Present:

Harry and Minerva had a quiet dinner together and just enjoyed each other's company throughout the evening. Both lay down under a fluffy blanket on the sofa with their heads at opposite ends. Steaming cups of tea were standing on the table, the fire was crackling in the fireplace. Harry yawned already and was flipping through the latest Quidditch magazine. Minerva was reading a book. She only looked up at the sound of the magazine falling down on the floor.

She smiled at the image – Harry had fallen asleep already – obviously exhausted by his first day out of bed. For a while she continued reading her book until she got tired as well. Slowly, Minerva got up and looked at her godson. Harry seemed to sleep peacefully and she decided not to wake him up.

She took out her wand and broadened the sofa a bit so he would be comfortable for the night. Then she carefully pulled him down a bit and placed his head on a big pillow. She re-adjusted the blanket around his sleeping form and gave him a soft kiss on his forehead.

Then she went to bed herself.

In the morning, Minerva was already collecting some papers out of her office when Harry woke up. He yawned and stretched and looked around a bit disorientated.

'Good Morning, sleepy head!' Minerva addressed her godson and he had to admire her for her energy in the morning.

'Guess, I fell asleep on you last night?' he grimaced and slowly got up.

'Yes, you did. I will have to join my colleagues for breakfast this morning. Do you want to come to the Great Hall with me?' she inquired.

'I will be ready in 10 minutes if that's okay?'

Minerva just nodded and was skimming through the papers absentmindedly.

When Harry showed up again they both went to the Great Hall. Minerva headed for the staff table and Harry sat down at a deserted Gryffindor table with his Quidditch magazine.

Madame Pomfrey came in as well this morning and briefly stopped at Harry's table.

'Mr Potter, could you please stop by in hospital after breakfast? I would like to check on you thoroughly to see if you still need any potions for the next days. You look quite alright again, fortunately.'

Harry nodded 'Okay. I could recommend one of your colleagues as a nurse…' he grinned.

Poppy rolled her eyes 'Oh yes, she would be so very patient…' she proceeded to the staff table and left a chuckling Harry to his Quidditch magazine. Minerva shot them a questioning look before she turned her concentration back to the conversation at her table.

When he had finished his breakfast Harry glanced at the teacher's table. They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion so he got up already and went to Minerva's quarters.

Once more he made himself comfortable on the sofa and grabbed the pensieve.

Memory XXXX:

Professor Dumbledore and Minerva were sitting in Dumbledore's office – a pile of papers in front of them as well as steaming tea pots.

'I am glad we could hire Remus Lupin for Defence Against Dark Arts this year. I think this will be very interesting for our students – hopefully, he will stay longer than a year.' She smiled at her colleague.

Albus smiled back at his Deputy. 'I always knew you had a soft spot for our Marauders. At least you get one of them back.'

Minerva chuckled but her face immediately clouded 'Yes, and we might even have a second one of them back. How on earth could Sirius escape Azkaban? I will not have a night of peaceful sleep until they capture him again. I almost had a heart attack already when Arabella told me that Harry had left the Dursleys' in the middle of the night. Why does the boy always have to walk straight into danger?'

'Minerva, you cannot really blame Harry - he does not know anything about Sirius.'

She sighed. 'He would have done it anyway. He is just too reckless.'

'Well, he is sitting on the train to Hogwarts now and will arrive soon. You can resume your guard then.'

She nodded and sipped at her tea – staring out of the window.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Madame Pomfrey came into the office which was obviously rather unexpected. Both, Professor Dumbledore and Minerva looked at her alarmed.

'Did anything happen, Poppy?' Minerva inquired immediately.

'I just got a message, that the dementors have been on the train. Harry Potter apparently fainted and Professor Lupin has asked me to check on him once they arrive in the castle. I just wanted to inform you that Mr Potter will be late for the sorting then.' Her face clearly showed her disapproval of having dementors around the castle this year.

Minerva had paled upon her report and Professor Dumbledore shook his head.

'Thank you, Poppy. Please make sure Mr Potter sees you immediately upon his arrival.'

The mediwitch nodded and left them alone.

Professor Dumbledore squeezed his Deputy's hand reassuringly. 'He is strong, Minerva. And they had Remus there to help.'

She still needed a moment to collect her thoughts. 'Yes, but why did he faint? We all know that dementors are simply horrible but such a strong reaction is highly unusual.'

'We will find out, don't worry, Min.'

She sighed. 'If only I could be on that train now.'

'They will be here in a few minutes and Poppy will make sure he is alright.' He patted her arm calmingly.

Minerva got up 'I will go downstairs to welcome our students. See you later at the sorting, Albus.'

He nodded and dismissed his Deputy – knowing that she would not think straight as long as she had not convinced herself that Harry was alright.

Present:

Harry labelled the phial and briefly thought back at the events on the train. It had been his first encounter with the dementors and it still gave him the creeps. Luckily, Professor Lupin had been there and had taught him how to defend them with a patronus throughout the year. Fainting on the train had been so embarrassing though and Malfoy, of course, had teased him with it for weeks.

He put the phial to the side after he had marked it. Since there was probably plenty of time until Minerva was done with her work he grabbed a second memory.

Memory XXXXI:

A young Minerva McGonagall was striding purposefully to her new class room. She wore a dark green tartan and a black robe underneath. Her hair was up in a tight bun and her face wore the stern expression Harry was used to.

She went into the class room and shot her students intimidating looks on her way to her desk. The students were extremely silent – trying to gauge their new teacher's character.

'Good Morning, everybody! As you already know my name is Minerva McGonagall. I am your new teacher for Transfiguration. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned. And now, if you please open your book on page 143 for me…'

Her students obeyed nervously – one of them was brave enough to raise his hand though.

'Yes, Mr Boyle?' Minerva asked without hesitation.

'Sorry, Professor McGonagall. Is it true that you have fought alongside Professor Dumbledore in the final battle against Grindelwald?'

'Yes, this is indeed true, Mr Boyle. Therefore, I would advise the pranksters in this room not to try out their talents in my classes – you will face detention for eternity. I am not one to be fooled. Any more questions before we start working?' Minerva's tone was strict and nobody dared to distract her from teaching any longer.

The tension was palpable but soon her students had to realise that she was a master in her subject and also a passionate teacher. Her explanations were graphic and although she was quite impatient with the less successful students she would always be fair in her judgement. This much was clear after the first class and towards the end of it some students were whispering relieved to each other while Minerva was writing something on the board.

'Wow, she is cool. Tough cookie though. I would not mess with her if I can avoid it.' Boyle said to the girl sitting next to him.

She nodded in agreement. 'I hear she is an animagus. She must be a very powerful witch then.'

'I wonder whether she will demonstrate this ability once. Must be very impressive and you rarely have the opportunity to see an animagus. My brother told me that she was working in the Auror department before coming to Hogwarts.' Boyle went on whispering.

'Cool.' The girl looked at her new teacher with admiration.

Minerva turned around and shot them an unmistakable glance.

'If there is anything you want to contribute to this lesson you should say it out loud. If not I would advise you to shut up. For tomorrow I want you to write an essay on the basics of Transfiguration – and I expect you to be thorough – meaning not less than five pages.'

The bell rang and the students packed their bags quickly. Harry had to chuckle about their faces. They surely did not like the amount of homework but knew already that any shortcut would be impossible.

Present:

Harry grinned at the memory. Only too well did he know how intimidating his godmother could be as a teacher. And she had been even stricter in her early years as a teacher which was almost impossible. He wondered whether she had hardened herself after her family's death and became the untouchable teacher made out of steel as a consequence.

Harry labelled the memory and put the pensieve aside. Then it hit him that he had completely forgotten to show up in the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey would be mad at him for sure. He quickly got up and hurried to see the mediwitch.

Madame Pomfrey indeed was mad at him.

'Mr Potter, may I ask why you show up now and not right after breakfast? Sit down, please so I can check on you.' She was apparently busy and did not really appreciate his changing her schedule.

Harry sat down hesitantly. 'I am sorry, Madame Pomfrey. I completely forgot and immediately returned to Minerva's quarters. I just realised a minute ago that I should have been here in the morning.' He looked down guiltily which made the mediwitch soften immediately.

'Well, let's hope it does not happen again. I am glad you could stay with Minerva.' She smiled at him while she did her check-up. She seemed pleased with the results.

'Looks good, Mr Potter. You would do me a favour if you take it easy for another day but then you are as good as new. It was, fortunately, just the mild version of this flu. The others still need a bit to recover.' She looked satisfied with her patient. 'How is Minerva, Harry?' she asked softly.

Harry looked at her surprised. 'I think she is fine, Madame Pomfrey.'

'Good. She was really exhausted lately and had me worried for a day or two. Maybe you can slow her down once in a while?'

Harry nodded. 'I will try. Can I go now?'

'Yes, my dear. You may go back to your quarters.'

Gladly, Harry returned to his godmother's quarters. Minerva was sitting on the sofa and smiled at him when he entered.

'Hi Harry. Where have you been?'

'I forgot to see Madame Pomfrey this morning so I just went to see her now. She was a bit mad at me, I think.'

Minerva chuckled. 'I bet. What did you until now?'

'I watched two more memories. Your first day as a teacher was quite impressive. I think your students were really scared.' He smiled at her.

'They were. But I guess all of my students are a bit guarded first.'

He grinned. 'Well, I just remember how you snapped at Ron and myself when we came late for our first Transfiguration lesson. I thought you would eat us alive.'

Minerva grimaced. 'I guess my Scottish temper sometimes gets the better of me. You will have to cope with it at some point. It might hit you even in your cosy holidays.'

'Hopefully not.' Harry replied with a shudder. 'Should we visit Hagrid together?' he looked at his godmother pleadingly.

'Why not. I am not sure whether I will survive his cookies but it is worth a try once in a while. He will be shocked to see me though.'

'Maybe we can tell him as well? He is my friend after all.'

Minerva looked doubtful. 'Yes, he is and I trust him, too. Although, with Hagrid I am always afraid he might give something away involuntarily in his enthusiasm.'

Harry nodded. 'I know what you mean. Can we try anyway?'

His godmother sighed. 'Okay. Let's go then. I do not mind going for a walk before we visit him though. I had to sit in meetings all day so far and would love to stretch a bit.'

'Fine for me. Come on then.'

They went for a nice walk and finally arrived at Hagrid's hut. Fang was already barking at them – eager to welcome their visitors.

Hagrid opened the door. 'Oh hello Harry.' He smiled and only then realised that there was a second person behind the door. 'Professor McGonagall! Anything wrong?' he was worried all of a sudden.

'No, Hagrid. I was going for a walk with Harry and we thought we might just say Hello and stop by for a cup of tea?'

Hagrid looked confused. 'Yes, why not. Please come in.' He quickly pushed aside some wood shavings which were lying on the floor. It smelled as if something had burnt recently and Minerva and Harry quickly looked at each other in amusement.

'Sit down, Professor.' Hagrid grabbed the best chair and offered her a seat. 'Harry, you can sit here.' He got another chair and got himself a footstool from a corner. It was creaking in protest under his weight but fortunately, would hold him.

Immediately, he got up again and was nervously getting them some cups and put a few weird looking cookies on the table. He poured them steaming tea and sat down again. Harry had to smile to himself. The presence of Minerva McGonagall made a giant like Hagrid nervous. It was fun to watch.

There was an awkward silence for a moment which was interrupted by Fang. He sat down next to Minerva and slobbered all over her robe.

Hagrid was jumping up to get a cloth. 'Oh, I am so sorry, Professor McGonagall. He only does it when he likes somebody. I will clean your robe again.'

Minerva just smiled. 'Sit down Hagrid, I do have my wand with me and will have a clean robe in a second. Don't worry.'

Hagrid looked a bit stupid and sat down again. 'Oh, of course. Sorry.'

Harry decided to put him out of his misery. 'Hagrid, I am living with Minerva now.' He blurted out happily.

'What? Ehm, did you just say Minerva?' He looked nervously at the usually very stern Deputy Headmistress who was surprisingly laughing right now. Hagrid frowned in confusion.

Harry just nodded and both him and Minerva told Hagrid their story. In the end, they made him swear not to tell anybody. Hagrid was ecstatic. 'How wonderful, Harry. I would have never guessed it although I was surprised at your sadness when we had to leave little Harry in Privet Drive, Professor.' Hagrid was looking from one to the other and enjoyed seeing Harry as well as the powerful witch relaxed and happy with each other.

They had another tea and where astonished that it was dark outside already. After having thanked Hagrid for his hospitality they headed back to the castle.

'That went quite well, don't you think?' Minerva put her arm around Harry's shoulder during their walk.

'Yes. I am glad we have told him. I hate having secrets from my friends.'

She ruffled his hair and smiled. Minerva suddenly thought that she had not smiled so much in years – it had become natural again after years of sorrow.

Back in her quarters they played a game of chess and went to bed early.

Author's note:

Two more memories here. Probably not too many left now – only if you have more ideas and wishes… Thank you as always for your reviews. It helps a lot to stay motivated!