Quidditch League: Holyhead Harpies, Chaser 1, WC: 1,897

Prompts:

2- biting

6- "Choose it or lose it"

12- 'A Lament' by Oscar Wilde

Oh the Thinks You Can Think!: Horton; write about someone who sticks to their decisions.

Elemental Song Challenge: EARTH: I pushed my fingers through the earth, returned this flower to the dirt. -Rise Against, "The Good Left Undone"

Off the Block Competition: IMHard: Write about Gellert Grindlewald. (so it's more about Minerva, but he is the main villain in this. And he shows up at the end.)

Delirium Competition: Wilds

Crypts - write about a tragedy.
quote 11. "The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well."
Gracie: write about a child or someone who is innocent.

The Subjects Challenge: First Year; Defence Against the Dark Arts

Female Character Challenge: Anna Karenina

Collect a Collection: Minerva McGonagall (Order Member and Teachers of Hogwarts Collections)

Favorite Hogwarts Boot Camp: Gryffindor, 31. What If

Inspiration-by-Shakespeare: Henry VI, political turmoil.

Fiddler on the Roof Song Challenge: Now I Have everything

"O well for him who lives at ease
With garnered gold in wide domain,
Nor heeds the splashing of the rain,
The crashing down of forest trees. -
O well for him who ne'er hath known
The travail of the hungry years,
A father grey with grief and tears,
A mother weeping all alone. -
But well for him whose feet hath trod
The weary road of toil and strife,
Yet from the sorrows of his life
Builds ladders to be nearer God."

-Oscar Wilde


They were young, they were foolish. She had been caught in a summer romance, a whirlwind of life and kisses and laughter with this muggle farm boy. He had entranced her with his tales of days in the golden sun, with naught but the dirt beneath his hands and the shirt on his back to call his own. His square hands had painted a picture in the air of a life they could share, where her hands would be as calloused as his, yes, but the callouses would be good, the pain would be good, and the goodness would be filled with such love, it could only be described as what he called 'knowing God'. Minerva didn't know what 'God' was-wizards didn't have a god like the muggles did- but he sounded beautiful.

It was late August when he proposed. The day before she would have been scheduled to return to Hogwarts, had she not graduated the year before. Somehow, it felt right-this step out of her school girl life and into her place in the adult world-that it should be happening at the break of September. As the sun set on August and they sealed their engagement with a kiss, Minerva felt reborn as Dougal slipped the ring onto her hand and whispered three little words into her ear. It didn't matter that she was starting her new job at the Ministry soon, it didn't matter that Gellart Grindlewald was rising, it didn't matter that Albus Dumbledore had warned her to expect a move soon. All that mattered was her love and his love and the promise of forever wrapped tightly around her finger.

For that moment, in the pale pink light of sunset, everything was perfect.

And then that moment ended.

The owl was waiting for her as soon as she arrived home, cheeks flushed pink from their dalliance in the forest. She laughed as she skipped up the stairs, kissed her lover one last time under the stars before slipping inside, smiling coyly as she shut the door to her humble abode. She leaned against it for just a moment, basking in the warmth from the kisses she had received that evening, before her ears perked at the tapping coming from the window. Curious, she opened it as a dark brown owl sailed in on silent wings.

A letter was tied to it's foot.

Minerva's heart froze. A moment of shock, then her hands were fumbling with the ties and unrolling it, shaking as she squinted to read the slanted handwriting of Albus Dumbledore in the fading light.

My dear Minerva,

I do hope my letter finds you well, although I am unsure of how long it will last once you read the contents of this letter. Gellart has made his move. His German puppet, the muggle Adolf Hitler, has invaded Poland, and we believe Gellart is using this move as a distraction for his ulterior plan. He plans to move on Gregorovitch as we are distracted with the invasion.

You are expected to report to Headquarters tomorrow at noon for a debriefing.

We need you, Minerva. Time is running out.

With hope,

Albus Dumbledore

Her heart stopped for a moment, ice racing through her veins and numbing her senses in shock. She barely registered the shaking of her hands, the impatient hoot of the owl as it awaited a treat. Her bubble of happiness had been shattered by this evil man's plans, ones that she knew she had to do everything in her power to stop.

She had promised Albus when she left that she would. She would do anything to stop his former friend. He had become a close friend, her favorite professor, and she would be there for him, as he had been there for her.

She was a Gryffindor, and she would repay her debt.

But how could she tell Dougal?


Minerva tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep as she imagined how she would break the news to Dougal.

"Dougal, I'm a witch." No, she couldn't tell him of her magic, he wouldn't understand. Although she would have to tell him sometime, it wasn't now.

"I have to go and fight an evil wizard who is searching for an all powerful wand in order to become a Master of Death and destroy the world" didn't sound right either. The "destroying the world" part would only make him worry about her.

She couldn't tell him she was leaving, it would just make him follow. She couldn't have that.

With a sickening heart, Minerva realized there was only one thing she could do.

The thought pained her, and her heart shattered as she lay among her blankets, sobbing for a love that could never be.


"Dougal, I can't marry you," she said the next morning, fingers clenched and eyes red. "I love you, I do, but I just can't marry you."

He was silent, his green eyes filled with pain as he watched her.

"I know this is terrible of me, but we aren't right together. You need a girl who will be content to stay by your side and love you and give you children, but I- I'm not that girl," she choked out. Her chest was tight as she forced down the sobs that threatened to surface, and still he was silent.

"Dougal, please say something," she whispered, head pointed towards the ground.

"You're really walking away from me? Am I not good enough for you?" His voice was hurt and filled with pain.

"No, I- I'm sorry, but I must go. I wouldn't leave if I didn't have to," she gasped, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks.

"But you're not coming back. At least not anytime soon- no, don't try to deny it, I can see it in your eyes. You're going to walk away, and you won't ever come back."

Minerva bit her lip. "I wish I could promise that I was, but where I'm going, I-I don't know if I'll be able to come back. I don't want to go, but I must, and I'm sorry, Dougal, but I love you and-"

"Then choose to stay. Choose this life with me. Forget whoever is out there and stay here with me. Please, Minerva, I love you," he begged, his strong calloused hands gripping her soft, capable ones, and the tears did spill down her cheeks then, dripping onto their joined hands and joining his.

"Dougal, I-"

"Choose me or lose me, Minerva."

Taking a deep breath, she tugged her hands gently from his. "I'm sorry, Dougal. I have to go. If you do love me, let me go. Please," she whispered, crying in earnest now, before turning away and going back into her house, shutting the door with a soft, final click.


"Miss McGonagall, how very nice to see you," Albus Dumbledore said, smiling as she entered the Hog's Head.

"Professor."

"Please, call me Albus," the young professor said, smiling at his favorite student. She nodded once and sat, her eyes tired and her face drawn from the events of the last twenty-four hours.

"What mission do you wish me to go on, sir?" she asked tiredly.

"Ah, right down to business. I assume you do not wish to talk about why your eyes are matching your House colors today?" he asked, and when he was met by silence, he nodded. "Very well. We believe Gellart will move on the Elder Wand within the next few days. I've managed to track the trail of the wand to Gregorovitch, whom I believe is still in possession of it. I would like to set you to guard his house. Your Animagus abilities and prowess with a wand will be very useful in this task."

She nodded. "When do I leave?"

"I have arranged a Portkey for you," he said, handing her a small garden trowel he withdrew from his pocket. "It's scheduled to leave in five minutes."

Her heart constricted as she recognized the tool, having seen it in Dougal's own hands multiple times.

Five minutes later, she was glad that the whirlwind journey of the Portkey stripped her mind of her thoughts of a love that could have been.


Minerva's eyes blinked languidly as she sat stonily upon the wall. She enjoyed being a cat; it was nice to sit and stare at the world as it passed by. She could imagine the lives they all led: normal, carefree lives, filled with work and school and friends and family. They didn't have to be ripped from their lives to save a man that couldn't be saved, did they? They didn't have to stand sentinel over a wand that drove others to abuse and power-lustful murders.

They could go home and eat and laugh and sleep with their spouses.

But not her.

Lost in her daydreaming, she almost didn't hear the click of the window being shut. Not until she heard the light thud of feet hitting the ground did she know.

He was here.

She ran into the garden, changing into her human form and drawing her wand as she went.

The young-ish man gazed back at her, unsurprised, as he twirled the wand he had just taken and grinned.

"Minerva McGonagall, Albus's new pet," Gellart Grindlewald drawled. "Of course you would be here. I though I recognized the cat lurking in the driveway. It's why I snuck in the back way," he said, winking.

"But I have the wand now, Minerva," he sneered, backing up a few steps. "You won't be getting it."

"Try me," she snarled. It was because of this man that the poor Polish muggles were under attack, that she had been ripped from her whole life with a painful jerk. She flung a hex at him, which he casually blocked with a wave of the wand.

"You think I want to fight you? I have an invasion to go win. You're insignificant, Minerva," he said, grinning, before pulling something from his pocket and winking one last time as it began to shine blue.

Minerva ran towards him and he laughed, calling out. "Too late, sweetheart! It was all for nothing!"

Her hands snatched empty air as he disappeared with the wind, leaving Minerva standing slient, raging, in the cold, dark, autumn night, her mind burning with revenge for the man who had sliced her life apart with one flick of his wand.