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Dreams, chapter 7
He had dismissed his Death Eaters and she was left alone with him, standing in the center of the otherwise empty ballroom. Voldemort was circling her as a predator would his prey, and she strove to maintain her composure. Her heart beat wildly inside her chest, but she would show no outward signs of fear.
She had been shocked at his appearance. There was nothing remotely recognizable of the handsome man she had once known. He was long buried, and what stood before her now was a twisted, inhuman version of that man.
"I have a great many plans for you, Minerva." He had come close behind her and whispered this into her ear, his breath cool on her face. His hands glided slowly up her arms and shoulders to caress her neck, and he gently and painstakingly began to remove her hairpins causing her long, raven locks to tumble down her back. His cold breath and touch sent icy tremors down her spine and she shivered visibly. "Did you like that, my dear?" he whispered venomously. "There is more to come."
She just stood there silently and willed herself not to cry or react in any way to his advances. That was what he wanted, after all; to see her suffer. So she made no sound, even when to her horror, her robes started slipping off her shoulders, inching their way to form deep green fabric puddles on the ground.
His cold, skeletal fingers were moving over her now, becoming less gentle as he tried to force a response from her lips. Her silence infuriated him and he swiveled her round to face him, one hand twisted in the hair at the nape of her neck, causing her to gasp in pain.
"Minerva, I am trying to get us reacquainted. Have you nothing to say to me after all these years?"
She stared defiantly back at him, emerald green eyes into his blood red slits. "I don't see how anything I might have to say to you would matter, Tom." She surprised herself at how steely and even her voice sounded.
The grip in her hair tightened and he pulled her mouth to his. His kiss dove deeper and deeper, seeming to suck all the air from her body. 'The Dementor's kiss' she thought bitterly. Her instinct was to fight back, to keep his mouth and hands from devouring her this way. But she knew she could not win, and he would have her anyway. The only satisfaction she could take was not to let him feel her fear. She was collapsing against him in her struggle for breath and he lowered her to the floor where she lay, trying to force her mind to focus on the faces of the three children sipping their chocolate and the awful fate she had saved them from.
When he had finished with her he leaned close to her, "We have many more nights of pleasure to look forward to, my dear," and leaving her prostrate on the floor called for Wormtail.
He entered the room bowing and scraping. "Yes Master?"
"Take this woman to her cell." And Voldemort was gone.
The little man knelt beside her. "Professor McGonagall, here let me help you—"
"Do not touch me, Pettigrew!" she spat vehemently at him as he handed her her robes. The sight of the sniveling coward who had cost James and Lily their lives—not to mention the irreparable damage done to Sirius Black—disgusted her to the point of nausea.
"I was only trying to help," he said, sounding much like the spineless tag-a-long of a student he had been years ago.
"You disgust me!" She covered herself with her cloak. "Now where is it you are supposed to be taking me?"
It was amazing to Peter Pettigrew that his old Transfiguration teacher could have just been ravaged by the Dark Lord himself, and still manage to boss him around like some haughty queen. "To your cell." He jerked her up roughly and led her down the hall and staircase to a bare, unfurnished room with no windows. Shoving her inside so hard that she fell, landing sharply on her knees, Pettigrew shut the door behind her and she was alone in the darkness. Too weary to move, she curled up in a tight ball for warmth. She allowed herself a few silent tears for Albus as she drifted into a fitful exhaustion driven sleep.
Harry Potter awoke with a start, beads of perspiration dripping down his forehead and into his eyes. He had seen a large room with nothing in it but a woman and Lord Voldemort. The woman appeared to be naked, but Harry couldn't be sure because her long, dark hair was partially covering her. She was crumpled in a heap on the floor, unmoving.
He heard Voldemort speak, "We have many more nights of pleasure to look forward to, my dear," he had whispered. And then he saw her face. Professor McGonagall!
Harry tore out of bed, his glasses askew on his face as he padded barefoot down the stairs and out of the common room. He ran until he reached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. "Pumpkin pasties!" he managed to shout rather breathlessly. The stone bird turned and Harry flew up the stairs hoping against hope that Dumbledore would be there.
"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore! It's Harry Potter! I need to speak to you, sir! Please!" Harry called desperately. Somehow he knew it wasn't just a dream that he had had. Professor McGonagall was in trouble.
He was still rapping frantically on the door when it suddenly swung open, revealing a still dressed and startled looking Professor Dumbledore. "Harry. Come in. What is going on?"
"Professor Dumbledore, it's Voldemort. He has a woman, he was hurting her. I think it was Professor McGonagall…" Harry stopped to catch his breath.
"Minerva? Harry, slow down. What's this about Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore looked truly concerned.
"I had a dream, Professor. I was in a large room and Voldemort was there, and I could see a woman lying on the floor, she looked…she looked like she might be hurt." Harry hesitated before adding, "I don't think she had any clothes on. And then I saw her face. It was Professor McGonagall."
Dumbledore looked taken aback. He had only arrived back at the school minutes before Harry's appearance at his door. He had just been getting ready to join Minerva in her chambers when the knock came at his door. He looked at Harry for a long moment. "Stay here, Harry, and I'll go and check Professor McGonagall's quarters. I'll just be a min—"
"Headmaster!" There was pounding on the door. "Headmaster! I need to speak with you urgently!" Severus Snape's distinctive voice called from behind the door.
"Come in, Severus!"
Severus Snape burst through the door into Dumbledore's office. "Headmaster, it's Minerva. I've just come from—" he stopped short upon seeing Harry standing in the room in his pajamas.
"You may continue, Severus. Harry is aware of the goings on of the Order."
Severus nodded reluctantly. "Minerva is gone. The Dark Lord is holding her prisoner."
Dumbledore's face looked stunned. But he spoke quickly, addressing Harry. "Harry, go and wake Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. I'd like for you all to dress and meet Professor Snape and myself back here in half an hour's time. We need to meet with the others as soon as possible."
"Yes sir," Harry answered quickly and ran out of the office to wake his friends.
Dumbledore turned to Severus. "What happened, Severus?" The twinkle was gone from his blue eyes. He looked angry, desperate, and dangerous.
"It would appear, that Minerva gave herself in trade for the three students the Dark Lord was planning to kill on Saturday night. I was summoned by him shortly after we got them back to the castle. He told us he had released them in exchange for a far 'greater prize'. You can imagine my horror when Minerva was brought in."
For the first time in his memory, Albus Dumbledore failed to meet his eyes. "Severus, Harry said in his dream that Min…that she…was naked."
And then their eyes did meet. And what Severus Snape saw shook him to his very core. Albus Dumbledore. The greatest wizard in the world. Full of pain and fear. "That I can not confirm. We were dismissed just after they brought her in."
Dumbledore swallowed hard and nodded. "I need to check her office, make sure that she was not indeed taken by force. If she was, then Hogwarts is at risk. Stay and wait until Harry and Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger come back and then take them to Grimmauld Place. I will join you there shortly."
