Author's note: this is my angsty / dark chapter – the language is not so modest here on few occasions. If you don't like it, don't read it!
Present:
Harry was getting used to his new routine. He had a quiet breakfast in the Great Hall and then went to watch some of the memories Professor Dumbledore still had in store for him. It was a great honour to see all these bits of his godmother's life – especially since so many memories where directly related to him or his parents.
Eager to see the next one he grabbed the phial which was on top of today's pile.
Memory XVII:
A young Minerva McGonagall was entering a house which lied in ruins. Silent tears were streaming down her face and she seemed to be in complete shock.
Hesitantly, she was walking up the remains of a staircase – afraid of what she would find there. The rooms upstairs were in better shape and Minerva stopped in front of a door. She swallowed hard and apparently had to summon her whole courage to enter the room.
Inside, she was greeted by the most dreadful sight she could have imagined. The furniture was turned upside down and right in front of her her beloved husband lay on the floor. His eyes wide open in shock and his body in a very weird angle. Even in his death he looked terrified. Minerva covered her mouth in order to prevent herself from screaming.
She was now stumbling towards the cradle of her baby. Her daughter as well was slaughtered and must have been in agony in the moment of her death. A strangled sound escaped Minerva and she glid down on the floor where she passed out immediately.
When she woke up she found herself in a place she had never seen before. She seemed to be in some sort of a tower – tied up to the wall. She blinked and tried to remember how she got there. Then it came all crashing down on her again.
She had dared to let David and Claire come to see her at the safe house. On the way there she got an owl with a note saying that they had a traitor among their group of wizards and witches which had displayed the information on their planned family meeting as well as the address of the house.
As soon as she had seen the ruins of the house she knew that she was too late to save her family. Violent sobs were wracking her body now as she saw the pictures of her dead husband and her little baby coming to her mind again. Her body was shivering from the shock and she had a haunted look in her eyes.
At some point, a tall man came into the room. He had dark hair with first strands of grey – his eyes were of a piercing blue and held a dangerous hint of lunacy in them. He stopped in front of Minerva and smiled down at her evilly.
'What's wrong my dear Minerva. Not so confident anymore? Tststs… Well, I guess our dear Albus will not come to your salvation any time soon. After all, you and your friends are not as clever as you think you are. What a shame that your muggle husband and your little bastard were in my way. I just wanted to come and see you myself to give you a message for our friend Albus. But you see, Minerva, I cannot stand muggles so I had to get rid of them before they gave me a headache. Well, I am sure, Albus will be happy to solace you sooner or later. He could never stand to be the second in the row.'
Minerva was just sobbing harder – completely unable to control herself anymore.
'Come on, stop crying. I always had high hopes in you but yet you are just another weak woman who depends on a man to safe her.' He was kicking at her now as if she was a piece of dirt lying in front of his shoe.
'Gosh, you are ridiculous, Minerva. I will come back once you stop whimpering. This is disgusting and so disgraceful!'
He spat in her direction and left the room again.
Minerva cried until she had no more tears and no more strength left. All the will-power of the once so energetic and strong witch had vanished. She was completely defeated and broken.
For a long time nothing seemed to happen. Minerva was left alone – staring into nothingness and accepting the inevitable. Her wand was only a few meters away on the floor and she probably could have ordered it to come to her by a simple spell. Yet, she did not seem to care anymore.
The door to her prison opened again to reveal once more the evil man.
'Wonderful. You are finally quiet! Here, eat this. I need to keep my hostage attractive enough for my friend Albus. Otherwise, he might lose his interest in you. Don't know what he finds in you anyway. Back in our good days he would have despised the whore of a muggle.'
Minerva shot him a brief look – at least some life seemed to come back into her.
The man suddenly grabbed the front of her blouse and ripped it open.
'Well, I sort of understand Albus. You are a very attractive woman. Usually, I never use dirty muggle sluts but I might do an exception here.'
He bent down on his knees and brushed the skin of her neck line. Minerva tried to disappear into the wall but she could not move at all with these tight chains.
He grinned at her.
'Don't worry, it will be much better with a real wizard! You have no clue what you missed with your muggle husband. And when I am through with you, you will not have a glimpse of self-respect left. Albus can have back a rotten shell.' He laughed maliciously.
'You cannot hurt me more than you already have, Grindelwald. My life is destroyed anyway. Help yourself if you have to.' Minerva's whisper was full of despair and finality.
'Come on, Minerva. This is not right. You should strike back or be afraid. It is no challenge like this. I never go for the ordinary.'
He pulled roughly at her hair so that she was facing him. Then he gave her a brutal kiss and moved his hand roughly under her skirt. Minerva did not move – she did not even blink.
At this moment, an owl came into the tower. Grindelwald took a note from it and read it quickly. His face got red with anger.
Annoyed, Grindelwald pushed her down on the floor. The chains were cutting deeply into her wrists. He was kicking her right in the face in his frustration now. A huge wound opened up on her cheek and she let out a small groan.
'I will be back, Minerva. This is not over yet.
With this he left a bleeding Minerva behind.
The memory got blurry for a second. Then the door burst open only to reveal a young Albus Dumbledore. He ran towards a barely conscious Minerva and freed her of her chains. Grabbing her wand as well as her hand he made her disapparate with him.
They arrived in a busy place. Other wizards and witches were sitting together arguing over something and briefly stopped – staring at Professor Dumbledore with Minerva's limp body in his arms.
'Thank God, you have her! Grindelwald was not to be fooled too long. He must be back in this tower by now and will be very angry that we tricked him.' One of the wizards looked at them anxious.
Professor Dumbledore just nodded. 'Thank you everyone!'
He carried Minerva to an empty room, put her softly down on a bed and closed the door. He was sitting by her bedside for the next hours until she woke up and groggily looked at him. Immediately, tears were forming in her eyes again.
'Sh, Minerva, we have you. You will be alright.'
'He killed David and Claire!' Minerva was desperate and Dumbledore cautiously pulled her bruised body into his arms, drawing soothing circles on her back. He let her cry until she fell asleep completely exhausted.
There was another gap in the memory. Harry dreaded to go on but before he could decide otherwise, he was drawn into a dark forest.
Spells were being shot all around him and he could hear screams.
Then he spotted Professor Dumbledore and Grindelwald duelling between some huge trees.
'You will pay for all the pain you have brought us, Gellert! You are insane and a danger to the whole wizarding world.' Dumbledore spoke through clenched teeth.
Grindelwald just laughed at him.
'Albus, you had the same ideas once. Are you insane as well then?'
'I was stupid maybe but I have seen reason.'
'Reason? You fell in love with your favourite student, you idiot! And she chose another one. Makes you weak and ridiculous this one. You should get rid of her.'
'Don't make more of a fool of yourself than you already have! She is my best friend and nothing else. You would never understand true friendship – you can only be loyal to yourself.'
'Which is good. I am only responsible for myself then. I don't care whether anybody gets hurt or killed. Nobody and no conscience will get in my way, Albus.'
He laughed again while shooting another spell in Dumbledore's direction. They seemed to be evenly balanced in their power and none of them could get the crucial advantage.
Grindelwald was busy insulting his former friend further and unobservant for a brief moment. All of a sudden, Minerva was standing there with her wand pointing in his direction.
He startled briefly and laughed.
'Minerva, how good to see you! I hear you had a nice funeral for your muggle family?'
Minerva's eyes were a dark green full of pain – but also determination.
The three of them were now encircling each other and all of them shot spells at the enemy at the same time. The air was electric and the huge discharge of power sent Professor Dumbledore to the ground.
Grindelwald looked at his opponent with surprise and missed the all deciding moment.
'Avada Kedavra!' A green flash hit him in the chest and he was dead when he hit the ground himself.
Minerva was standing above him – pure hatred on her face.
Professor Dumbledore had gotten up and put his arm around her shoulder. He carefully guided her away from the body.
Present:
Harry was in shock. Mineva had killed Grindelwald after all – he had always heard about the duel between him and Dumbledore. The stories had never mentioned Minerva as the one who decided the battle.
He wondered why. Anyway, he could not believe what his poor godmother had been through in her life. How could she have been able to go on with her life. She had lost everything in the most cruel way. He felt the urge to visit her straight away and take her in his arms immediately. She deserved all the love she could get.
Harry did not even bother to ask for permission to come see her earlier. He just stepped in the floo net and left for St. Mungo's.
Author's note:
So this is my attempt to create a very dark chapter of Minerva's life. Let me know what you think!
And thanks for the lovely reviews for the previous chapters. Loved it!
Again – any input is welcome. Otherwise, I might run out of ideas soon…