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Chapter 4: Gasping

She put a little more concealer on her wrist, hoping it would cover up forever. She was young, and she still regrets it. It was the biggest mistake in her life, and she was trying her best to cover up for it, even if it meant physically covering it up.

She smoothed out her sun dress. She had wanted to stay indoors, but Albus insisted that they have a meeting in the middle of summer. She was hesitant to go. Her entire body hurt, and the heat was impossible.

It was 1 p.m., and beads of sweat had started to stick her hair to the nape of her neck. She didn't want to apparate in muggle London (where her flat was). Her wrist had started to hurt. She started to panic. It's been almost fourteen years since it last-

She was glad to still be alive today, though, but she had to carry the burden.

The pain continued to be difficult to bear, and even if her tolerance for pain was extremely high, this was too much for her. She knew what the pain meant - it was the price she had to pay for defying him. She started to breathe heavily. Everything was immensely blurred, then she felt herself let go.

o0o0o0o0o0o

She woke up a few hours later, confused of what was happening, but she knew where she was. Why was she in a hospital? More specifically, how was she in St. Mungo's?

"Oh good, you're awake now, Professor McGonagall." the healer approached her. She knew the healer - Rye, she thinks. He was her student a few years back. She looked at his uniform. True enough, "S. Rye" was embroidered above his left upper pocket.
"Uhh, Mister Rye, how did I get here?"
"Jenkins, our new intern, was on her way here. She was on the same bus as you were and she saw you collapse."

Rye pointed to the direction of a lady wearing a muggle doctor's coat. Minerva eyed her carefully, she looked extremely familiar, but how?

"Glad to see you awake, Professor McGonagall," Jenkins exclaimed. "You gave us quite the scare."
Minerva couldn't place it, but the wild curls crammed in a bun was so distinguishing.
"Have I met you before, Miss Jenkins?" Minerva had to question her. She was positive she had never met Jenkins before, but it couldn't be.
"Oh more than a few times, actually. You probably don't remember yet."

o0o0o0o0o0o

She had drifted off to sleep again after sending a letter to Albus to explain her absence.

She woke up in cold sweat, her body still trembling from the dream she had. It was absolutely terrifying, and she couldn't do anything. She felt as if she was being tortured by the Cruciatus, and she felt that if this continued to go on, she would go insane.

"Minerva, you're awake! How are you feeling, my dear?"
"Albus- I-I don't kn-know," Minerva tried to sit up, but the pain was unbearable.

A dog licked her arm, and looking more closely, Minerva stared at Albus.

"You know it's not safe for Snuffles to be here, Albus," she glared.
"But I thought having him would make you feel better," Albus smiled.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"What were you thinking, Albus Dumbledore? You could have gotten him killed!" Minerva, now fully recovered, was pacing her office.
"I thought it would make you feel better!"
"Make me feel better? You thought bringing Sirius from a thousand miles away is going to help me recover? He could have been killed by just being here! Plus, it's not okay for my ex-fiance to be making me feel better, Albus. There's a reason I married someone else. Sirius is not the solution to everything."
"Why are you getting so defensive, then?" Albus smirked.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Minerva looked at the Prophet that the owl had just dropped off, and stared at it in shock.

No wonder her wrist still hurt.
No wonder her head still throbbed.
No wonder the nightmares returned.

The Dark Mark had appeared at the World Cup, wizards and muggles were dead. The Weasleys were there, she remembered. Harry.

o0o0o0o0o0o

It had been a relief to find Harry at the Great Hall on September 1st, but it wasn't a relief for Minerva to hear that the Tri-Wizard Tournament would be taking place in Hogwarts. She had known of the plan, true, but she was extremely against it.

The last time the Tri-Wizard Tournament had taken place, someone died. It wasn't safe for students, she thought. It wasn't safe for anyone.'

Albus assured her, though. Albus told her that Alastor Moody would be there to take care of everything. She nodded as if everything would be fine, but it wasn't. She wasn't sure of Moody, even if she'd known him for a very long time. She was suspicious, even. This guy wasn't the Moody she knew, and it was as if she knew him from some place else.

That night, the pain she felt was excruciating. Nightmares flooded her mind, memories of the past were haunting her, and she felt as if she were drowning in them.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Her mother was dead. Worse? It had been from the hand of an Order member. The Order promised to protect her, she trusted them, and she eventually realized how wrong it was to.

She was filled with rage, the fire had started to burn.

She locked herself up. She felt so naive to even believe that they would protect her. She felt so naive to believe that Dumbledore would protect her.

She wanted protection, she wanted people who matched her rage. With Voldemort on the rise, she decided where she stood in this war. It was better to be protected.

Sirius, James, Lily, Remus and Peter grew more concerned as the days passed. Her usual sarcastic-yet-playful demeanor turned dark, each world she uttered seemed as if it were laced with venom.

Lily had noticed that she would slip out in the middle of the night. Lily noticed her eyes darkening. Lily noticed that she wore longer sleeves.

Lily knew.

Lily cornered her one night. Her jaw tightened, her shoulders were squared. Lily tried to talk her out of this, but it was too late.

She had the Dark Mark now.


A/N

After more than a year, I HAVE RETURNED!

I'm not how sure how good this chapter is, but I do hope that you enjoyed this cliffhanger (ish). We're in Goblet of Fire now, so I guess there will be a few more chapters left. This chapter's more Minerva-centric, and so is the next chapter (most probably), and the next few will probably revolve around Sirius haha.

I hope you guys enjoyed this thing! Review/fave/follow for more!

-Hope-