Minerva McGonagall was a well respected witch, teacher and Animagus, thank you very much. She had been taking a nice stroll along the run down area of London on her way to Diagon Alley. She was having quite a pleasant time, soaking up the sun in her Animagus form when suddenly a group of boys popped up and herded her into a dark and abandoned alleyway. They had proceeded to beat her with sticks they had acquired from somewhere.

Her cat instincts took over and she began yowling for help and trying to claw the miscreants that were hurting her. It was to no avail. Her vision began blurring and she realized that she was going to die. Killed by some muggle brats, where did I go wrong in my life! She thought. Suddenly the sticks stopped whacking and she heard the boys running away. She looked up and began yowling again when she saw a great hulking brute bend down. She did the only thing she could do and tried to escape. A warm something descended on her head and soothed her. She began to shake from the cold (It was December after all!). The brute raised his hand and took off his jacket wrapping it around her. He then proceeded to pick her up and walk away carefully.

She began to fade into unconsciousness until she was rudely awakened by her human being shoved by something. She woke up some more when the human side of her asked, her human? The cat side agreed, he had saved her and therefore was her human. Minerva sighed; she would go along with the charade until her wounds were healed. As an expert on Transfiguration she knew that transforming into a human would be disastrous. Cats' organs were not in the same place as humans, and a simple wound to a cat may become life threatening to a human. (1) She would bide her time until she was healed.

She gave a small mew when her human set her down on the couch. A brown haired girl immediately began tending to her. She gave a louder mew when her human left her. He soon came back and washed her. Minerva dozed off from the care and curled up into her human's lap. Voices washed over her as she settled in contentedly. She woke up slightly when she was shifted from her human's lap, but he came back.

"Harry!" The human in her jumped up and stared at her human with now focused eyes. It couldn't be, Harry Potter had been declared missing for five years now. Most of the wizardring world had taken him for dead, they assumed that Death Eaters had found and killed him. "What's wrong with you Dolly?" Minerva snorted when she heard the childish name they had given her.

As she peered at him she did see a faint resemblance to James Potter. She bumped his nose to try and move the glasses whose glare hid his eyes from view. The glasses fell off and Minerva was staring into brilliant emerald green eyes. "Damn it." The boy muttered as he shoved his glasses and told the girls that he would be going to bed. He picked Minerva up and carried her…to a cupboard.

What the hell? He's putting me in a cupboard? Minerva was even more shocked when Harry got in too.

"I know it's not much Dolly, but there's only room for two beds upstairs and that's for the kids, Lena and Liza. I don't need a bed." Minerva snorted. So he was trying to play the hero. She froze. Kids? If this was Harry Potter, then how the heck would he have kids, if he was 16? He waved his hand and an orb of light rose to the top of the cupboard. Minerva gasped, but it came out as a mew. He could do MAGIC! Without a wand? Minerva knew many wizards, only a handful were adept at wandless magic. Harry curled up around her. As the light faded she heard him say. "And of course, freaks don't deserve a bed."

Minerva froze. Freaks? What was the poor boy talking about?

She looked around the small space and realized that everything was either mildewed or rotted through. There was a thick coat of dirt on the floor and a mass of cobwebs on the small ceiling of the cupboard. Harry was sleeping on two blankets folded to fit into the cramped space. The blanket on top was damp and holes littered the disgusting thing.

Harry had covered him and her up with the jacket she had previously been wrapped in. Taking a closer look his clothing showed that beside the jacket he wore only a pair of holy jeans and a patched up T-shirt. Minerva was surprised that he wasn't frozen through solid.

A closer look at the boy himself made Minerva want to cry long and hard. His arms bore numerous scars and scratches that shone either pearly white or inflamed red on his translucent skin. He was as pale as a ghost! He was also nothing more than a skeleton with a little muscle. Minerva knew that as a child living on the street, he no doubt did not get much food to eat, especially with others to feed as well. Finally she looked at his face. His bright green eyes were closed and his whitish-pink lips were parted slightly in sleep. Without the glasses on, Minerva was able to see a long scar that extended from his hairline across his right eye to his chin. It was pearly white and slightly puckered, which meant that it was probably an older scar. The Animagus wondered how he had gotten it.

With a small cat yawn, Minerva curled up as close as she could to the boy to provide him some meager warmth.

There was a woman screaming. "Not Harry! Please, not Harry!"

A cruel voice, "Step aside you stupid girl!" More pleading. A flash of green light, and then nothing.

The scene changed to a pretty woman. She had long black hair in a braid. She was smiling at a little boy. The smile turned into a hideous grimace. A man walked up behind her and then began to chase the boy. The boy ran as fast as he could, but he was not fast enough to beat the man's large legs. He caught the boy and began beating him. His large signet ring scratched along the boy's face, blood mixing with the tears. Small ribs broke under the pressure and the boy screamed pitifully. "You will never be normal, FREAK!"

Harry woke with a scream. He began panting and sat up, curling into himself as a few tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes. The thundering of feet on the stairs woke up 'Dolly'. She looked up blearily to see Harry crying.

Liza threw open the door and pulled Harry into her arms as soon as she saw him curled up. "It's alright, love. Those bastards can't get you here. They'll never touch you again." She carded her hands through his hair as she continued to whisper soothing phrases in his ear. Kat sat and patted his hand, doing the only thing the little girl knew to comfort the now sobbing boy. Minerva unfroze and rubbed against the boy trying to calm him.

"I-it was th-that n-night t-too!" Harry was able to force out. "Wh-when my r-real parents d-d-died!" He began to sob harder.

More people came running down the stairs and Lena, Ed, and Mona all poked their heads around the edge of the door. When Lena saw her best friend crying, she hugged him to her chest too. Ed and Mona sat next to the group silently as their leader sobbed his heart out into his pseudo sister's shoulder.