a/n: Thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it so very much!

This chapter is rather long and I hope not too boring!

History, Chapter 9

The Order sat around the long table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, conversing in hushed tones. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were trying to console a guilt ridden Tonks, while Mrs. Weasley attempted to do the same for a sobbing Hagrid.

When Albus Dumbledore appeared in a flash of light with Fawkes, all fell silent as they waited for him to speak.

"I trust that Severus and Harry have apprised you all on tonight's events? It seems that Minerva did indeed give herself up willingly, and that she had given a lot of thought and preparation to this 'trade' to avoid discovery."

"Professor, I am so sorry! I was on guard duty, but I failed to see her…I might've stopped her—" Tonks cried out, interrupting.

Dumbledore smiled at her kindly, "Now Nymphadora, no one is blaming you. I believe that Minerva used her animagus to slip past you unnoticed, and even had you discovered her I doubt you could have stopped her. Minerva with her mind made up and on a mission is a force to be reckoned with."

"She left me a letter," he continued, "describing the endless guilt she has endured these many years over her failure to protect so many of her students," his eyes lingered on Harry for a moment, before adding in a slightly pained voice, "she just couldn't bear the thought of any more coming to harm by Voldemort's hands."

"Bloody fool thing to do! When in hell did Minerva get to be so bloody irrational?" Moody interjected, though his voice was tinged with worry.

"Alastor!" Remus Lupin admonished. "The man just lost his wife to the Death Eaters, try and show a little more sympathy!"

"I meant no disrespect, Albus, you know how close Minerva and I have always been. It's just so damned unlike her to do something so stupid. She was a bloody auror, after all." Moody fell silent, and wiped at his good eye with his sleeve.

"Wife?! Auror? What are they talking about, Professor?" Hermione Granger asked, puzzled.

Dumbledore looked at the three confused faces before him. "Minerva is my wife. We have been married for over fifty years."

Ron's jaw dropped. "Bloody hell…"was all he managed to say.

"You're married? You and Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked in astonishment.

He nodded. "We have had to keep our private lives a secret, as I have many enemies and did not wish to have retaliation sought against me through Minerva. Also, as I have always enjoyed a certain degree of celebrity—"

"The most famous, powerful wizard of the age—" interjected Arthur Weasley.

"Yes, that. Minerva is an extremely private person who does not enjoy or seek fame, nor any type of public recognition. There were many reasons to keep our union out of the public eye. You would have learned about our marriage upon becoming official members of the Order, as all who are present here share in this information."

While Ron and Harry sat looking thunderstruck, Hermione, who seemed to find the fact that her two Professors had been secretly husband and wife for half a century the most natural thing in the world, moved on to ask, "And Professor Moody said she was an Auror?"

"Aye, that she was! And one of the best, at that!" Moody answered. "Helped Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald all those years ago. Youngest witch to complete Auror training in history, at the time."

"A record she still holds," Tonks volunteered.

"So how did she end up teaching at Hogwarts if she was an Auror?" Harry asked. He couldn't imagine someone giving up as exciting a career as tracking down and capturing dark wizards to do something as sedate as teach.

"Minerva never really wanted to be an Auror. Not permanently, anyway. You see, her father was chief Auror for the Ministry during the war with Grindelwald and was killed in ambush during her sixth year. I believe she felt it was her duty to follow in his footsteps and carry on the fight he had begun. She worked tirelessly at her studies and completed her Auror training with honors in less than two years." Dumbledore's voice was full of pride. "She fought by my side in the last battle, and I daresay I may have faltered with out her, but she was always such a rock, supporting me—" his voice broke and he fell silent.

"So that is when you fell in love? When you were fighting side by side? How romantic!" Hermione sighed.

"Not exactly." Albus blushed. "I actually fell in love with Min while she was a student. We spent a great deal of time together, as I was head of Gryffindor House, and she was a prefect, then Head Girl, and I was her sponsor for her Animagus training. She was quite unlike anyone I had ever known."

"You were snogging McGonagall when she was a student?!" Ron asked, unable to process his prim and proper middle-aged Transfiguration instructor making out with Dumbledore as a young teenager.

"Ronald! Show some respect, please." Mrs. Weasley scolded sternly.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Ron muttered sincerely, eyes studying his shoes intently.

"No offense taken, Mr. Weasley. And no, we weren't exactly 'snogging' back then. As I said, we were spending a great deal of time together, and became very close. One night, in her seventh year, she revealed that she was in love with me."

"How wonderful!" Tonks and Hermione exclaimed dreamily, both caught up in the romanticism of his story.

"Yes, I suppose it would have been, had I been able to unveil my own love for her. But, I couldn't, as she was my student, and to make matters even more impracticable, I am over fifty years her senior. It would have been scandalous to say the least, and I would have lost my position at Hogwarts had anyone discovered my involvement with a student. So I explained to her that as flattering as her feelings for me no doubt were, that I could never return them and she needed to move on and find someone else more appropriate to shower her attentions upon."

"Oh, poor Professor McGonagall. That must have broken her heart." Hermione sniffed sadly. "But when she was finished with school—"

"She had indeed moved on. Not declaring my love for Minerva is perhaps the biggest mistake I have ever made. After I dashed all hopes of us being together, she became involved with another. I'm afraid my rejection pushed her right into his arms." There was sorrow darkening his blue eyes at this recollection.

"Yes, but you ended up together, Professor. That is what matters." Tonks patted the old wizard's hand comfortingly.

"Yes we did. But I am afraid those few years in between have a great deal to do with our present situation. You see, Lord Voldemort has a great deal of personal interest in Professor McGonagall. The man that Minerva became involved with was none other than Tom Riddle."

Even the adults, save Moody and Hagrid appeared stunned. "You mean Professor McGonagall and You-Know-Who?" Ron stared at Dumbledore. This was too much. The very idea that the respective pentagons of good and evil could have once been…lovers…was just going too far. Apparently he was not alone in this thinking.

"Oh, Albus! Surely not!" Molly exclaimed.

"They were bloody engaged to be married!" Moody growled. "I told her even then he was a no good son of a—"

"Alistor is correct. They were indeed engaged at one time," Dumbledore interrupted. "You see, Tom was the epitome of charm and good manners while he was a student. He was very popular, especially with the girls. He had an exemplary record at Hogwarts, he received every award and scholarship available, and the only person who didn't seem to recognize his superiority in every detail, was Minerva McGonagall. She appeared oblivious to his many charms. And so he began to pursue her ardently, and finding her in a vulnerable moment, ultimately succeeded."

"I of course, did not approve of their relationship, for more than one reason, but I could not divulge my suspicions about Tom to her because at that time I feared they might be unfounded. I did not wish to unfairly prejudice anyone towards him without any concrete proof, which I was never able to obtain. And so I said nothing as I saw them grow closer, and watched Minerva fall in love with him."

"I don't feel that he ever loved her in return, she was merely another feather in his cap, the most desirable woman in wizard society, and therefore the one he felt that he deserved. He regarded her as a possession, a prize of sorts, but he was careful in her treatment at first, and so she was blinded by his true character."

"After school, Tom kept a rather low profile, taking a job as a store clerk in Knock Turn Alley, but Minerva and I remained close as she began her Auror training and afterwards accompanied me on many missions during the ongoing war. She began to confide in me that Tom's personality was changing, that he was becoming possessive and at times almost violent, and that was beginning to frighten her. At first, she blamed their long separations for the change in character, choosing to believe that all would return to normal when the war ended and she would not be absent for long periods of time on top security missions for the Ministry."

"But then she even began to wonder if he weren't aiding the enemy. Her brief time with him in London between assignments became increasingly strained, and she was questioning whether she should indeed go through with the upcoming wedding, and she wrote Tom a letter from Austria, telling him she was postponing things, maybe indefinately. Then the war ended, and things did not improve. In fact, they got worse and she ended their relationship. She showed up late one night at my door, and told me it was over between them. Minerva was quite shaken. I believe she was truly afraid of him. She didn't know where else to go, and as I feared for her safety, invited her to stay with me.

"She said that Tom had been researching Horcruxes, along with other ancient dark magic that had long been forbidden. That he had told her of plans to gather an army of sorts to purge the wizard world of all who were not pure bloods. That he didn't want to be called 'Tom' anymore, but that his new name would be Voldemort. 'Lord Voldemort' to be exact. He was going to be ruler supreme and that she would be by his side."

"When Minerva told him that these were the plans of a mad man, that he sounded just like Grindelwald and that she would never be a part of any of it, he grew angry. He began cursing at her, destroying everything in the house. She told him it was over, and managed to apparate out. She stayed with me at my family estate for a few weeks before there was an incident that brought it all to a head—Alastor, maybe you had better take it from here. After all, you were there."

Moody nodded, and Dumbledore took a seat next to Remus, gratefully accepting a mug of ale from Arthur Weasley.

"One night there was a particularly nasty attack on a muggle family, tortured and killed for no apparent reason. Minerva and I were called to the scene. She got there first." Moody paused, remembering. "She found the parents' bodies lying twisted in their own blood, not a simple Avada Kadavra, but some ancient, dark magic curse. There was a small boy lying faced down in the corner, a look of terror frozen upon its face. She heard a soft crying sound and followed it, finding a little muggle girl huddled inside a closet clutching her teddy bear. Minerva coaxed the child out, when a blood stained Tom Riddle walked into the room."

"She stood, obviously confused to see him there. She told me later that she had known the family; that they had lived close to her flat when she was living in London and that she had often spoken to them in passing. The house had not been victim of a random attack. It was directed at Minerva."

"By the time I arrived, I could hear their voices from outside the house. He was yelling for her to stand aside, and she was refusing to move even though he had already disarmed her.

'You caused this, Minerva!' I heard him say. 'You should never have left me.'

She answered him, 'Tom, how could you do this? You've become a monster! What has happened to you?'

He shouted at her, 'You are mine, Minerva. You promised yourself to me. You will never be rid of me. I will have you, mark my words. Run to Dumbledore if you must, be his whore, but you are mine. I promise you.'

As I broke through the door I saw two curses flying through the air, one he uttered I did not recognize, the other was the greenish light of the killing curse, and Minerva was on the ground, bleeding, the child dead beside her. I shot a few curses of my own at him and missed, and he apparated out."

"That was the last time You-Know-Who was ever seen, known as Tom Riddle," Moody said, finishing his tale.

Dumbledore picked back up. "It took a long time for Minerva to recover. She was hit with a very ancient curse that caused hemorrhaging in her major organs. She lost a tremendous amount of blood, and we almost lost her. As she finally began to recover, I took her back to Hogwarts to stay, as I feared Tom would return to make good on his word. She expressed a desire to leave the Auror division, as she was tired of the constant violence and death she had witnessed over the last few years. I suggested to her that she might enjoy teaching, as she had excelled as a student especially in Transfiguration, and I had that position open since I was newly appointed Headmaster and would no longer be teaching the subject. I must confess, that my motives for offering her a position were clouded by a desire to keep her close to me and protect her from another attack by Tom Riddle, now calling himself Lord Voldemort."

"The idea did indeed appeal to her, and she accepted the position. It turns out she had a natural inclination for teaching, and the rest is history. Minerva loved teaching, she loved her subject, loved the students. And I was very much in love with her, but still worried about the difference in our ages. Also, she was still recovering from the trauma of battle and the end of her relationship with Tom and then his attack on her person. I did not wish to take advantage of her fragile emotional state."

"As the days passed, we grew closer than ever. Then one day she told me that I was a great source of conflict between Tom and herself. He accused her of still loving me, and though she had denied it to him, she confessed to me that it was true. That though she had tried she had never stopped loving me." Tears filled his eyes, but he did not blink them away. He let them fall. "I kissed her then. We were married a short time after."

"I gave her away," Moody said softly.

"I was there, too, it was a lovely weddin'," Hagrid managed to get out in between blowing his nose into a giant handkerchief.

Everyone sat silently for a long moment, pondering the story they had just heard.

"So how do we save her?" Hermione asked, breaking the quiet and bringing them all back to the reason they were meeting in the first place.

"Yes, that is the question." Dumbledore turned to his friend and heretofore silent potions master. "Severus, how much time do you think we have?"

"It is hard to say. The students were to be kept alive until Saturday, to be used to test and initiate three new Death Eaters. Since Minerva has taken their place, I believe that he will keep her alive until then. However, from what you have told us tonight he may not be planning to kill her at all. But finding her alive and finding her alive and intact are two different matters."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. Everyone knew the meaning of the word 'intact'. Frank and Alice Longbottom were alive. But that was all.