the other.

"What? Oh, I'm fine. I'm not really hungry" she mumbled trying to sound as upbeat as possible, but failing miserably.

"Are you sure? You haven't been yourself for the last couple of days Minerva. You've barely eaten, you're not getting enough sleep, and you are as pale as one of the ghosts" Albus said with concern etched on his face.

"It's nothing Albus. I'm just feeling slightly under the weather" Minerva said honestly, hoping that he would leave it at that.

"Have you seen Poppy?" Albus asked.

"It's not that bad Albus. I just have a case of the flu. I am sure that it will be gone in a couple of days" Minerva replied, hoping that he wouldn't force her to the hospital wing.

"Well if it gets worse I must insist you see Poppy" Albus said eyeing her as he turned away from her and continued eating his meal.

"Do I really look that bad?" Minerva thought to herself as she continued to play with her peas. It had only been a couple days ago that she started to feel sick. She woke up early, at 6am, and started to grade her students papers while she had her morning cup of tea. She then went down to the great hall to have breakfast. She had about three bites of her oatmeal and she started to feel extremely nauseous. Thinking that it was nothing, she ignored it, and continued to push on through her classes, grading all of the assignments, although it had become much more difficult because she had started to fall asleep in the middle of grading. She would then wake up at two in the morning and realize that she needed to finish her paperwork, putting sleep on hold once again. It had been like this for three days now and Minerva still felt sick.

"If I don't feel better by tomorrow, I will go see Poppy" Minerva whispered, more to herself than Albus. But Albus heard it non-the-less.

After dinner Minerva went back to her classroom to finish up some work before heading to bed. She was halfway through her sixth years papers on how to transfigure a fork into an owl when she heard a noise come from the corner. "Hello? Who's there?" Minerva asked as she stood up from her seat, her hand grasping her wand.

"Stupify!" came a loud voice from behind her.

Minerva felt the red jet hit her back as she fell forward, her head hitting her desk as she slid to the floor, unconscious.