Disclaimer: I have just checked my bank account and no millions are deposited there. DARN. I guess I am not JKR.

THANK YOU for all the reviews. You guys made my day. FYI, Minerva is NOT evil. For the most part :P

To Watch You Burn

It had been a few days since the trial and Minerva McGonagall had been desperately trying to keep her mind and body occupied. But truthfully it was a hard thing to attain. First, she had tried to think of Transfiguration and the complex spells she last read in the Transfiguration Weekly, then she had tried to think about people whom she had met and had tried to remember details of their whereabouts, families or ages. But too soon she had realized that being alone with only a mind to work with can be a rather stressful thing. You do get annoyed with yourself eventually.

And so Minerva was now staring at the wall across and was thinking about ways how not to get mad within the next few months or, more likely, next few years. The only thing that she had refused to think about was her past that had brought her to this situation. After all, it is not healthy to think about What might have been if's. Or is it?

She was brought out of her reverie by a loud clashing of keys, turning of the key in the lock, and by the opening of the heavy metal door.

"Mrs. McGonagall, you have a visitor." said the guard who couldn't have brought himself to call her Minerva McGonagall-Riddle. He didn't know her personally, but he had heard about this powerful woman. He had also heard of the monster she had married and had experienced his wrath that had taken away his wife. Yet he was not able to spit venom at this woman, not even scold at her. On the contrary, he respected her. She seemed to naturally radiate power and command.

Minerva had looked away from the wall and saw Hermione Granger entering her new humble home.

"Professor."

"That title is no longer for me to hold, Ms Granger." said Minerva with a small sad smile.

"But it is, Professor. You were a teacher to thousands of children and nobody can take that away from you."

"These walls claim otherwise." expressed Minerva with a sigh. " I would offer you a place to sit or something to drink, but I am afraid I am short of such material entities."

Not until now had Hermione noticed her whereabouts and so she stole a glance around the small room. The cell was a little bit spacious than the others, yet it definitely bore the stringent features of the infamous Azkaban environment. There was a small table and a stool on which Minerva was seated, a bed with blankets and a pillow, and the facilities needed for essential human needs. It was a very monotonous place to live in and it pained Hermione to see her beloved Professor in such a place.

"Many others have tried to come and visit you."

"Aye, the line of visitors in front of my doors is never-ending."

"The Ministry has been rejecting their requests. I am the only one who has been granted it. I explained them that I have taken Psychology at University and that I have always been close to you. And…"

"And?"

"And that I would help you adjust."

"Yes, I am sure the Ministry's first objective is to take care of my sanity. "

"You may disagree, Professor, but they care. Many of the officers respect you and are not content with the course of your trial. Many have questioned the sentence-"

"-yet they have no right to do so."

"What are you saying? That you are content with the sentence? If you do, then you are not the Minerva McGonagall I have known almost all my life!" Hermione was furious. How can McGonagall simply be sitting there and not be thinking of a way out of this?

"Then you do not know the real Minerva McGonagall."

"Oh don't you even dare. I have known you most of my life and I have adorned you just as long. You are Minerva McGonagall-the most courageous and powerful woman of your age."

"Hermione, don't." It was not every day that Minerva used her pupil's first name. It was not also every day that Minerva McGonagall uttered words with such pain in her voice. "You do not understand, I deserve this."

"What crime so horrible have you committed to deserve such a life, then?" It made Hermione want to cry to see her favourite Professor in such a state of surrender. She had crossed the small room and kneeled beside the woman.

"I have committed enough to deserve life in hell."

"Tell me."

"I have never fully spoken to anyone about this, not even Poppy. And I have known her for more years than I care to admit." Hermione put her hand in the hands of the older women that rested in her lap. Minerva looked up to see the intelligent chocolate brown eyes and said: "How can I even explain something that I myself do not fully comprehend?"

"One wise woman once told me that it is always best to start with the beginning." Whispered Hermione with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Aye, the woman tends to patronize sometimes." Replied Minerva with a smirk on her face.

"One of the many reasons we love her." Minerva looked at the young witch and she no longer saw the scared first-year with frizzy hair. Instead, she saw a grown woman who had fought in the war and had seen her friends die. She saw a woman who had had to see too many things that were not meant for her young innocent eyes.

And she knew that her secrets would be safe with Hermione.

Yep, I lied. No crimes of Minerva are revealed in this chapter. Sorry folks, but this chapter has got longer than I had anticipated. Let me know what you think. The review is always GREATLY appreciated!